Monday, Monday

 

I saw the French movie, the Marching Band, which was terrific if it comes your way.  We are lucky to have the Detroit Institute of Arts showing foreign movies most weekends because we have no art houses anymore. 

Reading KIN and enjoying it. Today I am going to a play at Theater Nova, called Maestro. They always show new or unknown plays, which sometimes works out and sometimes doesn't. 

TV-I am trying to understand DARK MATTER. Also started PROFESSOR T on PBS, YOUTH on HBO and LANTERNS.

Lovely weather. How about your life?  

Short Story Wednesday; "Some Things You Never Forget" Gar Anthony Haywood from Damn Near Dead 2

 

I think it is much harder to discuss a crime short story than a literary one. So much in a short mystery hangs on the ending and you can spoil it by discussing it. In a lit short story, it's not often about the ending per se but more about character. 

In Haywood's nicely written story, a man is taking his wife out for their anniversary. They are in a memory care facility. It seems they had an unusual early marriage where they pulled off small robberies and the like without getting caught. He brings a knife to make the day more exciting (they don't allow guns) and hoping this will awaken memories of the past. 

That's about all I can say without ruining the story. 

Damn Near Dead 2 was edited by Bill Crider. There are many good stories in this collection.  

George Kelley 

Monday, Monday

 Boy, have we had a lot of rain. Mostly the misty sort but heavy at times. I went to a chamber music concert last night: a pianist, a cellist and a singer. They did Brahms Cello and Piano Concerto Number One and some modern pieces. The President of the Society said the Trump Administration had cut 70% of funding to the NEA. What a travesty.

Heard a lecture about the diplomacy that allowed the US to win the Revolutionary War. 

Watching SLOW HORSES, LANTERNS, TED LASSO, and HIGH POTENTIAL. Also the series SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE from 1972.  

Reading KIN by Tayari Jones and A GUARDIAN AND A THIEF, Maga Majumdar (That might not be spelled correctly)

Still going to PT to try and walk better.  

The quilt is one of my friend Rita's. She is making me a Christmas quilt.  

What are you doing?  

FFB: POISON, Ed McBain

 

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 I read this in 1988 along with many other 87th Precinct stories. I liked the way different cops were highlight along with Steve Carella. In this one, many of the men involved in the femme fatale's past are being poisoned. One of the detectives falls for her.

SSW: Lost Child, Joyce Carol Oates (from the New Yorker)

 I wonder if JCO holds the record for the most stories in The New Yorker.

We get most of the early part of the story through the eyes of a three-year old who is traveling with her scary father. Oates does a great job on making him threatening in a way that seems real.

He tells her to get out of the elevator on the 8th floor. But he doesn't follow him and that's the last time she ever sees him. She stands there for an hour and them is rescued and eventually ends up with an aunt. Her mother has apparently died. 

She never learns much about the circumstance of the death or where her father went. She carries this burden for the rest of her life.
 

Monday, Monday

 After finishing JOHN OF JOHN, I decided to read Stuart's first book SHUGGIE BAIN. It's another long one, but so easy to get into.That's a real gift.

Saw the movie THE WORK IN PROGRESS, which puts millennials and baby boomers together and tries to get them to exchange ideas. I think the real trouble is more about class than age though. Also rewatched ALL THE JAZZ. What a delight.  I also enjoyed MY Brilliant Career. 

Watching NO EXIT on Apple. LANTERNS on HBO. LAST MEAL on Tubi. TED LASSO on Apples. 

I went to a lecture on American women from the Revolution on. Our senior center has a lecture every Thursday night by college professor and other ones in the daytime. And many other activities including bus trips, exercise, art classes, music, book groups. discussion groups, card groups, etc. All this for $60 a year.  I also went to hear folk music one night. 

I am going to PT for my balance issues. I think it is at least partly related to the drug I am taking for AFIB. 

What about you?