The Phony Marine

I finished reading "The Phony Marine" by Jim Lehrer.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Hugo Marder is about as unremarkable as they come. On the floor of the Washington, D.C., branch of Nash Brothers, one of the country’s most respected men’s stores, Hugo is a wise, reserved salesman. At home, he is a solitary, divorced fifty-year-old with few friends and an eBay addiction. But he has always wanted to make more of his life, dreaming of becoming an artist or a cartoonist. When he was younger, he’d always wanted to be a marine. Late one night, Hugo stumbles upon an online auction for a Silver Star, the medal awarded for bravery in battle. He bids and wins. But it is only after he places the lapel pin on his jacket that he realizes the enormity of his actions. Suddenly, ordinary people begin to treat him differently, with dignity and respect. Is he really going to pretend the honor is his own? As Hugo wrestles with his conscience, a transformation begins to take place. He studies the life of a marine, learns the military terminology, body-builds at the gym, even gets a crew cut. When he is reborn as a former marine, his life immediately changes. Is it possible that his deception has unlocked the man he always wanted to be? Through numerous challenges and more than one terrifying ordeal, Hugo Marder must prove his worth. And in the end, he must ask himself: What is a hero? Alive with detail, emotional depth, and unexpected twists of plot, The Phony Marine is a tense, revelatory work of fiction that will cause every reader to consider his or her own stance on what truly makes someone great.

Courage

"Courage is fear holding on a minute longer." - unknown

Achieve Greatly

"Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly." — Robert F. Kennedy

Success

"The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary." - Unknown

Friendship

"The friendship that can cease has never been real." — Saint Jerome

You Can Learn Many Things From Children

"You can learn many things from children. How much patience you have, for instance." — Franklin P. Jones

Honor

"No person was ever honored for what he received. Honor has been the reward for what he gave." - Calvin Coolidge

As Much Stress

"It takes as much stress to be a success as it does to be a failure." - Emilio James Trujillo

Eureka

I finished reading "Eureka" by Jim Lehrer.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Ever reliable and responsible, Otis Halstead is a father, a husband (one half of a “well-dressed couple of substance”), and the CEO of Kansas Central Fire and Casualty. He has never done anything out of the ordinary. Until now. The change in Otis starts with an antique toy fire truck, the exact model he had pined for at age ten but never received. Though it is now a collectible costing $12,350, he will buy it–because he can. Next comes a Daisy Red Ryder BB gun, ordered from the Nostalgia Today catalog. A Kansas City Chiefs regulation NFL helmet follows. But Otis’s real coup is the purchase of his one true childhood passion: a red 1952 Cushman Pacemaker motor scooter. For his baffled wife, Sally, this is the final straw. She insists that he see a shrink–a sloppy man with flowing hair who uses terms like “mature men in crisis” and “second childhood syndrome.” Otis is unimpressed–and extremely insulted–by the doctor’s insinuation that his baldness is to blame for his sudden interest in toys. But it’s not until tragedy strikes uncomfortably close to home that Otis decides he wants out of his sensible, safe life in Eureka, Kansas. And so, a few weeks before his sixtieth birthday, Otis leaves town, heading west on old U.S. 56, a corporate CEO wearing a football helmet, riding a forty-year-old motor scooter, and with a BB gun strapped to the side. One might say he was in for an adventure. Otis would say he was finally about to experience life.

The Only Way To Coast

"The only way to coast is down hill." - Zig Ziglar

Doors

"The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live." — Flora Whittemore

The Elephanta Suite

I finished reading "The Elephanta Suite" by Paul Theroux.

ABOUT THE BOOK

A holidaying middle-aged couple veer heedlessly from idyll to chaos. A buttoned-up Boston lawyer finds relief in Mumbai's reeking slums. A young woman befriends an elephant in Bangalore. We also meet Indian characters as distinctive as they are indicative of their country's subtle ironies: an executive who yearns to become a holy beggar, an earnest young striver whose personality is transformed by acquiring an American accent, a miracle-working guru, and more. "The Elephanta Suite" urges us towards a fresh, compelling, and often inspiring notion of India and its effect on those who try to lose - or find - themselves there.

Trust The Man

We watched the DVD "Trust The Man."

Synopsis

A smart, sophisticated comedy about the challenges of love and marriage among modern day New Yorkers, Trust the Man features the romantic escapades of two couples: a successful actress (Julianne Moore) and her stay at home husband (David Duchovny); and her slacker younger brother (Billy Crudup) and his aspiring novelist girlfriend (Maggie Gyllenhaal). The film follows this flawed foursome on their pointed, often surprising and frequently hilarious search for love in the midst of careers, family, infidelity and the ever-daunting search for Manhattan street parking.

Hanging Up

We watched the DVD "Hanging Up."

Synopsis

Three sisters grow closer to one another as they cope with their dying father, an alcoholic ex-screenwriter (Walter Matthau) who never enjoyed a close relationship with his daughters. Georgia (Diane Keaton) is a high-powered magazine editor, Maddy (Lisa Kudrow) a budding soap star and Eve (Meg Ryan) a married professional party planner. When Eve must plan a party for a women's commerce organization, she is dismayed to learn that the event's keynote speaker will be her sister Georgia. While Georgia is honored by the invitation, Eve sees it as another way for her sister to steal her spotlight. Meanwhile Maddy, as usual, just feels left out.

The Secret

We watched the DVD "The Secret." I read the book in October.

Synopsis

The Secret has existed throughout the history of humankind. It has been discovered, coveted, suppressed, hidden, lost, and recovered. It has been hunted down, stolen, and bought for vast sums of money. Fragments of The Secret have been found in the oral traditions, in literature, in religions and philosophies throughout the centuries. A number of exceptional men and women discovered the Secret, and went on to become known as the greatest people who ever lived. Among them: Plato, Leonardo, Galileo, Napoleon, Hugo, Beethoven, Lincoln, Edison, Einstein and Carnegie, to name but a few. Now for the first time in history, all the pieces of the Secret come together in a revelation that is life transforming for all who experience it. In The Secret film and her book of the same name, Rhonda Byrne presents teachers alive today who impart this special wisdom that has been known by so few. They include some of the world's leaders in the fields of business, economics, medicine, psychology, history, theology and science. 'Miracle Man' Morris Goodman tells his awe-inspiring story of how he recovered from paralysis by using the Secret. Dr. Denis Waitley explains how he used various aspects of the Secret in training Olympic athletes and Apollo astronauts to reach new heights of human endeavor. Doctors in the fields of medicine and quantum physics explain the science behind the Secret. Best selling authors and philosophers explain how they have created lives of phenomenal success using The Secret. The Secret reveals amazing real life stories and testimonials of regular people who have changed their lives in profound ways. By applying the Secret they present instances of eradicating disease, acquiring massive wealth, overcoming obstacles and achieving what many would regard as impossible. The Secret shows how to apply this powerful knowledge to your life in every area from health to wealth, to success and relationships. The Secret is everything you have dreamed of... and now it’s in your hands.

Ellie Parker

We watched the DVD "Ellie Parker."

Synopsis

Ellie Parker (Naomi Watts) a young Australian actress, must audition for the part of a southern belle for a German director, Smash. His only direction for her is, "Be more raw! Remember we are shooting this on digital video." After this humiliating experience, she has only minutes to get across Los Angeles to Paramount for her next audition, for the part of a Brooklyn junkie whore. As she drives, she literally transforms herself, changing her clothes, putting on makeup, practicing her lines, and fighting with her boyfriend on her cell phone, all while speeding along Los Angeles freeways.

Secret To Happiness

"To fall in love with yourself is the first secret to happiness." - Robert Morely

Your Presence

"Your children need your presence more than your presents." - unknown

T. Jefferson Parker

I went to the booksigning for T. Jefferson Parker's new book. "L.A. Outlaws" at Border's Books in Oakbrook. He talked about how he got the idea for his book and how all of his books are different. I meet him one time previously for another signing. I had him sign his new hardcover and two paperbacks I also bought - "California Girl" and "Storm Runners."

Days Are Scrolls

"Days are scrolls: write on them only what you want remembered." - Bchya Ibn Pakuda

Family Life

"The great gift of family life is to be intimately acquainted with people you might never even introduced yourself to had life not done it for you." - Kendall Hailey

Love Abundantly

"To love abundantly is to live abundantly, and to love forever is to live forever." — Henry Drummond

Lonesome Jim

We watched the DVD "Lonesome Jim."

Synopsis

Jim (Casey Affleck) an aspiring writer runs out of money in New York and returns to the small Indiana town he grew up in to have a nervous breakdown. He doesn't enjoy being around his family and doesn't want to help out at the family business. After his brother ends up in a coma, he takes over coaching his brother's daughter's basketball team and is forced by his father to help out at the ladder factory his parents run. He meets his Uncle Stacey who is using the plant to disguise his drug dealing. Jim meets a beautiful nurse (Liv Tyler) with a precocious son and starts a unsteady romance. Love and patience eventually help him to find some happiness in life.

Happiness

"Happiness isn't something you experience; it's something you remember." - Oscar Levant

Find A Friend

"The kindest way of helping yourself is to find a friend" - Ann Kaiser Stearns

Life

“I cannot live without my life!” – Emily Brontë

Lottery

I finished reading the book "Lottery" by Patricia Wood.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Perry’s IQ is only 76, but he’s not stupid. His grandmother taught him everything he needs to know to survive: She taught him to write things down so he won’t forget them. She taught him to play the lottery every week. And, most important, she taught him whom to trust. When Gram dies, Perry is left orphaned and bereft at the age of thirty-one. Then his weekly Washington State Lottery ticket wins him 12 million dollars, and he finds he has more family than he knows what to do with. Peopled with characters both wicked and heroic who leap off the pages, Lottery is a deeply satisfying, gorgeously rendered novel about trust, loyalty, and what distinguishes us as capable.

When The Solution Is Simple

"When the solution is simple, God is answering." - Albert Einstein

Everybody Can Serve

"Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

A Good Teacher

"A good teacher is like a candle - it consumes itself to light the way for others." — Author Unknown

A Man Isn't Poor

"A man isn't poor if he can still laugh." — Raymond Hitchcock

I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry

I watched the movie "I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry" at my brother's house.

Synopsis

Chuck Levine (Adam Sandler)and Larry Valentine (Kevin James) are two firefighters. They are good friends. However, Larry is a widower (with two small children) and Chuck is single. Larry dares Chuck one day to eat a dead rat, but he falls from the ladder that he was going to the drop the rat from. Chuck saves him but the two are rushed to the hospital and quickly recover. Larry calls in that favor big time when civic red tape prevents him from naming his two kids as his pension beneficiaries. All that Chuck has to do is claim to be Larry's domestic partner on some city forms. They think it will be easy because nobody will ever know. After Chuck agrees to the ruse (though reluctantly so, due in large part to his notorious womanizing), the two men go to Niagara Falls to get married, and Chuck moves in with Larry and his unsuspecting kids. But an official becomes suspicious, and the new couple's arrangement becomes a citywide issue and goes from confidential to front-page news. Forced to improvise as love-struck newlyweds, Chuck and Larry must now fumble through a charade of domestic bliss under one roof. After surviving their mandatory honeymoon and dodging the threat of exposure, the well-intentioned con men discover that sticking together in your time of need is what truly makes a family.

A Goal

"A goal properly set is halfway achieved." - Zig Ziglar