Over the summer, in the chaos and hectic days of moving from Florida to Puerto Rico, I spent four months renting a house in my Dad's neighborhood so my son and I could have family right across the street while my husband located the perfect home for us. During that time, I was remotely helping my in-laws' Boston boating business during the extremely busy summer season, so I decided to enroll my son in a monthly summer camp. Thank God for that summer camp for him, and for me, Audible.com saved my sanity as well during my short breaks throughout the day. This excellent memoir of Cheryl Strayed kicking butt and walking miles after unforgiving miles following some of the most difficult and emotionally tangled and destructive points in her life, were astounding.

There were so many times over the years I had planned to read this. Stumbling across the memorable cover in a bookstore, or kicking myself when the movie came out and I thought to myself, "I have to read this before I watch the movie!" Which then meant I always kept putting it off. And I did miss out. I didn't realize then what I know now, which is that I needed this book. I needed to hear what this woman chose to do after all of the events in her life up to that point. I could have used this memoir to inspire me after my own separation and divorce almost two decades ago. I was so impressed by Strayed's decision to do a thing so wildly different than what the average individual struggling with a sudden and unexpected, devastating loss of a parent, followed by the downward spiral into drug addiction, along with her infidelity to her young husband (who, I felt, she treated fairly and respectfully throughout the memoir, owning her failures and mistreatment to him). I was wrapped up in this woman and her feisty and unsure decision to just walk, with a (to be expected) sometimes naive assumption of hopeful results, an overwhelmingly heavy pack on her back, but with a vigor and a faithfulness in this dream. As I listened to the remarkably narrated audiobook, I thought to myself, "why didn't I do something like this years ago? When my mother passed and my former husband and I had just divorced? Why didn't I do something different, something wild, to follow my instinct and guts, to throw it all out the window and just be?" I regret the years I didn't read this. I am confident this would have propelled me into something different at the time, something new. 

I wept for Strayed when she encountered one obstacle after another as she walked the trail, I cheered her on to continue when she screamed out in disgust or anger or frustration, and I was madly obsessed with her overall willingness to just keep going. Because that's exactly how life is, isn't it? Somehow, we just keep plugging along, one foot in front of the other, trying to make the best out of all of the messes we create. In a vague and long life, we just make it happen, we just do it. In Strayed's time of just over 3 months to walk the Pacific Coast Trail, her life was singularly isolated and compacted into that stretch of trail, and she could view all of the missteps and mistakes, and identify some of the choices she now needed to make.

Books were a necessary weight for her, and I would feel the torture of painfully ripping pages out after she was done with it to make fires and relieve the burden on her back. She could never carry more than what she needed, and this human filled with flaws, regrets and hope, legitimately walked it all. She wasn't one of the many who would frequently stop and spend nights in a hotel. She had nothing except a self-esteem filled with confusion and sadness, and you certainly can't pay for a hotel room with that. So on she walked, 1,100 miles and 94 days, alone, hungry at times, with some pretty bad wicked blisters to contend with. But she never, ever gave up. Not once.

Side note: Following this book, I listened to Bill Bryson's A Walk through the Woods of the Appalachian Trail, and all I could think was, "Cheryl Strayed could beat Bill Bryson any day." Either by walking trails and writing. Sorry, Mr. Bryson, but I'm team Cheryl all the way, forever and ever. She didn't walk during the day and spend nights in hotels. She was an all out bad ass.

(Click here to follow me on Goodreads or click here on Audible.com to listen to a sample.)

Wild on Audible.com:

Wild is a powerful, blazingly honest memoir: the story of an 1100-mile solo hike that broke down a young woman reeling from catastrophe - and built her back up again. At 22, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother's death, her family scattered and her own marriage was soon destroyed. Four years later, with nothing more to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life: to hike the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State - and to do it alone. She had no experience as a long-distance hiker, and the trail was little more than “an idea, vague and outlandish and full of promise.” But it was a promise of piecing back together a life that had come undone. Strayed faced down rattlesnakes and black bears, intense heat and record snowfalls, and both the beauty and loneliness of the trail. Told with great suspense and style, sparkling with warmth and humor, Wild vividly captures the terrors and pleasures of one young woman forging ahead against all odds on a journey that maddened, strengthened, and ultimately healed her.

Movie thoughts: I watched Reese Witherspoon in Wild, and I think she knocked it out of the park. It was intense, beautiful, heart-wrenching, and filled with guilt so intensely felt that I owned this author's pain, once again. It was a beautiful adaptation. A movie just as good as the book. 

About the Author (from Wikipedia)

Cheryl Strayed is an American memoirist, novelist, essayist and podcast host. The author of four books, her award-winning writing has been published widely in anthologies and major magazines. She's amazing, and her actual bio (click here) is chockfull of all of her incredible nuances, life lessons, and general insights into her incredible personality.

Follow the author:

• On her website
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Detective Story is an hour and forty-three minute film noir and police procedural released in 1951 starring Kirk Douglas that was adapted from the play by the same name by Sidney Kingsley. Set during one eight-hour shift entirely in a New York City precinct, the story centers around one detective and the random and oftentimes unruly characters that are arrested in that timeframe.

Kirk Douglas stars as Detective James McLeod, an officer of the law who grants no wiggle room and never lives in the gray area; it is either against the law or it is not. A man of complete principle with his beautiful new wife, McLeod is at the top of his game in all areas, and one shift isn't going to get in his way, no matter what happens.

But along the way in that one shift, life dramatically  and surprisingly changes, for all characters. It's about a solid 55 minutes before the quiet pace picks up and you start to see which direction the story will take, how the characters develop and become more than surface of the stereotypical cops, criminals and 1950s housewives, but it's a movement which is sensible and clearly defined, one that matches the personality and vision of the main character and overall story. There is the young woman who is nabbed for lifting a pocketbook from a department store, the young businessman who embezzles, and you can't be a police story in New York without an arrest of a low-life mobster, Charlie Gennini. Combined with the gruff cops, everyone is just trying to get by on this steamy hot day in the city.

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this somewhat dark and quiet story. You can tell it was based on a play, as the majority of the scenes take place in one setting of the police precinct. The clever twists provided a scandalous feel and I can only imagine what it must have been like when first released. I recommend this film, but would remind you that it's slow-going for almost an hour before it kicks into gear.

Favorite Quote: When McLeod's partner tells him, "You've gotta bend with the wind - or break. Don't be such a monument." I love this quote.

Favorite Takeaway: Russell Evans is an African-American patrol officer who is in charge of managing the mob man. His character is dignified and key to the precinct and, honestly, it's pretty cool to see an early film with an African-American actor as a police officer. Like the blogger at Film Noir of the Week mentioned, I also really can't think of any other movies during that time that not only have a minority actor play a fairly decent-sized role in a movie, but also never once have anyone make a comment on race. It is refreshing, especially for that time. 

I'm participating in the RIP Challenge, which is in its eleventh year. Click here for my original post, and definitely click here to visit Stainless Steel Droppings' site for more details.

Based on Charlotte Armstrong's 1951 novel, Mischief, "Don't Bother to Knock" was filmed shortly after publication. On a whim, I selected it based off the below description on Netflix and sat in wonder for the short 80-some minutes, musing about the sadness of Marilyn Monroe's life, that the legacy she left was so very different than who she was and who she likely would have become, if only she could have scraped herself out of the hole of being typecast as the very dumb, but very sexy, blonde stereotype.

The synopsis from Netflix is:

On the rebound after a break-up, Jed meets gorgeous Nell, but soon discovers that she harbors a dark past and is dangerously unstable.

The movie showcases Marilyn Monroe's brilliant acting talent, playing the part of Nell, a tortured young woman with a terrible secret which alters her judgment when she's asked to babysit a young girl in a hotel. The movie takes place entirely in the hotel, giving it an ominous and weighted air of claustrophobia. Shortly after meeting this man who recently was dumped, Nell begins to spiral downward as she tries to maintain a stable image for him. But with frequent interruptions from the young girl, or Nell's uncle (the hotel elevator operator), and more, Marilyn Monroe successfully delivers moments purely disturbing and unsettling, likely to have been viewed as scandalous in 1952. The performance sadly seems to have been forgotten and overshadowed when movies like "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," "How to Marry a Millionaire," and "The Seven-Year Itch" were released.

I seriously want everyone to see this movie. I disagree heartily with Bosley Crowther's review in the New York Times in 1952. It almost feels as though the expectation was that the movie was to be a comedy of some sort, and when it clearly was quite the opposite, reviews settled on it being a ridiculous film with subpar acting. How disappointing it must have been for Marilyn Monroe to read these reviews at the time. Had she lived just a little bit longer, she would have read many more reviews from those not swayed by sensuality, or expecting more of it, and found that there was much more appreciation for her work in later years. I mourn for the passing of a Hollywood legend who would never be able to achieve the true acting stardom that she sought, one that was never based on her sexuality.

You're in for a real treat with this movie, and most especially if you're looking for something to watch in order to take part in the RIP Challenge this year. It's available on Netflix, and I highly recommend it. 

Leading cast: Richard Widmark, Marilyn Monroe, and Anne Bancroft

Director: Roy Ward Baker

Side Note

It's clear by the posters above just how the movie studios banked so much on Marilyn Monroe's sexuality - never once does she appear this sensual in the film, and never once did she wear the red corset top in the first photo above. In fact, she's got little make-up on, and when she does dress up, she chooses a dress and jewelry that might have been more glamorous if the film were in color, but in black-and-white, it simply comes across muted and understated, allowing her acting to shine through, unblemished and unspoiled by the typically expected, lusted-after response.

This is what she looks like when she first graces the screen. Hardly what you'd imagine for the Marilyn Monroe icon, dressed in an unflattering dress, coming across as prison-attire of the day. She looks slight and quiet, unthreatening, and innocent.

During this movie, there were moments when I held my breath, wondering what this character was going to do next. Nell's eventual breakdown was easy to believe, and as the movie closed out, all I could think was (for the millionth time when I think of this actress), "she was a brilliant woman and everyone just thought she was some stupid girl." How terribly sad.

So if you were unaware, Marilyn Monroe was so much more than the infamous "flying skirt" photo of her and sexy body pin-up girl. Instead, remember that this was the woman who read incredibly difficult novels for fun and for her own education. Marilyn Monroe was a talented actress who had so much left to offer in her legacy, and we, as the audience, sadly never got a chance to witness more from her. It truly is our loss.

I'm participating in the RIP Challenge, which is in its eleventh year. Click here for my original post, and definitely click here to visit Stainless Steel Droppings' site for more details.

My  Instagram post about The Martian audiobook is:

If you listened to The Martian by Andy Weir, narrated by R.C. Bray and you didn't like it, WE CAN NO LONGER BE FRIENDS.

 I really should just leave it at that.

Fine, so here's more. Mark Watney is the only member of a crew who survived a devastating dust storm on Mars after being the first man to walk on the red planet. His commander and the rest of the crew "confirmed" he had died and without risking more lives to secure his body and bring him back, they make the heart-wrenching decision to leave him. The only problem is that Watney did survive, and somehow he's got to figure out how to stay alive until rescue comes. And in the meantime, he should probably figure out how to communicate with them also so that they know he actually did make it through the dust storm. When I write "meantime," I should clarify that I'm speaking in days.... as in hundreds of days. Somehow, in those hundreds of days, Mark Watney has to keep his air supply going, feed himself, keep his electronics up to par, maintain his humor, and generally just NOT DIE.

Through intelligence, training, dedication, and absolute extreme humor, Mark Watney is one of the most engaging characters to get to know. With his journal and video logs, combined with life on earth responses and characters who ranged from the tight-assed (but completely understandable) PR specialist and the brilliant but relaxed research scientists, the audiobook version was a winner in every way. While there were more than enough moments that had me cracking up, the successful balance of scenes that made me hold my breath wondering if Watney would make it out of this one continued and I refused every excuse to take a break from listening. I'm sure this has been written already somewhere by someone much smarter than me, but this was Apollo 13 on Mars, and DAMN IT WAS AWESOME.

It's going to be a movie and Matt Damon will play Mark Watney. I think he's a PERFECT choice, along with the rest of the cast. I just hope and pray they stay true to the book's humor and sincerity.

The story is fantastic, R.C. Bray as the audiobook narrator is incredible, and the author rocked it. Matt Damon, there's a lot riding on your shoulders, my man. I'm pulling for you.

As I mentioned earlier, if you read The Martian or listened to the audiobook, and didn't like it, we really, really have to reconsider our friendship. #truthhurts

FTC Disclosure: I downloaded this audiobook via my Audible.com membership.

About the Author (from his website)

ANDY WEIR was first hired as a programmer for a national laboratory at age fifteen and has been working as a software engineer ever since. He is also a lifelong space nerd and a devoted hobbyist of subjects like relativistic physics, orbital mechanics, and the history of manned spaceflight. The Martian is his first novel.