I know you are all sorry and feel bad for me so give me the positives in your life and that will buoy me.
THE OLD MAN AND THE GUN was so-so. A bit too lethargic for a movie about a man who craved adventure. But well-meaning and good to see some faces I don't see enough. THE HATE U GIVE was terrific if you can bear to be reminded of how racist we are in this world. The events of this week sicken me. And we have officially become inured to it, I think. No talk about gun control.
Good friends who got us out to lunch and dinner a few times this week. If we didn't have friends....
Bought a new Christmas Tree, which looks alarmingly big. The place got it here in two days when I expected two weeks at least. The box sits in my living room waiting to be unloaded.
And I am truly grateful for the ability to do so much shopping online. Sometimes I make a mistake (slippers that were too small) but on the whole, it works out well. And most places are so good about returns now. Our brave new world.
Cannot settle into a book. But I keep buying or borrowing them.
What about you?
15 comments:
I'm very glad you have friends to buoy you; that means so much, doesn't it? A good thing for me has been watching my granddaughter get all excited for Hallowe'en. There's something about a child's anticipation that's life-affirming.
I think kids like Halloween as much as Christmas.
Sorry about the latest setback.
We celebrated our 48th Anniversary on Wednesday, and that number shocks me as much as the people we tell it to. We can't be that old, can we? Apparently so
Our Friday concert was cancelled due to the illness of the performer, but the second of the weekend was last night and it was great - the Lantern Tour for refugees on our South border. If anything can show you there are still good people in the majority , this is ot. The performers sit in a row on stage at Town Hall and rotate singing songs, with occasional harmony or musical accompaniment by one or two of the others. Emmylou Harris, Jackson Browne, Graham Nash, Shawn Colvin, Steve Earle, Jerry Douglas on the dobro, special guest Joan Osborne.
Also, we stayed overnight at a Marriott in Midtown on the East Side.
Definitely the highlight of a pretty horrible week.
As always, you and Phil are in my thoughts. The battle you two are going through is a hard one; hopefully it is made easier with the knowledge that your many friends are behind you.
Saturday Jessie and the girls came over for another pre-birthday celebration...AND THEY BROUGHT PIE! Yummity-yum-yum-yum! My actual birthday is tomorrow but we will all be tied up with medical stuff. Jessie has a swollen lymph node in her throat and they will be removing it tomorrow morning. It is definitely mot cancerous and is most likely due to a clogged duct but, since her middle name is "Take-It-Out," that's what the surgeon wants to do. Outpatient surgery and no biggie. Then later in the day, she'll be going for her second round of radiation. Jessie is both doing and feeling well. She looks great and her hair is beginning to grow back -- although we're not sure what color it will come back as.
Yesterday was beach time. For the first time in a while Ceili was able to join us so that made it all the more special. A beautiful warm day with a few dolphins thrown in for good measure. This has become a ritual for us and truly grounds us for the week ahead. There's a special calming beauty in the waves and the endless horizon of the Gulf of Mexico. Nobody went in the water; we just sat and talked and laughed and let the calm wash over us. Afterwards everyone went to Dairy Queen (Erin loves Dairy Queen) and continued enjoying being together. Again, more laughter, more talking -- this time with an inpromptu singing of "Baby Shark." We got a few strange looks.
We were approved for the apartment Kitty wanted. It's small and needs a lot of work but it's a good spot to hold us for a year while we decide where we want to end up. The house is on the market and we've had some showings, all with positive feedback. On the negative side, the realtor jumped the gun and listed the house before we were ready. There were a few errors in the original MLS listing which Realtor.com picked up and amplified (in this case, "amplified" is a synonym for "distorted") and which can hurt us but we're told nothing can be done about that. All in all, though, the house is priced right, is in fantastic condition, is in a great neighborhood, and shows well. With luck, we'll have an offer soon.
The latest season of DR. WHO is, thus far, interesting but not captivating. Indications are they will find their feet soon and the show will improve. I hope so. DAREDEVIL was also interesting but not much more. Netflix has just cancelled IRON FIST and LUKE CAGE and I suspect DD will be next. ERIC IDLE'S WHAT ABOUT DICK? had great fun flogging double entendres to death. The all-star cast was fantastic and Billy Connolly had a very hard time keeping a straight face during the live taping. Certainly not for everyone but highly recommended for those who appreciate adult silliness and stale jokes and who also have a thirteen-year-old's sense of humor.
Blogging has been nil over the past few weeks and reading has been pared down drastically. It took me a week and half to read Agatha Christie's AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY which was both fascinating and irritatingly uninformative. Somehow the rambling nature of the book did give one a glimpse into her character, revealing her as someone who spent her life trying to reconcile her Victorian upbringing and the rapidly changing times of the Twentieth century. John Creasey is always good for a fast, somewhat mindless, and entertaining read and his THE BARON ON BOARD did just the trick.
There are always better days ahead and I'm looking forward to them. Enjoy your week and the better days, Patti.
Good idea, Jeff. It's a long hike back to Brooklyn late at night. I don't know how Megan does it as often as she does to Queens. And she has a mile walk from the subway. Hate thinking about it.
Blogging is tough when things are in flux, Jerry. I just can't do it much anymore. I wouldn't do it at all if it wasn't for the people I want to stay in touch with.
Enjoy your birthday, Jerry.
The horrific massacre in Pittsburgh should galvanize a movement for gun control. No one "needs" an AR-15 assault rifle outside the Military and the Police.
We're preparing for our trip to New Orleans while recovering from our trip to Boston. Travel takes a lot out of me these days.
Western NY weather has been cool and rainy all week long. We plan to see a couple of movies since the weather is so dreary.
Hope Phil's situation improves. So many of our friends are fighting cancer! Instead of giving a trillion dollars to Rich People, why didn't Congress give that trillion to the Centers for Disease Control to find a cure for cancer!
Good point, George. And cancer does create jobs so that can't be why.
There was an article in THE Wall Street JOURNAL by a cancer specialist who claims most cancers can be cured, but the Government doesn't want to spend the money on the treatments that would make that happen. If true, that's incredibly tragic.
Happy things: On Friday I was able to get the Boy Scouts down to Janesville and then get myself back for a Halloween party. I dressed as Rick from the RICK AND MORTY cartoon show. I also did not overdrink and made it back down to Janesville at about 8AM on Saturday morning.
Boy #2 and two others made a 50 mile bike ride on Saturday while the rest of the Troop qualified for a merit badge and built some wilderness shelters. I again skipped using a tent and tried out my new rain fly on Saturday night rather than wrapping my sleeping pad and bag in a tarp like I have done before.
Boy #2 had a CT scan early Friday morning to check his sinuses. That was kinda neat: https://bit.ly/2qinJ22 Boy #2 also received high marks at his parent-tecaher conference 1.5 weeks ago.
Library staff spent a lot of time planing and preparing for two Harry Potter 20th Anniversary celebrations last week. Both events went very well. The Friday event was a drop-in over four hours and had 113 children. Each person spent about 2 hours at the event.
Gloomy weather lately but it always seems that way in Michigan around Halloween.
No concerts last week. Going to see Violent Femmes Nov. 3 and Elvis Costello Nov. 13.
Went to see The Shining on the big screen. Movie holds up very well 38 years later.
Read a lot. The Garden of Blue Roses a first novel by Michael Barsa. I loved it. Reminded me a bit of Shirley Jackson. One of my favorites this year. Read Erle Stanley Gardner's The Knife Slipped. Liked it more than I thought I would. Did everyone call their girlfriend/boyfriend darling back then? Tried a Ellery Queen-Cat of 9 Tails but couldn't get very far into it. Just badly written with some terrible dialogue.
Glad Ray Donovan is back on. And love John Oliver on HBO. Didn't start watching him until recently.
I am tempted to add SHOWTIME. I missed him last season although I am still angry with Susan Sarandon for helping to elect Donald Trump by clinging to Bernie far too long. Oliver is great.
As always Gerard's family doings cheer me up. How many kids today get to grow up like his are?
A Follow-Up:
I finished listening to Sara Gran's second Claire DeWitt novel, CLAIRE DEWITT AND THE BOHEMIAN HIGHWAY and it was fantastic. I was checking out her website and found out the third book in the series was just released. Lucky, lucky me [NOT SARCASM].
John Oliver is definitely the highlight of the week on television for me. I must admit we don't watch that much on HBO or Showtime (let alone Cinemax or The Movie Channel), but the last time Jackie checked, it wouldn't save us any money to get rid of them. Tracey Ullman's show is fun at times (though the Rupert Murdoch/Jerry Hall stuff is pretty yucky) but give me John Oliver every time.
It got a great review in the NYT yesterday, Gerard.
Coming here and reading these posts. For me, I ma having a hard time finding anything that makes me happy. I dread the coming holidays as this will be our first and it is going to be brutal.
I am very sorry about the setback, Patti. You and Phil are in my thoughts daily as are several others who are fighting the evil.
If folks get a chance, go see the John Oliver deal from Sunday night. The deal on the State Attorneys General--espcially here in Texas--is something else.
Your wierdo in Texas, Kevin
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