The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

For weeks, I’ve been trying to make time to see The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, and on Friday, things finally worked out.

As a 20-something, I sometimes take all that I’ve earned and learned for granted. Even as a new New Yorker, I don’t think I’m living my life to the fullest. I’m happy — great job, good friends, etc. — but I’m set in my ways, and I often joke that I’m 23 going on 65.

After seeing The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, I take it back. The liveliness portrayed by the star-studded cast — including Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson — and the young, ambitious Sonny (Dev Patel), I feel inspired . . . and a bit like a bum.

A group of older Brits relocated to India for various reasons, and spent time making adjustments to eventually feel at home, and at one with the culture. Each character had their own respective depth and relationship with India, and with the hotel, but the one consistent thing each character had was an appreciation for life, and for living.

Long at just under 2 hours, the storyline had enough ups and downs to keep the audience engaged. Evelyn (Dench) embraces a blog to tell her story, and it serves as narration for most of the film. Her thirst for culture reminds me of my Zaydie Sam, actually. At 82 — 83 on September 1 — he uses Facebook to communicate with a French pen-pal, and reads the news across cultures thanks to the interwebz.

When I left the theater, I declared that this summer would be the summer for me to try new things, if nothing else, this will be the summer that gets me to live a little.

Related articles

• ‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’ passes $100 million at the worldwide box office (insidemovies.ew.com)

The Everything Bagel

There’s something about the combination of garlic, onion, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, caraway seeds, and salt that just seems so naturally New York. The flavor profile and the city just go together.

Tal Bagels (Photo credit: Mahima H)

My company recently established a weekly treat for its staff, affectionately penned Bagel Mondays. I don’t always partake, as I’m more of a “whole wheat everything bagel, scooped out” kind of gal, but sometimes an everything bagel without all of my Weight Watchers-friendly adjustments is just so . . . worth it.

The everything bagel has a cloudy history – one that I’ll attribute to David Gussin and not Seth Godin (no offense, Seth) — and its recipe and exact mix of seeds and such tends to change from bagel joint to bagel joint.

My favorite everything bagel in all of New York hails from Tal Bagels in Manhattan. Sometimes, instead of the white-flour bagels offered on Bagel Mondays, I’ll throw down some dough – no pun intended – for a whole wheat everything bagel from Tal Bagels. I order it scooped out with low-fat scallion cream cheese, red onion, cucumber, and tomato. Not inexpensive, but again, it’s worth it.

How one orders one’s bagel says as much about them as how they take their coffee. Toasted, untoasted. With shmear, without. In Michigan, we had Detroit bagels and Elaine’s, and in New York we have H&H. My order must illustrate that I’m a little bit of everything.

How do you take your bagel?

Blogspiration

I’ve played owner to many a blog. Too many, in fact. I quickly realized just how hard it was to take ownership of an idea, and expand on it verbally . . . at least three times weekly . . . and so I decided to consolidate my thoughts and my efforts into one blog — full of ramblings from recipes and movie reviews to short essays about my family and professional life.

There’s no formula to blogging, and my current, longest lasting blog doesn’t have a true content strategy. I write about what moves me, what interests me — and sometimes what annoys me. One area I’d like to touch on, that I don’t so much right now, is the career space. It’s something I’m passionate about, but don’t tend to gab on about in long-format online. I’d also like to play with the format of my blog, to include more original photography, as well as less-than-viral (but still interesting and incredibly worthwhile!) video.

I’m curious, for my readers who also blog, how have you incorporated your blog into your routine, and where do you look for blogspiration?

Beer Rhetorics | NY

When I was a Professional Writing (PW) student at Michigan State University, I kept to myself. I participated during class discussions, but never felt especially compelled to socialize outside of the confines of the beloved 317 Bessey Hall — a room filled with now-outdated Macs, candy, wall decals, and Squishables.

During my final semester at MSU, I took my program’s capstone course — a portfolio workshop — and connected with students across tracks that I may not have otherwise met. Once weekly, some of these students gathered at Woody’s Oasis on E. Grand River Ave. in East Lansing for a beer or funky libation — if only their drink menu were available online! — to chat about their professional, personal, and academic lives. I caught on a bit late, but I soon joined in, as did our professors (offering a unique, valuable out-of-classroom perspective). Quite quickly, Beer Rhetorics — the name assigned to this weekly hangout — became a staple in my weekly routine, without breaking the bank (thank you for the inexpensive house drinks, Woody’s!).

Looking back, it’s amazing to see how much all of us have grown. Many have relocated to New York, Chicago, and beyond. Others have begun work toward a Master’s or PhD. Some have even married. For those of us who have moved away, we strive to keep that PW bond going.

Last night marked a successful meeting of what we will affectionately call Beer Rhetorics | NY. My first-ever time at the Bohemian Hall Beer Garden off of 24th Avenue in Astoria, seven of us met to kibitz about life and to reminisce about our days in East Lansing.

We hope to meet monthly, so if you’re an MSU alum (not necessarily PW!), feel free to join in on the fun!

The Power of 3

My sister and brother-in-law are upstairs sleeping after their long journey to Michigan from Seattle. This week marked two important milestones for my family. My brother Aaron was newly minted Dr. Kirsch in his graduation from Wayne State University Medical School, and my sister Amanda and her husband Dave celebrated their 3-year wedding anniversary.

I’ll never forget the day they were married. My Bubby Cyrille — the best grandmother anyone could possibly have asked for — was fighting a horrific battle with cancer, and this was one of her final family events. The event was beautiful, and family members from all across the states — and then some — gathered to celebrate my sister as she entered the next chapter of her life, and took the opportunity to spend what would likely be their final moments with my late Bubby.

While I wish that some of the paternal family drama had not played a role — but it seems no Kirsch event can take place without it — my sister was beautiful that night, and I gained another brother (indeed, from another mother).

As a result of Dave joining our family, I’ve been fortunate enough to feel that my total family has expanded. His parents have been nothing short of lovely in welcoming me into their home for Jersey-bound Jewish holidays.

To Amanda and Dave, mazel tov on another happy year of marriage, I wish you 120 more. To my brother Aaron, I’m incredibly proud of all that you have accomplished. Thank you for being one of the only people to care about my latest chickpea-laden recipe, or newly discovered BritComs. You’re the best, and I’m so grateful to have you in my life.I long for the day when Amanda and Dave start a family — no pressure — and at this important stage in their relationship, I still see the same, head-over-heels couple that joined under the chuppah three years ago.

[And so that Anne doesn't feel left out, I love her and am proud of her, too. My Texan sister has made a true lifestyle transformation, having lost 50 pounds in the last year. She stays active in the Houston heat, and is a daily role model for my own routine.]

Congrats, grad.

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Five Years Too Long?

On Friday I went with friends to see The Five-Year Engagement in Astoria, and as a big fan of both Jason Segel and Emily Blunt, I was pretty pleased with the movie as a 2012 rom-com, but I’m not sure it lived up to all its hype.

Segel and Blunt have great chemistry, and so their drawn-out love story was believable and did not disappoint. There was something about the flow, however, that didn’t feel was so smooth. But perhaps that’s the point. The relationship wasn’t smooth, so the flow was dictated by the plot.

I especially enjoyed the exhaustive Michiganderisms. Sure, I went to Michigan State – go green! go white! – but I grew up visiting Ann Arbor, and not East Lansing. Each time the scene was shot at Zingermans, or on the Diag, my heart skipped a beat for my home state.

The supporting cast didn’t take a back seat to the lead performances, which helped the comedic impact of the film. I loved the Molly Shannon cameo, as well as the casting of Chris Parnell, Brian Posehn, and Rhys Ifans.

While I don’t think the length of the film was entirely necessary, I do feel like it played well into the premise of the movie. Also, props to the publicist or marketing person who came up with the Knot-style wedding site that served as a movie promotion, complete with the standard “how the couple met” story and various video blogs from Segel and Blunt in-character.

If you’re looking for something cute to see this season, I recommend The Five-Year Engagement.