JUNE 2022

 

2 June

Lou hilarious last night describing her granddaughter's short shorts and where they were going!!

“but its logic is almost relentlessly affirmative. Her doubts about the ‘noble self-image’ might be taken to reflect back on the book's underlying urge to resist history–to resist even the details of ordinary biographical information about her childhood, her parents, and adult relationships–in favour of an ultimately redemptive commentary on the images in which she invests psychic potency.”

— Eternity's Sunrise: A Way of Keeping a Diary by Marion Milner

Do we take up Marion Milner's challenge and go all out relentlessly affirmative??  

Lisa, Robert and Lydia looked well last night for dinner at the Church Street Cafe.  Nice to see Lydia has a vet job this summer and is off to vet uni in the fall.  Ryan will take a year off to gather his forces.  What to say about the production of Grease?  Energetic.  Va remembered the Little Theater from childhood days.  

ncolloff (@Nicholas Colloff) Tweeted: Blofeld writes of the sadness of his memories given the red tide that swept them away but, as his one time pupil, Red Pine discovered in the 80s some hermits had survived, often hidden in plain sight, showing that the water that softly yields can be the stronger element. 

“We take almost all the decisive steps in our lives as a result of slight inner adjustments of which we are barely conscious.”

—

W.G. Sebald, AUSTERLITZ

The silk paper is wonderful. I think it's meant for wedding invitations and scrapbookers, hence the only size available is 8 1/2 by 11. I'd get some larger sizes to what else is possible.

Grease is a crowd pleaser. Theatres put it on to draw in people. They're doing Spamalot here next month. I'll probably go see it. I know nothing about it. Even Wikipedia isn't helpful.

They did Grease here a few summers ago and I just thought the core group of performers are all over 40. That'll be a laughable show, but theyy went with teenagers and twentysomethings. I didn't go. This kid Brent had the lead. He's just started college. He was a chorus girl in The Producers. He's quite funny and fun to watch.

My dad sold his car. My mother won that argument. Thankfully. 

Safe travel

—-

Val and Leslie arrive at or before noon today, spent last night in Las Vegas, NM.  6 June

10 June  Friday

We are charging along after several days in Scottsdale where my brother in law is struggling with his TBI. He and I did have some chuckles over some physics jokes. But, progress,big it comes, prises to be sloooow.

Now in CA central valley homing in on the Bay Area this afternoon.

Also super to see and hug you two after all these years.

Best,

Val

——

Jeff picked me up at Hannaford last night after the car conked out.  Today

got a second charge and drove it around for two hours.  George came and

took me to the Hannaford lot.  Bought take-out from Bistro.  Catching up on GH.  

14 June  Anniversary Day  53rd   lunch yesterday at Polly's.  Today bought

three hanging flower plants for outside.  

Let everything happen to you, beauty and terror; just keep going. No feeling is final. -Rilke

everything somehow flows over into you, all boundaries gone  827  Musil

18 June 

blow me over, this note from Terry and I'm excited and hoping that it does happen——i had a nice chat with Virginia today in Hannaford

you and i now have similar responsibilities

 Can you get away for a couple of hours some afternoon

 for a libation and conversation with a few others [ Joel Funk, Bob Fitzpatrick and Dan Moore ]

here on my back patio?

Terry

read the little book of letters Nicholas bought and now think I should re-read all of Henry Miller!  edited and published by R something Jackson—

the third writer Ben Abrahamson was a famous bookseller in Chicago!!! a

bookseller, not even an agent or publisher . . . .   Houghton is the mystical romantic, Miller the incurable romantic and Abramson the realistic romantic.  Miller found Houghton's books captivating and uncannily linked to his own works and visions.  

On Fri, Jun 17, 2022 at 12:16 PM val vveirs wrote:

Hi there, tropical gents,

Leslie and I spent a day with an old friend, Virginia, staying with her and her husband, Bob, in Albuquerque.

Here is the need:  Virginia had a stroke 20 years ago which disabled her left side.  She has Bob, (Saint Robert, she properly calls him) to help her in all her daily needs. Virginia gets needed exercise by walking.  This is done with Bob supporting her on the left while Virginia uses a cane in her strong right hand.  Another way that Virginia can walk is by supporting herself with her right hand holding a 'proper' shopping cart.  She has walked around many a big-box store, those with 'proper' shopping carts.  What does 'proper' mean?  It seems that a 'proper' shopping cart allows Virginia to hold tight to the handle and the cart does not allow sideways motion of the rear wheels.  Also, there can't be drink-holders on the handle.  These Starbucks innovations wiped out one of Virginia haunts.

So the question is, what would it take to invent a one-handed, side-stabled walker with a seat that the one-handed operator could somehow swivel into and out of.  The one-hand is fully engaged in critical support and has no extra facility for other actions such as brakes. It would be cool if the walker was stable both forward/backward and sideways but could move forward (and maybe not backward) when Virginia wanted it to. Maybe she could speak to it or wink at it or maybe the walker stays, say, 10cm ahead of her and when she steps forward or backward it moves forward or backward a bit also.  Maybe the walker would not ever allow much acceleration so that the walker would support her if she started to fall or stumble or something. The seat likely isn't the most important part of this contraption.

So, that is a version of the technology need.  What do you two creative fellows think might be done?

Cheers from the Oregon shore,

Val

p.s.  Last evening's Greenish Flash

——-

22  yesterday afternoon at Terry Downs, libations on the back patio, Terry

held forth, Joel Funk, Bob Fitz, and Dan    who looks and acts a bit like John Elkins and sure enough grew up in the county in PA north of Hagerstown!,  Franklin.  Assured Terry in email this morning sure willing to do it again in a month.  But am I?  didn't think so last night.  

“And in his books, where a figure has achieved higher (mystical) powers, it is a matter for humility and care, for these are elusive and potentially perilous: “The soul in each of us is like a seed in that only in silence, in darkness, and in secrecy can it begin its ascent towards perfection.””

Editor Mark Valentine— This Was Ivor Trent by Claude Houghton

great lunch today at Tuckerbox and then neurologist George Culler IV from Dallas and Baylor.  Wife, veterinarian, brought them here, she found her perfect job, and they just had twin eight months ago, Madeline and Natalie.  We gave him our complete workover and he passed with flying colors.  He approved of switching to generic Lamotrigine, said (agreed with me) that

the caution against generic is a generational thing and younger doctors agree that generic is better than it was twenty years ago and safer.   

just called expresscripts, $300. for 90 days instead of the $2000.00 in earlier years.  

I agree with you and Rich.  You look younger there than I remember you, and  so does Rich, who I remember in 1960 looking heavier at Notre Dame.   You also looked heavier in my memory, and even your dad who looks younger than I remember.   I can't say about yr mom for some reason, but Ann also looks younger than I remember her, and of course, I didn't know any Garlitz before late 1959 or 1960......But thanks for the photo.   I enjoy looking at it, especially your skinny 1958 tie....P.   

——-

starting into the last week of June.  We've been here only two weeks and a day.  

waiting to see if Phil mentions that he's gotten wind of the new novel about Exeter.  Now that it has settled a bit more I can see it with more distance and begin to write a possible review.  Scanned a few reviews online and can see how poorly most reviewers read and understand.  Right on the heels of listening to the book Nicholas posts revival news of late 19th C writer Edward Carpenter.  Has not posted a blog article about him of yet but directs us to those by his friend Maria Popova.  

"Javier Marias says no one remembers the ending of a novel, that endings are not important.  So Continental a notion.  The ending of Galassi's novel delights and confuses by throwing most of the certainties we've collected in reading it into new uncertainty.  Conflicting interpretations?  welcome to a savvy novel about this age we are trying to survive.  

The ending Galassi leaves us with could be a replay of a school boy sick joke in form and tinge, and it can also be an expansive, all-embracing and joyful affirmation of love and sex in all of its variations, especially those found aeons ago when many prep schools were divided into those for girls and those for boys.  Coming of age story entwined dna-like with a coming out story, School Days looks backwards and forwards, spans two generations and portrays lovingly both teachers and students as well as the demons and tensions always  them.  

now I've lost interest in trying further to "review" the novel.  Carpenter's essay is so powerful I've got to let that settle in first too.  

lunch yesterday with Helen and Ted.  Today with Greg and Gerri.

July 1st 

They were distracted and upset by news that Greg's younger brother (by 11 years!) had fallen and taken ill in Keene, waiting for news of when he was transferred to DMH.  Not a pleasant lunch.  Lakehouse grill now off the list.  Pretty poor food, impossible to hear in the echoey room.  Gerri mentioned that she had gone through a heavy drinking period way back some time.  Her daughter, now 42, just did and went to AA.  In the family.  Daughter

now happily married and working in social work.  Is her name Annabelle

or something else Anna—-?  Greg very withdrawn and concerned, made little conversation.