Home, Sweet Home - (1)

Good Morning

Tea Time

Favorite Balcony

Watch Sunset

Swimming Pool

Meditation

Cooking Heaven

Sunset Dinner

Sweet Dream

MY HOME .....IN DREAM .... :-))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

to be continued ......

Hug Day

National Hug Day is an annual holiday created by Rev. Kevin Zaborney. It occurs on January 21 and is officially recognized by the Hugging Committee of the City of London, as well as the United States Copyright Office, but is not a public holiday. The holiday was founded on March 29, 1986 in Caro, Michigan, and has since spread to multiple countries. The purpose for the holiday is to help everyone show more emotion in public. There is only one way you are supposed to celebrate the holiday, offer a hug to anyone and everyone you want. While National Hug Day and the Free Hugs Campaign share many similarities, there is not actual association between the two. Whether you hug a family member or a stranger, the mental and physical health benefits are the same.

Studies have shown that human contact has many health benefits. It has been found that human contact improves both psychological and physical development. Hugging can also help build a good immune system, decrease the risk of heart disease, and decrease levels of the stress hormone cortisol in women. It has been shown that a couple who hugs for 20 seconds has higher levels of oxytocin, and that those who were in a loving relationship exhibited a highest increase. According to the American Psychosomatic Society, a hug or 10 minutes of holding hands with a romantic partner can help reduce stress, and its harmful physical effects. In a study, adults who had no contact with people had higher blood pressure and heart rate. Other studies have indicated that the touch of a friend might not be as helpful as the touch of a partner.

Do you need a hug? Have you hug anyone today? :-))))))))))))))

Sophie: As I Lay Me Down

"As I Lay Me Down" is a song composed and performed by Sophie B. Hawkins (born November 1, 1967, an American singer, songwriter, musician and painter). It is from her album Whaler and also appears on The Best of Sophie B. Hawkins. The song is one of her two biggest hits, reaching number six on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Adult Contemporary chart for six weeks during its year of release, 1995. Lovely. Merci :-)))))))

Gentle Heart

Giovanni Marradi (born Italy, 1952) is a pianist, composer and arranger. He was born as the son of the famed Italian trumpeter and conductor Alfredo Marradi. His great-grandfather, also named Giovanni Marradi, was a legendary poet and composer as well.

Giovanni began playing piano at age five, and three years later was sent to study composition and technique with Michael Cheskinov at the Russian Conservatory. In the years to follow, he emerged as a remarkably prolific composer, often writing as many as ten new songs each week. Forming his own label, NewCastle Records, he also hosted his own weekly television series, Giovanni's World of Music. His frequent appearances on cable's QVC network offered a major boost to his international visibility as well, and in one 12-minute stretch alone he sold over 120,000 albums. In 1998 Giovanni signed with Atlantic Records, making his label debut with Destiny early the following year. Classic Nights with Giovanni television series was released in the mid-1999, trailed later that same year by The Magic of Christmas DVD. To date, Giovanni has sold millions of cds around the world and currently has over 30 CDs available directly through his website. Giovanni will soon release his latest CDs, "Because I Love You" and "Softly". He is currently composing, recording and performing and lives in Southern California.


Gentle Heart



Land of dreams



Just For You

Beautiful Dreamer

Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826 – January 13, 1864), known as the "father of American music", was an American songwriter primarily known for his parlour and minstrel music. Foster wrote over 200 songs; among his best known are "Oh! Susanna", "Camptown Races", "Old Folks at Home", "My Old Kentucky Home", "Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair", "Old Black Joe", "Massa's in the Cold Ground", "Nelly Bly", "Old Uncle Ned" and "Beautiful Dreamer". Many of his compositions remain popular more than 150 years after he wrote them.

Foster attended private academies in Allegheny, Athens and Towanda, Pennsylvania. He received an education in English grammar, diction, the classics, penmanship, Latin and Greek, and mathematics. He wrote his first composition, Tioga Waltz, while attending Athens Academy, and performed it during the 1841 commencement exercises; he was 14.

Jeanie

During his teenage years, Foster was influenced greatly by two men. Henry Kleber (1816–1897), one of Stephen’s few formal music instructors, was a classically trained musician who emigrated from Darmstadt, Germany, to Pittsburgh and opened a music store. Dan Rice was an entertainer, a clown and blackface singer, making his living in traveling circuses. Although respectful of the more civilized parlor songs of the day, he and his friends would often sit at a piano, writing and singing minstrel songs through the night. Eventually, Foster learned to blend the two genres to write some of his best-known work.

Eighteen of Foster's compositions were recorded and released on the Beautiful Dreamer: The Songs of Stephen Foster collection. Among the artists who are featured on the album are John Prine, Ron Sexsmith, Alison Krauss, Yo Yo Ma, Roger McGuinn, Mavis Staples, and Suzy Bogguss. The album won the Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album in 2005.

Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair is a parlor song by Stephen Foster. It was published by Firth, Pond & Co. of New York in 1854. Foster wrote the song with his wife Jane McDowell in mind.




Beautiful Dreamer is another parlor song by Stephen Foster. It was published in March 1864 by Wm. A. Pond & Co. of New York, after his death at 37.

The song is set in a 9/8 rhythm with a broken chord accompaniment.The song tells of a lover serenading a "Beautiful Dreamer", who is oblivious to all worldly cares and may actually be dead. Foster's work features many dead young women including Annie, Laura Lee, and Jeanie.Helen Lightner writes, "This sentimental ballad is folk-like in character with its repetitious but lovely melody and its basic harmonic accompaniment… The quiet and calm of this mood is portrayed by the monotony of the arpeggiated accompaniment, by the repetitiveness of the melodic pattern, and by the strophic form itself."

Beautiful dreamer, wake unto me,
Starlight and dewdrops are waiting for thee;
Sounds of the rude world, heard in the day,
Lull'd by the moonlight have all pass'd away!
Beautiful dreamer, queen of my song,
List while I woo thee with soft melody;
Gone are the cares of life's busy throng,
Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!
Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!

Beautiful dreamer, out on the sea
Mermaids are chanting the wild lorelie;
Over the streamlet vapors are borne,
Waiting to fade at the bright coming morn.
Beautiful dreamer, beam on my heart,
E'en as the morn on the streamlet and sea;
Then will all clouds of sorrow depart,
Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!
Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!

Tango with Armik

Armik (born Armik Dashchi) is an Iranian-Armenian flamenco guitarist and composer.

Tango Flamenco



Alone With You

Feel Omar Akram

Passage of the heart



Whispers In The Moonlight



Run away with me

Beloved Teddy

Steiff is a German-based plush toy company known for its high quality. It was begun in 1880 by Margarete Steiff, who was later assisted by her brother Fritz. The famed "button in ear" was devised by Margarete's nephew Franz in 1904, to keep counterfeits from being passed off as authentic Steiff toys. It is metal and originally had the symbol of an elephant, later replaced by the name "Steiff". The button is still used to distinguish Steiff toys from fakes. Some special toys have both the elephant and the name.

Birth of Teddy Bear - 1902

On 24 July 1847, Margarete was born in Giengen, near Ulm, Germany, the third of four children. Her father was a master builder, Friedrich Steiff, her mother Maria Margarete Steiff, née Hähnle. When Margarete was 18 months old, she suffered a high fever and as a result her legs became paralysed and it was painful to use her right arm. Three years later, a doctor in Ulm diagnosed her with polio. Many attempted cures and doctor visits were all in vain and her parents begin to despair.

Full of zest for life, Margarete fought to lead a normal life. She was taken to school in a handcart by her siblings and neighbouring children. A woman living near the school carried her up into the classroom every day. In spite of the pain in her right hand, Margarete also took sewing lessons, initially against her father's wishes. At 17, she finally completed her training as a seamstress. Margarete's elder sisters - Marie and Pauline - opened a dressmaker's shop in which Margarete worked part-time. When Marie and Pauline left their home town some 8 years later, Margarete continued on her own. In an issue of a magazine called "Modenwelt" dated 8th December, Margarete saw a pattern for a small elephant made of fabric. Based on this design, she sewed a pincushion shaped like a small elephant, the "Elefäntle". Soon the small fabric animals proved to be very popular - as toys for children.

Margarete's brother Fritz built his disabled sister a house with a suitably equipped living area on the first floor and a small shop on the ground floor. The house was named "Felt Toy Manufacturing Facility" (Filz-Spielwaren-Fabrik). Today, the street in which this house is found is called "Margarete-Steiff-Strasse".

In 1897, Richard Steiff, Margarete's favourite nephew, joined the company. Richard studied at the School of Art in Stuttgart as well as studying in England. His sketches of animals form the basis of many Steiff creations

In 1902, Richard designed "Bear 55 PB", the world's first toy bear with jointed arms and legs. While looking for a suitable material for the fur, Richard found the cuddly and dyeable mohair plush, manufactured by the Schulte pile-fabric weaving mill in Duisburg.

Margarete herself was rather sceptical, but allowed Richard to present his bear at the Leipzig Toy Fair. The breakthrough came when an American businessman discovered the bear and placed an order for 3,000. The bear enjoyed unprecedented levels of sales in the USA, where, from 1906 onwards, it is sold under the name "Teddy bear" - after the US President Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt.

The Steiff Button & Chest Tags

Steiff "Button in Ear" symbolizes the fascinating development of a trademark that has become a symbol of ultimate quality for toys. 

This trademark stands for
  high-quality products
  good design
  perfect workmanship
  maximum emotional intensity
  personality
  brand prestige / image
  increase in value, equally valuable as a toy, a gift or an ornament
  suitable for children
  compliance with the most stringent safety requirements

The term "Button in Ear" was registered as a trademark on 20th December 1904 and patented on 13th May 1905. The "Button in Ear" was then supplemented by a fabric tag with the product number printed on it in 1908/09.

A trademark allows us to identify the origin of an article. Although only slight changes have been made to the button over the years, these were sufficient to offer today's Steiff animal collectors a means of determining the approximate date of a particular animal's manufacture.

Note: Blank Buttons are used for SECONDS (like clothing seconds that have the label cut) rejected in the Quality Control Program. These can be found on the market so be careful and demand only The Best as seconds will not retain value.

Note: The exact date of an item cannot be determined with the reference to the button alone, as the various techniques overlapped. This means, for example, that older buttons were fitted while others were being produced. The quoted dates must therefore be used as orientation aids and may not be regarded as being an absolute means of ascertaining the age of an article.

In 1926, pendants, made of card, were also tied round the neck of all products. These changed in appearance over the years.


Steiff Ginny Teddy Bears (~$200)

Expensive Bear

1. Price : $2.1 Million

This is the world’s most expensive teddy bear ever sold at any auction. This was manufactured by a well-known German toy company Steiff. The company claims to have made the world’s first teddy bear. The company has made this bear with the brand name of the famous fashion house Louis Vuitton. This teddy bear was sold at the Monaco auction in the year 2000 at the most hefty price ever bet for a toy, which was $21, 00,000. Jessie Kim of Korea bought this Steiff bear, and now this bear is housed at Teddy Bear Museum in Jeju, Korea.


2. Price: $84,000

This Steiff bear has a mouth of pure gold and its fur is made of golden threads. This golden bear was made to commemorate the company’s 125th anniversary. The best feature of the bear is the eyes that have been crafted from sapphires and diamonds. These bears are limited in numbers as only 125 of the collectables have been produced and each retails at $84,000.



3. Price: $ 30,000

Another asset from the Paul Greenwood collection is this Steiff teddy that was expected to fetch around $50,000 at Christie’s International in London but got around $30,000. The bear was produced in 1910 and wore a brown fur jacket with a lace to tie both the ends.


4. Price: $2,080

Few years back, the iconic Karl Lagerfeld collaborated with the well-known toy making company Steiff to make a Karl Lagerfeld Steiff Teddy Bear for the latter’s 125th anniversary. The collaboration came up with a limited number of teddy bear i.e. only 2500 pieces. This teddy bear was wearing the famous black suit and sunglasses, quiet similar to what the star himself wears. The teddy also adorned the famous ear stud that is Karl’s patent style and also studded beld with the initials of the starts name “KL”. The toy was released at Colette with a price tag of $2,080.

Dying Beautifully

Quadrantids will be zipping overhead from today to Sunday, but the peak of the shower is expected very early on Thursday (Jan 3, 2013), just before dawn (Friday Jan 4, 1-2 am). This shower can be as spectacular as the Perseids or the Geminids, with a maximum rate of about 80 per hour, but the Quadrantids' peak intensity will be short -- just a few hours.

You may watch them dying beautifully, and make a wish for a lucky new year !!

A meteor shower is a celestial event in which a number of meteors are observed to radiate from one point in the night sky. These meteors are caused by streams of cosmic debris called meteoroids entering Earth's atmosphere at extremely high speeds on parallel trajectories. Most meteors are smaller than a grain of sand, so almost all of them disintegrate and never hit the Earth's surface. Intense or unusual meteor showers are known as meteor outbursts and meteor storms, which may produce greater than 1,000 meteors an hour.

The Quadrantids (QUA) are a January meteor shower. The Quadrantid meteor shower is named for an extinct constellation, but the shooting stars that seem to sprout from it still arrive yearly. The meteor rates exceed one-half of their highest value for only about 8 hours (compared to two days for the August Perseids). This means that the stream of particles that produces this shower is narrow – and apparently deriving from and within the last 500 years from some orbiting body.

While the shower begins overnight on the first day of the new year, Quadrantid meteor shower peaks in the wee morning hours of Jan. 4. The Quadrantids have a maximum rate of about 100 per hour, varying between 60-200. The waxing gibbous moon will set around 3 a.m. local time, leaving about two hours of excellent meteor observing before dawn.

Where to look

The best way to spot the meteor shower is to look north (and a little east) and find the Big Dipper (Ursa Major) then look farther north (which would be roughly "up" if the Big Dipper were holding liquid). The constellation Draco ("Dragon") has a "head" of four bright stars that look a little bit like the four stars that make up the cup end of the Big Dipper. "Up" between the end of the Big Dipper's handle and Draco's head, you should spot the meteors. It's near the constellation Boötes.

The Google Sky Map on my cell phone seems very handy for this event - it even marks the Quadrantids (above Hercules)! If there is need of photo shoot, the so called monster telephoto lens (2600x2) may be used (Nikon SLR only).

History of the Quadrantids in Astronomy:

Like the Geminids, the Quadrantids originate from an asteroid, called 2003 EH1. Dynamical studies suggest that this body could very well be a piece of a comet which broke apart several centuries ago, and that the meteors you will see before dawn on Jan. 3 are the small debris from this fragmentation. After hundreds of years orbiting the sun, they will enter our atmosphere at 90,000 mph, burning up 50 miles above Earth's surface—a fiery end to a long journey! 

The Quadrantids derive their name from the constellation of Quadrans Muralis (mural quadrant), which was created by the French astronomer Jerome Lalande in 1795. Located between the constellations of Boötes and Draco, Quadrans represents an early astronomical instrument used to observe and plot stars. Even though the constellation is no longer recognized by astronomers, it was around long enough to give the meteor shower—first seen in 1825—its name.

The annual Quadrantids shower has one of the highest predicted hourly rates of all the major showers, and is comparable to the two of the most lively, the August Perseids and the December Geminids.

While the plus side of this annual shower is its ability to produce fireballs, and its high hourly rates, the downside is its short peak. Quadrantids has an extremely narrow peak, occurring over just a few short hours. The Quadrantids are also well known for producing fireballs, meteors that are exceptionally bright. These meteors can also, at times, generate persistent trails (also identified as trains).

Those living in the northern hemisphere have an opportunity to experience a much better view of the Quadrantids, as the constellation Boötes never makes it above the horizon in the southern hemisphere. This is great for those living in North America, much of Europe, and the majority of Asia.

Unfortunately, those of you living in Australia and lower portions of South America will have a difficult time observing the Quadrantids. Observers in higher latitudes will have better gazing conditions, but nevertheless will need to be wary of cloud cover, as conditions are typically cloudy during this time of year.

When Funny Met Lovely ...

Meg Ryan, born as Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra on November 19, 1961, is an American actress and producer. After minor roles in film and television, she became a movie star in 1989 when she appeared in When Harry Met Sally.... Over the next 15 years she played leading roles in several romantic comedy films, including Sleepless in Seattle (1993), French Kiss (1995), Addicted to Love (1997), City of Angels (1998), You've Got Mail (1998), and Kate & Leopold (2001), grossing a total of over $870 million worldwide. Somehow she ruined her life and career with a damaged face when that signature sweetheart look no longer exists.

I watched all of them (including early Joe versus Volcano and I.Q.). My favorites are: When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle (1 of 3 movies Tom Hank worked with Meg Ryan - although he still "not quite understood some part of her"). Meg Ryan's looks in both movies are fresh and beautiful with little girl innocence shown from lovely lip and chin shape. Her voice is also adorable. You can't find such lovely figure in movie history anymore.

Both movies were written by Nora Ephron. Nora Ephron's fantastic scriptwriting definitely made us fall in love with falling in love. Nora's number one film has to be, without a shadow of a doubt, 'When Harry Met Sally'. The film charts a twelve year friendship between a man and a woman, exploring the theory that men and women can never be "just friends" - sex always gets in the way.

Movie: When Harry Met Sally ...

When Harry Met Sally… is a 1989 American romantic comedy film written by Nora Ephron and directed by Rob Reiner. It stars Billy Crystal as Harry and Meg Ryan as Sally. The story follows the title characters from the time they meet just before sharing a cross-country drive, through twelve years or so of chance encounters in New York City. The film raises the question "Can men and women ever just be friends?" and advances many ideas about relationships that became household concepts, such as those of the "high-maintenance" girlfriend and the "transitional person". Additionally, in the years following its release, the evolution of a platonic male/female relationship into a romantic one has become popularly known as a "When Harry Met Sally situation."

The origins of the film came from Reiner's return to single life after a divorce. An interview Ephron conducted with Reiner provided the basis for Harry. Sally was based on Ephron and some of her friends. Crystal came on board and made his own contributions to the screenplay, making Harry funnier. Ephron supplied the structure of the film with much of the dialogue based on the real-life friendship between Reiner and Crystal.

Bill Crystal's serious face contrasted Meg Ryan's lovely face making it very funny. You want to be that cute girl having that kind of fun companion to be comforted and spoiled :-))))))). 

==== Memorable Dialogues ====

    Harry: You realize of course that we could never be friends.
    Sally: Why not?
    Harry: What I'm saying is — and this is not a come-on in any way, shape or form — is that men and women can't be friends because the sex part always gets in the way.
    Sally: That's not true. I have a number of men friends and there is no sex involved.
    Harry: No you don't.
    Sally: Yes I do.
    Harry: No you don't.
    Sally: Yes I do.
    Harry: You only think you do.
    Sally: You say I'm having sex with these men without my knowledge?
    Harry: No, what I'm saying is they all want to have sex with you.
    Sally: They do not.
    Harry: Do too.
    Sally: They do not.
    Harry: Do too.
    Sally: How do you know?
    Harry: Because no man can be friends with a woman that he finds attractive. He always wants to have sex with her.
    Sally: So you're saying that a man can be friends with a woman he finds unattractive?
    Harry: No, you pretty much want to nail 'em too.
    Sally: What if they don't want to have sex with you?
    Harry: Doesn't matter because the sex thing is already out there so the friendship is ultimately doomed and that is the end of the story.
    Sally: Well, I guess we're not going to be friends then.
    Harry: Guess not.
    Sally: That's too bad. You were the only person that I knew in New York.

====

    Harry: You know you just get to a certain point where you get tired of the whole thing.
    Sally: What "whole thing"?
    Harry: The whole life-of-a-single-guy thing. You meet someone, you have the safe lunch, you decide you like each other enough to move on to dinner. You go dancing, you do the white-man's over-bite, go back to her place, you have sex and the minute you're finished you know what goes through your mind? How long do I have to lie here and hold her before I can get up and go home. Is thirty seconds enough?
    Sally: That's what you're thinking? Is that true?
    Harry: Sure! All men think that. How long do you want to be held afterwards? All night, right? See there's your problem, somewhere between thirty seconds and all night is your problem.
    Sally: I don't have a problem!
    Harry: Yeah you do.

====

    Harry: Would you like to have dinner? ...Just friends.
    Sally: I thought you didn't believe men and women could be friends.
    Harry: When did I say that?
    Sally: On the ride to New York.
    Harry: No, no, no, no, I never said that... Yes, that's right, they can't be friends. Unless both of them are involved with other people, then they can... This is an amendment to the earlier rule. If the two people are in relationships, the pressure of possible involvement is lifted... That doesn't work either, because what happens then is, the person you're involved with can't understand why you need to be friends with the person you're just friends with. Like it means something is missing from the relationship and why do you have to go outside to get it? And when you say "No, no, no, no, it's not true, nothing is missing from the relationship," the person you're involved with then accuses you of being secretly attracted to the person you're just friends with, which you probably are. I mean, come on, who the hell are we kidding, let's face it. Which brings us back to the earlier rule before the amendment, which is men and women can't be friends.

====

    Jess: I don't understand this relationship.
    Harry: What do you mean?
    Jess: You enjoy being with her?
    Harry: Yeah.
    Jess: You find her attractive?
    Harry: Yeah.
    Jess: And you're not sleeping with her.
    Harry: No.
    Jess: You're afraid to let yourself be happy.
    Harry: Why can't you give me credit for this? This is a big thing for me. I never had a relationship with a woman that didn't involve sex. I feel like I'm growing.

====

    Harry: It's very freeing. I can say anything to her.
    Jess: Are you saying you can say things to her you can't say to me?
    Harry: Nah, it's just different. It's a whole new perspective. I get the woman's point of view on things. She tells me about the men she goes out with and I can talk to her about the women that I see.
    Jess: You tell her about other women.
    Harry: Yeah. Like the other night. I made love to this woman, and it was so incredible, I took her to a place that wasn't human, she actually meowed.
    Jess: You made a woman meow?
    Harry: Yeah. That's the point, I can say these things to her. And the great thing is, I don't have to lie because I'm not always thinking about how to get her into bed. I can just be myself.
    Jess: You made a woman meow?

====

    Harry: I've been doing a lot of thinking, and the thing is, I love you.
    Sally: What?
    Harry: I love you.
    Sally: How do you expect me to respond to this?
    Harry: How about, you love me too?
    Sally: How about, I'm leaving?
    Harry: Doesn't what I said mean anything to you?
    Sally: I'm sorry, Harry. I know it's New Year's Eve. I know you're feeling lonely, but you just can't show up here, tell me you love me, and expect that to make everything all right. It doesn't work this way.
    Harry: Well, how does it work?
    Sally: I don't know, but not this way.
    Harry: How about this way? I love that you get cold when it's 71 degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle above your nose when you're looking at me like I'm nuts. I love that after I spend the day with you, I can still smell your perfume on my clothes. And I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night. And it's not because I'm lonely, and it's not because it's New Year's Eve. I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.
    Sally: You see? That is just like you, Harry. You say things like that, and you make it impossible for me to hate you, and I hate you, Harry. I really hate you. I hate you.
    [They kiss]

=====

    Harry: There are two kinds of women: high maintenance and low maintenance.
    Sally: Which one am I?
    Harry: You're the worst kind; you're high maintenance but you think you're low maintenance.
    Sally: I don't see that.
    Harry: You don't see that? Waiter, I'll begin with a house salad, but I don't want the regular dressing. I'll have the balsamic vinegar and oil, but on the side. And then the salmon with the mustard sauce, but I want the mustard sauce on the side. "On the side" is a very big thing for you.
    Sally: Well, I just want it the way I want it.
    Harry: I know; high maintenance.

====

Witty Nora

Nora Ephron (May 19, 1941 – June 26, 2012) was an American journalist, essayist, playwright, screenwriter, novelist, producer, director, and blogger. She is the daughter of screenwriting team, Pheobe and Henry Ephron. Nora grew up in a household where both parents abused alcohol, but she has never let her sometimes difficult childhood defeat her.

She is best known for her romantic comedies and was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Writing (Original Screenplay): for Silkwood, When Harry Met Sally..., and Sleepless in Seattle. She won a BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay for When Harry Met Sally.... Her last film was Julie & Julia.

Nora Ephron died on June 26 2012 of pneumonia brought on by acute myeloid leukemia. She had planned the memorial herself, filing the plans in a folder marked “exit.” The program turned out to be poignant at times and uproarious at times, and there were frequent food references — to her roast beef with Yorkshire pudding, for example, and to the collection of at least 10 kinds of jam that she kept in the refrigerator. And, according to her son Max, her resistance to having Thanksgiving dinner early in the day. “We always had it at 7, like civilized people,” he said.

Meryl Streep, who starred in “Julie & Julia,” said that talking about Ms. Ephron was a difficult assignment. “How do you talk about a friend who said everything you wished you could say, everything you wanted to say in the world, but better and shorter and funnier?”

Nora Ephron Best 20 Quotes

1."I love that you get cold when it's 71 degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle above your nose when you're looking at me like I'm nuts. I love that after I spend the day with you, I can still smell your perfume on my clothes. And I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night. And it's not because I'm lonely, and it's not because it's New Year's Eve. I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible."— Harry, When Harry Met Sally

2."Well, it was a million tiny little things that, when you added them all up, they meant we were supposed to be together... and I knew it. I knew it the very first time I touched her. It was like coming home... only to no home I'd ever known... I was just taking her hand to help her out of a car and I knew. It was like... magic."— Sam, Sleepless in Seattle

3."Sometimes I believe that some people are better at love than others, and sometimes I believe that everyone is faking it."

4."Beware of men who cry. It's true that men who cry are sensitive to and in touch with feelings, but the only feelings they tend to be sensitive to and in touch with are their own."

5."The desire to get married is a basic and primal instinct in women. It's followed by another basic and primal instinct: the desire to be single again."

6."Never marry a man you wouldn't want to be divorced from."

7."The divorce has lasted way longer than the marriage, but finally it's over. Enough about that.The point is that for a long time, the fact that I was divorced was the most important thing about me. And now it's not."

8."Oh, how I regret not having worn a bikini for the entire year I was twenty-six. If anyone young is reading this, go, right this minute, put on a bikini, and don't take it off until you're thirty-four."— I Feel Bad About My Neck

9."You can settle for reality, or you can go off, like a fool, and dream another dream."— Heartburn

10."You can't retrieve you life (unless you're on Wikipedia, in which case you can retrieve an inaccurate version of it).”― I Remember Nothing: and Other Reflections

11."Reading is one of the main things I do. Reading is everything. Reading makes me feel I've accomplished something, learned something, become a better person. Reading makes me smarter."—I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman

12.To state the obvious, romantic comedies have to be funny and they have to be romantic. But one of the most important things, for me anyway, is that they be about two strong people finding their way to love."

13."I try to write parts for women that are as complicated and interesting as women actually are."

14.“Insane people are always sure that they are fine. It is only the sane people who are willing to admit that they are crazy.”

15."My mother was a good recreational cook, but what she basically believed about cooking was that if you worked hard and prospered, someone else would do it for you."

16.“Every so often I would look at my women friends who were happily married and didn't cook, and I would always find myself wondering how they did it. Would anyone love me if I couldn't cook? I always thought cooking was part of the package: Step right up, it's Rachel Samstat, she's bright, she's funny and she can cook!”—Heartburn

17.“When your children are teenagers, it's important to have a dog so that someone in the house is happy to see you.”— I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a WOman

18.“…the amount of maintenance involving hair is genuinely overwhelming. Sometimes I think that not having to worry about your hair anymore is the secret upside of death.”― I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman

19."When you have a baby, you set off an explosion in your marriage, and when the dust settles, your marriage is different from what it was. Not better, necessarily; not worse, necessarily; but different."

20."When I buy a new book, I always read the last page first, that way in case I die before I finish, I know how it ends. That, my friend, is a dark side."