Rob Reiner. I cannot believe this happened. I wanted the news to be untrue and wrong, but unfortunately it’s true. He directed so many movies we all love. Luis and I still need to see Spinal Tap II… It feels like only yesterday that Rob Reiner was on all the talk shows promoting it. Not only was he not that old yet, no one should die the way he and his wife did. It’s just awful.
In his honor, I wore my Princess Bride shirt that my sister gave me for my birthday this year. 😢 We watched When Harry Met Sally as an impromptu memorial holiday movie on Monday. We’ve been thinking about him and his family and all of his friends this week.
Hanukkah has been very tragic so far this year.
Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. On the 14th, we went to the special, airplane hanger part of the Smithsonian’s Air & Space Museum. We saw the Enola Gay (we each saw it a long time ago, when it was crammed into the other facility) and several other cool old planes. We also saw the Discovery space shuttle and a docent was in a live video chat to answer questions, so Luis asked about the heat-resistant material and the emergency exit markings. It was very cool. We also did a motion simulator of flying, which scared me a little because of the claustrophobic conditions. I kind of liked firing the plane’s gun at the “bad guys” but I didn’t like whenever the simulator moved…
I don’t think I’m ever gonna go to space or be a pilot, guys. Sorry.
Holiday Get-Together. Last Friday evening, we went directly from my office to my best friend Kat’s holiday get-together. A few of our other friends were there, too, and it felt very much like a college hangout, in a good way. Kat made dinner and then we chilled and watched the newest Knives Out movie. I may have fallen asleep in a few places, but I’d been awake since 7 am! It’s always nice to spend time with friends. It’s harder to do so now that we’re older and we all have jobs and lives of our own.
I’ve been friends with Kat for twenty-four years. 🤯 Our friendship would be a young adult, if it was a person.
The Spy Who Came In From The Cold. Do you ever start reading a book and it takes a bit for you to get into it and care about what’s happening? When I first started reading The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, I was a little lost. The main character is such a (heh) cold person, and he says a few highly judgmental, bigoted things within the first 20 or so pages. But then I started being interested in what was happening. He’s a spy, and he’s living this life that’s made up for his mission. He even goes to prison. It’s kind of intense. I’m interested in seeing the movie version after reading the book.
I started reading it because it’s cold outside, so the title matches. But it’s not actually about the cold at all. Well, it’s The Cold War. And it’s also a term for being a secret agent. You “come in from the cold” when you’re finished. I didn’t realize that I’d seen a related movie before, about George Smiley (a mentioned but so far unseen character in this book.) I saw Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy over a decade ago. But the name George Smiley jumped out at me. That’s pretty fun. It’s hard to forget a name like that.
I like spy and mystery novels when they’re well-done. I’m not all romance 24/7. Just most of the time. 😄
Sara Mazariegos 