After Only 9 months

 Oh my word what fun I had today!  Char and Jenny decided to come up and bring us puzzles and were going to exchange for some of the puzzles we had finished.

While waiting for them to come, I started glancing through the books that I had made after our trips, which Ned had put out on the coffee table in a stack.  I hadn't looked at those pictures in such a long time and it was great fun remembering our many trips together

They arrived around noon.  Char brought us two bags of puzzles and looked through the ones we had finished that we wanted  to give away.

Ned had set up a great lunch, with all sorts of snacks (including clam dip, of course) that we could munch on thru the afternoon.

We had such a good visit.  I figured out that it has been 9 months since we've seen each other, not since my birthday in February.  We communicate with text and on Facebook, of course, but hadn't had a real visit.  I mentioned that I had been looking through the books of our trips and we all started looking through them and what fun that was, remembering the things we had done together.  I'm so sorry I didn't make a book after our last trip from Barcelona to Venice.

When it was time for them to leave, they checked out the puzzle we are currently working on and then we decided we should do lunch at Fenton's again on my birthday so it won't be another 9 months before we see each other again.  It's difficult for us to get together when I can't drive any more and Char is about ready to give up long drives too...and we live 100 miles apart.  I miss the one-on-one time together, but a group visit was better that nothing!

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Journals

 Letter writing is going slowly these days.  I am working on two different journals and really have gotten into them.  They are due at the end of the month and I'm having such a good time working on them, and trying to make each one different.  I'm not artistic, but when I start putting stuff in journals, I feel like maybe I'm a little artistic!

This is the November 2023 journal and I found the Alaska stuff in a drawer.  I had purchased it years ago.  I found a picture that would work for a background.  The kittens on the left surround a quote from This Week about a cat which has the Guinness rated loudest purr in the world.  Under it are real dried flowers (tricky to get to stick to a page!) and the fan sticker.

This is a page for the Magpie Journal #3.

I loved the dog post card and was able to surround it with my fingerprints (though my fingers are still somewhat black)

Each of these books will be 30 pages long and next week I'll be starting a "Guided Journal" which is a list of the things you are to put on each of 30 pages.

I wonder if I'll ever tire of making journals.

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Lacie's team was the region 122 champs!!

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writing a review

I spent a good part of the weekend writing the review of Oklahoma! to submit by Sunday evening.

I remember now why I quit being a critic and what I hated about writing reviews.

I can write.  And my reviews are actually pretty good. But I go through such turmoil writing them and I found myself doing exactly what I did for 12 years when writing this review. I agonized how to start it.  I knew the first paragraph I wanted (because it explained why I was writing the review) but then I got to the review itself and went over and over and over the ways I wanted to start it.  When I finally got the first review paragraph written, I took a break for several hours, working the puzzle, watching TV, having lunch, taking a nap.

This is what I did every time I wrote a review.

I finally had to return to my office because the review had  to be finished.  Once I got into the actual review, it went fairly easily.  I had little problem and I was pleased with what I had written. What was nice was that when I submitted it to the newspapers and to the director of the show, the director didn't have any corrections to make, but a suggestion for how better to end the review. I disagreed with him and he saw my point and said OK.  I think this is the first review I've ever sent him that didn't have at least a couple of corrections that needed to be made.

I enjoyed going to the show, but it didn't make me long to return to reviewing.  It was definitely time for me to retire.

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Her name is Barbra

I don't remember how I came to be a Barbra Streisand fan.  I somehow knew her before a lot of other people did.  I bought her first album and loved it because she was a "belter," like Judy Garland.  I didn't realize until Streisand came along that what I loved about Garland was that she was a "belter" (that said, I never much cared about Ethel Merman -- sorry, Jimmy!)    

I remember when she was giving a concert in San Francisco...only she wasn't the headliner...I believe that might have been the Kingston Trio.  She was the opening act to warm the audience up for the headliners.  But we weren't there to see the Kingston Trio (at least I  wasn't).  I was there to see Streisand, who I thought was wonderful.

I remember when she was starting to be famous, but still not the star she became.  She was a guest on the Judy Garland Show.  They did a duet, with Streisand singing a Garland song, along with Garland singing a Streisand song.  I remember when Streisand told Judy Garland that her goal was to be as famous as she was.

I liked several of the movies of hers that I saw, like Yentl and Funny Girl and others.  Then she decided to remake A Star Is Born, my very favorite Judy Garland movie.  I hated Streisand's version because it wasn't Judy Garland and I was angry with her for trying to remake one of Judy Garland's best movies.

Then she decided to direct and star in Prince of Tides, one of my favorite books.  Oh it was horrible.  I suppose if you hadn't read the book it would be an OK movie, maybe even a good movie, but she took out all of the special parts of the book so that her character, a small part in the book, could be the principal character.

I kind of lost interest in her.  I still listen to concerts on TV and things I read on line, but I'm no longer a Streisand fan any more.

She has now come out with a book, "My Name is Barbra," which I heard discussed on Sunday Morning.  It's nearly 1000 pages long and I'm sure it's a great read, especially for someone who likes (auto) biographies like I do.  I will probably order it eventually, but I have a few other books I'm in the process of reading (2 of which are autobiographies!) and I'm not ready to add a 1000 page book to my Kindle.

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Back to theater

After two years of no theater whatsoever (first because COVID shut down all theatrical productions, and then because I'd retired as critic and was kind of hermit-ing and not wanting to go out with crowds of people), Walt and I went to the opening night of Oklahoma! at the Davis Musical Theater Company.

The woman who took over as critic after my retirement is in the production, in the ensemble, so obviously can't review it.  She asked if I would be interested and I said yes.  I don't  really want to go to night performances of theater in Sacramento any more, but seeing a show in Davis is OK and I was looking forward to it.

As it turned out, this was an excellent production, with wonderful voices and acting and a large ensemble, which had more men than you usually see in community theater musicals.

The principals (shown in the picture Jarod Wiggins as Curly and Makena Mueller as Laurey) have professional quality voices.

Morgan Bartoe was particularly entertaining as Ado Annie, the girl who falls in love with any man who shows interest in her.  Bartoe  was helped by the costumer putting her in a red and white costume which just seemed to create her character.

But all the singing was good, the dancing lively and while the production was nearly 3 hours long, it didn't seem like it.

It was strange to get to the theater.  Someone I didn't know was in the box office and I had to give my name, which I never did when I was a critic.  I didn't really recognize any of the people in the audience, which I often did before, and only really knew two people in the cast.  

I saw the producers, whom I had not seen in two years and wondered if I had aged as much as the two of them have...and fear I probably have!

Anyway, it was fun being back in the theater again.  Now I have to remember how to write a review!

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Sunday Stealing

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Welcome to Sunday Stealing. This feature originated and published on WTIT: The Blog. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves.

(Don't remember where I stole this...)

A - Ambition: To sleep all night

B - Birthday: I will be 81 in a few months

C - Computer:  I learned on an Apple, but when I needed to use a PC for work, I stopped using the apple and when I bought my next computer it was a PC.  I've used Apples since then and they drive me nuts.

D - Dream:  Lately I am dreaming, which I never did before.

E - Exercise:  Excuse me?

F - Favorite Food:  Dungeness crab.  If my father were still alive, I'd say his potato salad which is THE BEST and which I've never been able to duplicate.

G - Garden:  Ned planted tomatoes.  We got about a dozen cherry tomatoes

H - Hobby: Writing letters

I - Idol:  I don't really have an idol, but I admire Rachel Maddow a lot.

J - Job:  Retired

K - Kids: 3 living, in their 50s; 2 no longer living

L - Location:  No. California

M - Military: Nope

N - Name or Nickname:  Bev, Mom or Grandma

O - Optimist or Pessimist:  Depends.  Optimist on most things; Pessimist on politics

P - Pets:  Bubba (dog)

Q - Quote: "loving and losing: different by only one letter and a million degrees of pain"

                            -- Jessica Katoff

R - Reads: Crime/mysteries, (auto)biographies, books about animals (especially elephants), and any good novel with a good plot (like the "Outlander" series)

S - School:  Not since 1962

T - Travel:  24 countries

U - Unfulfilled ambition:  Travel to Africa

V - Vacation spot:  I have loved the trips we have taken to London.

W - Wardrobe:  casual

X - X-tra facts about me:  I love hot coffee and ice cold water.  I am a TV addict.

Y - Years online:  Shortly after 1986.

Z - Zodiac sign:  Aquarius

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Bubba loves to sleep in the sun

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Saturday 9

Welcome to Saturday: 9. What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love to answer questions, however, and here are today's questions!

Saturday 9: True (1983)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) In this song, lead singer Gary Kemp tells us he's overwhelmed by his feelings as he and a girl dance "toe to toe." What song did you most recently dance to?
Good lord...I haven't a clue.

2) Falling in love makes him want to listen to "Marvin all night long," a reference to Motown great Marvin Gaye. What's your favorite love song, and who sings it?
Hmmm...."For You" by John Denver

3) This song was inspired by Kemp's feelings for singer Clare Grogan. When they first met, they discovered a shared love of literature and for his birthday, she gave him a book she thought he'd enjoy. Who received the most recent birthday gift you gave, and what was it?
I sent an Amazon gift certificate to our 12 year old granddaughter.  For an actual gift, I gave Ned ad t-shirt that said "Saul Goodman in 2024" for his birthday in August.

4) Despite the popularity of the song it inspired, the Kemp-Grogan romance never really took off. Gary was involved with another woman and Clare was seeing other men and reluctant to settle down. The timing just wasn't right for them. Do you believe luck plays a big part in romance?
Maybe.  More just how things "are" when you meet and get to know each other.

5) The cover art was created by Kemp's friend, David Band. David sketched it after seeing a man startled when a bird flew too close to him as he entered a pub. To Kemp, it represented how surprised he was by the sudden intensity of his feelings for Grogan. Band went on to become a world-renowned artist, with his work exhibited in galleries and museums in Australia, New Zealand, England and the United States. What museum have you most recently visited?
The Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento

6) In 2020, Kemp and bassist Guy Pratt launched their podcast Rockonteurs about the stories behind popular songs. Do you regularly listen to podcasts?
yes.  There are several I listen to, depending on my mood.  Some favorites "Unpacking the Toolbox" (about behind the scenes of the show "Scandal"), "On Fire," the Survivor podcast, "Naked Lunch" with Rosie O'Donnell, "Let's talk off camera' with Kelly Ripa, "Rachel Maddow," "Inside Jeopardy," "Says You," "Go Ask Ali" with Ali Wentworth, and a bunch more.

7) Super Mario Bros. debuted in 1983. Without looking it up, can you name gaming's most famous siblings?
No. 

8) Also in 1983, for the first time, London's Abbey Road recording studio was open to the public. Visitors were treated to a multi-media presentation called The Beatles at Abbey Road. During the two months it was open, more than 22,000 tickets were sold. What's the most recent ticket you purchased?
I've been to a lot of theater, but I never purchase a ticket because I go as a critic.  Friday, for example,  am going to see Oklahoma, but am reviewing it.

 9) Random question -- At your favorite restaurant, a genie will grant you one of these two wishes: 1) you can eat whatever you want without gaining weight or 2) you can order whatever you want for free. Which do you choose?
#1 for sure.  Most of the restaurants I visit aren't that expensive, but I should watch the calories.

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Trick or treat

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