Anyway this one of our six beauty bushes, which are very pretty although right now they are home to robin nests and the robins are determined to save their babies from the marauding home owner. Some similarities here.
Enjoying HOW MUCH OF THESE HILLS IS GOLD and CITY OF NETS, about Hollywood in the forties. Two California books. Also listening to STRANGERS ON A TRAIN, read by Bronson Pinchot and he is very good. Anyone remember him from PEFECT STRANGERS.
Enjoying RAMY, about an Egyptian-American and SRUGIM about young Jewish people In Jerusalem. Amazing how we can get these shows from everywhere now.
So what is new in your part of the woods?
17 comments:
I think people have been hurting so much, for so long, that you can understand the pain and frustration. I've been reading, too, about some of the groups that are trying to use that unrest and that protesting for their own purposes...
Glad your enjoying the books you have. It's nice to be reminded that we humans are also capable of writing, drama, art, etc.
Sometimes things get so unequal that people will no longer put up with it. That's how revolutions are started. I wholeheartedly support the protests, but the looting and the violence is just unacceptable. I wonder how much of it can be traced to operators with a specific agenda. Trump and his cronies are just acerbating the problem.
This week would have been Michael's 46th birthday and Jessie and the girls still miss him terribly after 15 years. The good memories live on, as they should.
Friday was Jack's last day of a disrupted second grade. She had completed all of his on-line assignments a week before. Socially distant learning cannot replace direct social interaction among 7-year-olds. Christina has been trying to keep Jack busy during the quarantine but it is hard with an active kid. Jack starts a radically different summer day camp today but many of the previous activities have been eliminated or altered to ensure safety. We'll see how that works out.
Beaching remains our way of centering ourselves for the week. As usually, we go to a dog beach before the crowds. We enjoy watching the dogs and their owners romping in the water, birds swooping down to catch a tasty treat, and the hypnotic action of the waves hitting the shore. Add to this one of my favorite hobbies -- people watching -- and you have the perfect relaxing morning.
We really enjoyed watching SPACE FORCE this week. The cast was outstanding, the humor sharp and up to date. Steve Carell and John Malkovich are superb and the show balances on the thin line of satire and farce while retaining the dignity of serving our country. We're almost to the end of Season 9 in SUPERNATURAL; Netflix will be adding the 15th and final season this week so we will have watched all of the show's episodes by the time we're finished.
Reading this week was taken up by a passel of Doc Savage novels, five of which were my FFB this week, and Max Allan Collins' GIRL CAN'T HELP IT, the very enjoyable second outing for police chief Krista Larson. The Pensacola library has opened up (with greatly reduced hours and limits on the number of people allowed in) for books on hold only while keeping the stacks closed. I picked up the latest Dean Koontz and two recent Quincannon/Carpenter mysteries by Bill Pronzini, so that will keep me busy for most of the week.
I really want to get back to normal, or at least the new normal, but I'm afraid the rush to open the country is way premature. At least everyone here is healthy, happy, and relaxed. We are so lucky to enjoy each other's company.
Enjoy your week, Patti! Don't let the nightly news get you down.
Patti, nice picture of the garden. I bet those are interesting books.
We recorded, then watched all at once, GRANT on the History Channel. The ability to fast forward through the many commercials was good. Overall, we thought it was very well done, especially the actor who played Grant. Well worth watching.
Jerry, don't see how you are out and about all the time, I guess FL is wide open. We are still under shelter In Place here, and except for the weekly grocery run we are at home as directed by the Governor. We're pretty sure most f the idiots who are out in crowds are risking the Virus and endangering their own and others' health.
As for the rioting, while I sympathize with the protests against prejudice against blacks or anyone, rioting and arson do nothing but make things worse.
The weather finally seems to have improved. Mid 70's today. 80's tomorrow.
Just returned from the first injection into my eye. Didn't hurt at all. Feels a little gritty but I have drops for that.
Reading and enjoying the new Michael Connelly.
Finished watching Killing Eve. Not as good as previous seasons. Watched a Netflix documentary on Jeffrey Epstein. What a creep.
Western NY is scheduled to open up to Phase 2 tomorrow. That means that barber shops and hair salons will open. Just imagine the pent-up demand! I'll call for a hair cut appointment next week once the surge subsides.
I spent part of last week watching the TV version of MISSION IMPOSSIBLE. Diane is running out of HALLMARK movies to watch. After a 93 degree day (set a record!) our weather has cooled off into the 60s.
Diane talked me into meeting her friends at a screened-in porch for a chat. Only Diane and I wore masks, but everyone kept at leas 6 feet away from each other. Diane needs these social contact fixes.
We PORTALed with Katie yesterday. Patrick was off with friends so we'll hear from him later this week. Stay safe!
I'm glad you're enjoying SRUGIM. It's even grown on Jackie, though she wants to smack Natti. We're watching a short (6 episodes, maybe 40 minutes each) Belgian series (the first Netflix series from Belgium), the silly but very fast-moving and fun INTO THE NIGHT. See, a plane is about to take off from Brussels for Moscow when a NATO official grabs a gun and forces his way on board the plane. He tells an improbable (but true) story that something happened and when the sun comes up, it will kill everyone in its path. So they have to take off immediately and fly west. Only a dozen or so people have boarded and that is what they deal with. We've seen two episodes so far (the first takes them to northern Scotland, the second to Canada), and while the first was better, it's fun entertainment.
We finished several shows (LINE OF DUTY series 4, VIRGIN RIVER, GAJI/HAJI, AFTER LIFE series 2) and have added INSPECTOR LEWIS and THE VALHALLA MURDERS (Iceland), among others. We tried a Korean show (CRASH LANDING ON YOU), where a rich young "influencer" from the South gets caught in a tornado (yes, very WIZARD OF OZ-like) while paragliding and lands in North Korea, where she meets a hunky soldier. But it was just too silly for us and we aren't continuing with it. We tried SNOWPIERCER but didn't like it any more than the movie, so quit it. Jackie likes OUTLANDER a lot so we're continuing with it.
My two weeks semi-quarantine (after a previous 7 weeks) is up, but nothing happening. We went for a walk after lunch yesterday along the Shore and probably 90% of the people were wearing masks, which was good. Going shopping again today, and will probably add another restaurant to our take out list. The biggest excitement? We went to Costco at Senior Hour (8-9 am) and it was fine.
No one wears masks on the street here. They are not required to. But inside, yes. We don't have the density that NY has. I loved LINE OF DUTY, Series 5 was good too.
Glad it didn't hurt, Steve. It must have been scary watching that needle come toward you.
So in Oregon you have no stores open aside from grocery stores? Not even nurseries? No one has gone back to work at all there. It will be interesting to see if that results in the fewest deaths. I am sure these protests will raise the number. They look mighty close to each other.
I think they almost have to bargain with each city individually with Trump unwilling to hear them at all. We really are living in the perfect storm.
I wonder if the Shaw and Shakespeare Festival will survive this, George? I had three tkts and I just said keep the money. I wonder if most ticket buyers did that. Maybe then they will make it.
Patti, Oregon is opening county by county, according to medical stats. The county Portland is in, Multnomah County, is the last one, still not open. But nurseries and many other businesses have been allowed to be open for some time. The Governor says we may be open to Phase I by June 12. That will open salons, tattoo parlors (who knew they were so essential?), many other places. Restaurants at 20% capacity, masks required. Outdoor seating allowed. Other counties have already opened up. We see a steep falloff in mask wearing. I guess many people think they are magically immune now. Me? I'm staying home. Period. We have HVAC people coming tomorrow to install, and I'll be in a closed bedroom, with a mask. Call me paranoid if you like, but I'm very high risk and DO NOT want to get this virus! I have not left our property since March 7.
Patti, my brother is in Portland and has been working all along, three or four days in the office, the rest at home. He is considered an "essential worker." His office is only 25% full. It is a medical thing, keeping track of nursing homes, ordering, etc. I couldn't tell you exactly what he does. But he is maybe a mile from home to work and I think he rides his bike there most days.
And smack Natti is right. Although clearly he has "issues."
A lot of places are able to reopen here (Santa Barbara) but we are not planning on going out other than to grocery stores, Costco for medications, and the nursery, so I have not checked. Apparently hair salons and such are not able to reopen here yet and I would not go to one anyway at this point. I think my husband and I only have the risk factor of age (69 and 71) but I am just super cautious. He will work at home for at least through June, and I hope longer.
Not much newsworthy here. We are still rewatching NCIS (at season 7), Mission Impossible TV episodes and throwing in some Poirot episodes now and then. We all read Michael Palin's North Korea Journal. Very interesting. I finished Stella Rimington's At Risk (spy fiction), and am currently reading Slight Mourning by Catherine Aird and Flu (about the 1918 influenza pandemic) by Gina Colata.
I forgot to add, we have been on a few walks on the bike path. We take masks but we did not close enough to others to need them, and most people are on bikes or walking dogs. Some wear masks, some not. When we go out (grocery store or whatever) we wear masks and everyone else does too.
Patti, the SHAW FESTIVAL has sent me emails saying they plan to open August 1. Canada says they're going to open the International Bridges for traffic on June 21. We'll see if these plans hold up.
I haven't even been in grocery stores. A real chicken. I wonder if Stratford has changed their mine, George.
Bronson Pinchot gave a stellar narration for Karl Marlantes's MATTERHORN.
Local news:
I went to IL to assist my parents after my father was in the hospital for three (four?) days. My mother was very concerned and because of COVID she was unable to visit or stay with him in the room.
This is the last week of school. The last week is usually a time to make-up incomplete work and have group activities and school outings. None of that this week. Hopefully my wife and I can keep Boy #2 involved in something this summer since most things are shut down. Boy #2 and went to the nearby mountain bike trails to ride and allow him a chance to look into an Eagle Scout project.
My wife will start going back to work at her library on Saturdays with her weekday hours done at home. Starting today my library expanded curbside hours with 10AM-5PM. I'm concerned about re-opening to the public and we are not rushing things but planning to re-open in late June.
No protests in our town. I imagine people drove to marches in Madison or Milwaukee. Marches today in Madison are blocking traffic on some major roads. Meanwhile, news from the White House just gets worse as the President says Governors need to "crack down" and not be weak.
Have yet to hear about libraries here. I have bought so many books since February, it must stop.
He is our punishment for something.
Trump is our punishment for so much tolerance of corruption, and the Democrats' general abandonment of the less well-off in favor of neoliberalism. He's a natural result. Much as his counterparts around the world are...where the various other centrist parties decided that cashing in would be advisable.
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