I'm watching A Charlie Brown Christmas while I get some things organized for the holidays. It's hard to believe it's been as long ago as 1965 when this came out. I've always loved Peanuts. My older brother was a big a fan. We couldn't wait to read the "funny papers" on Sundays. He collected all the books Shultz put out. A couple weeks ago I watched a very good documentary about Charles Shultz' life. He was very interesting person. The show pointed all the connections between himself, the people he knew, and how he related to them and how they showed up in the strip. Many of his old friends and family were highlighted. If you ever get a chance to watch it and you're familiar with Peanuts you'll find it very good. My kids aren't interested at all in Charlie Brown or his Christmas. They never really have been. I guess it was part of my childhood. I tried.

Anyway, one last note. I understand there is an unauthorized biography out there on Shultz that just came out. It sounds mean spirited and I hear the family is quite against it. I don't think I'll ever read it.

I guess if you were to say I had a hobby right now it would be films. Lately, I'm watching a lot foreign films. I watched "Talk to Her" by Pedro Almodovar. It's an amazing complex film. Very artistic. It won the Academy award for foreign films in 2002. Basically it's a drama but there are light hearted moments. It's full of twists and turns. Outcomes you don't anticipate. A story you haven't heard before.

I really enjoy the portrayal you get from the foreign films, the style is so different than what you see from most American films. I also watched Joyeoux Noel this weekend. It takes place in 1914 during WWI when Scottish, German, and French troops called a truce and came together on Christmas Eve. It's a lovely story of humanity. This story has been told in several movies before but I enjoyed this one very much.

Ok, so lastly, I watched "The Lookout" starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt. He's that cute kid who played the teenage alien on 3rd Rock From the Sun a few years back. This is another very interesting movie. It's about a young man who after a car crash has minimal brain damage and how he's forced to adapt to a new life and the criminal situation he finds himself in and works through. There's no fancy computer imaging or anything, just a good story. It also shines a light on how different each and every head injury can be.

Here's a picture of "Frederico" who was the turtle my husband sent to the sea in San Jose Cobos a couple weeks ago. I named mine Marie I mentioned in an earlier post how we all stood behind a line in the sand and set them free at the same time. It was such a simple experience but spiritual in some way.