Message 1139

I forgot to mention yesterday that I worked some more on my memoirs on Monday. Last night I watched a Netflix DVD of a movie called Towelhead. It was a coming of age story of a 13-year-old girl who was half American and half Arab who had a troubled home life. It dealt also with racial prejudices, not only against Muslims but also against blacks. The whole cast was new to me, but they were all good. I give it four stars. I feel good today.

Message 1138

I forgot to mention in yesterday’s message that I finished reading The Economist on Sunday. Last night I watched a Netflix DVD of the movie Winter’s Bone. It was a pretty grim story about Missouri hillbillies living hardscrabble lives. The main character is a 17-year- old girl who has dropped out of school to take care of her little brother and sister and her mother (who has become mentally incompetent) because her father has disappeared to cook meth. The sheriff comes to say that the father has jumped bail and can’t be found and that he signed over all their property as part of his bail. If he doesn’t appear in court next week the family will have to move out of their house. The daughter then spends the movie trying to find her father and in the process disturbs all the other hillbillies who think she will snitch to the cops about every ones’ involvement with meth. Despite its downer flavor, it has a somewhat happy ending. The photography and acting are very good, but because of the grim subject I give it only 3 stars. I feel good today.

Message 1137

Yesterday afternoon I went to a Cul-de-Sac get together on Middle Court that was organized by Mary Solomon and her next door neighbor. Herb Stickles was there. He is the man from Hewlett Packard that we sold our house to. He is retired now and is considering moving to Menlo Commons. All the other people were new, and there were lots of little kids. Eddie Solomon was in pretty good shape. He had just taken one of his pills, so he was getting around pretty well. Justine was there with her husband and 9-month-old son, who has some red in his hair. It was fun to talk to the people I knew and to meet the new people. The snacks were good too. It was supposed to be from 4:30 to 6 PM, but I was the second person to leave at 6:30. In the evening I read some more on my Kindle and watched the news about the hurricane damage on the East coast. I feel good today. I just took my blood pressure and got 124/77 with a hart rate of 61, which are good numbers.

Message 1136

Yesterday Josh brought food from Boston Market and watched the pre-season game between the 49ers and Houston Texans with me. Except for the first play of the game, the 49ers looked terrible. I never saw so many empty seats at a 49er game. The fans must either be bored with pre season, or they were afraid of all the fighting in the stands at the previous week’s game. After the game we watched the Giants game against the Houston Astros, which the Giants eventually won in extra innings. Houston supplied the competition for San Francisco in both sports yesterday.

After the game Larry and Judi invited me to go to a movie with them. We saw Sarah’s Key, which was about the French collaboration with the Nazi’s in rounding up Jews to be exterminated. I must be getting weary of all the

Message 1134

Yesterday Julian brought Annie over for about 45 minutes while he went to a doctor’s appointment. Afterwards they drove up to Bear Valley to spend a couple of days. Last night I watched a Netflix DVD of the movie The Social Network. I thought it was very well done. I give it 4 stars. I feel good today.

Message 1135

Yesterday I got a call from my dermatologist’s nurse that the biopsy results showed that the thing on my hand is not a melanoma but is a squamous cell carcinoma. She will call me again next week to come in for treatment. Last night I went out to dinner with the Morrills and Ariagnos. We went to Sultanas and I had my usual salmon and Greek salad. There were no good movies showing in the theaters that the others had not seen, so I brought along some DVDs and they selected Miller’s Crossing, a Coen brothers movie. Judi had made a fresh peach pie, so we ate that after the movie. I got home in time to watch Charlie Rose. I feel good today.

Message 1132

Yesterday I had an appointment with my dermatologist. She froze a few spots and carved off the thing on my hand. She did not think it was melanoma, but she is having it biopsied. She will call with the results in a few days. Last night I watched a Netflix DVD called Casino Jack and the United States of Money. It was a documentary about Jack Abramoff and others involved in the lobbying scandals early in the Bush 43 first term. I have been watching a lot of documentaries lately. It was very good. I learned a lot of things I did not know. I give it 4 stars. I feel good today.