Monday

July 23, 2001

birthday redux

Forrest's birthday was over a week ago, but we are still celebrating. We bought a dinner at a Zach Scott (the theater, not the dead actor) fund raiser. It was at Saba Blue Water Cafe. We got to invite six friends. The Zach included Karen Kuykendall as a celebrity guest. Also, Dave Steakley and a couple of other hangers on.

It was a good place to hang. We had all these appetizers for days and wine. I love to (over)eat that way. Dumplings, empadas, rare tuna, crispy oysters, on and on. Very good food. I'd never been to the place and several other participants said the same. It is in the warehouse district, overlooking the patio at Cedar Street. We could see, but not hear Glover Gill playing the piano and some girl singing there.

We had conversations in so far as you can with so many people. We discussed having another salon like the one hosted by Andrew and Darla before and recounted in these pages.

I had a day at work that wasn't productive so the less said about it the better. I was on the receiving end of information and that's could but I couldn't seem to add value to the information. That is my job. Sort of.

I went to the parents' house for lunch. I was a little late and they were off to a doctor's appointment for Mom. So, I didn't visit with them but just ate the lunch they'd prepared, read a little of the paper, checked Mom's computer. It still seems strange that they live right here in Austin. But we are all getting accustomed to it. It's definitely a good thing.

I have been examining my working life a lot lately. That happens when you have come to the conclusion of one chapter and the opening of another. I'm not planning to retire for at least a year, maybe two. Maybe not then. But retirement, even at a traditional age is sufficiently close to be a real thing that I'm thinking about. And that has really changed a lot of my thinking. Oddly, it's made me more oriented to the long-term successes at work. Possibly because I don't feel so much pressure to succeed in the short term.

the revelers, more pictures later

The thing about it is this: every day. Did you ever see that movie Smoke where the Augie character takes a picture of his shop from across the street every day at the same time?