everbran wrote:

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Oh anybody know a good editor for novel/movie script/etc writings?

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Yep! Sure do...

My husband and his day-job office partner have a sideline internet business, writing and editing. They've had an interesting client list too, including just regular folks who want a brief speech for a wedding toast, clients who've wanted books ghost-written, people who have major speeches to give (names you'd probably recognize), government contract material that's needed massive editing (IBM anyone??), and other publications that needed both original writing and editing. One recent job was for a book-sized art brochure for a huge show that had a ridiculous deadline!!

Jim also knows scriptwriting too, given the fact that his own grandfather was a producer and screenwriter, paired for many years with Billy Wilder. We had the original scripts to all of his movies in our house until a few years ago when we donated them to the Herrick Library in Los Angeles.

Here are some of Jim and Liz's clients:

IBM; Pfizer, Inc.; QTC Management, Inc.; Swift Transportation Co., Inc.; Borghese; Global Capital Associates; Eno Transportation Foundation; Deutsche Börse; The College Board; Xerox; the National Association of Broadcasters; Office of Ombudsman/Clifford & Garde LLP; Meridian International Center.

KaeEll, I do hope that your holiday turns out to be a happy one, despite your misgivings. I'm also becoming a bit moody over our own Thanksgiving holiday, and it used to be my favorite, so I understand your mixed emotions. Last year, AZ-daughter didn't come home for the holiday, and it felt very weird; I understand your feelings about having Nick gone.

This year, I have no clue what's going on. Our oldest daughter wants to host Thanksgiving down in NC, and it's definitely not my idea of how I want to spend Thanksgiving. I know what'll happen; she won't have prepared anything in advance, and I'll end up cooking it all, frantically, in a kitchen that's too small, and where I can't find anything, or where the necessary tools don't exist to begin with! Not to mention the fact that it'll mean our spending the holiday in a hotel room, and on the road. At our expense, of course. Combined with the fact that her dad and I aren't very happy with her right now (an "attitude" issue), we're betwixt and between in our plans.

Thanksgiving Menu:

Nibbles first - Mike and Maya will bring, so no idea. They like cambanzola and Carr's Table Water biscuits, so maybe that.

Roast turkey with apricot and prune stuffing
Whipped potatoes
Yellow yammy things, maybe some sort of sweet potato (remember our conversation about this last year?)
Broccoli (because the water used to cook it makes for a great gravy flavour)
Peaches and Cream Corn
Gravy (my specialty)

Cranberry jelly from a tin a la Ocean Spray, the only kind they'll eat, and Pillsbury Crescent rolls, white, kleenex textured icky ones the guys LOVE

Pecan and Pumpkin Pies with whipped cream

All washed down with a pear-y chardonnay and Gamay Noir wines followed by a maple based dessert wine Evelyne brought us from Quebec - really sweet, so all just have a teensy slurp.


Moore, I'm so sorry you and Jim aren't having a fab time with NC daughter. I SO understand. These "kids" go through phases and inflict upon their parents all kinds of grief. I KNOW, trust. *hugs*

Sounds delicious!! Yum...

Have Mike and Maya tried the Carr's wheat crackers? They're really good with cheese. They have just the SLIGHTEST sweetness to them that contrasts especially well with Saga or a ripe Brie.

KaeEll, I'm with your guys on the canned cranberry sauce. LOL!! I know we've talked about it before (along with the sweet potatoes), and I think there would be a mutiny in our household if we didn't have the canned stuff.

If you want to add to the bread basket, we've discovered a brand of dinner roll that's SO good, and they only take five minutes to heat. I swear that they're AT LEAST as good as homemade. The brand is Sister Schubert's, and we like the Yeast Dinner Rolls that come in a bag. I know they're at Sam's Club, and Harris-Teeter, and I'm sure that they're plenty of other places too. They're delicious with the Honey Baked Ham too!! I've made mini sandwiches with them, mixing a little spicy mustard with some honey. I sound like an add, but these rolls taste very fresh. It'll give you something to eat while the guys have the Pillsbury rolls, and you won't have to go to any extra trouble.

Go to:

Sister Schubert
Dinner Yeast Rolls (bag)

A bunch of stupid typos.

-- Edited by Moore ideas on Wednesday 7th of October 2009 02:35:58 PM

Here's part of the problem, Shelly... And, I have to begin by saying that I DO understand our oldest's position here, and appreciate her intentions.

However.................

NC-daughter has been wanting her significant other's mother to spend Thanksgiving with us for years. And by "us", I mean here with us. I'm not sure of all the dynamics between the mother and the step-father, but they currently live in Texas, and don't get a chance to see Loren (the boyfriend) very often. But, anyway, it doesn't appear that the step-father is invited. Maybe he just isn't interested in coming. Don't know.

Now please keep in mind that Thanksgiving has always been sort of "sacred" in our household; our daughter has wanted Loren's mom to spend it here, but we're always crowded anyway, with everyone here, including Loren. We're a family of five, Loren makes six, and his mom would make seven. So that's one issue. We could always put her up in a nearby hotel, but she doesn't have the money to pay for it herself, and since our daughter and Loren don't either, guess who would get to foot the bill? Again.

Then there's Jim's feelings about it, and I have to respect them because he's the one who's working his fanny off for all of us; he doesn't want what he sees as an intrusion into our family gathering, nor does he want to have to make conversation with someone who's fairly unresponsive (at best)...nice, but making conversation with her is like pulling teeth...when he really wants to watch his football games, while I'm busy with the cooking. And, no...she can't help with the cooking because there isn't any room in my kitchen for extra bodies.

So now, our daughter wants Loren's mom to go to NC instead, and I think that's very sweet. If she wants to have their own Thanksgiving this year, then we certainly support her. I'm happy to give her cooking instructions (long distance), as I did with AZ-daughter last year. NC-daughter and Loren have been together for four or five years now, so it's understandable that he might like to have his mother with him for Thanksgiving. But Jim and I don't want to spend the holiday in a hotel. And, by the way, that means THREE hotel rooms, for several days, because our son and AZ-daughter would be going too. I'm sorry, but NC-daughter is 26, and I can't DO everything for her, and I can't SOLVE everything for her. If she wants to host Loren's mother, and invite some of her friends from down there, and have a party, then GREAT, but she's going to need to do it on her own.

I'm not trying to be mean, but I KNOW from past experience how this is going to go, and I'm already plenty exhausted doing this every year in my OWN kitchen!

Then there's the issue of AZ-daughter's upcoming graduation in May. We're going to need to get A LOT of people out to Arizona, and put all of us up in a hotel. Because NC-daughter and Loren haven't even been out there yet, we thought that they might like to spend a couple of extra days to see Sedona (do the Pink Jeep tour), and see the Grand Canyon. So, Jim's been trying to get a fix on scheduling this thing, so that the rooms won't be gone by the time NC-daughter decides that she knows what the hell she and Loren may...or may not...or may at the last minute...or may NOT at the last minute...want to do. When Jim sent a general email around to everyone about a week ago, just asking for a BROAD IDEA of what the NC contingent MIGHT BE INTERESTED in doing, we got a "reply all" pissy response.

So...Jim and I currently aren't all that interested in breaking our necks to accommodate NC-daughter's plans to have all of us trudge down to NC for Thanksgiving, pay for a bunch of hotel rooms, probably do all of the cooking, all to entertain Loren's mom. If Loren and NC-daughter want to do that, and it's certainly commendable, then they can do it themselves...

Are we wrong here? I mean, I dearly LOVE to have all of the family gathered together for this holiday, but I also recognize that there comes a time when the adult members of the family want and NEED to do their own thing. And Jim and I would probaby be more willing to haul everyone down to NC, in the spirit of fun, if we thought for one moment that it WOULD be fun, instead of massively stressful, expensive, and with the two of us ending up with most of the work. And probably rewarded with still more "attitude".

And PS: I forgot to mention that we'd also need to board (and pay for boarding) Lucy during all that time.






-- Edited by Moore ideas on Wednesday 7th of October 2009 03:34:27 PM

I remember the days when Jim and I used to eat TWO Thanksgiving meals on the same day: one meal with my sister and one with Jim's family. We combined everyone here at our house one year, when my nephews were little. There were about ten of us that year, and I loved it; I don't mind having creative seating. The larger issue with Loren's mom is where she'll actually stay.

One of the things that irritates me so much is that NC-daughter KNOWS how stressed her dad has been lately. He's in CONSTANT pain with his disc issues, arm issues, and arthritis in his hands (which he's had since his late twenties), and all this pain has caused a rise in his blood pressure. He knows he's facing additional back surgery, and now he's also developed a serious problem in one eye which ultimately will probably require surgery too. Unfortunately, there's nothing that can be done right now to fix it, and the recovery for this thing (it's a building hole in his retina) is ten days, face down. Not fun. So this additional stress on him, at holiday time is, well...our daughter should know better!! Jim hates any kind of conflict, and that alone is upsetting enough for him.

If it weren't for the fact that our little graduate would be upset at not having her sister out there to see her moment, we'd probably let NC-daughter and Loren sink or swim with this trip, but it means a lot to AZ-daughter. Not to mention the fact that we all made the effort to be at the other two graduations, and that was a bit tricky because our son and NC-daughter graduated on the same day, at the same time, in two separate states!

It always amazes me how we turn ourselves inside out to accommodate the children and rather than turning out compassionate, selfless, caring individuals, we end up with relatively selfish, thoughtless ones from time to time. Yes, indeed, they ought to KNOW better, but alas, they are at a time in their lives with other priorities and we basically have to lump it.

I'm so sorry that Jim is in pain and has the nasty bit of surgery ahead of him. I have a cousin that went through that very surgery and he said that the one thing that kept him sane during the recovery was a TV that he couldn't actually watch but could listen to. That and a solid dose of medication that kept him in a fog. He's fine now, btw.

Little kids, little problems....

*sigh*

We just spent the better part of an hour looking at the new Google map features and found our house, my parents', Ted's office building and a bunch of other sites. Kind of creepy in a way, that we have so little privacy now. We noted that there was no Chloe in the pic of our house. She often stares out the front door window inspecting for violators of her zone. Cyberspace's loss, lol.