Anyone else looking forward to Harry Potter? It’s a bonus summer. First a new movie and just over a week later–the book. I know we will be seeing the movie the first day it comes out. I already have the books on order set to arrive the day they come out.

I’m not a crazy HP fan, but I do enjoy the books and movies. My son does as well. Actually it was Harry Potter that got him interested in reading. Before that he just couldn’t find anything that he wanted to read. Then came Harry Potter. He was too young at first, so he had to catch up on the story. Before long he got caught up and couldn’t wait for the next book. I will be sorry to see the series end. They have been fun.

And let’s admit it…we would all like to be able to do the things in the book. Who wouldn’t like to turn someone into a toad, rat or other appropriate object perfectly suited to their personality? Who wouldn’t like to be invisible?

We had a quiet Fourth of July. The morning was spent discovering my son’s athlete’s foot and infected toe. Gross, I know. Worst case of athlete’s foot I’ve ever seen. He had it before he got here for the summer and had been hiding it from me and his dad.

But what this post is really about is a film you must see. We saw “Sicko.” Finally a real picture of what I’ve read about health care in other nations and an expose on how insurance really works in this country. The film will make you sick to see how we treat our ill and low income. He doesn’t really talk about those without insurance. I’m one of those. And yes, I pray everyday that I don’t get ill. Although I did that when I had insurance because they found ways not to pay for anything.

My first audition ever was Sunday morning on the Stanford campus. It’s a nonpaying movie fora graduate student’s thesis. Apparently they couldn’t even tell that I was nervous and had no idea that it was my first time auditioning. Funny. I guess I’m good at hiding things–better than I thought. Interesting. The hardest part of the role I read for was this little bit where you had to act like you know nothing about computers. Act like you don’t get it. This is rather hard to do when you use computers all the time, but I did what I could. Even those of us who are the most seasoned computer users have trouble from time to time. So now I get to wait and see. I’m not holding my breath. It was an interesting experience though.

I watched a couple of Cary Grant movies from the late fifties and sixties this weekend. I’ve seen quite a few. They all have several things in common. There are little relationship lessons to be learned. Perhaps they worked then. Perhaps they work now. Don’t know. Here’s what I’ve learned:

1. Men are always reluctant to marry, but the right girl will change their minds.
2. The girl is never really looking to get married to that guy, but to someone else who better meets her criteria.
3. Girl doesn’t think it would ever work with the guy and has a list of reasons why.
4. Girl will change her mind after extensive wooing by the man even when it makes no sense to her.
5. Friends connive to get the two together. The friends are always right and never get in trouble for meddling.
6. Little lies are okay when wooing or meddling. If the character’s lies get found out, it’s fine when the other realizes why.
7. There’s no sex. Hints of sex, but no activity that even leads to sex. Always suggested, never seen. You suspect the characters will get it on when the movie is over.
8. Married men and women never cheat or even fool around with others.
9. Marriage is the end all be all. It supplies the satisfying ending. The characters don’t just end up together. They have to get married.
10.  Everyone lives happily ever after.