easy Sunday

AUSTIN, Texas, May 30, 2004 —Our only obligation today is to go to a leg of lamb dinner prepared by Dad's friend who hails from Iceland. (Where lamb is a favored food, right behind fish.)

So I spend the day...getting a reasonable workout and reading the papers and fretting over packing and watching some tube.

The dinner is good and we are home early. The trip seems very close now. When I actually put the stuff in the suitcases, it will seem even closer.

some stuff out to pack

preparations

AUSTIN, Texas, May 29, 2004 —I get up around eight, a little bleary-eyed. I make the bed and get dressed and get coffee and mess around on the computer. My dad calls and says that the kids are off. Pretty early, too, about eight. And he hasn't found anything left behind.

We go to the gym in separate cars and after we get back we each find something to eat, get showers, at our own pace. (Yes, it looks like we could avoid going in separate cars. At least we don't drive two SUVs there.) I start organizing my packing a little more intensely. I advise FFP on a few more things to pack and get him to get them together. I sort things that will go into the checked bag and into various carry-ons. Then I spend some time reviewing maps and guidebooks. In between I catch a little of the French Open action.

The guest room turns into a staging area for all the trip stuff. I get a phone call from the organizer of the Normandy leg and overall coordinator of what I like to describe as 'Where in the World is LG?' Will all the parties move across the globe and arrive at a crossroads in the Calvados area or a little inn in a little town in the Alsace?

We go to see Zach Scott's production of Cabaret. It is really good and I realize that I need to see the movie again, listen to some renditions of the music on Rhapsody. The underlying rise of the Nazi threat is made quite chilling in this piece. So much so that the audience falls silent a couple of times, briefly unable to applaud.

We don't stay for bubbly and food but go home where I read the paper and watch a movie on cable that I always wanted to see for the set dressing: Down With Love. I thought it would have this ultimate 60's set dressing because of reviews I read but it really didn't. It spoofed that era of movie quite well...but the Doris Day/Rock Hudson comedies and such do a better job of spoofing themselves. I'd never watch this one again: rather I'd watch Pillow Talk or whatever.

I finish the day's papers. And sleep.

Mom is a good place to sleep

what you need

AUSTIN, Texas, May 28, 2004 —The kids go home tomorrow. That means some attention must be made to packing and such. Not everyone feels perfect either. Both Dad and Lisa seem to be ailing.

I go for my workout and take care of a few things around the house and on the computer. I'm in the countdown for my own trip. In fact, when you read this, my vacation will be over. I have temporarily shut down posting although I am still writing entries.

I feel great myself. I drive out to Dad's, stopping at The Kitchen Door to buy something to eat. I buy a pint of chopped salad and a pint of pasta salad. And some delicious packaged cheese straws. At Dad's I eat a little of the salads. Quite indifferent, they are. So much so that I doubt I'll ever stop at that deli again. It used to be a favorite, years and years ago.

I read and help my niece decide the fate of a few things that were my mother's. Some they will take home for themselves, some they will take to their mother. We even find a few things to add to the toy box and the kids play happily with some 'new treasures.' We are all a little stir crazy. Dad went to his games day but he dosen't feel well and naps in his chair and then in his bedroom. The kids fall asleep on their Mom's lap.

Finally we gather up and sans Dad take the kids to Antonio's. It hits the spot. My niece says that it was exactly what she was craving. That first taste of beer and chip and salsa is good. My niece has some margaritas and it improves her mood. The crispy taco is nice. I like the spicy chipotle sauce. My niece likes the verde. The kids even eat some of their fish sticks and fries and color on the kids' menu before melting down.

Back at Dad's baths are administered and play continues. Before the bedding, I take my leave.

At home, FFP and I watch DVD and read. Once, getting up to go for water, I stub my little toe on the iron coat rack. It doesn't hurt so much as ache and feel a little numb. Weird. One wants to avoid such accidents as a trip approaches.

I go to bed, hoping the toe is 'normal' (I have strange toes as it is) when I wake up.

ice cream at Amy's

opting out

AUSTIN, Texas, May 27, 2004 —Boy! Kids are exhausting. My dad opts out today. I get up at a reasonable hour but not as early as I would have liked. I do a good cardio workout and shower and dress by nine-thirty. Report from Dad has one of the little ones still sleeping. Building that energy!

I tell them to just come over to my house when they get rolling.

They finally arrive noon-ish. They are Dad-less. He's opted out. We do playing in the yard, playing with the dog, watching Toy Story II. Again. We eat snacks. Finally we go off to eat ice cream at Amy's and then play on the playscape at Ramsey park. Not as crazy as Central Market but, then again, you can't stand there drinking a glass of wine watching the kids play like we saw one mother doing the other day.

We take the kids back to the house for drinks and cartoons and then it's time for them to go to Dad's and get bed-ready. I send some DVDs home and agree to come over later and watch an adult movie with the nieces after the kids are in bed. I mean, you know, adult as in not for kids. Like Whale Rider or Amelie or Chocolat. Although the first one might be OK for older kids.

Boy, kids are exhausting. To themselves and others.

Jack takes Jeffy's picture with Aunt Lisa's Digital Camera

small adventures

AUSTIN, Texas, May 26, 2004 —We try to construct adventures that are too large for kids, I think. Disneyland. Eighty-seven videos and games, all the toys. But they are happy with a grassy hill or something to climb on or the simple surprise of what's around the corner. Sure they want it all, but isn't there plenty of time for that?

Today I called and told my relatives I had a plan. We'd try to shop for some sandals for the little boy, get some picnic stuff and have a picnic near the Arboretum. I went over after I'd done my workout and showered and picked up a leg of lamb at Cooper's Meat Market that my dad wanted his friend to cook. At Dad's, we got everybody ready. The little boys thought Old Navy was an adventure, Jack pushing Jeffy through the store and admiring the balls and toys and piggy banks. At Whole Foods we gathered sweet potato chips, popcorn, salad selections, cookies, tofu dip and whatever people wanted and went to the Arboretum. The cow sculptures entertained the kids. Climbing on the prone one, being boosted up on the standing ones, sliding down. The grass hill entertained as did the birds flying about. The boys and their mom and I walked down to the little manmade lake and saw ducks. Jeffy, the baby, thought the fountains spouting in the lake were whales. Yeah, it did look like spouts he must have seen in books and movies.

We went back to the house and wrestled with the kids for quiet time. Jack watched videos. Jen went to the grocery store. I went out to run an errand and bought the kids the Brother Bear DVD and a song book. Then I had to return Brother Bear and get another because one disc didn't play right and had what looked like a toxic spill on the playing surface. I hate returning stuff. Fortunately they had another to exchange and it wasn't far away. I read the little one some of his books.

My dad went to church to an event and to transfer the leg of lamb in a cooler to his friend. I'll get to sample it on Sunday.

Finally the kids got out of the house for some air and even spotted some deer. The small thrills of life. I went home to some TV and reading.

Cow Climbing

how do they learn it?

AUSTIN, Texas, May 25, 2004 —Kids take these long sleeps and occasional naps and then they stay in a whirl of activity, mentally and physically. It's fascinating but exhausting.

I start my day by getting up and getting coffee and working on a few little organizational things. Then I was off to play tennis. My opponent was late, dealing with her little kids. She dispatched me and the score, 6-1, 6-3, seemed one-sided but I was out there long enough to get a little sweaty and tired. About 10:30 I called my Dad and we agreed to meet at the club. I sat by the pool, reading, and waited. I watched the chaos of recreational swim. When the folks arrived, the kids tried their hand at basketball and running around then did the wading pool. Then they ate and then did the wading pool again.

We decided to bail and go to my house. SuRu met us there. The kids drug out toys and Crayons, played with the dog, we tried to get Jeffy to nap. Finally decided to go to Central Market. Jeffy fell asleep on the way so we moved into the A.C. from the playground and ordered food. The kids revived, ate and we let them dash around the playscape like little deverishes. It took two of us to keep up. We took desserts home and split them up for tastes, played some more.

Finally, it was bed time for the boys and they all went off to Dad's. SuRu stayed and watched our documentary with us. Then she was off and we went to bed.

Jeff supervises Dad's neighbor's dog getting a drink.

mostly the kids

AUSTIN, Texas, May 24, 2004 —I got up early in spite of watching TV until late. I was at the club early enough to do thirty minutes on the treadmill and some ab work, take a shower and get ready for water aerobics and then read a little while before the 8:30 class. Dad came, too, leaving the kids sleeping.

I told him to get them rounded up and we would go to Central Market and let the kids play on the playscape and eat. I showered the chlorine off and went home. I got a few things accomplished like preparing a one page itinerary for our trip this summer. Then the kids arrived. After a visit to the yard, dog and toy box here we went to Central Market. The kids went mad for the playscape, running, climbing, falling, getting scraped knees, all the fun stuff. We ordered various food and tried to get the kids to eat and keep the grackles and flies off the food. After a lot of play and each of us younger folks taking a turn watching the kids climb and slide and dangle, Dad piled the kids back up and they were off for nap time.

This gave me a chance to go home and work on my journal and packing and reading and writing. The usual. When my relatives' visit is over and I have gone on this trip...then I wonder what will occupy me? Actually I know, but I'll let you, the reader, wonder. At least I think I know. Do we ever?

My dad calls and says he's ready to take the gang to my friends' house. We foist ourselves on them, all multi-generational of us and we end up having a rousing time of playing with the kids, eating, drinking, swimming (well I was the only ones except my little great nephew rode me like a boat on the float and the kids played in the hot tub).

We come home a little before ten, full and I feel happy that we entertained the kids all day.

Dad does the 'pull back' jets on the floor with his great grandson...and he got back up, too.

taking a day off

AUSTIN, Texas, May 23, 2004 —My calendar says 'kids visit.' Actually I don't know whether my nieces and great nephews even arrived last night or whether they spent another night on the road. So, I get up, make the bed, have coffee, try to control my newly-barbered hair which I washed last night and which is sticking out at odd, unintentional angles. I work on an obituary writing project, drift into reading The New York Times magazine, make a birthday card from my niece Jenny, put away dished, eat breakfast. Finally I call my dad's house. No one answers. Maybe they arrived and he took the whole lot of them to church. I'll wait to hear from them and, in the interim, relax.

So finally I get the call and am instructed to get barbeque and bring it for lunch. I do as I'm told. I hang with the kids. I'll be doing a lot of that. So this site may 'go dark.'

We have dinner poolside at Westwood. Then FFP and I go home to read and watch TV leaving my dad to wrestle the kids and go home.

Dad and his granddaughter and great-grandson, a few years ago

writing Austin's Lives

AUSTIN, Texas, May 22, 2004 —So. The deal is that we have agreed to take the in-laws to a reading and book release for the Writing Austin's Lives project. They've collected hundreds (about eight hundred, I think) stories from Austinites and are publishing 127 of them in a book. Several people will read their contributions.

So, I need to get a haircut. After making the bed and showering and having some coffee I go camp out in the parking lot by the barber shop, reserving my place as first in line. So I get a haircut before we have to pick them up. I take pictures, we listen to the readings, we get a free copy of the book for Forrest's dad who had his piece published. It's a production to take them somewhere...steps and getting in and out of the car are not easy. We manage though.

FFP's Mom wants to feed us lunch so we help her fix it and eat. Then we go home and work on this and that and try to let the food settle so we can work out.

Finally get off to the gym in the late afternoon and then it's home to work on various projects. FFP has strained his shoulder working out. Oops. Ice? Heat? We decide ice. Then heat. And a bit of coddling, me getting up and getting his coffee or something.

We watch some tube and read.

inlaws take in the Writing Austin Lives Event

logistics

AUSTIN, Texas, May 21, 2004 —It's all about planning, isn't it? I did a lot of that today.

After the usual make the bed, tidy up, coffee, I took the dog to the groomer. I'll be busy with my company next week and she needed a bath and dip. After my workout (leisurely) I ate leftovers and coordinated information about different aspects of my visitors and our trip later this summer.

There are all these little things to worry about getting ready for a trip...phone numbers and confirmation numbers and what to pack and such. I manage to mess with that stuff all afternoon mostly. Then I take a showere and FFP and I go out. Around the time of our anniversary it is always graduation here.

"You will see lots of multi-generationals," says FFP as we sit at the banquette at Zoot.

And we do. Lots of people who don't dine out that often and who have brought small children. We escape before it gets too crazy. We try to go to Roy's to hear Kevin finish his set. When we see the crowds and the chaos at valet parking, we think better of it and go home and read and watch part of a DVD and some CSI. So many of my days end trying to catch up on the papers and the day's horrific news.

WWII poster

my fantastic life

AUSTIN, Texas, May 20, 2004 —It's really a good life, isn't it? It starts with me getting out of my bed whenever I please. And by the way, I've gotten very used to this new bed and it treats me very well. It don't wake up with hip pain and have to get up and walk around to stop it anymore. So I could sleep in although I rarely even think about staying in bed past eight. Today is not exception. I'm up earlier than that.

Then I fool around as I please over my coffee, talking to friends on the phone, doing e-mail, organizing my journal, planning my day.

When I'm ready I go to the gym. I have all the time I need to do my exercise. It isn't that much fun but I like reading on the recumbent bike and the treadmill. I chat with other people who apparently don't need to be at work either in the middle of a Thursday.

At home, I fool around with my writing and such some more. (Yeah, I do write stuff just not stuff that counts.) I read a little stuff about Paris. I shower, taking my time over that, too.

Then I go to a late lunch with someone else who doesn't have a real job.

On the way back from the restaurant I call SuRu who is currently not working either and who is in town. I call her mobile and she comes over. She helps me pull stuff out of a closet and dispose of a couple of things and sort out some toys the kids who visit can play with.

Then I should do something else but we sit down and watch a DVD and have a beverage and then watch some cable and read stuff and chat. I talk to my mother-in-law on the phone about the weekend and such.

FFP leaves for his board meeting and SuRu leaves to go visit some other friends. I continue snacking, reading and watching TV until time to go out.

FFP and I meet and see a John Waters monologue. We have tix to the after party but it doesn't appeal. We go home, cook up some food and relax. I finish a DVD and we read. Sleep beckons.

playset depicting the D-Day landings of WWII

meetings

AUSTIN, Texas, May 19, 2004 —I'm supposed to go to meetings. So, I should know stuff about the topics. And, of course, I have to get to them on time. I am up at seven. I get a nice e-mail from an old friend. Only he has to tell me that his dad passed away. Illness and death of parents is a constant cloud over people our age. Anyway, I do a few e-mails and such and update my journal a little and then I'm off to the club. I get creamed at tennis. Waxed. But. We play so many deuces that it's almost exercise. I go to the gym and fool around and take a shower and drink a smoothie and read my book and then we have the meeting and I order food. I'm not sure I contribute much.

Then I go home and try to think about the other things on my list of things to do. I start a little writing project. The only thing I'm worried about with this project is the amount of human interaction required.

We have to go to our evening meeting early because we have to stop at the bank and because we are sure that downtown will be a disaster, traffic-wise. But we are so early that we go to the Thistle Bar and have a non-alcoholic drink and talk before our 5:15 meeting. The meeting isn't bad, really, although it fueled today's essay.

We go home and we both find something to eat...FFP soup and me a baked potato.

I read papers and watch some TV. Law and Order has Lenny retire but I think it's just to go to another show?? Talk about a franchise!

I stay up too late reading and then have a bit of trouble falling asleep although, in my chair, my eyelids were droopy.

art car detail

it started off well enough

AUSTIN, Texas, May 18, 2004 —The day didn't start badly. We had an appointment with the gal that will house sit this summer. So I did things on the computer while I waited for her. Updating other people's WEB sites, downloading and optimizing pictures for Forrest's column, updating my own WEB site. I continued this computer goofing for a while after the gal was gone. I finally went to the gym. I just didn't feel like doing weights...figured my elbow would fare better if I didn't. But I spent over an hour in the gym doing the bike and some mat stuff.

When I got home I was hungry and I pulled various things out and snacked on them, reading the paper. It was late for lunch. Then the maid showed up. I retreated to my office and once again did stuff on the computer. Time slipped away and it was time to go to a little end of the ballet season party. Which was OK except I guess FFP and I were just feeling cranky. And we didn't even drink. We left early and came home and watched some tube and snacked and then I decided to put some of my e-mail addresses into WEB mail so I would have them in an Internet cafe.

And that was about it. Somewhere in there I washed a few clothes and tidied up a few things around the house.

airport vision

goofing off

AUSTIN, Texas, May 17, 2004 —I am up in time to make water aerobics on time but I am still a couple of minutes late. At first I don't see Dad (my reason for coming) and I get a little panic but then I see he's there. I clean up after the class and go play tennis. The elbow hurts. I lose the first set, 6-4. Then somehow I win the second 7-5. The reason is the opponent has a really sore tennis elbow. She retires. So I get a reprieve. Still we were out there a while.

SuRu has called. She's in town doing some errands. When I get home, she calls again and she says she will come over. I shower up and we go to Upper Crust. Then I show her some things on Dreamweaver and Fireworks and we decide to go to the bookstore and check out books on same. We also look at some magazines. We don't buy anything.

Back home, FFP wants me to burn a CD off Rhapsody which I do after some consternation about the length and such.

I didn't think we had anything to do tonight, but FFP says friends called and invited us to dinner. So we take some wine over there. We get home around nine o'clock and I fall asleep without getting the newspapers read. Sigh.

reflection

ailments

AUSTIN, Texas, May 16, 2004 —I am up early enough. Even though I probably didn't get to sleep until after one. I'm up by seven. I make the bed, get dressed for tennis, have coffee. I arrive to play tennis at 8. The pro shop isn't open so my singles ladder opponent and I just choose a court. Some guys come to play next door. The gal is quick and consistent. I manage to win a set. From the outset it is clear that my tennis elbow has not gone away. I thought I'd rested it enough. I guess it will be really sore if I play two more times this week. Ah, well. I think people are wimpy when they complain of injuries. And tennis elbow won't kill you. I don't want to give it up. My score is 1-6, 6-3, 1-6

I go to the gym to see FFP and then do a few situps. I go home and I cook some chicken. Then we get out in the yard a bit. Because of the sore elbow I decide not to chop bamboo. Always an excuse. FFP checks around for fire ants in need of killing and poison ivy in need of spraying and I pull a few weeds out of the path.

I fold some clothes and start watching a DVD and reading papers. My dad calls. He says he feels something weird in his chest and his blood pressure is too high and he is going to go to the emergency room. I offer to come drive him. But he says he will drive. It's only a couple of miles. I go take a shower and go out there.

He seems to be doing fine. The blood pressure is down. We spend a boring hour or two, waiting. They do a chest xray. We listen to the alarm go off on the monitor, probably because one lead isn't working and listen to the nurses conduct an interminable discussion of shifts and procedures. The doctor comes by and says Dad is healthier than he is, that the blood work didn't show anything nor the xray (except the mass in the thorax that is the small animal sized goiter, of course). So he gets to go home. He helps rip off all these sensor things.

"Let's get out of here before they change their minds," he says.

I think, knowing that nothing is probably wrong, he will go home and take a nap.

Just the threat of spending time in the hospital with someone has caused a knot in the pit of my stomach. Yikes. I spent many weeks in that hospital with my mother. I was an expert on that place before we escaped to another, equally disturbing, place.

My elbow hurts. I don't understand my dad's blood pressure fluctuations or what he felt in his chest. But I'm happy to ignore these things if I can stay away from doctors and hospitals.

We have a picnic to celebrate the end of the ballet season this afternoon. As luck would have it, this episode is over in time to go to that. I drove out there and sat in the emergency room with dread. It's not often you get dismissed from such a situation. And my dad is no complainer. Sometimes now I wonder if he has too much time alone to take his blood pressure. But the fact that his blood pressure bounces around and that he and the doctor have trouble finding the right combo of drugs does worry me. The only thing they did in the emergency room besides run tests, I think, is give him an aspirin.

The picnic is nice except you have to move around and escape a sun that is becoming almost summer-like. The shade is still pleasant, though, so it isn't summer yet. My arm hurts and I am having occasional shooting sciatica like pains in my hip. And I said that I was in such good shape that I could play long tennis matches, no problem. (And in spite of the short-sounding sets, this was a long tennis match with a bunch of deuces. I was playing for two hours.)

We bid adieu to the ballet dancers and our hosts around seven and go home. I am a little wimp. I gather up the papers, a Netflix DVD and settle into the red chair in the bedroom. FFP makes me coffee and heats this buckwheat-filled pillow for me to cradle my elbow in. We watch DVD and TV and I finish all the weekend papers except The New York Times magazine. And I sleep.

Capitol View

what I should be doing

AUSTIN, Texas, May 15, 2004 —There are the things you do and the things you should do.

I got an earlier enough start. And that was good because I did a long workout at the gym. Handmade signs in the neighborhood had cropped up overnight. Vote today, they said.

I should vote, I thought. But first we had a luncheon engagement. My dad was at the house when I got back. I had some coffee with him. Finally had to shower to get ready for the lunch. The guest of honor didn't show up so we visited with the other folks and lingered over multiple courses and that was nice.

The day started out sunny and cool. It turned sunny and hot. I thought I should get out an chop the bamboo encrouching from the neighbor's untended back yard when I got back from lunch. But messing around with the computer, reading papers and watching a DVD won out.

But we did stop off and vote on the way home from lunch.

Spent the afternoon in the pursuit or reading and watching a DVD. Snacked when the stuffed and soporific effect of a dish of cherry cobbler had worn off. Then dressed to go out and hear Cabaret.

"What are you wearing?" I asked.

"Cowboy," said himself.

"Guess that leaves me Indian." I said. Which means nothing except that he doesn't like us to look like 'twins.'

"I'm wearnig a jacket that you don't even have one like," he said confidently.

My blue blazer is about fifteen years old, I think. One of the last I bought off the rack. Guess it's served me well.

Our friend Gayle came. We stepped out. Found a parking place downtown on the street and went to the State Theater. The whole show was set up on the stage...including most of the audience. Jason Graae was funny and entertaining and also has a great voice. We retired afterward to the Four Seasons, positioned ourselves in a corner and watched the madness while Rebecca entertained. Kevin sat in as did Jason's musical director on piano. Late comes quickly. It's tomorrow. I have promised to play tennis at eight o'clock. Home and to bed.

future menu item...East Side Cafe

favors

AUSTIN, Texas, May 14, 2004 —It was my day to do favors. Take food for Dad's games day at church. Ferry SuRu around while her car got fixed. And help her install a trial of Dreamweaver and Fireworks. A newer version of software I use. I even did a tiny proofreading job for FFP. And I updated one of the WEB sites I do for free for a singer friend. (My work is well worth the price paid.)

I managed to get up earlier than usual but still didn't have the time to get in much exercise before it was time to shower, collect SuRu and deliver the stuff to the church. Then we drove out to Hudson's Bend Road where she lives and I arm-wrestled with the software to get it to upload to her site. In spite of the fact that I'd tested it at my house with the older software. In the end, I got it to work and I thought I knew what had tipped the balance but I wasn't real sure. Of course, they moved stuff around and renamed things and some of this was goodness but some wasn't. And, of course, I don't understand everything about the products even in the version that I use. I don't even understand part of the stuff I know if you know what I mean! After a few lessons we headed back to town so that I could do a few of my own things. I finished up my journal and tested the CF cards I got in the mail. (More memory for the trip this summer.)

After taking SuRu to get her car, I messed around looking through travel stuff until time to get ready to go to Ballet Austin's Cinderella. We went early. We'd gotten dispensation to park on the plaza and it was a good thing because there was a track meet and parking was insane. They held the curtain for ten minutes to get everyone parked and all the little girls with tiaras in place. The ballet was sensational. We spent the wait times and the intermission talking to some dear friends we brought who don't usually go to the ballet these days. After we caught up with some more people Forrest had gotten tickets for and took them backstage for a drink and snack and to meet people. Backstage we talked to friends and dancers and the artistic director and some of the staff. We kept trying to get away but, in the end, we were some of the last ones to leave.

At home, I look at the papers a bit and scan Annie Hall trying to remember what part Shelley Duvall played. (Don't ask.)

And so to bed.

new and old guides to places I have and haven't been

between the drops

AUSTIN, Texas, May 13, 2004 —Seems like we are living life between the rain drops these days. Which is not unusal for May but it's been going on since before May started. Which isn't too great when I'm trying to plan outdoor activities. I've been trying to schedule tennis matches for a little singles ladder. I had a five mile walk scheduled for this morning. But, rain.

I went to the club eventually when FFP was back and got a short workout. I was trying to hang around and catch FedEx which I thought would deliver Euros for me. So I was trying to get back when FFP would leave. There were my Euros when I got back. I got them way early figuring something we call in financial markets the P-B effect would send the dollar up so our friends could exchange at more favorable rates. Leaving a hundred Euros in the safe since my last trip to Europe (2002) doesn't seem so stupid now either.

Anyway, Dad is here when I get back and I tell him that I'll shower and we will have lunch before we go to the doctor. I do. We go to NeWorlDeli and eat. Then we wander Half Price but leave ourselves to get lost finding the east garage of St. David's pavillion/plaza/place something. We find the doctor (it is our third visit). We get to see him pretty shortly and...he says Dad's goiter is not growing according to the lab reports. The films, in spite of my efforts, haven't been sent but a report has and the doc says he can look at them on the computer. So, we feel great. The gate is even open on the parking garage so we don't have to pay four bucks.

Dad goes home, elated. I fool around and go to Central Market. Someone in a old Grand Marquee or some such Detroit iron has run into the median and a pole at the main entrance. I stop in BookStop, then go to Central Market for a few things.

Both on the way to lunch and after my grocery shopping, people were trying to run stop signs and pull into me from the chicken lane (a frequent fixture on Austin streets). In one case, the same person tried to run a stop sign and then pulled into a chicken lane to pass me and back just as I tried to pull into it to turn...it's intended purpose. Just one of those days. No crunch, no foul but I was watchful.

At home, I worked on some of my little WEB dabblings for other people and read some and snacked and then we went to a benefit for Out Youth Austin. Nancy Scott and the Therapy Sisters were playing. To avoid IH35, we took a turn through east Austin and across Longhorn Dam to this new Ventana del Soul Coffee Shop and Cultural Center. These gals are so funny. Nancy had even written a new song ("Dogs and Strangers"). The Therapy Sisters are always writing new stuff.

At home, I made deviled eggs, pimento cheese sandwiches and chopped up vegies for snacks for Dad and his old folks at church. He will add fruit and sweets.

I watched part of Fog of War which FFP had on the DVD player, finished up the papers and climbed into bed. To dream some weird dreams.

Austin's changing skyline

I can't get started with me

AUSTIN, Texas, May 12, 2004 —The day has its shape. I have water aerobics, a tennis match, a business meeting (yeah, I sometimes work on FFP's accounts) and a dinner with a friend. The tennis gets cancelled although I think we could have squeeged and done it.

I have all these things that I need to do. Some of them I seem to be afraid to start on. Afraid that I should be doing something else perhaps? Or that I won't have time to do it justice in the time I have before I'm supposed to do something else.

In the end, though, I make some 'progress.' I study some maps. I review all the schedules and confirm numbers for cars and hotels and get them organized in one place. I always dreamed of having time to spread the maps out and study them instead of waiting until I was there, on the map. Never had time before.

Before we go out for the evening's social event, we start watching The Swimmer on a Netflix DVD.

We go out to Zoot, getting there early. We open a 1992 BV Cab but it isn't that good. It isn't completely gone but it seems to have lost its bottom, its fruit base, its underpinning. We cork it up for taking home and wait for our guest. The restaurant sends a complimentary Kir Royale. We let our guest taste the BV and order something better from the list. We have a nice meal, talking about our friend (a songwriter) and her project (a musical the theme of which is secret becaus it is one of those 'why hasn't someone done this?' deals). Her project sounds great. All her friends have cool projects, too. Sigh.

I enjoy the meal and the service at Zoot. It is truly a wonderful restaurant. We are thinking of it for an anniversary celebration but our anniversary comes at a bad time...coinciding with proms and graduation celebrations.

At home, we finish watching our DVD and I read the papers and watch some more TV while glancing through a Normandy guide book...should we try to see the Bayeux tapestries before the other folks show up in Normandy?

abstract reflection

no appointments

AUSTIN, Texas, May 11, 2004 —When you have a day like this one, you owe it to yourself to get something done. Nothing on the calendar. No class or tennis date. No social occasion or business appointment. No plan to meet anyone at any time. Of course, frequent rainshowers can slow you down.

It is the day to change the sheets, I decide. The day to get a workout, make a trip to Sam's, make more progress on trip planning and sorting and cleaning. As soon as I get up, I take the sheets off our bed and put clean ones on and start them in the laundry. I work a bit on the computer. I make a little mental plan. I'll get a workout. Shower and clean up. Go to Sam's. I'll run another errand or two. Come home and attack the 'to do' list with a vengeance.

I do, too. Only the rain tries to upset me.

"It's raining," says himself.

"What?" I say. I am in the other room. I didn't really understand. I go in the hall and he repeats it. I look out the glass in the back and yep it's raining and pretty hard. How does this change my plans? Well, I decide to see if it won't let up a bit before I take off. That's how. And it finally does.

Then it starts raining pretty hard again as I head to the club. I even sit in the car a minute or five at the club, reading my book until it lets up. After the workout it isn't really raining. When I've eaten and showered and made a list for Sam's, it is OK. I go to Sam's. The rain is trying to start again when I'm leaving. After I put away the Sam's booty, I go to Eckerd's. I park right in front and it's raining when I come out but it's OK.

At home, I review the mail, do a bit of thinking about Paris, fold up the guest bed which was made up for the guest on Friday night and put those sheets in the wash. I empty trash cans.

By this time it's getting to be five or so. The time when I sometimes decide to read or watch TV or have something to eat. Like this isn't what I do all day anyway. Do I succumb? Well, yes, sort of. I do nibble and I do sit in front of the TV. But I read things that are background for my trip or peruse the map of Paris. (And, no, I won't remember this stuff...I'll still have to consult a map or get lost. It's deep background. I keep reading how the D-Day assault troops memorized the features of the beaches. The distant steeples and the draws and pillboxes. Then landed under fire, losing maps in the wrong place and still managed to eventually get together with others still alive and go to Vierville or something and rout some Germans because it was their mission. I'm always getting lost with street signs, maps, compass! The good news is I usually get re-oriented and find my way to wherever. Anyway, I've been looking at maps and guidebooks and continuing my reading about D-Day for the Normandy visit. It's weird...I always wanted to have time for all this preliminary reading and studying and I never did and usually ended up with pretty unread guidebooks or else taking along heavy books and falling asleep with them in my hand on the plane. Now that I have the time, I'm actually doing some of the historical reading and map studying but it never seems like enough.

mural, east side

deciding what to do

AUSTIN, Texas, May 10, 2004 —Seems to be a day to make decisions. To allocate time. To figure out what's coming and how to prepare for it.

I am not up all that early but I get to the club in plenty of time. I first think that I will just do the water aerobics class and come home. But I end up doing a little time in the gym, too. At home, I try to get organized. I eat, work the Monday The New York Times crossword. FFP and I are interviewed on the phone for a new long-term care policy we are trying to buy to replace one that has raised the price too much. "Do you have MS? Do you have..." fill in th blank, some debilitating disease I never heard of. I don't think they believe it when we say we exercise five to seven days a week.

Finally, I'm sitting at my computer a little after one, consulting and updating lists of things to do and things to pack for trips and things to do if something happens to us. Lists and todos.

I spend the rest of the day doing things like organizing my travel stuff, arranging to order Euros, ordering some additional Compact Flash cards for my trip. I know it doesn't sound like a lot to do. Of course, I did fold laundry. I fed myself. And while doing some organizing and sorting I watched a DVD and some TV.

When evening comes I think I should continue my efforts. Ignore the TV and the newspapers and read travel stuff, plan packing, sort out stuff to try to give my nieces when they visit (or sell in the garage sale we keep threatening to have). None of this do I do. No, I read the papers. I watch some TV. I do a crossword. I rewatch a Netflix DVD.

But tomorrow, tomorrow by gum. Well, I plan to keep reading the papers. It's become a pleasant habit. But I'm not going to watch any network TV. I'm not.

my writing is a little rusty

upside down day

AUSTIN, Texas, May 9, 2004 —I usually try to get the exercise done early in the day. The only 'problem' with this is that I don't get to get up and shower and sit around with coffee and read papers. Today I knew we had to entertain FFP's Mom (and our dads) but that, late in the day, we would be free. FFP went off to the club but I decided to just sit around, get showered and dressed and coffeed up.

My dad comes over and we go to the club and FFP picks up his parents and drives them there. We have a nice leisurely brunch. I take small portions of a bunch of stuff and get quite full. I'm sleepy when we are done. We hang out in our living room for a while, talking. I read the paper. FFP and I drink coffee. When the parents are ready to leave, FFP drives his home and my dad leaves. I hope I can drive when I'm 87!

I fool around a little with the computer and then I decide to get my workout. I change into shorts and T-Shirt and head to the gym. FFP decides to do another round. We go separately. I have what I describe as a 'languorous' workout. Where you just do what you want, taking it slow. When it's time to leave, it's pouring rain so I sit for a few minutes, reading.

At home, I don't do much. I work on the computer and then settle in to watch TV and finish the papers. We watch some TV shows, a movie on cable and part of an interesting piece on making a movie of a Shakespeare tragedy.

I should have accomplished more today. But at least we did right by the mom unit and had a workout. That's something I suppose.

FFP's mom and her boys

meeting people

AUSTIN, Texas, May 8, 2004 — Because I have a guest, I figure I will skip my workout and get up and shower and dress. This feels like a vacation. I realize that I rarely do this and it makes me feel good. It's ironic because I feel strong and the shower kind of wakes me up even though I didn't sleep enough. By not going to the gym first thing I feel good. I know, too, that I probably won't go at all because I'll go to a home tour and then we have a dinner scheduled. It's funny but it is such a pleasure to skip a day, to at least skip doing the workout first.

My friend gets up. We talk some more. While she is taking a shower, I order some books for her from Powell's just because they have one she admired ready to ship. I've enjoyed getting to know her again. I'm so fascinated when people make a connection, find a sympathetic chord.

I take my friend to the airport while FFP does a bit of gardening. When I get back, we have something to eat, he cleans up and we go to the Heritage Society home tour. All the houses are in a walkable area of the high dollar Enfield houses. There was lots of talk about restoration and 'Colonial revival' and such. The most fascinating house was one that hadn't changed all that much since the mid-twenties when it was built. We probably walked a couple of miles but it didn't seem difficult.

I didn't get much sleep and I was feeling sleepy but good when we got home. I snacked some and worked at the computer and sat in front of the TV in the bedroom with eyes drifting and read papers.

A gal from the office in The Netherlands of my old company came by to do an interview for a thesis she is doing for an MBA. We had decided we'd go to dinner and we took her to 34th Street. We dined and I tried to answer her questions. She was struggling with how to define her topic problem. I don't know if I was helpful but I was sympathetic! She was interesting, too. She is from St. Petersburg. But she spend ten years in Michigan, then moved to The Netherlands. Her boyfriend there is starting a hard rock bar in some beach town. She kept saying we should come see her in The Netherlands. People should be careful in doing that!

At home, I read a little but I was sleepy and I was soon asleep.

an amazing view

visitor

AUSTIN, Texas, May 7, 2004 — It's all about the visitor. It shapes my day. I really want to stay in bed. But I don't. I don't get up as early as I would have liked but I get off to the club, have a workout, get back, shower, dress and am ready for the day. I make up the bed in the guest room. Hang a spare robe in there, put out a towel, wash cloth and bath mat in the guest bathroom. I start tracking the flight my guest should be on. I do some e-mail, some WEB maintenance and my journal.

Then I head to the airport, probably earlier than strictly necessary but my flight tracking shows the plane a bit early. Besides I can read at the airport.

Indeed, I finish some sections of Thursday's papers, read part of my book and look around the airport. I'm surprised not to see anyone I know until my friend from school steps out of the secure area. I have seen her recently without such a sea of people so I do recognize her. Off we go to drive into Austin with me gabbering about the Hill Country meets Coastal Plain and, when she stays longer, yada yada. She says she has a headache so a first stop is the house where I show her around part of the house, especially the remodel after I offer Ibuprofen. We go off to Upper Crust to get a snack. We are both delighted to drink one of those Orangina sodas from France. She's a vegetarian and I like foie gras, but we do have some common ground! We also find common ground over Paris. She gives me a gift of Paris walking tour cards (which I almost bought myself the other day at Book People). I show her my limited edition Renouxs, my book illustrated by Renoux, my little Léche Vitrines, Souvenirs de Paris book with pictures or Paris shop windows. I give her a Pastis picture as a souvenir.

My dad shows up for the evening's festivities. SuRu shows up to drive us downtown. We go to Four Seasons and have a leisurely meal and listen to the quiet piano music. Then we head over to Roy's for Kevin's show. The show is nice. We head home after though.

Somehow my friend and I stay up until almost two in the morning. We share some music choices. I get her marriages straight although I'm still sore of confused on the his and hers kids. I'm straight on some of the grandkids and kids and their boyfriends, husbands, exes, weddings, problems. My friend and I were really friends in elementary school. She married in high school. Something that, for me, would have been so totally out of the question. Now, though, we have a lot in common. I'm not sure exactly what it is. A way of looking at the world, I think. A feeling that, at 55 or so (whoa!) we deserve to do things our way. A certain sense of humor that we enjoyed when eleven or twelve. It's interesting that I can feel close to someone who doesn't drink, eat meat, ingest caffeine and who has seven (I think) children and step-children and uncountable (well, to me) grandchildren and step-grandchildren and all that.

It's late! Bed!

my visitor's plane, symbolically, enters El Paso air space

relaxed but tense

AUSTIN, Texas, May 6, 2004 — I woke up from dreams where I had some dread disease (self-diagnosed and always successfully self-treated). And I was in jail, I think. I didn't want to get up. I don't know why I was so sleepy last night and this morning. One beer? Sheesh.

I do get up, though. Today I was supposed to walk with a friend. But she called last night and said she was sick. I got a call last night about playing tennis with some of the older set at Westwood. On the soft courts.

I get to the club in time to warm up by starting my routine in the gym. I like playing doubles on these soft courts. I can get to the ball. I am even on the winning team a couple of times. These ladies are maybe 70, maybe plus. My arm hurts a little. It is overcast most of the time but I do sweat. I go back to the gym for a while and then home and shower up. SuRu comes over and we go out to lunch and go to a nearby store that is kind of a combo hardware store and gift shop...a concept that seems to be popular these days. We don't buy anything.

When I get home the mail comes. This causes the usual five minutes tossing things in recycling but I do get new maps for the driving part of France. I spend, with a little cheering on from SuRu, some time on the Michelin site getting driving directions and comparing my maps to them and the maps on-line. We decide you have to have the real maps for when you get lost and have to get back on track! Not to mention that this detailed map of the Calvados region will be great when we are wandering to the beaches. SuRu and I also take the time to register a domain for her: designpoodle.com.

Soon it's time to trundle off to a couple of evening events. We go to our club for a reception for people in the neighborhood by the new telecommunications provider who is trying to sell phone, cable, Internet to people. Then we go to a gala for the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Heritage Society. It is at a lovely home on Niles Road. We visit with people, admire the yard and some art inside. We nibble and sip. Awards are presented. We go home. Once again I'm falling asleep trying to read papers and watch TV.

world view, east side

A Little Off the Beam

AUSTIN, Texas, May 5, 2004 — I woke up once, probably early enough to go get a workout before meeting my Dad for his cat scan. But I didn't get up. Instead I took my time, making the bed, picking up the papers I let fall by the bed last night, showering, dressing. Then I got there early and fretted until Dad arrived, also early. We had to fill out forms we had filled out for them before. Sigh. I did this for Dad and he went to, as he said, "lie still on the cold slab." I checked that the films would be sent to the surgeon we visit next week and they assured me that they would.

I could have gone for a workout but, honestly, it felt like a day that I should let that go. A day when I should fret over my trip and my upcoming visitors and my ongoing tide of tidiness.

I did little things. We had some fresh chicken breasts that needed cooking so I dug around in the fridge and made a Provencal sauce sautéing capers, calamata olives, fresh diced tomato, a bit of achovy, fresh garlic and onion in some olive oil. Added the chicken breasts some sea salt and lemon pepper, covered, flipped a few times and cooked through. About the time I've turned this dish out and determined that they are cooked through, FFP comes down, having decided to cook the chicken. He happily eats one and so do I. I think it tastes great. He is noncommital but seems glad that he didn't have to cook it.

I do other little things. Get some stuff out of the laundry room, fill up some soap containers at sinks, tidy some of the stuff in the guest bathroom. Then I decide to fret over my packing list a little. Do things like look at FFP's electric razor charger to see if it accepts 220-240 input and find my European adaptors.

I end up watching a lot of the WWII DVD (this is a lecture by a professor...a product of The Learning Company so mostly you listen but he has occasional slides and film clips and photos).

Then it's time to go to our social event for the evening. It's an awards presentation. With food and drink before. For Ballet Austin. Nice food and some good talks with people and the presentation was handled quickly. We stopped in the bar and listened to Rebecca. She wants me to do her WEB page and I'm thinking 'when will I have time to work on that?' In spite of that we go home and read and start watching High Sierra which has come from Netflix. I keep falling asleep without finishing my papers nor even getting anything out of the movie other than to marvel at the stock black character and a scene with Humphrey Bogart.

Sometimes you just have to sleep.

abstract reflection

Planning

AUSTIN, Texas, May 4, 2004 — I woke up to some disturbing dreams I've forgotten and a cramp in one leg. I had thought when FFP got up, much earlier than I, that I should bet up. But I didn't. Even now, at 7:30, I didn't want to do it. But I did. I stumbled around, getting dressed, making the bed, brushing my teeth, letting the dog out and doing some things on the computer.

I went to the gym and did my thing and chatted with a couple of people.

Home again, I tried to tidy up my office some more. In some ways I succeed. The maid usually comes on Tuesday. She is sick. FFP and I do laundry. I eat some stuff.

While I continue the straightening of the office, I listen and watch my DVD on the history of WWII. Gradually I do actually see a little improvement in the tidyness as I have gotten some things boxed up for storage and moved out there. This means I can see the floor and actually have a path to slide around to bookcase, different computers and supplies. This is no mean feat. I will probably leave off cleaning and organizing now and just spend time preparing for and enjoying visitors and planning for my own trip this summer.

I finally shower up and get ready to help FFP with another focus group at Fonda San Miguel. I've eaten at Fonda even more often than usual these last few weeks. Tough duty, but someone has to do it.

I must admit that it was the kind of day when my (adult) ADD (undiagnosed) worked both in my favor and tended to drive me crazy. Playing a DVD on WWII (which has few really exciting visual things, truthfully so it can just be listened to), surfing links from scraps of paper I'd saved, moving around the room putting things where they belonged, pausing the DVD and wandering off to change laundry fold clothes and carry useless boxed up stuff to storage...I sort of accomplished multiple things in that way that you never really feel like it but you do.

We met a group of young (under 30) people for the focus group.

These things take longer than the normal meal because of the discussion and such. So it is ten o'clock when we get home.

I go back to doing some things on the computer...the journal and such while listening to my WWII DVD.

inspiration on a shelf in Barry George's studio

Planning

AUSTIN, Texas, May 3, 2004 — I woke up for the second or third time. (The first was around five. I thought, "I shouldn't drink." But I didn't feel all that bad.) The last round of getting up, around seven or half past, I woke up dreaming of riding a scooter I didn't need (I could walk and this one one for old folks who can't). I couldn't find a ramp and kept having to carry the thing (which inexplicably folded up like a blanket). Friends were pushing homemade and very elaborate cookies on me.

I got up. I knew that Dad was going to the dentist so I would do water aerobics which I only do if he goes. I fooled around on the computer and got off to the gym around 8:20. I had a good long workout. I was in a pretty good mood. We have a busy week but I felt somehow confident that I would get things done.

At home, little domestic chores presented themselves. Put away dishes, put the coffee machine through its cleaning paces, eating something, taking out the garbage. Then I did a few things with the journal and reviewed maps of France, thinking about the car trip we will first make to Normandy.That made me think that these maps were probably old. It might not make a difference but it also might. I found a WEB site selling the Michelin series and ordered four different maps. I thought about ordering a new Paris Michelin but I thnk the one I have will suffice. I can probably get a new one there and I will of course get an up-to-date Metro map for free. Highways change more often than streets although Metros get extended pretty often and that changes the end point which is an important consideration since you use that as a directional reference.

Then I send another scathing report to the service hosting this page so they can inform me automatically that I'm too stupid to live and their service is fine. But I'm running several WEB hosts side-by-side and I know better.

What I really need to accomplish today is getting ready for the next few weeks of social events, vistors and a trip. Of course, reviewing maps and such is part of the agenda. And tidying up around the house is necessary since I will have an overnight guest this week.

I take out time to write a thank you note to an auntie for a gift. I'm a little tardy on that. I work a little on the trip packing list.

Then I make an effort to clear the guest room of extraneous stuff for my visitor Friday night. I'm thinking, though, that the guest room will take on a different focus as soon as I've had that guest. My next guests will stay at Dad's but the room will make a good place for the little boys to play when they are over here. Then I'll use it to organize our packing for the trip later.

I do manage to discard a few things, some magazines mostly. I find a key to the front door and four shoehorns. FFP is always looking for a shoe horn.

I sort and organize and move stuff around. The mail comes and we look through our bills and such. I take a shower. We are going out to see an interesting-sounding play. "A New Play Created From The Personal Essays Of Frances Nail, Dramatized by Judy Matetzschk,
Performed by Karen Kuykendall." Forrest has written about Frances and Karen in his West Austin News column.

Actually it turned out this wasn't the play but some readings and discussion of it and a reading from the author. Nice, though. Saw about a dozen people we know there.

We were home by 8:30.

I know that being home from a social event so early is the perfect opportunity to accomplish a little something extra on a day we go out. But I change clothes and read the papers and snack while watching CSI: Miami.

Unfinished Willie Mural?
On the East Side.

Kitchen Incompetent

AUSTIN, Texas, May 2, 2004 — Well, it was a beautiful day. We got up at a reasonable hour, not too early but early enough. We had things scheduled for the afternoon and we didn't want another day to go by without exercise.

We got away to the gym in plenty of time. I was a little slow in getting back (we went separately, for shame) because I was out of gas and went to fill up and then realized I'd forgotten my book at the club and went back for it and then got into a discussion of the book with another club member.

We had brunch at 1PM but one couple was a little late. Fonda San Miguel brunch is a slow affair because you keep getting another clean plate, filling it, discussing the food with your compatriouts. Still, it wasn't too crowded and we were done by 2:30. FFP and I actually walked up there (yeah, it is only two blocks) and so we walked back.

I decided to go to the montly Austin journaler's coffee talkie. I saw Greg getting out of his car (he has better parking karma and got a place much nearer Spider House) and so I knew I wasn't going to be wandering around looking stupid dressed in nice slacks and an ironed shirt amid the weird students in their vintage junk because I would be with someone. Greg looked all over for other people, decided against purchasing a drink while I stood in line for a Stewart's Ginger soda. We sat at a two-top in front waiting to see who else would show up. Another journaler showed up. This didn't necessitate a new table as he got a beverage and then stood up. When Ms. Celluloid Eyes showed up with the boyfriend that is the subject of an extended set of entries on flirting and wooing in the twenty-first century we waded through the masses to a back patio where we gathered enough chairs. Everyone thought Kramer was coming but he didn't. Theory was he had a borrowed car. Greg remembered he had to give an oral presentation in his Japanese class describing his parent's house. He started to fret about that and about being ready to move. Jette's boyfriend hadn't eaten and the line was too long at the Spider. Sam mentioned some overdue duty I can't remember. All in all, everyone seemed to not know what they were doing at Spider House, myself included. I don't read these folks too often (nor anyone else) but for some reason I've been trying to plug myself into this community. I can't quite figure out why and certainly they can't either. They are very nice to me in spite of that. We discussed Christian kids stealing Christian music on the WEB and the online music business and then we left. I was fretting over the fact that guests were coming over.

Guests who call our house 'the wedding chapel' or some such. Guests who were bringing something to eat but I didn't know what. There was nothing to fret about. I just had some little snacks to put out and a bottle of champagne to open. Then set a table, pick a dinner wine, help them fix up whatever they brought.

I messed around with the journal. (Bit clumsy am I trying to transition to a new month with the new format and cleaning things up.)

I watched a little of FFP's DVD course on James Joyce's Ulysses with him and then went to the kitchen and drug out cheese, pate, crackers, some tofu dip and chips. I thought I'd sit down and read the Sunday New York Times but they showed up. For the next two and a half hours we talked and drank champagne and I fumbled to help heat up the oven, start the pre-prepared steak 'roll' they'd gotten at Whole Goods, find knives and salad bowls and implements and a skillet and lid for the potatoes. I just hadn't thought much about it. FFP got the table set. He kept turning on the TV which was OK but probably not the best social thing. First The Simpsons in the kitchen. Then he said "everyone wants to see The Sopranos" but really I don't think so. Finally, we had polished off the wonderful 1991 Kenwood Cab FFP had pulled out for the special occasion and our friends were feeling sleepy. There were dishes and wine glasses all about. I convinced my sleepy guests to go home and finish celebrating.

"I'm good at cleaning up the dishes," I said. And I am. I'm not much at cooking or even helping someone else cook simple things. But I can clean up. I put things away, rinsed dishes for the dishwasher, hand-washed the pans and wine glasses and the dessert plates. As I was doing it, FFP tuned in a TV show he thought I would like. We retired to the bedroom where I concluded, not for the first time, that I didn't like Deconstructing Harry. I read some of the papers and gave in to sleep. I think I drank too much champagne and wine.

 

Carrots for sale at Boggy Creek Farm

East

AUSTIN, Texas, May 1, 2004 — The day opened with rain, thunder, harder rain, lighter rain. We had planned with two friends to do an east side artist studio tour. We called back and forth. FFP and I did other things. Reading, computer stuff. I showered up and got ready to go out in the weather. (Jeans, denim shirt, waterproof hiking boots, anorak.)

Finally, we sort of called it off with our friends. FFP wanted to go to Boggy Creek and give copies of The West Austin News to Carol Ann at the farm...who was his victim, er subject, last week. So we take off, figuring if it is raining we will come home. Well, the farm is muddy but market is up and running. We buy flowers and golden beets and turnips and fennel and salad greens Carol guarantees to be good for you if you drink alcohol. We also get some fresh feta and look at some photos on display in the farmhouse.

It isn't raining so we find a little hole-in-the-wall called Cafe Mundy in this odd little complex that looks like apartments and a couple of businesses off that section of east Fifth that is just kind of a frontage to the railroad tracks. I have good coffee and delicious migas with fresh tomatoes and bits of spinach, chips on the side. The hot sauce is wonderful. The place is full of characters. (See today's essay.)

We decide to have a look at some of the artist studios. We pick ones that we know. We visit Brian Frisbie's house and workshop. Brian is responsible for most of the band in our backyard. However, he is not responsible for the trumpet player who took the header. That is by Barry George. We visited his studio, too, however. We wander about visiting other places and seeing metal, concrete and glass furniture and paintings and assemblage and posters and various things and also seeing the studios of some of these artists with their inspiration and raw material.

We head home, put away our produce. I do a few things on the computer while FFP goes to buy some more fresh flowers. Then we both go to BookStop where I buy the Commemorative Life about D-Day with old pix and articles from 1944 and a new book about D-Day as well as one about the Big Red One. We get some food at Central Market.

Home again, FFP sautees steak and opens a can of asparagus. I make a salad with fresh greens. We eat. I fix a casserole to bake the turnips, beets and fennel and roughly follow a recipe for baking the fennel I got at the farm. That won't finish for dinner, but I'll taste it later and we will eat it leftover.

We watch a Netflix DVD, read, fall asleep. We didn't get a workout today but we had a nice day together.

 

Brian Frisbie and his son, a Power Ranger