All I Ever Needed to Know About Friendship . . .

. . . I learned from reading "Papillon."

The movie's great, but the book is even better. One of the most important things I've ever learned about making and keeping friends is from this book.

If you aren't familiar with the story, Papillon, it's about a French thief, Henri "Papillon" Charriere (nicknamed "Papillon" due to the butterfly tattooed on his chest - papillon is French for butterfly), who is imprisoned in South America, escapes several times, and finally is sent to (inescapable) Devil's Island in French Guiana. Conditions are extraordinarily harsh, as befits (at that time anyway) repeat offenders and escapists. Papillon had made his living mainly as a safe-cracker, but was wrongly accused of murdering a pimp. Once he got put into the "system," he kept breaking out, getting recaptured, and receiving even harsher sentences.

I'll never forget the scene in the movie (and book) where Papillon is standing knee-deep in cold, miserable, muddy water in his cell, along with all the other prisoners in their own individual cells. I don't remember exactly where, but somewhere he had gotten hold of six cigarettes. Well, cigarettes in prison are like gold. They are used as currency, they are hoarded, they are prized because of their scarcity and because, when smoked, the smoker enjoys a rush and feeling of good-will unmatched by anything else available to them.

What does Papillon do? He gives away five cigarettes, and keeps only one to smoke himself. I may be wrong about the number; he may have given away all six, I'll need to re-read the book. But you get the point?

He instantly had five (or six) loyal friends. We all know when someone has given us something of great value. It means something. This was not just "sharing," this was giving up something we'd really rather have kept, for the sake of those around us.

It has an impact.

More Shameless Plugz for my Boyz

Can't help it, it's what Moms do!

Michael's "50 Amazing Movie Facts" article written for Hollywire has received so many responses (150,000+ page views and growing) that it is now the NUMBER ONE feature article on the website. Go to the website and you'll see it right at the top of the page, "above the fold," as it's called in newspaper jargon, meaning the most important articles which are always placed on the front page, above the fold of the paper.

I may not have fulfilled my dream (yet) of becoming a famous writer, but it looks like Michael will! Oh, and he does this while living and working as a teacher in mainland, communist CHINA!

And Rodrigo? Well, that boy (ok, young MAN) just LOVES being married, and it absolutely warms my heart. Dianna is an angel. Rodrigo (and I!!!) waited a long time for Dianna to come along, and I'm so pleased she is now part of our family. When I talk to Rodrigo on the phone he sounds truly happy, and can you imagine how happy that makes his Mom?

I know I promised to post more photos from Dianna and Rodrigo's wedding -- the really good, professional ones, of Rodrigo and Dianna's wedding -- taken by Jeff Fassett. There are just sooooo many awesome photos! So here is the link: Dianna and Rodrigo. If you've got lots of time you may be able to get through them all! Jeff and his assistant took tons of photos. The best part? If you are planning a wedding in southern Cali I would highly recommend Jeff and his staff. He is fantastic; he listened to everyone and took all the photos that each one of us (and there were a lot of us) thought were most important. And now, long after the wedding is over, he's still answering all my emails, you can't beat that!

I'm tickled that Dianna and Rodrigo have asked me to create their wedding album. I can't wait to work with Jeff's exquisite photos. If all I did was put each photo on a blank page, the album would be gorgeous! In the meantime.....here's a photo of the sweet little house Dianna and Rodrigo have moved into:

Yeah, Life is good when the Kids are doing well.

50 Amazing Movie Facts

A link for you movie buffs: 50 Amazing Movie Facts, written by my son, Michael!! He's a regular contributor to Hollywire and writes the New DVD Release reviews, movie reviews, and other pieces related to movies, actors, and Hollywood. He also wrote a great piece about the late Paul Newman, which became one of the Top Ten Hollywire articles for September 2008.

Pretty good for a little hayseed from the backwoods of Virginia, hey?

The Family that Keyboards Together

A typical evening at our house lately.

I'm at my laptop blurfing (blog surfing) or updating my own blogs:
Mike is at his computer doing something that involves GoogleEarth, math, maps, sailing, or spreadsheets: And Michael, who is here temporarily and on loan from the Luo Yang College of Technology in Luo Yang City, China, is probably writing movie reviews for Hollywire.com, and which you can read here (just look for the "Movies" link).
Yep, the boy's got a suntan! He's been working in construction for the past month or so while waiting to return to China (the visa app is in process).

So Mike and I are in the same room, each at our own desks with our computers. Michael is in the next room over. When Michael and I want to talk we send each other instant messages, lol! Oh, and we are often simultaneously chatting online with his brother, Rodrigo, in Southern Cali, and/or his girlfriend, Xiao Riu, in China.

Don't you just love modern technology?