Painting and Handyman Services

Wow, so Roy and I are driving behind a Painting and Handyman Services truck on Bell Road, and what do you think, is the artwork appealing? Gives as new graphic twist to "Handy."
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Draggy Smiles

Here he/she is (I haven't asked yet do Roy and Carolyn know?), a new member of the family and ready for Christmas! Love the smile!
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Draggy

Carolyn bought Roy a bearded dragon lizard for Christmas! I asked him to send a second picture so we could see it's face. Now we know what to do with crickets that make it into the house during the summer ;)
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Christmas lights and sopa

It is a gray Saturday, but I really don't mind, the light is soft and the weather is cold and it feels like Christmas!  Roy helped me bring in the Christmas boxes from the shed, we have not opened them yet - maybe after dinner.

Roy went outside to light the Christmas lights and Roy Samuel is shopping online, I think Alyssa is working on homework and Marissa is taking a late nap.  To bring food in or eat out, that is the next question, and I just got an update as Roy walked back through the kitchen, all the lights work except the two strands for the rose bush, so he is headed for the cardboard boxes stacked in the "music room" and we shall see if we have lights or we need to make a trip to Walgreen's!

Ok, he looked in every box and there are no more outside Christmas lights.  We must have finally thrown away the old flaky ones, really the tiny light bulbs were so old the colored part was fading and peeling off and the white bulbs showed through, so no loss there.

Back to what to eat for dinner, Roy might make sopa and the two Roy's will eat that, not sure about Marissa, and Alyssa and I will hunt in the freezer.  I think there is leftover fried chicken, and fruit salad left over, and we have frozen Cracker Barrel biscuits, I think we can put something together but Alyssa is not keen on freezer food.

Recipe for sopa: 1) brown 2 cups elbow macaroni in 4 tbs olive oil on medium high heat, stir constantly in order to brown and not burn; 2) add 3 cups water to cover macaroni; 3) add 1 can tomato sauce and bring it to a boil, add salt to taste, Roy tastes while cooking and he thinks about a tsp salt, also add pepper to taste; 4) bring to a boil over a medium high heat so some of the water will cook off; 5) just before the macaroni is done add 1/3 cup milk and grate colby jack cheese into the bubbly mixture to taste - a third to half a cup of cheese, a couple of splashes of Tabasco, stir it up and let it melt and it's ready to eat.  To make it a really manly meal add 2 cut up hot dogs, thinly sliced. Take a bowl to the sofa and eat and watch college football! Sometimes Roy adds 1/4 tsp mustard for added tang.

EXCERPT: 'Here's the Deal: Don't Touch Me' by Howie Mandel - ABC News

EXCERPT: 'Here's the Deal: Don't Touch Me' by Howie Mandel - ABC News

Howie Mandel talks about his struggle with OCD, an anxiety disorder.  To learn more about living with mental illness and how to help, please visit NAMI.org and please buy Howie's new book!

Turkey Day!

Thanksgiving grocery shopping at WalMart this morning: sweet potatos, green beans, dinner rolls, cans of fruit cocktail and pecans for the fruit salad, cream cheese in case Marissa makes a cheese cake, and a turkey! I was looking at the selection and spotted this Jennie-O "oven ready" bird! How could you not love this! :D

Chayei Sarah

I am sitting in the blue chair with the Haftarah (Prophets) portion for today 1 Kings 1:1-31, balanced on my lap. I just sent a text to my son Roy - he is in Tucson and we visit by text when he is out of town. I am reading and thinking. King David, even on his death bed, could not escape intrigue. Adonijah trys to take the throne without David's knowledge or consent.

Plotting and schemes and ill treatment bubble up in families. Life is so hard, there is much sorrow, how much more is this magnified when you can not trust your wife or husband, or child, or parent.

I have been reading Diana's new book "An Echo in the Bone" and marked this quote the other night: "Home is where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in."
Right. But what if "they" are not safe, even when they take you in?

This afternoon I saw a very small, fragile looking little blond boy being yanked through Danny's car wash by his left arm, which was pulled unnaturally high up in the air by a woman who appeared to be his mother, grim faced and angry, loudly exclaiming that he could not "steal any candy this week!," pulling him toward the glass exit doors. Two blond wide eyed and somber little girls trailed after, one of the girls looked to be about 5. The smallest girl and the crying small boy looked about 2, perhaps twins?
I turned to Roy and said, how awful to have a mom who is so unkind and cruel, to yell at a baby about stealing! And literally drag him through the store by wrenching his arm.

I still feel bad about witnessing this scene and I now have a headache so I'll get some ibuprophen in a minute. What in the world is it like for those babies behind closed doors when the mother is so openly mean in public? I have two girls and a boy and I love them so much! And I do remember, not just in my head but I physically remember with my body, the feeling of reaching down and picking up my small child, the weight of holding, the embrace of my solid little baby hugging me back with arms around my neck.
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As You Wish

I am sitting in the parking lot at AMC 30, the sun is down and big Roy is getting dinner at Samurai Sams. I am window shopping from my front seat through the windshield view I have in our Ford pickup truck. As You Wish is all lit up, on the left side of the front door are shelves of thanksgiving turkeys and plates and mugs, on the right side are shelves of Christmas cookie jars and figurines and plates and mugs, so pretty! I remember a "ceramic painting" Birthday party we had for Alyssa when she was small, it would have been about this time of year because her birthday is in October. Emily and Courtney were there I think and Brittany, not sure about Laci she was probably too little, and Marissa and Roy Samuel too. Marissa still loves to paint plates and figurines. She did a lovely job on a Disney Ariel figurine as a present for Alyssa before Alyssa left for the University of Hawaii her freshman year (I'm glad she was only gone for a year I missed her so much) anyway, Ariel was beautiful with bright, glossy red hair and she sat on a colorful sea shell with her aqua mermaid tail curled gracefully around the shell base, and Alyssa did not want to take it with her to the dorm in case something might happen to her, because she was lovely and fragile and Marissa had worked on her for hours to make her beautiful. So, I wrapped Ariel carefully in clean, ink-free newsprint and put her in a box with other treasures, and now we can not find Ariel at all and I have unwrapped so many things in so many boxes! With five of us my ability to collect and store keepsakes is wonderfully amazing except there is the problem of finding anything specific or needed once it is put away. Sigh.
I got out of the truck and took a picture through the store window tonight - maybe the girls can go back together and paint something and I will keep it in plain sight or at least I will label the box Thanksgiving so that the treasures can reappear.
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Sitting down after dinner

Feels great to sit on the couch with my feet up next to baby Angel cat and watch TV! Had a busy afternoon at the dental board, drove home late and noticed I have very little gas left. Listened to Mac and Gaydos on KTAR talk about how Sky Harbor had at least 1,000 suitcases stolen over who knows how long a time period - how's that for airport security right? I remember how bad I felt for Roy when he went to West Point for summer training in 2005 and his suitcase was late, but hey at least it showed up! The man and woman with the home stuffed with stolen luggage sure hurt a lot of people. Makes me sad.
Yankees just won they are World Champions! (Queen's song is playing in the background). Diamondbacks beat the Yankees in 2001, I remember that game, we all stood and yelled and jumped up and down the whole last inning in the living room, so happy! The announcer says this is the 27th World Championship for the Yankees.
Neat! Talent and hard work, lots of effort, and teamwork! None of do much on our own, we sure do need each other.
Weird news story today, a cat got the swine flu from its human family.
Time to crawl under the covers and read "Echo In The Bone," goodnight - may we all sleep well with a prayer on our lips, no bad thoughts and no bad dreams -.-

Rabbits

When Roy and I were having dinner at Chili's last night I spotted a stained glass picture of some very strange Rabbits towering over people. I would have loved to get a picture but there was a mom and dad and small child sitting in the booth below the picture, and I don't know if they would have understood my need to get this snap shot on my phone of Inland Empire David Lynch Rabbits to show Alyssa. I have a mission to go back and take a picture, hey Alyssa, "something is wrong!"
Oh, the word Chili's appeared over the top of the Rabbit Ears.
No Rabbits in the Chili's today! Different restaurant on Bell Rd., we are back again so Missy can have the mesquite chicken salad. However, the "chili as pitchfork" picture next to Marissa has that Inland Empire feel - perfect for Halloween!

Rain

"She's my kinda rain," wow, great lyrics by Tim McGraw, Marissa has just introduced me to this song on her Ipod, we are driving in the car on the way to Chili's!
Great football game last night, here's to Marissa and Friday Night Football! Love you Baby!
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Swine Flu

Found the perfect blanket for snuggling in comfort, well as comfortable as you are going to get with a sore throat headache cough stuffy nose and gurgling cough, and the picture on the blanket box is too adorable!

Mexican Food

We are on our way to Manuel's, Alyssa, big Roy and me, Roy is playing a game online with Paul and he is headed out to play Magic later. Marissa is cheering an away game, and for being only a little past 6:00 it's almost fully dark.
Alyssa's iPod is playing "have a little faith in me," she is singing and I love to hear her sing. "Your love gives me strength," yup, true.
Love Friday night, entering into the Sabbath - sacred time, rest, being together.
"How do I get there from here..." By Deana Carter, "how do I tell you what my heart's been telling me"
"You know I love you, how do I get there"

Bring Change 2 Mind has Launched!

Bring Change 2 Mind has Launched!

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Tired

I am watching the 10:00 news and should not be sitting here, I still need to tend to the 6! indoor litter boxes and feed the outside strays (I can't let them go hungry but we are maxed out with 4 adopted inside :) time to call it a night and get ready for Friday!
According to 12 news its 77 degrees out, wonderful, we are cooling down! Great for the State Fair which starts tomorrow, and we need a beautiful October 18th for my 'Lyssa's 20th Birthday! Dinner at Cheesecake Factory to Celebrate!
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Suicidal Thinking

I have a friend who is giving a talk this Sunday on Suicidal Thinking, and having immersed my head in Infinite Jest with David Foster Wallace all summer with the readers at the Infinite Summer web site, I wanted to share a small part of the most incredible passage on suicide and depression I have ever read. I am not sure of the page number because I have my Kindle propped up by the keyboard; the passage begins at 61% Locations 15833-38:

"Hal isn't old enough yet to know that this is because numb emptiness isn't the worst kind of depression. That dead-eyed anhedonia is but a remora on the ventral flank of the true predator, the Great White Shark of pain. Authorities term this condition clinical depression or involutional depression or unipolar dysphoria. Instead of just an incapacity for feeling, a deadening of soul, the predator-grade depression Kate Gompert always feels as she Withdraws from secret marijuana is itself a feeling. It goes by many names - anguish, despair, torment, or q.v. Burton's melancholia or Yevtuschenko's more authoritative psychotic depression -- but Kate Gompert, down in the trenches with the thing itself, knows it simply as It.

It is a level of psychic pain wholly incompatible with human life as we know it. It is a sense of radical and thoroughgoing evil not just as a feature but as the essence of conscious existence. It is an unnumb intuition in which the world is fully rich and animate and un-map-like and also thoroughly painful and malignant and antagonistic to the self, which depressed self It billows on and coagulates around and wraps in Its black folds and absorbs into Itself, so that an almost mystical unity is achieved with a world every constituent of which means painful harm to the self. Its emotional character, the feeling Gompert describes It as, is probably mostly indescribable except as a sort of double bind in which any/all of the alternatives we associate with human agency -- sitting or standing, doing or resting, speaking or keeping silent, living or dying -- are not just unpleasant but literally horrible."

There is more, including the loneliness and terror; "You'd have to have personally been trapped and felt flames to really understand a terror way beyond falling."

Harrowing and terrible, DFW battled this kind of depression and lost his life, may God Bless and Keep him Always. May we make a difference for blessing, healing, and deliverance for those who suffer so much.

Homecoming Queen!

Marissa was voted senior class Homecoming Queen and we are so happy for her! She is on her way to the dance, and she looks beautiful!
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Here We Are

Some of us anyway, Alyssa is working at my computer, Big Roy is upstairs finishing paperwork, and I finished taking a look at client e-mails and writing down phone messages for return calls in the morning. Marissa is at a freshman football game and Roy is refining his poker game :)
We have figure out what to do for Alyssa's birthday! We eat dinner out on Friday night, maybe we can find a place where she has never been before :)
Time to watch TV and eat a chocolate brownie with fudge frosting. October is a great month for sweet treats and scented candles like "frosted pumpkin", "vanilla cupcake" or "candy corn"!

Almost Monday

Well and it's Sunday night and I am sitting in my bedroom taking a Break from working: 1) Billing; 2) reviewing an asset purchase agreement and writing CaseMap notes; 3) I have a Will to revise for a very nice older client who is so sweet, she made dish towels for me, one with a bear and another with a bunny, and paid me with a Costco chocolate cake for the first Will I prepared about 5 years ago; 4) Roy and I also fit in grocery shopping and a trip to the car wash to remove lots of cheerleader graffiti and anatomy drawings from the windows- I was so the rage driving to the bank in my arted up little red car!

I am taking a break so I can watch a quick video with Alyssa, of Winston the cat getting a bath. Baby Kitty should watch too, wish we could bathe her Alyssa is so allergic!

Did I mention we are all into day 3 of Tamiflu - Marissa has swine flu and the rest of us are warding off and recovering. Marissa has homecoming events for cheer and this is her senior year so we do Not Have Time for swine flu. :)

I Finished!

And, but, so, I finished reading Infinite Jest last night and wow. I have the urge to start again and fill in the gaps - the book is meant to be read in a circle I think, I have this image of a snake swallowing its tail. I just don't have the time or the emotional fortitude (there is a good deal of pain in the pages and the images are not fleeting).

I saved so many notes;

at 68%, location 17627-33 Kindle: "Some people, from what I've seen, Boo, when they lie, they become very still and centered and their gaze very concentrated and intense. They try to dominate the person they lie to. The person to whom they're lying. Another type becomes fluttery and insubstantial and punctuates his lie with little self-deprecating motions and sounds, as if credulity were the same as pity. Some bury the lie in so many digressions and asides that they like try to slip the lie in there through all the extraneous data like a tiny bug through a windowscreen."

Sunday Shopping

We are in the WalMart parking lot loading the car with groceries, and listening to a RadioLab pod cast on Parasites. Apparently there is a type of wasp that stings a cockroach, paralyzes it, and buries it with eggs and it gets worse from there for the cockroach. It is consumed by the parasite. Is our Federal Government a parasitic wasp - bloated feasting dependent and burying us alive with debt? Instead of a stinger "neurosurgery" we have the mind control of national media getting us prepped for consumption; hmmmm.

FFOZ Blogs : One Simple Verse: Galatians 5:3

Paul and Galatians 5:3

http://ffoz.org/blogs/2009/09/one_simple_verse.html

Interesting reconsideration of the biblical texts by Daniel Thomas Lancaster and Boaz Michael. For those of us who support the ministry of FFOZ or are members of Torah Club, this is a very significant change:

"So let me ask you, why would we jeopardize our entire ministry, the work of the kingdom, our livelihoods, and the very bread on our tables? Because we were wrong about "One Law." We erred, and as Bible teachers, we had an obligation to correct that.
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. (James 3:1)
We have read, discussed, and considered all the notes, emails, challenges, online position papers, and responses to the article. Everyone's thoughts and opinions on the matter are important to us. We have not dismissed any of them. In each case, we have tried to look at the questions objectively and dispassionately, and in each case, the process has strengthened our resolve. We believe that the divine invitation model is deeply biblical, balanced, fair, and true. It feels as if the scales have fallen from our eyes." - Boaz Michael, for the entire blog click below:

http://ffoz.org/blogs/2009/09/reasoning_together_mj_101.html

"Now it will come about that in the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains, and will be raised above the hills; and all the nations will stream to it. And many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; that He may teach us concerning His ways and that we may walk in His paths.” For the Torah will go forth from Zion and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. (Isaiah 2:2–3)"

Labor Day!

Roy and I are back from our 3 night camping trip at Potato Patch where it rained and got cold and we made campfires and slept in late and went on hikes, Roy cooked good food we played cards and shopped in Jerome and ate hamburgers at the Mile High Grill.

Danny's Car Wash

So Roy and I are at Danny's car wash with Alyssa's little silver cobalt getting it suds and rinsed and filled with gas (but no Danny's air freshner which is so overpowering you have to drive with windows rolled down for 30 minutes and in 114 degrees at 2:00 pm that is not doable). She will be all set for the week long haul back and forth from home to ASU and back again, lots and lots of driving.

County's mental-health system failing

County's mental-health system failing

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We are in the month of Elul 5769

Days of Repentance are here, I love this scripture:

"The LORD, the LORD, God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in kindness and truth, who keeps kindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin, and who cleanses. (Exodus 34:6)"

creation bear by Marissa

Monument Sign

So, Roy and I are driving up I-17 and pass a large Monument Sign on the left and in electric yellow type the first line reads "Creation Bears" and I was startled what does a creation bear look like? and in the next nano second my eyes read the rest "the autograph of God" and that was alright but "Creation Bears" makes me laugh :)

Roy is Home!

Roy Samuel drove in late tonight it is good to have him home! It is late, about midnight, and defrosting rice or beans was not appealing, so we are at Jack In The Box for a Spicy Chicken Sandwich.

the picture

Goodnight

Here is a portion of Wallace's description of the city at night, as I get ready to read before going to sleep (I could not resist posting this and I have a pretty good picture from my Blackberry to go with it - well maybe not quite dark enough for night but it projects a getting dark sort of mood).

"Planes' little crucifi of landing lights well ahead of their own noise. Crows in trees. You got your standard crepuscular rustles. Ground floors' lit windows laying little rugs of light out into their lawns. Porch lights that go on automatically when you stroll by. A threnody of sirens somewhere north of the Charles. Bare trees creaking in the wind."

Growing Sentences with David Foster Wallace

http://www.kottke.org/09/03/growing-sentences-with-david-foster-wallace

Where Did It Go?

I think DFW would appreciate the irony, apparently my blog entry which I e-mailed earlier today was too long to successfully post!, or it was too long with the picture attached, which threw it over the virtual cliff. I hit send and the blue check mark appeared on my BlackBerry screen which is supposed to reassure me the e-mail went, unlike the red x meaning you failed. But, when I logged on to Blogger my post was not there, and I cleared my cache and visited Blogger Help and let time pass and refreshed the page and still no post.

Ok, so I will try again.

I read before I go to sleep every night and I read Infinite Jest every night now as I am keeping up with the pace at Infinite Summer; I am more than halfway through and last night was distressing because one of the Ennet house characters, Randy Lenz, has been killing animals which puts horrible images in my mind that I do not want there at all especially before DREAMING however skipping pages feels like cheating and also David is saying something important here: about the impulses of this character and agitation and rage and the twisted pursuit of "resolution" that the character is pursuing, a release of a very evil sort: "the more basically Powerless an individual feels, the more the likelihood for the propensity for violent acting-out - and Lenz found the observation to be sound." 1



End Note 1: see "the unresolved Powerless Rage issues" and see also "he has numerous aspects and experiences to mull over and issues to organize and mull, and (like many people hardwired for organic stimulants) talking is sort of Lenz's way of thinking."



End Note 2: I sure wish all Lenz did was talk it would be easier to take.

Shopping

Here are the girls getting ready to leave for back to school shopping, I was able to catch them before they dashed out the door

Marissa and SAT Prep

So Marissa says that the guy on the cover of her Kaplan SAT Strategies for Super Busy Students 2009, looks just like Roy!

Roy :)

Ok, so I have a juvenile sense of humor but this made me laugh during weekly grocery shopping at WalMart this morning

Cookie

Today is a perfect day for sitting around (like Cookie in Roy's lunch box), watching TV, and in my case trying to learn how to play poker! I joined an online game through Facebook with Roy and Carolyn and was surprised to learn that Texas Hold Em is a 7 card game! I did not know how this works, I have only ever played with 5 cards, and the play was fast and there was a haloed timer surrounding my head and there were Other Players at our virtual card table and even though my listing was "Rookie" I felt like it should have been something else like "Inept" or "Uncomprehending" and Roy was very nice about my panic as I "stood up" from my virtual chair and fled to the virtual "lobby."
So, Marissa tells me she has Texas style Poker on her Nintendo DS so I will have a chance to practice!
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The Hulk

Watching the Hulk, well sort of, I am reading IJ and am at 45%! and The Hulk is on, very loudly on at the same time. This entertainment is a repetition of the normal sized and good looking man becoming excited or enraged transforming into this huge green muscular Hulk of behemoth promotions and then he is repeatedly shot at and rocketed and engulfed in flames and bombarded with sound waves that rip the world around Hulk apart, interspersed with tender melting love scenes with the beautiful girlfriend (Liv Tyler).

Is it synchonicity to watch this entertainment from the corner of my eye while reading IJ?
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I am not sure until I write for a bit

Alyssa finished her Japanese summer class today and she feels like she did really well on the final. She studied until 1 in the morning. We went to Macaroni Grill for lunch to celebrate and she has a few weeks of free time before starting her Junior year.
Sam is visiting the girls at the moment at the kitchen table. Alyssa mentioned that she texted Tara and hasn't heard back yet. Plans are up in the air for the weekend.
It was good having Roy here this past weekend, we miss you if you're reading this!
Marissa has to get up early in the morning for freshman orientation, the cheer squad is already working on homecoming! Chenoa is helping the girls, she is such a good dancer and has lots of good ideas.

Great Quote from Infinite Jest:

That sometimes human beings have to just sit in one place and, like, hurt. That you will become way less concerned with what other people think of you when you realize how seldom they do. That there is such a thing as raw, unalloyed, agendaless kindness. That it is possible to fall asleep during an anxiety attack.

Office Max

So, I went to office max for expanding files and a new white board and markers and on the window was a cute owl "Back to School for Pennies" and I thought of how much it costs for classes at ASU and the special fees and the $60. Charge if you pay by credit card and the books and so on and we are so far from affordable college costs but here is office max with good prices at least on markers and folders and the folders are in primary colors like ruby red and canary yellow and berry blue which makes me feel better about work and organizing cause I step away from my computer and my desk is surrounded by color ;)

Roy's Computer

Here are my two Roys working on the computer, Roy Samuel is upgrading to a better graphics card. My contribution was to look up "how to stay grounded when changing the graphics card" on google: 1) do not stand on the carpet; 2) keep one hand on the case. :)

It's Hot Outside

Roy is watering the lantana in the back yard and I am sitting on the picnic table facing the pool. There is a hot breeze blowing, it must be about 102 degrees - that's Roy's guess from the cool deck, and the sun has pretty much set and he has occasional back spray from the hose! We won't be going for a walk together anytime soon.
The girls have gone to Walgreens, you have to have fun by going from one indoor place to another. The Arizona Republic "Arizona Living" section suggested having ice cream sundaes for dinner :D

My Beautiful Girls!

Dad with hat

Here is Dad/Big Roy getting ready to work in the yard. He says he looks like Tata Alejandro :)

Friday and IJ

I checked the Infinite Summer site to read the Blog updates for Friday, and I'm a little more than a third of the way through the book. Last night I had to look up "Lyle" on wikipedia because I thought he was the "sweat guru" in the workout room at ETA1, but for some reason I felt unsure so I browsed the characters until I found Lyle and was reassured. I read the links at the end of the wiki entry and saw David Wallace sites I haven't yet visited and made a mental note to look at the links on my laptop computer today2 (2 end note, I read IJ before bed on my Kindle which also goes online to Wikipedia and Google for me, and I really need resources for reading this book and looking up words :) while I am all tucked in for the night. (1 end note there are so many characters I sometimes have trouble keeping everyone in my head)

Anyway, after time with Infinite Summer I went to the wikipedia IJ links, read through an interview with Wallace about Infinite Jest and how the book is sad, and about the loneliness of movies and TV and addiction, and how reading is intimate between the writer and the reader in a way that other forms are not. And I thought about David, sad and lonely. And, I re-visited the Howling Fantods blog and found more tribute articles and photos. I read a post from one of his students upon learning of his death. She talked about how he had trouble remembering names at first, but once he learned each name he promised never to forget for as long as he lived.

Did I mention he is mourned the whole world over as one of the best and most original American writers?

http://www.thehowlingfantods.com/dfw/dfw-1962-2008.html

DFW interview 1996

Here is a link to the David Foster Wallace interview by Michael Silverblatt:

David Foster Wallace - Bookworm on KCRW

And here is the part of the interview that really astonished me in light of where we are headed right this minute in 2009:

"So far it seems as if people think it really is sort of a book about drug addiction and recovery and, you know, intentional fallacies notwithstanding, what was really going on in my head was something more general like what you were talking about before, that there is a kind — that some of the sadness that it seems to me kind of infuses the culture right now has to do with this loss of purpose or organizing principles, something you're willing to give yourself away to, basically. And that the addictive impulse, which is very much kind of in the cultural air right now, is interesting and powerful only because it's a kind of obvious distortion of kind of a religious impulse or an impulse to be part of something bigger. And, you know, the stuff at the academy is kind of weird because, yeah, it's very high-tech and it's very "become technically better so you can achieve x, y, and z," but also the guy who essentially runs the academy now is a fascist, and, whether it comes out or not, he's really the only one there who to me is saying anything that's even remotely non-horrifying, except it is horrifying because he's a fascist. And part of the whole — part of the stuff that was rattling around in my head when I was doing this is that it seems to me that one of the scary things about sort of the nihilism of contemporary culture is that we're really setting ourselves up for fascism. Because as we empty more and more kind of values, motivating principles, spiritual principles, almost, out of the culture, we're creating a hunger that eventually is going to drive us to the sort of state where we may accept fascism just because — you know, the nice thing about fascists is they'll tell you what to think, they'll tell you what to do–they'll tell you what's important."

Mining Museum

Today we went to the Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum to get ticket stubs that Alyssa and Marissa can use to get 10 points for the GCC Geology summer class they are taking together. We all went and even though the heat was intense and we were about to go inside, I got a picture of everyone in front of a big bucket for a really huge shovel for scooping up ore.
We saw lots of really beautiful rocks including black obsidian (Marissa's class paper) and shiny silver galena (Alyssa's class paper), amethyst (thought of my mom and my favorite too) red garnets (thought of my grandmother) topaz (Roy's birth stone) fossils, and the gift shop!
Earlier in the day we went to the 6th Harry Potter movie - the Half Blood Prince. Gabby, Paul and Chris came with us. Roy Samuel and Marissa slept in because 9:00 am is a really early time to leave the house.
Important Note: I have embarked on the summer challenge of reading Infinite Jest on my Kindle, which is at the moment recharging on the bedroom dresser for my next read. I set it "wireless on" when reading so that I can use google and wikipedia; the Kindle dictionary is too Limited for DFW's expansive vocabulary and ideas. All of this uses up the battery quickly! I also regularly visit the Infinite Summer website, I started reading a week behind the IJ online community but have caught up, I'm at 30%! I listened to an interview David did at the time IJ was released, archived at Bookworm, which is now one of my google bookmarks. I am involved with this book and this incredibly gifted writer. When David stated in the Bookworm interview that America is on a path to becoming vulnerable to fascism I nearly shrieked. He foresaw Obama and the "progressives" the growth of huge, huge government and our loss of freedom 10 years ago!
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Directions to Jerome for Roy and Carolyn

Call us when you leave Phoenix so we will have an idea of when to meet up with you.
Take I-17 north.
Take exit 287 "Cottonwood Pason", and make left turn at the light.
Go several miles.
You will pass Walmart on your left.
Make a left turn at "Clarkdale Jerome 89A." This is a 4 way stop.
At "89A Prescott" make a Left, so that you turn left in front of the Walgreens. You will go down the road for awhile, you will pass Country Bank on the left as you go through the light. You will pass Verde Valley Medical Center on your right.
Go through circle roundabout and stay straight.
There's another 2nd roundabout go through it and keep going straight. You will see the J on the mountain on your left.
There is a 3rd roundabout, stay straight.
Pass Clarkdale church on the left and go through the 4th roundabout, stay straight.
Here is a 5th roundabout, go Left this will take you in front of the Spirit gas station. Pull into the gas station and we will meet you there so that we can lead you up the hill toward Jerome.
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summer fun a while back ;)

This picture was taken sometime before we moved and after my mom "grandmommy" passed, I know because I can see one of her oil paintings in the background behind Roy.

We had so much fun together!

Barnes & Noble

Headed to B&N, we will get there pretty fast because Marissa is driving ;). Big Roy wanted to stay home but we talked him into going. The girls are singing "I Don't Want To Wait" I love hearing them sing together. "Will it be yes or will it be sorry..."
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Groceries

We just finished our Sunday morning trip to WalMart, that is we usually make it there in the morning but we were running late today; it's about 1:25 in the afternoon. Cherries on sale for $1.67 a pound, we will have them with lunch right away. Roy and I stayed up late last night watching the movie "He's just not that into you," Alyssa has the book somewhere in her room. Marissa didn't want to see a movie about a guy cheating, so she went out and had fun with her friends.

Study

Alyssa is working on her geology homework, a crossword puzzle with questions like what type of rock tastes salty? I guessed Salt Rock, no it's Halite.
I like amethyst (a violet variety of quartz :) Alyssa likes Talc because it is really soft and smooth even though it's a rock.
Marissa is heating her taquitos in the toaster oven and burned her finger, that's the second time today. Earlier she put her straightening iron on the floor and reached for it and burned her finger.
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Marissa

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Sent: Jun 3, 2009 3:34 PM
Subject: Marissa

Marissa has a quiz in her new Physical Geology class in a couple of hours. Here she is with Cookie getting ready ;)

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Raggedy Ann

Here is Raggedy Ann, reading her Kindle before going to sleep. She borrowed my glasses, but doesn't really need them :)
"For every speck of fun you give another, you receive an echo of that fun yourself." - Johnny Gruelle (Raggedy Ann).

We saw the house this morning, the painting is almost finished, new doors, it is looking much better!

Roy Samuel gone for the summer

Dad and I are at Subway for Marissa and we are getting ColdStone cake batter ice cream for Alyssa cause she is still sore. We miss you! Have a good night ;)
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Gabby's Graduation

Alyssa is sitting next to me with a gel ice pack. She had two percocet tablets with a dinner of mashed potatos and gravy, and feels nauseated and like she's been punched in the jaw. We are watching Mama Mia (she loves musicals)! Cookie is going between us for petting, she loves it when we watch TV on the sofa. Tonight is Gabby's graduation party dinner, the two Roy's and Marissa were able to go. Happy Graduation Gabby!
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We are on our way home from Dr Buhrow's office, Alyssa had 4 wisdom teeth pulled with no general anesthesia, then caught in a back up at the CaveCreek exit!

From Bill: Thank you for everything you guys have done you have helped out so much in making me a better person.

Just had lunch at Shane's Rib Shack before WalMart grocery shopping and we have so much food left over we are driving back home to give Marissa lunch too :)

I am sitting on the deck watching the sun go down, it is beautiful, and children are playing outside in a neighbor's back yard. Little voices in the breeze.

We are all at AMC for the new Star Trek Movie! IMAX was sold out we are waiting for the next show in the regular theater the Roys have gone to Starbucks, food!

Roy and the kids bought me two seat swing covered by a canopy, and a patio set - 4 chairs and a table, for Mother's Day! I can drink juice under the stars ;)

We just paid for our new (second) home! We are so Blessed! Alyssa and Marissa will help with the painting, the first to do is call Al for help with the plumbing

I am with Heather having my hair colored and cut. She lost a lot of money in her 401k and she and Jeff now owe more on their home than it is now worth.

Cat House

Big Roy built an outdoor cat house for our cats at my request. The idea was to reduce the stress between Snickers and Buddy, one can go outside while the other stays inside. They still fight quite a bit which is stressful for all of us. A safe, enclosed, outside play area seemed more sensible than purchasing a room scent that was supposed to have a calming effect, this room scent idea was proposed by our vet. So far they don't like the play house much, we have to be outside while Buddy or Snick is in the play house or the kitty cries. I asked Roy about a Rabbit, it is certainly big enough, and he says absolutely no rabbits.

Roy and I are watching a recap of what happened on Lost. I like being Lost myself when watching this show, we are still trying to figure out what is going on ;)

Its Spring!

I am always too busy to write! It is spring, we have celebrated Easter for the first time without baskets, but did make our way to See's Candies for bunnies, eggs and chocolate.

Final exams are 2 weeks away for Roy and Alyssa, and Marissa's dance concert is this week. Missy is also in track, we went to a meet last Friday and got to see her throw the shot put from the outside fence. She decided not to stay for discus so we didn't go inside, hope to see her throw again at BGHS.

Work has been a little slower than this time last year, but I still have work, and in this economy that is very much a huge Blessing!

I have included a picture of my good friend Eileen, with Abbey and Matt her children. Roy and I had dinner with Eileen and Rich on Saturday night at Arriba, we had a fun time chatting and she gave me a wonderful music CD and a personal gift made by her grandmother. We were celebrating the painting of her new home, not too far from us!