HAPPY 4TH OF JULY; FIREWORKS

"Oh, say, can't you see?.." 
Well. its a good question! Every 4th of July Taka waits until about 8 o'clock in the evening and then herds us into the car, and off we go, to watch the fireworks. Only, the trouble is, we never can find a good spot to, actually, see them. In a true spirit of the American independence, we don't go to where the crowds of more pragmatic people gather. We look for a lonely hilltop that would be all ours. Over the years we found a lot of lonely hilltops, but never did see the fireworks yet. Time to time, we would catch a few dying sparkles in the sky,  before  turning back home. So, - no, to answer the question in the first sentence of this post, - we "can't see.." Not really!

CAT TROUBLE

     Since the moment that I came out of the bedroom today, the cats have been hounding me. Chickie's been trying every kind of meow in his vocabulary to tell me something. Sylvie's been nudging my arm with her soft plushy head and licking my elbow (tickles a lot!). I was quite busy and only got annoyed at their persistence. Taka, my husband came and sat down next to me during my short breather period, when I do my crossword puzzle and relax. He asked me to call the bank. I started to do so, the cats still vying for my attention and the robo-voices in the telephone trying my patience. Finally, it turned out that the bank agent wanted to talk to Taka, and I went through all that for nothing! I felt by that time like everybody at the house were hanging on my ears, pulling me in different directions to do their bidding. 
     Dr. Park, who has been buzzing around like a fly, came out of his and Roberta's bedroom and began to unravel the vacuum cord, throwing dirty looks at his sleeping wife. Knowing what will follow, I tried to interfere and tell him that Roberta didn't need to get up yet, her appointment was an hour and a half away. That didn't make any impression on him. The vacuum roared, Roberta woke up and was immediately in a bad mood. A couple of shrill words from her, and Dr. Park also began throwing a tantrum. What a morning!

GOLDIE

     Goldie came again just now. This time, she came right up to the glass door and stared into the living room. She seems to have put on some weight, and now looks even cuter. I told Sonny to give her some food, but, instead, Sonny picked up Chickie and threw him towards the door. Goldie lost her nerve and ran. Chickie gave us a dirty look and jumped on the couch. After I called Sonny a 'MEAN, MEAN MAN!", he went out and put some food in Goldie's bowl. 
     Now Chikie is sitting on the couch, his for-paws resting on the couch's arm, trying to regain some degree of dignity. Goldie finished eating and now is sitting with her back to the glass and licking herself, putting as much disdain into every lick as she can. Sylvie is watching her from inside and ruffles her fur and wrinkling her pretty nose. 
     I already published the latest post, when a white cat showed up and went right for the food. I wonder, did the word get out that we are feeding the strays?

CAT TROUBLE

     Poor Chicken Bone, he was only trying to get a look at Goldie (the cat for whom we leave some food outside the back window). Sylvie attacked him, like it was his fault that those pesky interlopers keep coming. She yowled and swiped him with her claws on the flank. He backed away in alarm, since he knows not to get into a fight with her. Even though she is smaller, she is also much testier. Like a real woman, she reserves a right to be moody and cranky. And its amazing, how fast that plump little body can move, once she is properly enraged! 

OLD MOVIES

     I love the old movies, don't you? Some people, like my husband, won't even watch the black and white flicks. For my kids, the movies from the 80s are the old movies! Just today, I enjoyed Moonstruck (Cher and Nickolas Cage )immensely . Sonny watched it with me for about half an hour and melted away into his room. But I'm talking now about really old pictures, from the 1930s, and 1940s, to start with. Good Bye, Mr. Chips is so decrepit that the images are blurred. I like Bogart's and Bacall's mysteries, but they are a little too long-winded for me, but her How to Marry a Millionaire, with Marilyn Monroe and Betty Grable, are a fabulous fun! In fact, I like almost all the movies with Marilyn, especially, Some Like It Hot, also with Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, my other favorite. I can quote from Some Like It Hot, I watched it so many times! 
     What else? Deborah Kerr is a wonderful actress. In Beloved Infidel she played F.Scott Fitzgerald's lover, and won me over with her talent and passion. Myrna Loy is great in the comedies, I especially like her and Cary Grant in Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House  and The Bachelor And The Bobby Soxer. She always looks so polished, yet there is a certain vulnerability and childish naivete in her characters.  
     Cary Grant and James Stewart are my favorite male actors. They are so multi-faceted in their performance, yet you can't imagine them being arty-farty. Have you ever seen Father Goose? Cary Grant is older there, but he gives his 100% in that WWII film. Its about an old alcoholic professor, an escapee into the bottle and the South Seas, finding a new purpose in life and a new love, while trying to save a group of school girls and their French teacher (Leslie Caron) from the Japanese. Every situation in that movie brings laughter to the lips and warmth to the heart.
   
   

LIFE IS A FUNNY THING; SONNY AND THE CLASS

     And, once again, "the best laid plans of mice and men" turn into the dust. 
     Sonny, who took the Art History for 3 units this summer, whom I drove to Berkeley and back, and who spent hours in the museum doing the class assignment, Sonny, because of whom today we made elaborate plans, that Sonny came to me in the morning and said that he is going to drop the class in Berkeley and the one online.
     I know, he is a grown guy and my input in his life will make little or no dent on his own decisions, but It would be nice to be heard and LISTENED TO, sometimes!

LIFE IS A FUNNY THING; BART AND I

     The BART workers are on strike. For those who don't know, what BART is, its a Subway, or a Metro system in the San Francisco area. The workers are on strike, BART's not working, how does Sonny go to college? 
     "Mommy will take me!", said he brightly. Of course she will, but who will pick him up? 
     I'll have to drop off Roberta and Dr. Park at the Physical Therapy, bring Sonny to Berkeley (30 minutes drive), come back, pick up Roberta and Dr. Park, bring them home and go get Sonny from Berkeley. In other words, today I'll earn my money!
     Ask me in the evening, if I'm OK!