Tragedies

Needless to say, the media is all involved with the Boston Massacre.   The less sensational reporters (like Katie Couric) are the ones that I don't mind listening to.  The more histrionic make me change the station or turn the TV off.

But I haven't really been zeroing in on what happened in Boston, when we have our very own tragedy here in Davis.  There was more information coming from friends of Chip Northup's today, that being that there was much trauma to the bodies and they had also been stabbed, so there is no official cause of death yet (having watched Ducky's autopsies on NCIS, I'm sure the medical examiner wants to take his/her time to get it right).

I also learned that there seems to have been no sign of burglary, so everyone is wondering what the reason for the murders was.  I'm sure that will evolve eventually, but how sad for the couple's six children to have no reason why their parents were killed.

I thought I had reached the limit of my shock about this murder until I read the newspaper's report of it and read:

Enterprise theater critic Bev Sykes praised Maupin’s performance in an October 2009 review.

“(O)ur attention is riveted on Esme, and Maupin gives her total heart and soul: We understand her bouts of depression, her moments of confusion and fear, and her delight over the time she spends with her daughter. Ultimately, we learn the most from Esme,” Sykes wrote.

What?  I hadn't recognized Claudia Maupin's name, but now reading my own review I remember what a lovely person she was and how moved I had been by her performance. She was not an actress, but was recruited from a group at a local Independent Living facility.  Her part was ultimately made larger (given more lines to give) because she was so good in the role. After reaading the article, I sent an e-mail off to the show's director, now living in Australia.

We discussed the murder when I had lunch today with Derrick, my old boss, the former entertainment editor forThe Davis Enterprise.  But we gradually moved on to more fun topics, like movies (which he reviews) and stage shows (which I review).   He asked me about various shows I'd seen and I asked him for movie recommendations.   We compared notes on Les Miserables and the quality of Victor Hugo's original novel.
We also discussed our enjoyment of books of Lee Child and Michael Connelly and talked about how very,very badly miscast Tom Cruise was as Child's hero, Jack Reacher.

He asked me if I'm still enjoying the job and I admitted, honestly, that I do think about quitting.  There is nobody with whom I work any more, like I did with Derrick ("entertainment" is now handled by a person whose primary field of expertise is sports and so there is nobody to talk with about the fun things, the frustrating things and the tricky things) and I feel kind of all alone (so what else is new?). 

What kept me in the job the last couple of years were the upcoming productions of Wicked a year ago and Billy Elliot this year, both of which I have wanted to see for a long time and the opportunity of having good seats for free was a good incentive.   The schedule for the coming year has no such carrot to dangle in front of me, but what keeps me in the job now is sponsoring the Compassion kids.  My Enterprise check helps to pay their support.  If I gave up my job, I would have to either give up Compassion kids or give up eating lunch out and buying books, all of which come out of my small Social Security account.

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We made an appointment for my mother to have her "intake interview" at Springfield on Friday morning.  Ed will come, which makes me feel better about encouraging her to sign a contract.  Scott will treat us to lunch and we can see the apartment (which is still having its flooring replaced) and then, if we decide to go ahead with it, she can sign the contract and plan to move sometime in the last half of May, which will give Peach a chanced to have one more overnight (maybe) before she and Bob move to Iowa, since it may be the very last time they will see each other, since neither of them plans to fly again once Peach is settled in.  

It will also give Jeri time to fly out and visit grandma in the old place once more. Jeri points out that having her in the new place will make it more difficult for her to visit since there is no airporter bus that goes from San Francisco to Petaluma, she doesn't think, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. That will be the least of problems, since Walt and I can always chauffeur.

I called and gave my mother the information that we were going back up to Springfield again on Friday and she seemed quite willing and said that she's ready to "get rid of this joint."  I am so hopeful that being in a new, uncluttered, freshly painted and carpeted apartment will raise her spirits and she will spend time getting to know her new neighbors instead of looking around her house wondering what she's going to do with "all this crap."

And after the murder of Chip Northup and Claudia Maupin, I will certainly feel much better with her in a communal environment rather than living in a mobile home alone.  (But I won't tell her that!)