Message 500

Yesterday I had a quiet day at home. I have started taking a Mucinex pill once or twice a day to help me get over my cough. It is good that I have found something I can take to relieve my congestion. Finally the pledge drives are over and the National Park series is over so the usual Friday night programs are available for me to watch. After Washington Week I watched a DVD of the movie. YPF. It is a Canadian file, which I seem to have watched a lot lately. It was a semi-comedy about the trouble people have in their romantic relationships, but I found it a little tedious. I give it 2.9 stars.

I am waiting for Helen and Jim to call to meet them at Starbucks. Liz told me that Sean has gone to Nyack for the Starcraft weekend. I suppose that Jason and Jamie may well have gone too.

Message 499

Yesterday afternoon I picked Beech up at his school and took him to his Kung Fu class. He is used to this routine now, so it is working quite smoothly. In the evening Joshua brought in Mexican food and watched the Sharks game with me. They were behind 1-0 at the end of the first period, but then they came to life and won the game 6-3. The main new guy, Dany Heatley, scored a hat trick in his first home game. I was glad to see this because I was concerned that the Sharks had traded two of my favorite players to get him. I guess the manager knows what he is doing. It was too late to watch a DVD after the game, so I read some more of the NSA history.

Message 498

I just got back from having breakfast with Vanessa at Heidi's Pies. I took Annie to day care so we could have a relaxing meal. Last night I watched a DVD of the movie Foxfire, with Angelina Jolie, who I just learned is the daughter of John Voight. The movie is about teenage girls struggling with sexism and abuse by authorities, but it is rather extreme and somewhat unrealistic. I give it three stars.

Message 497

I just got back from refilling my antibiotic prescription at PAMF. Yesterday I had a cough and was not feeling very good, so Vanessa insisted on bring me a couple of quarts of chicken noodle soup plus big bottles of orange juice and soda. I ate one quart for lunch yesterday, and I will eat the second today. Last night Joshua brought in fish and chips and watched the hockey game with me. The Sharks were behind 4-0 in the second period before they came alive and tied the game 4-4. After that they let down and lost 6-4 to the Kings in LA. After the game it was too late to watch a DVD, so I read some more of my NSA history book. I am now about half way through it. Charlie Rose was great last night, so I think I will watch him again at noon today. It was about the Afghan war. I was especially impressed with Lara Logan. I did not realize she was such an admirable, high-quality person.

Message 496

Yesterday I finished reading The Economist and also this week's Science. Last night I watched the Vikings beat the Packers on Monday Night Football. I was glad to see Bret Favre win. After the game I watched a DVD of the movie Speak. It is about a ninth-grade girl who is raped at a party by an eleventh-grade boy. It is well done, but a little tedious at times. The message is that girls who are raped should speak out. I give it four stars because it deals with an important subject.

Message 495

Yesterday I watched three NFL games. The Raiders completely disgraced themselves in the morning game. The 49ers looked good in the afternoon game, and I can't even remember who played in the Sunday night game. While watching the games I also read some more of The Economist. In the evening I watched another Inspector Lewis episode on PBS.

Message 494

Yesterday I met Jim at Starbucks. Helen is in Seattle to see her granddaughter, Emily. At noon I went to Los Gatos to watch Caroline in her soccer game. Her team won 2-1. In the afternoon I read some more of The Economist. In the evening, I watched the Sharks beat the Ducks, the team that knocked them out of the playoffs last year. After disgracing themselves in their first game, they looked really good last night. When the game was over, I watched a DVD of the movie The Secret Life of Words. It was an unusual movie. It was very slow-paced and understated. Most of the scenes were filmed on an oil platform in the North Sea, where the workers are a bunch of misfits and loners, which was very realistic for that kind of job, in my experience. The only cast member I recognized was Tim Robbins. The plot unfolds very slowly, and only with the last scene do all the plot threads get brought together. It eventually gets to be a very powerful and moving film. I give it four stars.