Girls night out

One of the best things about being in the Twitterverse is getting to know some new people. A group of girls on Twitter have gotten together a couple of times to hang out, and I'm hoping we'll continue .

We gathered at Sabor for food and drinks Friday night after seeing "He's Just Not That Into You." Part of the fun is dissecting the movie afterwards. We found out that two or three in our group of eight thought the flick was barely OK, about two or three liked it pretty well, and the remaining two or three (includng me) gave it an unconditional thumbs up.

If I recall correctly, Andy and Andrea thought it was barely OK. (DM me if I'm wrong, ladies. My mind is a little fuzzy, thanks to the wine!) These are two of the girls I've met through Twitter.



Carrie really didn't like it, at all. And Dani (right) liked it well enough. I've known Carrie for years through work, but Dani is a new Twitter friend.


I cannot recall where Suzanne (left) stood on the flick, but Katie liked it. I think Katie and I liked it so much because we sat next to each other and giggled and cried almost equally (she needed Kleenex, I did not.) Katie also is a new friend from Twitter. She hosted the first get-together of our group at her house.

I think Denise, left, was a thumbs-up on the movie too. This is a classy group of girls and I'm looking forward to seeing them again.

Dylan's birthday

This weekend was spent in Great Bend helping my nephew Dylan celebrate his 15th birthday.


The birthday boy, sporting a mohawk-style 'do and wearing the $100 T-shirt his dad gave him for Christmas. That's what I said: $100 for a T-shirt?? It better be made of something you can smoke.


Dylan, his mom, Linda (my youngest sis) and my mom, at the dining table to open his gifts.


My three youngest niece/nephews drew this picture for Dylan. It depicts someone in a deer blind (i think) shooting a green shotgun, with the shotgun shell in mid air, heading toward what I think is a deer. Better than a cow, I guess. Dylan doesn't hunt, but all of my brothers do, so I guess it rubbed off on the kids.


Having fun with static electricity with my youngest nephew, Joe.

You're never too old to have your mom help style your hair.


Joe with his dad, my youngest brother, Richard.


My youngest niece, Elizabeth, with her dad.


My sister Lisa with niece Rachel.


Lizzie trying on her brother's boots.


And Joe modeling his sister's sparkly flats. Kids will entertain you for hours on end, if you let them.


Closeup of Lizzie and Joe.

Harvey Milk

In my quest to see as many Oscar-nominated movies as I can before the Academy Awards on Feb. 22, I saw "Milk" yesterday. It's nominated for best picture, director and actor (Sean Penn in the title role.)


Although Penn was phenomenal, I left the theater at first thinking that the film itself deserved three, maybe three and a half stars. But this is one of those films that has stuck with me, and I have found myself thinking about it on several different levels in the past day. To me, that's always a sign of a good flick, when it makes me think about it for some time afterwards. Although I loved "Slumdog Millionaire" and "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", neither of them, but particularly SD, had much staying power with me once the end credits rolled.
I only vaguely remembered reading much about Harvey Milk's assassination in 1978, just about a month before my 21st birthday. And after reading up on it after seeing the movie, I think I know why it didn't stick with me at the time. In part, it was because that incident was greatly overshadowed by another big story that occurred just 10 days before Milk and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone were shot to death by Dan White.


That incident was the mass suicide in Guyana of more than 900 people who belonged to the Peoples Temple, a sort of cult group led by Jim Jones (above.) The somewhat ironic thing is that the Peoples Temple was headquartered in San Francisco, and both Milk and Moscone had been supportive of Jones because of his political activism and ability to deliver votes for them. I had no idea of the connection between those two major news stories.

Another fascinating thing about "Milk" was its references to a newsmaking vote in Wichita in 1977, when voters here rejected an ordinance aimed at protecting gays from discrimination in jobs, housing, etc. The Wichita vote, along with a couple of others around the nation at that time, was instrumental in mobilizing the large gay population in SF to get serious about using political activism to win more rights.

So, although I wouldn't be opposed at all to "Slumdog Millionaire" or "Benjamin Button" winning the best picture honor, I have changed my initial views about "Milk's" worthiness and believe that it is as deserving as any of those nominated.