Message 782

Things have changed since I sent my message yesterday. Julian and I are now going to be driving separate cars, so I will take Charlie and Kat with me to pick up Kirsten and her kids at the Sacramento airport. I will thus not have to put them on the train to San Francisco, so Chris and Linda will be only two in their rental car on the drive to Tahoe. Vanessa will be here in about forty minutes to drop off Beech and Annie while she sees her doctor to discuss her surgery next week. I am going to take the kids down to Los Gatos to have breakfast with the gang, which now includes Julie and Alex, who flew in last night.

Message 781

Chris called yesterday and asked if Charlie and his girlfriend Kat can stay here Friday night. They are staying with Jason and Susan before that, but they are all leaving for Tahoe on Friday. I will drive to Los Gatos and pick Charlie and Kat up and bring them to Menlo Park to stay Friday night. Saturday morning early I will take them to the train station so they can ride the train to San Francisco to meet Chris and Linda to ride in their rental car to Tahoe.

Last night Joshua joined Mimi and me for a burger at The Dutch Goose. I was glad Joshua and Mimi had a chance to get to know each other.

Message 780

Yesterday I finished reading Science and also I finished the book Half the Shy by Nicholas Kristof and his wife Sheryl WuDunn. Its subtitle is Turning Oppression into Opportunity Worldwide. It is a very good book, and I recommend it for anyone interested in women. In the evening I watched a DVD of the Chinese movie Farewell my Concubine. It is the third time I have watched it and I am finally beginning to understand it and like it a little better. It uses Chinese opera and the process of training its performers from childhood, or even infancy, to be performers. It also uses opera as an allegory to present Chinese history of the 20th century.

Message 779

Yesterday Mimi and I had coffee at Starbucks with Helen and Jim and Joan and Dave. I also read all of The Economist and part of this weeks Science. In the evening I watched Presumed Innocent on PBS. I had read the book years ago but I had not seen the movie. I was amazed at how young the cast looked. Harrison Ford was still on the way up and a couple of the others later became famous for their parts on the TV series West Wing.

Message 778

Yesterday I finished reading Science and started this week's issue of The Economist. In the evening I watched for the second time a DVD of the movie The Painted Veil. It is based on the novel by Somerset Maugham. It is an unusual role for Edward Norton, but it is a great and well done movie.

Messgae 777

Yesterday Mimi and I met Vanessa and Reggie for breakfast at Heidi's Pies. Afterward Mimi went back to San Jose where her mother is now being fed through a tube through her nose with her hands tied so she will not pull it out again. I went home and finished reading The Economist and started reading Science. In the evening I watched a DVD of the Chinese movie Temptress Moon. I had completely forgotten it from my previous viewing when I gave it 2.9 stars. I still agree with this rating, although I now appreciate it more. It is a classic story, sort of a Chinese Romeo and Juliette, about how the absurd customs of a decaying and collapsing society of early 20th century century China ruins the lives of everyone, especially women.

Message 776

After a nice coffee at Peets with Annie and Vanessa yesterday, I read some more of The Economist I also watched three more episodes of True Blood Season 2. Mimi's mother had to be taken from the Nursing home to the hospital again. This time her feeding tube ruptured and the doctor told Mimi her mom would probably be dead within ten days. It si a rough time for her.