Category: family

Review: Barbie

The Barbie doll first appeared for sale in 1959, the year before I was born. As a child, my sisters and I played with some Barbie dolls. I remember that we had Barbie, Francie, and Skipper, who was my favorite because she was a pre-teen, like me. (We also had Ken, but he was superfluous.) Our Barbies had a lot of clothes, some made by my grandmother, but these were the days before there were tons of accessories.

My daughters also had some Barbies in the ’90s. There were Barbies, Teresa, (non-pregnant) Midge, Skipper, Stacie, and Kelly and friends. While there were lots more dolls and lots of accessories available, we didn’t have too many. There were not a lot of career-oriented Barbies at that point, although I remember T, in her imaginary play, creating a scenario where Barbie had a high-paying job because she liked expensive clothes and things but that she gave money to her sister who worked for a charity that helped people. What was important for T was that she had a gymnast Barbie and a couple of ballerina Barbies who could bend their arms and legs, pose, and twirl; T took dance classes and appreciated Barbies who were not stuck in one position. (They also had twin Kens, who were often cast as father-figures to the younger children in the Barbie universe.)

Yesterday, B, T, and I went to a movie theater together for the first time since before COVID to see Barbie. We had all seen the trailers and were expecting an entertaining movie and it did not disappoint. Greta Gerwig, the director and co-writer, along with Noah Baumbach, delivers a film that is multi-layered and attentive to detail. Margot Robbie is amazing as “stereotypical” Barbie who is forced to confront real-world stereotypes and the patriarchy. Ryan Gosling is well-matched as the sometimes clueless, sometimes superfluous Ken. I also enjoyed Simu Liu’s performance as a rival Ken.

While I had expected some laughs – and there were many – I had not expected tears. The story and dialogue of Gloria, tenderly portrayed by America Ferrera, was especially moving for me. I also appreciated the wisdom of Ruth, delivered by Rhea Perlman.

While we tend to think of movies based on toys as being for children, Barbie is not. It is rated PG-13 for good reason. Many tweens would enjoy it, while probably missing some of the social commentary in the film; younger children would most likely find it confusing.

Barbie‘s blockbuster status proves that many, many adults and teens are seeing and enjoying this film. Greta Gerwig has already set box office records for films directed by a woman. Maybe, someday, it won’t be remarkable to point out the gender of a film’s director.

Someday…

(Photo by Elena Mishlanova on Unsplash)

SoCS: five

When I was growing up, five was my favorite number because there were five people in my family, my parents, known here as Nana and Paco, and my two sisters, one older and one younger, and me.

It’s bittersweet to think of that now, with both Nana and Paco having passed on.

I don’t have a favorite number anymore.
*****
Linda’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday this week is to think of a number and write about it. Join us! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2023/08/04/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-aug-5-2023/

Review: The Miracle Club

Do you believe in miracles?

Would you recognize a miracle if you experienced one?

In The Miracle Club, four women from three generations, played by Maggie Smith, Kathy Bates, Laura Linney, and Agnes O’Casey, travel from 1967 Dublin, Ireland to Lourdes, France, in search of miracles.

The women share a complicated history which viewers discover as the movie unfolds.

All of this occurs within the context of Catholicism and Irish family structures that resist women having full agency over their lives. All of the women have suffered losses and are in need of healing but will the waters of Lourdes provide them with the miracles they seek?

People tend to think of miracles as sudden events, where individuals are immediately and fully restored to health. Even at Lourdes, the film points out, those kinds of miracles are rare.

But healing is possible when women, though burdened with their own struggles, support and strengthen each other.

I believe that these are miracles, too.

SoCS: LOL

Back when I was learning my first few acronyms and emoticons – a bit late because I was not an early adopter of cell phones – my older and much more tech savvy daughter was still living at home.

My favorite acronym to use was LOL, which amused my daughter because I would use it for things that literally made me laugh out loud.

Apparently, most people skipped the actual laughing out loud bit…
*****
Linda’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday this week is to base your post on an acronym. Join us! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2023/07/07/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-july-8-2023/

losing our first parent

Today is the eighteenth anniversary of my father-in-law’s death. He was the first of B’s and my parents to pass away. I wasn’t blogging or writing poetry then; it took years for me to process enough to write about his death. This poem was first published by Eunoia Review here in 2016. As it happened, he was the only one of our four parents that we were able to be with at the moment of death.

The Last Night
~ ~ ~ by Joanne Corey

Hospice told my husband what to expect
as his father’s death approached,
skin mottled,
eyes open but unseeing.

Crush the morphine,
mix with water,
spoon into his gaping mouth
every two hours.

The death rattle started,
unmistakable,
though we had never
heard it before.

We did what we could,
smoothing his hair,
holding his hand,
another dose of morphine.

I prayed the rosary silently,
lacking beads,
counting the decades
with my fingers.

When he quieted,
breath slow, gentle,
we woke his wife
of fifty-one years.

She lay beside him that last hour.

Breaths shallower,
with pauses between,
longer –
longer still –
until, near dawn,
no next breath comes.

We switch off
the oxygen concentrator.
Silence heralds
his absence.

SoCS: rocks

When I was a child, I collected rocks in a shoe box. Maybe “collected” is too strong a word as it usually denotes some kind of organization or classification that was not the case. I just picked up rocks that I thought were interesting or pretty for their color or shape.

Rocks were part of every day life – the stepping stones in the brook that we used to get across, the huge boulders under the high lines across from the house, the stones in the yard, the pea-stones along the side of the macadam road.

We had stone samples with garnets in them from the excavation of the underground powerhouse carved out of the mountain for Bear Swamp, a pumped storage power plant that was part of the hydro system that my father oversaw as superintendent of what was then called New England Power. (The plant is still operating over fifty years later, although under another name and company.)

I loved earth science when I took it in high school, so much so that I took a few geology courses when I was in college.

I do still have a few special rocks, including some that have been carved or inscribed with special words. I love their ability to help me feel grounded.

We all come from the earth, after all…
*****
Linda’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday this week is “rock.” Join us! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2023/06/30/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-july-1-2023/

One-Liner Wednesday: anniversary jazz

When we stayed at the Art-Deco-era Latchis Hotel in Brattleboro, VT for our anniversary, we listened to this album on the record player in our sitting room.

Join us for Linda’s One-Liner Wednesday! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2023/06/28/one-liner-wednesday-day-one-is-in-the-bag/

A month of Hearts

Just about a month ago, Kelsay Books published my first chapbook, Hearts, available from Kelsay, from Amazon, from me personally (if you are local), or by asking your local bookstore to order it through Ingram.

The experience has been exciting, gratifying, emotional, and exhausting by turns. There have been new things to learn, like keeping a spreadsheet to track sales tax and profit and signing contracts to place books on consignment. I’ve been trying to get the hang of doing publicity, which is a different universe from writing poetry. Sending notices to my poet-friends and non-poet-friends was relatively straightforward, although I admit it feels strange to ask people to spend money to read my work. I’d never been paid for my writing beyond gratitude and the occasional in-print copy of a publication but I am finding it easier to say writing is a profession for me now, even though the total amount of money I earn from it will be small.

Besides the discomfort of self-promotion, which works against my introverted nature, there is the sobering personal aspect of asking people to read poems about my mother’s final years. I’m grateful to know that the poems touch people’s hearts. I’ve had people tell me that our story reminds them of their own experiences with aging loved ones, that the poems made them cry. My heart goes out to them and it is humbling to think that my words might be a help to them as they continue to deal with their loss.

It’s also gratifying to know that I fulfilled one of my goals with this book. I am seldom overt about my own feelings in my work, preferring to “show rather than tell.” I try to leave space in my poems for people to bring their own reactions and emotions to the work and I seem to have succeeded, at least among those who have communicated with me. Three people have even written Amazon reviews, although it seems a bit surreal that I have an Amazon listing at all.

One thing that has happened since the book came out that I wasn’t expecting is the technical publishing questions that I’m asked. Most of these are a version of “how do you get a book published?” which I don’t feel well-equipped to answer. Generally, the person is asking because a family member writes as a hobby and they want to know how to get a book in print, but publishing poetry is different from fiction or memoir or non-fiction, which often involve having an agent, and self-publishing bypasses all the querying and rejection but means you need to know or hire expertise and have financial resources up front. People have also asked me how many copies I’ve sold but I have no idea. I could count up how many I’ve sold, but I have no idea how many have ordered from Kelsay and Amazon. I do occasionally look at the stat for the Poetry by Women category on my Amazon page; at the moment it’s #720, but I have no idea how that translates into number of copies. I probably won’t know until early next year when I get my first annual royalties payment from Kelsay.

I’m feeling as though I’m through most of my initial promotion list but I have more to do. A friend has offered to help me line up a couple of readings or signings locally. I need to find a printer to do business cards and bookmarks to have at events. There is a list of reviewers and awards to look through, although that seems a bit rarefied for me.

And more promotion.

No doubt, more blog posts here at Top of JC’s Mind.

I’m also trying to do more submissions for my new chapbook, full-length collection, and individual poems. Hearts proved that it can take a few dozen attempts to get an acceptance.

Having a book in print does, though, make it seem more possible that another acceptance will come my way.

And, if not, there will always be Hearts…

SoCS: travels

We are travelling, so this will be short!

We arrived yesterday and saw some relatives that we don’t see often. A sight for sore eyes!

On Monday, we will relocate to a new site to celebrate our 41st wedding anniversary.

(Linda’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday this week is “sight/site” with bonus for using both, although the bonus is psychic, not material.)

(Maybe there is an extra bonus for using both and making it short.)

SoCS: left alone

All I can think of is how hard it was for my father to be left alone when my mother passed away. It was the thing she had been most worried about. What she couldn’t have known was that a pandemic would arrive which severely curtailed our ability to visit.

I’m grateful that she never had to know.
*****
Linda’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday this week is “left alone.” Join us! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2023/06/02/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-june-3-2023/