Milestone -- Over 50,000 Page Views / Judy & Lloyd

We started our blog She Says, He Says in October 2008 and recently achieved a milestone of sorts by registering more than 50,000 page views over the course of the blog.

This post lists Our Most Read Posts Ever - the 10 posts that our readers chose to view the most often (averaging 600 views each)

She Says, He Says has a worldwide readership with most significant participation from the United States, Germany, Russia, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Malaysia, Ukraine, and Poland.

Thank you for choosing to read She Says, He Says

-- Judy and Lloyd

Our Most Read Posts Ever

Clicking on a title will take you to the post.

1 - (1905 views) Parable of the Divers

2 - (970 views) "For the Strength of the Hills" Was Written About the Vaudois Mountains in Switzerland--Who knew?

3 - (826 views)  Christmas Dress for Ellen

4 - (665 views)  Bishop G.A. Thompson on Biblical Chastity

5 - (400 views)  Videos of High School Students Receiving Mission Calls -- Background Details

6 - (384 views)  The Peace of God, Which Passeth All Understanding

7 - (357 views)  There HAS to Be an America

8 - (280 views)  Sweet Hour of Prayer

9 - (276 views)  The Spirit of Christmas

10 - (233 views) Who Told Thee Thou Wast Naked?

When Lloyd & I Started this Blog / Judy

She Says, He Says

When Lloyd and I started this blog several years ago, we named it "He said, She said," because we thought we could take an issue and state our different views on it. But we found that not only did we have different views, we had entirely different issues. For instance, I find the current elections somewhat interesting, but I certainly don't feel consumed by them. 

Now on to the interesting stuff -- movies and books. For this blog I'll talk about recent movies we've seen and that I recommend. I'll do books the next time.

I've chosen movies that you may not have seen or heard of (I assume everyone knows about the big, more popular ones). I'll mention a little about them, provide a trailer, and give their availability on Netflix.

Domestic Movies

1. The Big Miracle

It's a true story starring Drew Barrymore and John Krasinski about a village in Alaska that tries to rescue a family of whales. The whales are trapped beneath the ice and not only does the whole town get involved, but the media learns about it and it becomes a huge media event all over the world. Netflix DVD, not instant.

Enjoyable Foreign Films with Subtitles

2.  Heartbreaker

It's a French movie and unrated, but okay. It's the story of a man and his sister and her husband who own a business where someone pays them to "save our loved one from the wrong boyfriend." So they go to great lengths to break up a bad relationship. The problem is that the guy falls in love with their unknowing client while trying to get her to leave her fiancee. Caveat--the one scene you have to fast-forward is where her crude friend comes into the protagonist's room and tries to seduce him. It doesn't last very long because he's saved by his brother-in-law, but while it lasts it's not good. (I was reminded about the crude friend in the move Fifty First Dates and how every time he was in a scene it was ruined.) Netflix instant/DVD.

3. Romantic's Anonymous

Another French movie, also unrated but okay, from 2010. Delightful movie about two VERY, even pathologically shy people who finally get together. He owns a chocolate factory on the verge of bankruptcy and she is some sort of genius chocolate maker. Netflix instant/DVD.

4. Where Do We Go From Here?

I've saved the best for last. If you don't see any of the others, see this one from Lebanon. It's about a village surrounded by land mines. Day to day, the Christian and Muslim neighbors are sociable. But when something negative happens, the men blame "the others" and get all stirred up, while the women try to calm them down. The women go to great lengths to keep the men distracted from the greater "war outside" and are sustained by deep friendship  and a poignant humor. The ending is incredible, but you have to experience the entire movie to fully appreciate it. Netflix DVD not instant.

Updates / Judy

I've decided I like other people's blogs so much that I want to contribute too. (Besides, I am disappointed when they don't update for long periods of time.) I think my life is pretty boring, but I'm sure other people feel the same way about their lives. However, I still want to hear about their lives so I'm assuming someone might feel the same about mine. One problem is that I probably won't have pictures very often--even though they are what make a blog especially interesting. In my case I'll have to rely on text.

Yesterday was Lloyd's day off. He spent it working on stuff for his volunteer position at the prison and I worked around the house (translation: I read most of the afternoon). Jonathan is painting the outside of our house (Christopher helps sometimes, but it's mostly Jonathan). We used one back wall to try three different colors of paint before we settled on one and I really like it. It looks gray when he puts it on next to the white primer, but when the whole wall is covered, it looks like a light blue.

Last night Lloyd and I went to the melodrama and thoroughly enjoyed it--it was classic melodrama and vaudeville. In fact, I think it was one of the better things they've done for a while. Ben is working there at the box office during the day, but he stayed and saw it with us last night. One of the things we always look forward to is the food there. We always get a polish sausage and potato salad and Lloyd said he started salivating for it as soon as we were inside the door.

Full Disclosure / Lloyd

Dear Family & Friends, 

There was a time when I sent out weekly emails about various topics--often religious, but not for some time now. 

The change was motivated by the increasingly acrimonious, forwarded emails that we've been receiving and by our entry into moral politics regarding same-sex marriage. I realized that my own emails may not be so appreciated or inoffensive as I supposed even within our own family. 

I do have strong opinions about almost everything in directions that may surprise folks who thought they knew me. My perceptual framework is very much related to living with my father, who grew up in Philadelphia and whose parents were strong supporters of organized labor, to my education and life in major Eastern cities (Penn in Philadelphia, and Yeshiva in New York City), and to very personal professional experiences among the so-called marginal strata of society. I guess we must all come to grips with what makes us uniquely us. (I seem to be the only registered Democrat in the family, even among my own wife and children.) 

I have teamed up with Judy in authoring this blog: She Says, He Says. We promise two, very different perspectives, as you will see by reviewing past postings. This Blog format, opposed to sending emails, permits folks who have interest to come check us out without our being intrusive to them. Thanks so much to family and friends for your past, kind reception of my emails. 

We do hope you won't be shy in paying us a visit. Comments, especially opposing viewpoints, are always appreciated. 

Love, Lloyd

P.S. I'm especially fond of the two engaging frogs on our masthead.