Message 535

I am back from Starbucks and Safeway shopping, and am getting ready to watch Stanford vs. USC football. Yesterday I watched Beech while Vanessa and Annie went to PAMF. I then had dinner at Cook's Seafood with Vanessa and the kids. In the evening after the PBS Friday shows, I watched a DVD of the movie The Education of Charlie Banks. It is a coming of age movie without sex. All the people involved were unknown to me, but I thought it was well done. I give it 3.8 stars.

Message 534

Yesterday afternoon I picked Beech up at school and took him to his Kung Fu class. Afterward we went next door to Round Table Pizza as usual. In the evening Joshua came over and watched the 49ers beat Chicago 13-6 on Thursday night football. Both teams looked bad for the most part, but Chicago threw five interceptions which lost the game for them. It is a win though, so we will take it any way we can get it. After football we watched the Sharks game. The went ahead 2-0 in the second period, but then let up and ended up losing the game in an overtime shootout. It is not so bad though. They still have the best record in the NHL. Watching all these sports did not leave any time to watch a DVD.

Message 533

I just got back from having breakfast at Heidi's Pies with Vanessa. Beech is in school, and I took Annie to her daycare. When I told Annie this morning that it was time to get dressed, she said "No way!" and ran away. She later called me blockhead. She is learning new things every day and is an absolutely wonderful girl. She has gone more than two days now without an accident, so she is making progress on her potty training. Before she would get dressed she peed in her potty and emptied it into the toilet.

Last night I watched a DVD of the movie Sin Nombre. It was a Mexican movie, and I never learned what the title means. It is a complicated story about central Americans trying to get to the United States. It is also about the gang culture and that preys on the immigrants. It has subtitles and it was hard for me to keep track of who was who, and I could not understand the motives for a lot of things the characters did. I give it three stars because I had such a hard time understanding it, otherwise I would have given it four stars.

Message 532

I just got back from refilling my antibiotic prescription at PAMF. Yesterday I finished reading The Economist . In the evening I watched the Sharks beat Nashville 4-3. The Sharks are on track to be the best team in the NHL again this season. I hope that this time they can perform better in the Stanley Cup playoffs too. Because of the Sharks game, I did not watch a DVD yesterday.

Message 531

Last night I went to Gombei with Larry and Judi for dinner. Afterward I watched a DVD of the movie Moliere. The title is the name of a famous French playwright about three hundred years ago. The movie is an imagined experience that Moliere had during a part of his life that his activities and whereabouts are unknown. In many ways it resembles the movie Shakespeare In Love, in that the writers take themes and phrases from the authors real work and imbed it in the imagined story. When I was taking a course in French literature in college I read Moliere as well as all the other great French writers, of which there are more than in any other language except English. Anyway, I give this movie 3.7 stars.

This morning after doing my exercises and eating breakfast, I went downtown and had my haircut. It was overdue, but I had it cut short so I should be good for a couple of months now.

Message 530

Yesterday Julian dropped Beech off at my place on his way to the airport. He has flown to London, Dublin, and Brussels for business and will not be back until Saturday. Joshua brought in pizzas, so he and I and Beech watched the 49ers play Tennessee. We were disgusted to see them throw away what should have been an easy victory. May they better switch back to the other quarterback.

After the game we went back to San Mateo for the Sunday family dinner. Vanessa had fixed ribs, and they were excellent. This morning I slept in late enjoying the clean sheets and extra blankets I put on the bed yesterday. This morning I did my exercises and have started a load of laundry.

Message 529

Today is Ellie's sixth birthday. Yesterday I rode with Julian and his kids to Los Gatos for the party. Vanessa had another outing scheduled. It was a great party and dinner. Susan had fixed a variety of great dishes that appealed to both the kids and the adults.Linda and Walt were there too, and Linda had baked the cake, which was delicious. It had not held its shape, but nobody but her cared because it was so good.

When I got home I watched a DVD of the French movie for which the English title is Avenue Montaigne. I have been watching a lot of French movies lately. One of the nice things about this one is that it had a lot to do with classical music. Also, it was a nice low key feel good movie. I give it three stars.