Monday, April 16, 2018

Things That Are Making Me Happy





Very much enjoying the novel TANGERINE which reminds me of Donna Tartt, Patricia Highsmith and someone else I still can't pinpoint,.(Perhaps Paul Bowles). Always amazed when a new author comes out of the batter's box this strong.
So much rain here we rewatched THE CONVERSATION and GOSFORD PARK. The first holds up much better than the second, which is too filled with English actors making a cameo. I wonder if Altman will hold up too. Gene Hackman was certainly one of the finest actors of the last 50 years.

Rain rain rain caused us to miss all of our weekend activities. Thank God for music, books and TV.

Didn't much care for ISLE OF DOGS. The animation was lovely, but the story seemed cold and there was not enough dogs. I think I am not a Wes Anderson fan except for one or two.

And from Tracy at Bitter Tea and Mystery, this makes me happy. 

What about you?

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very glad you're enjoying Tangerine. I need to read that one...

George said...

We survived an ice storm this weekend. Power went out, but our natural gas generator kicked in and our lights and heat were restored. The rest of our street was eerily dark for a couple of hours.

I picked up tickets for THE AVENGERS: INFINITY WARS that opens next week. Another MARVEL blockbuster!

Hopefully Spring shows up here in a week or two!

Jeff Meyerson said...

Good thing you had that generator! We're having torrential rains, wind driving it into the windows , and even thunder!

I know about the rain in Detroit as the Yankees were rained out there on Saturday and then twice on Sunday.

Good thing? We had a brief respite, with 82 degrees on Thursday and 77 on Friday before the bottom dropped out, when we saw what Spring is supposed to look like.

Got reading done - Jane Harper, Alison Gaylin, Jeffrey Siger, Sloane Crosley, Kipling short stories. And I have half a dozen library books.

Also catching up on television. We're enjoying the Sunday night PBS shows - Call the Midwife and Unforgettable.

Gerard Saylor said...

My snow blower worked great yesterday. I first tried shoveling for the exercise but the snow turned to a dense sludge once it landed on the warm ground. Both boys helped to shovel the sidewalks and paths to the garage as I did the taxes.

I finished our taxes with minimal aggravation.

Had our second round of parent-teacher conferences and had another night of positive comments for Boy #1.

The state Spring election on April 3 went as I had hoped. I was feeling down at one point a day or two after the election, then I recalled the results and cheered up a bit.

The new children's librarian and work has already been working with our YA person and met with the bi-lingual club at the middle school in an effort to reach the Hispanic population in town.

Rick Robinson said...

We've had lots of rain here, too, but it's that time of year. We're a couple of inches over the norm for mid-April.

We got new gutters installed Thursday (in the rain and wind), we got Leaf Guard ones and they are working great. No more cleaning out the gutters twice a year.

We finished three more jigsaw puzzles, each in about two or three days. Now we're taking a break, but I've ordered some more.

We both enjoyed the latest Jeffery Siger book. Now I'm going to read another Longmire novel, The Serpent's Tooth, after having gobbled up the first several and then stopped. Barbara has now read them all, including the newest one.

It's Quilt Group day here, so I'm about to go make a chicken enchilada casserole for "the girls". It is, of course, raining again this morning.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Sounds like you all are having a good as can be expected life considering the current government.

Jerry House said...

Not to brag or to rub it in, but the weather here has been gorgeous. Hope warmer, better weather comes your way PDQ.

Erin's high school Indoor Percussion Band is leaving tomorrow for the world championship in Dayton, Ohio. We got a preview of their act, "What Lies Beneath," Saturday and it was fantastic! Thirty-seven kids were all costumed in black with scary masks, terrorizing a young girl (played by Erin, the only one not in black) with nightmares. Great original music, set design, choreography, and talent -- and Erin's scream was perfect! An odd and dark selection, but it was amazing, entertaining, unexpected, and a little bit frightening at the same time.
Kudos to all involved.

Christina got roped into coaching Jack's soccer team this season. This week's game was interrupted when a player on the other team found a toad on the field and everybody had to rush in to admire it. #five-year-oldsoccer #imsurethatsintherulebook

While Erin was practicing Saturday, all the other ladies in the family went to a crocheting class. (I kept Jack busy with a chocolate shake and by reading Batman to him.) They had so much fun they decided to have a monthly craft group -- similar to the Cool Girls Quilting Club they started when we lived in Southern Maryland.

The Week in Trump (comey's book, Cohen being raided, Ryan leaving, more possible sexual behavior, etc. -- it's hard to keep up!)seemed to be a blessing for the Resistance, although the bombing of Syria was problematic. Even though Britain and France joined in, I think it was a rushed and perhaps premature move. I hope there are no long lasting effects for wither us or the Syrian people. Assad and Putin are major-league evil people, though...

I hope you're fully recovered from the cataract surgery and are able to see clearly the beauty that is all around you, Patti.

Jerry House said...

BTW, Rick, the Cool Girls Quilting Club during their entire existence has never come close to the amazing work Barbara has produced. That woman is a marvel!

Rick Robinson said...

Patti, I forgot to ask, which eye did they do first, and when will they do the 2nd one?

We have a government? I thought the circus had come to D.C. and that's what we see on the news. It scares me to think what the people who voted for T were thinking, even besides not wanting a woman in the White House, to have voted for him. I shudder.

Rick Robinson said...

Thanks, Jerry. I'll pass it along, with a picture of the latest bed quilt.

Gerard Saylor said...

5-year-old soccer is neat. I helped coach that grade and my limited goals were to make sure they went in the correct direction and did not use their hands.

At a game for Boy #1 I was coaching and Boy #1 on the sideline. Coaching mainly involved yelling encouragement. I looked around and Boy #1 was missing. He'd wandered off about 75 yards and was pulling leaves off a tree. He never got into soccer.

Jerry House said...

Gerard, :-)

pattinase (abbott) said...

My right eye was done 14 years ago due to childhood trauma. I don't see much difference at this point. But no issues. Thanks for asking.

Steve Oerkfitz said...

Happy that my power came back on. Lost it for about 48 hours. Just hoping my frozen foods are okay. Read two very good books this week. Greeks Bearing Gifts by Philip Kerr and Pride and Prometheus by John Kessel. Have the new Jo Nesbo waiting for me at the library.
Went and saw Beirut and enjoyed it. Binge watched the new season of Bosch. It's very good.
Weather here sucks. It was 73 and sunny just 5 days ago.