Wednesday Weather Woes

The local meteorologists are keeping track: we're starting the first heat wave of the summer. It feels like all of July has been one big heat wave. 

Surprisingly, this morning as Jace and left for Taylor Farm, it was cool. That didn't last long. 

I'll make sure to get Jace out early for long walks the next few days. Spend as little time as possible outside. It's a good time for indoor projects. Unfortunately, I'd like to do some cooking, but that's not a good option. I even bought makings for marinara sauce on Tuesday. What was I thinking? Salads, chilled soups--those are good options. 

It should cool down on Sunday.

Tuesday Miscellanea

I was scrolling through TV channels before I started to cook dinner and found "Sideshow Bob Roberts" on The Simpsons--one of my favorite episides. Sideshow Bob is released from prison and runs for Mayor of Springfield. A campaign ad: Mayor Quimby supports revolving-door prisons. Mayor Quimby even released Sideshow Bob--a man twice convicted of attempted murder. Can you trust a man like Mayor Quimby? Vote Sideshow Bob for Mayor. 

Bob wins. Lisa and Bart can't understand how so many people can vote for one convicted felon and so few vote for another. How did Bob do it? By counting votes of dead people. Bart's conclusion: "Oh my God--the dead have risen and they're voting Republican." I laughed out loud. 

Later we watched "Homer Badman" another favorite from Season Six. Homer is accused of sexual harassment when he is reaching for the Gummy Venus de Milo he stole from the candy convention (which had stuck to the babysitter's butt.) A highlight of the 57 hours of  round the clock coverage outside the Simpson estate is when Marge puts out the cat--possibly because it was harassed--we don't know. Homer also sings "Under the Sea" where "there'll be no accusations, just friendly crustaceans." 

Good times.

The Mets are playing the second part of the subway series in Yankee Stadium. At the top of the 9th, the Mets are up 9-3. It had been 7-0 with lots of Mets homeruns, but the Mets manage to let the Yankees get back in the game. They need to hold on.  

Friday Surprises

I caught a few minutes of Channel 12 News on Friday morning. There is a new pickle wine. I'll definitely try it when it becomes available. I haven't taken the plunge with pickle liquor (though I enjoy picklebacks.) Pickle potato chips are good; I didn't care for pickle almonds. I still can't believe that Trader Joe's discontinued pickle popcorn--that was the best. 

The second surprise was that Pequot Library was having a book sale. It was packed that afternoon. I had to drive around for while to find a parking spot about a block away.

Here are the books I bought: 

1. The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood

2. Round Up the Usual Suspects the Making of Casablanca--Bogart, Bergman, and World War II by Aljean Harmetz

3. Manhattan Noir Edited by Lawrence Block

4. The Accidental Suffragist by Galia Gichon

5. Bird by Bird Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne LaMott

6. the life-changing magic of tidying up the Japanese art of decluttering and organizing by marie kondo

I haven't decided what I'm reading next. Half of the books I've read so far this year have been histories or historical fiction. I'll see what catches my eye.

Book 18: Killers of the Flower Moon The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann

This is an important, beautifully researched account of a series of murders against wealthy members of the Osage Indian Nation. 

The title comes from this observation:

In April, millions of tiny flowers spread over the blackjack hills and vast prairies in the Osage territory of Oklahoma... In May,...taller plants...begin to creep over the tinier blooms, stealing their light and water. The necks of the smaller flowers break and their petals flutter away, and before long they are buried underground. That is why the Osage Indians refer to May as the time of the flower-killing moon. 

In the 1920s, the Osage Indian Nation had become rich because it had retained oil, gas, and mineral rights to its land in an agreement with the US government. Each member on the Osage tribal roll received a headright--as a share in the tribe's mineral trust. Control of these headrights and the wealth they represented was the motive for the murders. 

I was shocked that Osage adults were required to have white guardians to approve all their expenditures if the Department of the Interior decided they were "incompetent." A determination of  incompetence was usually based on how much Indian blood the individual possessed. The corrupt system provided the framework for the murder conspiracies. 

This is a powerful book of a tragic story.

Thursday Thoughts

I recently mentioned that I've been experimenting with the timing and frequency of Jace's walks. Today we drove down to the newish Norwalk River Valley Trail parking lot on Riverside Avenue and walked from there. We could have walked from home, but the last leg coming up Maple Street is tough. I didn't want to deal with Jace needing a rest there. 

I won't go back there anytime soon. I took a dozen ticks off Jace--some on site and some later at home. Yes, I can try to keep him out of plants along the path, but that goes against all his instincts. I'm better off selecting another route. Hmm, I haven't noticed the same tick problem on other parts of the trail. 

I feel guilty complaining about three weeks of high humidity in this crazy weather summer, when others are dealing with much worse. But it's exhausting. I'm trying to strategically cook things to avoid heating up the kitchen more; it never really cools down in the summer. 

I've been waking up in the early morning hours--it can be tough to get back to sleep until it's magically 6:30 AM (time of the alarm.) Why do I still set an alarm? Hopefully, I can sleep through the night tonight.

I often have song lyrics running through my head. Recently, it's been this song since I watched  Monterey Pop. It's a beautiful song and the harmonies are fantastic. I had forgotten how good the Mamas and the Papas were.

TCM Presents Murder, Mystery, and Noir

I've recorded several films from TCM over the past few days. Rainy weather has helped me sit down and watch a few.

First up--Shockproof (1949)--the Noir Alley selection. Cornel Wilde stars as Griff Marat a parole officer who falls for his client Jenny Marsh (Patricia Knight)--a beautiful convicted murderess. Griff believes in Jenny if she can only stay away from her loser boyfriend Harry Wesson. 

This movie didn't work for me. I don't care for Cornel Wilde's acting, I didn't buy the urgency for Griff and Jenny's wedding. Most importantly, I didn't buy them as lovers on the run. The unrealistic "happy ending" that the Studio insisted on--was the final straw.

Gaslight (1949)--I've known about the concept of gaslighting and its literal use in this film for a long time. But I'm not sure I ever saw this film in its entirety. Charles Boyer as Gregory Anton  exudes charm until he suddenly sneers in viciousness as Ingrid Bergman--as his wife Paula--shrinks away in confusion. I wish the maid Elizabeth had been more pro-active in helping Paula. Elizabeth recognized early on that Gregory was trying to convince Paula she was sick when she wasn't.

This film will be forever enshrined in my heart because of its use in a classic Car 54 Where Are You? episode, "What Happened to Thursday?"

Dial M for Murder (1954)--I've seen this film more times than I can count. Ray Milland is excellent as Tony Wendice--a former tennis pro whose gotten used to living on his wife's money. Worried that her affair may put an end to his easy life, he concocts a scheme to have her killed by an old schoolmate he is blackmailing. It doesn't go as planned--instead his wife kills her attacker and is tried and sentenced to death. It looks like Tony will get away with it, but will he?

The Penguin Pool Murder (1932)--This is the first of the Hildegarde Withers/Inspector Oscar Piper film series that I wrote about recently. We first see Hildegarde (Edna May Oliver) as she thwarts a pickpocket with her umbrella. Soon, she and the class she took to the aquarium, find a body in the titular penguin pool. 

I was glad to see this movie again--I like Oliver in the part more than I remembered. I also liked the mystery. 

Four films down and three more to go. Thanks TCM.

Monday Miscellanea

I need to plan my Mondays better. Today I had to go food shopping, and I wanted to go to the gym. I did both, but it could have been more. Today I just let the day wander.

Jeff went back to the gym today too. He doesn't have any PT appointments until the end of the month and needs an exercise plan. We discussed going to the gym three times a week. I have an idea for some outside walking as well. 

Walking will have to be early. Temperatures are going up again tomorrow. 

I've been switching up Jace's walks. Heat and bad air quality days shortened some. I've been taking longer walks earlier in the morning. We went to Taylor Farm one morning and I thought mosquitos would eat me alive. I'm still scratching. Oyster Shell has been better--fewer mosquitos and better bird life. Yesterday I saw an egret and before that a swan family of five. Is it the same set of parents that I've watched before?

I've also tried to delay Jace's midday walk a few times. Then I can sometimes skip the afternoon/evening walk. 

This afternoon we walked around the block. Jace presented me with a poop in a perfect J shape. I admit I was impressed. 

Book 17: The Last Tsar The LIfe and Death of Nicholas II by Edward Radzinsky

This is the sixth book I've read about Nicholas II and/or the Russian Revolution. Compared to the others, this book is more gossipy and more conspiracy-oriented. 

Radzinsky likes to relay events and link them to the deaths of the Romanovs--for example, several people were crushed in an outdoor celebration of Nicholas' coronation where sweets and gifts were given to the common people. "At dawn the broken corpses were carted out." The author follows with, "Twenty-two years later, also at dawn, also in carts, the corpses of Nicholas and his family would also be carried away."

Radzinsky obtained access to several previously unavailable sources, including the note from Yakov Yurovsky who led the execution of the family. He also conducted several interviews with people who finally felt safe enough to share their stories. 

A nitpick: the language is sometimes a bit awkward. Several times I had to stop and re-read a paragraph or two. I'm not sure if this is the author's syntax or the translator's. It does not detract from the power of the narrative. 

Mid-Year Goal Review

I had most of this post written, but stupidly lost it while attempting to delete something I had accidentally added. Ugh! It's even worse because I had planned to do a quarterly review. 

Here we go: 

Stop drinking from January 2 to Valentine's Day: done with no problems.

Stop drinking on weekdays: failed. Truthfully, I didn't expect to succeed here, but I'm drinking less, so that's a positive.

Read 40 books: By the end of June, I finished 16 books, so I'm behind schedule here. Yesterday I finished Book 17 (could be writing about that now, if I hadn't deleted an early version of this post.)

Go to the gym 150 times: Again, I'm behind schedule at the end of June with 64 visits. 

Write 200 blogposts: Way behind schedule with 68 posts. I can't afford any more blocks if I want to meet this goal.

Writing, editing, researching, blogging, journaling for two hours daily, creating 200 words of new material: What can I say--this was not only a failure, but a dismal failure. I had a special notebook to track how much time I spent and how many words I produced. I stopped tracking time in February--I guess I was too embarrassed to continue--and have recently started to recreate the number of words in May. I need to prioritize my writing STAT.

Spend two hours a week making some kind of art: Another fail. I don't have a crafting area, and that is hurting me. As I write this, it sounds like bullshit. Another area to prioritize. 

A Photo Post

When Dylan and Jack are in their yard, we stop to say hello as we pass by on a walk.

As usual, Jack barks and howls at Jace when we pass by his house. I like this photo; it looks like a rainbow is nearby. 

Here's a whimsical take on the usual legal warning.

Last month, I went to a session of Birds of Prey at the New Canaan Nature Center. Here's a shot of Derrick (head of animal care) with Jasper a barn owl.

I thought the sky over Maple Street looked beautiful on a recent walk.

Thoughts for a Thursday

It gets confusing when there are holidays mid-week. I have to keep asking myself what day it is. 

HHH. I don't think it's an official heat wave until three days of 90 degrees or more. It's only been two days of 90 degrees, but it's been bad for several more. Just for fun, we're also dealing with bad air quality--first because of Canadian forest fires, more recently because of ozone. 

I had planned to go to the gym on Monday but got wiped out by a walk with Jace. Tuesday, I took care of the birds at the New Canaan Nature Center and a few mammals as well. I had a small window to get to the gym (it closed at 1 for the holiday.) I don't remember if I forgot it or blew it off. Yesterday, I was too mad. Today was the day--it felt good to get back to the gym. 

Yesterday I realized, I'd be going by The Little Kitchen--one of our favorites--and decided to get take-out. That's an easy way to keep the kitchen from heating up. We ordered two entrees (chicken with crispy spinach and dry sauteed Szechuan beef) and an appetizer of sesame noodles. It's not particularly frugal, but we got dinner and lunch from the two entrees. We had the sesame noodle for dinner tonight; I also made an arugula salad.

At best, my food saving efforts are a wash. I used a can of opened beans, but tossed a bunch of green beans and spinach. And so it goes.

Watching the Detectives: Courtesy of TCM

Last Wednesday, TCM aired several movies about amateur detectives. I could have stayed in and happily watched all day (but didn't.) I watched parts of some, recorded others. 

Murder on the Bridle Path: This is one of the Hildegarde Withers series. Hildegarde is a schoolteacher who assists Police Inspector Oscar Piper. Helen Broderick played Hildegarde here. Edna May Oliver was the original Hildegarde; Zasu Pitts took over the role for the last two films. I liked Broderick; Oliver seems like more of the stereotypical schoolmarm. James Gleason plays the gruff police inspector to perfection in all six films.

Haunted Honeymoon: As far as I know, this is the only film adaptation of a Lord Peter Wimsey novel. My sister turned me on to the books--I don't remember the details of Busman's Honeymoon--I should reread it. Robert Montgomery as Lord Peter is the biggest problem for me. For starters, he's not British (and didn't bother to even try to appear British.) Plus I just don't like Montgomery. The movie spent too long on the romantic elements of the story instead of the mystery elements.

Murder at the Gallop: This is one of four Miss Marple movies starring Margaret Rutherford. While not as madcap as the Nancy Drew series, they are more lighthearted than the Agatha Christie originals. Like the Nancy Drew films, I could watch these over and over again. And I do. 

Eyes in the Night: I enjoy this movie (wrote about it here) and wish it had been the beginning of a series. Edward Arnold is great as the blind private detective as is his dog Friday.

Back in Circulation: Technically this film centers on a reporter who detects (Joan Blondell) and not a private detective--a kind of poor woman's Torchy Blane. The plot is absurd--all it takes is an anonymous letter to an out-of-town newspaper to stop a funeral and get an autopsy. But Blondell shines as the reporter who has second thoughts after her stories help get an innocent woman convicted of murder. Blondell is supported by Margaret Lindsay and John Litel. Pat O'Brien is the most obnoxious, unromantic romantic lead ever. Blondell's character deserved much better. 

There's a Bad Mood on the Rise

For about a month or so, I've been maintaining some kind of decent mood. But things have gotten too much: I'm disgusted by the right's attack on women's health. Then there's the attack on drag queens--if the right were really concerned about children, it would focus on the Catholic Church and the Boy Scouts.

Here in Norwalk, the Planning and Zoning Commission is trying to push through changes that most Norwalkers are against. In our condo, the elevator keeps getting stuck, and our upstairs neighbors seemingly think it's acceptable to allow their toddler to run amok after 10 PM above our bedroom. 

While we've escaped really hot weather, it has been humid. Forecasts of rain earlier this week did not pan out, except for a few showers here and there. We really need a long soaking rain. Smoke from Canadian forest fires have returned; luckily they aren't as bad as they were a few weeks ago. Then there are the Mets--they won today, but wins are few and far between. What a crappy season.

I've been feeling overwhelmed again. Somedays it seems all I do is walk Jace, go with Jeff to the doctor's, and cook. That may not be true, but feelings count. 

I can get through this. I have to. Maybe the four-leaf clover I found recently will help.