Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin'

Happy April Fool's Day! At least...I hope this is a prank.

To London, To London

President and Mrs. O are off to London for the G20 conference. And they've been invited to Buckingham Palace to have dinner with Queen Elizabeth. Oh! To have an invitation to that dinner party! What I wouldn’t give to watch the Obamas charm the royal lace drawers off of that old bird.

I must admit to a long-term fascination with the British Monarchy. I was eighteen when Diana Spencer became engaged to Prince Charles. I remember so well getting up at 5:00 am with my mom to watch the festivities. We had just settled on the sofa when my Dad came around the corner and settled himself into his La-Z-Boy chair so he wouldn’t miss out on a moment.

And that’s the thing about that wedding, I don’t know anyone who didn’t watch. It was like watching a real-life version of Cinderella. And Diana....she was one of us. She had never outgrown the desires of her thirteen year-old self. When it came to engagement rings, she picked out the biggest sapphire in the British Isles. Wouldn't you? When it came to wedding dresses, she picked up the one with the most ruffles, bows and longest train. Bring it on! When it came to flowers, she said, ‘more, more, more!’ Fortunately, she also had good taste.

Queen Elizabeth, unfortunately, did not enjoy having a daughter-in-law that was so completely in touch with her inner 'tween. It’s too bad. Diana’s wedding was an incredible moment of good publicity for HRH. They’ve certainly had to work hard to remake their image after Diana’s death. The whole world was devastated when Cinderella’s real-life marriage didn’t work, and Diana died after running off to Paris with a rogue.

But this is a new era for all of us. And our new President and his missus are off to London to see the Queen.

Not to be outdone by the Obama administration forcing the White House into the information age, HRH Elizabeth has recently gone out and gotten herself a website. There are some other websites that are even more intriguing -- full of gossip and photographs of the current young royals and their nuptials.

How do I live without you?

Natasha Richardson’s death left me completely stunned.

A few years ago, the roommate of a friend of mine died after she slipped and fell on ice in front of their house. She was up and laughing about how clumsy she was right away, but was dead within twenty-four hours. I find it so difficult to reason with the randomness of tragedy and the fragility of life.

I have always admired Natasha Richardson. She was a beautiful and charming. She made over 40 look glamorous. As the daughter of acting legend Vanessa Redgrave, I figured she had dealt with some pretty heavy emotional baggage and managed to come out of it smelling like a rose. She was married to Liam Neeson, a big strapping Irishman, and they really seemed to like each other. She was the mother of two teenage boys. All seemed right in her world. And then she died.

My thoughts keep going back to the movie Love Actually, in which Liam Neeson plays a young widower with a step son that he’s having a difficult time connecting with after his mother’s death. The story in the film is a tear-jerker. If you haven’t seen the movie, it’s a masterpiece of storytelling by writer and director Richard Curtis who much like Judd Apatow seems to know the magic formula that balances comedy and romance.

Since Natasha Richardson’s death, the role Liam Neeson played has become even more poignant. And frightening, since it seems to be yet another example of art becoming life. May she rest in peace…