Monday, July 24, 2017

THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY

Although I can't say that the movie DUNKIRK made me happy, it did make me glad to see how seriously Christopher Nolan took his task in bringing that battle to life. His method of showing it through three narratives worked well for me. And the sense of self-sacrifice exhibited by many characters in that film reminded me that good people still exist. I especially enjoyed the performance of Mark Rylance, who is always spot on.

I was very happy at how well my meeting with the book group who read SHOT IN DETROIT went. This was a group of women who had been together for almost fifty years. I think my book was difficult for some of them (unlikable protagonist issues), but they were good sports, asked smart questions, made good observations, Some of them were Survivors and how I would love to hear their stories. All of them were still engaged by life, books, movies, lectures. What a great afternoon.

Also enjoyed my own book group as we discussed LOVING DAY, Mat Johnson's novel is about being bi-racial. The woman who hosted it was a widow of two months. What strength it must take to force yourself out in the world so quickly. She promised her husband she would do this and she was keeping that promise.

And my third group of women, that meets Thursday mornings, always manages to make me happy. As we bat around current events and personal issues, munching on fruit and drinking tea or coffee, we always leave smiling.


I am also happy that Phil has found two groups of men to meet with. The Hump Day group, meeting Wednesday afternoon, is very large and their speaker didn't turn up this week, so they pelted Phil with questions about the presidency. It was good for him to talk about his scholarship again. His Sunday group, much smaller,  talks more about sports, politics, etc.

This new community has been so good for us. I am so happy we moved when we did.





9 comments:

Jeff Meyerson said...

I'm so glad things are going well and you are so much happier in your new place.

We will probably see DUNKIRK soon as it seems like a "big screen" kind of movie. I probably know more about the real story than the average viewer, so we'll see. We always like Mark Rylance, have seen him in two Tony-winning performances in BOEING, BOEING and JERUSALEM) that were incredibly different both from each other and from his Oscar-winning performance in BRIDGE OF SPIES.

I'm happy our latest four day heat wave (with accompanying humidity) is gone and we have cooler temperatures for a while. I'm happy we have Netflix in this awful summer TV season. And I'm happy I have books I'm enjoying reading.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Netflix is a savior. And despite the mediocre reviews, we are enjoying OZARKS. How could we not take the opportunity to see Laura Linney.

George said...

Diane and I enjoyed talking with classmates at our 50th High School Reunion.

Patrick is ordering me a new computer.

The Buffalo Bills training camp opens this week. Hope springs eternal.

Jeff Meyerson said...

We have OZARKS on our list, as soon as we finish the 4-5 shows we're streaming now.

Jeff Meyerson said...

We're currently watching:

BORDERTOWN (Finnish crime show, dark enough for you!)
LILYHAMMER (Steven Van Zandt in Norway)
MARCELLA (Anna Friel vs. serial killer)
GLOW (a lot of fun)

AND on Amazon Prime:

Season 2 of THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE

Rick Robinson said...

I'm happy both of you are doing so well with groups and socializing in your new place. I went to a book collector group for a few meetings, as an invitee, but sat in the corner and was ignored, so I stopped going.

I'm happy the garden is so nice this year!

I'm happy to be reading another Ross Mcdonald novel, The Galton Case.

I'm happy we have central air conditioning. It's been hot here, at least by my standards, and it's on from 11am until it cools outside at night (usually about 2am).

I'm very happy fruit is in season. We go to our Farmer's Market every Saturday morning and can get cherries, blueberries and most other berries. peaches, melons, strawberries as well as fresh veggies and lettuces that were in the ground only a day or two before.

pattinase (abbott) said...

The city is trying to take our farmers market away to put in a parking lot. I kid you not.

Charles Gramlich said...

you'd think I'd be perfect for book groups as much as I like to read, but my reading tastes hardly match with folks around where I live

Jerry House said...

They paved paradise to put in a parking lot. Grrr.

Farmer markets make me happy. Fresh fruit, veggies, and honey. Yum.

My daughter and son-in-law's homemade soap hobby/business is about to expand greatly. Their soaps are growing in popularity and a number of major markets may be opening up.

Granddaughter Amy headed to Massachusetts for a brief vay-cay with friends. She's so cute when she's giddy.

Internet Archive is providing me with more than a lifetime's worth of pulp reading of magazines that had been unavailable to me before.

My wife is not really a morning person but her smile when I offer her first cup of coffee each morning melts my heart.

I'm not happy at all with our president but being constantly barraged by his foibles does provide me with a large dose of schadenfreude.

Glad your new location is working out so well.