Message 716

Yesterday morning Julian came down and traded cars with me so Vanessa could drive the Sienna to the mountains with a bunch of her friends from the mothers group. One of the members has to move with her family to Texas because her husband was transferred to Dallas. After that I met Helen and Jim and Joan at Starbucks. Dave is still too sick to get out of bed, but Joan says he is somewhat better now that he is on a new medication. During the day I read some of The Economist and in the evening I watched a DVD called Alone in the Wilderness. It is a documentary about a guy who builds a cabin by a lake in Alaska and filmed himself doing the work with a camera on a tripod. He lived there by himself for thirty years until he was eighty years old and moved back to the lower forty-eight. This documentary was recommended by Joshua's friend Jim at Genencor when he heard I had built my house in Alaska. My house was much bigger than the one in the documentary, but I had a lot of help and used more store-bought materials. If it was a movie I would give it three stars.

Message 715

Yesterday I went to dinner and a movie with the Morrills and the Ariagnos. The movie was titled (in English translation) The Secret in Their Eyes. It is the first movie I ever saw that was made in Argentina. It is a complex film with a lot of flashbacks and alternative versions of the same scenes. It is a thriller, comedy, love story, political allegory, and psychological mish-mash that deals with fantasy and reality and the line between them. It is a worthy try, but for me it was more trouble than it was worth to try to read the subtitles and follow the story at the same time. It is well made and the actors were good although completely unknown to me. I am surprised that it won this the Academy Award this year as the best foreign film. I would give it three stars.

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.