The Blind Side/Every Day Heroes.

This is more of an inspiring story than a good story but still worth the read:

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The Blind Side is a movie based on the book of the same name written by Michael Lewis. The movie is directed by and screenplay written by John Hancock (The Rookie) and stars Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw. Both the book and the movie are based on a true story. The synopsis:

"Taken in by a well-to-do family and offered a second chance at life, a homeless teen grows to become the star athlete projected to be the first pick at the NFL draft in this sports-themed comedy drama inspired by author Michael Lewis' best-seller "The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game." Michael Oher was living on the streets when he was welcomed into the home of a conservative suburban family, but over time he matured into a talented athlete. As the NFL draft approaches, fans and sports radio personalities alike speculate that Oher will be the hottest pick of the year."

At the time that I first wrote this review, the movie had received about an average rating of sixty among critics. However, in the last twenty-four hours that rating has increased to seventy-four. I liked the movie even better than the higher rating. While football is one of the themes of the movie, the movie is about so much more than football. The movie knocks your emotions around from crying to laughing. If your heart isn't tugged at when Leigh Ann finds Michael’s Mom and asks for permission to adopt Michael even though he has been a ward of the state for years then you have no heart at all. Despite being from different social classes the two women are both mothers and relate with the other over what was best for Michael. The buzz is that Sandra Bullock gives an Oscar performance as Leigh Anne Tuohy. While that may or may not be true there were definitely performances in the movie stronger than the one she give. Quinton Aaron as Michael Oher is the movie. He shines in it. In a lesser role Jae Head is absolutely marvelous as young S.J. Touhy. Friday Night Lights fans will remember Jae in his recurring role as Bo Miller. Tim McGraw gives an understated performance as Leigh Anne's husband. Kathy Bates was off of her game as Michael's tutor. My favorite role in the movie was Kim Dickens in the role of the teacher that took an interest in Michael. Mrs. Boswell discovered he really wasn't dumb, he was just never taught. Lost fans will know Kim Dickens as Cassidy Phillips. I'm sold on this movie and think everyone should see it. Even though this breaks Pat's length meter by six minutes with a running of one hundred and twenty-six minutes I'd still recommend it to her. Acting is marvelous. Story is inspiring. Five footballs from this kid. One each of Bullock, Aaron, McGraw, Jae Head, and the biggest football for Kim Dickens.

The questions today revolve around teachers and everyday heroes. Michael Oher was a lost cause. He had a .06 grade point average. In one year he was sent to seven different schools. That changed when two things happened. A teacher, the one played by Kim Dickens in the movie, fought for him. She saw something in him that others didn't. She took extra time with him. The other thing that happened is that a woman took an interest in Michael. She brought him into her house. Her friends made fun of her. Her family accepted the student into her home. Michael Oher raised his grades to 2.65 to gain admittance to college. He graduated. Became a first round draft choice and signed a multi-million dollar contract with the Baltimore Raven. The teacher, the real life Mrs. Boswell, and the wealthy woman, the real life Leigh Anne Touhy, are heroes in my book. Everyday heroes. Without those heroes Michael Oher would proabably either still be homeless are worse dead, killed in a gang shooting.

When you were in school did you have a teacher that influenced you in a positive way? A negative way? I had two that inspired me and one that almost ruined me. The two that inspired me, Ms. Howe and Mr. Foster. Sixth grade and Eighth Grade teachers respectively. The one that almost ruined me, Mr. Phelps the Seventh Grade teacher. Ms. Howe was really hard on me but she was fair. She made me work hard and made me feel like I could do anything. Loved her. Let me tell you a story about Mr. Foster who was also the eighth grade dean of men. We had a rule that we couldn't leave campus during lunch hour. Being a typical eighth grader I wanted to get another student's goat and told him that I had snuck out during lunch hour. I told him how to do it. But you see I didn't leave campus, I was just joking with the kid. The kid went in and told Mr. Foster that I violated the rules. During the class after lunch I got called into the dean's office. Mr. Foster asked if I had left campus for lunch. I told him no. He said "you've never lied to me before, I believe you. Go back to class." That encouraged me the rest of my life to follow the rule, honesty is the best policy.

Now the bad teacher. The assignments he gave were incredibly easy. I'd finish hour assignments in ten minutes. Even back then I had this incredible fear of rejection, even from people I didn't like. I didn't think any assignments that easy could possibly be right. So I didn't turn them in. I hid them in my locker. Good old Mr. Phelps told my parents that I was basically to stupid to learn and belonged in a special school for the slow. Before such a drastic measure was taken at the encouragement of Mrs. Howe and with support of my parents I was given an IQ test. I had the second highest IQ in the State for my age group. I got a new teacher.

This is your day to thank those teachers that made a positive impact on you. Thank you Ms. Howe and Mr. Foster. It is also your day to thank an every day hero that helped you become who you are. Thank you Dad and Uncle Frank. And if you so desire you can stick a pin in a voodoo doll to get even with a teacher that put you in the wrong box. You can guess who gets my pin.

TODAY'S WHO AM I:

Yesterday's answer: Nellie Taylor Ross first woman Governor.

I was born in 1873 to French parents who were working in Chile where my father owned a chain of bookstores. My mother returned home to give birth to me in Paris. For the first few years of my life I was left in the care of my grandmother in Switzerland until Mom moved me to Chile where I lived with my family for about two years. I was then sent to boarding school in France and was a young girl entering her teens when my parent returned from Chile. Shortly thereafter, my father and brother both died. 1894 I was hired by to work for a still-photography company as a secretary. The company soon went out of business but my boss bought the defunct operations inventory and began his own company. That company soon became a major force in the fledgling motion picture industry in France. I joined his company. That led to a pioneering career in filmmaking spanning more than twenty-five years and involving h directing, producing, writing and/or overseeing more than 700 films. I am considered to be the first filmmaker to systematically develop narrative filmmaking. In 1907 I married a fellow employee who was soon appointed the production manager for s operations in the United States. After working with my husband in the USA we two struck out on our own in 1910. Within two years we had become so successful that we were able to invest more than $100,000 into new and technologically advanced production facilities in New Jersey. My husband and I eventually divorced and our business partnership ended. Following the separation I went to work for William Randolph Hearst's International Film Service. I returned to France in 1922 and a never made another film. Instead I gave lectures on film and wrote novels from film scripts. In 1953 the government of France awarded her the Legion of Honor. I never remarried and in 1964 returned to the United States to stay with one of my daughters. I died in a nursing home in 1968. I am considered the first American woman film director. Who Am I?