Monday, March 13, 2017

Things That Make Me Happy

My mother would have been 94 today. I admire many things about my mother-how little she complained in life; how rarely she said bad things about anyone; how she was never petty, mean, or unfair; how much she enjoyed politics-although she never would have been able to endure what has happened now. I'm happy to have had her for my mother. I wish she was with me still.

A fabulous production at the Stagecrafters Theater in Royal Oak of Lady Day at the Emerson Grill with the terrific Anita Newby. Is there anything better than good theater? I don't think so.

Having my son, grandson and DIL here during the Great Michigan power outage. Such fun sitting together and watching Planet Earth.

Hearing about how when the doctor checked my grandson after a collision in hockey and asked him who the president was, he answered, "I can't say his name." The doctor said. "Well who was the last President," and Kevin said, "Obama."

How much I admire Sonia Sotomayor as I read her memoir: MY BEAUTIFUL WORLD.
At ten years old, she found her role model in Perry Mason. As a child of limited means with diabetes, she reasoned law was something she could pursue.And round it back again, my mother worshiped Raymond Burr as Perry Mason.

13 comments:

Bill: a retired bookman said...

Nicely done! My father loved to watch the old Perry Mason tv series with Raymond Burr. Dad was a lawyer/judge and introduced me to reading mysteries while I was in high school. Erle Stanley Gardner was part of that introduction. Dad would have been 111 last month.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Mom was the reader and Ellery Queen books filled our very small bookcase. Nice to hear from you Bill.

Anonymous said...

I'm very glad you have fond memories of your mother, Patti. And I really do like your perspective - looking for things that make you happy.

George said...

Love your latest story about Kevin! I'm sure a lot of kids became lawyers because of PERRY MASON.

Barry Ergang said...

The Case of the Vagabond Virgin was the first Perry Mason novel I read. I was 12 and immediately hooked, and read another dozen titles one after the other. It was a lesson learned about bingeing on a particular author or series because quite a few years passed before I could read another Mason. I had over-saturated myself.

I found it interesting, when I read titles from some of Gardner's other series, that his style varied considerably from one to another.

I saw "Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill" on cable some time last year. Audra McDonald was spectacular.

Jerry House said...

A very happy list for you this week, Patti. Strong on family and the things that count.

For myself, this week (as always) I'm happy to be married to my wife, and that her health scare appears to be resolved.

Also, for my kids and grandkids, who are always there for us as we are for them.

I'm happy for bacon, a gift from the gods.

I'm happy for granddaughter Amy's Better-Then-Sex cake. (it isn't, but I'm not complaining.) Yum!

I'm happy for being able to watch Moana with the kids (and twice this morning with the Kangaroo, who's a big four-year-old fan).

Jeff Meyerson said...

I love Kevin! Great answer.

Happiness is being able to extend our already long Florida vacation another five days to avoid the coming Nor'easter.

Seeing "big screen movies" on a big screen in a comfortable theater with plush new leather seats at a much more reasonable cost than even the crappiest theater in New York. (Last week, LOGAN. This week, KONG: SKULL ISLAND.)

Proving that yes, especially with more and more library downloads available, I can easily go two months with just a Kindle to read (though I have half a dozen real books I brought with me - none of which I've read).

Rereading Richard Bradford's excellent RED SKY AT MORNING and realizing anew what an excellent adaptation the movies did with the book.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Going to see if I can find it online, Barry. This woman was so good at playing drunk, can't imagine anyone else but Audra is always great.
We can sometimes see movies here for $4, Jeff. And in those seats, Loved that book when I read it years ago.
Nothing is better than bacon although I don't get to eat it enough. I like you always appreciate Kitty.
I will try to get Kevin to see Moana when he is here on Thursday but I am not holding my breath.

Al Tucher said...
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Rick Robinson said...
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Rick Robinson said...
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Rick Robinson said...

Thank you, Patti. Such terribly garbled thoughts and spelling!

Things are a bit down this end, expensive repairs - much more than expected! - plus a hospital visit tomorrow and this Very Gloomy weather (one day without rain since February 1) have me in the dumps. Still, I'm so grateful for Barbara! And books, of course, always books.

Gerard Saylor said...

I dropped off Boys #1 and #2 at a Boy Scout lock-in on Saturday night. Immediately after I went to a meeting in the same building. An hour later I was leaving and saw Boy #2 (11-years-old) who wanted to come home. He was getting teary and did not want to stay. I had him stay. For the next 3-4 hours that night I was wondering if I should grab a sleeping bag and go back to join the lock-in.

I picked the children up Sunday morning and Boy #2 kept jabbering on about all the fun things they did the night before.

On the bad side: We were out and about in Madison, WI on Saturday. We have to get lunch somewhere and it always costs about 50 dang bucks for the family; it drives me nuts.