Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote

I’m a big Audrey Hepburn fan but I was never much of fan of the movie “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” There didn’t seem to be anything to it, just a lightweight romantic comedy. I read an essay about the book, “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” though and how it wasn’t really anything like the movie. It was darker, with an edge. That is more of what I would expect from Truman Capote. So this book has been on my TBR list for some time.

The book is really a novella. And indeed it is darker. Holly Golightly is basically a prostitute. I mean she accepts money from men as a price for her companionship, lots of men (about $35 to $50, to “tip the lady’s room attendant.”) She also gets paid about $100 a week for about an hour of work visiting a crime boss in Sing Sing and giving and receiving coded messages. The book is about the friendship between her and an unnamed narrator over the course of a year or so. They are both tenants in a brownstone. They guys like Holly and they spend some time together and she is a fun girl to be with.

Anyway, she gets in trouble because of the business with the crime boss, and the book ends pretty suddenly and no loose ends are tied up.

I loved the book. It has an edge to it. I just can’t see Audrey Hepburn playing a prostitute though.

I give the book at 3.5 stars out of five. Give it a shot. Your library has it. Won’t cost you a thing. I’ll be reading more Truman Capote. He is most famous of course for “In Cold Blood.” I am not sure that I’m up for it quite yet.

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New Lighting

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What do I find when Sweetie and are looking for new lighting in a lighting store that has thousands of lights?

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Aren’t they beautiful? The only two barstools in the place.

Maybe it would be a little less overwhelming if I went looking for lights in a barstool store? Think so?

No, we didn’t get the barstools.

Ruby Tuesday

Diary of a Wimpy Kid – Rodrick Rules

On a cold, windy, rainy, Saturday afternoon Sweetie, SuperPizzaBoy, and I met up with several of SPB’s school friends and their parents to see Diary of Wimpy Kid – Roderick Rules. (Kudos to Sweetie for putting together the get together!)


Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules Online Trailer

If you have never heard of the Diary of a Wimpy kid then you don’t know any pre-teenage boys. The movie is the second of a series based on books by Jeff Kinney. I haven’t read any of the books but SPB loves them. (They have sold 42 million copies!)

The book is about the trials and tribulations of seventh grader Gregg Hefley who contends with his older fiendish brother Rodrick and a bratty spoiled younger brother as well as a couple of unreasonable parents (including a dad who like most movie Dads is portrayed as a goofball, sniff).

I thought the movie was fun. It covered preteen infatuations, an off again-on again friendship with an older brother, hapless parents trying to maintain control, but featured mainly the constant embarrassment of the never never in between land of a seventh grader. I think the book resonates pretty well with both kids and parents.

Check out the website. Lots of information, fun, and games there. You can even wimp yourself. Here is the wimpy Yogi.

Nice legs, heh? And I took a little artistic license and gave myself some hair and shrunk my gut a little bit.

I give the movie a three out of five. SPB rates it an emphatic loud, yelling five out of five. Its a decent movie for both kids and parents.

Two Toned Weekend Reflections

Last week SuperPizzaBoy and I snuck out to the Fairgrounds for the Car Show. There is nothing shinier than new cars under lights.

There is something about a nice two toned paint job that is really nice. They had the class two tones.

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And the cute two tones.

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And the utilitarian version

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And the family values version

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(I really like the coral color)

They even had two tone cars for a mid life crisis

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Or this

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Do you suppose that this Corvair pickup is unsafe at any speed?

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(I didn’t even know that they made Corvair pickups.)

And how about this for cool?

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Oh, and they had a bunch of shiny new cars at show with friendly salesman and models in short skirts, high heels, and big smiles. These old cars didn’t have any of that, they had old guys with lawn chairs.

Weekend Reflections

The Pot Thief who Studied Escoffier by J. Michael Orenduff

“The Pot Thief who Studied Escoffier” is the fourth crime novel in a series by J. Michael Orenduff. The book is officially debuting at the Left Coast Crime Conference in Santa Fe starting yesterday. Mr. Orenduff was nice enough to give me an Advance Reader Copy of the book.

This book, and the whole series, features Hubert Schuze, a pottery shop owner who both lives and works in the Old Town section of Albuquerque. Schuze is a little bit of a renegade. He kind of has an attitude about laws that he doesn’t like such as prohibitions about against digging up antiquities on public lands. He also doesn’t really trust the authorities too much so when he is accused of crimes such as murder he takes a very active role in proving his innocence.

This time Hubert gets himself involved in a new Austrian themed restaurant starting up in Santa Fe. He starts out as an artisan making ceramic chargers but ends up hip deep in the management and cooking after the restaurants shaky start. Oh yes, he is the chief suspect in two murders so while taking care of the restaurant he is also solving the murders.

In the meantime he heads back to Albuquerque to have happy hour with his friend Susannah to discuss life, restaurant management, crime solving, and various other matters. Schuze doesn’t really conduct his life or solve murders in a linear, logical, stepwise fashion. Things just kind swirl and eddy as he covers this and that but eventually he figures everything out.

This book is marinated in New Mexican flavor from start to finish. It is all about the journey and not so much the destination. It is a leisurely, pleasant, and intelligent read. Orenduff has a smooth writing style that makes it all go down easy.

I give it four stars out of five. You don’t need to have read the other three in the series for this one to be a good read.

Check out the Series Website.

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Little Twerp

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It looks to me like somebody has a chip on their shoulder. I really couldn’t find any connection between twerps and chickens on Google so I don’t quite get this. It makes a striking sign though, especially for a car wash.

Signs, Signs