Goodbye, Natasha Richardson

This article from Jezebel is the best summary I’ve seen so far. Natasha Richardson, you will be missed. The theater, and humanity, has lost a shining star.

Natasha Richardson: Actress, Mother, Wife, Force Of Nature… Dead At 45 [R.i.p.]

from Jezebel by Sadie

Acclaimed actress Natasha Richardson died today of head injuries sustained in a skiing accident. She was 45.

Richardson was, famously, part of an acting dynasty: the daughter of the late director and producer Tony Richardson and actress Vanessa Redgrave, granddaughter of actors Sir Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson, niece of actress Lynn Redgrave and actor Corin Redgrave, and sister of Joely Richardson. Married to Liam Neeson since 1994, the pair has two sons: Micheál, 13, and Daniel, 12.

Richardson’s career was varied, encompassing stage and screen roles. Her film roles were as wide-ranging as The Handmaid’s Tale, Nell, The Parent Trap and The White Countess. On stage, she won acclaim for her interpretation of Chekhov and Williams and a Tony for her starring turn in the revival of Cabaret. She appeared several times with her mother, Vanessa Redgrave, most recently in Evening.

Richardson’s death is shocking and saddening, and as a sensitive screen and stage presence – and a public figure of unusual grace and elegance – she’ll be very much missed. Our thoughts and best wishes go out to her family and two young sons, and for our part we’ll be having a screening of some of our favorite of her films tonight, starting with the lovely A Month in the Country in memoriam.

Is Katie Holmes doing this for a role?

I mean, seriously, is it just me or does she look ultra-thin and a bit exhausted? Poor Katie…get some sleep, girl!

FMyLife

You know those days where things just keep happening and it makes you wish that the day would just end? Well, yesterday was almost one of those days. It was what I like to call a “clumsy-day” or an “oaf-day” where everything that might go wrong, does, especially within a 10-foot radius of my body.

Yesterday morning, to start off, I spilled the entire content’s of a used coffee filter all over the kitchen floor. Wet, dripping, nasty coffee grinds all over my legs, feet, rug, and wood floor – basically everywhere except the trash can and empty, wet, brown filter still in my hand. Then my adorable-yet-ornery-and-mischievious dog Harold decided he wanted to help clean up…by EATING said coffee grinds. So it was, I’m sure, a hilarious sight to see me on one knee, holding Harold back with one hand and scooping up wet coffee grinds with the other.

Then, I dropped and broke my hair brush while blow drying my hair. It’s a WOODEN brush, and it’s not supposed to break.

I ran into the counter and bruised my knee.

I left horrible messages and made awkward calls at work.

I tripped when I was running at the gym.

But to top it all off…my car got hit at lunch yesterday. Story: I was CAREFULLY backing out of my parking space, which happened to be right inside the entrance to the parking lot (very small quaint little health food cafe with VERY limited parking). I shift into Reverse, check my mirrors, check the cars in all the other spots, and even check oncoming traffic, in which I see no one with their signal on to turn into the lot. I back up about 5 feet, when all of a sudden I see a FLASH of silver and hear a sickening *CRUNCH*. So what to do? I pull back into my parking spot, and a little old lady driving a little silver Saturn pulls next to me (into what was in fact NOT a parking spot, because there were no lines, she was blocking in another car, AND she was in front of a Dumpster – illegal!). Anyway, you know on the Saturn commercials how they show a shopping cart running into a car door, and the door pops back out? I now know what that sounds like, because when I pulled forward, I heard a definite *POP*. We both got out to survey the damage, and her little Saturn had what looked like 3 hail spots on it (please explain how the back right corner of my Honda Civic bumper would cause that?). And MY car, my beautiful, burgundy, only-had-it-six-months Honda baby had a BIG BLACK GASH across the right corner. A horizontal gash. Which any basic law of physics will tell you that SHE. HIT. ME. This was further compounded by the fact that not-so-cute little old lady then says, “I didn’t even see you or that you had your backup lights on…until you hit me.” Um, Excuse Me?? I’m not the crazy one who pulled into a parking lot directly behind a moving car!

Anyway, upon inspecting both our cars, she THEN said, “How about we just call it even?” And given that the damage on her cheap little car was more than on my sturdy beautiful Honda, combined with the fact that I had to get back to work, I obliged. I guess I can just buy a paint kit…

SO the point is, I had a rough day yesterday. The other point is, there’s a website that you can go to that will make you feel better about the crappy things that happen to you. F***MyLife. Little tidbits left by others about how bad things happen to them, they share it, and they really don’t care. Every bit starts with “Today…” and ends with “FML.” Which is exactly how I ended yesterday.

Hugs,

C