Summer Reading: Me Before You

I picked Me Before You by Jojo Moyes to read first because I wanted to finish it before the movie came out (I am seeing it tonight!). It is a quick and easy read that requires a box of kleenex but it doesn't feel at all emotionally manipulative and it is so much more than just a romance novel. I absolutely loved it!  Louisa Clark is living an ordinary and conventional life at home with her parents with a dead-end job and a steady boyfriend with whom she has very little in common. Will Traynor was a globe-trotting corporate big-shot until an accident left him paralyzed from the neck down. When Lou is let go from her job she is inexplicably hired to be Will's caregiver for a period of six months despite the fact that she has no qualifications. An instant animosity develops between the two of them until she inadvertently learns that Will is planning an assisted suicide at the end of those six months and that she has been hired to lift his spirits and give him a reason to live. She immediately begins planning outings for him, some more successful than others. Their relationship slowly develops into something more and her attempt to save his life changes her own life forever. I found both of these characters to be engaging and entirely believable and I loved the message of living life to the fullest. I also really enjoyed all of the comedic elements in the novel, especially when Will attends Lou's birthday party. My favorite part of the novel is when Will takes Lou to a symphony concert (which she is hesitant to do because it is something she has never done before) and she is completely swept away by the music. This novel made me angry, it made me laugh, and it made me cry (I finished reading it on the porch of our cabin at Bear Lake and the fact that I was crying made Marilyn mad because she didn't want any spoilers). I highly recommend it and I highly recommend stepping outside your comfort zone to live life to the fullest!

Note:  I hope the movie is good!

X-Men: Apocalypse

Last night I was on aunt detail and Sean wanted to see X-Men: Apocalypse (I didn't coerce him, I promise).  The story is set a decade after the events of X-Men: Days of Future Past  (which means that the pop culture of the 80s is now on display including big hair and an action sequence to "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" by the Eurythmics) and this time the action revolves around the proliferation of nuclear weapons (like the Bay of Pigs invasion in X-Men: First Class and the Paris Peace talks in X-Men: Days of Future Past).  Professor Xavier (James McAvoy) is now running a school for mutants, Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender) is trying, unsuccessfully, to live a normal life with his wife and daughter, and Raven (Jennifer Lawrence) is a one-woman vigilante rescuing mutants who are oppressed.  CIA Agent Moira McTaggart (Rose Byrne) is investigating the awakening of an ancient Egyptian mutant (a terrific Oscar Isaac) who believes that the world has become corrupt without his presence.  This mutant, known as Apocalypse, recruits Storm (Alexandra Shipp), Psylocke (Olivia Munn), Angel (Ben Hardy), and Magneto, after a devastating incident with his family, as his Four Horsemen in order to destroy humanity and begin again with mutants.  Apocalypse kidnaps Xavier (because he wants his ability to connect with all mutants) so the younger generation of mutants, including Cyclops (Tye Sheridan), Jean Grey (Sophie Turner), and Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee), with the help of Mystique, Beast (Nicholas Hoult), and Quicksilver (Evan Peters), must confront Apocalypse in an epic battle.  Granted, the story is convoluted and there are a lot of characters to follow, but I actually really enjoyed this movie.  The action sequences are a lot of fun, especially when Quicksilver rescues the students from an explosion at the school, and I think the filmmakers do a good job of highlighting all of the characters and their motivations.  To be fair, I did watch this movie with an 11-year-old boy who thought all of the action sequences were amazing and kept up a running commentary in my ear about about who was who so I might not be the best person to consult about its merits!  However, I think that fans of the franchise will enjoy this installment (with or without an 11-year-old boy).

Finding Neverland on Broadway

With the exception of Hamilton, Finding Neverland was the show I was most looking forward to seeing during my New York trip.  I absolutely loved the movie (I cried and cried during the ending) and I hoped that the stage adaptation would be just as affecting.  The story of how J. M. Barrie is inspired to write Peter Pan after meeting Sylvia Llewelyn Davies and her four sons is simply magical.  While this show is definitely about loss, there is quite a bit of comic relief with Mary Barrie's (Teal Wicks) snobby aristocratic friends in the songs "All of London is Here Tonight" and "The Dinner Party," with Barrie's exasperated theatre agent Charles Frohman (Marc Kudisch) and his over-the-top acting troupe in the song "Play," and with Captain Hook (Rory Donovan) in "Live by the Hook."  I also really loved Barrie's interaction with the Llewellyn Davies brothers (Jackson Demott Hill, Alex Dreier, Christian Michael Camporin, and Jack McCarthy) in the song "The Pirates of Kensington."  The boys give an outstanding performance in "We're All Made of Stars" and the song "When Your Feet Don't Touch the Ground" is lovely.  However, I was especially moved by the romance between Barrie and Sylvia (Laura Michelle Kelly, from the Original Broadway Cast).  Their songs "Neverland" and "What You Mean to Me" are so beautiful and the actors give amazing performances.  I was initially a little bit disappointed that Kevin Kern, the understudy, performed the role of J.M. Barrie instead of Alfie Boe (because Alfie Boe is amazing) but he did a wonderful job.  I really loved the staging of this musical, especially the song "Neverland" (Reprise) when the acting troupe performs Peter Pan for Sylvia in the nursery.  Sylvia's death scene is one of the most magical things I've ever seen on stage and, just like I did in the movie, I cried through the whole thing.  Seriously beautiful!  I loved everything about this show and I am so glad that I got a chance to see it on Broadway!

Memorial Day Weekend 2016

Memorial Day is the official start of summer so Marilyn and I decided to spend the weekend at Bear Lake.  We had so much fun!

We stayed at the KOA in Garden City and this was our cabin for the weekend.  Both Marilyn and I spent some quality time sitting on the front porch reading.  It was so relaxing!  On Saturday my Mom and Dad drove up and we rented a pontoon boat for the afternoon.  It was so much fun!  My Mom does not like boats and, initially, she didn't want to go with us but she let herself be coaxed on board.  Marilyn is terrified of water and doesn't know how to swim but she eventually drove the boat.  I'm telling you, it was so much fun being out on the water and the weather was absolutely perfect!

On Sunday Marilyn and I spent the day at the beach.  We drove to Bear Lake State Park in Idaho because it was a little bit out of the way so it wasn't very crowded.  We ended up at North Beach and we basically sat on the beach and read.  It was fabulous!

This was such a wonderful start to the summer!  

A Day at the Met

Whenever I am in a big city for a few days, I like to plan a visit to a museum because I find them to be endlessly fascinating.  In New York City there are so many to choose from!  I had been to the MoMA (although it merits a return visit) so I thought about the Guggenheim (it was closed) and the Natural History Museum but, in the end, I opted for the Metropolitan Museum of Art and it was incredible!  I started on the ground floor with a current exhibition called Manus x Machina (it runs through August 14) showing how the sewing machine has changed haute couture.  My favorite piece is a wedding gown designed by Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel which has a 20 foot train embroidered in gold.  It is quite spectacular.  I also loved the exhibition of J.M.W. Turner's Whaling Pictures (it runs through August 7) which includes one painting in the Met's permanent collection and three on loan from the Tate in London.  These four paintings were completed near the end of Turner's life and are very tumultuous, to say the least.  (I became a fan of Turner after seeing this movie).  Next, I wandered through an exhibition called Artistic Furniture of the Gilded Age.  It is fascinating but it closes soon (June 5).  Finally, I wandered through the permanent collections including Egyptian Art, Medieval Art, Greek and Roman Art, and the Art of Africa and Oceania (which has some dramatic exhibits).  I was there most of the day and still didn't see everything!  If you are a fan of art from around the world, I highly recommend a visit to this amazing museum (I also recommend the cafeteria in the basement!).  Go here for more information.