Message 408

Yesterday we began our new routine of going to Heidi's Pies on Tuesday instead of Thursday at least for the summer. Instead of taking Annie to the library after breakfast, I took her to the park on El Camino in San Mateo. It worked out very well. There were lots of kids there and she played with them as well as swinging and sliding.

Last night I watched a DVD of the movie Les Miserables. I guess I am a sucker for classic material, but I give it five stars. I am a big fan of Liam Neeson, who plays Jean Valjean. I have seen other movies made from the same Victor Hugo story, but none as good as this one Even though the material is somewhat sappy by modern standards, it is still very moving. I can still remember reading the Classic Comic version of Les Miserables when I was a kid. I even read part of it when I took French courses in college.

Message 407

Yesterday I returned to the usual Monday routine of having lunch in Nealon Park with Vanessa and the kids. In the evening I picked up Maureen and her 18-year old visitor from England and went to San Mateo to have ribs with Vanessa and the kids. Julian is back from New York, but is still working long hours. Today is the day they have to turn in the proposal though, so he is almost finished with the panic mode.

Last night I watched a DVD of the movie He's Just Not That into You. It is supposed to be a comedy and has a good cast but it portrays both men and women in a very unsympathetic light. I give it 2.5 stars.

Message 406

Yesterday we were still in the heat wave, so I stayed in my condo and watched the commentary on The Sand Pebbles. In the evening I watched Poirot on Masterpiece Mystery on PBS.

Message 405

Yesterday I read all of this week's The Economist, which means that I pretty much stayed in my condo and tried to avoid the heat wave we are in now. My only outing was to go to Draggers to buy some coconut cake. I went to the couples club dinner at the Wilson's last night. It was an outside Luau and Ginny had requested that I bring something pineapple or coconut. I found Mango ice cream at Safeway, but I had to go to Draggers to find frozen coconut cake. There were only nine of us for the dinner, and I was not sure one small cake would be enough, so I bought two. It turned out that one was enough, so Ginny insisted that I take the second on home with me unopened. It has now joined the large selection of frozen deserts in my freezer. I have to rely on Joshua to help me eat them. He is the only one who seems to enjoy a little desert besides me.

I already have a load of wash started, so when it finishes washing I will get it out into the sun to dry.

Message 404

Yesterday was a quiet day at home. I finished reading last week's Economist and read this week's Science. In the evening after the Friday PBS shows, I watched a DVD of the movie The Sand Pebbles. It has been over forty years since I saw it in the theater and I had forgotten a lot of it. It is quite an epic picture. I give it four stars. I am waiting for a call from Helen and Jim to give me a call to join them at Starbucks.

Message 403

Yesterday was Joshua's birthday. My youngest child is now 32 years old! Time is accelerating! We went to the Dutch Goose for burgers. It was very crowded for some reason, but we decided to stay even though we had to wait half an hour for our burgers. We could not figure out why a Thursday night should be so busy. It was so noisy that it was hard to talk, but I did learn that Josh is getting a bonus this year at work.

In the evening I watched a DVD of the movie Rendition. It had an outstanding cast and was very realistic, but it was disturbing to watch, mostly I suppose because it is so painful to face how terrible our government policy has been. I give it four stars. I would give it three stars because it is not very entertaining, but I do not think it fair to penalize it for illustrating an unpleasant truth.

Message 402

After another good night's sleep I feel like I am back to my regular self. I had a nice visit with Annie yesterday at my condo while Vanessa took Beech to his anger management therapy. When that was over Beech visited me while Annie went with Vanessa. What a delight he was. He colored some pictures to give to his dad while I watched The News Hour. He was very interested in learning who were the good guys and who were the bad guys in the coverage of Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan. I also discovered that he likes pears. I keep quart jars of pears and peaches in my refrigerator. He first requested some peaches, then changed his mind to pears. He eventually ate about half of one jar. He said his dad was not a fruit man, but he was. I said that I was a fruit man too, so he might have gotten that from me.

I then went to dinner at Gombei, a local Japanese restaurant. They go there regularly, but I only go when they invite me to go with them. I always get the pork cutlet dinner, which is very good. When I find something good I stick with it.

In the evening I watched a DVD of the movie Stop Loss, which is a disturbing story about soldiers who are forced into multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was very realistic and reminded me a lot of Generation Kill, which was also a reenactment of a true story. I give Stop Loss 3 stars.