Message 714

Yesterday I had breakfast at Heidi's Pies with Vanessa and Reggie. For the rest of the day, in addition to watching news I watched Disk 2 of The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. I also read more of Sleeping Where I Fall and watched Charlie Rose.

Message 713

Yesterday I worked some more on my memoirs. In the evening I watched Disk 1 with Episodes 1 and 2 of The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. Liz recommended it to me and I found it delightful. It is made in Botswana and the cast is all native Africans except for the lead (Jill Scott) who is an American jazz singer. The scenery is beautiful and the picture of native life is charming. Everything is done in a light hearted and humorous way, so I enjoyed it thoroughly. Afterward I read some more of Sleeping Where I Fall, and then watched Charlie Rose.

Message 712

Yesterday I picked Beech up from school at noon and took him to McDonalds. We did a couple of pages of homework and then played Wii games until Vanessa and Annie came home. In the evening I watched Nova and Frontline and A show about Neolithic burial sites in Ireland. I also read some more of Sleeping where I fall before watching Charlie Rose and turning in.

Message 711

Yesterday morning I took my car to get a smog test and then took my dead computer monitor to the recycling center. Afterward I finished reading Science and worked some more on my memoirs. In the evening Joshua came over and watched 24 with me. Also I started reading the other book that Susan gave me. It is Sleeping Where I Fall by Peter Coyote. So far it is quite good.

Message 710

I forgot to mention in yesterday's message that at noon (on Saturday) I went to an art show at Ariagno's house. Ron and Marci were hosting it for a friend of their daughter. The artist's name is Flo de Bretagne, and she moved to Palo Alto four years ago from Paris. Any of you who are interested in art might like to visit her website http://florencedebretagne.free.fr/, The usual Sunday family dinner in San Mateo was cancelled yesterday because Annie was sick. I spent most of the day working on my memoirs, but in the evening I watched the whole lineup of PBS shows culminating with another episode of Foyle's War. After that was over I started reading the new issue of Science.

Message 709

Yesterday I read all of The Economist. It is the first time I have finished it one day after receiving it in the mail. In the evening I watched the Sharks game. Jason and Joshua went to the game. Detroit scored the first goal, but the Sharks came back and won the game 2-1. It was a very hard fought game. Joe Pavelski had a tooth knocked out. Thornton scored the first Shark goal and he passed to Marleau to score the winning goal, so it was a game in which the main stars delivered the win. The Sharks have now won the series 4-1 and will move on to the Western Conference finals, but it is not yet known whether they will face Chicago or Vancouver, or when the series will start.

Message 708

Yesterday I finished reading the book that Vanessa gave me titled The Explosive Child by Ross W. Greene. It was very interesting and useful in helping Beech. In the evening after the Friday PBS shows were over I watched Disk 4 of Dollhouse. It turned out there was only one episode on it along with a lot of commentary that I also watched. Fox cancelled the show after the thirteenth episode, so it ended in a strange and puzzling way, and I felt it was never allowed to reach its full potential. The series dealt with the human struggle with the question of identity in a typical Joss Whedon science-fiction way, and it had a lot of the cast and crew from Buffy, Angel, and Firefly, but it never had the chance to reach the level of these previous productions. However, if it were a movie, I would still give it four stars.

Helen's dad is recovering from surgery, so she and Jim are with him this morning, thus I am skipping Starbucks this week.