On Gene Kelly and GRAND Social No. 77

It's Monday, which means it's GRAND Social time! Thank you for coming by for the link party.

Before I kick off GRAND Social No. 77, though, I need to ask for your input on something extra special. I have some great opportunities coming up in the next two weeks — including a Bloggy Boot Camp conference this weekend and the Starz Denver Film Festival which begins this Wednesday and runs through Nov. 17. It's the latter that I need your input on.

As part of the Starz Denver Film Festival, I will be interviewing Patricia Kelly, the widow of Gene Kelly. Yes, that Gene Kelly. Crazy, huh!? She emailed me to introduce herself in advance of the festival, and we've planned an email interview (unfortunately our schedules conflict, preventing an in-person chat) for an exclusive Q&A to be published here for you, the Grandma's Briefs readers.

And that's where you come in: I want to know what questions you would like asked of Patricia Kelly. She will be at the festival to present GENE KELLY: THE LEGACY, so please watch the following trailer for the performance. Then leave a comment below on what you would like me to ask Mrs. Kelly about the presentation, her life with Gene Kelly or about Mr. Kelly himself. You can also email me your questions today, if you prefer. Either way, I'll fit in as many questions from Grandma's Briefs readers as I can when I conduct my once-in-a-lifetime interview with Patricia Kelly.

I look forward to your questions!

And now... GRAND Social No. 77.

How it works:

• All grandparent bloggers are invited to add a link. You don't have to blog about grandparenting, just be a grandparent who blogs.

• To link up a post, copy the direct URL to the specific post — new or old — that you want to share, not the link to your blog's home page. Then click the blue button below marked "Add your link" and follow the directions.

• You can add up to three posts, but no duplicates, contests, giveaways, or Etsy sites, please.

• Adding a mention such as This post linked to the GRAND Social to your linked posts is appreciated. Or, you can post the GRAND Social button anywhere on your page using the following code:

<a rel="nofollow" href="/" target="blank"><img src="http://grandmasbriefs.squarespace.com/storage/GRANDsocialbutton.jpg " alt="Grandma’sBriefs.com" width="125" height="125" /></a>

• The GRAND Social linky accepts posts through Wednesday evening, so please come back to see those added after your first visit.


• If you're not a blogger, you have the pleasure of being a reader. Those sharing a link would be honored to have you visit, read and, if so moved, comment, even if just a "Hey, stopping by from the GRAND Social." Bloggers who link are encouraged to visit the links of other bloggers and do the same.
  

On Andy Garcia and me

The AARP Life@50+ Expo has come and gone, and I must say it far exceeded my expectations. So much to see and do and learn.

Though the connections made — and the dogs met — were delightful and well worth the trip, my favorite experience there was hands down the Movies for Grownups screening of "At Middleton," which stars Andy Garcia and Vera Farmiga.

You may recall the trailer for the film, included in this post here. (And if you don't recall the trailer or didn't watch it then, go watch it. Seriously.)

You may also recall from that post that I mentioned Andy Garcia would be at the screening. Which he was.

After the lovely movie that I enjoyed from beginning to end, Andy Garcia, along with director Adam Rodgers and Glenn German — co-writer with Rodgers of the sweet story of two parents who meet during their children's college tour — took the stage for an "At Middleton" Q&A session with the audience.

Glenn German, Adam Rodgers and Andy Garcia

Andy Garcia listens to an adoring audience member.Mike wranglers roamed the crowd, giving those in attendance the chance to ask questions. I so wanted to ask who chose the musical selections integral to the story, having seen Arturo Sandoval's name in the beginning credits (whom Andy Garcia played in a 2000 HBO film on Sandoval). But... though I can write for crowds, I sure as heck can't speak in front of crowds. At all.

So I kept my mouth shut, listened to others, and shot frame after frame of the handsome men on stage.

Then the topic of distribution of the independent film and support for it came up. Suddenly there was some mention of the support for the film on a site called Grandma's Briefs, with Andy Garcia saying something about there being a special request and... something else I can't remember at all because I somehow found myself standing and waving my arms and declaring to the men on the stage, That's me, I'm Grandma's Briefs!

And then Andy Garcia asked me to come up front.

Oh, <cuss>! I said in my head.

"Oh, no," I said out loud.

I quickly asked the gentleman behind me to please take my camera and get some photos, someone thrust a microphone into my hand (Here, take this!) and I headed up front.

Right into the arms of Andy Garcia.

Unbelievable.

I wanted to say, "Wow! What a wonderful, touching film!"

I wanted to say, "You are a good, good man, Mr. Garcia!" (I think heis. In part because he and his wife have been married as long as Jim and I, and his family is top priority. Need more? Google him.)

And I wanted to say — once we hugged and I melted into his unbelievably soft jacket that simply felt like home — "Gee whiz! Let's just stay right here and hug all freakin' day!"

I didn't say any of those things.

Instead, I said, "The other grandmas are going to be so jealous!" Yes, at that very special moment, I thought of you all.

Andy Garcia kissed me on the forehead, he thanked me for my support. And I just babbled: "Thank you, thank you, thank YOU...."

(As I mentioned, I can't speak for <cuss> in front of crowds.)

But Mr. Garcia was kind and seemingly genuine as he hugged me again — comfy, cozy hugs that, well, just felt like home. And we posed for pictures.

Then I somehow managed my way back to my seat — after a quick hug to Sue, the PR rep taking photos... whom I also thanked profusely. The gentleman who used my camera gave it back, I thanked him several times, as well, then I sat back down and tried to stop shaking.

A few questions from the audience later — what the Q was or the A that followed, I couldn't tell ya — then the whole thing was over. Just like that.

Poof!

Surreal.

When the lights came up and the crowd began exiting, the first thing I did was dial my husband. It's the normal response when a long-time married woman hugs another man, right? Tell your husband?

I simply had to share with Jim.

And Jim was immediately jealous — jealous that he didn't get to hug Andy Garcia!

But as he always is, my husband was thrilled for me.

"Was it a good hug?" he asked, as he and I put a lot of stock in a person's hug, agree that so much of one's character is revealed in their hugs.

I confirmed that it was.

And it certainly was.

Such a wonderful hug from a good, good man.

One truly unexpected, truly unforgettable moment.

Thank you, Andy Garcia.

Today's question:

Whose hugs feel like home to you?

Meeting the Queen, plus GRAND Social No. 63

I'm back from BlogHer and have much to share. I must say, one of the high points of the conference was the warm reception I received from brand representatives I spoke to about the wants and needs of the baby boomer and grandparent readers of Grandma's Briefs. More than once I was told, "That is exactly the demographic we want to reach!" And I promise you it wasn't makers of hearing aids or walking aids saying such things, which was quite refreshing. Good things to come.

Another highlight of the conference was, of course, the Voice of the Year ceremony, hosted by Queen Latifah. There were a few disappointing glitches in the ceremony, but it was indeed rather cool to be standing next to the Queen. In the picture below, there's a woman — my friend, beautiful and talented Sandra — between the Queen and me (on Queen Latifah's right), but for one brief moment, Sandra stepped forward to give direction to the photographer, and I scooted over and stood right next to Queen Latifah. I considered fighting Sandra for the spot when she returned, but I decided to play nice and let her have her original spot back.

Group photo courtesy Ellen Gale Williams, http://www.sisterhoodofthesensiblemoms.com/

I'll share more in the coming days and weeks about other highlights of BlogHer and such, but a highlight of today is GRAND Social No. 63. Cheers to getting the show on the road!

How it works:

• All grandparent bloggers are invited to add a link. You don't have to blog specifically about grandparenting, just be a grandparent who blogs.

• To link up a post, copy the direct URL to the specific post — new or old — that you want to share, not the link to your blog's home page. Then click the blue button marked with "Add your link" below and follow the directions.

• You can add up to three posts, but no duplicates, contests, giveaways, or Etsy sites, please.

• Adding a mention such as This post linked to the GRAND Social to your linked posts is appreciated. Or, you can post the GRAND Social button anywhere on your page using the following code:

<a href="/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img src="http://grandmasbriefs.squarespace.com/storage/GRANDsocialbutton.jpg " alt="Grandma’sBriefs.com" width="125" height="125" /></a>

• The GRAND Social linky is open for new posts through Wednesday evening, so please come back to see those added after your first visit.

• If you're not a blogger, you have the pleasure of being a reader. Bloggers who link up would be honored to have one and all — other bloggers as well as readers — visit, read and, if so moved, comment, even if just a "Hey, stopping by from the GRAND Social."

• For another grandparent linky, visit Connie's Grandparent's Say It Saturday Link Party each Saturday.