A Brief And Earnest Reflection on 2024

I think I did this for my last blog of 2023 so we’re running it back. 

2024 was my second full year in LA and it was all the more fulfilling. I went through multiple job changes (and unfortunately, changes in health insurance). I had my last day with my favorite student and started working with some other new great kids. 

I had fun with my friends and made some other great new ones. 

I made progress on getting more into the comedy scene out here and produced two recurring improv shows that people seemed to really enjoy. 

And last but certainly not least, I acted in my first and second feature films; both were wonderful experiences that affirmed for me that I’m on the right path. 

Happy New Year!

Rudolph

Resolutions

New Year’s resolutions have always seemed so daunting to me, because they are so hard to follow through with— the second Friday of every January is known as “quitter’s day” because that’s usually the point by which people give up their resolutions. So, in preparing for this new year, I’ve decided I’m setting myself some more vague goals and fun goals rather than commit to something I don’t feel I can handle. 

Here are some of my ideas for what I plan to do in 2025:

1. I want to moisturize more.
2. I want to become a purse wearer in days when I don’t require a backpack, rather than just carrying around the same big bag full of crap I don’t need every day.
3. I want to cook for myself more actual meals instead of just girl dinners (though there’s no shame in a girl dinner).
4. Related to that, I want to make one new recipe for myself per month (I was going to say week but I decided that’s not sustainable for me.
5. I want to find a new form of exercise that excites me.
6. My Goodreads goal is 24 books since I’ll be turning 24 next year.
7. I want to burn more candles.
8. If I see a type of flower or plant at a farmers market that I’ve never seen before, I’m going to get it.
9. I want to make more of my own clothing.

These are all pretty general, but they’re ideas that excite me and things I think I can stick with and commit to working toward, and that’s what it’s all about, baby. 

Remember that you can have fun resolutions, not just stressful ones, and take it as a chance for a new beginning. I know I’m really looking forward to the changes of the new year. 

Happy New Year everybody!

Holly

My Year In Books

I am in 2 ½ book clubs which makes me always behind with my reading! For this blog entry, I thought it might be interesting to do a summary of one of the book clubs.  This club focuses on Historical Fiction. This year, we read ten books.

Time periods: Three took place in the 1800’s, the other seven in the 1900’s (with one dipping into the 21^st century

Locations: Three in Europe, one each in Israel, Canada, Cuba and the Dominican Republic, and three in the US.

Main Characters: *All* of the main characters are female. I am only just realizing this now!

Themes: War (twice), Abortion, Murder (twice), Business, Dictatorship/Politics (twice), Biopic, and Music

Most Interesting/Surprising Thing I Learned: I’ve detailed this below for each book.

Exodus

-        1940’s

-        Israel

-        Depicts the founding of the state of Israel, primarily focusing on the story of Jewish immigrants fleeing to Palestine after World War II and the struggles they faced against British rule and Arab opposition while fighting for a new nation.

-        Takeaway: That between 1946-1948, the British government intercepted more than 50,000 Holocaust survivors seeking to resettle in Palestine and they interned these survivors in detention camps established on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. I do not recall ever learning about this.

Looking for Jane

-        1971, 1980, 2017

-        Toronto, Canada

-        Tells the story of the illegal underground abortion network in Toronto known only by its secret code name “Jane”. The story covers three women in three different generations and the various ways abortion touched their lives.

-        Takeaway: A stark reminder of how much times have changed (and changed again) in a relatively short period of time.

Murder by Degrees

-        1875

-        Philadelphia

-        A pioneering doctor who is one of the first women to graduate the new Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania investigates the disappearance of a young patient who is presumed dead.

-        Takeaway: Loved learning about this time period and this college.

Park Avenue Summer

-        1960s

-        New York City

-        A fictional young woman from the Midwest lands a job at Cosmopolitan magazine under the real-life groundbreaking female editor-in-chief, Helen Gurley Brown. She is witness to the glamorous yet tumultuous world of the magazine while facing office politics, sabotage attempts, and personal challenges

-        Take Away: Although I shouldn’t be shocked, I was blown away by how male management really set Helen up to fail. And yet, she prevailed.

In the Time of Butterflies

-        1938

-        Dominican Republic

-        The story of the four Mirabal sisters who actively resisted the brutal dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo in the Dominican Republic.

-        Take Away: Prior to reading this book, I did not know anything about the politics of the DR, so this was very enlightening.

Good Night Irene

-        1941-45

-        Europe

-        Irene Woodward is a woman who escapes an abusive fiancé in New York during World War II and joins the Red Cross to serve as a "Donut Dolly" on the European frontlines. She and other women operate mobile kitchens called "Clubmobiles" providing food and camaraderie to soldiers facing the horrors of combat, including D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge.

-        Take Away: Again, never even heard about Donut Dollys who were not drafted -- so basically these women signed up to work long hours in the cramped quarters of a food truck, emotionally comforting men while trying not to get sexually abused or shot.  Unsung heroes in my mind.

Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post

-        1900s

-        US mostly

-        Book about the life of Marjorie Post, the daughter of C.W. Post. (C.W. Post was the inventor and founder of Grape Nuts and Post Cereal.)  Marjorie starts off her incredible journey as a young girl apprenticing with her father as he builds his business.  She does many incredible things in her life including, but not limited to, running a very large corporation, overseeing the building and decorating of many homes and yachts (including Mar-A-Lago.  Yes, *she* built it!), opening up soup kitchens during the depression, and building and stocking a hospital ship to serve American soldiers during WWII.

-        Take Away: Marjorie Post accomplished many amazing things in her life, and she did it “backwards and in high heals” as Ginger Rogers is attributed with saying.

Next Year in Havana

-        Today and 1950s

-        Florida & Cuba

-        A Cuban-American woman travels to Havana, where she discovers the roots of her identity—and unearths a family secret hidden since the revolution.

-        Take Away: Never really knew the developments of the Cuban revolution.  Struck me as eerily similar to the Dominican Republic one, though.

Briefly, a Delicious Life

-        1813

-        Mallorca, Spain

-        The book primarily revolves around the time that George Sand and Frédéric Chopin stayed in a monastery. Fun technique in that it is told by a ghost who has been haunting the place since her death at the age of 14 in 1473.

-        Take Away: Learned a lot about Chopin.  I’ve always listened to his music, but up until now I did not know anything about him as a person – including that he was a sickly and irascible guy.

A Most Agreeable Murder

-        1810s

-        England

-        Beatrice Steele is a young woman living in a strict English society and is secretly obsessed with true crime. Of course, she finds herself thrust into a murder mystery when a wealthy bachelor dies unexpectedly at a grand ball she is attending.

-        Take Away: The tale is told in a quirky and ironic way, and it is not based on any real people, so the only thing I got out of this one was a refresher on the Regency Era. But fun nonetheless!

Happy reading!

Eve

Rudolph's Favorite Movies Of 2024

It wouldn’t be an edition of Four Calling Birds if I didn’t share my favorite movies of the year! I’ve seen about 70 movies in theaters this year so I’m feeling good. Let’s gooooooo (in no particular order)…

 

Hit Man

I’m a sucker for Linklater and I’m a sucker for Glen Powell (who also paired up for my favorite movie of all time, “Everybody Wants Some”) so me liking this was probably inevitable. I was lucky enough to see this Netflix movie in theaters at the Egyptian in Hollywood and my one sad note was that more people didn’t get to see it the same way. Hit Man officially launched Glen Powell as a movie star. The scene at the end with the notes app had my audience applauding. Applauding! I can’t think of the last time I saw that happen. Such a blast.

 

Conclave

I like to think of myself as Glen Powell in Hit Man but if we’re being honest I’m probably more of a Cardinal Lawerence. More movies should be about cranky men gossiping about each other. So rarely do we have all of the best boys in one place: John Lithgow, Stanley Tucci, Ralph Fiennes? Give a Catholic a break!

 

National Anthem

Okay, underseen one here that I wanted to give a shoutout. I would’ve missed this in theaters had I not checked my AMC app. A coming of age story in which a downtrodden young man gets hired to help out at a ranch that doubles as an oasis for LGBTQ people. Eve Lindley is magical and should be in more stuff. It’s available digitally and I can’t recommend it enough. Finding your people is everything.

 

The Substance

It’s not a hot take to say that this was insane. One of a few movies I’ve seen in the last few years where it ended and my first thought was, “That was a masterpiece.” Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley give ballsy performances and it absolutely rips. Beautifully shot and it had me reflecting on my relationship with myself and my body. Not for the faint of heart! 

Thanks for reading. 

Rudolph

 

What I Really Want On My Spotify Wrapped

Every year we get a slightly different Spotify Wrapped with different categories and outcomes. There are always fun tidbits but I often feel like there are things missing, so here’s what I missed this year.

        1)    They should definitely bring back the Genre section of wrapped because I like it to tell me that I have consistent taste.

        2)    I want to know how many times each of my songs on my “Most Played” list was fully played through and how many times partially, because otherwise it feels like cheating to only know the winner’s score.

        3)    I wish the info of each category was shown in a Venn Diagram or a spectrum diagram so I can see the distribution of everything.

This is all I can think of at the moment but I’m sure I have more ideas, and if the Spotify executives are reading this for some reason, first, what are you guys doing here, and second, I give you full permission to steal my ideas for next year. 

Let’s Wrap it up!

Thanks for reading!

Holly

The Empty Nest

For years, we have heard people talk about becoming “empty nesters”.  More than talk about it, we know people who have counted down the minutes, relishing the moment when their kids have flown the coop and left home.  Between staggered graduations, COVID and various periods at home after college, we have only been full-time empty nesters for about a year.

Sure, there are some benefits.  There is less laundry to do, fewer mouths to feed, somehow the house doesn’t get dirty as fast.  We can put stuff in the kids’ rooms when we need extra space to stow something.  We can even steal a nap on one of their beds when the master bedroom is in use.  Meal planning (or lack thereof) is certainly easier with only two of us at home.  We can plan a prep a full meal or just do sandwiches.  Or even skip a meal if we’re not that hungry.  By the same token, if we’re not up to cooking, we can order in or go out to grab a bite without it being a major production.  We can make last minute decisions on doing something and just hop in the car and do it.  Easy peasy.  All of that is good.

Also, there’s all of the positive implications of being empty nesters.  It means that our kids are out there living lives, meeting people, experiencing things and all of that is good too.  We’ve spent our lives raising our kids to be smart, independent people who can flourish out in the world.

But that’s just the thing.  My wife love each other and enjoy spending time just the two of us.  But we also cherish time with our kids.  It is precisely because they are so smart, fun, adventurous, funny, thoughtful and many other things that we really like having them around.  They were around for the holidays and it was amazing.  We ate, we laughed, we saw some shows, we watched movies, we played games, we chatted about life, movies, books and other stuff.  It was delightful.  We so enjoy spending time with them.  We like to hear about their lives/friends/adventures apart from us.  We are so proud of them and the people they are becoming.  We can’t wait for the next time we’re all together again.

But in the meanwhile, I think I’m just going to have ice cream for dinner and call that a meal.

Thanks for reading.

Frosty

My Dad's Top Ten (Eve's Version)

Reading Frosty’s blog entry the other day about his father’s top ten favorite things had me pondering my own father’s top ten things.  He passed 19 ½ years ago so it has been a long time since I have witnessed any of them. Consequently, I feel like this is a good exercise.

#10 Trains. Dad loved all different train lines and loved to visit them all over the country. As a family, we have been known to hike to a remote tunnel that has trains trapped in them as a result of the tunnel caving in.  I have vivid memories of that day.

#9 Model Trains. Big train people and model train people often overlap, but not always.  And certainly these two hobbies had different outlets.  Dad loving model trains meant that half of our basement was devoted to a model train layout, train paraphernalia, building equipment, etc.  It also meant that when he passed, I inherited a collection of unusual tools that you would never expect a random person to have in their garage – like dentistry tools and all sorts of teeny tiny gadgets.  Believe it or not, they have come in handy.

#8 Scotch and Milk, my father’s go to drink.  If there was ice in his milk, I knew I could not have a sip because it was definitely spiked.

#7 History.  More specifically, the Civil War.  Dad was always watching programs and reading books about wars.  He also read a lot about WWII, in which he served (as well as the Korean War).  I always wondered if his diligent attention to this particular subject matter was some sort of coping mechanism for having been called to serve, twice.

#6 Our beautiful country.  Each summer, my family would travel cross country via our van and trailer (occasionally venturing into Mexico or Canada). Dad always said we have so much to see in the US, why do we need to go elsewhere. As a result, I am the only person I know who had been to 47/50 states by the time they were 19 years old. (And yes, I subsequently visited the other three.)

#5 Being a firefighter.  Dad was on the job for 39 years in NYC and retired as a Fire Marshall. I think he really valued that brotherhood and the community that came with it.

#4 Cooking and eating.  No question, my father was a messy cook but he was a good one. He cooked lots of German dishes and also loved to cook for his firehouse. There are a few things that he loved that I hated as a child – cantaloupe and nuts for example – that I now actually love.  Except liverwurst.  That is never happening.

#3 Camping.  This one kind of goes with the cross-country travel but not necessarily.  We often went camping for a long weekend in the woods upstate or out at the beach during off-season.

#2 Talking with people.  Dad was always up for a good conversation – with people he knew well or with strangers.  In fact, part of the draw to camping was to be able to share a campfire with neighbors.  Many people have told me over the years that my father was so knowledgeable and interesting to talk to.

#1 His grandkids.  Of course, Dad loved his family.  And he always used to say he enjoyed his friends, but it was more important for him to spend time with his family.  When his two grandchildren came along, he was absolutely thrilled.  He loved to play with them and was always game to be silly with them.  I will never forget the time he and my mom danced around the living room to entertain my son, with Dad playing a toy ukulele and sporting a kiddie cowboy hat. Or when he entertained my daughter on his lap for the entirety of a very long and crowded Christmas mass.

Thanks, Dad, for the memories.

Eve