Disappearing Acts the movie - brief movie review

Disappearing Acts the movie stars the actress Sanaa Lathan as the character Zora, named after the author Zora Neale Hurston and actor Wesley Snipes as the character Franklin.

Zora considers Franklin to have a very “dignified” name and questions “ruin”ing his name by calling him Frankie, his preferred nickname.

Zora moves into a refurbished brownstone in Brooklyn, New York and Franklin helps her with moving her belongings in. He, himself was employed by a contractor to complete some of the work on the brownstone especially the wood flooring. It is on this day that Zora and Franklin are meeting for the first time. Zora and Franklin make plans to meet up again the very next day. Although he is late with that meeting, Franklin does eventually show up and catches Zora grabbing her dinner at a Chinese food takeout restaurant. She is annoyed because she felt like she was stood up by him for hours but soon he gets her to warm up to him.

It is not long before Zora and Franklin have a budding romance. They have a strong chemistry and are very romantic with each other but they also enjoy being goofy together and playing games such as scrabble.
Zora is a school teacher with aspirations of being a successful singer / songwriter as well. Franklin supports her in her dreams and even buys her a piano as a gift, although he is struggling financially.

It eventually turns out that both Zora and Franklin are keeping secrets from each other. Zora struggles with the medical condition Epilepsy and is embarrassed in the aftermath of Franklin witnessing her have a seizure. She later explains to him that most of the men that she tries to have relationships with have not been able to handle seeing her in that condition. Franklin sweetly and compassionately shows her that he is not like that and that he is there for her.

Franklin also keeps secrets from Zora that are very difficult for her to deal with when they are revealed.
There are lessons to be learned here about truthfulness and full disclosure in relationships. Honesty can prevent so much heartbreak. For Zora, there is a lot of settling for a less than ideal scenario. Zora and Franklin have a romance but it is far from a fairytale romance. There are many ups and downs and dramatic moments within their story...

Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Interview Ansel Elgort with a mention of the movie Men, Women and Children

Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Interview Ansel Elgort

In a recent interview with Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee, the actor Ansel Elgort spoke about his gratitude for his movie roles in the movies The Fault in Our Stars and Divergent that catapulted him into greater fame and higher visibility. He spoke about how he got his start acting on the stage in theater and dancing. He has performed in a rendition of The Nutcracker ballet for example.

In the interview, Ansel Elgort also made mention of a lesser known film role that he has had, in the 2014 movie, Men, Women and Children. He touted it as a great movie that not that many people saw. I could not recall ever even hearing about this movie Men, Women and Children until Ansel Elgort mentioned it during this interview.

Now, I’ve looked up the movie trailer for Men, Women and Children on YouTube and I have the movie Men, Women and Children in mind for possible movies to see soon. Jennifer Garner and Adam Sandler also star in this movie. If I end up watching the movie pretty soon, I’ll probably post a review, sharing my thoughts on the blog.
Based on the trailer, the movie Men, Women and Children looks like it will be an interesting and somewhat sad movie and it’s now on my radar to watch sometime soon.

Boo - A Poem

Boo – A Poem

Cooperate.
Negotiate.
Communicate.
No matter what
I do.
I just have to suffer
through
the way you treat me,
boo.
Well, I boo you!
I have been your audience
but this is not entertainment for me
you see.
You have my reassurance.
I boo you.
You suck man.
You have been boo’ed
because you screwed up
this whole situation.
You make simple things in life
complicated
because you feel motivated
to do so
but I do not
In case you forgot.
I am so tired
of being a doormat.
That was never
part of my plan.
You are completely unreasonable
and you are that way
with pleasure.
Well, I’ll dust myself off
and shine myself up.
I know that I’m a treasure.
You slapped my other cheek
just for good measure.
I turned the other cheek for you.
There is not doubt that that is true.
I tried.
I did.
I tried.
I cried.
I did.
I cried.
She tried, she cried, she died.
Is that all
that one would
be able to say
about me?
No.
I am so much more.
It is sad
that this experience
has not been folklore.
It’s been very real.
I really need to heal.
My joy you will not steal.
I can say that
like I own it
but damn,
I can’t control it.
You stole my joy.
You really did.
It’s like it went and hid.
But now I need to find it
even if I can’t find you.
Bye boo.




Copyright - Journey *

Oprah Winfrey’s Morning Routine

Oprah Winfrey’s Morning Routine
So, how do some of the most successful moguls spend their mornings? Wouldn’t we all like to know?
Are they super- efficient with time? Do they have some secrets to share about how we can be too?
I’ve mentioned in numerous hubs on HubPages and blog posts on Blogger that sometimes, YouTube is my form of entertainment instead of regular television. Recently, on YouTube, I stumbled upon the vlog of a YouTube video content creator that is a fan of Oprah Winfrey’s and upon reading a book written by Oprah Winfrey, she decided to try out the daily morning routine that Oprah discusses in the book.
It turns out that much of Oprah Winfrey’s morning is spent on self- care. She wakes up around 6 am each morning with an ‘internal clock’, not an alarm clock but gets to work responding to emails and doing business related things around 9am. She commits approximately 9am to 12 noon each day on those business related items especially email communications.
Before 9am, Oprah Winfrey commits much time to meditation and expressing gratitude, eating a good breakfast, and exercising for example.
In this interesting YouTube video that I stumbled upon, a young woman describes her attempt at Oprah Winfrey’s morning routine that she learned about from Oprah Winfrey’s book, I Know This Much is True.
The young YouTuber said that she already has her own daily morning routine that includes prayer so it was a challenge for her to switch it up and try Oprah’s morning routine but she decided to go ahead and do it.
Some things that she acknowledged include:
• Oprah Winfrey typically wakes up between 6:02 and 6:20am daily and naturally, without the use of an alarm clock.
• The young YouTuber also usually wakes up around 6am but she uses an alarm clock.
• Oprah starts her morning with 20 minutes of “expressing gratitude”.
• The young female YouTuber also says morning prayers
• Oprah lets her dogs out and does a workout (20 minutes on elliptical and 30 minutes on treadmill).
• The young YouTuber has no dogs or cats but quips that she does have plants to keep alive so she waters her plants and also does a workout similar to Oprah Winfrey’s
After a shower is breakfast.
The breakfast the YouTuber enjoyed preparing for herself in this video clip is a breakfast of :
• scrambled eggs,
• sweet potatoes,
• tomatoes,
• spinach,
• red grapes,
• green grapes
• and banana slices
In addition to highlighting some of her favorite breakfast foods, the young YouTuber mentioned loving the chai tea beverage (Tazo, available at Target). She likes to mix the Tazo chai tea powder with almond milk and enjoys this drink.

This YouTuber lists her name as Shahd Batal and her video clip called "I tried oprah's morning routine and..." is going strong at 179,000 views and counting.

It was interesting to watch.

Oprah Winfrey interviews Michelle Obama for Elle magazine December 2018 issue. They discuss Michelle Obama’s memoir, Becoming.

Oprah Winfrey interviews Michelle Obama for Elle magazine December 2018 issue. They discuss Michelle Obama’s memoir, Becoming.
Oprah Winfrey and Michelle Obama discussed Michelle Obama’s new memoir, Becoming.
Here is a synopsis of the interview in the magazine. Some of the poignant things that Michelle Obama says to Oprah Winfrey are, “Like it or not, we are role models.” She wrote her memoir, Becoming keeping that perspective in mind. People look up to her and many of the people who will purchase her book and read it look up to her.
Michelle Obama speaks of her humble beginnings growing up as a kid in the south side of Chicago. She looked at her family like they were a square, her brother, her parents and her making up the four corners of the square. She jokes that there was just a small partition between where she and her brother slept and they would throw a sock over it, saying, “I’m up. Are you up?” and chatting in general.
Michelle was very studious and hard on herself in school. She says that her mom thought she was a little “extra”.
Michelle wanted to be smart, exceed expectations and not perpetuate stereotypes that made assumptions about kids like her, from the south side of Chicago, heading for failure.
Michelle Obama says that she laid out her plan to go to law school but she did end up not particularly enjoying being a lawyer.
Furthermore, Michelle Obama explains that when she met and married former President Barack Obama, there were challenges that needed to be overcome. He traveled a lot, she needed his support and had to learn how to express that she needed his support.
When it came time for Barack Obama to run for President of the United States, he made sure that it would be a positive experience for the whole family.
Michelle Obama talks a bit about being thrown into the spotlight and maintaining a public image. She discusses how everyone was suddenly paying attention to what she was wearing and she had not expected to be scrutinized so muh. This increased her interest in fashion choices. She hired a fashion stylist that she had previously known from a boutique that she had often shopped at.
• Now that former First Lady Michelle Obama has moved out of the White House, even her dogs have had to get used to the change. In the interview, she mentions the two dogs’ surprise to hear the neighbor dogs barking in the distance. There was none of that at the White House.

• There is still a high level of security at the Obamas’ new home and they have been reminded to close the window that they should not keep open. If the window is open, they might get a call with the reminder to close it!

Former First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama highlights her humble beginnings, her studiousness and her resilience when discussing her life story.

In Bangladesh

In Bangladesh

Brothels in Bangladesh

Sadly, the world can be a dark, dark place. There is a location in Bangladesh comprised of all sex workers. An average of 1600 women provide prostitution services to approximately 3000 men daily.
In a documentary video on YouTube, posted by The Guardian, some of the women tells their stories. Many of these Bangladeshi women remain as sex workers generationally perhaps because they feel like there is no way out and nothing else that they would be able to do. It is very tragic. It is not rare for there to be a grandmother, a mother and a daughter all working in the sex trade at this location in Bangladesh. One thirty year old woman tells her story of how she was kidnapped at eight years old, brought to this place and sold there. She had been offered just two chocolates by a woman who promised to give her good things to eat and was lured to follow the woman in the kidnapping. The people that bought her for around 400 pounds had her work off her “debt” in the sex trade and now she continues living and working there as an “independent sex worker”.
This short documentary video of just approximately 12 minutes highlights the tragic circumstances that these women and children are in.
The men who flock to the area to buy sex show no remorse for their actions with one man being interviewed saying that he does not feel bad about it. He does not see the sex workers as victims in all of this. Footage in the video shows that nine and ten year old children do have some awareness of what their mothers and perhaps grandmothers are doing and what they might be being “groomed” for as well. One young girl holds her little sister’s hand and walks swiftly to school with the fear that one or both of them might be kidnapped.
One nine year old little girl says of herself and her peers, “We just want to play” and shows the camera crew her favorite location, a field for playing. It is clear that many of the children are feeling stress and anxiety as they are unsure of their futures and unsure of whether they will be able to escape the type of work that has become tradition in their families, prostitution.
Sex outside of marriage is discouraged and considered taboo in much of the country of Bangladesh but in this particular area that has become known for prostitution, ‘business’ continues.

Relevant video clip(s):

(most relevant to the synopsis written above) The Guardian: The Children Trapped In Bangladesh's Brothel Village : https://youtu.be/AFSCdWaH9kg


From Al Jazeera English , Bangladesh's Biggest Brothel : https://youtu.be/AFSCdWaH9Kg

CRISIS IN VENEZUELA

“Breaking Point: Venezuela’s Horrific Food, Medicine Shortage: Part 1” & “Breaking Point: Venezuela’s Horrific Food, Medicine Shortage: Part 2” – Review

Crisis in Venezuela
Having watched several documentaries about the crisis in Venezuela, it is truly heartbreaking to find what the people of Venezuela are going through. Many are leaving the country out of desperation and some are receiving permission to do so even on expired passports because they have no choice. Other countries in South America such as Columbia have offered some Venezuelans refuge. In Venezuela, there is a major food crisis. There is few jobs available, low wages, hyperinflation. People do not have enough to eat. In Venezuela, the people who are sick and in need of medicine are not able to get the medicines at the hospital. ABC news reporting calls the medicine and food shortages “horrific”.
An ABC news report, titled “Breaking Point: Venezuela’s Horrific Food, Medicine Shortage: Part 1” (published on YouTube Feb 15, 2017) makes mention of
Hugo Chavez’s “failed socialist government”
and an interview with a citizen of Venezuela reveals “There is no quality of life here.” “Under the new President Maduro, the descent into chaos has accelerated.”
Many of the school children go to school hungry and tired. A teacher was interviewed and she stated that she herself had not eaten dinner the previous night. Her son ate but she did not. She (Vanessa) and her husband, Adolpho and son had to sell their car to survive. Adolpho is a teacher as well. While many teachers in Venezuela are missing a lot of school days as they go to wait in line for hours to find subsidized food at a cheaper price so that they can feed their own children, Vanessa and Adolpho continue to go to work consistently every day as teachers. It is a two hour commute for them. They whole family (Vanessa, Adolpho and their son) commute together, first hitchhiking part of the way and then catching a bus. Vanessa and Adolpho alternate eating on different night to make sure that their son gets to eat every day.
Some of the stories of the people in Venezuela are truly devastating and sad. According to the ABC news report, Venezuela now leads as the country with the most requests for people seeking asylum to go elsewhere. China is in second place.

The ABC news reporters feared for their safety as they were uncovering information that the government of Venezuela does not want the world at large to know about. One woman approached the camera men and told her story, saying that she lost thirty pounds in the past year simply because there is not enough food to eat. She is sorrowful and let the journalists and camera crew know that most people will not speak up because they feel like they are gagged by the government militias. The people can potentially be harmed for speaking up.
An ABC journalist reports that “In this chaos [in Venezuela], the only thing thriving is the black market”.
An interviewee that did not want his face shown on camera said that the corruption starts at the top and only a fraction of the supplies (such as food in the supermarkets and medicine in the hospitals) that are supposed to get to the people are actually getting to them.
Sometimes donations of food and medical supplies come in from places such as Miami, Florida, USA but the hospitals for example are under military control in Venezuela, with armed guards and they want to take control of the donated medical supplies at the hospitals.

Video clip:




“Breaking Point: Venezuela’s Horrific Food, Medicine Shortage: Part 2”
This ABC news broadcast started in the city of Caracas, Venezuela but the reporting crew was advised to go to the periphery, to cities such as Valencia, Venezuela to see how bad things were really getting in Venezuela. News reporter Matt Gutman was taken to Valencia, a city of 2 million people by a doctor that wanted to help shed light on what is going on at the main hospital there. Matt Gutman reported that the hospital is providing only the doctor and the bed. Anything that the patient needs need to be provided by the family of the patient including surgical gloves, gowns and other supplies.
Matt Gutman went on say that that while reporting is not a crime in Venezuela, it can be turned in to one, it can be considered one. Much of his equipment such as i-phone was confiscated and he was taken to a police station where he was intimidated and informed that the SABIN, the most notorious secret police agency in the country of Venezuela could get involved in his case. Matt Gutman speaks passionately and wants the viewers of the broadcast to be aware that when you think of the SABIN, you can readily think of the KGB or other such notorious agencies. Matt Gutman was treated as a possible US spy and was asked repeatedly if he was a part of the CIA. He asserts that right now, Venezuela is looking at the USA like the USA is the enemy in many ways and it is a “Cold War”.
Carlos Lauria, Program Director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, attested when interviewed that Venezuela ranks clearly as having one of the most repressive governments in the entire Western hemisphere. He notes that in Venezuela, news coverage is censored and any news reporting on issues deemed sensitive can be considered like an attack on the government of Venezuela.


Video clip:


After I watched, “Breaking Point: Venezuela’s Horrific Food, Medicine Shortage: Part 1” & “Breaking Point: Venezuela’s Horrific Food, Medicine Shortage: Part 2”, there were links available to many other video clips on YouTube. One such video clip that I clicked on discusses the crisis of starving abandoned pet dogs in Venezuela. Sadly, an overwhelming number of people in Venezuela have had to relinquish their pets because they can no longer afford to feed them. The dog food sold in the stores is so expensive. Some people committed to volunteerism help to start shelters for these dogs but there is just so much that they can do. The dogs remained mostly emaciated, in starving condition. It is truly tragic.
According to a local veterinarian, some of the pets are even abandoned at the pet store. People arrive under the pretense that they are dropping their dogs off to have them groomed and never go back to pick the dogs up after the grooming service is complete.

[Video clip:] https://youtu.be/Y-uRYiimjdk


Here is another video clip, this one from the Associated Press, addressing the issue of abandoned pets in Venezuela.
https://youtu.be/cnRylczFKXQ




PRAYING FOR VENEZUELA.

The Peacock - Fashion Inspiration

I recently chaperoned a field trip for my oldest son's elementary school class. The field trip was a visit to the Greensboro Science Center in Greensboro, North Carolina. The last time that I had gone there was last year around this time. Once again, there were lots of interesting animals to see. The Greensboro Science Center is a nice place to visit.This time around, an interesting thing to see was a big, bold and colorful peacock that would hop and leap right over its enclosure and come very close to the people observing it. What a beautiful peacock it is with brilliant and vibrant colors including blue & turquoise blue. The experience of seeing the rich colors of the peacock close up reminds me of all the peacock inspired fashions there are out there. Once upon a time, I even had a pair of long dangling earrings that were designed to look like peacock feathers.Below are some photos of the beautiful peacock that I saw at the Greensboro Science Center.

With a little bit of research, you will find that so many places sell peacock inspired fashion.
• Poshmark
• Venus
• Roawe
are all examples.
I particularly like the Roawe Women’s Elegant Peacock Embroidery Bandeau Prom Dress in Navy, selling at a cost of $75 and available in sizes XS-3XL. It is a simply beautiful dress! This particular dress is available in other colors including nude, royal blue and purple but the navy blue is definitely my favorite.
In the navy blue color, this dress is very elegant and can surely be worn by an older adult for a wedding, special dinner or other formal function not just by a teenager for a prom. Roawe also boasts free shipping and no tax charge on this dress! You can find this dress on the website, www.roawe.com .

Photo credit: www.roawe.com