Monday, July 13, 2015

WOW!!

I just spent a bit too much time looking at videos and reading articles about the spacecraft that is up circling Pluto's moon, Charon. Absolutely fascinating... so much so that I know I started when there was sunlight shining in my window... now it is dead dark... ye gods... it is after 9:00pm! 'Wired' magazine has put all its articles online, along with all sorts of videos and scientific notes written so that I and a lot of other non-scientists can understand them. I love it. I'm hooked. I'll be there tomorrow and probably a lot of other days to see everything the experts are finding and trying to explain to us 'others.' How I wish I had a telescope to look at some of the planets... of course, with all the lights we have in San Francisco, it might be hard to look at anything but our own moon. I miss seeing Orion, the one constellation I could always see wen I was a kid, looking up at the stars. 

One of my favorite things to do at the cottage was to take a blanket down to the beach and make a little nest by the tree roots of the big trees on either side of the path... and lie there watching for 'shooting stars.' One was supposed to make a wish on one of those... wonder what I wished for... that I have forgotten. I miss those lovely long summers at the lake... I miss my beautiful carved wood Victorian bed that Mama threw out, so Jess took it, along with all the other stuff Mama got tired of, up to the cottage. I think I could do a complete drawing of every room in that cottage... the only place I have ever considered really 'home.' Funny... the apartment I live in now I have been in for about the same number of years I spent summers in the cottage... 18 years. When we all went off to college and various other places, Mama sold the cottage... signing Jessie's name, for it belonged to my mother, not to that mean old witch who was my grandmother, who had always hated the fact that we preferred the cottage to her. Well, the apartment is/was nice and kinda 'home' for about 17 years, but things change and we have new 'management,' all the people I knew here in SF are dead... and it is no longer home... simply a place for me to exist until I die, I suppose... god, I feel like I'm in a Trenet song... and very much alone.

Ah well... Great voyage little spacecraft... you are doing a wonderful job at letting us see almost close-up what other planets and moons are like. Thanks to all the scientists who are bringing us this exciting info. At least I lived long enough to see little Charon close up on my computer.

Sunday, July 12, 2015

Ye Gods....

Yeah, it's me being snarky... but I just couldn't resist. Vogue magazine can manage to turn me snarky any time I look at it online... the 'interviews' by one of their editors of people at the Met Gala are among the most hysterical things online... "I LLLOOOVVVEE your outfit!! Who made it?! ADDOOORable!!!" (Barf, barf!!!!!) "Oh is Beyonce here yet?!!!"  (Double barf... she's wearing that naked lace thingy... I think they did a special article on what to wear under it........).

And then of course, a photo of Buce Jenner, pardon me, Caitlan Jenner on Vogue.com -- he had better stick to the cute curled up sitting down Vanity Fair style photos. Standing up, surrounded by at least three short men with their arms out to catch him in case he falls off the high heels, he is the joke of the century. The short skirted outfit doesn't help either. he may have had his face and neck resculpted, but he can't hide the HUGE paws clutching the evening bag and the straight legs and big feet... pure man. Even the belt placed up on the chest just looks uncomfortable. Maybe he should start dressing like Lady Gaga to hide all the faults, or at least not try to look so damned 'ladylike'... a few long dresses, sandals might help... but going overboard to look 'dainty' is not the way for him to go. Pardon me... as with Vogue, I should be more polite and say 'the way for her to go.' Dainty ain't it. Well, he does refer to himself as a 'girl' so maybe he is also trying to be terribly young again too, which is hard to do at his advanced age... but dressing a little more age appropriately might help her look also. When you are a grandmother, you should try for a little less 'youth' look. All I can say is, "Grandmother, what big hands you have..."

Sunday, July 5, 2015

Finally... Something to Write About

I just watched the US Soccer Team win the FIFA title in a GREAT game against Japan. They lost in a terrible game last time, so this was an even better evening game, as they played so well... making THREE goals FAST... then another, making it 4-nil... then missing one to Japan in the first half. They made another goal in the second half, but so did Japan, but what a game!!! 5-2 the final score. Carli Lloyd made those first two... then a third goal and a new record for a championship game getting a hat trick.  They all... both sides... played so well, it was a joy to watch. Those first two goals were so fast... fastest ever in a championship game... both of them. Carli must be overjoyed.

I am fond of watching male soccer, and watched the FIFA games this year, but I will say that this game was more exciting than any of them in the men's championship. I will never understand how those kids can stay on their feet running so fast and turning so fast... and kicking so hard. Just amazing... and it is THE BEAUTIFUL GAME! I loved every minute of it... and was exhausted when it was finished... just from watching all the great work they did. God... I have to get my strength back. If I keep having to go down to the Apple Store for lessons, I just may... it's a long walk down to where a cab can pull in on Market.

Oops... "60 Minutes" is on... must go watch that now. Guess cheese and crackers will be my 'dinner' tonight, as there is a lot of stuff on KQED right after 60.

Still Wondering

I just had an email from my son. I have been very, very, VERY lonely of late, kinda particularly during about the last couple of months and since I rarely hear anything from any of my family anymore, I wrote him a sad little letter about my feelings. Mistake. He simply said I had lots of friends... and even a blog, so I must have lotsa friends because of that. What a laugh... this is my little letter to myself... no one else ever sees it or reads it. I have like two or three comments... all from my oldest nephew, who apparently does read it once in awhile. He's the ONLY one. I guess I only write it because I don't have any Kirkie to write to anymore... he won't answer, so why write. So I write to myself about little things like the fact that my kids are strangers now... my own fault, as they both remind me interminably... you wanted to go to CA, where we will never go, as we hate it and it is a long way away. So, just sit back, Peggy and enjoy the nice cool weather, with a couple of warm days every now and then... in a beautiful,  breezy place where  you can breathe without an inhaler, never have another attack of asthma... wear the same kind of clothes all year long... never have a coat, unless maybe a rain coat if it ever starts raining again... and go out and sit and have lunch in the garden with Gloria once in awhile. I miss Bud and Al... and Al Bear and Jane and all the other Fromm people... and reading to each other... and  the poets and all the people who have disappeared to die on me. Even the dear little girl who handled all the business at the 3-Day Novel writing contest has moved on to another job.... Melissa. Amazing, I can still remember some names... although that was always my worst problem... I wonder if it was because my mother could remember everyone's name... was I just reacting against that? Some names are engraved on my brain... I will never forget Leo Burnett, as I loved him so much... or Ned Travis, the same... but about half the people I worked with/for have disappeared from my memory... except in little snatches when something reminds me of them. A bell ring, a taste of pizza, a whiff of perfume... and back they all come... good lord, I have known so many people... and until the last couple of years, I could remember about half of them... but they are all fading out without the reminders. What was the name of that secretary who worked for that dreadful man who thought up 'great books' who used to douse herself in perfume before she went home? Marshall hated that as much as I did and wanted me to tell her... I told him to do it himself and he was furious about that. I do wish I could remember all of them... but what does it matter now, except that if I get back to my writing about them, it would help if I could remember their names.

Enough, enough, Peg... you have nattered along enough for tonight... take your damned pills, go to the john and go to bed. I do hope I have enough kitty food for Sunday... Ana can run over on Monday and get more... she felt she should get some... she knows better how much Sylvia can eat... and Sylvia has been eating like a horse again... both kinds of food.  Wow... I have a weird cramping of my left hand... it pulls my fingers apart into a Vulcan salute... so strange, as it is now hard to do that with my right hand. God, why must I get old.... why can't I just die like everyone else?