Auld Acquaintances

We stood in a big circle, holding hands and singing Auld Lang Syne.  I looked around the circle at all these auld acquaintances that we have not forgot and thought about how this party has been given for 43 years and we have been to many of them.  While they may not be my best friends in Davis, they are the people in Davis I've known the longest.

We have lost a lot of people over the years and as we are all getting older, many have chosen not to attend, but there were still lots of familiar face that I may see only on New Year's Eve, but enjoy getting caught up.

The hosts are The Psychiatrist and his wife, a former member of the Califoria House of Representatives.  There was the widow of a psychiatrist I transcribed for briefly many, many years ago.  He died 8 years ago.  His son, now pushing 50, was best friend to Vince, our student from Malaysia who lived with us for 3 years, so we saw him more then.  We had a nice chat with him, hearing about the 10 years he has lived in Thailand.

There were two there in wheelchairs.  One is our friend from the Davis Comic Opera company, whom Walt visits twice a month with two other people, to keep him occupied and gives his wife some time off.

The other person in the wheelchair was a woman who has had MS for many years.  She's been in a wheel chair for a long time.  She tried talking to me, but what with the fact that she speaks very, very softly, my hearing is bad, and the house was filled with people noise and music it was pretty hopeless to talk with her.

Artificial joints were a popular topic of conversation!

A former Davis mayor was there, with the new love of her life, whom she met 3 years ago and who has added such a sparkle to her eyes.  The two of them alternately acted like normal adults, and then like horny teenagers.  It was fun to watch them.

There were other old friends, some of whom I had the chance to chat with and some I did not.  One of my favorite people, the former head of the School Board for many years, arrived late and I waved at her but never talked with her, since we were mostly in different rooms.  My friend Nancy, with whom I join in Trump bashing lunches was there, but we just saw each other and were never in the same part of the house at the same time; a local nurse whose son wrote an interesting book called "Honeymoon with my Brother" was there but other than saying hi, we didn't talk.

Several people complimented me on my reviews, which is always nice to hear.  One of them was a woman with whom I had a run-in back in the start-up days of the Sunshine Children's Theater (1970s), when she said the reason Paul had been cast instead of her son, who was clearly the better actor, was that I had agreed to help organize the company and it was unfair favoritism.  She and her son left.  But Paul is long dead and her son is no longer interested in theater, so the hatchet has been buried long ago.

I made my Rolo Turtles to share on the food table.  They were a big hit.

The thing I love most about this party is the Putah Creek Crawdads, a folk group which includes the Psychiatrist.  They perform every year.  They have had losses, the guy who, with his wife, was slaughtered by a teenager who wanted to see what it was like to kill someone a few years ago, the old guy who sang with the group into his 90s died two years ago and I think another member died of a heart attack before that.  But the Crawdads keep on rolling along.

People started going home before midnight, because we're all old now, and we nearly did too, but we ended up staying until after Auld Lang Syne and I'm glad we did. But we were home by 12:20.  I had not had a particularly energetic day, but my body didn't want to work when we got home, so I went to sleep instead of writing this entry.

Jeri and Phil, who had been to a party in the Bay Area last night, called on their way back to Davis and asked if we wanted to meet for brunch.  They were going to visit Grandma after brunch and then head to the airport for their return flight to Boston.  It was fun having one last meal with them.

So it appears that the holidays are over.  Everyone is going back to normal and tomorrow I work at the hospital, so life goes on...

HAPPY NEW YEAR, ALL
(God help us all get through 2017)

The New Year, Old and New

It's Thursday, and yes, I worked at Logos, but I'll save "Today at Logos" until tomorrow to make this a more New Years-y kind of entry.  I will say, though, that Peter and Susan decided to close the store early, so came to relieve me at 5:30.  I walked down to the pub to meet Walt, but he wasn't there and by the time I returned to Logos, the shop was already closed and locked, so I sat outside, on a cold brick bench in 40 degree weather waiting for Walt to show up (my phone was dead, so I couldn't call him).  Thank God I brought a jacket...I almost didn't!

This morning I was looking for a "Throw Back Thursday" photo appropriate to post on Facebook for New Year's Eve and found this one:

This was our third New Year's Day Pinata Group party, 1967, when Father Joe Quinn came and we forced him to sit under a pile of babies.  He was responsible for most of them, after all.  Quinn was the pastor of the Newman Center at UC Berkeley during the years we were all dating and mating and marrying...and he married many of us.  He had left by the time Walt and I got married, but he did do an engagement solemnization for us a year before.  We were married by a guy who had been at Newman while Quinn was there and had just been ordained a couple of days before our wedding.  

Quinn also baptized a lot of these babies.  Jeri is the one rubbing her eye next to him and Ned is the one in his left arm, grabbing at his chin.  Paul would not be born for another year yet.  These parties continued...forever.  In fact, we will have yet another one this year, when all the babies who were born in 1966 (5 of them) turn 50.

Tonight, however, there were no Pinata People, we went to the annual New Year's Eve party of The Psychiatrist (remember him?) and his wife, who have been hosting this party for 42 years (skipping the year of their 50th anniversary, when they went to Hawaii instead).  This is a wonderful party, full of food, conversation and lots of music.

(The Psychiatrist is a member of the Putah Creek Crawdads)
Photo by County Supervisor Don Saylor

Some of my favorite people in Davis (and one from Ireland) attend this party--the kids' nursery school teacher, their high school principal, a couple of former mayors, Davis Comic Opera Company members, former head of the School Board, doctors I know, people I knew from PTA and other groups. I got to talk with most of those I wanted to talk to...and probably won't see most of them again until next year.  We are all getting older. Two wheel chairs this year and lots of canes. The invitation always says that the party will go until the last voice gives out, but the musicians tired early and didn't play again, some of them heading home.  There weren't all that many people left when we finally came home at 11:30.  We saw the new year in with the dogs, which isn't a bad way to see it in.

Now to go to sleep with an NCIS marathon, which goes until 6 a.m.  2016 is starting out well.

Old Farts

The nice thing about having a New Year's Eve party for a bunch of old farts is that by 12:10 the last guests are leaving and you can clean up and be in bed before 1 a.m.  That probably doesn't sound appealing to younger folks, but it sure does to me.

For many years we attended a wonderful New Year's Eve party hosted by our friends Helen and Cap.  The house was always full of interesting people, most of the people we knew in Davis.  Because Cap is a musician, playing with a group called the Putah Creek Crawdads (whose oldest member is just slightly younger than my mother), there was always lots of music, everyone sitting around the living room singing familiar old songs.

There was a groaning board of good snacks and, at midnight, a crab bisque to share from the big soup pots which had been simmering on the stove.

About ten years ago, we received an invitation to another party.  This one was smaller, but all the guests had been members of the Davis Comic Opera Company and probably are the people we know best in Davis.  We ate, drank, and played games.  The conversation was always stimulating and my favoritest thing was sitting between Stephen Peithman, one of the smartest guys I know, and movie critic Jim Lane, another one of the smartest guys I know and listening to them talking movies and theater.

I missed Cap and Helen's party, but really, really loved this DCOC party.

 

Two years ago, the DCOC party hostess announced it was getting to be too much work for her and she would not be hosting the party for 2014.  One of the others in the group agreed to host (we did not attend because I was home sick and was asleep before midnight).  This year nobody offered to host the party and so we were free to go to Helen and Cap's party again.

It was like stepping back 10 years.  Most of the same people were there, though fewer in number since age and, in some cases death, had taken their toll.  Those who were there were older looking, more had infirmities or new body parts.  The most sparkly of the group was there with a new boyfriend on her arm, his and her spouses having died several years ago.  

This year the bisque was served in the middle of the party, because more and more people were leaving before midnight in recent years.

But it was still the wonderful celebration of friendship that I remember from past years.  I ended up in a group of 3, each of us telling childbirth stories, this prompted by the recent birth by the 50 year old daughter of good friends of ours.  We talked about how childbirth and breastfeeding practices differ today from "our day," but how the "gimme a pill and make the pain go away" generation less frequently chooses natural childbirth and how that seems a shame to us old timers.

At midnight we stood around the living room  in a huge circle, holding hands, and singing Old Lang Syne, accompanied by Cap on the banjo.

At 12:10, Walt and I were among the last to leave and I'll bet Cap and Helen were asleep before 1 a.m.  What great fun it was to be at that party again.  I missed the DCOC people, but this was really a lovely evening.

2013 Wrap-Up

I've done this the last couple of years, on January 1.  It's kind of depressing, the similarity from year to year! [This is a good meme to do today because I have literally spent the entire day sleeping.  A nap...wake up...eat...another nap...more food...another nap.]

1. Was 2013 a good year for you?
On the whole, yes.  No major tragedies.

2. What was your favorite moment(s) of the year?
Having the tea party I'd wanted to have with Jeri for 45 years...and including the kids as well.

3. What was your least favorite moment(s) of the year?
Any of the arguments I've had with my mother, where she got frustrated and hung up on me.

4. What did you do in 2013 that you'd never done before?
Joined a support group for people dealing with loved ones with dementia.

5. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I stopped making resolutions long ago; I never keep them

6. Where were you when 2013 began?
For the past several years we have gone to a small party attended by members of the former Davis Comic Opera Company. It's low key. We have home made soup, home made bread, fabulous desserts, great conversation, and are home in bed by 12:30 a.m. because we're all getting so old.

7. Who were you with?
About a dozen (or less) people from the Davis Comic Opera Company.

8. Where will you be when 2013 ends?
We thought we would be at the same party, but Walt was sick and I was feeling "questionable" so we stayed home and were in bed before midnight.

9. Who will you be with when 2013 ends?
Walt and the dogs

10. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Not close to me, but Ned's step-sister-in-law just gave birth to Olivia Zane a couple of weeks ago and my friend from the SPCA and Facebook, Jennifer, and her wife Tana celebrated the birth of AnnaGrace.

11. Did you lose anybody close to you in 2013?
Five people we knew died last year, none of them "close," but all missed nonetheless.

12. Who did you miss?
The same folks as previous years:  David, Paul, Gilbert and Peggy

13. Who was the best new person you met in 2013?
We really enjoyed spending time with Bob and Linda on the Ukraine/Istanbul tour.

14. What was your favorite month of 2013?
December--look how often family (in some group or other) was together, and I include in that "Pinata family" too.

15. Did you travel outside of the US in 2013?
Only to Ukraine and Turkey.  :)  Probably no big international travel for us in 2014

16. How many different states did you travel to in 2013?
I don't think we went to any other states this year.  Even Walt didn't get his annual trip to Boston in 2013. And we missed the big family wedding in D.C. because we were in Istanbul at the time.

17. What would you like to have in 2014 that you lacked in 2013?
A functional Congress that actually accomplishes something.  What an oddity that would be.

18. What date from 2013 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
November 8, the day that Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines.  It was several weeks before I was able to learn that my sponsored child, Fred, his family and their house were all OK.

19. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Getting my mother moved into Independent Living here in Davis

20. What was your biggest failure?
The same one it always is...inability to stick with (or even start) a healthy diet.

21. Did you suffer illness or injury?
I am very fortunate, no.

22. What was the best thing you bought?
I decided I could afford to add one more child to my list of sponsored children, and selected Navya through World Vision.

23. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Malala Yousafzi, the Pakistani girl shot by the Taliban for promoting education for girls.  I have seen her several times this year in interviews and her speech to the United Nations and each time I marvel at her poise, her dedication, and her selflessness.

24. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
How much time do you have?  The nutcases that are holding Congress hostage, and the religious right that are still fighting gay marriage, gay equality, and, in some cases, even recommending death of anybody gay. The ones who refuse to give up the fight to defeat the Affordable Care Act, and especially the idiots, all these years later, who refuse to believe Obama was born in Hawaii.  It's all noise and distraction that keeps up from actually accomplishing positive things in this country.

25. Where did most of your money go?
Like last year, to books.  New books, used books, Kindle books, audio books.

26. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Walt telling me he was getting tickets for us to see Book of Mormon.

27. Did you drink a lot of alcohol in 2013?
Very little, though there was that last cousins day....  I probably drank more that night than the rest of the year combined (which isn't saying much)

28. Did you do a lot of drugs in 2013?
Do aspirin and Aleve count?  Even counting them, almost none.   Definitely nothing not prescribed or available over the counter.

29. Did you treat somebody badly in 2013?
I hope not.

30. Did somebody treat you badly in 2013?
If anybody did, I can't remember it, so it must not have been very badly!

32. What do you wish you'd done more of in 2013?
Travel to Santa Barbara to spend time with the grandkids.  We are there so seldom that each time it takes a couple of days for Brianna to warm up to me.   Fortunately, I don't have that problem with Lacie.

33. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Spent sleepless nights worrying about things over which I have no control.

35. What was your favorite TV program(s)?
NCIS, Scandal, Criminal Minds, Big Bang Theory, Jeopardy, The Daily Show

36. What song will always remind you of 2013?
"What Does the Fox Say?"

37. How many stage shows did you see in 2013?
About 50.  I reviewed 48 of them and saw a few others that I didn't have to review.

38. Did you have a favorite stage show in 2013?
In musicals, it would have to be Billy Elliot, which I'd wanted to see ever since it first opened on Broadway.  It did not disappoint. In straight plays, I think The North Plan, a comedy at Capital Stage which featured Marta's friend, the wonderful actress/comedienne Katie Rubin.

39. What was your greatest musical discovery?
I don't make musical discoveries--I don't listen to current music enough!

40. What was the best book you read?
I don't know if it was the best book, but the one that definitely had the biggest impact on me was "Babi Yar" by A. Anatoli (Kuznetsov), the story of the occupation of Kiev, told from the perspective of a 13 year old non-Jewish boy who witnessed (and lived through) it. Having just been to Kiev and stood at Babi Yar, this book really grabbed me.

41. What was your favorite film of this year?
I only saw six movies this year, and probably my favorite was Last Vegas, which we took my mother to.

42. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 70 and the family had a big party for me at a local brewpub.  Such fun!   The party was for me, turning 70, for Tavie, the oldest of the Pinata kids, turning 50 and for Rich, a Pinata Dad, turning 75.

43. What did you want and get?
Tickets to Book of Morman (Christmas gift; we will see it this month!)

44. What did you want and not get?
World peace

45. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
A phone call from Peggy with an explanation.  I'm over it--but I still will never stop wanting to find out what happened.

46. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2013?
Thick fuzzy sox

47. What kept you sane?
Writing my journal, I guess.  NCIS marathons are good too.

48. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
I'm too old to "fancy" celebrities, but I do enjoy watching Mark Harmon perform.  As for public figures, I am often in awe of Rachel Maddow.  (I'm consistent--those were my two choices last year too!) And Jon Stewart crosses both lines.

49. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2013.
Life is change, unfortunately.

50. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
"Thank God, Thank God you're doing fine (x3)
Thank God you're doing fine
Thank God you're doing fine"

Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow

Well, it was a great visit, but Jeri is on the first leg of her ultimate return trip to Boston.  We had a lot more time with her this time around than we usually do, and I'm very grateful for that.  

It was a full day this morning.  She came downstairs first thing this morning, leash in hand, to take Sheila for a walk.  Sheila is the easiest to walk, more Lester size, and deserves it more!  So off they went...only she hadn't mastered the "dogs at the front door" movements yet and both Lizzie and Polly escaped.  They went racing off up the street.  Jeri handed me Sheila's leash and went after them, but Lizzie wouldn't let her get near her, and catching Polly is impossible.  I was in my nice fuzzy sox, no shoes, and trying to catch up with Jeri.   

I told her she would probably have better luck if she had Sheila with her, so she came back and got Sheila and started after the runaways again.  Lizzie was interested in sniffing Sheila, but no way was she letting Jeri touch her.   Suddenly Lizzie saw me down the street and started racing toward me, full tilt, a big grin on her face.  I kept telling her what a good girl she was (though she really wasn't!) and before long she was leaping on me and I had grabbed her.

Polly, in the meantime, followed Lizzie and, when I picked Lizzie up to carry her, Polly was much more concerned about Lizzie than about going anywhere outside.  Jeri ultimately took Lizzie from me, which made Polly follow her and in no time all were back in the house, while Jeri and Sheila continued on their walk.

We had decided to take my mother out for lunch.  I always try to think of a place where there is easy parking and not far to walk, and Ding How, right in the neighborhood, seemed to be a good place.  Besides, it's Chinese food and though the food at Atria is good, they never serve Chinese food, which my mother likes.

Walt decided to come with us.  He has been sick for a couple of days with some respiratory thing, including slight fever and gut-wracking coughing.   He didn't come with us to the Blackfords' last night because he thought he should stay in bed.

He was hoping to feel well enough to go to a New Year's Eve party tonight and was going to stay in bed today too, but he couldn't pass up the chance to have one last lunch with Jeri.  Besides, he figured he could order himself a big bowl of hot and sour soup (which I am calling Chinese penicillin!) and it might help him.  He didn't expect the bowl to be so big, though, but he ate over half of it and had the other half to bring home for dinner.

The rest of us ordered a nice few plates to share.

I was thrilled that my mother's first reaction wasn't to be appalled by how much food there was, not to complain that she had too much on her plate, and, miraculously, to go back for seconds!!!  A very good lunch.

There was a bit of a kerfuffle when she couldn't find her keys.   Jeri assured her that she had them, but they were nowhere.  She said maybe they were in her purse, but we told her she had not brought her purse.  I finally gave her MY keys and figured we'd sort it out later.  We returned to the restaurant and not only had she left her keys there, they were in the purse that nobody saw her bring!  Problem solved.  She was apparently more with it than any of the rest of us!

Jeri had errands to run in the afternoon and Walt and I both took naps.  Walt was hoping he'd feel better when he woke, and I was starting to feel some sympathy pains, or maybe pre-cold symptoms too.  When Walt woke up, he admitted he really didn't think he should go to the party.  I could have gone without him, but this thing, whatever it is, appears to be very contagious (from Jeri to Alice Nan to Walt and maybe to me) and I didn't want to go to a gathering of people, many of whom sing or play musical instruments, and distribute these germs, so we sadly called our hosts and explained why we would not be there.

Then came the inevitable.  Time to take Jeri down to the train station.  She was going to Oakland to spend a couple of days with friends, and will be at a New Year's Eve party there tonight.

It's been a really fun visit.  I'm glad she'll be home with Phil and Lester soon, but we will miss her until her next trip out here.

Walt and I came home, collapsed in the recliners and watched 3 pre-recorded episodes of Jeopardy.  He finished his hot and sour soup and I had some of the leftover lunch and we will probably be asleep before midnight.

Comparing Years

I did this questionnaire at the start of 2007 and I thought it might be interesting to do it at the start of 2008 and see how the two years compare. Some answers I just copied from 2007 because they were exactly the same.

1. Was 2007 a good year for you?

It had real highs and real lows. I think in the grand scope of things, it was more a bummer of a year than a banner year, despite the highs.

2. What was your favorite moment(s) of the year?

First would be hearing Tom say that he and Laurel are expecting a baby in 2008. Second would be any one of the Cousins Days that we had. Third would be hearing Peggy's report about her trip to Africa.

3. What was your least favorite moment(s) of the year?

Attending the memorial service for our friend Michele. We're never ready for the death of a loved one, but when it comes so young (and I still think 65 is young!), it's especially painful.

4. What did you do in 2007 that you'd never done before?

Moved in with my mother to be her caretaker while she was incapacitated by her broken ankle. In truth, she didn't need all that much caretaking, but she did need someone to do the things that she was unable to do.

5. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I gave up making new year's resolutions years ago because it's too demoralizing when I find myself cheating on them before noon on January 1. However, this year I am determined that Walt and I will set up a Living Trust, to make things easier for the kids when we are gone, and that we will have a family meeting to go over finances -- what is where, who has what, what to do when and that sort of thing.

6. Where were you when 2007 began?

At our friend Charlotte's house.

7. Who were you with?

A small group of wonderful people from the Davis Comic Opera Company.

8. Where will you be when 2008 ends?

Probably in the same place.

9. Who will you be with when 2008 ends?

The same people.

10. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Not anyone close, but my cousin's son and his wife gave birth to a little boy.

11. Did you lose anybody close to you in 2007?

I've discussed them in depth in Journal entries, but several people I knew well died this year (the latest of whom was my old grammar school teacher, Sister Johnetta, whose death I just learned about a couple of days ago. We exchanged Christmas cards for many years). The two that will always stand out for 2007, though, are the Lamplighters' Jean Ziaja and our friend of 40+ years, Michele Havel.

Fortunately, we had no puppy deaths this year.

12. Who did you miss?

The same people as last year. I miss Paul and David. I miss all the female friends who are no longer around any more, including Peggy, Lynn, Barb, and the whole gang at Women's Health. I also miss the closeness I used to have with Steve.

13. Who was the best new person you met in 2007?

I did an interview with actor/director Jack Lynn back in February. Absolutely fascinating guy. You can read that interview here.

14. What was your favorite month of 2007?

Probably July because we always travel to Santa Barbara for Tom's big barbeque and get a lot of "family time" in.

15. Did you travel outside of the US in 2007?

To the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. We were just there one evening and one morning/afternoon, but it was something I'd wanted to see forever and now I've seen it.

16. How many different states did you travel to in 2007?

I think only New York

17. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?

A healthy granddaughter!

18. What date from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

January 3, the day Walt retired, because it was such a huge shift in our way of life around here, suddenly having Walt around 24/7.

19. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

I finally wrote the article about David Gerrold I'd always wanted to write. I don't know if he liked it or not since I never heard from him after I sent him a copy. I also absolutely loved the article I did about the Davis Children's Nutcracker.

20. What was your biggest failure?

My biggest failures are always the same: failure to get the house clean and failure to get control of my eating.

21. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Fortunately, no.

22. What was the best thing you bought?

Probably my new laptop, a gift from my mother. Finally having a speedy laptop, with wi fi, was very exciting, though the nightmare of buying it was not much fun at the time!

23. Whose behavior merited celebration?

Tom's, of course. He's made me an expectant grandmother! I also celebrate Jeri, who is glowing these days and that's so nice to see!

24. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

Consistently, the man in the White House, who continues to destroy the country that I love and who seems to be unstoppable. Add to that most of the members in his administration, especially Cheney and Rove.

25. Where did most of your money go?

I don't think I spent an inordinate amount of money this year, but probably other than the essentials, the bulk of the "impulse purchases" went, again, to Amazon.com.

26. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

The upcoming new baby! Second would be finally ending my employment by the Psychiatrist. Knowing that I have NO stack of transcription waiting for me at all times has been incredibly freeing.

27. Did you drink a lot of alcohol in 2007?

More this year than previous years. I still rarely drink and my drink of choice is water, but I do let down my hair on Cousins' Day!

28. Did you do a lot of drugs in 2007?

I have never done drugs, unless you count aspirin.

29. Did you treat somebody badly in 2007?

I hope not.

30. Did somebody treat you badly in 2007?

Things hurt my feelings from time to time, but basically, no.

32. What do you wish you'd done more of in 2007?

Organizing. Not so that the house would be neat, but so that when I start a project, I don't have to spend an hour getting things ready to work.

33. What do you wish you'd done less of?

Worrying because I can't control my weight or keep a neat house.

35. What was your favorite TV program(s)?

Grey's Anatomy, House, The Amazing Race, and Monk. A marvelous TV discovery was a Canadian show called Slings and Arrows (about a Canadian Shakespeare company), which I got from Netflix. The show has now ended, but it was absolutely marvelous. I recommend it highly.

36. What song will always remind you of 2007?

I can't think of one.

37. How many concerts did you see in 2007?

I think we only went to one musical concert in 2007 (but a lot of theatre!). That would be the 40th anniversary concert for the Davis Madrigal Choir. An absolutely fabulous event.

38. Did you have a favorite concert in 2007?

The aforementioned Madrigal concert, since it was the only official "concert." But it might also be the Wizard of Oz film, with musical background by the San Francisco Symphony.

39. What was your greatest musical discovery?

iTunes. I've purchased more music off of iTunes ever since Tom gave me a gift card last Christmas (which I used up in the first month!)

40. What was the best book you read?

A book nobody has ever heard of which isn't available anywhere called "Edwina the Invincible," written by our friend Marie Goff.

41. What was your favorite film of this year?

We only saw four movies this year -- Hairspray, Ratatouille, The Martian Child, and Sweeney Todd. My favorite of the lot was Martian Child because I've been waiting for this film for so many years -- and they did a fairly good job of it.

42. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I was 64 and we took a trip to Los Angeles that weekend, to go see another taping of the radio show Says You. It was our second time going there and it was so much fun that we will return in 2008 and go to both days of taping (4 shows).

43. What did you want and get?

The "want and get" would have to be Christmas and everybody was very kind. Tom & Laurel gave me a webcam so I can follow the baby's progress after she's born; Walt bought me a book I wanted (James Lipton's "Inside Inside"), Phil gave me the heavy duty Gorillapod for my camera and, unexpectedly, Peggy bought me a wonderful new camera.

44. What did you want and not get?

World peace and a clean house.

45. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

For Congress to stand up to Bush and try to turn around some of the destruction that he has wrought.

46. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?

"Fashion concept"? You mean something other than "does this sweatshirt have too many stains on it" and "you mean I need to put on shoes to go to the theatre?"

47. What kept you sane?

Writing. As I look back over my life, writing seems to have kept me sane for most of it!

48. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

I don't think I "fancied" any particular celebrity this year.

49. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007.

"The world goes round and round and if you wait long enough, it's finally your turn." and "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."

50. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

Given that most of our weekends have been spent in the theatre, last year's lyrics are just as applicable this year:

Another op'nin, another show
In Philly, Boston, or Baltimo'
A chance for stage folks to say hello!
Another op'nin of another show.
....
The overture is about to start
You cross your fingers and hold your heart
It's curtain time and away we go -
Another op'nin
Just another op'nin of another show

A Safe and Sane New Year's Eve

"Sane" being a relative term, of course. You can't get some 20 theatre folks together and have too sane of an evening.

We had such a good time last night. This is the third or fourth year we've gathered together with all these people, who are most of my very favorite people in Davis.

The party starts around 7. We got there at 7:15, by which time most of the people were there eating delicious hors d'oeuvres. Our hostess is a marvelous cook and everything is always incredible.

Two of the people are involved with the SPCA, so there was a lot of animal talk going on, including one of the funniest stories I've heard in a long time (which makes me feel so much better about our dogs!) This was a hysterical, yet tragic story of some hors d'oeuvres she made. I don't remember what they were -- some mushroom something that involved a LOT of work, so intricate that when they were finished, she wrapped each individually, put them in a box and put the box on top of the armoire in her guest bedroom. When she came home, her two poodles had somehow managed to get into the box and had eaten every one of the things. There is no way the poodles could have jumped that high, but she had an exercise ball in one corner of the room, and she assumes that they somehow jumped on the ball and from there to the top of the armoire. She wishes she had installed a "nannie-cam" in the room!

About an hour and a half into the party, the hostess puts out two different soups, one vegetarian. This year it was Mullagatawny soup and French onion soup. Hard to know which was the more delicious.

Then there were amazing desserts, and when we all were stuffed, it was time to play the "name game." During the cocktail hour, we all have little pads of paper on which we write names. Any names. Any names that people are likely to know. Everyone from St. Theresa of Lisieux to Captain Kangaroo to local actors to obscure literary figures or characters in books. The slips of paper are put in a bowl and as each person takes his or her turn, the scorekeeper keeps track of the time and you try to get your team to identify as many names as possible until your time runs out.

I love playing with this group because, in addition to being very funny people, they all have sharp, biting wits and a vast store of knowledge, especially of music, movies, and theatre. I always laugh a lot...and learn a lot too.

As it happened, I got the record number of names identified during one of my turns, which was a less impressive accomplishment than it would seem, because I was sitting next to someone who had written 3 of the 6 names I was trying to get my team to guess. That always helps!

We were so involved with the game (and laughing so much...and we were drinking coffee) that it was 2 minutes to midnight before anybody thought to check the ball in Times Square.

After the ball dropped, champagne was poured, hugs were passed around for all, and we started packing up to leave. Walt and I were home before 12:30.

I spent most of New Year's day holding puppies and watching a Monk marathon (for those who aren't into football!). I don't know what sort of switch has clicked on in Chunk's head, but she now lives to attack Half Pint and so I've spent the whole day with one or the other in my lap while the other one wanders around the room. I had two blissful hours when both were asleep, Chunk on the floor, and Half Pint on my chair, way to the back where Chunk couldn't reach her.

When they woke up, I let Half Pint into the floor and Chunk was in my lap. She looked like Snoopy when he is pretending to be a vulture. She didn't take her eyes off the other puppy and her whole body was so tense she trembled the whole time.

Eventually I did the puppy switch -- Chunk on the floor, Half Pint to my lap.

Half Pint is going to join her siblings tomorrow afternoon. She was originally separated from them because she was so little and needed to build up strength. Well, she has done that. She is still significantly smaller than the others, but we're hoping they will be less problematic for her than Chunk has become.

With luck, both of them will find new homes on Saturday, when they go up for adoption.