Monday, July 3, 2017
Sunday, July 2, 2017
Delightful day
Rewriting ... Video editing ... Cool jazz ... Great weather ... Mariners win in LA... Yes.
posted from Bloggeroid
Silence
Love the hours before sunrise. So quiet. Not even Portland's occasional traffic noise here. Did some work in Photoshop, making titles for video. Last night prepared historic photos. Bringing back skills I haven't used in almost a decade.
Saturday, July 1, 2017
Video
Rehearse July 4 play and will tape it. Going to get into video again big time
posted from Bloggeroid
Friday, June 30, 2017
Monday, June 26, 2017
Rhythm
In a good writing rhythm ... Best in years. Man it is fun to write about CJ
He is so much like me ha ha. Has become very good time of life despite certain complications. I love it here.
He is so much like me ha ha. Has become very good time of life despite certain complications. I love it here.
Saturday, June 24, 2017
Friday, June 23, 2017
Wednesday, June 21, 2017
Sunday, June 18, 2017
Saturday, June 17, 2017
Score card
Challenges:
...living with H memory loss
...managing finite money in place with skyrocketing costs
...retaining faith that my journey was worth the sacrifices
...aging health issues
Battery chargers:
...baking bread
...making buttermilk
...cooking, eating breakfast
...Sketch
...ukulele
...readers' theater here
...revisiting favorite literature music
...a few friends who are left
Bottom line:
...hangin' in like Gunga Din
...living with H memory loss
...managing finite money in place with skyrocketing costs
...retaining faith that my journey was worth the sacrifices
...aging health issues
Battery chargers:
...baking bread
...making buttermilk
...cooking, eating breakfast
...Sketch
...ukulele
...readers' theater here
...revisiting favorite literature music
...a few friends who are left
Bottom line:
...hangin' in like Gunga Din
posted from Bloggeroid
Monday, June 12, 2017
Breakfast
My demise will happen when I can no longer make my own breakfast. It's my great battery charger.
posted from Bloggeroid
Saturday, June 10, 2017
Friday, June 9, 2017
Wednesday, June 7, 2017
Sunday, June 4, 2017
Monday, May 29, 2017
Saturday, May 27, 2017
Friday, May 19, 2017
Wednesday, May 17, 2017
Saturday, May 13, 2017
Friday, May 12, 2017
Thursday, May 11, 2017
Wednesday, May 10, 2017
Tuesday, May 9, 2017
Poem
I love living
on a day like this
filled with sun
filled with warmth
a perfect day
to count my blessings.
let me die
on a day like this
filled with sun
filled with warmth
a perfect time
for permanent sleep
on a day like this
filled with sun
filled with warmth
a perfect day
to count my blessings.
let me die
on a day like this
filled with sun
filled with warmth
a perfect time
for permanent sleep
Monday, May 8, 2017
Poem
Nature takes a break
today, no storms
no ferocity and revenge
but a smiling warm day
filled with reminders
of how much we lose
when we piss off
Mother Earth
today, no storms
no ferocity and revenge
but a smiling warm day
filled with reminders
of how much we lose
when we piss off
Mother Earth
Friday, May 5, 2017
Tuesday, May 2, 2017
Saturday, April 29, 2017
Thursday, April 27, 2017
Morning
My best part of day. Baking bread, make breakfsst, morning Ms game ... then to get through rest of day.
Wednesday, April 26, 2017
Monday, April 24, 2017
Sunday, April 23, 2017
Celebration
Finished draft of NATURE WINS last night. Polish and time it today.
posted from Bloggeroid
Saturday, April 22, 2017
Friday, April 21, 2017
Tuesday, April 18, 2017
Poem
my fragility frightens me
I who has weathered storms
now crumble at a mere sneeze
of resistance
it's as if my will
has given up
as if Camus were wrong
and the struggle itself
will not fill a man's heart
it's as if all the questions
without answers
were not worth asking
and no ending justifies
anything
I who has weathered storms
now crumble at a mere sneeze
of resistance
it's as if my will
has given up
as if Camus were wrong
and the struggle itself
will not fill a man's heart
it's as if all the questions
without answers
were not worth asking
and no ending justifies
anything
Monday, April 17, 2017
Update
Feeling good, despite kinks in my smoother goals. Ukulele progressing superbly. A project to create and rehearse. Busy with something other than the household mess.
posted from Bloggeroid
Project
Found 2 others ready for a theater project here. Will now make it happen.
posted from Bloggeroid
Saturday, April 15, 2017
Poem
Let my old age
be filled with wonder
first at Nature
in all variety
next at ourselves
the human contradiction
creative and cruel
our own worst enemy
It was Pascal who said
our troubles begin
because we can't sit quietly
in an empty room
Amen
be filled with wonder
first at Nature
in all variety
next at ourselves
the human contradiction
creative and cruel
our own worst enemy
It was Pascal who said
our troubles begin
because we can't sit quietly
in an empty room
Amen
posted from Bloggeroid
Poem
How did old age
become so different
from all the ways
I imagined it?
Was it too extreme
to fantasize a quiet
life as a respected
old writer?
Nowhere in the fantasy
were the feelings
of irrelevance
of neglect
of impotence
that I feel today
in the picture.
How wrong I was.
How invisible I am.
I am not even here.
You are imagining me.
become so different
from all the ways
I imagined it?
Was it too extreme
to fantasize a quiet
life as a respected
old writer?
Nowhere in the fantasy
were the feelings
of irrelevance
of neglect
of impotence
that I feel today
in the picture.
How wrong I was.
How invisible I am.
I am not even here.
You are imagining me.
Thursday, April 13, 2017
Tuesday, April 11, 2017
Monday, April 10, 2017
Sunday, April 9, 2017
Changes
I have no desire to write, despite some projects in mind, and this is a first. Two reasons, I think. My conclusion that literature matters little in this culture, so writing is like pissing into the wind. And, probably more significantly, my best writing is behind me. I cannot imagine writing better than SODOM or FAMILY CLIMATE, to mention fiction and drama. So why add to an archive that's already huge and seldom looked at? What's the point?
Fortunately I have energy for something else, which is getting good at clawhammer and jazz ukulele. New books coming, a vigorous study program shaping up, and I definitely need to engage it. Otherwise all I do around here is wait between meals. Eating, eating, eating. Beginning to feel like a curse.
I might put together a formal show. Or two. A new ukulele version of my Guthrie show, and a new show about roots music. We'll see. Be practicing on a regular basis, and long, is the first step.
The apartment is still a cluttered mess. Harriet is impossible. She leaves for a few days to go to a wedding and I plan to haul tons to storage in her absense, then duck at her anger upon return.
Fortunately I have energy for something else, which is getting good at clawhammer and jazz ukulele. New books coming, a vigorous study program shaping up, and I definitely need to engage it. Otherwise all I do around here is wait between meals. Eating, eating, eating. Beginning to feel like a curse.
I might put together a formal show. Or two. A new ukulele version of my Guthrie show, and a new show about roots music. We'll see. Be practicing on a regular basis, and long, is the first step.
The apartment is still a cluttered mess. Harriet is impossible. She leaves for a few days to go to a wedding and I plan to haul tons to storage in her absense, then duck at her anger upon return.
posted from Bloggeroid
Friday, April 7, 2017
Tuesday, April 4, 2017
Monday, April 3, 2017
Realism
I don't think H is capable of downsizing. Her kids will deal with her stuff by default after she passes. Very unfortunate. It restricts our retirement options in major ways. I don't like it at all. But I see nothing to do about it. Bummer.
Sunday, April 2, 2017
R.I.P. Yevtushenko
A Russian poet whose readings in soccer stadiums drew over one hundred thousand. Not in America.
Saturday, April 1, 2017
Friday, March 31, 2017
Thursday, March 30, 2017
Tuesday, March 28, 2017
Monday, March 27, 2017
Sketch ...
... has a terrific new vet! She gets on the floor with him, no exam table. Located two blocks away, next to an irish pub. yowee!
Sunday, March 26, 2017
Saturday, March 25, 2017
A lovely morning
Definite progress in our second week here. Living room a week or two from being presentable.
Friday, March 24, 2017
Update
This place is dangerous. The food is too damn good, three times a day with options, too easy to eat, rest, eat, rest. Need to make an effort to be active.
I did get the wifi set up yesterday, more easily than i expected, so it feels a bit like home with Kindle Fire TV and Alexa playing Gerry Mulligan. But clutter is still everywhere and will be for a while. Need to rearrange storage to make more room.
I can't find my netbook yet. Bummer. Some notes on it that I hope not to recreate.
Otherwise, hanging in. Harriet is warm and cold about this place. But slow trend toward the warm, I think.
I did get the wifi set up yesterday, more easily than i expected, so it feels a bit like home with Kindle Fire TV and Alexa playing Gerry Mulligan. But clutter is still everywhere and will be for a while. Need to rearrange storage to make more room.
I can't find my netbook yet. Bummer. Some notes on it that I hope not to recreate.
Otherwise, hanging in. Harriet is warm and cold about this place. But slow trend toward the warm, I think.
posted from Bloggeroid
Tuesday, March 21, 2017
Slow progress
H is terrible at downsizing. All the clutter is her stuff, which she protects like a mother wolf. We may never get uncluttered here. Frankly I don't get it. Almost like a mental illness.
Monday, March 20, 2017
News
I stopped watching the news during the hectic week of moving and haven't started up again. I may be done as "an informed citizen." Too much irrational posturing in politics today.
Transitions
Continuing downsizing apt this week, a big job. Hope to be "moved in" by summer!
posted from Bloggeroid
Sunday, March 19, 2017
Saturday, March 18, 2017
A good place
I really like it here, and Harriet is getting into the rhythm and seeming to enjoy it more as well. Still a ton of work to downsize and make our apt liveable, which will take weeks or even months at our slow pace. That's okay. We can survive in it now fine.
posted from Bloggeroid
Friday, March 17, 2017
Update
Got my own cart for moving boxes. Much moire practical, convenient, given how much I have to do.
posted from Bloggeroid
Onward
Doing a few boxes a day. Eventually we'll be where we want to be.
Going to teach bread making class here. Talked into it.
Going to teach bread making class here. Talked into it.
Thursday, March 16, 2017
Tuesday, March 14, 2017
Slow but sure
Will take a few months to get the apt right. No pressure really. But sooner better, as far as I'm concerned.
Monday, March 13, 2017
Settling in
Much, much work to get our apt right, what with H pack rat stuff. But we'll get there. Otherwise doing ok after first week.
posted from Bloggeroid
Sunday, March 12, 2017
Changes
During hectic last week of move, missed all newscasts. So refreshing I ain't going back! Deleted my news apps.
posted from Bloggeroid
Friday, March 10, 2017
Transition from hell
On smart phone ... Empty house, waiting for cleaners. Next to make apt liveable. What an ordeal!!!!
Saturday, March 4, 2017
Thursday, March 2, 2017
Update
Life is full of surprises, and our retirement is no exception. After much thought, we decided not to move to Russellville. There's no doubt it's best suited for us in many ways: the "academic" activities, in house movie theater and sports bar, on Max line, eating options. But it also is considerably more expensive than many other places. When our basement sprung a leak, when it became clear that at R money would be very tight and emergencies a disaster, when our nest egg shrunk due to a variety of things, well, it made no financial sense to move to Russellville. So we opted instead for another place we liked, Vineyard Place in Milwaukie. The perks here are quiet scenic location but also across from library and next to movie house. And significantly less expensive, including all three meals. I think it will be fine. I will try and start a readers theater group and I plan to do volunteer work across the street at the library. It also is close to a small Unitarian church in Oregon City, which we'll check out.
The big move is Monday. I've been taking a carload of boxes over every day, another this morning.
We are close now!
The big move is Monday. I've been taking a carload of boxes over every day, another this morning.
We are close now!
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