|
| |
|
|
| |
The Waking
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I cannot go.
We think by feeling. What is there to know?
I hear my being dance from ear to ear.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
Of those so close beside me, which are you?
God bless the Ground! I shall walk softly there,
And learn by going where I have to go.
Light takes the Tree, but who can tell us how?
The lowly worm climbs up a winding stair;
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
Great Nature has another thing to do
To you and me; so take the lively air,
And, lovely, learn by going where to go.
This shaking keeps me steady. I should know.
What falls away is always. And is near.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I learn by going where I have to go.
--Theodore Roethke
|
|
|
|
Joy's Updates - Straight from the Horse's Mouth.
|
|
| |
Thursday, May 31, 2007
TV
I've been watching the last episodes of Studio 60 which is a bittersweet experience since it's been cancelled. Ex-Wives Club, Bingo Night, The Bachelor, and all those other shows like that can be on, but not some well-written shows. Aaron Sorkin's worst writing is still better than the best efforts of many others. Tonight's show dealt with some powerful issues and interests. I wish it could stay on. I wish HBO would have a show Sorkin writes.
9:59:00 PM
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Memorial Day
Tomorrow is Memorial Day, and thirty-five soldiers and Marines were killed in Iraq last week. The numbers get higher and higher. Altogether over 3,000 US troops have been killed with most of those since "Mission Accomplished" was proclaimed. When I was married, my husband was in the Navy on a submarine, so I was involved in the military for four years and know about sacrifice and duty. I was part of a military family. I'm against our being in this war and was also against our involvement in Vietnam. History has shown that was a mistake, and many people know this is, too.
Being against a war is not the same as not supporting the men and women who are in the military doing their jobs. I want their families to welcome them home safely and intact. I want them to have the best equipment available to help make that possible, too. If they are injured, they need the best care available as long as they need it. So on this Memorial Day, I remember those who died and those who returned and most of all, those who are there. I wish they were home.
6:55:00 PM
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
DWTS
Who will it be tonight on Dancing with the Stars? They were all so good that I'd be happy with any of them or a tie. Len and Bruno are going to come to blows eventually. I thought Apolo and Julianne's free-style was terrific and just right for their ages. Laila and Maksim were great in their two dances as well, but especially the Pasa Doble (however it's spelled). Joey is always entertaining and fun. So it's anybody's guess!
9:21:00 AM
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Harry
Prince Harry won't be going to Iraq because of the security risk. I'm glad.
4:00:00 PM
New TV Shows and Season Finales
The new shows are being announced with some new ones being shown. I watched the pilot of Traveler and want to see more. It's about three friends who roomed together during grad school at Yale. Will Traveler is a chemical engineer who has apparently master-minded the bombing of an art museum (??) in NYC. The other two are Jay, an attorney with plans to work for a big law firm, and Tyler, a venture capitalist who is going to work for his super-wealthy father with a questionable background. Will is missing, and these two are being chased as terrorists. Might have potential since the characters are likeable, the plot is different, and there's an ongoing mystery with compicated possibilities. The pilot will be shown again May 30 before the new episode if you want to see what you think about it.
Not sure where or why the premise for Ex-Wives Club came from or who thought it was a good idea; however, since it's inane with an odd assortment of celebrities, it will probably be popular. After all, The Bachelor, Deal or No Deal, Wife Swap/Trading Spouses, and all those other shows I can't believe are still on TV are alive and well. Thank goodness some are returning I'd miss.
The season finale of Shark was brilliant. I was surprised at the end and enjoyed thinking back to how it evolved. The writing is good on there, and James Woods is such a good actor.
According to David Boreanz there will be many therapy sessions on Bones next season, which is good news to me since Stephen Fry played the therapist and surely he'll be back in that role. He was great in it. I'd been hoping he'd have a guest role on House since it would be entertaining to see him and Hugh Laurie together again, but this gives him more exposure on screen. I'd like for both to happen.
Marc Cherry said on The View that there would be a death on Desperate Housewives. I wonder who it could be. Carlos definitely doesn't need to be with Edie, so I hope that doesn't happen. The previews show his finding her birth control pills, so that should end things for them. Lynette has lymphoma, and I know what that's like. It will be interesting to see how they write about it.
Lost is losing me. Too many loose ends without answers. I still watch it but don't care as much now even though it does manage to pull me into the plots and subplots. Izzie on Grey's Anatomy has gotten on my last nerve. This complication with George is getting old, especially when she wasn't over Denny. Also McDreamy and Meredith - puhleeze! The only character who still interests me is Christina but not all the time. I could not watch these last three I mentioned without being too bothered. Brothers & Sisters comes and goes with being good. I really like Sally Field and Rachel Griffiths and the youngest brother the most. That family is claustrophobic though.
Maybe American Idol will be gone soon. I don't watch it, but there's no way to avoid knowing more about it than I am interested in. I have watched some of it since the end would be on while I was waiting for House to come on right after it.
Any shows you care to comment on? Faves and dislikes?
1:19:00 PM
DWTS
Well, we're down to the last three contestants and the ones I hoped would be there. I really like Apolo, Laila, and Joey and their professional partners and would be happy if any of them won. Apolo and Julianne are so cute together and dance really well. He was wonderful in the Olympics, and his enthusiasm and dedication are apparent in this, too. She's done some amazing choreography for them, and it's so much fun watching them dance together. Laila and Maksim are funny with their bickering. She's become a good dancer and is beautiful. As I've mentioned before, I think Maks is a major hottie, so of course I enjoy watching him dance or just stand there speaking in his sexy Russian accent. It would be fine if they won since it seems more difficult for the women contestants in this. Maybe I'm wrong, but it appears that way. I've been voting for them every time with all my votes and will probably continue to do so. Joey and Kym are so entertaining and good, too. It's always a treat to see what they will do. Yes, we're down to the best, so any of them could win.
I didn't like Ian (including how he pronounces his name) and thought Cheryl didn't seem as enthusiastic about dancing with him as she did with Drew or with Emmit and didn't have the chemistry she did with them. Something about Ian seems smarmy - his smile, how he calls Cheryl "Baby" while rubbing her arm or otherwise touching her unnecessarily, and his expression. It would have been so bad if he'd stayed on there and one of the others were voted off. I really like Cheryl and believe she made the best of it all.
An article online said that Mario Lopez and Karina Smirnoff have moved in together. We saw that relationship progress on DWTS, and there they are.
So next week will be it. The final results. Who will it be?
12:51:00 PM
Saturday, May 12, 2007
I'm Harry
This is from Bill Moyers Journal:
"I'm Harry."
When people are having a good time, you don't want to be the skunk in the garden. And this week, people were having such a good time at that big White House welcome for the Queen. The New York Times says her majesty was "making Americans go weak in the knees." Sometimes we colonials seem so dazzled by British royalty that I wonder if General Washington did defeat Cornwallis at Yorktown.
But a less playful thought also occurred to me watching the first and royal families all gussied up. I couldn't help but think of Prince Harry, the Queen's grandson, who is headed for Iraq with a cavalry regiment, even though he's a conspicuous target for assassination or kidnapping. There's angst in official circles that other members of his regiment will be put at graver risk because of his celebrity. So guess what his comrades -- his fellow soldiers -- are doing? Rather than petition the Queen to keep the young man home, they have gotten shirts printed up with the words across them: "I'm Harry." Marvelous, no? The commoners and the Prince are in this together: one for all and all for one. What a notion -- that war should be the great equalizer, that no one's son or daughter is privileged from duty or danger.
You have to wonder how the last four years might have been different if only our President had asked sacrifice from everyone. Instead, mostly folks from the working class and professional soldiers are doing the dying in Iraq, while the rich spend their tax cuts. War on the cheap, except for those fighting it.
Watching all the wrangling in Washington this week over timetables and exit strategies and benchmarks, it occurred to me that this travesty might end much more quickly if what is happening in Iraq were not just word-play to our leaders -- something others die for while officials talk, talk, and talk. Suppose the next time they pow-wow and palaver the President and Congress were asked to wear shirts with the words written across them, "I'm Harry."
See another article about Prince Harry's going to Iraq and the t-shirt here. What do you think about all this?
11:42:00 AM
Monday, May 07, 2007
Conversations
Someone from a car dealership in Nashville called this morning. I don't know how or why they managed to call me, but here's part of the conversation:
Car Guy: Are you in the market for a new car?
Me: No, not really.
CG: In the future?
Me: Well, it would have to be.
CG: (laughing) I guess that's right.
Brian called to let me know about Brendan's hair cut this weekend. He still gets nervous about them and requires preparation. He hates having hair fall in his face, so cutting the front is especially problematic. I've taken him for hair cuts and know how he feels about them. Brian got it cut pretty short for summer, and Terry also cut mine short last week - for summer, too, I suppose. I called to talk to Brendan this evening and ask about his hair cut which we discussed. Then I told him I got my hair cut, too. He asked, "Did you get a treat, Grammy?"
11:54:00 PM
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Just wondering
Is anyone reading this?
5:49:00 PM
Saturday, May 05, 2007
"A writer ought to comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable." – Mark Twain
3:05:00 PM
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Nero's
As I mentioned before, Monday was Tina's last night of class to finish her master's!! Yea, Tina, and well done! While she was taking her final, I got together with Linda as usual. We ate at Nero's Grill and were trying to remember the way it used to look when the first one was in that same location. Fortunately, the waitress led us to the bar to see the old menu and photographs. They really brought back memories. Nero's Cactus Canyon was famous for its corn cakes and white bean soup which have been brought back. Nero's son now owns this new incarnation of a place lots of us used to love to go. Our meal was really good, and the decor is beautiful. Here's an article about it. There's a link to a Kris Kristofferson interview in that article as well as other fascinating tidbits. This has the menu and photos of the original location. I didn't eat the game meat before and doubt I will this time even though they are highly recommended. If they'd let me have a taste of it before getting a whole order, I might. On our way in, we met Barbara Weinstein and her husband who raved about the crunchy trout and potato crusted halibut they had. We enjoyed our grilled lemon chicken, the yummy corn cakes, and the relaxing atmosphere. Do any of you remember going to Nero's when the menu looked like this? Do you remember The Silver Slipper part of it, too? Memories!
1:22:00 PM
Candidates and the CrusadesTonight will be the Republican nominees debate. I watched the Democrats last week and loved Joe Biden's one-word answer "yes" when Brian Williams asked if he could show restraint if he were President since his verbosity has gotten him in trouble. I still laugh about that exchange. I haven't decided yet who I will vote for in the primary but have time to made that decision. Here's what buzzflash.com wrote: "Republican contenders ponder what to say about Bush." Uh, how about the man is a narcississtic sociopath who has shredded our Constitution, driven us to unprecedented debt, lied us into a ruinous war, and has appointed ideologically radical AND corrupt appointees? Naw, they'll go with the euphemistic lies, as usual. Here's a disturbing article about the Christian Taliban in the military.
Mints are from this website.
12:34:00 PM
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Dancing with the Dwarf Stars (remember Pluto?)
I can't believe Billy Ray Cyrus is still on there, and based on his reaction neither can he. John Ratzenberger left last night, so surely Billy Ray will go next week.
10:52:00 PM
Mission Impossible
Yesterday was the fourth anniversary of the Top Gun impersonator's speech in front of the Mission Accomplished banner. He had on his little jump suit and strutted across the deck of an aircraft carrier just outside San Diego. He's a cross between Don Quixote and Hitler and has turned our government into 1984 - Thought Police, Doublespeak, Big Brother, war for the sake of war, and all. He's the worst president we've ever had AND the scariest. I think we've been like Nazi Germany where many of us couldn't believe our government leaders could be so evil and others goose-stepped to his drum. Perhaps its our turn to have a despotic leader in office the way others had Stalin, Mussolini, Idi Amin, etc. I don't know how long it's going to take our country to recover from this abuse and destruction. He needs to be impeached and tried for war crimes, and Cheney for war profiteering.
10:32:00 PM
|
|
| |
|
|
|
