Semi-famous people I have been told I look like

- Ali MacGraw (in her/my younger days)
- Jeanne Moreau (same downturned smile)
- Glenn Close (I never saw any resemblance)
- Laurie Metcalf (who plays Sheldon's mother in The big bang theory and Roseanne's sister in Roseanne) - (6/23/14)

Nice relaxing days in the air conditioned library looking up stuff as it strikes my fancy...Jersey boys, Laurie Metcalf, how to spell azalea, etc. Went to get a fig newton that I brought in but they had all been devoured.

Jersey boys (movie): directed by Clint Eastwood. Could see it again. All of the boys pretty charming, even the "bad" boy. I never felt that interested in going to see the play that others raved about so I finally got to see the movie. Fascinating. The family situations were a bit glossed over. Most of the focus was on the relationships between the band members. A bit of (suppressed) violence and interesting Jersey and mob references.

A feeling of well-being

Is it thanks to recent trip or summer or what? Or perhaps as was quoted in a New Yorker story..."He had worked as a carpenter and landscaper for years and was happy, as he often said, to have no other responsibilities but to watch the sun rise and set."

Approaching the ATM machine, I am appalled at the litter of all of the receipts people leave around. I feel sort of lucky when I see so many that say "insufficient funds" or have a balance of $8.94.

Getting more emails and enjoying them less.
- Yahoo: 20535
- Google: Hundreds
- work: thousands
- left at my previous job: thousands

Things I noticed in Atlantic City yesterday

- quite an intercultural mix - gorgeous bikini clad white folks - ethnic families - tattooed and pregnant folk - elderly casino lovers
- Hispanic woman wearing a silver revealing bathing suit covered with chains and necklaces
- Hispanic woman wearing a skimpy t-shirt that said "I (heart) black guys"
- Indians taking pictures of themselves in front of Trump Taj Mahal
- Italian woman participating in the World series of sand sculpting

Tuscany (book), photographs by Sonja Bullaty & Angelo Lomeo, text by Marie-Ange Guillaume. Since I did not take pictures in Italy, I enjoyed reading this large nonfiction book with many photographs of Tuscany. Siena was the only city I was in and I loved it. There were a lot of photographs of other cities and beautiful countryside much like what I saw.
- "The old haystacks, true works of art, can still be found but are gradually giving way to more efficient methods of storing hay." I think I only saw the big round bales of hay and not the old haystacks.
- "There are in blocks of marble images that are sumptuous and essential, if only we have sufficient genius to extract them. - Michelangelo"

The Keillor reader (book), by Garrison Keillor: I say I don't appreciate him as much in the written form as I do in the talking form, but some of these essays make me want to own the book. I especially like the final essay on Cheerfulness.
- From the introduction: "There is nothing like good material. You only had to say NEW YORK and there was an awestruck silence. You went, you saw, and now you tell the others." and: "The living wander away, we don't hear from them for months, years - but the dead move in with us to stay"

Niggas vs. Black people

This is a VERY FUNNY routine on the Chris Rock album Roll with the new. Today I went to a talk on Laughter as the best medicine. So, I got this album on Hoopla to assist me in getting laughter in my life. It is really doing the job.

It is a gorgeous day outside but I have been spending a lot of time indoors. Breakfast at the Amish market, lunch and a lecture at the health club, lifting weights at the health club and now stuck in the library using the Internet.
Looking forward to getting home tonight and staying there. I love being home when it is sunny. I have quite large windows and I enjoy the sun coming in them. When I get kicked out of the library, I will take a little "Vitamin D bath".

Found out that the wildflower workshop I signed up for tomorrow is OUTSIDE. I guess that is better than inside.

Yearning to take a picture

Wish I had taken a picture yesterday of the SEA of schoolchildren marching in front of my house. They all wear the same uniform so it was quite a sea of maroon and tan. Except for an aide (?) or a mother who was wearing a really inappropriate outfit of big gold hoop earrings and a bare midriff (and not a very attractive midriff, at that). It was ALL of the kids (or all of the SMART or well-behaved kids) from all of the schools in my town. It was a very hot day and they were happy when they got to my house because I have a big tree and there was SHADE.

Dreading a house revaluation that is coming to my town. Do they expect to get water from a stone? And how are they going to get into all of these apartment buildings with no one in charge. When I was working, I had a better excuse to avoid them, but now they might even catch me. The question is, do I let them in? Perhaps if they see the state of my house, the assessed value could go DOWN? I have decided that this is what I want. There is no way we can sell our homes for a profit anyway. Of course, they could just send in my name to the TV show, Hoarders.

The St. Zita society (book), by Ruth Rendell: I listened to the audio book. This is a very lightweight mystery. Sort of an Upstairs/downstairs thing but with too many characters. Kind of like who lives at one address but it is the neighbors and their servants this time. Not much of a mystery as the reader is privy to all of the goings on. It is just the other people who don't know what is going on. I enjoyed the Britishisms.

So ready for shavasana

That is the time in yoga at the end when we relax. I am SO happy when we get to it. Am in the mood for it RIGHT NOW!

Picture, with Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow, is one of my favorite songs and I am listening to it on Youtube right now. Funny, though, when my Mexican neighbors were playing it the other night, I couldn't even enjoy it. Something about the fact that they are just plain DOMINATING the entire neighborhood with their loud parties gets me all bent out of shape. I first heard the loud music as I was leaving my house at 3 PM. Got home at 9 PM and it was still going on. So, I called the police. Enough, already! So inconsiderate.

The opposite of loneliness : essays and stories, by Marina Keegan. Poignant stuff by a young woman. full of promise, who was killed in a car crash a few days after she graduated from Yale in 2012. Questions, musings, hopefulness, all made more intense by knowing what happened to her and her plans. Borrowed it from the Vineland Public Library (818.609 Kee).

Old travel books

Can't quite bring myself to take a 2008 Rick Steves Rome travel guide on my trip. I love old travel books but it would probably be missing a lot of important info, such as the name of the Pope! Shall I just wing it? Going to Italy with no phone, camera, computer....back to the olden days of pencil and paper. Not so bad except I might miss stuff, but that is OK. I have already DONE Italy, even if it WAS 46 years ago! Also, I don't speak Italian.

Will probably return my audio book unfinished. The Darling Dahlias and the Texas Star, by Susan Wittig Albert. I think I enjoyed one of hers before but this one just seems trivial and with too many characters. I have to keep reminding myself that it is supposed to take place in 1932. Don't like the readers so much, either.

Everybody's got something, by Robin Roberts. Trying to finish it before my trip. She had breast cancer and then another disease requiring a bone marrow transplant. What a great personality! Always smiling, she has a ton of friends. Has recently been more open about her girlfriend. They live separately and have no plans to tie the know anytime soon. Difficult days such as finding out her diagnosis on the same day that her morning show topped the ratings for the first time. And her transplant was proceeded by her mother's death by only a few weeks. Luckily she has sisters.