Baker's heartbeat

Cinemark is the local theater complex in eastern Davenport, Iowa This is the second year I've seen each of the "Best Picture" Academy Award nominations, and it is also the second time I've noticed trends among the films nominated. Before my journalism career ended, I'd watch the Oscars in February after having seen a few of the films nominated. The last couple of years, however, have been different as I've made a point to both see the films and blog about my reactions.    Two of the movies nominated this year concern race relations in the United States but approach the topic in different directions. "Green Book," which I argue had the best story of all eight films nominated, won the top Oscar.    The other, "BlacKkKlansman," was a superb film directed by Spike Lee, and it was understandable that he was upset not to win the category. This film concerns race relations and the Ku Klux Klan.    Both films are about real peopl...

The local movie theater is operated by Cinemark The first movie on Feb. 18 started at 12:35 p.m. but I was at the ticket office hours earlier, schedules in hand. The Academy Awards are this Sunday and I was determined to see all the "Best Picture" nominees. I thought I was in really good shape this awards season as I had already seen several top movies including "Black Panther," "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "Roma," the first nominee from Netflix. As it turns out there were five I had not seen, and that's why I was so anxious to get to the Cinemark Theatre, about 15 minutes from home in Scott County, Iowa. I saw three at Cinemark ("Green Book," "The Favourite" and "Vice") on Monday and Tuesday, and rented two through Redbox ("Blackklansman" and "A Star is Born.") Best picture? That's "Bohemian Rhapsody," hands down. Runners up? "Black Panther" and "Gree...

This two-day class was led by teacher Stephanie Lindmark at the Missississipi Bend Area Education Agency and is part of the licensing procedure to become a substitute teacher in Iowa. The class was large, teacher Stephanie Lindmark said. There were 27 students, or six tables of 4, and one table of 3 adults, all of whom had four-year college academic degrees. The "substitute teacher" training spread over two days and about 18 hours at the Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency, which is located in the former Bettendorf High School, believe it or not. It's on 23rd Street near downtown Bettendorf, and if you hang around there long enough, you can tell it used to be a high school. (Down the hill from the structure is what was a football field at one time.) The 27 students included yours truly. We got a crash course in what we were to do when leading a class of students. In the end, we'll receive our license, which allows us to teach children in pre-kindergarte...

Myla Adelyn Rodewald was born a month ago, in Des Moines. Dear Myla Adelyn: You are now a month old, and I wanted to introduce myself. I am your grandmother Baker, and I'd like you to call me "Nana." (Research shows that 'Nana' has been used as a word for "grandmother" since the early 20th century. When I grew up in Edina, Minnesota, my sister's best friend lived up the street with her Nana. The Minnesota Nana was very kind to me as a little girl and that's how I want to be to you, little Myla.) My husband, Grandpa Steve, and I, are the parents of your mother, Kirstin. We were present in the hospital lobby when you entered the world on Jan. 6, and we first met you when you were just a couple hours old. Now we enjoy seeing you, mostly via a funny thing called FaceTime, which happens on your mommy's cell phone. That happens about once a week. When we speak to you on FaceTime, you seem to be interested in where our voices are com...

The snowy view outside the house during a historic cold spell. The historic cold weather in the Midwest -- most particularly in my home state of Iowa -- reminded me about growing up in Minnesota. According to the National Weather Service in Scott County, Iowa, the high today is -15 degrees Farenheit, with a low of -29 degrees. We are on the national news and there are stories in the newspaper of how part of the Polar Vortex has broken off and settled over the Lower 48 States, including Iowa and Minnesota. Radio commentators mention these are the coldest temperatures in several decades, not seen since 1982, for example. Residents who are Millennials have never experienced such cold weather. That's not the case of a Baby Boomer born in Minneapolis. One time was when I was about 9 years old I went skating with my sisters and neighbor kids, and we all stayed out for hours on the rink in subzero weather. We finally went home and Mom told me to take a bath. That warm bath h...

Girlfriends from Tipton, Iowa, reunite in 2018 at the Tipton Country Club The strength of friendship is well known, but did you also realize that strong friendships are good for your health? Research shows friendship, especially the lasting kind, are commonly connected to better health, including heart health. The data shows that the more rich, and the number of friendships you enjoy, the longer your longevity. As an example, several of my girlfriends are now 60-61 years old, and we all met when we were students at Tipton Elementary School in Tipton, Iowa. We've kept in touch over the decades, through letters, phone calls, texts these days, parties, and in the last 10 years, trips. As our children grow older, the strength of female friendship becomes more, and more important. As a daily newspaper reporter for health and wellness, I once interviewed several women from Rock Island. Those girls had been friends since childhood, and vouched for the the connections that las...

Craft room set up for scrapbooking hobby About 45 years ago I started sorting my photos into a scrapbook, of sorts. It was a rudimentary effort, but the first example of what evolved into a full-fledged hobby after I met my husband. Luckily we have had a momentous 31 years of marriage, and I, the former journalist, happily chronicle the Baker family life. Scrapbooking, the hobby, is one of the fastest-growing in the United States, according to Smithsonian magazine, at Smithsonian.com. The value of scrapbooks has spanned the centuries, according to a report by graphic designer Jessica Helfand, as cited in a 2009 story, "The Cherished Tradition of Scrapbooking." Hefland once wrote negatively about the hobby and was taken aback by a response from scrapbook hobbyists. She then went out and acquired 200 scrapbooks, and wrote a book, "Scrapbooks: An American History." In the Smithsonian account, she talks about 19th century scrapbooking, which tended to the ma...