greetings!

This week I started a new book that was not in the initial stack I showed a couple weeks ago.

The Let Them Theory came into my life while visiting a Barnes and Noble store location in search of finding MovieJawn on the newsstand (in the flesh, if you will). It was during one of these missions that I stumbled upon The Let Them Theory on one of their highlighted book tables. I began reading the first page and soon found myself flipping to the second. In my effort to use the public library more, I set the book down and did a quick search to find that Philadelphia library had it in stock. I placed The Let Them Theory on hold before I left the store.

At the present time, I am forty pages in and find the concept and ideas described in The Let Them Theory to be curious. The meaning behind the “Let Them Theory” is that one does not try to control other people’s actions and instead focuses on oneself. How freeing! The more I read about the idea to “Let Them” I was reminded of my love for the song, “Let It Go” from the animated film, Frozen.

I only recently watched Frozen for the first time in May. Prior to this, for no particular reason, I had actively avoided viewing it. All it took was a plane ride to Paris, France and the impending visit to Frozen Land at Disneyland Paris to get me to cross this picture off my watchlist. I may be a lot of things, but a philistine I am not, and there was no possible way that I would step foot in Elsa’s castle without first witnessing the movie.

The song “Let It Go” has become a mantra of sorts as I forge this new path I am on. Since watching Frozen, I have found that when the nerves or the fear starts to creep in, all I need to do is: LET IT GO. It is a reminder that the past is in the past, LET IT GO. The things that didn’t work, the negative voices, the Sunday scaries - these are all weights and heavy feelings that I no longer need to carry around, I must LET IT GO.

what’s the latest scoop?

a new Sunday ritual

My friend Liz (CinemaSips.com) is such an admirable person. She inspires me quite a bit. I have had the pleasure of visiting her beautiful home twice, and it is a place that I often dream of jaunting to again. Not that it would be a problem, as she and her husband Chris have told me I am always welcome… there is also the fact that I have access to their spare key (which I may have purposely took home) as part of my growing key collection (read more about that here). The reason though that I bring this all up is because during one of my visits I was able to participate in their weekly cocktail hour.

Essentially, this is the practice of listening to a vinyl record (in its entirety) while enjoying an array of small bites, a lovely drink, and chit chat. It is a ritual that Liz and her partner in crime do each and every week. It has been deemed sacred time and no one is able to interfere or commandeer it. This idea has been in the back of my mind for a while.

At the start of the year I participated in a witchy ritual of sorts in which I wrote down ten wishes. I burned nine of them and sent the ash into the world for the spirits to handle. One of the wishes I kept and that was the one I was to take action on. Pictured above is the wish: I will put Ben and I FIRST - year of Kicks and Ben.

Given my wish, I have decided to start a new Sunday ritual for Benjamin and I that will begin this evening and is inspired by The Lockes. Our Sunday ritual, which is presently unnamed, will consist of a movie and a themed cocktail. Afterwards we will have a discussion about what we witnessed. I am very much looking forward to this and will be using these two books as our guides, both of which Liz Locke reviewed for MovieJawn (links below):

Noir Bar
by Eddie Muller

Forbidden Cocktails
by André Darlington

We selected a new to us noir from Eddie’s book, the 1956 A Kiss Before Dying, for our first watch. This film looks fantastic and I am always game for a noir that is in color! I am so looking forward to this evening and the many more that follow. I hope to even one day have a themed dinner to go along with the drink and maybe even dress up… but let’s just take one step at a time, shall we? For the moment though: Do not bother knocking on Sunday evening, because Ben and Kicks are busy watching a movie.

this week i am proud of…

lots of stuff

MovieJawn is at Barnes and Noble
The movie magazine, MovieJawn, that I publish and serve as Editor in Chief of is now available at Barnes and Noble. I am pretty excited to have this thing I create with a bunch of rad people now available all across the United States (380 stores to be exact, including Hawaii!). I can’t wait for a budding cinephile to find it and realize they are not alone! Find MovieJawn at a store near you here. Don’t hesitate! to seek out our latest issue, featuring Cinematic Hotels! It has already sold out at four Barnes and Noble stores. (!!!) You can also purchase directly from MovieJawn here

The Morning Pages
Another week down in terms of completing the morning pages. What are the morning pages? Find out here. At the end of this week I noticed that I am starting to enjoy this daily ritual. I was not quite sure if this practice was working as intended until I read in this week’s Artist Way check-in: If you’re writing the morning pages they are working for you. And well, this statement is a fact. Each day after I complete the morning pages I feel as I have swept out all the cobwebs, junk, and dust bunnies that have been rattling in the pink bean. This helps me make room for the things that matter and achieve a focus for the day.

Cinematic Crypt
Things continue to progress with the Crypt and I could not be happier. One of the roadblocks that was keeping me from moving forward with the project was the studio space that I was planning to use for filming. It was an absolute mess after our bathroom remodel (which occurred close to a year and a half ago). Well, I am happy to report that I got it cleaned and ready for production.

Additionally, this past week I met with Shayna Davis who will be the cinematographer and editor of my program. We discussed the overall style and aesthetics of the show, and most importantly set a recording date for August. I also met with my fellow Classic Coroner and fellow crypter, Ashley Jane Davis to talk about her role on the show and ideas for new tunes she is cooking up for the revamp. Teaser airs: September 4 and The First Episode airs: September 18.

The Artist Date
This past Tuesday I went on my second Artist Date (what is this? find out here) at another Parisian inspired location in Philadelphia, La Maison Jaune.

I enjoyed a delectable egg and cheese croissant and an iced tea called a love potion. I have really been enjoying visiting new to me places in my city and look forward to where I will find myself this upcoming week.

Beyond The Bite
On Wednesday, I recorded the final installment of the video show, Beyond The Bite that I have been working on with my pals, Kate Beach and Shayna Davis. For the past seven weeks we have completed recaps of the AMC program, The Vampire Lestat. You can catch it on MovieJawn’s YouTube here. It has been so much fun that we decided to continue and complete recaps for the first and second season as well. Stayed tuned for more info on that - we hope to make a return in October.

this week i recommend…

The Pirate (1948)

What’s it about? 
Manuela (Judy Garland) is betrothed to her town’s wealthy mayor, Don Pedro Vargas (Walter Slezak). However, her heart truly belongs to the legendary pirate, Macoco. While visiting a seaside port the night before her wedding, Manuela has a run-in with Serafin (Gene Kelly) a charismatic actor that serves as a leader of a traveling troupe of performers. He instantly falls for Manuela and does not allow anything to stand in his way of winning her love.

Why I recommend: This is another great watch compliments of Ambler Theater. I truly felt like I escaped while watching this colorful romp of a picture. My three favorite things: Witnessing Judy Garland have fun - her comedic timing was amazing and she truly lit up the screen. Gene Kelly’s costumes were something to behold. Walter Slezak gave a marvelous and entertaining performance that had me immediately look up his filmography. I would be remiss if I did not mention his exquisite ensembles as well.

Thanks for stopping by.

Happy you are here. xx.
goodbye.