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Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Boys And Girls

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posted by Michael at 8:13 am  

Monday, May 30, 2005

By The Throat

The Phantom of the Opera, which we saw with Matt and Debbie, was a Christmas present to me from Diane. Desire Under The Elms was my gift to her. I highly recommend this kind of delayed gratification gift giving. You have all the hub bub of Christmas but then you get to “open” your present months later. I believe Susan pioneered this years ago (1997?) when she gave Diane and me Riverdance. Her under the tree treat that we didn’t “open” until maybe September.

We loved last night’s Desire Under The Elms.

The first row of seats at the American Repertory Theatre are almost part of the set. Stretch your legs and you can put your feet on the gravel which represents the hard scrabble farm fought over in the play. Our seats were third row, dead center.

The play ran an hour and fifty minutes with no intermission, and , as an Anthony Quinn/Zorba the Greek-looking man standing in the lobby said afterwards, “That O’Neill, he grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go for a second.”

I clapped hard at end but I was relieved to walk out into the fresh night’s air, away from the gritty set and away from the domineering father, his tortured wife and sons.


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I have two hundred of these to sort through…give me time and you won’t be disappointed.

posted by michael at 3:20 pm  

Saturday, May 28, 2005

After The Funeral

Jennifer

We had the funeral for my aunt Beatrice . The funeral seemed to be exactly what a Catholic funeral ought to be.

After the funeral, one sister, one daughter, and I returned to the house to resume the sorting-and-taking-stock task. Around dinner time, a girl appeared who had just learned of Beatrice’s death that afternoon. She was very upset and kept saying how close they were. Did we need any help? We had her come in. It turned out that she was a junior in high school and lived a few blocks away. Moira met Beatrice last summer when Cranberry was loose in the evening so she brought Cranberry to the address on the tag. Beatrice was on the floor, and “was not well” or “had been drinking”. They became good friends.

Beatrice told her all about: growing up (Moira’s grandmother grew up in the same place), her first marriage (but not more than we’d figured out already from the wedding album), all the schnausers (we had remembered them all, but Moira knew that Groucho was the one that they “adopted” , I vaguely remember that), the Frost work (and Moira’s English teacher was going to have Mrs. Smith in when they did Frost in the spring; not yet because the teacher didn’t want the end of the year to be anticlimactic; yes, Moira does have a copy of her published book on Frost), the current book (Moira was glad the literary executor would try to publish it), St. Ignatius (Moira was relieved the funeral was there, Mrs. Smith loved it there), step-sons by name, and children thereto.

We kept expressing surprise that Beatrice had opened up to her so much, and Moira explained that she was pushy but had sometimes stayed away because she worried she was too pushy. She was extremely upset that she hadn’t been around since , well, obviously since late March. She had tried at some point(s?), but when Beatrice didn’t answer or something she didn’t go over and insist on going in as it sounded like she often had in the previous months, because she was busy getting ready for a trip. (School vacation trip?) Often when Beatrice didn’t answer the phone or told her not to come over she said she wasn’t well and Moira thought she had been drinking (and sometimes Moira visited anyway).

Just before Moira left, we asked her if there was anything we could do for her, and she said, “Don’t give away the coffee table, her husband made that, she told me all about that.” We assured her that we were not planning to get rid of it, it was one of our favorites, but what did she know about it? And she explained how “Bill , no, Mr. Smith” , had collected tile from demolition sites and he hadn’t glued the pieces down until Beatrice made him do so when they got married. (Another thing I once knew, but had forgotten.) She was quite amazing. I think she was the ONLY person who knew Beatrice both drinking and sober. And she liked all of her.
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Beatrice’s first wedding.
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There’s a sweet addendum to the Moira story. She responded to a card (on a copy of a pen-and-ink andwatercolor by my uncle) from me with (among other things) the comment, “I hope she could have considered me a friend.” I didn’t quite know how to answer that, not knowing why she seemed not to have mentioned Moira to anyone, and then Saturday I found a jewelry box in a drawer labeled “Moira, for her graduation” , that’s not until NEXT year, by the way.

posted by michael at 7:29 am  

Friday, May 27, 2005

Friday

Friday, late afternoon, after work.

“What do you want to do?”

“I don’t know, what do you want to do?” I decided earlier that we weren’t going out to dinner. Fun, yes, intimate, yes, but we can’t afford our Friday night ritual.

“I’m irritable. I woke up irritable, I took a nap and I’m still irritable. I want to go out.”

“I’ll be ready in five minutes.”

There were half hours waits at the Ninety-nine (Across the street from Concord Park. We’d left Flo watching a Hepburn, Spencer Tracy movie) and the Paparazzi, but plenty of room at the little bar at the Colonial Inn. Mercifully, there was no singer, just the Ric Maure Trio.

posted by michael at 12:00 pm  

Thursday, May 26, 2005

Secrets

Descent

My father drummed darkness
Through the underbrush
Until lightning struck

I take after him

Clouds crowd the sky
Around me as I run
Downhill on a high–
I am my motherís son
Born long ago
In the stormís eye

Samuel Menashe


I talked to my sister yesterday. The conversation’s theme the same as it has been for weeks – what to do with our parents? However, this time we ended with a tidy plan.

I said, “Letís keep it a secret for now.”

Fifteen minutes later my brother, Brian, called. He told me his flight back from Evansville was flawless. “Greased””is the word he used. I told him it was payback given how difficult his visit had been. He continued, “But that’s not the real reason I called. Joan told me you had a secret plan… .”

**********
Diane and I danced in the kitchen last night while we prepared dinner. We listened to Willie Nelson sing from his greatest hits album – songs like Remember Me and Georgia on my Mind.

“If only the music were better,” Diane whispered in my ear.

“I love this music.”

“I know. Iím afraid weíre going to end up in the South listening to Country and Western.”

“And Old Time Radio.”

**********
Matt brought his tux home last night for his upcoming prom on the 28th. He has been pretty quiet about the event, but not Diane. Holy cow. Youída thought it was her prom. “When are you getting picked up in the limo? When can we take pictures? Will other parents be there? What are you doing afterwards? Are you staying out all night? When does the tux have to be returned.”

*********
Peter leaves Evansville this morning for an almost two week conference in San Fransico.

posted by michael at 7:30 am  

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Burro Books

The books from the burro train arrived today at the Miller black hole depository. Normally, this could be found written inside ever cover, but would you lookey here.——->
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What could this mean?

posted by Michael at 8:24 pm  

Monday, May 23, 2005

Wheelchair Free

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Flo up and about on her walker.


Brian has joined Peter in Evansville. He called me yesterday while struggling to find the parents’ house on Bellemeade. I was outside cutting the grass. I wouldíve told him getting lost is part of the arrival ritual. I usually drive down route 41, past their street, then I get trapped in traffic where I’m forced onto the bridge over the muddy Ohio River. Once on the Kentucky side, Iíll wander in the swampy area behind the race track until some homeless guy guides me back to the right state. Thatís after Iíve traded a dollar for a swig of his Thunderbird. It might be a good thing Brian did not reach me.


Did I tell you Diane bought her new car with zero input from me? She researched it, had dealers bidding against one another, and sealed the deal without any help. Not that she needs help, I mean, she might have liked to have had help… .


A hundred pages into The Closers and not a glimpse of the killer.


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posted by Michael at 7:26 am  

Sunday, May 22, 2005

Patti's Quilt

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Peter in red, Emma and Patti.
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The friendly folks at the local library where Patti worked sewed her this bed-sized quilt. Pictured is the top left most square. For a look at the whole quilt, minus the yellow and polka-dot border, click right here .

posted by Michael at 7:35 am  

Sunday, May 22, 2005

Patti’s Quilt

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Peter in red, Emma and Patti.
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The friendly folks at the local library where Patti worked sewed her this bed-sized quilt. Pictured is the top left most square. For a look at the whole quilt, minus the yellow and polka-dot border, click right here .

posted by Michael at 7:35 am  

Saturday, May 21, 2005

The Closers

We clogged the Costco check out line today with three hundred dollars worth of essentials. In addition to the fifty-five gallon drum of olive oil, the too-heavy-to pickup box of soy milk, the left flank of Mt Washington turned into toilet paper and paper towels, we (okay, I) bought the new Michael Connelly book.

Priced at a buck or two above what the paperback version will sell for, I couldn’t resist. The young lad helping box our stuff said to Diane ( I was off using the facilities), “I’ve read only one of these, but I liked it. The main character’s name is Harry, but doesn’t he have a longer name?” Diane, not a fan or even a reader of the Harry Bosch series replied, “Hieronymus.”

Adam and rakkity, set your Barcoloungers to “easy reading.” I should be finished by next weekend.

posted by michael at 6:44 pm  

Thursday, May 19, 2005

Barcelona Bound

I guess everyone’s kid will eventually end up in Spain.

FOR:MILLER/MATTHEW C

SERVICE DATE FROM TO DEPART ARRIVE

AIR FRANCE 22JUN BOSTON MA PARIS 535P 620A
AF 337 WEDNESDAY LOGAN INTL CHARLES DE GAU 23JUN
V ECONOMY AIRCRAFT: AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A340-300
SEAT 45B CONFIRMED

AIR FRANCE 23JUN PARIS BARCELONA 745A 930A
AF 1148 THURSDAY CHARLES DE GAU
V ECONOMY AIRCRAFT: AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A320-100/200

posted by Michael at 6:19 am  

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Friends

To paraphrase Matthew: “The blog is one happy place to be these days. Chest pains, dead bodies, depressing poems, and more dead people. Can’t you ligthen up?”


Does it get any cheerier than these photos taken at dinner last night? Though it looks like a comic book illustation viewed with 3-D glasses, be sure to click on the last link.

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posted by Michael at 6:38 am  
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