This is the American Film Institute’s 2007 list of the top 100 American movies; I’ve put the ones I’ve seen in bold. I've included only those movies that I've seen the whole way through. I had checked it a couple years ago and had scored about 60% of them. Just updated it and now I'm at 70%. 10 of the top 10 and 18 of the top 20.
1. Citizen Kane, 1941.
2. The Godfather, 1972.
3. Casablanca, 1942.
4. Raging Bull, 1980.
5. Singin’ in the Rain, 1952.
6. Gone With the Wind, 1939.
7. Lawrence of Arabia, 1962.
8. Schindler’s List, 1993.
9. Vertigo, 1958.
10. The Wizard of Oz, 1939.
11. City Lights, 1931.
12. The Searchers, 1956.
13. Star Wars, 1977.
14. Psycho, 1960.
15. 2001: A Space Odyssey, 1968.
16. Sunset Blvd., 1950.
17. The Graduate, 1967.
18. The General, 1927.
19. On the Waterfront, 1954.
20. It’s a Wonderful Life, 1946.
21. Chinatown, 1974.
22. Some Like It Hot, 1959.
23. The Grapes of Wrath, 1940.
24. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, 1982.
25. To Kill a Mockingbird, 1962.
26. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, 1939.
27. High Noon, 1952.
28. All About Eve, 1950.
29. Double Indemnity, 1944.
30. Apocalypse Now, 1979.
31. The Maltese Falcon, 1941.
32. The Godfather Part II, 1974.
33. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, 1975.
34. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, 1937.
35. Annie Hall, 1977.
36. The Bridge on the River Kwai, 1957.
37. The Best Years of Our Lives, 1946.
38. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, 1948.
39. Dr. Strangelove, 1964.
40. The Sound of Music, 1965.
41. King Kong, 1933.
42. Bonnie and Clyde, 1967.
43. Midnight Cowboy, 1969.
44. The Philadelphia Story, 1940.
45. Shane, 1953.
46. It Happened One Night, 1934.
47. A Streetcar Named Desire, 1951.
48. Rear Window, 1954.
49. Intolerance, 1916.
50. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, 2001.
51. West Side Story, 1961.
52. Taxi Driver, 1976.
53. The Deer Hunter, 1978.
54. M-A-S-H, 1970.
55. North by Northwest, 1959.
56. Jaws, 1975.
57. Rocky, 1976.
58. The Gold Rush, 1925.
59. Nashville, 1975.
60. Duck Soup, 1933.
61. Sullivan’s Travels, 1941.
62. American Graffiti, 1973.
63. Cabaret, 1972.
64. Network, 1976.
65. The African Queen, 1951.
66. Raiders of the Lost Ark, 1981.
67. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, 1966.
68. Unforgiven, 1992.
69. Tootsie, 1982.
70. A Clockwork Orange, 1971.
71. Saving Private Ryan, 1998.
72. The Shawshank Redemption, 1994.
73. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, 1969.
74. The Silence of the Lambs, 1991.
75. In the Heat of the Night, 1967.
76. Forrest Gump, 1994.
77. All the President’s Men, 1976.
78. Modern Times, 1936.
79. The Wild Bunch, 1969.
80. The Apartment, 1960.
81. Spartacus, 1960.
82. Sunrise, 1927.
83. Titanic, 1997.
84. Easy Rider, 1969.
85. A Night at the Opera, 1935.
86. Platoon, 1986.
87. 12 Angry Men, 1957.
88. Bringing Up Baby, 1938.
89. The Sixth Sense, 1999.
90. Swing Time, 1936.
91. Sophie’s Choice, 1982.
92. Goodfellas, 1990.
93. The French Connection, 1971.
94. Pulp Fiction, 1994.
95. The Last Picture Show, 1971.
96. Do the Right Thing, 1989.
97. Blade Runner, 1982.
98. Yankee Doodle Dandy, 1942.
99. Toy Story, 1995.
100. Ben-Hur, 1959.
Showing posts with label personal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label personal. Show all posts
Monday, January 27, 2014
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Anniversary and coda
One year ago.
5.40 PM
I had a stroke.
Today I am a stroke survivor. It still feels weird to say that.
Today is that anniversary. It is also the last day of my "Lost Year". A year that has been challenging, frightening and hectic. My recovery put me MONTHS behind in my work and I spent most of the year scrambling to catch up. I did. Mostly. Nothing ever fell through the cracks but a couple things came entirely too close.
It felt like I would never fully recovered. As soon as I thought I was I'd realize that I was wrong. The physical frailty was bad. The first time I went out of the house after the stroke I needed to lean on my lady wife's arm at times. I wore down in a very short while. Hard to accept when I had been training for a 5k just weeks before. But it was the mental frailty that was really the hardest. The lurking fear of "What if it happens again?". Am I pushing too hard? The weight gain and loss of conditioning made it worse. Just weeks before the stroke I had run up hill for a block in downtown Jamestown and hadn't been breathing hard at the top. When I walked up that hill a month or two later it was slow, labored and I was breathing very hard at the top.
I've spent a lot of time this year talking about the stroke. It's begun to sound like excuse making to me and I hate excuse making. At the same time the reality is that I was sick That's not an excuse. I'm tired of talking about it and I'm tired of feeling guilty about it.
It all ends today.
The stroke is part of my history. It always will be. So is when I broke my arm, and when I broke my ribs and when I got married and when my daughter was born. I don't talk about them all the time. They don't control my life. I celebrate the anniversary of good things in my life. I note several less happy events each year in memoriam. This will be one of them. I will remember and give thanks that I survived.
Every day since then has been a gift. Every day from now on will be a gift.
It's time to move on.
Peace
5.40 PM
I had a stroke.
Today I am a stroke survivor. It still feels weird to say that.
Today is that anniversary. It is also the last day of my "Lost Year". A year that has been challenging, frightening and hectic. My recovery put me MONTHS behind in my work and I spent most of the year scrambling to catch up. I did. Mostly. Nothing ever fell through the cracks but a couple things came entirely too close.
It felt like I would never fully recovered. As soon as I thought I was I'd realize that I was wrong. The physical frailty was bad. The first time I went out of the house after the stroke I needed to lean on my lady wife's arm at times. I wore down in a very short while. Hard to accept when I had been training for a 5k just weeks before. But it was the mental frailty that was really the hardest. The lurking fear of "What if it happens again?". Am I pushing too hard? The weight gain and loss of conditioning made it worse. Just weeks before the stroke I had run up hill for a block in downtown Jamestown and hadn't been breathing hard at the top. When I walked up that hill a month or two later it was slow, labored and I was breathing very hard at the top.
I've spent a lot of time this year talking about the stroke. It's begun to sound like excuse making to me and I hate excuse making. At the same time the reality is that I was sick That's not an excuse. I'm tired of talking about it and I'm tired of feeling guilty about it.
It all ends today.
The stroke is part of my history. It always will be. So is when I broke my arm, and when I broke my ribs and when I got married and when my daughter was born. I don't talk about them all the time. They don't control my life. I celebrate the anniversary of good things in my life. I note several less happy events each year in memoriam. This will be one of them. I will remember and give thanks that I survived.
Every day since then has been a gift. Every day from now on will be a gift.
It's time to move on.
Peace
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
This is a boring football post - you have been warned
So I'm bored and working on next week's football pool. I'm trying a more systematic approach this week and want to write it down in case it works.
The pool I'm in is a straight pick the winner so I don't need to worry about point spreads or any of that fantasy football crap. Don't even start with me about fantasy football. The complication is that I have to rate my picks based on my confidence. High confidence scores high points, most points win. So I'm trying to find a system that gives me an indication of who will win AND some way of differentiating among the games. Here's what I do:
First I use the Brother Guy quantifiers of home field advantage and better quarterback. (These are named for their creator, my brother Guy). Home field is easy. Better QB can be tricky. New England vs New York Jets is pretty easy but how do you choose between say KC's Matt Cassel and Indianapolis's Curtis Painter? Neither of them have been very good. Or worse yet what do you do about Matt Hasselbeck of Tennessee who is having a career year so far vs Pittsburgh's Ben Rothlisberger who is historically better but not this season? So I'm using QB rating for it. It's not a perfect metric but it's a standard one.
Then I go with points scored as an offensive metric and points allowed as a defensive one. Since I'm only concerned about winning it's points, points and points. Then I look at Take away/Give away differential. Finally just as a way to try and deal with overall performance I use ESPN's Power Ranking. If the difference in position on any of these is more than 5 places they score a full point, less than five is a half point, a difference of only one is a push. That's totally arbitrary. So max points is 6.
So this week here's my pool. Number in the left column is my confidence points, points on the right are the ratings from my system.
13 Detroit 6
12 NY Giants 5.5
11 Green Bay 5
10 New England 5
9 Tennessee 5*
8 Buffalo 5 *
7 San Diego 4.5
6 Cincinnati 4
7 San Francisco 44 Houston 3.5
3 New Orleans 3.5
2 Indianapolis 3
1 Arizona 1.5
Yeah the Arizona-Minnesota game scores out as majorly ugly. Virtually everything is a push.
*It breaks my heart to pick Tennessee but they are out performing my beloved Steelers on offense, defense, turnovers and at the moment I think Hasselbeck is better than a gimpy Big Ben. Meanwhile Buffalo is the major gulp inducer of the week. Right now they are on top on offense, take aways, home field and yes, quarterback. Fitz has performed a lot better than Vick. Both teams have serious defensive issues so who knows but a 8 point pick is making me sweat. We'll see how the system performs. Ties were decided by several things. Teams that scored both of the Brother Guy factors were given the edge. Otherwise I just tried to look who seemed to have the more impressive set of scores.
We'll see.
Of course if it turns out this is a winning formula I'll probably regret posting all the details here.
The pool I'm in is a straight pick the winner so I don't need to worry about point spreads or any of that fantasy football crap. Don't even start with me about fantasy football. The complication is that I have to rate my picks based on my confidence. High confidence scores high points, most points win. So I'm trying to find a system that gives me an indication of who will win AND some way of differentiating among the games. Here's what I do:
First I use the Brother Guy quantifiers of home field advantage and better quarterback. (These are named for their creator, my brother Guy). Home field is easy. Better QB can be tricky. New England vs New York Jets is pretty easy but how do you choose between say KC's Matt Cassel and Indianapolis's Curtis Painter? Neither of them have been very good. Or worse yet what do you do about Matt Hasselbeck of Tennessee who is having a career year so far vs Pittsburgh's Ben Rothlisberger who is historically better but not this season? So I'm using QB rating for it. It's not a perfect metric but it's a standard one.
Then I go with points scored as an offensive metric and points allowed as a defensive one. Since I'm only concerned about winning it's points, points and points. Then I look at Take away/Give away differential. Finally just as a way to try and deal with overall performance I use ESPN's Power Ranking. If the difference in position on any of these is more than 5 places they score a full point, less than five is a half point, a difference of only one is a push. That's totally arbitrary. So max points is 6.
So this week here's my pool. Number in the left column is my confidence points, points on the right are the ratings from my system.
13 Detroit 6
12 NY Giants 5.5
11 Green Bay 5
10 New England 5
9 Tennessee 5*
8 Buffalo 5 *
7 San Diego 4.5
6 Cincinnati 4
7 San Francisco 44 Houston 3.5
3 New Orleans 3.5
2 Indianapolis 3
1 Arizona 1.5
Yeah the Arizona-Minnesota game scores out as majorly ugly. Virtually everything is a push.
*It breaks my heart to pick Tennessee but they are out performing my beloved Steelers on offense, defense, turnovers and at the moment I think Hasselbeck is better than a gimpy Big Ben. Meanwhile Buffalo is the major gulp inducer of the week. Right now they are on top on offense, take aways, home field and yes, quarterback. Fitz has performed a lot better than Vick. Both teams have serious defensive issues so who knows but a 8 point pick is making me sweat. We'll see how the system performs. Ties were decided by several things. Teams that scored both of the Brother Guy factors were given the edge. Otherwise I just tried to look who seemed to have the more impressive set of scores.
We'll see.
Of course if it turns out this is a winning formula I'll probably regret posting all the details here.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Ah football season again
I'm back playing the football pool organized by Aran Walter and the youth community at St. Thomas Episcopal church in Oshkosh Wisconsin. The pool is called STYGNFLPEC which stands for Saint Thomas Youth Group National Football League something P, something E, something C. I honestly don't remember. It's a fun pool just for the bragging rights.
The concept seems easy enough. Pick the straight up winner of each week's game and then assign a point value to it. The idea is you assign the highest value to the game you're most confident in and the lowest to the one you have the least faith in. At the end of the week's games your points are totalled up and the person with the most points at the end of the season wins. Easy.
Yeah, right.
My goal each year is to finish in the Top 10. My bottom standard is to finish in the top half of the entire field. I think I've failed that bottom one once. I don't believe I've ever finished in the Top 10.
So here we go. Week 1. A pretty good week. I was let down by Cleveland (9 points), Denver (12 points) and NY Giants (14 points). The Bengals, the Raiders and the Redskins were better out of the box than I expected. Also missed that the Giants had as many injured. For a first week (which is traditionally awful for me) 88 points and a 56.26% correct pick percentage was actually pretty good. To be at the top of this poll I probably need to keep it in the 60% on picks (this weeks top player had 115 points and a 68% pick rate. Best pick rate was 75% for places 2, 3, and 4. Obviously they missed a bigger point game or two). I'm #30 at the moment in a field of 82. So I'm OK. As I said week 1 tends to be awful for me so I'm happy. If Denver and the NY had come through for me I'd probably be about 10 places higher. But that's the way it goes.
In case you wondering about why the Steelers didn't get a mention in the "let me down" list I had them as my 1 point game. I knew that Baltimore certainly could beat them. Beat them like a drum was NOT what I was expecting.
Next weeks games look like they'll be fun to pick as well. Sigh.
The concept seems easy enough. Pick the straight up winner of each week's game and then assign a point value to it. The idea is you assign the highest value to the game you're most confident in and the lowest to the one you have the least faith in. At the end of the week's games your points are totalled up and the person with the most points at the end of the season wins. Easy.
Yeah, right.
My goal each year is to finish in the Top 10. My bottom standard is to finish in the top half of the entire field. I think I've failed that bottom one once. I don't believe I've ever finished in the Top 10.
So here we go. Week 1. A pretty good week. I was let down by Cleveland (9 points), Denver (12 points) and NY Giants (14 points). The Bengals, the Raiders and the Redskins were better out of the box than I expected. Also missed that the Giants had as many injured. For a first week (which is traditionally awful for me) 88 points and a 56.26% correct pick percentage was actually pretty good. To be at the top of this poll I probably need to keep it in the 60% on picks (this weeks top player had 115 points and a 68% pick rate. Best pick rate was 75% for places 2, 3, and 4. Obviously they missed a bigger point game or two). I'm #30 at the moment in a field of 82. So I'm OK. As I said week 1 tends to be awful for me so I'm happy. If Denver and the NY had come through for me I'd probably be about 10 places higher. But that's the way it goes.
In case you wondering about why the Steelers didn't get a mention in the "let me down" list I had them as my 1 point game. I knew that Baltimore certainly could beat them. Beat them like a drum was NOT what I was expecting.
Next weeks games look like they'll be fun to pick as well. Sigh.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Thoughts at 53
A moment, as the odometer of my life rolls over one more time, on what I think I've learned about myself over the years.
That would be the greatest birthday present of all.
Peace
- I've spent too much of my life being afraid. Afraid of failure, of coming up short, of not being what I need to be, want to be, ought to be. I'm not sure where that came from. It's robbed my life of a lot I've come to realize. Joy in victories, useless worry in advance. I'm working very hard to eliminate it from my life.
- Some people just don't like me and there's not a lot I can do about it appears. I've been called arrogant and conceited and pompous. I've been told I expect too much and I'm too demanding. In the first category I just don't buy it. People like that think too highly of themselves, they see themselves as better than everyone else. I don't. Too often I don't think I'm good enough. As for the second I'm not sure why I should apologize for that. I expect other people to work as hard as I do. And generally I work hard. If that bothers you so be it. If you can out work me I'll lead the cheers for you. But don't expect me to slow down to make you look good.
- I am and probably always will be socially awkward. The teen aged boy in me is still intimidated by girls. Women I respect intimidate me. I feel unsure and awkward and embarrassed and desperately want to impress them in return. The same goes for men I respect. I like people and really want to feel like I fit in and am liked. It takes a while for me to feel comfortable so I tend to hang out along the fringes and feel left out. I've gotten better but I'll never be as smooth as I wish.
- My greatest gift is also my greatest shortcoming. I love to talk and tell stories and manipulate words. There have been many times in my life when what I really needed to do was shut the hell up. I'm still a very good story teller but I've become a much better listener.
- I have a "glass half empty" approach to life. I swear I must be the happiest most optimistic glass half empty person on the planet but there it is. The only advantage to pessimism is how often you are pleasantly surprised.
- That I am blessed with people who truly care about me. I need to say that this surprises me every time I'm reminded of this FACT. I have no idea why anyone pays me any mind whatsoever, why anyone should spend a single second thinking about me. I have an incredible wife, a glorious daughter and family and friends who are so wonderful that it is beyond my capacity to describe. I don't deserve you but I glory in my good fortune. Thank you. I love you all.
That would be the greatest birthday present of all.
Peace
Monday, November 15, 2010
Stroke stories - The Virtue I Lack
Patience.
Everyone keeps reminding me. Healing, particularly of a serious problem, takes time. Take the time you need to heal, take it easy, don't push too hard, too soon, too fast. Be patient.
Yeah, well...
Every day is different. One day I feel good, the next day I'm wiped out. Is the overall trend towards getting better? Without a doubt. Is it less than three weeks since the bomb went off in my head? Yep, it'll be three weeks tomorrow.
So where am I? I still have a very light headache every day. Could be the last remnants of the stroke or could be side effect of the drugs. I still take two pills every four hours. That will end tomorrow at 11 PM. Which means I might actually get a full night's sleep tomorrow night. That would be a first since the stroke. Not surprisingly I'm tired to one degree or another all the time. Some days are better than others. On the good days I try to do a little more and the next day I'm wiped out again.
The cumulative effect is that I don't feel like I really want to do much of anything about half the time. The other half is spent trying to do things that won't totally wipe me out. I did four things this past weekend - went to a two hour meeting where I could just sit quietly, went to church where I could just sit quietly, walked the local mall and went to a youth event where I mostly just sat quietly. Woke up this morning feeling like I'd spent the weekend working out.
Sigh.
Patience. Taking things slow. Not expecting too much too soon. My hope now is that I'll be closer to my "usual" self by the new year. That would be about 2.5 months. I have to be honest and say that even that might be optimistic. So now I'm trying to learn patience. A little bit each day.
In the end I have no choice. I can only go as far and as fast as my body allows. The goal is not to get well fast but to get well. Doing it right means taking the time I need.
Patience.
Everyone keeps reminding me. Healing, particularly of a serious problem, takes time. Take the time you need to heal, take it easy, don't push too hard, too soon, too fast. Be patient.
Yeah, well...
Every day is different. One day I feel good, the next day I'm wiped out. Is the overall trend towards getting better? Without a doubt. Is it less than three weeks since the bomb went off in my head? Yep, it'll be three weeks tomorrow.
So where am I? I still have a very light headache every day. Could be the last remnants of the stroke or could be side effect of the drugs. I still take two pills every four hours. That will end tomorrow at 11 PM. Which means I might actually get a full night's sleep tomorrow night. That would be a first since the stroke. Not surprisingly I'm tired to one degree or another all the time. Some days are better than others. On the good days I try to do a little more and the next day I'm wiped out again.
The cumulative effect is that I don't feel like I really want to do much of anything about half the time. The other half is spent trying to do things that won't totally wipe me out. I did four things this past weekend - went to a two hour meeting where I could just sit quietly, went to church where I could just sit quietly, walked the local mall and went to a youth event where I mostly just sat quietly. Woke up this morning feeling like I'd spent the weekend working out.
Sigh.
Patience. Taking things slow. Not expecting too much too soon. My hope now is that I'll be closer to my "usual" self by the new year. That would be about 2.5 months. I have to be honest and say that even that might be optimistic. So now I'm trying to learn patience. A little bit each day.
In the end I have no choice. I can only go as far and as fast as my body allows. The goal is not to get well fast but to get well. Doing it right means taking the time I need.
Patience.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Stroke stories - Fear
I've picked up a new companion on my journey back to health.
Fear.
Not a debilitating, paralyzing kind of fear. Just a nagging irritant that colors everything I do. The good news on my stroke was that there was no obvious physical frailty that led to it. The bad news in that is that I have no idea what "caused" it.
And a tiny little voice from the darkest regions of my mind whispers "Or what might make it happen again".
There's nothing rational in this but then that's the nature of fear, isn't it?
Fear of the undiscovered deficit. Every time I try something new the question lingers - is this what I can't do? So far, so good. And the fear is forced back a little bit each time.
Fear of the simple things. Coughs, sneezes, bending over too far, standing up too quickly, laughing, the list is endless. So far, so good. And the fear is forced back a little more.
Fear of what people might think. The downside of coming through the stroke as well as I have is that I'm not obviously "recovering". I look a little tired but that's it. Inside I know I'm still only about 70-75%. The headaches continue. I know I'm still healing. It might be easier to deal with other folks expectations if I just didn't look quite so damn healthy, lol. And laughter helps push the fear back a little further.
Fear that a full recovery might not mean a "full recovery". Which means what? That I won't be able to return to the activities I enjoyed before at the level I could do them before. My relative youth and good health before the stroke are big plusses for me in this.
In the end I can let the fears control me or I can control them. There is an old American Indian tale about the two wolves that battle inside us all. One is fear and envy and anger. The other is joy, peace, love and hope. The one that wins is the one that gets fed.
I chose not to feed my fears.
Fear.
Not a debilitating, paralyzing kind of fear. Just a nagging irritant that colors everything I do. The good news on my stroke was that there was no obvious physical frailty that led to it. The bad news in that is that I have no idea what "caused" it.
And a tiny little voice from the darkest regions of my mind whispers "Or what might make it happen again".
There's nothing rational in this but then that's the nature of fear, isn't it?
Fear of the undiscovered deficit. Every time I try something new the question lingers - is this what I can't do? So far, so good. And the fear is forced back a little bit each time.
Fear of the simple things. Coughs, sneezes, bending over too far, standing up too quickly, laughing, the list is endless. So far, so good. And the fear is forced back a little more.
Fear of what people might think. The downside of coming through the stroke as well as I have is that I'm not obviously "recovering". I look a little tired but that's it. Inside I know I'm still only about 70-75%. The headaches continue. I know I'm still healing. It might be easier to deal with other folks expectations if I just didn't look quite so damn healthy, lol. And laughter helps push the fear back a little further.
Fear that a full recovery might not mean a "full recovery". Which means what? That I won't be able to return to the activities I enjoyed before at the level I could do them before. My relative youth and good health before the stroke are big plusses for me in this.
In the end I can let the fears control me or I can control them. There is an old American Indian tale about the two wolves that battle inside us all. One is fear and envy and anger. The other is joy, peace, love and hope. The one that wins is the one that gets fed.
I chose not to feed my fears.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Stroke stories - At Home
To be honest I wasn't going to do one on being home.
Mostly because being at home is BORING!
But it part of the process. Trying to find some kind of normal again. Simply trying to find some kind of comfortable position. Sitting, standing and lying down are all uncomfortable for one reason or another.
I think I wanted to avoid it because it's also uncomfortable mentally. I have to go back to where "it" happened. There was a certain fear and trepidation when I first went back into my office at home and sat down in front of the computer. There, in that chair, facing that monitor. And nothing happened. It's a desk in a room with a computer.
In those moments I think a little more of me healed.
Home heals me in other ways. I can catch up with the world a little bit. I came home to a stack of get well cards from family and friends. It was a wonderful gift. I get great support from the comments on Facebook and here on the blog as well. I'm trying not to overdo anything but I've had a couple visitors and talked to a couple folks on the phone. And a little more of me is healed.
I can begin to do things for myself slowly. Make a meal, get up and down to get things for myself. Each day a little more. Today's victory was vacuuming the carpets on the first floor. Another step towards normal, another step towards healing.
It's also a time of humility. Being taken care of at the hospital is one thing. To realize that you can't do certain things yet and will need help at home is different, at least for me. My lady wife has suffered through a great many illnesses over the last almost 30 years. It was my role to care for her in my own fumbling way. I was the healthy one. Now I had to ask her to come and dry my feet after a shower. To help me dry my hair, to dress myself in part because I couldn't lean down far enough to get my pants started. Her great love of me has shown through in the sacrifices she's made over the last 10 days. My ego has had to humble itself to accept those acts of love. They are freely offered gifts. The impact of them has been greater than I expected. I have been blessed with a true partner and soul mate.
So the pills every four hours routine continues. The body feels a little stronger every day. I've been given leave to "take as much time as I need to heal" from my job but part of me is itching to get back at it. The compromise is that I'll work just a couple hours a day, from home, for a week then look at going back full time. It's the compromise position between my feeling that I'm slacking and others feeling that I'm in too big a rush. If it wears me out too quickly I swear here publicly that I will slow down again.
I promise.
Every day I heal a little more.
Mostly because being at home is BORING!
But it part of the process. Trying to find some kind of normal again. Simply trying to find some kind of comfortable position. Sitting, standing and lying down are all uncomfortable for one reason or another.
I think I wanted to avoid it because it's also uncomfortable mentally. I have to go back to where "it" happened. There was a certain fear and trepidation when I first went back into my office at home and sat down in front of the computer. There, in that chair, facing that monitor. And nothing happened. It's a desk in a room with a computer.
In those moments I think a little more of me healed.
Home heals me in other ways. I can catch up with the world a little bit. I came home to a stack of get well cards from family and friends. It was a wonderful gift. I get great support from the comments on Facebook and here on the blog as well. I'm trying not to overdo anything but I've had a couple visitors and talked to a couple folks on the phone. And a little more of me is healed.
I can begin to do things for myself slowly. Make a meal, get up and down to get things for myself. Each day a little more. Today's victory was vacuuming the carpets on the first floor. Another step towards normal, another step towards healing.
It's also a time of humility. Being taken care of at the hospital is one thing. To realize that you can't do certain things yet and will need help at home is different, at least for me. My lady wife has suffered through a great many illnesses over the last almost 30 years. It was my role to care for her in my own fumbling way. I was the healthy one. Now I had to ask her to come and dry my feet after a shower. To help me dry my hair, to dress myself in part because I couldn't lean down far enough to get my pants started. Her great love of me has shown through in the sacrifices she's made over the last 10 days. My ego has had to humble itself to accept those acts of love. They are freely offered gifts. The impact of them has been greater than I expected. I have been blessed with a true partner and soul mate.
So the pills every four hours routine continues. The body feels a little stronger every day. I've been given leave to "take as much time as I need to heal" from my job but part of me is itching to get back at it. The compromise is that I'll work just a couple hours a day, from home, for a week then look at going back full time. It's the compromise position between my feeling that I'm slacking and others feeling that I'm in too big a rush. If it wears me out too quickly I swear here publicly that I will slow down again.
I promise.
Every day I heal a little more.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Stroke stories - in the Hospital
When they saw the bleed in my brain at Westfield they decided to send me to St. Vincent's in Erie which is the closest stroke center. Normally they would put me on a chopper and life flight me. Because of the tornado watch everything was grounded. So I got my first ever ride in the back of ambulance (two!) but missed out on my first helicopter flight. Ah well, I wouldn't have been able to enjoy it anyway.
Donna and Rachel tell me that the ambulance told them NOT to try and follow them. It then promptly took off like a bat out of hell. That's fine with me.
Entry to the Intensive Care Unit at St. Vincent's is a bit of blur. I remember lots of good nurses and folks helping to get as comfortable as they could. It was also the beginning of what became a series of surprises for them.
I was a stroke patient so they were going to put in a catheter.
Oh no they weren't.
Those who know me well will probably not be surprised that even in the middle of a stroke I was not only willing to argue with the staff but that I could convince them to give me a chance to do it my way. My ongoing success with the urinal bottle was something of head shaker for them for the rest of my stay. Apparently most guys have trouble with this process. If anyone's interested I can send any guy facing hospitalization with simple clear instructions. LOL.
The other surprise was my lack of "deficits", all those problems we normally associate with stroke. No weakness, no blackouts, no verbal problems, no memory loss. There's no real explanation for it. Was it a miracle? I can't argue with that. The mortality rate for this kind of stroke is actually pretty high so just the fact that I'm sitting typing this out is a miracle. Divine intervention or "winning the lottery"? Don't know. I'm thankful for whatever grace has come my way.
There was, of course, the constant routine of pills and blood draws including all night long. It's exhausting.
Beyond that my biggest problem was boredom. I felt pretty good (drugs help). In fact I was thinking about going right back to work the following Monday. Today I know how foolish that really was. If I'm lucky I'll be doing some light office work NEXT week. One day at a time.
The best news was from the CT angiogram where they run a catheter up into my head and release dye to take a look at the various blood vessels looking for any other problems. The test takes about 30-45 minutes but you have to lay flat afterwards for 6 hours. And you can't move your right leg much at all. Fun. The good news was that the initial test was all good. Even better was that since the test is basically a complete survey of the blood vessels. I now know that I have no abnormalities, no obvious potential future problems hiding up there. And that there's no greater likelihood that I would have another event like this than there was that I had this one. Statistically insignificant. I can live with that.
What comes next? I'll share my thoughts soon.
Donna and Rachel tell me that the ambulance told them NOT to try and follow them. It then promptly took off like a bat out of hell. That's fine with me.
Entry to the Intensive Care Unit at St. Vincent's is a bit of blur. I remember lots of good nurses and folks helping to get as comfortable as they could. It was also the beginning of what became a series of surprises for them.
I was a stroke patient so they were going to put in a catheter.
Oh no they weren't.
Those who know me well will probably not be surprised that even in the middle of a stroke I was not only willing to argue with the staff but that I could convince them to give me a chance to do it my way. My ongoing success with the urinal bottle was something of head shaker for them for the rest of my stay. Apparently most guys have trouble with this process. If anyone's interested I can send any guy facing hospitalization with simple clear instructions. LOL.
The other surprise was my lack of "deficits", all those problems we normally associate with stroke. No weakness, no blackouts, no verbal problems, no memory loss. There's no real explanation for it. Was it a miracle? I can't argue with that. The mortality rate for this kind of stroke is actually pretty high so just the fact that I'm sitting typing this out is a miracle. Divine intervention or "winning the lottery"? Don't know. I'm thankful for whatever grace has come my way.
There was, of course, the constant routine of pills and blood draws including all night long. It's exhausting.
Beyond that my biggest problem was boredom. I felt pretty good (drugs help). In fact I was thinking about going right back to work the following Monday. Today I know how foolish that really was. If I'm lucky I'll be doing some light office work NEXT week. One day at a time.
The best news was from the CT angiogram where they run a catheter up into my head and release dye to take a look at the various blood vessels looking for any other problems. The test takes about 30-45 minutes but you have to lay flat afterwards for 6 hours. And you can't move your right leg much at all. Fun. The good news was that the initial test was all good. Even better was that since the test is basically a complete survey of the blood vessels. I now know that I have no abnormalities, no obvious potential future problems hiding up there. And that there's no greater likelihood that I would have another event like this than there was that I had this one. Statistically insignificant. I can live with that.
What comes next? I'll share my thoughts soon.
Monday, November 1, 2010
So That's What A Stroke Feels Like
That's been one of my favorite lines over the last couple years. When things would get a little crazy I'd just put my hand to my forehead and say “So this is what a stroke feels like”. Always gets a laugh.
I won't be saying that ever again.
On Tuesday October 26 around 5:40 PM I was sitting at my computer in my home office.
Everything was perfectly normal.
Everything was perfectly normal.
Then someone threw a switch. And it felt like the monster from “Alien” was trying to come out of the middle of my skull. I later found out that a small vein near the center of my brain broke open and blood pumped into my my brain. It was the worst pain I've ever experienced.
At that moment we were actually under a tornado watch and I thought it might be related to a sudden drop in air pressure near the storm. I went down stairs to look around and grab a couple aspirin. Then I lay down. Within minutes it became apparent that something was WRONG. The pain actually got worse. Then the nausea. I grabbed my phones and ran to the bathroom. I called 911, then called my wife and waited slumped over the toilet. That's where they found me, curled up in a ball on the floor.
(Yes, I know I'm pretty deep into TMI territory here. Bear with me)
By the time the ambulance arrived (thank you Mayville Fire Rescue, you are the best!). They got my information, got me on the gurney, left a note for my family and got me rolling to the hospital in Westfield.
By this time I'm terrified in addition to being in great pain. Hell, terrified doesn't even come close. I know a stroke has to be high on the list of answers to the question “What the hell is going on?”. A few years ago my mother died of a stroke. And I don't want to die. And it hurts so much. Just beyond terror is insanity and I got closer than I care to ever be again.
We arrive at the hospital. The lights had been giving me trouble in the ambulance so we had a towel draped across my eyes. They wheeled me in and I heard the ambulance crew tell the ED staff the basics of the case. The next words I remember were some of the best I'd hear that day.
“Jay, it's Dena”
Dena is a long time friend who just happened to be on duty that night. She took my hand and suddenly I had a small stable place to hang on to in the midst of the nightmare. It's what I needed.
(A moment to thank all the folks who helped during this. I was too far gone to remember much of the ambulance crew but I think it was Joyce and Josh riding in back with me. Then Cathy and Dena and Michael Woltz the PA, when I got to St. Vincent's the list of nurses became incredibly long. I know I've forgotten some, especially when I first arrived, but special blessings on Jackie, the two Kims, Patty, Diane, Shauna and Kelly who were with through my time in Intensive Care. Also Drs. Romero (Neuro) and Zeto(internist I think) who were also great)
Things changed once I got to the hospital. And that was good. I still have more to this story I want to share but that comes later.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Football Pool
On the list of "Why do these things?" is playing a football pool.
It's not a betting pool because 1: I'm note very good and 2: I'm cheap.
So I play in a for fun pool sponsored by the St.Thomas Youth Group in Oshkosh WI. It's fun and keeps me in touch with the NFL for reasons that I'm not quite sure I understand. The Steelers make me happy, the Bills make me sad. What more could I need?
So far this year I haven't been tearing up the pool. My first three weeks were pretty good and I was staying in the top 20 (there are currently 79 of us in the pool). The last three weeks have been pretty awful, with the week before last being especially so.
At the moment my picking percentage is only 52.3 versus the tops in the pool - 66.6%. Curiously that person is in 27th place, 10 ahead of me. The reason why he is in 27 while the first place person is only picking 61.12% is the other tricky part of the pool.
This is a straight win/lose pool, no point spread. BUT! You have to assign a point value to each pick. This week as an example there are 14 games. So you value your picks from 14 to 1. Picks you're most confident in you give high values, low confidence low values. And it's point total that that counts toward the winner. To our current leader has 499 points to my 432. Which means that she (all hail Mary Pfahlert!) is better at getting her high point games right. Which is the winning strategy.
So here are my picks:
14 Baltimore over Buffalo
13 New Orleans over Cleveland
12 Kansas City over Jacksonville
11 Denver over Oakland
10 Pittsburgh over Miami
9 Seattle over Arizona
8 San Francisco over Carolina (SF has disappointed me all season long)
7 Atlanta over Cincinnati (Ditto the Bengals)
6 New England over San Diego
5 St. Louis over Tampa Bay (TB bad at home and against any kind of quality team, StL is a team on the rise)
4 Washington over Chicago
3 Philadelphia over Tennessee
2 Minnesota over Green Bay (GB too many injuries, Favre can ignore the "stuff" in his life on the field)
1 New York Giants over Dallas (Cowboys have to show me some discipline before I believe)
If my top two picks go bad I may stop watching football. I'm a little nervous about # 12 & 8. We'll see. Needless to say 5, 4, 3, 2, & 1 I see as toss ups.
You don't even want to know my system. It's some gut feeling, some checking with experts, some consideration of division game (bad), injuries, better quality QB and blind luck. It might be interesting to just let the computer pick them at random (an option in our pool).
My goal each year in the pool is to stay in the top 20 and my hope is to finish in the top 10. I've done the first a couple years (not last year) and never done the second for the season. I've finished in the top 10 for a week a couple times, including week three of this year. To do that I need 85 points or more. 100 points is always a good week. This week I'd be happy if I could hit 90 or more. To have any chance I've got to keep above 70 every week from here on out. Total possible this week I believe is 105.
It's not a betting pool because 1: I'm note very good and 2: I'm cheap.
So I play in a for fun pool sponsored by the St.Thomas Youth Group in Oshkosh WI. It's fun and keeps me in touch with the NFL for reasons that I'm not quite sure I understand. The Steelers make me happy, the Bills make me sad. What more could I need?
So far this year I haven't been tearing up the pool. My first three weeks were pretty good and I was staying in the top 20 (there are currently 79 of us in the pool). The last three weeks have been pretty awful, with the week before last being especially so.
At the moment my picking percentage is only 52.3 versus the tops in the pool - 66.6%. Curiously that person is in 27th place, 10 ahead of me. The reason why he is in 27 while the first place person is only picking 61.12% is the other tricky part of the pool.
This is a straight win/lose pool, no point spread. BUT! You have to assign a point value to each pick. This week as an example there are 14 games. So you value your picks from 14 to 1. Picks you're most confident in you give high values, low confidence low values. And it's point total that that counts toward the winner. To our current leader has 499 points to my 432. Which means that she (all hail Mary Pfahlert!) is better at getting her high point games right. Which is the winning strategy.
So here are my picks:
14 Baltimore over Buffalo
13 New Orleans over Cleveland
12 Kansas City over Jacksonville
11 Denver over Oakland
10 Pittsburgh over Miami
9 Seattle over Arizona
8 San Francisco over Carolina (SF has disappointed me all season long)
7 Atlanta over Cincinnati (Ditto the Bengals)
6 New England over San Diego
5 St. Louis over Tampa Bay (TB bad at home and against any kind of quality team, StL is a team on the rise)
4 Washington over Chicago
3 Philadelphia over Tennessee
2 Minnesota over Green Bay (GB too many injuries, Favre can ignore the "stuff" in his life on the field)
1 New York Giants over Dallas (Cowboys have to show me some discipline before I believe)
If my top two picks go bad I may stop watching football. I'm a little nervous about # 12 & 8. We'll see. Needless to say 5, 4, 3, 2, & 1 I see as toss ups.
You don't even want to know my system. It's some gut feeling, some checking with experts, some consideration of division game (bad), injuries, better quality QB and blind luck. It might be interesting to just let the computer pick them at random (an option in our pool).
My goal each year in the pool is to stay in the top 20 and my hope is to finish in the top 10. I've done the first a couple years (not last year) and never done the second for the season. I've finished in the top 10 for a week a couple times, including week three of this year. To do that I need 85 points or more. 100 points is always a good week. This week I'd be happy if I could hit 90 or more. To have any chance I've got to keep above 70 every week from here on out. Total possible this week I believe is 105.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
National Banned Books Week
The last week in September is the usual time to celebrate banned books. Yes, celebrate them. I do not support banning books. Any books. Having said that I suddenly realize the problem I always have with absolute statements. A book lauding raoe or children's pornography may need to be suppressed. But such books are rare and the books most commonly banned have nothing like that involved. That isn't to deny that some books are problematic or may not be appropriate for readers of certain ages. But in a free society banning books is just a bad move.
So my celebration will be to note those books commonly banned which I have read. I am proud to present the list below:
Catcher in the Rye
Harry Potter series
The Grapes of Wrath
To Kill A Mockingbird (one of my all time favorite books)
The Lord of the Flies
1984
Of Mice and Men
Catch-22
Brave New World
Animal Farm
Slaughterhouse Five
Call of the Wild
Lord of the Rings trilogy
In Cold Blood
Cat's Cradle
A Separate Peace
Rabbit Run (actually disliked this book quite a bit)
His Dark Materials trilogy
Fahrenheit 451
A Prayer for Owen Meany
A Wrinkle in Time (loved these books)
It strikes me that this list is way too short. In the next year I will try to read several more commonly banned books.
Peace
So my celebration will be to note those books commonly banned which I have read. I am proud to present the list below:
Catcher in the Rye
Harry Potter series
The Grapes of Wrath
To Kill A Mockingbird (one of my all time favorite books)
The Lord of the Flies
1984
Of Mice and Men
Catch-22
Brave New World
Animal Farm
Slaughterhouse Five
Call of the Wild
Lord of the Rings trilogy
In Cold Blood
Cat's Cradle
A Separate Peace
Rabbit Run (actually disliked this book quite a bit)
His Dark Materials trilogy
Fahrenheit 451
A Prayer for Owen Meany
A Wrinkle in Time (loved these books)
It strikes me that this list is way too short. In the next year I will try to read several more commonly banned books.
Peace
Monday, September 27, 2010
What I did On my Summer Vacation - Travel
Last but not least. We did get a bit of travel in this summer. We knew going in that there wasn't going to be a "big trip" this year but we had some fun with some little ones.
Found out that an old college friend was playing over in North East so we went to check his band out. Rachel got the chance to play with the Celtic Hooligans. That's her with our friend Murph!
We are very lucky to have a wonderful local micro-brewery. There was a fund raising event for the local Arts Council radio station with music, brews and barbecue. Also a chance to talk with a variety of great people.
I love baseball and three of the Pittsburgh Pirates farm clubs play teams in our area. So we caught the Indianapolis squad in Buffalo (left), plus the Altoona Curve in Erie and the State College Spikes in Jamestown. Three very nice stadiums and a good time at all three games.
Buffalo has a thriving and excellent theater community. After all these years I FINALLY got up to see Shakespeare in the Park. An all female cast of "MacBeth" that was actually quite excellent. Rachel had a friend in the show and we saw several folks we know there! Definitely make that a more regular part of our summers.
We also took a couple days and went up to Niagara on the Lake in Ontario. Didn't get a chance to check out the Shaw Festival (also a future plan) but wandered around did some shopping, checked out the local wineries and just relaxed. It was a wonderful couple days.
Had some fun with several fireworks displays - Fourth of July, at a ball park and Labor Day!
Great Celtic Festival right here in Mayville!
Had a trip to beautiful downtown Newark NJ!
Found out that an old college friend was playing over in North East so we went to check his band out. Rachel got the chance to play with the Celtic Hooligans. That's her with our friend Murph!
We are very lucky to have a wonderful local micro-brewery. There was a fund raising event for the local Arts Council radio station with music, brews and barbecue. Also a chance to talk with a variety of great people.
I love baseball and three of the Pittsburgh Pirates farm clubs play teams in our area. So we caught the Indianapolis squad in Buffalo (left), plus the Altoona Curve in Erie and the State College Spikes in Jamestown. Three very nice stadiums and a good time at all three games.
Buffalo has a thriving and excellent theater community. After all these years I FINALLY got up to see Shakespeare in the Park. An all female cast of "MacBeth" that was actually quite excellent. Rachel had a friend in the show and we saw several folks we know there! Definitely make that a more regular part of our summers.
We also took a couple days and went up to Niagara on the Lake in Ontario. Didn't get a chance to check out the Shaw Festival (also a future plan) but wandered around did some shopping, checked out the local wineries and just relaxed. It was a wonderful couple days.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
What I did On my Summer Vacation - Books
I've got to get this series done before snow falls!
I did a LOT of reading this summer. It was actually kind of nice even though a lot of what I read didn't overwhelm me. The majority of my reading was actually books that I picked up at the annual book sale at my local library. For example:
I read two Andrew Greeley books - Virgin and Martyr, and The Final Planet. The two books share one thing beyond their author. They both move into areas that were new for me in reading Greeley. I am a HUGE fan of his Bishop Blackie books. Those are fun mystery novels that center on the short unobtrusive assistant bishop from the Archdiocese of Chicago. The two books this summer were very different. Virgin and Martyr Iin which John Blackwood Ryan makes his first appearance in a Greeley novel) was much more serious and delved very strongly into politics, especially church politics. It was pretty well written and I was engrossed the whole way through. On the other hand The Final Planet is a foray into science fiction for Father Greeley. I know it sold very well and some folks like it a lot. As a story it's much closer to the feel of the Bishop Blackie novels. As a science fiction novel it's incredibly amateurish. Liked the characters but the story is just rather juvenile and simplistic. I doubt I'd read any other sci-fi books (like The God Game).
I would lump three other books together even though they're written by different authors. Midnight Runner by Jack Higgins, The Secret of Excalibur by Andy McDermott, and Total Control by David Balducci. The best of the lot is probably the Baldacci book. It's a pretty standard thriller similar to other Baldacci books I've read. Right behind it is the Higgins book. Really if you've read one Jack Higgins book you've read them all. But they're comfortable, the action blasts along and they're fun. Last and really rather least is the book by Andy McDermott. He does a pretty good job keeping the story moving but the plot and story have so many holes in it I spent a lot of time just shaking my head. I'm truly amazed at the kind of critical raves that these books have gotten. All three kept me involved to the end but I wouldn't ever consider reading them again. On the other hand I WOULD certainly read all three of the authors again.
Same goes for Harry Harrison's "The Stainless Steel Rat Joins the Circus". I read a lot of this series back in high school. They are parodies of the secret agent genre like James Bond. They were fun and Harrison likes playing with words which I enjoy. I don't know if this is just the lowest rung of the series or I've just outgrown them but this was pretty lame.
So did I read anything good this summer? Oh yes.
After watching the movie Casino Royale I went back and read the original. And was surprised at the quality of the writing. I've read all the Ian Fleming Bond stories and most of the ones written after Fleming's death. The stories are told concisely and move quickly along with just the right amount of twists and surprises. I've gone on to read several more including Diamonds Are Forever, Live and Let Die, From Russia with Love, and Dr. No. While dated in many ways including Bond's attitude towards the women in his life (which is not as simplistic as some critics would have you think) the stories are still very good reads.
I checked out a V.I. Warshawsky book by Sara Paretsky called "Hard Time". I've read at least one other of this series and liked it. But like that previous book I came away from it feeling like it was a good read but not blown away. If another one wanders across my path I'll read it but I don't think I'll go looking for one. Can't tell you why.
Read my first ever Dick Francis story, "Reflex". I've known about Francis (who passed away earlier this year) for years but just never got around to reading him. Don't know why, I love mysteries and he's been extremely successful for years. So I jumped right into this one and really enjoyed it. The book takes place at the horse racing track where Francis has a great feel. I'm looking forward to trying another.
Now the best book I read this summer. Curiously the first 100 pages or so (maybe more than that) of the book I didn't much like it at all. Again Amy Tan is an author that I knew of but had never read. So "The Kitchen God's Wife" was a totally new adventure for me. Once the story shifted away from the American story line to China this book just took off for me. I've spoken to a couple people who had the exact same reaction. Really enjoyed it and I will certainly take a look at reading more of her stuff.
So it was a fun summer of reading. I'm looking forward to trying new stuff in the fall.
I did a LOT of reading this summer. It was actually kind of nice even though a lot of what I read didn't overwhelm me. The majority of my reading was actually books that I picked up at the annual book sale at my local library. For example:
I read two Andrew Greeley books - Virgin and Martyr, and The Final Planet. The two books share one thing beyond their author. They both move into areas that were new for me in reading Greeley. I am a HUGE fan of his Bishop Blackie books. Those are fun mystery novels that center on the short unobtrusive assistant bishop from the Archdiocese of Chicago. The two books this summer were very different. Virgin and Martyr Iin which John Blackwood Ryan makes his first appearance in a Greeley novel) was much more serious and delved very strongly into politics, especially church politics. It was pretty well written and I was engrossed the whole way through. On the other hand The Final Planet is a foray into science fiction for Father Greeley. I know it sold very well and some folks like it a lot. As a story it's much closer to the feel of the Bishop Blackie novels. As a science fiction novel it's incredibly amateurish. Liked the characters but the story is just rather juvenile and simplistic. I doubt I'd read any other sci-fi books (like The God Game).
I would lump three other books together even though they're written by different authors. Midnight Runner by Jack Higgins, The Secret of Excalibur by Andy McDermott, and Total Control by David Balducci. The best of the lot is probably the Baldacci book. It's a pretty standard thriller similar to other Baldacci books I've read. Right behind it is the Higgins book. Really if you've read one Jack Higgins book you've read them all. But they're comfortable, the action blasts along and they're fun. Last and really rather least is the book by Andy McDermott. He does a pretty good job keeping the story moving but the plot and story have so many holes in it I spent a lot of time just shaking my head. I'm truly amazed at the kind of critical raves that these books have gotten. All three kept me involved to the end but I wouldn't ever consider reading them again. On the other hand I WOULD certainly read all three of the authors again.
Same goes for Harry Harrison's "The Stainless Steel Rat Joins the Circus". I read a lot of this series back in high school. They are parodies of the secret agent genre like James Bond. They were fun and Harrison likes playing with words which I enjoy. I don't know if this is just the lowest rung of the series or I've just outgrown them but this was pretty lame.
So did I read anything good this summer? Oh yes.
After watching the movie Casino Royale I went back and read the original. And was surprised at the quality of the writing. I've read all the Ian Fleming Bond stories and most of the ones written after Fleming's death. The stories are told concisely and move quickly along with just the right amount of twists and surprises. I've gone on to read several more including Diamonds Are Forever, Live and Let Die, From Russia with Love, and Dr. No. While dated in many ways including Bond's attitude towards the women in his life (which is not as simplistic as some critics would have you think) the stories are still very good reads.
I checked out a V.I. Warshawsky book by Sara Paretsky called "Hard Time". I've read at least one other of this series and liked it. But like that previous book I came away from it feeling like it was a good read but not blown away. If another one wanders across my path I'll read it but I don't think I'll go looking for one. Can't tell you why.
Read my first ever Dick Francis story, "Reflex". I've known about Francis (who passed away earlier this year) for years but just never got around to reading him. Don't know why, I love mysteries and he's been extremely successful for years. So I jumped right into this one and really enjoyed it. The book takes place at the horse racing track where Francis has a great feel. I'm looking forward to trying another.
Now the best book I read this summer. Curiously the first 100 pages or so (maybe more than that) of the book I didn't much like it at all. Again Amy Tan is an author that I knew of but had never read. So "The Kitchen God's Wife" was a totally new adventure for me. Once the story shifted away from the American story line to China this book just took off for me. I've spoken to a couple people who had the exact same reaction. Really enjoyed it and I will certainly take a look at reading more of her stuff.
So it was a fun summer of reading. I'm looking forward to trying new stuff in the fall.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)