Here is the place I am looking at.
A pretty dull week. Although I did buy a Blue Ray DVD Player so I can play the new Criterion Version of Miller's Crossing and see Megan interview the Coen Brothers. I can't see I will use it much though with streaming what it is. Megan arrives for two days on Friday. Hope our weather is warmer by then. I am watching a friend's copy of all the Dick Cavett interviews from the seventies. Some horribly hard people to interview on there. John Houston was a complete bust until Cavett asked him about Ireland and that opened the flood gates. Marlon Brando was a complete boor and bore.
Watching Abbott's Elementary School which is funny, profound, well- done in every way. A real pleasure. So the networks can still make a good show on occasion. Looking forward to the Gilded Age on HBO. Finished the second season of The Bay, which was so much better than the first. (Thanks, Jeff M). Gave up on Apples Never Fall (Moriarity) after 300 pages. So overly long for the subject. Rewatched Light Sleeper (Paul Schrader).
A friend drove me up to see an apartment complex near my son and I liked it a lot. The timing is going to be difficult because I don't know how long it will take to sell this. I guess I could pay for a month or two rent while I see. I just don't want to be out on the street. But I cannot wait not to have to figure out how to get things fixed every week of my life. And also the taxes I pay here will pay three months rent at least. If I add in what I pay for snow removal and lawn service it would be four months rent. The community I live in has no businesses to support an elementary school, library and city services so it is steep taxes.
What about you?
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No movies this week. Watched the 7 new episodes of Ozar. Watched Stay Close, another Harlan Coben adaptation on Netflix. This one was pretty bad.
Finished The Torque Man by Peter Mann. A WW2 spy novel which I liked a lot. Now halfway through The Quaker by Liam Mcelvaney, Next up will probably be the new T. Jefferson Parker.
Watched both playoff games today which is unusual for me. Both were close to the wire. George must be pretty down about his Bills.
It's been a pretty dull week here, but sometimes you need dull.
Kitty's been suffering from bronchitis all week. When she began having sharp pains in the middle of her back it was time to head to the emergency room. The doctors were very concerned about her symptoms, but she was cleared for Covid and any heart issues. Despite the bronchitis, her lungs are doing well. Evidently it was a bronchial spasm. They sent us home with all sorts of meds and told her not to exert herself for a few days. Alas, the doctors did not know her middle name is "Putter-Around-the-House-All-the Time."
Also on the sickness list is Christina and Mark, both with Covid. Ceili is recovering from her bout with the disease. That darned Omicron is easy to catch but the cases tend to be mild -- at least that's how it is working for our family.
I go in for another biopsy on Wednesday. Previously, they took about fourteen samples with two of them coming from a "questionable" area. This time they are going to take about a dozen samples from that area to be sure that it is clear. The sedated procedure has me checking in at 5:30 in the morning. Gack! I had always though that 5:30 am was something mythical that parents used to frighten their kids: "If you don't behave I'll wake you up at 5:30 in the morning!" Amy is taken the day off work to sit with Kitty while she waits.
Big news: Jack got braces. He thinks they're cool. But then Jack thinks that everything about him is cool. He's not wrong, just very self-assured.
Not much on TV. Looking forward to the Season Two finale of BEFOREIGNERS. Caught a number of (very) bad Lifetime Channel-type mysteries. Meh. Did enjoy Spike Lee's OLDMAN which had Josh Brolin trapped in a room for twenty years not knowing who had captured him or why. He becomes a laughably bloodthirsty Ninja-type warrior taking on dozens of baddies.
Finished reading C. A. Cosby's BLACKTOP WASTELAND. I can see why it was one of the most popular thrillers of the year. Looking forward to getting his RAZORBLADE TEARS. Also read an old dime novel in the Frank Reade series as my FFB this week. Enjoyably hokey but so much contrary to modern sensibilities. Also read graphic novel CEMETERY GIRL: VOLUME ONE OMNIBUS by Charlaine Harris and Christopher Golden, containing the first tow books in the series, THE PRETENDERS and INHERITANCE. A young girl is tossed into a cemetery, presumably dead. She wakes up without any memory and is convinced that she died for a minute or so. Not knowing who was trying to kill her or why, she hides out in the cemetery for months -- eventually befriending the old caretaker as well as an elderly neighborly woman...and the girls can see ghosts...and solve murders. Interesting. Also read my usual number of short stories, this time from a RIVALS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES anthology and a bunch of old AHMMs. Currently reading THE MAN WHO DIED TWICE, the second Thursday Murder Club mystery by Richard Osman; this one is even more enjoyable than the first. Book Three in the series (as yet untitled) will be out in September. Looking forward to it. Also looking forward to two books from the library, Colson Whitehead's HARLEM SHUFFLE and the Connie Willis-edited AMERICAN CHRISTMAS STORIES from the Library of America.
The weather has been cold, but we've been staying warm inside watching the idiots trying to destroy America. Here's a fun new parlor game: Who Is More Evil and Dumb -- Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor Green, Josh Hawley, or John Kennedy? This game could last for hours without declaring a winner.
Hoping your week will be a winner, Patti. Good luck on your apartment hunting. Stay safe.
Is there any downside to the apartment? Been around there at night to hear the neighbors? Good luck with the search, if that one doesn't turn out to be the best option. (Apartment hunting is slightly more annoying than surgery in my personal list of hells.) And, of course, how quickly someone fixes things in an apartment building is an inconstant thing.
Was there ever a time that Brando wasn't mostly about Brando?
I caught up with the 8-episode first season of BLINDSPOTTING the series on Starz, and can recommend it...it wears its debt to SHAMELESS on its sleeve, while being about somewhat less eccentric characters; most of the cast is new to me, but Helen Hunt has a key supporting role, and Ginger Gonzaga, Kim Park, Leland Orser and Stephen Root are among the familiar guests so far. Haven't seen the film yet. Also caught the first episode of SOMEBODY SOMEWHERE, starring Bridget Everett, and will look at some more.
I know just what you mean, Patti, about both taxes and having to pay to get things fixed. There's definitely something to be said for renting (although around here, rents are awfully high right now!). I hope you find the right place for you.
The Buffalo Bills lost in Overtime to the Kansas City Chiefs. It was an exciting game, but the Bills lost to the magician, Patrick Mahomes. Who would have thought that Mahomes could tie a game up with 13 seconds on the clock? Well, I did.
The real estate market is on fire so I suspect your house will sell quickly.
Our temperatures will remain under 32 degrees for the next two weeks. Plus, Western NY Covid-19 rates are around 20% so we're hunkered down.
Stay safe!
Well THE GILDED AGE got horrible reviews so I guess I won't be watching that after all.
I am not sure that by April-May things will be in such great shape.
It was a really bad Coben series, Steve. I didn't finish it.
I have had a lot of chest congestion, too, Jerry. I am swallowing allergy pills and nose drops all the time. Phil had prostate cancer before colon cancer but had the surgery and it seemed to have solved it.
Very cold here, George. Looks to get into thirties next week though.
It is a large apartment complex. All two stories. It will depend where I am what the noise will be like. It is not an over fifty development so there are children. I don't have Starz. At least I don't think I do.
I have friends considering moving to La Jolla, Margot. I don't know how they could afford it though.
Yes, THE BAY was so much better than the first series. Series 3 just out in England, but Lisa chose to leave and there is a new Sergeant. Will have to check it on when it comes on here. Series 4 of THE GOOD KARMA HOSPITAL (surely the most colorful show streaming) is supposed to be on Acorn starting today. We started series 2 of THE GULF, a New Zealand cop show with more gorgeous scenery (the North Island near Auckland). Started the Aussie RFDS: Royal Flying Doctor Service (which, of course, is a real thing). A doctor leaves England with her son and flies to Australia when she discovers her husband had a long-term affair, and joins the RFDS. Seems to be in the Broken Hill area of far western NSW and Adelaide (South Australia capital). We like AS WE SEE IT on Prime, the series about three 25 year olds with autism living in an apartment. Still slogging through the Norwegian BORDERLINER. QUEENS OF MYSTERY changed the lead actress (the other one was playing much younger than she was.) Finally got around to the Dutch THE SCHOUWENDAM 12. Two teens disappeared the same night and were never heard from again. Now, 25 years later, a man turns up who claims to have amnesia but thinks his is the missing boy. Then people start to die. It's by the same people who did the somewhat similarly themed THE OLDENHEIM 12. It got very mixed reviews but so far it is watchable. We are enjoying the Swedish SANDHAMN MURDERS on MHz Choice. Each 3 part (45 minutes each) mystery takes place on the resort island 30 miles east of Stockholm, another beautiful place. There is strong sexual tension between the lead couple, a local lawyer and the cop she knew at school when they were kids.
Happy you found an apartment. The stress level will be so much lower when you make the move.
Florida changes:
1. We haven't been to Starbucks once. Instead we make a second pot of coffee in the afternoon as we do at home. Also saves us a lot of money. (The local Starbucks is still closed anyway.)
2. Haven't been to the movies once wither. The movies playing are completely uninteresting to us, on the first hand, plus we don't feel comfortable going there. I'd much rather watch them on streaming services (which we are paying for) anyway.
3. We've eaten at about half a dozen new restaurants already, and they are all keepers. The best is a Greek place in Jupiter. Absolutely fabulous lamb casserole.
4. The local Mall is off out list. Crowds of people going unmasked (including mall staff) and no interest in keeping us healthy (other than a few places like The Apple Store, with mask requirements). Macy's was particularly offensive to us. Jackie has gone to order furniture to be delivered when we get home but otherwise, we are avoiding the place.
5. In general, it depends where you go. Most stores and restaurants do have masked staff but no mandate. The library does enforce mask requirements.
6. Weather. It was pretty warm when we got here but the last week or two have been much cooler. We're fine either way, as even "cold" for here is way better than 30 in New York.
Hope your apartment search succeeds, though those huge complexes can have problems. Don’t settle! A four-plex would seem better.
Watched football over the weekend, also Red River, All Creatures Great and Small, Nova, read Shadows and Dust by Lyndsay Faye and am halfway through a collection of stories by her. We’ve had rain, sun, fog. Barbara read latest James Lee Burke, found it too dark, now reading something by Jeffrey Deaver, with the new Patricia Cornwall next.
Stay well!
Patti, the WALL STREET JOURNAL review of THE GILDED AGE was positive.
I need a place where I am going to meet people because I am leaving most of my friends behind. I also want a place that has a gym, a pool, and places to congregate. I don't drive so when I leave here, I really do leave. After two health scares, I know I need to live closer to my son.
What has been so tough the last three years is being alone.
People who are part of a couple have had a very different Covid experience. What two years of talking to the walls has done to me is pretty bad.
Patti, glad to hear that Megan will be visiting. I hope the apartment move proceeds as easily as possible, and I agree it will be a much improved situation for you.
Not much going on here except working on Glen's recovery from the eye surgery. A gas bubble was placed in his eye to allow healing of the retina and he has to be face down a majority of the time. Finding a way to do that has been a challenge.
We have been watching (2nd time) THE GOOD PLACE. The eye with surgery is still very blurry but he can see with the other eye, it just gets to be a strain after a while. I haven't been able to concentrate on reading fiction, but I have made some progress on CARRY ME HOME: BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA the last couple of days.
We fill in the nights with half hour shows - SEINFELD, SCHITT'S CREEK, MIDNIGHT DINER: TOKYO STORIES, MOONE BOY, AS WE SEE IT (last two on Prime, others are on Netflix), SINGLE DRUNK FEMALE (new on Freeform).
Oh, it must be very hard to be face down. You would almost need a massage table to do that. Hope that ends soon. Love THE GOOD PLACE. A nice article about its creator in today's NYT.
Know all of those but TOKYO STORIES, Jeff. I will look for it.
@ Steve, I have the Parker on hold at the library, looking forward to it.
The NY Times and Washington Post critics both HATED The Gilded Age.
Midnight Diner is a quirky little show. He runs a late night diner (open midnight to 7 AM) in Tokyo. There are regulars in many episodes and the occasional stranger who wanders in.
One more: AFTER LIFE.
I can somewhat endorse AFTER LIFE...if Ricky Gervais as a widower with a Huge Shoulder Chip for the world sounds more fun than not.
Starz does its own streaming (free trial--surprise! https://www.starz.com/us/en/buy)
Amazon Prime will lt you see Episode 1 for free:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B094RHP1XZ/ref=atv_dp_amz_det_c_UTPsmN_1_1
I saw Midnight Diner but not Tokyo.
I have given up trying a free episode because I end up getting it for months. I managed to extricate myself from Yellow Jackets without paying but Roku made it pretty easy.
Oh! Apparently, if you have Roku, Starz is part of their deal.
But the Amazon thing is no strings attached...if you have Amazon Prime already (that thick rope!)...but I should Go Look at the Roku/Starz deal.
Late arrival.
I've been working my way through THE MAGICIANS on Netflix. The show is so-so and most of the lead characters can be very annoying. My annoyance might be related my being twice their age and unwilling or able to relate. I keep watching the show because it does not require a lot of attention and focus.
Was able to get back to reading some print and I read A WOMAN IN THE DARK by Dashiell Hammett. A short novel that was published over three issues of a magazine, according to the introduction.
I've been watching the final season of EXPANSE on Prime. That is a show I need to pay attention to and prefer not to run as background or during exercise.
Yes, WOMAN IN THE DARK, a decent novella as I recall it, was published in three tiny installments by LIBERTY magazine, which would dole out some fiction the way some newspapers did back when, maybe a few thousand words at a time. LIBERTY also decided they knew your reading speed, and so provided the readers with estimated reading times for their materials, something which some online sources quaintly continue to do.
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