Monday, October 23, 2017

Things That Make Me Happy


Huntington Woods is having "the best scarecrow contest". It's fun to travel around, mostly on foot, and look at them.This is by my friend, Jenn. It is quite large.

Really happy to share some good times in Toronto with friends. Especially gratifying for a parent to see their child experience such acknowledgement from her peers. And we got to spend more time with Megan than we have in ages.

Enjoyed LOVING VINCENT, which is a film composted almost entirely of Van Gogh's artwork. Any Van Gogh fan will enjoy it.

So much terrific weather to enjoy. Love walking through HW and listening to podcasts. My favorite is FILMSPOTTING where they can spend an hour on which characters in Noah Baumbach films are the best. Glad podcasts have come along to replace the radio shows I once listened to.  And I very much enjoyed THE MEYEROWITZ STORIES on Netflix.

And speaking of Megan, she sure wrote a terrific episode of THE DEUCE, which aired last night. 

How about you?




18 comments:

Anonymous said...

So glad you enjoyed your trip to Toronto! And great news about Megan.

Unknown said...

The Bouchercon made me happy, too.

George said...

It was great to see Bill and Angela Crider, you and Phil, Jeff and Jackie Meyerson, and many others at the BOUCHEROCN in Toronto.

You're right about seeing your child acclaimed by their peers. Megan deserves all the praise that came her way in Toronto!

Yesterday, the temperature hit 89 degrees here! That's 20 degrees above Normal. The sunny day was more like a day in August rather than late October!

Jerry House said...

I'm glad you had a great time at Bouchercon and that so many blogosphere friends were able to attend. Yay for Megan! (Also a yay and a grateful nod to Todd* for filling in while you and Phil frolicked in Toronto!)

This weekend, Grandson Mark -- the shyest boy on Earth -- went to his homecoming dance with the shyest girl on Earth. His mother had to buy him pants, because since he moved to Florida he has worn nothing but running shorts. He cleaned up real nice, with pants, vest, gray dress shirt, and real shoes instead of sneakers...he drew the line at wearing a tie. His date looked lovely in a purple dress with a matching wrist corsage he gave her. There was a touch-and-go moment as she tried to pin a corsage on him without impaling him. The cuteness of it all just made us smile.

Jack finished his soccer season Saturday. He seems to be improving as a player and is eager to be a goalie. Since the team is all five-year-olds, there's a lot of wandering around the field, sometimes off of it. The kids are sometimes enthusiastic and other time oblivious as to what is going on. there can be anywhere from five to nine kids on his team on the field at any given time, some of them doing somersaults and some of them chasing dragonflies because that's how the game is played when you are five. While watching two other teams play before his game, Jack ran onto the field and kicked the ball because, well, it was there. I watched each game carefully and have no idea who won. Chaos, thy name is soccer. After Saturday's game, each child was given a plastic medal to hang around their necks; they were very proud. Go, Riptide!

Binge-watched THE SHADOW LINE on Netflix this week. a very interesting (and very nihilistic) series.

Jessamyn and her girls stopped by yesterday to make a crock pot chocolate lava cake. (She had been picked to make one for some wingding at her work and had to try out the recipe first.) Yum! And rich and yum! And so-o-o-o good and yum!

Erin performed with the Color Guard at an all-county high school band exhibition. Over 800 kids from five county high schools participated and every single one of them did great with their individual programs. Colorful and entertaining. To my unprejudiced eye, Erin just happened to be the most talented and prettiest one there.

* did you notice how cleverly that rhymed?

pattinase (abbott) said...

Jerry, your family's life in FL is just what families are supposed to be about. Gerard 's in WI too. It always makes me smile.

Jeff Meyerson said...

Loved Jerry's homecoming dance story.

We had a great time in Toronto with friends (and it was a pretty good Bouchercon). Especially glad to see Bill looking so much better than he did last year, and Phil looking so healthy. We had some terrible weather driving from Syracuse to Buffalo on the way up and on the same leg of the trip coming home, but otherwise the trip up through Central New York was nice, so much better than the awful Thruway leg. I got to wallow a little in nostalgia driving past Binghamton and Hallstead, PA, where my summer camp was.

The other highlight has been the incredible weather - lots of mid-70s - that seem set to make this the warmest October ever in NYC.

One more - tomorrow is our Anniversary. Believe it or not (and sometimes I can't, because the number makes me feel really old), it has been 47 years. October 24, 1970. Wow.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Happy Anniversary, Jeff and Jackie. Hope you have play tkts to celebrate!

Steve Oerkfitz said...

Jerry-Shadow Line is on Amazon not Netflix. At least I couldn't find a listing for it.Loved the beautiful weather this weekend. Not so good the rest of this week.
Glad to see Verlander do well with Houston. Hasn't lost a game since we traded him.
Can't bring myself to watch Meyerowitz Stories on Netflix. Hate, hate, hate Adam Sandler, even tho he has got good reviews.
Enjoyed Mindhunters. The actor who played Ed Kemper gave a chilling performance.
Probably going to see The Florida Project this afternoon.

Rick Robinson said...

Off to doctor. I'll comment when I get back.

Jerry House said...

Congratulations, Jeff and Jackie! Since I'm an old married man with almost seven months more experience than you two crazy young kids, any time you need advice on how to have a successful marriage, I'm available. My rates are reasonable.

Steve Oerkfitz said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Rick Robinson said...

I'm back, and the fog we had this morning has given way to sun, which is the first in a few days, so I'm glad for that. I'm also very pleased that you had such a good time in Toronto, that you both were in good health and good spirits and you got to spend quality time with Megan and with friends. I miss Bouchercon.

I'm happy with my doctor visit results. I got my A1C down from 7.8 to 6.9, which is really good. It's hard work to keep the glucose meter happy. The good number, plus a plan for dealing with it, allows me to have birthday cake for my birthday on the 26th. Yay!

Congratulations to Jeff and Jackie on that anniversary!

The Fall color is very good this year, and that makes me happy. Alas, it will soon be gone if the winds come, but it's so beautiful while it lasts. Growing up in, and living in Southern California my whole life, I never experienced the seasons until we moved here to Oregon. Another reason to be happy we live where we do!

Rick Robinson said...

I meant a plan to deal with the birthday cake glucose spike...

pattinase (abbott) said...

Yes, I would miss the fall colors. But not the winter that follows it here.

Steve Oerkfitz said...

The second posting under my name was not me

Gerard Saylor said...

A week of work anxiety led to a busy weekend.

Boy #2's last soccer game of the season. This year they grouped all of the 6-8 grades together, split them into four teams, and played those teams over several weekends. For the last game they played two teams against one another on the high school field. The HS filed is much larger and the younger players had trouble covering the ground.

After soccer my wife and I quickly drove over to a neighboring town where Boy #1 was competing on the cross country varsity team at their sectional competition. The boy's team has been so-so this year but the girl's team composed of one senior and five freshman has been doing fantastic and will compete at the state meet this coming Saturday

Only 20-30 minutes after the end of Boy#1's race he and I left on a two hour drive north for his last mountain bike race of the year. The practice rides are on Saturdays with the races on Sundays. Beautiful weather on Saturday and rain on Sunday. Still had a good time.

Gerard Saylor said...

Considering the number of weird, fake responses: that was me above.

Charles Gramlich said...

Yes, we at so loving the weather