I have been sporadic at best lately in keeping up with my blog posts and my blogging friends. My attention has turned to the research and writing about my grandmother’s Aunt Lucy, shown her in her 1919 United States passport application taken when she was 66 years old. The only image I have of her is constrained by the demand to “look straight ahead and don’t smile” such documents required.

The same imagination and creativity I brought to more consistent posts is now focused on her. It turns out I can’t keep both activities going at the moment. For the while—and I don’t know its length—I will be off line. I am well and life is good right now. Nonetheless I feel I have real relationships on line which I don’t want to abandon.

(In the meantime, feel free to write me at betsyfrompike@earthlink.net)

Rest assured, I will post very occasionally as I move forward in writing her life.

The summer I was seventeen I fell in love with Paul Newman as he appeared in “Hud.” I never really outgrew my love for the man. As we both aged, I enjoyed his new roles. Once we moved to Connecticut, I passed his town on the way to New York City and always yelled out “Hi, Paul.” Now I have to content myself with remembering the man.

I hadn’t really thought about that until I was talking about “Twisters” with my 17 year old granddaughter. She was raving about its male lead, Glen Powell. She knew all about him, including his previous screen appearances and shared that everyone was now infatuated with him. Since I had barely noticed that man when I was watching the film, I was fairly clueless about his appeal.

Once I put Paul and Glen’s photos side by side it was quite clear. He is simply the updated Paul Newman for a new bevy of 17 year old girls!