greetings!

I bake pies now.

Pictured above is technically my third pie experiment and an Over The Top Banana Cream Pie with Heath Bar topping. It called for a Butterfinger topping. However, Benjamin and I are not fans of that candy, so we made the change for the toffee based confection. As I write this, I have not tasted it yet. However, by the looks of it, I think it will be a damn fine pie.

I began conducting pie baking experiments at Thanksgiving when I made an old fashioned Pecan Pie. The entire process from baking the pie to consuming it was so relaxing and rewarding that I knew instantly I had found a new hobby.

When Christmas rolled around, I still had a craving for a pecan pie but I wanted to have a bit more indulgence. So I selected the Alice Columbo’s Race Day Pecan Pie, which adds semi-sweet chocolate and bourbon to the mix. The pie was absolutely divine.

If you’re interested in conducting your own pie experiments, I highly recommend checking out the book, Pie by Ken Haedrich, as it is where I have obtained every recipe thus far.

I have not decided on my next experiment quite yet, but as soon as I do I will be sure to report back on my findings.

what’s the latest scoop?

The Art of Intent

As mentioned in last week’s edition of Sundae Matinee, 2026 will be the year of Rosalie Kicks. As part of this mission, I want to be smarter about where I am spending my time and how I am spending it. I want to be intentional about what I am doing.

Routines/Rituals are IN and IMPROMPTU ACTS are OUT. This past Sunday, I got back in the groove of planning out my week, and it is wild how much this has helped to clear my mind. I fell out of the habit of doing this some time over the summer. Life got chaotic and, instead of taking a moment to regroup, I just kept moving.

I have learned that, without a plan, I am lost. My brain can not function without a list. Without a list my mind can’t focus on a specific task, because there is too much noise. My head gets overrun with thoughts, and having systems in place (such as the one above) help me clear the path and actually get the work done. The first step I have made to take back my time is forming a schedule. On Monday, Wednesday, and half of Friday, I will work on MovieJawn related tasks. Tuesday and Thursday, I will be working on personal projects, with the first one ultimately being the return of my podcast, Cinematic Crypt. My half day Fridays will be reserved for playtime and random (yet intentional) experiments. It feels good to have a strategy, and with enough moxie I believe I can follow through.

this week i am proud of…

Finally reading this book

Catching The Big Fish by David Lynch has been on my to read pile for a long time. Although, as Benjamin (my partner in crime) will attest to, sometimes it takes hearing things multiple times until I actually go ahead and do the thing.

My friend Ashley Jane has been mentioning this book to me for years (in fact she probably told me about at least seventeen times) as she is an avid fan of David’s and a believer in transcendental meditation. However, most recently the book came up not once but twice during two separate interviews I conducted with cast members of Twin Peaks: The Return, George Griffith and Josh Fadem. Unprompted, they both mentioned how important reading this book was to them as well it being their introduction to meditating. I have a thing for the number three, and I am not going to delve further into that (at least not right now) as it is not important to the story here. But know that hearing about this book for a third time was what sealed the deal in terms of me cracking it open this past week.

I was extremely moved by this book. It felt like David was speaking directly to me and in this moment in which I find myself, these words could not come at a more perfect time. I do not say this lightly, but I truly believe reading this book may have changed my life. My plan is to start Monday morning with my first meditation. I look forward to seeing where this journey goes.

This week I recommend…

Watching the A Night To Remember (1958)

I recently caught this flick about the maiden voyage of the Titanic on Turner Classic Movies and found it to be incredibly moving, haunting, and mesmerizing. I truly could not get over the effects that I witnessed. This is a movie I truly hope to see in the cinema one day, as I feel it would be something magnificent to behold. This film has truly has inspired me to get myself back into the Cinematic Crypt, as I want to really dissect how this was made. Simply put: I want to learn everything about this film.

Being that I had never seen it before… Heaven help the next person that attempts to tell me James Cameron is a genius. He lifted his entire Titanic “masterpiece” from this motion picture and the weak additions he did make are only used to (in my opinion) manipulate the audience.

Anyways… more on all of this soon. I am really grateful I have access to Turner Classic Movies because not only do I have the opportunity to catch flicks such as this, but I love the introductions. They have this series going right now in which young kids intro the films with the host - shout out to the young man that shared this movie with us. He was incredibly insightful and knowing that he caught this movie on Filmstruck (RIP) when he was four (he said he was not thirteen), gives me hope for the younger generation.

Thanks for stopping by.

Happy you are here. xx.
goodbye.