Sad also that the mall my kids grew up hanging out at, is being demolished. They built Eastland Mall shortly after we arrived in the Detroit area and it was a lovely mall at one point. Although it's been on a downward slide for 20 years. There is really only one mall left that attracts crowds and that, of course, is a very upscale one.
Listening to a biography of Carrie Fisher by Sheila Weller via Hoopla. Reading Jeff's recommendation of the Best Short Stories of the Century, which I am enjoying except for holding the huge book in my hands. This would have been a good choice for Kindle. Also reading Lawrence Block's new book A Writer Prepares and The Return for my book group.
Watching on Apple TV: 1971: THE YEAR THAT MUSIC CHANGED EVERYTHING. Lots of new footage of the musicians and the times. First episode contrasted John Lennon and Marvin Gaye. I think there are 8 episodes.
I had a dinner party Friday, which was difficult. Buying the food. figuring out what to make, cooking the food, setting the table, cleaning up. I'd forgotten how much difference a second person (Phil) made in doing this. However, this was two couples who have stuck by me since Phil's death and through the pandemic, had me over for meals, took me out, kept in touch so I really wanted to reciprocate in a personal way.
Plus it was in the middle of that torrential rainstorm so we were all worried about them getting home safely..
However, from now I'll take folks out.
Anyway, what about you guys?
20 comments:
I got the same rain you did but none of the streets around me flooded. My youngest daughter had to miss work because she couldn't get out of her subdivision.
Finished Gangsterland by Tod Goldberg. Now finishing up Widespread Panic by James Ellroy. I have mixed feelings about it. Also reading Remain In Love by Chris Frantz Talking Heads).
Next up will probably be Moon Lake the new Joe Lansdale.
Started Bosch Thursday night and finished it Friday morning. Now bingeing season 4 of The Handmaid's Tale. Can't be;ieve CNN wasted a whole night on Jackie Collins. Ugh.
The only movie I saw this week was The Courier with Benedict Cumbersnatch. Okay but not great.
Went to my nephew's graduation Sunday. It was nice. I rarely see that side of my family.
Have to spend most mornings this week on Zoom meetings. Theses are mandatory meetings for me since I'm a building rep. 9 hours total and I hacve to get up by 830.
Patti-at least you can save on your water bill these week. And imagine Rick in Portland. 110 degrees.
No torrential rain. No flooding. No 110 degrees (Sorry, Rock). A gentle breeze yesterday. A red flag day at the beach. The waves remain hypnotic.
Watched the last series of Bosch -- good stuff. Evidently, Welliver and Bosch will be moving on to a new series. Not sure when that one will begin. We also watched KATLA, an Icelandic series about dopplegangers/changelings -- sometimes slow-moving but it held our interest until the final episode, which kinda jumped the shark. (This series took a while to watch because Netflix wouldn't let us on to episode 5 for a few days -- about the same time my computer started acting up again. I hate technology but it has its firm grip on me nowadays.) Also watched THE LITTLE THINGS, a cop flick on HBO with Denzel Washington Rami Malek, and Jared Leto; this one seemed to have a lot going for it but it veered sharply at the end. Kitty has become hooked on CALL THE MIDWIFE, which she watches when I'm doing something else.
Read a couple more John Creaseys, this time featuring the Toff, his gentleman troubleshooting character. Fast reading, somewhat ludicrous plots. Also read THE HOMUNCULUS, an early fantasy novel by David H. Keller, one of the (very) old stalwarts in the science fiction field; this one has him entering Thorne Smith territory with mixed results. Started Sylvia Moreno-Garcia's MEXICAN GOTHIC, which has gotten rave reviews.
Things are going well with everyone here. The little girl in the class where Christina is working continues to throw things; the way the class is arranged she is sitting behind
Christina so things keep whizzing by Christina head without warning. Christina's student, meanwhile, is non-verbal and used to getting his own way -- if he wants something, he points and grunts; Christina insists he uses his limited sign language. a battle of the wills, and Christina (a hard-ass) is winning. Mark is getting his certification for handling poisonous snakes (why, Mark, why?) and Amy is jealous because that is something she wants to do (why, Amy, why?). Ceili is still enjoying her work, even though a few shift changes affected some of her close friends. Both Jessamyn and Christina got new washing machines and are pleased. Must be a sister thing.
Just one month to go before the while fam-dam-ily heads off to Cape Cod for a week. I'm looking forward to some real fried clams, lobster, and a gigantic banana split from Kimball's Ice Cream in Westford, Mass. Kitty's family has a cottage right on a lake there, so Jack will be in the water probably 24/7 if we let him.
How is it possible? I dislike Ted Cruz more than ever. I really thought there was an upper limit to dislike, but no...
I hope the coming week has little for you to dislike, Patti. Stay well. Stay safe. smell the roses.
Yes, the 100 YEARS OF THE BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES was a big book - 750 pages, I believe. Reading it on the Kindle was a pleasure. I did enjoy many stories by authors new to me, as well as others I already knew. Only skipped one story I can remember. Some I found memorable in the last couple of days - Junot Diaz, "Fiesta, 1980," Z.Z. Packer, "Brownies" (though tne ending fizzled a little), Nathan Englander, "What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank" (also the title story in his second collection, which I am reading now), Julie Otsuka, "Diem Perdidi" (mother losing more and more to dementia - spare but moving).
Ready or not, and I'm not sure I am, we're taking our first trip out of town in 15 months tomorrow, to Connecticut to my cousins' house and with them to Boston, Salem and Cape Cod. We'll be back Friday night. My biggest concern is about traffic getting out of the city. It is supposed to be hot the next few days (cooler by the weekend), but nothing like my brother and Rick are having in Portland, where it was 113 yesterday and he spent the night in a hotel. Good thing there's no such thing as climate change, right? I definitely prefer the summer to winter, but keep it under 80.
WHat have we been watching? Mostly Netflix (Schitt's Creek, Money Heist, Rita, Midnight Diner, Sweet Tooth, and the Israeli Black Space, which we finished) and Amazon Prime/Acorn/PBS Walter's Choice/MHz Choice (Kavanagh Q.C., Brokenwood Mysteries, Seaside Hotel, Thou Shalt Not Kill, Inspector Manara - finished, Murder By the Lake, Sommerdahl Murders, Line of Duty, and Bosch).
We did eat out three days this week - two outside, one inside - before the heat returned. More of our favorite places are starting to reopen for more than takeout and delivery.
Have a safe week, everyone.
Sorry to hear about the mall, Patti. Landmarks like that anchor us in our lives, and it's always a bit unsettling when they go. I was reading your comment about the rain, and thinking about how perspective changes so much. Here where I live, I'd love to see a little more rain. But not the sort of downpour you folks have been having!
Diane is hosting a lunch with friends from our High School years who are in town for a Nursing School Reunion. My job is to fetch the Take-Out food order. And provide some humor.
Our weather is hot and humid. Yuck!
This morning I have my bi-annual doctor's appointment. I think this is the one where I get my Yearly Physical. I got Blood Work last week so we'll go over those results, too. I feel fine...and want to keep it that way.
The High School Diane and I and our visiting friends attended was demolished years ago...for a Sam's Club and a strip mall.
Stay safe!
I guess that is global warning, Margot, nothing is quite like it used to be weatherwise.
Waiting for Line of Duty to come back, Jeff. I have only read three stories so far because I have my book club book to get through. I thought the Oates one ended badly.
Been meaning to read Mexican Gothic. I think I gave it to my DIL for Christmas.
My friends in B'Ham were flooded, lost their Internet and electricity. We were lucky this time.
George is a way bigger JCO fan than I am. her stories often creep me out.
Line of Duty series 6 is on now. No word yet on future series.
Hot, as you all know. 114 yesterday, about that today, staying in mid-90s for the next week. I'm miserable, even with A/C.
Read THE VENICE SKETCHBOOK by Rhus Bowen, which was good but moved from one time period to another and back, which I find distracting. Am reading A SEIGE OF BITTERNS by Steve Bowen now, first in his DCI Jejune series. Okay so far. The library coughed up a Holmes pastiche I'd forgotten I'd asked for, so I may switch over to that today.
We have been recording and then watching the Tour de France, since it comes on at 3:30 or 4:00 am here. At least we can forward through the commercials. We're not big on cycling, but we enjoy the scenery and there is a certain drama in the event, stage by stage. On the first day an idiot fan waving a sign in the road caused a huge pile-up of riders. The police are looking for her and the Tour is sueing her, if they can find her, and they should be able to.
Sorry about your rain and flooding, we could sure use it here! Have a good week.
Been worrying about you, Rick. That is just too hot even by AZ standards.
I am trying a new doctor in August. This one is too blase for me even.
I bought too many plants when we went to the nursery on Friday, so spent too much time in the sun planting some of them (in pots) this weekend. It really isn't that hot here but in the sun it feels like it and really tires me out.
We will be starting Bosch soon, I am sure. Lately we have been watching the later seasons of Law and Order: Criminal Intent and Mission Impossible.
Last week I finished BEL CANTO by Ann Patchett, and loved it. Also SHE CAME BACK by Patricia Wentworth, and ALL SYSTEMS RED by Martha Wells (science fiction). Those were both very good too, so reading has been very good.
Last night I started BOOKED FOR A HANGING by Bill Crider, Book 6 in the Dan Rhodes series. Of course, that is a good read.
Yes, BEL CANTO was a treat. Half of the plants I planted died. I think the nursery I used rushed them out and they didn't have enough of a root system to take the cold, heat, rain, drought conditions. Only a couple perennials and the geraniums seem to have survived,
That would be discouraging, to lose a lot of plants. Mostly when I lose plants it is my fault, not watering enough or such. Geraniums will always come back. Sometimes they get too leggy though because I hate to cut plants back. However, I did decide to give up on the one in the back that had been there for years and plants some new geraniums in that big pot.
I cut back the heliotrope and lantana, which both seem to be coming back but lost marigolds. Who loses marigolds?
A SEIGE OF BITTERNS is by Steve Burrows (not Bowen).
I hope you cut the Lantana early enough. It’s a tough shrub, it should still bloom. I’ve never had any luck with Marigolds.
It looks like the lantana should bloom again. This constant and very hard rain is tough on the hydrangeas especially.
Looking for a series Alice and I can settle upon, after PERSON OF INTEREST...she had some difficulty following the pilot of THE NEVERS (it definitely throws one into the deep end immediately) and there's so much that everything and nothing look good. For my part I've just watched the first MORSE I've seen since, I'd guess, the late '80s, and it was fun enough (I liked CAVANAUGH QC better back when). Have also been looking at HILL STREET BLUES and CAGNEY AND LACEY episodes again when up in the wee hours, when they are currently broadcast. When the late-night comedy series are in repeats, as most of them are this week, I might watch DA VINCI'S INQUEST/CITY HALL and THE GOOD WIFE episodes again as well on overlapping broadcast networks.
"Merely" low-mid 90sF here, just north of the tropical storms...so far.
One of the few favors Amazon does us with the Kindle version of the BASS centennial volume is that one can read the first several stories online in the Look Inside function.
https://www.amazon.com/Years-Best-American-Short-Stories-ebook/dp/B00QPI449E
I'm a couple days late. We've had some hot weather but nothing insane like other places.
On Sunday Boy #1 did a mountain bike race. The race was hosted by Trek Bicycle on their private mountain bike trails. I've been to a couple of the cyclocross races they've hosted and one of the best thing about the races is the free beer at their "secret bars" in the woods.
Yesterday afternoon we had plenty of rain. The two roof drains on the small section of flat library roof were completely clogged and we had multiple leaks in the room below. Fortunately I was able to easily clear the clogs. I sure the roofer guy can replace everything soon.
I finished watching SHAZAM! last night. I took the film in over several sessions and it was a surprisingly good flick. Aimed at kids but enjoyable for adults. The climactic fight scenes dragged on a bit for me but there was some nice humor and the special effects were well done, but not overused like in Marvel movies.
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