What To Do When You're Officially Unemployed - Besides Looking For Work

One Way To Pass the Time -

I'm a film buff.  Always have been.  My mother raised me that way.  I've seen every Cary Grant movie, every western, and every war movie ever made.  Or so I feel that way much of the time.  And it never gets boring.

One of my favorite actors is Tim Roth. 

Yup.  Mr. Orange in Reservoir Dogs.  Emil Blonsky, the "Abomination", in The Incredible Hulk.  You can check out his list of films here, or see clips from various shows and clips of him discussing his character Cal Lightman on the TV hit series Lie To Me on Fox channel here.

I suggest, however, this - if you want to watch him in full force, acting with incredible diversity and genius, then try these films:

Deceiver (1997) in which Roth plays James Walter Wayland, a rich young man who is a suspect in a murder.  Excellent cast including Chris Penn, Michael Rooker, Ellen Burstyn, and Renee Zellweger......his portrayal of James Walter Wayland was riveting, and an excellent study in character portrayal.

For family viewing, try Skellig: The Owl Man.  (TV movie 2009)  This is a lovely film about 10 year old Michael, a boy in the UK, played by Bill Milner, who finds who he thinks is a homeless man in a shed attached to his family's new home.  Roth plays the disheveled Skellig wonderfully.  You can check out the film synopsis here and if you want a quality evening at home with the kids, consider renting this wonderful gem of a film.  And pay attention to the details in this.  Better yet, consider buying the book here because its a wonderful story by David Almond. 

Or, you could just look at Roth wearing his jammies and bunny slippers in the twitter photo below - its really him - its a verified account - he's a funny guy.....either way, he's a fairly impressive fellow.

Namaste'

The Art of Living Fearlessly

A few days ago I was given a gift. This came on the heels of a conversation about being different, creative, living outside of the box, ceasing to be what is expected and choosing to be what and who one really is. It isn't always easy living outside of the box. It can be stressful, lonely, and often exhausting but it is never dull and always and without fail, it is worth the effort.


The imagination is an amazing place to live but it needs breathing room, places to fly to, journeys to take, battles to win, and it needs fearlessness. I can not think of a better way to live because for me, for many of my friends, for countless young people who are desperately trying to "fit in" and failing at it, there is a time when one recognizes that they are different, that the ordinary rules do not apply, can not apply, and should not apply. Some of us are renegades. Some of us are builders. Some of us are rule breakers. Some of us are peacemakers and healers but absolutely no one should ever have to live in a box of any sort at any time and if we do, we should be able to decorate it as we wish, call it what we want, and turn it into any object we choose because it is ours.


Published in 2006 as a children's book, Not A Box is something that you might want to read aloud to yourself slowly in a quiet room as a reminder of your long ago dreams. And if those dreams have come true, then congratulations, buy it for someone you love who might not remember how to dream, or perhaps a child who needs encouragement.


I love this gift. I cherish it and the people who gave it to me. I think it is safe to say that I am someone who does not live in a box, and for that I am utterly grateful. Life has always been an amazing journey and when I'm very old I will have great stories to tell (some of you know about the chicken accident already). I wish one of them could be as sweet as what Antoinette Portis has written in Not A Box....

NOT A BOX

Antoinette Portis

Go ahead, take a peek, you know you want to.......

Not a Box, Amazon.com

Namaste'