Welcome to the Misadventures of Widowhood blog!

Welcome to my World---Woman, widow, senior citizen seeking to live out my days with a sense of whimsy as I search for inner peace and friendships. Jeez, that sounds like a profile on a dating app and I have zero interest in them, having lost my soul mate of 42 years. Life was good until it wasn't when my husband had a massive stroke and I spent the next 12 1/2 years as his caregiver. This blog has documented the pain and heartache of loss, my dark humor, my sweetest memories and, yes, even my pity parties and finally, moving past it all. And now I’m ready for a new start, in a new location---a continuum care campus in West Michigan, U.S.A. Some people say I have a quirky sense of humor that shows up from time to time in this blog. Others say I make some keen observations about life and growing older. Stick around, read a while. I'm sure we'll have things in common. Your comments are welcome and encouraged. Jean

Sunday, August 17, 2014

Movie and Lunch Club - The Hundred-Foot Journey



 

Late Friday I had my weekend blog entry ready to post the following morning but the devils of cyberspace had other ideas. Microsoft did one of those annoying upgrades in the middle of the night and every program I opened was like the first time they’d been used including the welcome screen with tutorials. All my settings and preferences were gone and in the process of doing what Microsoft did they wiped out all my documents, e-mail contacts, photos and bookmarks. Hopefully, the computer shop on Monday can get my photos and documents back. I have Carbonite back up but all my files are missing from there as well. They must have done their nightly backup after Microsoft wiped me clean. Probably my computer guru can figure it out. Carbonite is supposed to keep a three month’s worth of backups but I don’t know how to get at them and I’m too frustrated to keep trying.

My Movie and Lunch Club met this week and we had lunch before going to the theater which isn’t our usually habit. But in this case it was a good thing we did or we each would have ordered one of everything on the menu. The Hundred-Foot Journey was a foodie’s film to the core---one reviewer aptly called it food porn---and the restaurant we went to fit right in with that theme with its menu full of unusual things.  I had a smoked salmon and goat cheese frittata with some interesting flavor profiles though I’d never order it again. But I lucked out when we all sat down and I ended up across from the senior hall director who is interesting to talk with and I was in a prime place to see all the pure white, square and oblong dishes come out of the kitchen with their artistically arranged food on top. Even the coffee cups were square. I felt like I was on a set of The Iron Chef.

When I left the restaurant I saw a business near-by called the Funky Buddha and they had a standing chalkboard on the sidewalk that advertised, “Free hugs inside!” On a lark I went in to collect some hugs and I saw a list of classes they teach. Ah, uh…it was a yoga studio with a sense of humor! I didn’t sign up for Not Yo Momma’s Yoga or Shake Your Asana or Funky Buddha Slow Flows but if I was ever tempted to do a yoga class, that’s the place I’d go.

Back to the movie. The Hundred-Foot Journey stars Helen Mirren playing the owner of an elegant French restaurant and a young guy from South Carolina but of Indian descent who plays a gifted, up and coming culinary genius named Hassah.  Also in key roles are Om Puri, a well-known Bollywood actor who plays Hassah’s father and Charlotte Le Bon who takes on the role of a French sous chef. After one-hundred and twenty-two minutes of watching foods being prepared and served and watching the cast shop for produce and seafood I dare say everyone would feel their inner foodie coming out. Even I wanted to go home and chop something and I don't cook very often. Cooking was definitely part of the plot but it was billed as a movie about the clashing of the French and Indian cultures. The movie had some breathtaking panoramic scenery of southern France, too, that made me homesick for a place I’d never been. A subplot of two romances budding between the older stars and the younger stars added more spice to an otherwise cute---but not great---film. We all enjoyed it, though. It was upbeat, colorful, and with flawless acting that made up for the predictable storyline.

Saturday night I went to my first ever couple’s baby shower. It was kind of sweet watching a big, strong muscle bound guy---he runs a fitness center---opening up boxes full of teeny tiny outfits. He’s very happy to be a first-time father. They’ve been trying for a while. I’ve never been to a shower where liquor was served either, or where they roasted a pig and had tons of food. No dainty little salads for this crowd where you’re tempted to get a drive-through hamburger on the way home! I have been to so many baby showers this summer I’ve lost count---six maybe?

Anyway, if you don’t see me for a few days you’ll know my desktop computer is still in the shop and my backup laptop got the same little “gift” from Microsoft. I’m afraid to open it to find out. It’s so easy to get tech overload with all the devices in my life. Have I mentioned lately how much I hate digital TV, which my cable company made us all go to in this area? Thankfully, it’s not just me complaining or I’d feel old and useless. Even young people are having trouble figuring out how to turn their TVs on and off and they grumble just as loud about it as I do. I keep a chart by each TV and write down the sequence of buttons I push and what works one time doesn’t always work another time. Crazy! ©


12 comments:

  1. I keep hearing about this movie!! I guess I'll have to see it too now. Sounds yummy. Stinks about your computer. I HATE when they do those updates. I feel like I want to strangle Bill Gates or something. :/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm serious about this: eat before you go to this movie! You can almost smell the food cooking.

      Put me on the strangle Bill Gates committee. At least they could give you warning what they are doing ahead of time so you could be prepared.

      Delete
  2. Look at you with all these baby showers to attend. Remember last winter when you had to cancel on one event after another because of the snow. I've given a lot of baby showers but roasted pig was not served at a single one.

    I love your description, "homesick for a place I’d never been." That really says it all.

    TVs are ridiculously complicated nowadays. Good grief.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think all those baby shower had something to do with our long winter. LOL

      You can say that again about how complicated TVs. I have three and each one has a different sequence of buttons to put to turn them off and on. Even customer support at the cable company says they are overwhelmed with all the complaints since a month ago when the entire area was forced to go digital. The stupid remote has 57 buttons to screw up.

      Delete
  3. Comcast has been digital for quite a few years. I just have one remote and only have to power on or off. I DO NOT ever use the TV remote, unless I watch a DVD--then, I have a small card of how to turn on the DVD and the TV from TV to AV--it does get complicated. I think I will pass on the movie. I am not much of a foodie and rarely cook anymore. Glad you had a good time though and...I sure could use a hug!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. If virtual hugs counted you'd have a lot of them coming your way including mine.

    The cable company gave us new remotes and told us not to use the old ones. And even though they look the same they said not to mix them up. So I have them labeled.

    I like going go the Movie and Lunch Club but most of the movies aren't ones I'd pick for myself. But it's like a book club where part of the goal is to get you out of your comfort zone and discover new things. In this case I discovered how beautiful the south of France is and how even hugs from strangers are nice!

    ReplyDelete
  5. i saw the preview for that movie when i went to see jersey boys and it looked really good. i'd like to see that and the one about james brown too, can't remember the name now of course. i am ready to go, waiting on my son to pick me up. got a nice email from a cute guy this morning to start my day so i am on a roll honey pie! life gets grand if you let it!

    hugs, bee
    xoxoxoxoox

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Where do you find all these young guys in your life? But I think I know. At the gym, at the pool, at your card games... You do know how to keep busy and there is a lot to do down there. No wonder all the snow birds from up here like to go down there.

      Delete
  6. That movie was on my "maybe" list but now it's a definite. I hate to cook, but love to see others doing it. :)

    Tech issues are the absolute WORST and I cannot believe a software update would cause such havoc! That is definitely awful! Living as I do in Bill Gates/Microsoft's backyard, they get a lot of positive press here, but there are also many detractors. Personally, we switched to all Apple all the time on all our devices some years ago -- and have been mostly super happy with the lack of tech problems overall. Much easier than Windows, in my experience. Good luck to ya!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I just picked up me computer and the tech said what happened is highly unusual. The update Microsoft did set my computer back to factory new. Thankfully, my Carbonite back up restored most of it back....haven't done a thorough check yet to know for sure. I've been using Windows based computers for nearly 20 years and not sure this old pony can learn a new trick to switch to all Apple. The Apple store here is so busy you have to make appointments for tech help and it's on the other end of town which is another reason I don't switch.

    ReplyDelete
  8. How timely! I'm working on a post about having time for cooking and food now that I'm retired, and I could probably be described as a "foodie." In addition, I automatically assume I'll like any film with either Helen Mirren or Meryl Streep, so I'm happy to have your review of this one.
    I'm trying to figure out why my Windows updates don't wipe out my old settings. Do you use Internet Explorer as your browser? If so, you might try downloading Firefox and see if that helps. -Jean

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm the same way with Mirren and Streep. If they're in a movie you can bet it's going to be worth the money. It isn't the kind of movie you want to buy and watch over and over again, though. I read an interview of the young guy who played the up and coming chef and he didn't cook at all before taking the role. He had to learn how to chop and move around in a kitchen---kitchen culture he called it. He's only been in three movies including this one and Mirren told him to always pick roles where he thinks he'll have fun and he said it was fun on this movie set.

      No, I don't use Internet Explorer and have been a fan of Firefox for a long time. The computer shop even checked for viruses, etc...just to be safe. My guru says he's never seen anything like this before and it was definitely triggered by the MS upgrade. My laptop got the upgrade the next day when I turned it on but it didn't effect anything in a negative way. But my internet server was out for five hours! Boy did I feel cut off.

      Delete

Thanks for taking the time to comment. If you are using ANONYMOUS please identify yourself by your first name as you might not be the only one. Comments containing links from spammers will not be published. All comments are moderated which means I might not see yours right away to publish through for public viewing as I don't sit at my computer 24/7.