On This Day...

1732 - Benjamin Franklin began publishing "Poor Richard's Almanac"

1843 - Charles Dickens' classic Yuletide tale, "A Christmas Carol," was first published in England

1933 - Actress Cicely Tyson was born

1960 - Fire aboard USS Constellation, under construction in Brooklyn (50 die)

1963 - Actress Jennifer Beals was born

1972 - Actress Alyssa Milano was born and Apollo 17 splashed down in the Pacific, ending the Apollo program of manned lunar landings

1980 - Actor Jake Gyllenhaal was born

1996 - The school board of Oakland, Calif., voted to recognize Black English, also known as "ebonics"

1998 - President Bill Clinton was impeached

"Everybody - Just Pretend To Be Normal, OK?"

I just finished watching the movie Little Miss Sunshine. Finally. I recorded it on my DVR close to a year ago and just now found the time to sit down and actually watch the entire film from beginning to end.

It has, without a doubt, become one of my favorite movies. It's quirky - without a doubt - and there are some uncomfortable scenes (a heroin-snorting-Grandpa Edwin) and crude language. I loved the messages it subtly (and sometimes not-so-subtly) purveyed about family, differences, acceptance, stereotypes and just life in general.

It was inexpensively made (for approximately $8 million) and not widely seen until a company purchased the rights to it (a la the Sundance Film Festival) for $10 million. It was released in the U.S. on August 18, 2006 (my birthday!) and out on DVD in December of the same year. As of February 2007, it had made over $59 million in the U.S. and over $94 million worldwide - amazing!

2007 Academy Awards won:
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role (Alan Arkin)
Best Original Screenplay

2007 Academy Award Nominations:
Best Picture of the Year
Best Performance by an Actres in a Supporting Role (Abigail Breslen)

Christmas Card For Wounded Soldiers

I've been saving an e-mail that was mailed to me weeks ago by a friend. It suggested that, in December, holiday cards be sent to "any wounded soldier" at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. I loved the idea and knew right away that it was something I was going to do.

As I was starting to finally address my cards today, I pulled up that e-mail and decided to look online to verify the address. It didn't take but one simple Google search for me to learn that sending cards to that address was not suggested. Apparently, for safety and security reasons, any card or package addressed to "any wounded soldier" and not a specific patient would be rejected by the hospital and returned as undeliverable. Instead, this is what they suggest:

Walter Reed Army Medical Center cannot accept packages, letters, and holiday cards addressed to 'Any Wounded Soldier' or 'A Recovering American Soldier'. The U.S. Postal Service is no longer accepting "Any Service Member" or "A Recovering American Soldier" letters or packages. Mail to "Any Service Member" that is deposited into a collection box will not be delivered.

However, through a unique partnership between the American Red Cross and Pitney Bowes Inc., communities across America are invited to mail cards along with personal messages of support to wounded service members at military hospitals around the country.

With the support of the U.S. Department of Defense and Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and with help from Pitney Bowes Government Solutions, the American Red Cross will collect, review and distribute holiday greeting cards to wounded military personnel. For security reasons, the Red Cross will be able to accept only holiday cards but not packages. Red Cross volunteers will receive and bundle the cards, which will be shipped by Pitney Bowes Government Solutions. Then, Red Cross volunteers at the medical facilities will distribute the cards throughout the holiday season.

Please address your holiday cards to:

We Support You During Your Recovery!
c/o American Red Cross
P.O. Box 419
Savage, MD 20763-0419

Be sure to affix adequate postage. Cards must be received no later than December 27. Cards received after this date will be returned to the sender. Again, senders are reminded that "care packages" are not part of the program--send only cards and notes. Also, please refrain from using glitter or any other inserts that would not be appropriate in a hospital environment.

I've addressed mine and hope that anyone who reads this blog will do so as well!

How Do YOU Smell?

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