Monday, July 02, 2018

Things That Are Making Me Happy





Enjoying THERE, THERE by Tommy Orange. It is the story of twelve characters (each gets their own chapter so far) who are coming to a Pow Wow in Oakland, CA. Hard to believe it is a first novel.

Saw FIRST REFORMED again with a friend and liked it just as much as the first time. I can really relate to despair, grief, a sense that all is lost. And also that love or joy can remedy it if only for a moment.

Hugh Grant was downright terrific in A VERY BRITISH SCANDAL on Amazon. He has cast aside the reliance on his looks and tics and become a great character actor.

Thankful for our sprinkler system with the heat this week. As I have taken over many of these chores, I need help where I can get it.

Megan has had herself quite a week with articles about or by her in EW, VANITY FAIR, SEWANEE REVIEW, PUNCH, NEW YORK MAGAZINE and on lots of websites.

Josh and his family are in Montreal and Quebec City. Sadly the heat is there too. Hope there Air BNB has air.

I am so thankful for the friends who have taken my out to lunch, dinner, grocery shopping, etc. 
Phil had a clean scan but the chemo drugs made a hole (fistula) between his colon and bladder that requires surgery. He has to wait a month or so for the drugs to be out of his system. In the meantime, he is exhausted and still nauseated.

What about you?


15 comments:

Jeff Meyerson said...

Sorry to hear that Phil is still suffering (and you as well). Hang in there.

Enjoying the summer despite the appalling heat (93 and 96 over the weekend). I like the longer days, and we have air conditioning. It's better than snow and cold.

We've been enjoying our concert season - latest was the very fun Happy Together Tour (The Turtles, Chuck Negron of Three Dog Night, Gary Puckett, Mark Lindsay of Paul Revere & the Raiders, The Association, The Cowsills). We have a couple more (Shania Twain, Dion) coming up this month.

The Yankees. I've been a fan for over SIXTY years now, so what's not to like about the team with the best record in baseball? For once, rather than going for overpaid, aging veterans, they are doing it with mostly kids. At the halfway point (81 games), they have 137 home runs. We're going to the Stadium July 4. They're playing Atlanta.

Reading. Finally had a really good reading week, with SIDE JOBS (Jim Butcher), CALYPSO (David Sedaris), ALL THE PIECES MATTER (Jonathan Abrams), and SCYTHE (Neal Shusterman). The latter made me realize how rarely these days I find a book I really like that I race through start to finish. SCYTHE (a dystopian YA) was one of them. The last that comes to mind was Michael Connelly's last couple.

We even have a little road trip coming up this weekend, which we are spending with my cousins in Connecticut, where she and Jackie will get to gamble at Mohegan Sun.

Anonymous said...

Glad you've had some great viewing, Patti. Wishing Phil well as he heals up...

George said...

We have a week of 90 degree days ahead of us. Our air conditioner will be stressed!

We have our tickets to ANT-MAN AND THE WASP for the Opening Night.

Hope Phil's problem can be resolved quickly. You and he have been through enough!

Gerard Saylor said...

Very hot this weekend. We drove into Madison yesterday and my wife and sons visited the cat cafe that is going out of business. I was not interested - I did not want to leave town at all - and walked up the street to a local library to read. I've been reading Giles Blunt's BY THE TIME YOU READ THIS and it's been quite good.

We also went to the Trek Bicycle store for Boy #1 to look at mountain bikes. We get a strong 20-25% discount through his bicycle team but those things are still freaking expensive. At least Trek had fancy coffee and espresso machines there for customers. I took full advantage of the coffee service. Too bad they did not have creamer.

I started watching Ken Burns' VIETNAM on Netflix and am learning things I did not know. Most Vietnam history I have read is the personal experiences of soldiers. I did not realize all the political turmoil in the South after Diem was killed in a coup. Or, that Pres. Johnson and Co. knew in 1964 that the whole adventure was a lost cause.

My swim goggles went missing last week. I am fairly certain a cat took them. Fortunately my wife found a three-pack of goggles at CostCo, so now I hopefully won't spend a bunch of time hunting for goggles because I'll have three pairs laying around. After all the rain and heat kept me from walking the dog I was able to take her out Sunday AM and was also able to take a bike ride in the late afternoon.

pattinase (abbott) said...

I will be on the lookout for a cat wearing googles!
Thanks for the well wishes.
I have a story to share when I have the time and stamina to write it.

Gerard Saylor said...

Somewhere in the house is a cat stash of my goggles, various gloves and socks, and the little rubber pieces off ear bud headphones.

Rick Robinson said...

I'm not happy that Phil is still aging those problems, and the new one. Seems wrong that meds to help with one thing should cause a new problem, I'm NOT happy that you are so stressed and are having to take over so much. But I have a feeling that your inner strength will see you through, Patti. Hugs.

I'm happy that I'm doing Current Reading posts again, starting this week. I hope everyone will drop by and share what they're reading as well as comment on mine.

I'm happy with the weather. While it appears the rest of the country is sweltering, in the Pacific Northwest we're comfortable (69 today, cloudy).

Our Lilies are just about to bloom, and our Dahlias are gorgeous.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Our lilies are out and gorgeous.

Rick Robinson said...

...another thing to be happy about.

Jerry House said...

I'm glad Phil had a clean scan. The fistula, however, does not make me happy; I hope it's just another little bump on the road for Cancer Hero. Hang in there, both of you.

Our own Cancer Girl has had her third round of chemo, leaving her understandably nauseous and tired. Her spirits are good, though, and her workplace has been supportive and accommodating.

My wrist is much better and is almost back to fully functional.

Christina and Erin are back in the US after their trip to Greece. They and Mark (who took the time to visit friends in Maryland and Virginia) are in the air and on the way home as I type. A great time has had by all.

While his mother and siblings were gallivanting around and his father was working incredible hours, we have been taking care of Jack 24/7. An active five-year-old with a full summer schedule and a feeding tube has led us to say that we're too old for this @#$%. The truth is we're not and it has been an absolute joy. Even the skittish cat is happy to have him. We would have been harder pressed if not for RESCUE BOTs, LEGENDS OF TOMORROW, and THE GREATEST SHOWMAN (Jack wants to change his name to Hugh Jackman). I had forgotten how much I love to read books (complete with dragon noises) to kids at bedtime.

Watched a good five-part BBC production of THE MOONSTONE. Not my favorite Wilkie Collins -- that distinction goes to THE WOMAN IN WHITE -- but a pretty good presentation. The second season of LUKE CAGE was inconsistent and disappointing. Long, boring fight scenes, a meaningless insertion of Iron Fist, and a general malaise of continuity has made this one the worse Netflix Marvels.

Have a great Fourth and enjoy those lilies, Patti!

Gerard Saylor said...

Most any presence of Iron Fist is meaningless. Of all the superheroes on NEtflix Luke Cage is the only one with a normal and non-whiney personality.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Had been wondering whether to watch THE MOONSTONE. The five parts was a turnoff but now I will try it.
If your daughter finds any nausea meds that work, let me know. So far the only one that worked was an anti-psychotic drug you can only take four times before it changes your brain chemistry.

Steve Oerkfitz said...

Binge watched Goliath. A little over the top but I enjoyed it anyway.
Given up for now on the Detroit Tigers after they lost ten in a row.
Read some good books-Space Odyssey about the making of 2001 and Strange Angel about Jack Parsons a rocket scientist who was also into the occult. Enjoying the new Spenser novel by Ace Atkins. He is in my opinion a better writer than Robert Parker.
Saw Sicario. Better than I expected it to be. Nice to have an action film without characters in tights and capes.
Thank god for air conditioning.
Hope Phil gets better.

Jeff Meyerson said...

Patti, could you send that anti-psychotic drug to the White House, because he would probably benefit from a change in brain chemistry.

pattinase (abbott) said...

The doctor only gave us four. Too bad.
Thanks, Steve. Ace is a good friend of Megan's. A really nice guy. He was a star football player at Alabama.