(C) Christopher Walken

Ronald Christopher Walken just celebrated his 69th birthday on Friday, March 31st.

One of my favorite actors of all time.  I've seen 95% of his work.  He is a phenomenal and versatile actor, whose body of work spans from humorous to the creepy.  This man can play anything and everything, and he has.

I made a conscience effort to watch all of his movies.  Here are some recommendations:

The Happiness Cage (The Mind Snatchers) - 1972

Deer Hunter - 1977

Pennies From Heaven - 1981

Who Am I This Time? - 1982

Brainstorm - 1983

The Dead Zone - 1983

At Close Range - 1986

King of New York - 1990

The Prophecy - 1995

What to Do in Denver When You're Dead - 1995

The Funeral - 1996

Suicide Kings - 1997

$5 a Day - 2008

The Maiden Heist - 2009

Although I love him as an actor, there were a few misses:

The Addiction - 1995

New Rose Hotel - 1998

The Prophecy 3: The Ascent - 2000

Romance & Cigarettes - 2005

Domino - 2005

If nothing else proves his talent, he was in the worst movie ever made and still had one of the best line ever uttered on screen:

Det. Stanley Jacobellis: Man, you know what I'd love to do, right now? Go down to Marie Callender's, get me a big bowl, pie, some ice cream on it, mmm-hmm good! Put some on your head! Your tongue would slap your brains out trying to get to it! INTERESTED? SURE? 

You're probably scratching your head at that quote.  But it was the delivery that made it golden!

(B) Buried in the Bronx

I live in Bronx, New York.  I've lived here all of my life.  People don't know much about the Bronx other than what they see on the theater screen.  However, The Bronx has a lot to offer.  I am also a lover of cemeteries, I know, it's a strange fascination.  There are a lot of famous people buried in The Bronx.  Here are a few:

Frankie Lymon

September 30, 1942 – February 27, 1968

Known for being the lead singer of the group "The Teenagers".

Lymon, a Baptist, is buried in Saint Raymond's Roman Catholic Cemetery in The Bronx.

I found it interesting that I was not the only one who placed a stone on his grave.  There were quite a few when I got there.

Billie Holiday

April 7, 1915 - July 17, 1959

Billy Holiday is buried in Saint Raymond's Roman Catholic Cemetery in The Bronx.

Diana Barrymore

March 3, 1921 - January 25, 1960

Born Diana Blanche Barrymore Blythe, she was the daughter of actor John Barrymore and his second wife, poet Blanche Oelrichs.  She is buried next to her mother at Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx.

*Only partial headstone shot taken as it is very difficult to take picture at Woodlawn Cemetery without permission.

Joseph Pulitzer

April 10 1847 - October 29, 1911

Born Pulitzer József.  best known for posthumously establishing the Pulitzer Prizes.  He is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx.

Miles Davis

May 26, 1926 - September 28, 1991

American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer.  He is buried at Woodlwan Cemetery in The Bronx.

(A) April Fool (that would be me)

He got me. My friend Paddy got me this morning at 6:58am EDT.  I was just waking up and my phone bleeps with a message. It read...
"OMG, turn on the news, the elem(entary) school is on fire!"
I flew out of my bed and ran to the TV. I flipped through channels and saw nothing. I texted him back and asked which channel.  He writes...
1....
So I turn to channel 8 (which is 1 some towns and 8 in others).  The he texts me back saying
April....
I knew then it was an April Fools joke.  He's a dead man!!!

The French call April 1 Poisson d'Avril, or "April Fish." French children sometimes tape a picture of a fish on the back of their schoolmates, crying "Poisson d'Avril" when the prank is discovered.

Ancient cultures, including those of the Romans and Hindus, celebrated New Year's Day on or around April 1. It closely follows the vernal equinox.  In medieval times, much of Europe celebrated March 25, the Feast of Annunciation, as the beginning of the new year.

In 1582,Pope Gregory XIII ordered a new calendar (the Gregorian Calendar)  to replace the old Julian Calendar. The new calendar called for New Year's Day to be celebrated Jan. 1. That year, France adopted the reformed calendar and shifted New Year's day to Jan. 1. According to a popular explanation, many people either refused to accept the new date, or did not learn about it, and continued to celebrate New Year's Day on April 1. Other people began to make fun of these traditionalists, sending them on "fool's errands" or trying to trick them into believing something false. Eventually, the practice spread throughout Europe.

12 WEEKS

Beverly & I in Harlem
Originally uploaded by kelsokraft

I have 12 weeks until my birthday. I have been slacking off in the weight loss department. This picture of me is from August 2011, but I look no different. In this photo I weigh approx 205 lbs. OK, I am six feet tall, but it is still overweight.

I currently weigh 203 lbs (got on the scale this morning), so since I started my weight loss journey in January I've lost 3 lbs.

I'm kicking into high gear. They say a safe weight loss is 1 lb a week. That means in 12 weeks I should be down to 191 lbs.

It is so hard t lose weight at the age of 40+. In the past I would have lost the weight in aboout six weeks.

I'm also not thinking 'diet'. I'm thinking 'health'. I am excersising for 1 hour a day, this is usually walking about 3 miles at a 3.5 to 4.0 pace. Either on the treadmill or outside (I alternate). When I have some energy, I will lift weights at night.

Although I am going for the 12 lb weight loss in 12 weeks, I do realize that if I start lifting, I may not get there, however, if my waist line shrinks, then that is also a sign that I'm moving in the right direction. I measured my waist and to my horror it is 39.5 inches. If my waist is a 36 by the end of 12 weeks I will be happy (that's sad).

OK...contract to myself. 12 lbs in 12 weeks and/or a 3.5 inch waist loss.

Wish me luck.

Non-Fiction List

I was going through some non-fiction lists, and although they were very interesting and helpful, I couldn't help but notice, a lot of the stuff I've read in the past and really enjoyed were not on these lists.  It seems only prize winning books get on most lists.  But what about those books that are in the back of the dusty library shelf? What about those books that people don't know exist?  What about those books about people nobody knows?  What about those books that talk about subjects you never thought could be interesting?

I decided to go through my book list from 2006 through 2012 and pull out my favorite non-fiction books.  I did go a little back in my memory past 2006 to get some older reads, however, most of this list are from books I've read in the last six years.  Some you may recognize, some you probably never heard of, while others you probably are going "I would never read that in a million years".  Everything on this list, I've given a B+ or above to.

Memoir / Autobiography

90 Minutes in Heaven – Don Piper 

A Child Called ‘It” – David Peltzer

Bird by Bird –Anne Lamont 

Fall Down Laughing: How Squiggy Caught Multiple Sclerosis and Didn’t Tell Nobody – David Lander 

Have a Little Faith – Mitch Albom 

Here’s The Story – Maureen McCormick 

How Reading Changed My Life - Anna Quindelin 

How Starbucks Saved My Life - Michael Gates Gill 

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl – Harriet Jacobs 

Karen - Marie Killilea

Know It All – A.J. Jacobs 

The Last Lecture - Randy Paucsh 

Look Me in the Eye – John Elder Robinson 

Man's Search for Meaning – Viktor Frankl 

Moab is my Washpot: An Autobiography – Stephen Fry 

Mustaine – Dave Mustaine 

My Autobiography – Charles Chaplan 

On Writing – Stephen King 

Passing – Nela Larson

Passing for Normal – Amy Welensky

Rage to Survive – Etta James 

Roasting in Hell's Kitchen – Gordon Ramsey 

Tennessee Williams Notebooks – Tennessee Williams/M. Bradham Thornton

Through The Storm – Lynn Spears 

Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia & Bulimia - Marya Hornbacher 

The Year of Living Biblically – A.J. Jacobs

Biography

A Capitalist Romance:   Singer and the Sewing Machine – Ruth Brandon 

Depardieu: A Biography – Paul Chutkow

The Man Who Invented Christmas – Lee  Standiford 

History

Triangle: The Fire That Changed America – David von Drehle

Other

Freakonomics - S. Levitt, S. Dubner 

Secret Windows: Essays on Writing – Stephen King

Where The Germs Are - Nicholas Bakalar

Non-Fiction Adventure

Hey I am joining The True Book Addict in her Non-Fiction Adventure.
http://non-fictionadventure.blogspot.com/


Reading Goal - 150 books.
Goal Dates: April 1, 2012 - April 1, 2017


...building this list may take a while


History
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration - Isabel Wilkerson 5/18/12
Hardship and Hope: America and the Great Depression - Victoria Sherrow
History in Asphalt:  The Origin of Bronx Street and Place Names - John McNamara
The Northern Borough: A History of the Bronx - Lloyd Ultan
The Bronx: Bits and Pieces - Bill Twoomey

Social Sciences
The Souls of Black Folk - WEB DuBois


Memoirs
The Happiness Project - Gretchen Rubin
The Rat That Got Away (A Bronx Memoir) - Allen Jones
The Color of Water - James McBride
Black Like Me - John Howard Griffin
My Reading Life - Pat Conroy  4/2/12
Hellucination - Stephen Brio
Drop Dead Healthy - A.J. Jacobs 4/29/12
Dying to Be Me - Anita Moorjani
Death Be Not Proud - John Gunther

Autobiography
The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man - James Weldon Johnson


Biography
Devil in the White City - Erik Larson 4/18/12


Metaphysics/Religion/New Thought
Wishes Fulfilled: Mastering the Art of Manifesting - Wayne Dyer
Being in Balance: 9 Principals for Creating Habits to Match Your Desires - Wayne Dyer 4/13/12
The Success Principles - Jack Canfield

Health and Wellness
You, on a Diet: The Owner's Manual for Waist Management - Roizen & Oz 4/18/12
Why We Get Fat  - Gary Taubs 4/18/12
Eat Right For Your Type - Peter D'Adamo 5/7/12
The Paleo Solution - Robb Wolf 5/7/12


Other
10 People Every Christian Should Know - Warren W. Wiersbe
Late Bloomers - Debra Eve
Here is New York - E.B. White 5/10/12

Clarissa a few months old (1999)

Clarissa a few months old (1999)
Originally uploaded by kelsokraft

She's too cute I know. My baby! She'll officially be a teenager on Thursday *SNIFF*

Haven’t written in a while, I’m getting lazy again. Well partly lazy and partly the fact that I cannot post from my job. Anyway stuff has been happening, nothing earth shattering.

My son his home for spring break
My daughter will be 13 in 3 days!!
I start guitar classes again on March 28th


My reading is coming along. I was originally going to go for 85, but I think this will be the year I read the chunkies. I’ve not read anything too big yet, but I’m in the middle of “Clash of Kings”, and I plan to read “Drood”, and “The Godfather”, so that will probably shorten my list. Maybe I’ll amend to 75, we’ll see how it goes.

Here is what I’ve read so far this month.

March
16. Lives of Musicians - Kathleen Krull
17. The Astonishing Power of Emotions - Esther & Jerry Hicks
18. Sister - Rosamund Lupton
19. Lives of Writers - Kathleen Krull
20. Lives of Artists - Kathleen Krull