Message 419

Chris and Marilyn and I are about to walk up to El Cerrito for breakfast. This morning I got up at 4 AM and drove Jamie, Chelsea, Audrey, and Jack to the San Jose airport to start their journey to Sandbridge. I was back at home by 6 AM and so was able to go back to bed for a couple of hours before Chris and Marilyn woke up.

Yesterday afternoon we had dinner at Julian and Vanessa's with the kids. As usual They fixed a feast that included ribs and steak on the grill. The kids were great and Chris and Marilyn were happy to see Beech again and Annie for the first time. When we got back to my condo we watched a DVD of the movie Four Days in September. It was one they picked out of my collection. It is a Brazilian movie that is based on a true story about a group of students who join a terrorist band to oppose the military coup that took over their government in 1969. It had been a few years since I first saw it and I liked it even better this time. I had forgotten a lot of it and it was more interesting this time in the light of the behavior of the Bush administration after 9/11. I give it four stars.

Message 418

Yesterday I watched Beech's first basketball game. It seems absurd to me that 5-year olds would play organized basketball, but the kids were all very enthusiastic about it. Some players on each team were occasionally even able to shoot the ball into the basket, but not Beech, who could not even throw the ball high enough to reach the basket, which was at normal height. After the game we took Beech and one of his teammates to a hamburger place for dinner with Annie, Vanessa, and me.

In the evening I met Chris Coleman and his wife Marilyn at the train station. They had just returned from a day long tour of Yosemite. They are spending a couple of days with me before returning to Monterey where the are spending a couple of months. We walked this morning to join Helen and Jim for coffee at Starbucks They have now walked to Stanford Plaza which gives me time to send this message.

Message 417

Last night I watched a DVD of another French movie called (in translation) I've Loved You So Long. It was a very powerful but slow moving story about a woman doctor who gets out of prison for murder after 15 years and is reunited with her sister. She is very reluctant to talk about herself and has trouble integrating back into normal life. It is not until the end of the movie that it is revealed that she killed her six year old son to relieve him from his suffering from an incurable disease. I probably should not reveal the plot this way, but I doubt any of you will see this movie anyway, so it will do no harm. In the middle of the movie I was thinking I would give it three stars, but by the end I decided to give it four stars.

Message 416

Last night Joshua brought in Chinese food for dinner. I asked him if he would be able to pick up Jamie and his family at SFO when they return from Sandbridge, but he said he was going to be up at Lake Tahoe. I am taking them to the San Jose airport tomorrow at dawn, but they arrive at SFO hours ahead of us.

After Josh left I watched a DVD of the movie Revolutionary Road. I had read the book years ago, and they followed to book pretty closely. It is a painful movie for me to watch because it depicts the mind sets of the 1950s so well. It is well done, but I only give it three stars because it is such a downer. I am getting my condo ready for Orlindo's Janitorial crew to come in at 10 AM, so I still have things I need to do.

Messgae 415

Last night I watched a DVD of another French movie entitled (in translation) Water Lilies. It is about teenaged girls doing water ballet. It was interesting, but strange. I could not understand what was going on some of the time. I guess too much gets lost in translation.

This afternoon I have an appointment with my dermatologist to freeze of this thing just below my lower lip that turned out not to be cancerous.

Message 414

I just got back from what has become my usual Tuesday routine. Annie and I took Beech to school and then met Vanessa at Heidi's Pies for breakfast. Afterwards I took Annie to the park in San Mateo where she has a great time swinging and playing with other kids. I picked up Beech at school at 12:40 PM and took him to Burger King for lunch. After lunch he said he did not want to go to gymnastics, so I took him home.

Yesterday I went with Vanessa and the kids to Fremont Park where Jason, Julian, and Joshua all practiced soccer when I was coaching. Beech had his friend Justin with him, and Justin forgot his sweatshirt at the park. I just stopped by the park on my way home and found his shirt and a container of sunscreen. I will pass them on to Vanessa the next time I see them.

Last night I watched a DVD of the French movie Secret Things. I give it three stars. I liked the nudity, but the motivations of the characters were incomprehensible to me.

Message 413

Yesterday I worked for a few hours on my memoirs. It has been quite a while since I have done anything with it. I did a lot of review of the early chapters, and the I finally got started on the seventh grade and my life in Springfield, Illinois.

In the evening I watched Miss Marple on Masterpiece Mystery on PBS. After the news I turned in early at midnight, which is early for me