Ellipsis Movie Of The Week... Working Girl

 

"Sometimes I sing and dance around in my underwear,

 doesn't make me Madonna... never will."

~Cyn (Joan Cusack)

Working Girl

"Let the river run, let all the dreamers wake the nation,

come the new Jerusalem."

The opening credits to, Working Girl, was filmed on a clear morning, in the city of Manhattan, as the sun rose above the Statue of Liberty, and the World Trade Center. Carly Simon sings it's theme, Let The River Run, and we see all those folks arriving to work in lower Manhattan. Wall Street, The World Trade Center stick in my mind, and give me chills when I think about how that must have been like on 9/11. Folks arriving at work to face another day of challenges. It's a strangely beautiful opening, but there is that bit of surreal that definitely reminds you about how life can change in the blink of an eye.

That aside, Working Girl, is a terrific movie, that reminds you that hard work, being able to adapt and take chances can pay off. Whether you are one of those folks who gets up early, heads to work at the crack of dawn, or an old lady like me, who is still finding ways to face every day, that lesson still applies. Hard work pays. Going out on that limb pays. I love Tess McGill's tenacity. I love her wit. And I love that she can stand up for herself, and that when she sets boundaries, she means it! Tess paid her dues, she endures one "sleazoid" boss after another, and being looked down on as a secretary, as she works her way up the ladder in the world of corporations and finance. 

Sigourney Weaver is delightfully nasty as, Katherine Parker, and Harrison Ford is the too good to be true, Jack Trainer. Joan Cusack is fantastic as Cyn, Tess's best friend, who gives Tess the best advice she'll ever get, and Alec Baldwin is perfect as Tess's one thought boyfriend, Mick. This is another  movie with a superior cast including, Olympia Dukakis, Oliver Platt, Nora Dunn, and Kevin Spacey as a sleazoid friend of her sleazoid boss, Lutz, and yet another potentially new sleazoid boss, which is perfect casting because, you know, doing sleazoid is what Spacey does best! If you look close, during Tess's birthday party scenes, you will spot David Duchovny in his first movie!

This film came out in 1988, so I can't believe you haven't seen it, but if you haven't I don't want to give to much of the story away. Watch it. You'll enjoy it. 

The Beauty Of A Dark Winter Day

 

"At this season of the year, darkness is a more insistent thing that cold.

The days are short as any dream."

~E.B. White

Essays Of E.B. White

Tired. It's been a long couple of days, and I am tired. But I have even better news, and I will share soon. But today I want to enjoy some football games, and not think about things that are too much for my tired brain.

So for now, don't you just love cold, dark January days. Naps. Hot Chocolate. Snuggles with cats, and really good days with a camera, birding, these are some of the things keeping me sane.

The Beauty Of The Snowy Egret In Autumn

 

"When you have seen one ant, one bird, one tree, you have not seem them all."

~E.O. Wilson

"I love Snowy egrets... they are smaller than most in their family they are dainty and unlike the Great Blue Heron and Great Egrets, they feed in flocks... in community."

~Unknown

The Snowy egret population have been particularly beautiful this autumn. Every single one of them take my breath away...

Flying A Kite In Autumn

 

"Birds know themselves not to be at the center of anything, but at the margins of everything. The end of the map. We only live where someone's horizon sweeps someone else's We are only noticed on the edge of things: but on the edge of things, we notice much."

~Gregory Maguire

Out Of Oz

The White-tailed Kites I have seen since the September have been so beautiful, but this one mesmerized me! I found it perching on top of a pole on Staten Island. It was a difficult picture to get because of some really thick fog that rolled through the night before. I didn't give up, and here is the reward! I have several photos from that day, but this set is my favorite! I will post more photos from that day soon!

Autumn's Sandhill Crane

 

"Birds are the eyes of Heaven."

~Suzy Kassem

Rise Up And Salute The Sun: The Writings Of Suzy Kassam

These birds are so unbelievably beautiful, that you should believe me when I say, I will never be able to photograph them in such that will pay justice to their grace. All I can do is try, and try again, but personally I know it can never be done. These birds live in my heart.

Birds In Autumn

 

"A bird in autumn

sits outside

and quietly enjoys the rain

Dear bird

you and I

 are the same"

~Laura Jaworski

All the birds have their gorgeous winter plumage on right now. I look forward to that. I love how fluffy they become. Even the ones that don't really migrate, and who aren't so fluffy, adds to that autumn feeling of inner joy for me. The clear warm light in the middle of the day make them look bright and brings out all their colors, but by the late afternoon, the sunset turns their feathers a muted tone. I never realized how beautiful birds were, until I took up birding!

Oh, There You Are!

 

“Thoughts swirled around her head like the leaves in the breeze.”

 
~Diana Jaques,

 The Falling Leaves

 

 I have been looking for a Green Heron this whole year, but as luck, and the rules of birding, would have you, I found one completely by accident, months after I should have. They are usually, dependably, everywhere! You remember me mentioning that birding is Sometimes about being in the right place, at the right time? Well once again, my avian friends proved it's true! I am still on a quest to find the Sandhill Crane, which have arrived in the San Joaquin Valley. The map says they are in Lodi, Mokelumne City, the Cosumnes Reserve, and Staten Island on the delta. They are here, I know they are, because you can track them here. I am just not seeing them. Yikes!

 

 So, a couple days ago, we decided to pick a spot on the map, and see if our luck could change a bit. The spot on the map we chose was Staten Island. We had never been there before, so it would be an adventure. As it ended up, there wasn't much to see yet, but it's only a matter of time until the rice is harvested, and will be replaced with water, to provide grain for the wild birds, but aren't quite there yet, so we left. On our way home, I spotted this lovely Green Heron, sitting on a telephone wire. I saw him just by chance! He moved to this tree, while I photographed him, and engaged in a little fishing in the ditch line. He was very accommodating of me, and made my time very happy, as he moved about into one beautiful pose to another. There's the rule of birding, you see what you didn't even know you wanted or needed, to see! 

 

I love it when that Pacific Flyway opens each Autumn. I have to thank the gorgeous migrating cranes, for helping me finally spot my Green Heron.