Rosemary's Baby: The Villain of the Piece

Over the weekend, when I was sick, I watched Columbo reruns. In one episode, John Cassavetes plays a conductor who murders his pianist lover when she threatens to reveal their affair to his wife. 

Watching Cassavetes reminded me of his role in Rosemary's Baby. This is a summary of the plot (it's not completely accurate in all the details, but it has the main points.)

Here's my run-down of the villains in that film. 

Satan rapes Rosemary to impregnate with his child. Hey, Satan is evil. What can we expect?

Minnie and Roman Castevet are neighbors who befriend Rosemary and her husband Guy to manipulate her into giving birth to Satan's child. This is an evil thing to do, but they are in a Satanic coven--they think this is the right thing to do.

Dr. Abraham Sapirstein is Rosemary's obstetrician, but also a member of the coven. He and the other coven members believe they are doing the right thing.

Then there's Guy--Rosemary's husband. Guy--a frustrated actor--is the one who has a duty to Rosemary. But Guy is only looking after himself. Roman Castevet sets him up during their first dinner together. Roman tells Guy that he's a good actor but needs a break. I'm not sure exactly when Roman fills Guy in on the coven's plan, but Guy agrees pretty quickly. Soon, Guy gets a part because the original actor chosen has suddenly gone blind. 

In Rosemary's final scene with Guy, he says something to the effect that the coven promised him that Rosemary wouldn't be hurt, and she wasn't really, and they got so much in return. How can he say that with a straight face? Rosemary has been raped, she's been isolated and gaslighted, her friend has been killed, she experienced intense pain for months that her doctor has minimized, and now her baby has been handed over to Satanists.

Rosemary spits in his face. 

A Week That Went to Hell

The week started off well. Jace and I both had good checkups at the doctors. On Tuesday, I did two of my major weekly chores: food shopping and laundry. Jeff and I returned to the gym on Wednesday and had good workouts. I also took Jace for a hike on the western part of the Norwalk River Valley Trail--the first time for Jace. He loved it. Two people told me he looked happy. Another said he was impossibly cute. 

Thursday night I started sneezing and coughing. My throat hurt and I was chilled. I've been sick ever since. I feel better today, but am still spending most of the day in bed. Jace has been very attentive. Cynthia has been a big help, lending me a thermometer, walking Jace in the afternoons, and buying tissues and throat lozenges for me. I've tested negative for Covid twice, so I think this is a bad case of the flu.

Jeff's birthday is tomorrow. I don't think I'll be up to going out. I'll make it up to him.

Book 24: Manhattan Noir Edited by Lawrence Block

Overall I was disappointed in this book. Of its fifteen stories, I only liked four of them. I remember liking Boston Noir, but it doesn't appear I was crazy about that selection either. There are several other noir short stories collections. Maybe I'll have better luck with some of them.

National Cheeseburger Day

I heard the story on WCBS radio this morning as I returned from the doctor's office. Later as I wondered what to have for dinner and saw a half pound of bison meat in the freezer, my decision was made. Our veggie selection was limited. I had carrots, sundried tomatoes, and a small amount of romaine, and salvaged about half an avocado. 

I also roasted slices of summer squash with olive oil, sriracha panko, parmesan, and garlic. It's only the second time I cooked summer squash, and I'm pleased with the results.

I need to go food shopping tomorrow. 

Congratulations Bartolo!

Bartolo Colon officially retired from baseball yesterday...as a New York Met. Here is my favorite Bartolo moment.

We recorded the pre-game show and the game itself but we're disappointed in the limited coverage of Bartolo's retirement. He deserved more. 

35

Jeff and I got married 35 years ago today. 

My mother said I had wasted too much time on two old boyfriends and would probably never get married. A random co-worker said, "Aren't you kind of old to be getting married?" 

Whatever. Here we are. Happy anniversary and half-way day.

Thoughts for a Thursday

It hasn't been the greatest week. I strained a muscle in my right arm lifting Jace into the car on Monday. Jeff had a few days of more than usual pain and one night he couldn't sleep. On the plus side, we made it to the gym today, and we both had good workouts. Jace is over his "stomach problems" this week. Yesterday's rain washed out the humidity. I actually drank hot coffee this morning.

The Mets have won three games in a row against the Arizona Diamondbacks after ex-Met Tommy Pham spoiled the opener (for the Mets, that is) with a pivotal home run. It's fun watching the baby Mets on the big stage as well as seeing the more established players do well. Unlike Keith Hernandez, I'm not looking for the Mets to figure in the wild card race. I'll be happy if they make it to the .500 mark.

Hurricane Lee is heading up the Atlantic coast bringing windy conditions to us in Connecticut. I'm glad we decided not to go up to Massachusetts even though we weren't going near the coast. 

Hoping things go well onto our wedding anniversary on Sunday.

Book 23: One for the Money by Janet Evanovich

This is the first of the Stephanie Plum, bounty hunter series. The 30th novel will be published in October. I read this book in two days, so obviously I enjoyed it. It reminded me a bit of Sue Grafton's Kinsey Milhone, but Kinsey was much more professional. 

Stephanie is naive and kind of dumb in her dealings with nefarious criminals though she does succeed in the end. I expect she'll become more proficient with each book. She did become a crack shot in the first. I didn't like her dysfunctional relationship with her quarry Joe Morelli. Apparently, it will continue through more books. 

Stephanie lives in Trenton, New Jersey. As someone who lived in South Jersey for my first 20 years, I was annoyed by what I feel were anti-Jersey comments. But since Evanovich grew up in South River, New Jersey, I guess I can let it go. 

I'll look for more of the books, and I'm intrigued to see the film of the first book on Prime.

Book 22: bird by bird Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott

bird by bird came out in 1994. I remember reading and/or hearing about how good it was. I didn't buy it then because I already had several writing books. What can I say? That was a mistake.

This book is funny. I love when Lamott talks about her writing students who want to know if they need agents before they've managed to write anything. "They kind of want to write, but they really want to be published." 

She quotes the old Vikki Carr song, "It Must be Him"as she waits to hear from her agent or editor after submitting her manuscript. 

Here's a line that I copied in my journal, "Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor." 

There were so many other great lines and insights. 

I want to re-read the book with a highlighter. 

Hawk Sighting

For the last few days, I've been walking Jace from Mathews to Oyster Shell Park in the mornings. I was psyched to see a hawk the other day. This isn't the best picture, but I think it could be a red shouldered hawk.

This is Tupelo, the red shouldered hawk at NCNC.that I help care for.

Here's a bird at Oyster Shell Park that people at the Carolina Raptor Center identified as a red shouldered hawk .

This season, I've only seen a few seabirds at Oyster Shell. I had wondered where the hawks were. I was happy to see one.

Longing for Fall

It's the day after Labor Day. Most of the kids are back in school. Summer is unofficially over. 

But damn, it doesn't feel like it. We are in the middle of a six-day "heat wave" (in quotes because I don't think it's officially official, but I'm going on how hot it feels.)

Just under two weeks ago, I was happy to feel a touch of fall. I'm waiting for more. 

Here's another thought. 

More on I Capture the Castle

As I wrote the other day, I have several copies of I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith. First, it's my favorite book. This post explains what the book means to me. 

When it was out of print, I scoured antique shops and tag sales and bought a few copies when I saw them. 

The book is now back in print. I bought two more copies recently, anyway.

I'm safe in saying it's the only book of which I have multiple copies. (Is that grammatically correct? How awkward.)

I googled I Capture the Castle and found people who share my feelings about the book. I'm apparently a member of a cult. My second cult, it seems.

Welcome September

I couldn't wait for July to end. But August wasn't memorable (but at least it wasn't so hot.) 

I always welcome September--it's my favorite month and autumn my favorite season. Our anniversary is in two weeks and Jeff's birthday follows that. 

Welcome September.

Another Library Book Sale

Cynthia and I went to the Mark Twain Library book sale in Redding today. It was a beautiful day for a drive. The sale started Friday, and already we could see blank spaces where books had been. I bought eight books.

1. Anne Boleyn by Eric Ives. I've been looking for this book at book sales for  years. I borrowed it from the library and read it in 2021. I was psyched to find it today. This alone would have make the trip worthwhile. 

2. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith. Why not get another copy? I have four now, plus the one I'm cutting up for my art journal.

3. One for the Money by Janet Evanovich. I've heard good things about the Stephanie Plum novels. I like to start series with the first book and finally saw the first today.

4. Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel. I read the previous book, Wolf Hall. I wasn't crazy about it, but wanted to finish Anne Boleyn's story.

5. The Sisters The Saga of the Mitford Family by Mary S. Lovell I vaguely remember reading something--maybe a book review--about the sisters. Decided to find out more. 

6. The Woman Who Ran for President The Many Lives of Victoria Woodhull by Lois Beachy Underhill Woodhull is a fascinating woman from the first wave of feminism. I'm intrigued to learn more about her. 

7. Railroads Across America A Celebration of 150 Years of Railroading by Michael J. DelVecchio There were several books on railroads. I selected this one for industry background.

8. Reel Art Great Posters from The Golden Age of the Silver Screen by Stephen Rebello and Richard Allen This is a gorgeous book of movie posters. I looked up Bette Davis in the index and saw three of her movie posters. That was enough for me. 

I'm really pleased with my selections today, especially Eric Ives' book.