Postcard from Belarus

Lyudmila sends me her greetings from Belarus which, according to her is, “an oasis in the heart of Europe.  Not by chance is it called ‘blue-eyed.'”
I just looked on a map to see where Belarus is [postcrossing: improving my shoddy geographical sense one postcard at a time] and I have to quibble with that “heart of Europe” statement.  Of course, that’s because I came of age where Europe ended at the border of the USSR which is, of course, no more.  So in that old mental map, Belarus is very much outside the heart of Europe. Then I looked up a map of Europe and got a EU one.  Even in that map, Belarus is on the very edge and not in Europe (because it’s not an EU member state).  So perhaps that saying is asperational.  I know those former USSR republics mostly didn’t want to be members of said Soviet Empire.
Anyway, Lyudmila is 41 and has a husband and two sons–teenagers.  She says, “I am happy with my family.”

Three sentence movie reviews: 22 Jump Street

The chuckling continues in this continuation of the sequel to the remake of the 80s television franchise.*  Hill and Tatum provide similar-type laughs with Hill cracking me up when he realizes the unfortunate family connection of a romantic interest.  However, the actress Jillian Bell stole every scene she was in, and had me gasping with laughter at one point, making her the find of the movie.

Cost: $2.00 (due to gift card being exhausted, leaving me with a small balance**)
Where watched: Regal Lloyd 10.

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2014/twenty_two_jump_street.html

*The credits are very funny to and seem to indicate this is the end of the road for this particular incarnation of the franchise.
**However, I did pay something like $4.50 for a small popcorn which I managed to spill twice before I began eating it.  Aside from being a slob, looking at $2.00 worth of popcorn sitting on the theater floor is no fun.

Postcard from the Netherlands

This is from Unda who is 35 and lives in Maassiuis.  (I’m thinking if there’s a Dutch version of Wheel of Fortune, it’s always prudent to buy some vowels.)
She tells me that she enjoys gardening very much. Unda also included the quote “Begin de dag met een lach” which she translated as “Always start your day with a smile.”
This is a very nice hand-drawn and colored art card.

This is not a member of the marching band!

Text under the picture says, “The Union High School Marching Band takes part in Saturday’s Rose Festival Grand Floral Parade.”
Huh.  I remember band as looking more like people in unisex uniforms carrying instruments and playing and stuff, but I guess things have changed since my day.
(There is half of a flute pictured, on the right side of the picture. Also, picture caption writer, you might tell us from whence the Union High School came.  Because I have no idea.)

Just because.

This was a commentary about a program in Portland called Girls on the Run, where girls in third through eighth grades learn life skills and run, completing a 5k at the end of the program. It’s a great program and many girls at school have participated.
Predictably, came this editorial.  I’m not going to be diligent and actually look up statistics, but I’m willing to bet that participation in youth sports is not equal between genders.  And while sports are expected for boys, they still aren’t universally accepted for girls, even forty years after Title IX.  
So that’s why girls get more encouragement.  Lets even things out first.

Three sentence movie reviews: The Fault in Our Stars

Shailaine Woodley was perfectly cast (although missing the puffy steroided face, but hey!  At least Hollywood let her keep the cannula and have a bad haircut and too-loose clothing) in this very faithful adaptation of the beloved novel and I loved every moment she was on the screen.  I cannot say the same about her counterpart, Ansel Elgort, who was full of nervous ticks and goofy mannerisms and didn’t even have the whole I’m-supposed-to-have-a-prosthetic-leg thing down.  It got to the point where every time he was on the screen I found myself wishing they would cut back to Shailaine and by the end of the movie I was very angry that Ansel Elgort was even present.*

*Which was a complete bummer because this movie had a lot going for it, otherwise.

Cost:  $10.00
Where watched:  Living Room Theaters with Matt, Kelly, Laurie and Burt.

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2014/fault_in_our_stars.html