Driving

alarm went off this morning…promised Julia I would be at Pam’s by 11:00…we all had tight schedules today… having to be somewhere at a certain time this afternoon…last night I wrote myself a note…with all the things I had to take to Pam’s…top on the list was the pizza from yesterday…Pam, Jim and Julia had it for dinner…a great success…the matzoh, the chopped onions, the chopped parsley, the dozen eggs, the ginger, the pepper, cookbook with the recipe…although I know it by heart… and the butter…which was frozen until this morning…all packed in a bag and off I went to Pam’s…beating Julia who borrowed Henry’s car to drive out from town…while the onions were trying to turn golden brown, Julia made the both of us scrambled eggs, loaded…half a bagel…and sliced avocado…the matzoh balls were in the works…the worst part is the prep…and then of course the making or rolling of the dough…we faced timed with Ben who was still in bed…by this time Jim had arrived…the onions were done, enter the matzoh…and spices…when it sticks to the pan, they’re done cooking… then back in a bowl, with the eggs, and the parsley…stir all together…the eggs get cooked by the heart of the cooked matzoh…the parsley makes it look pretty…Pam took it upon herself to roll the dough and made all the balls…Jim told us the Abington Art Center had their fair…vendors and food…and we thought we’d all go…stay for a short time them scatter to our next thing…it wasn’t a great day for a fair…but it wasn’t raining…something to be thankful for…I saw latter on the news that Manayunk had their fair today also…the close the street and a good time was had by all apparently…Abington’s was okay…I could have bought a bunch of stuff but I don’t need anything…I had to fight myself not to buy anything…including funnel cake…we all piled back into Jim’s car and back to Pam’s…I gathered my stuff to take back to my apartment…had to be in Ambler for the 3:45 showing of the movie I wanted to see…Driving Madeleine…a French film with English subtitles…Julia back in town…I just made it to the Ambler to discover my movie wasn’t until 6:45…what to do?…should I go back home to return at 6:45?…I decided to go see Wicked Little Letters again…at 4:00…in retrospect, I should have gone to see Civil War again…fell asleep a couple of times…but enjoyed it again…it’s so funny based on a true story in the early 1920s… “a story lost to history until now”…from Wikipedia: “Wicked Little Letters is a 2023 British black comedy mystery film directed by Thea Sharrock, written by Jonny Sweet, and starring Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Anjana Vasan, Joanna Scanlan, Gemma Jones, Malachi Kirby, Lolly Adefope, Eileen Atkins, and Timothy Spall. Based on a true scandal, it follows an investigation into the anonymous author of numerous crudely insulting letters sent to the residents of seaside town Littlehampton.”…says a lot about women in positions of authority…having no authority…being put down…specially a woman doing a “man’s job”…like a police person…haha…police man… the constable dismisses her suspicions and forbids her to interfere with the investigation of the wicked little letters…a lot of discrimination going all…all over the place…besides all that…it’s very funny….I had an hour to get something to eat…a couple of years back…during the summer, Elissa and I went to Bridget’s…she introduced me to the Au Poivre Cheesesteak…it was delicious…and ever since I’ve wanted to order it again…but Bridgit’s is busy all the time…and I never make a reservation…because it’s always a spur of the moment to maybe go there…well, I sat at the bar, asked if the Cheesesteak was quick enough to order to out of there in 45 minutes…she said yes, and ate…the fries were still good…but the Cheesesteak was chewy…I was a little disappointed…but I ate it and was back at the theater at 6:45…ready to see this French film…which I imagined was similar to Driving Miss Daisy…and in a way, was…but not at all the same…both films have elderly women being driven around…that’s the end of the similarity…Driving Madeleine is completely different…and is suspect…is having a re-discovery… since it’s a film from 2022… the premise: “The film stars Line Renaud as Madeleine, an elderly Parisian woman, who is moving into a nursing home; en route, she asks taxi driver Charles (Dany Boon) to detour to various locations around the city that have meant something to her in her life.”…it was released in the US in January of 2024…I loved this movie and so did the semi-packed little theater of the Ambler…it’s funny…it will bring tears to your eyes…and Etta James and Dinah Washington provided some of the soundtrack…Neely Swanson of the Beverly Hills Courier: “Driving Madeleine” is a gift to all of us, old and young. Director Christian Carion, working from his adaptation of a script by Cyril Gely, has shone a light on the value of living a life, both troubled and indomitable, and sharing that vision.”…it’s “the 50s.” Women had only just been given the right to vote but could not make any financial decisions, open bank accounts or work without their husband’s permission. Divorce was unthinkable and domestic violence was not recognized as an issue.”…Madeleine’s story plays out during that drive to the assisted living place…and so does Charles’, the taxi driver…they bond and we bond…you must see this film…it’s worth it… it’s great…my sister called me this evening…I told her about Driving Madeleine…she looked it up and she can watch it on a number of venues…she also told me that Kimberly Akimbo is coming to San Francisco…with the entire cast, including Tony Winning Victoria Clark…she’s excited to see it…the reason it’s closing on Broadway…it will be touring America with Victoria Clark in her Tony award winning role…lucky for everyone who sees it…and lucky is everyone who sees Driving Madeleine…I want to talk about Karma…I called Elissa walking out of the theater, knowing that Jed and Sophie were here…asked her if her kids were still around or had gone back to her apartment…they were in Ambler, after having dinner at Geromino, the Peruvian restaurant…they were at Rita’s for dessert…I went and joined them…happy to see Jed, he’s been in Chicago for months…he bought me a chocolate/vanilla swirl…I sat in the car…chatted…perfect end of the day…my car was across the street…got in, and drove home…happy as a lark…

AT LAST

At last
My love has come along
My lonely days are over
And life is like a song
Oh, yeah, yeah

At last
The skies above are blue
My heart was wrapped up in clover
The night I looked at you

I found a dream that I could speak to
A dream that I can call my own
I found a thrill to press my cheek to
A thrill that I’ve never known (oh, yeah, yeah)

You smiled, you smiled
Oh, and then the spell was cast
And here we are in Heaven
For you are mine at last

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Harry Warren / Mack Gordon

At Last lyrics © Emi Feist Catalog Inc., Four Jays Music Publishing Company