In a phone conversation with Jill's mother Judy, we learned that John continues to have encouraging progress following his eye surgery. I do not understand the technicalities, but some disorder with arteries in John's eyes were deteriorating his sight. He had surgery not long ago and his recovery has so far been encouraging. We continue to keep his eyesight and recovery in our prayers.
Judy is still working on scheduling foot surgery to prevent severe arthritis from setting in. We do know that she will not be having her surgery in the Portland metro area. She may have it done soon, but it appears that her specialist has grown very busy of late so things are presently uncertain. If she has her surgery sooner, Jill would go to Medford (editorial note - the Medford visitors bureau website sure is underwhelming.. surf around anyway; it's a lovely town) and help out for a while with shopping, cooking and miscellaneous chores while both continue to recover.
A MOVIE ABOUT BILL AND JILL WEEKEND CHORES
Mom, Jill and I went over to the Compass Room at McMenamins Grand Lodge in Forest Grove yesterday evening to see the movie Holes. This is one of the movie theaters where you eat your dinner and/or drink beer while it's showing. I had chicken wings, Jill had the hummus plate and Mom had... a reuben sandwich. The movie, based on the popular 1998 book of the same name, is about people who spend all their time digging large holes for, seemingly, no apparent reason besides character-building. Life does imitate art!
Fact is, the movie is about a wrongly-accused young man who gets sent to a work camp in the desert to dig holes with other delinquents. Every day they must dig 5'x5' holes in scorching heat and if they find something "interesting" they get the rest of the day off. Never mind having to dodge the mean work boss Mr. Sir, the Warden, the camp counselor Mother, and the poisonous, 11-spotted yellow lizards. Along the way, we learn all sorts of history about the curse on our hero's family, the history of Camp Greenlake and gradually we learn of the real reason for all the digging. Our hero even escapes and eats
I was actually expecting a mind-numbingly stupid film aimed at adolescent boys, filled with fart jokes and other gross-out humor. In truth, the movie was a pretty intelligent film aimed at adolescent boys with only minor incidences of stinky feet, armpit and fart jokes (remember the onions?) with a remarkably intricate plot. I was pleasantly surprised. The weaving of historical subplots was quite astonishing, on par with what Seinfeld managed to accomplish in its season leading up to the "Jerry" pilot. The topic of racism in the 1800s, surprisingly integral to the story, was treated intelligently and reasonably honestly, though its setting in Texas made some of the interactions somewhat implausible for that era.
If anything, Jon Voight's Mr. Sir, possibly his Midnight Cowboy character after 30 years of letting himself go, is worth the price of admission. Bonus - no You sure do got a pretty mouth, boy or Squeal like a pig!
Let me tell you a story about a place where it never rains... The End!
Check it out when you get a chance.
TOM TRACKS DEAR, LONG-LOST, CHILDHOOD FRIENDS
It appears Tom has managed to find updates on his old childhood buddies, Brent and Chad (Curtis). Tom emailed me yesterday with links to their reasonably current whereabouts:
Brent: Brent used to play basketball with Tom in Boys Club and Hanshew Jr. High teams - take the link and note the world's ugliest mosquito sculpture still on Hanshew's front lawn. Brent went on to have a pretty respectable college career. Apparently, in December of 2002, Brent's wife (I thought he was divorced.. Tom?) Jennifer found a wallet on the ground full of money, credit cards and identification. It turns out it was a sting operation by a local paper to (dis)prove the honesty of Anchorage residents. Their family did the right thing and reported the wallet unscathed that day. I suppose the fact that Brent's father is a police officer would have been a tad bit embarrassing had the wallet not turned up quickly.
Chad: We don't have elaborate information about what exactly Chad is doing, but apparently he works for a nursery/greenhouse/garden center or something similar. He is/was a State of Alaska certified pesticide applicator.
Tom, what about the Champs, Ian, Ryan "Monster Truck" Coulson or the Bennetts?!
LADIES, KEEP BUYING THOSE TACKY HIPPY CLOTHES
Thanks to the growing throngs of Baby Boomer ex-hippie women who fashion themselves swank, Jill and Bill's retirement has inched even closer. I opened my stock portfolio this morning and, lo and behold, my Chico's FAS stock had gone up nearly $3 per share today. I've nearly made $400 off of that stock! Here's a link to the store website for those interested in what I describe as hippie-menopausal-chic women's clothing.
Maybe I'll post some stock-picking tips on here sometime. My boss invests in my picks that I pass up and later tells me he's rolled a bundle for a good chuckle. If only I was more liquid!
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