The Picture of the Ship

Some of you might be wondering about the picture of the ship in the corner of my blog. This is a ship called the Logos Hope. My son, Ryan, is the Bosun on this ship. He is part of an organization that goes around the world bring books to countries where there are precious few to be found. They also do humanitarian efforts while in the various ports of call. Ryan has been with the ship for almost 2 years now and they are currently in the Caribbean. The picture was taken at one of the ports of call in the Caribbean. I picked this picture because it is a beautiful scene and it reminds me to keep Ryan in my thoughts and prayers.

Movies to See

My wife, Joanne, and I just went to the see the new movie Julie and Julia. It is about the life of Julia Childs. Joanne and I give it a hearty thumbs up. We laughed throughout the movie. It was an interesting portrait into the life of an amazing person. Meryl Streep played Julia Childs and she did an amazing job. She should get an Oscar for that performance. Stanley Tucci played her husband. I happen to think Stanley Tucci is a phenomenal actor and he played the part of the adoring and supportive husband.

When Julia Child was in her hey day I was too young to really appreciate her passion for cooking and her sense of humor. I also hadn't figured out that when I have the time I can really enjoy cooking a good meal. I love to cook meals where you don't have to be precise with the ingredients or you can just be creative and make something up on the fly. After seeing the movie I am now going to be hunting down a copy of her cook book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I am looking forward to trying her recipes out. I am also going to see if I can hunt down some of her old shows on Netflix and watch them. I think I would appreciate her style now.

1 1/2 years ago, Joanne and I had the privilege of going to Europe for Christmas. Our first stop was in Paris where we spent 4 days. Joanne and I absolutely loved Paris. It was fun to see Paris in the movie and know that we too had been there and seen some of those sights. Julia absolutely love Paris. Joanne and I are hoping to go back to Europe in around 3 years and spend a couple of weeks in France and a couple of weeks in Italy.

If you get a chance, see Julie and Julia, the acting is superb and the story is a hoot.

Opening Statements

About 3 or 4 months ago I opened my first social network account by joining Facebook. I have enjoyed connecting with friends and relatives and periodically make comments. My kids have informed me that I am to verbose for Facebook and that I might be better suited to blogging. So, here I am creating my first blog. I have to admit that blogging is probably better suited to my style. I don't write my thoughts down consistently but when I do I tend to ramble on for quite some time about what is on my heart and mind at the time.

I don't know where this blog is going to lead me but I will just start writing as I feel like it and see where it takes me, kind of like a path in a forest that I have never been on, I'll just start walking and see where I end up.