I’ve been meaning to see this, but kept putting it off, knowing it would be an emotional wringer. It had gotten excellent reviews and when I saw it at the library sale, I knew it was a keeper.

As a dinner movie, it didn’t work so well. It begins with the death of the heroine’s mother with subsequent scenes of the girl dealing with her grief. A lump in the throat makes eating a bit difficult. While the story is based on reality, the insertion of a child is a Hollywood invention, but one that works wonderfully well.

Looking at the geese closeup in flight put me in mind of Winged Migration, and I wondered if this film was a source of inspiration for its conception.

The flocks of Canada geese that regularly visit the junior high grounds are back. Now I know I’m going to head over one day and get some pictures.

Dinner? Meat loaf and cauliflower and sugarless apple pie for dessert.

One of the Christmas presents didn’t work out, so I got to pick out a much-needed new Rowenta instead. (Normally, I don’t go for electrical appliances as gifts, but this was a little different.) For some time, I’ve struggled with a substandard iron, but the need for a better one didn’t really surface till I started doing more food photos with various linens as props. I debated whether to go with Rowenta or not because so many people online seemed to be unhappy with their experience.

The linens I pick up at estate sales and such are usually folded. In some cases, they seem to have been folded and kept at the bottom of drawers for centuries. When linens with fold marks started showing up in food magazines, I rejoiced.

Now I have no excuse. When the Rowenta emits a blast of steam from its many vents, my hair is blown straight back. Just kidding.

I needed some for a few food shots. Costco had them by the pound, but upon closer inspection, they were somewhat sad looking, dried and definitely lacking the glisten I was hoping for. However, at Trader Joe’s, a small container was sufficient, with enough sparkle to lend some life to an otherwise bland shot.

Why did I not just buy some pomegranates and scoop out my own? I was busy polishing spoons and forks when I wasn’t trying out my new iron on the large quantities of old linens in my prop boxes.

The Trader Joe skinless, boneless ones in olive oil. With crackers and some steamed cauliflower. A light lunch, but it works for now.

So far, the New Year resolution of fish twice a week is working (is it still only January?). My mom used to cook fresh smelts, and we weren’t given the choice of turning up our noses. I hadn’t eaten canned sardines in years. When I got to college, I found that the fastest way to clear a dorm room was to open up a can. But it helped me get through the dinner hour, and was certainly better than the vending machine sandwiches that had a hint of some sort of meat in the filling.

From Metafilter, some suggestions on how to eat those sardines.

It has been quite a while since I went to one. As I waited in line to buy a couple of bags (standard grocery brown ones, $4 each), the woman in front of me was trying to explain about her shattered bag, and how she wanted one to replace it. The volunteer in charge of bags was having none of it. The woman sighed, looked at her stack of books on the sidewalk, and said again quietly, ‘I can’t help it if the bag came apart. Could you just give me another?’

The volunteer, no doubt crabby from sitting in the cold wind, said, ‘I’m not in the business of giving away bags today.’

Once in the door, I saw three of four other buyers clutching their tattered bags and trying to keep their purchases from tumbling to the floor.

At the video section, I became aware of the soft moaning coming from the elderly gentleman next to me. A closer look indicated he was on oxygen. In the trenches, or rather, the table areas, squeezing between two hefty people firmly parked in their spots was necessary over and over again. People reaching from the other side of the table into the books directly in front of me was common, and no amount of staring down did any good. But it’s all typical behavior at this particular library. I emerged pretty happy.

What did I stuff into my bags? A couple of Harlan Cobens. Three Le Carres. Some Elmore Leonard. A hardback on American antiques. Two books on quilts. A bunch of VHS videos for a friend’s grandchild (A Bug’s Life, Toy Story, Beauty & the Beast, The Little Mermaid, some Poohs). The Dante Club. The Camel Club. The Rule of Four. Flight. In the Bleak Midwinter. A Laurie Colwin. The Killer Angels. Ashes to Ashes. More videos - The Paper Chase. Fly Away Home. Some yoga and exercise ones.

One of the bags started coming apart. It was time to go. Now in the bleak midwinter, I will not run out of reading matter.

The Bruce Willis/Richard Gere one. The library was having a by-the-bag sale, and I tossed it in - why not. We had to keep turning the sound down, but it seemed as if we were turning it higher. Not such a bad film, if you’re easily entertained. I skipped part of the middle, and went back for the finish. Sadly, I’m the only one in the family who likes Richard.

For dinner, I made two potato soups, one with milk, one with Rice Dream. Mine was the watery looking, Rice Dreamy tasting one. Next time I’ll have to add some stuff to enhance the flavors a bit. It was still nice to have a carby soup to go with the cold crab, which was very fresh and tasty.

The junco that frequents the feeder more than others has a deformity of some kind, which forces it to peck at seeds in an awkward way. Today, I noted that it is the only bird that poops in the seeds. Not often, but maybe enough to set off one of its kin, which swooped in suddenly and attacked. A big patch of feathers was torn off, and the poor thing tried to hide inside the birdhouse with the porch. Unfortunately, there is an old nest of twigs in there, so its way was blocked. Interesting that it didn’t try to fly off.

It was still there when I went looking among my birdhouse collection for something more suitable. I set up one that is missing a door, but is appropriate, or will be quite so when I find some bird bedding.

While we were waiting for our crabs (2.99/lb, one day only), an energetic customer at the live fish tank was shouting his order to the non-English-speaking clerk, ‘Tilapia! One tilapia! TI-LAP-I-A! Come on, man. It’s got to be close to the same in all languages!’

Appearances are deceiving. Most of the time, it looks like this, all fluffy and low riding. But once today, it transformed into a much sleeker version, but only for a few seconds. It might be sick, because its heartbeat shakes its whole body, very unlike the other birds. When it finished eating, it rested for a long time, pulsating.

This shot was taken just before sunset at a high ISO, hence the considerable artifacting. Why did I not set up the better camera with the tripod?

Most of them - the juncos, the chickadees, wrens, towhees - regard the tripod as The Monster. And when the bigger camera is attached, then it’s The One-Eyed Monster, to be avoided at all times. Or else they stay, eating really fast with a look of terror, which does not make for a happy picture.

But perhaps time will change things.

A thought-provoking look into the behavior of the passengers and crew of the US Airways flight that landed in the Hudson. Plus a stunning photo.

She takes photos of her child, usually with animals. At her site, she says the animals are not added via PhotoShop.

Bloomberg reports that he might be considering it. Within the article is a quote from an irritated Jobs, highly annoyed at the media scrutiny. Apple stock drops over a point, following drops in previous days. Via Briefing.com.

Watching stocks come back up is gratifying, yet strangely underwhelming.

How do I know? I’m sitting here going, ‘WALL-E! EVA! EVA! WALL-E!’

The next time I get sick, Wall-E goes in the player. For sure, I’ll feel lots better. When he is fully charged up with solar power, he makes the Mac startup sound. That and a thousand other touches make it a wonderful thing.

Leftover spaghetti (the whole wheat kind) and steamed broccoli. Oh yes, we are eating healthy around here.

Of course there was torture in the movie. Every film I watch lately has some, almost as essential as a soundtrack, it seems.

Dinner I took some care with. A few days ago I brined the pork chops, and then because there were other things to eat, didn’t get around to cooking them till tonight. I browned, then simmered them in a garlic broth, which I later reduced. Then I sauteed some zucchini with curry powder. Reheated some small white beans. Added sliced mushrooms to the meat pan juices. Thank goodness we ate during the first part of the movie.

Netflix should have a special notation on films like this. Something along the lines of ‘long, lingering closeups of torture with accompanying prolonged screaming’. Because they should. Would I have watched had there been such a warning? No. I left the room at the line, ‘Give them five minutes, then shoot him in the knee.’ And this wasn’t the one being tortured.

But I came back to watch the end. Most of it is very, very good.

Then there was apple pie, also very good for a sugarless pie.

Two well-brined thick pork chops
Four chickens, raw
One vat of pot roast
Mustard greens
Snow Peas
Fresh shiitake mushrooms

The chickens? While sick, I really wanted some chicken soup. Poaching is something even a sickie could do. You just never know when you might need some good homemade soup, and this way, I can freeze up a lot. Winter’s not quite over yet.

Plus, I had ample time to look through some new cookbooks, some with wondrous recipes for roast chicken.

Having looked through the photo essay book, No Reservations, over the weekend, I retired at about 6:30 p.m. last night with The Nasty Bits. My system is still trying to get used to the new meds, and was in the process of rejecting the lovely salmon dinner. No fair, the appetite just came back a day or so ago.

The portion I read is excerpted here.

Luckily, there was a copy of Sense and Sensibility nearby, and I dove into it as if my life depended on it.

The names were committed to memory: Fra’mani, Boccalone and the restaurant La Ciccia. A family member in Seattle had every intention of visiting Salumi, the cured meats establishment favorited by no less than Anthony Bourdain.

Alas, a snowstorm thwarted the Seattle effort. The family member flew out of Seattle in the nick of time, just before another storm.

The Fra’mani was found at the Berkeley Bowl. A quick trip to the Ferry Building netted a sampler box of Boccalone salamis. A reservation at the restaurant was not to be had, but it is in the plan for the new year.

The recipient was surprised and happy.

Most of the older actors are gone, Redford and Hoffman are rail-thin, but the film stands the test of time very admirably.

I actually needed one of the healing movies we keep around, Red October, Sneakers, etc, so I could mumble along with the dialogue. My choice had been Jumping Jack Flash, but we weren’t sure how to reconnect the vcr. So we watch ATPM on my Mac.

Leftovers for dinner, and because I haven’t eaten much in almost a week, peach pie for dessert.

The good news, of course, is that the antibiotics knock out the bacteria pretty fast. On the down side, the side effects can be annoying. For this one, I’ve had headache, lightheadedness, nausea and for a short time, the red pee.

Even though I’ve spent the morning looking at food photos, there’s no appetite. Just the queasiness. But yesterday, I bought four cans of Select Harvest chicken noodle soup by Campbell’s. If it was featured in the latest Real Simple, it must be okay. No msg, says the label.

Not bad, not too salty.