Life stories, preserved

StoryCorps has made me laugh and cry once again*. This is such a sweet and funny story about the life of a strong-willed lady with no regrets. I literally laughed out loud while watching the animated short last night and a minute later I had tears in my eyes. I love StoryCorps for its mission to provide Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs the chance to record, share and preserve the story of their lives. What a gift for the families who participate and a gift to all of us who have the opportunity to listen. It may be their story, but it is all of our history. Beautiful.

You can check out StoryCorps' YouTube channel here and learn more about the Brooklyn-based nonprofit here.

*I fell in love with StoryCorps for the first time after watching "Danny and Annie." If you watch it, have a tissue handy. You'll need it.

Great Expectations

I haven’t been to the movies much lately. The last time I stepped inside a theater was for “Paranormal Activity.” The boy and I saw it a few weeks after it came out and by then most of the hubbub had died down. (Mini-review: I’m usually not a fan of scary movies, but this wasn’t too fright inducing. In fact, it was a bit laughable. And at times I wanted to slap some sense into the boyfriend character. But overall, I still enjoyed it.)

Other than “Paranormal Activity,” I can’t even remember what I saw last. That’s how long ago it was. My lack of movie going is not due to a lack of interest in recent releases. There have been many flicks that I wanted to see and simply didn’t, and now I have to wait for DVD (or On Demand, whichever comes first). I blame the boy for my lackluster box office showing. It seems he is working every weekend now, getting in early or coming home late, and if he does actually have Sunday off like he is supposed to, the day is lost to football.

But I am breaking this depressing trend this weekend. I am far too excited to see Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side.” I saw the previews months ago and immediately put it on my running list of movies to see (yes, I really do have a list!). Anyone else as thrilled as me to see the film? Seriously, I’ve choked up a couple times just watching the trailer, it looks that good. I told the boy that we have to go see it, but he wasn’t as enthusiastic about the prospect. I tried to convince him that it’s a sports movie, but he didn’t buy it. No worries. Like any good girlfriend, I’ll remind him of that time I saw {insert any blow-em-up, shoot-em-up movie title here} and drag him along.

So, do you want to know what else I am looking forward to (hopefully) seeing in theaters this winter? Here’s my list:

“The Princess and The Frog”

Limited release in NY and LA Nov. 25, Everywhere else Dec. 11

This just looks too adorable to pass up. The fact that it is by Disney is enough to make me see it. But there’s more. It is set in 1920s New Orleans. The tale centers on Princess Tiana, the animation studio’s first African American princess. The talk show diva herself, Oprah Winfrey, voices Tiana’s mother, Eudora. It is from the directors of “The Little Mermaid” (my all time favorite movie) and “Aladdin.” And best of all, it marks Disney’s return to hand-drawn animation! Need I say more?

“The Lovely Bones”

Limited release Dec. 11, Everywhere else Jan. 15

I love love love this book. When people ask me what my favorite books are, this title is one of the first that springs to my mind. I can’t wait to see Alice Sebold’s words come to life on screen and get a glimpse of Susie Salmon in director Peter Jackson’s interpretation of “the in-between.”

“Did You Hear About The Morgans?”

Opens Dec. 18

Hello, Carrie! Er, I mean, Sarah Jessica. To be honest, that’s all I need to know to plop down 12 bucks for ticket. Gotta get my SJP fix while waiting for “Sex and the City 2” to debut (May is so far away!). Plus, it looks cute and funny, your standard rom-com. Which is just my kind of movie.

“Nine”

Limited release Dec. 18, Everywhere else Dec. 25

All you have to do is watch the trailer, read the cast list—Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz, Kate Hudson, Nicole Kidman, Sophia Loren, Judi Dench, Fergie—and see that the it is from the director of "Chicago" to know this one’s gonna be good. Fabulously good.

Now tell me: what’s on your list?

poster image sources: 1, 2, 3, 4

Puppies Behind Bars

She did it to me again last week. Oprah made me cry. For those of you who have been reading my blog since the beginning, you may remember this post I wrote in January about the talk-show queen making me a blubbering fool. Oprah is just one of those TV shows that, without fail, make me reach for a box of tissues. Same goes for Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

Anyhow, I was eating a late lunch last Thursday when Oprah came on. The theme of the episode was amazing animals and our relationships with them, which on the surface doesn't seem that emotional. But just five minutes in, I was already tearing up! Actress Glenn Close was on the show to tell Oprah and viewers about this amazing and groundbreaking program called Puppies Behind Bars. I had never heard of the program before but I am now I firm supporter of it.

Puppies Behind Bars is a program in which incarcerated felons train puppies to become service dogs for the disabled, including wounded veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Most of us are familiar with service dogs that are used to assist the blind or others with a physical impairment. But I think what was so remarkable to me was to see that these dogs are also being used to help soldiers with what Glenn Close called an "invisible wound" and "the signature injury" of Iraq and Afghanistan: post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury.

During the show, Glenn Close took viewers inside the Fishkill Correctional Facility in upstate New York. There, inmates—who have been convicted of violent crimes including abuse, robbery and murder—are given 8-week-old puppies and taught to train them. The puppies and the prisoners are together 24/7; the dogs even live in crates in the inmates' cells.

Prisoners at Fishkill Correctional Facility train their puppies.

What touched my heart was seeing how these adorable puppies are transforming lives. How these dogs are changing the lives of both convicted felons and war heroes. As any dog owner knows, dogs don't discriminate. Their love is for everyone.

Jesse, a 23-year-old inmate convicted of first-degree manslaughter, is training his third dog, Joy. He said his relationship with her and his other dogs has enabled him to love again.

"It had been so dormant in me for so long because of the cold place that I'm in that I didn't know that I could love again," Jesse said. "We all get to see how greatly these dogs affect the lives of the people they touch. And it's those same lives that we have touched also through these dogs."

For inmates like Edwardo Garcia, 33, the program is a second chance to do something good and worthwhile with their lives.

"This is our way of repaying a society that we took so much from," said Garcia, who is serving time for first-degree murder.

The part of the show that really got me though was when an inmate named Roberto Rodriguez was able to reunite with his puppy, Frankie, and meet the man whose life has been changed for the better with that yellow lab by his side. 

Though he is convicted of second-degree murder, Roberto, 33, does not appear to be a hardened criminal when interacting with his dog, Frankie. He is loving and affectionate and even a bit mushy, and he tells the Oprah cameras that it was difficult to say goodbye to Frankie. The pup went to Army Sgt. Allen Hill, who was hit by a roadside bomb just two months before completing his second tour of duty in Iraq. Hill suffers from traumatic brain injury and severe combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder. But with the simple command of "kisses," Frankie can snap Hill out of his violent, paralyzing flashbacks with just a few loving licks on his face. (To read more about Hill, check out this Q&A posted on Glenn Close's blog.)

Roberto reunites with Frankie and meets Sgt. Hill.

"Frankie has been there for me, she has been my rock," the sergeant said.

"I'm happy that she made a difference in your life," Roberto told Hill.

Hill's wife, Gina, said Frankie has started to bring her husband back to his old, fun-loving self.

"Frankie has brought my sons their daddy home," Gina told Oprah. "She has lit the light back in him that had been so dark for the last year and a half."

Hill takes Frankie for a walk.

Amazing, isn't it? I'm sure you can see now why I was a blubbering mess after watching the show. So tell me, what do you think of the Puppies Behind Bars program? Had you heard of it before? And, here's a tough question: do you think a dog's love can really change a murderer into a better person?

Photos via Oprah.com and Glenn Close's blog on Fetchdog.com