Phern's Top Ten Lists for 2011

BOOKS:
Top 10 of what I read in 2011:  No  numerical order (I just discovered that this is very female...who knew?).

Learning to Swim: Sara J. Henry
Blue Nights: Joan Didion
Before I Go to Sleep: S. J. Watson
State of Wonder: Ann Patchett
The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party: Alexander McCall Smith
The Three Stages of Amazement: Carol Edgarian
Bossypants: Tina Fey
Composed: Roseanne Cash
re-read: The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas: Gertrude Stein (Had to read it after seeing her great art collection at the SFMOMA)
re-read: Charlotte's Web: E.B. White (Also read The Story of Charlotte's Web, by Michael Sims)

Special No. 11: These are all considered one long read, all related to J.D. Salinger: At Home in the World: Joyce Meynard; Dream Catcher, A Memoir: Margaret Salinger; J.D. Salinger, A Life: Kenneth Slawenski.  Reread the Salinger books.

MOVIES: No order. 

The Descendents
The Artist
Bridesmaids
Harry Potter
The Help
Midnight in Paris
We Were Here: documentary of intimate storytelling about the early days of AIDS in SF.

Fair Game (2010)
Mother and Child (2009)
Chaos, 2001 (French)
Secretariat (2010)
My Cousin Vinny (1994)...for the 20th time.

(I didn't get out much.)

TV: this is where I can go over the top.  Small screen is better than big screen.

Shameless. Showtime.
Damages, Season 4. Directv only.  Get it on Amazon.
Homeland. Showtime.  Wait, and get it.
Oprah: Behind the Scenes.
The Oprah Show. The Final Season.
Modern Family
Desperate Housewives
Nurse Jackie
Parenthood
MadMen...except they are making us wait too long for the next season.
The Closer
Weeds
The Big C
Raising Hope
The Good Wife
Public Speaking: Martin Scorsese on Fran Lebowitz (2010), HBO.
American Masters: Woody Allen (4 hours), PBS.
Masterpiece Classic: Downton Abbey PBS (second season starts next week)

also...Grace and I have watched  Will & Grace reruns so much that I think we are going on the 4th or 5th time for each.  Grace says all the lines before they do.

Annual soak in Calistoga between Christmas and New Year's

Now: December 28, 2011
Grace, age 14; Hannah, age 13.

Then: Dec 28, 2006
Grace, age 10; Hannah, age 9.

The Calistoga Spa remodeled...the warm pool has a spacious entrance, much appreciated.  This is where I spend most of my time, chillaxin'.

The Calistoga Spa:  the hot pool, covered.

For the first time in over 30 years of visiting, we went to view the Geyser, two  miles outside of Calistoga.  We couldn't help ourselves, since Grace was making a joke for the past two years, calling it the 'old geezer'.  This natural wonder takes you back to the National Parks of the '50s.

Go there: www.oldfaithfulgeyser.com/visiting.html

The natural geyser spouts this incredible fountain of mineral water every 10-15 minutes.  We saw it happen 3 times.