<p>NMN - I am so sorry you’ve lost another friend. I honestly can’t imagine.</p>
<p>Yesterday would have been my dad’s 78th birthday. He’s been gone 25 years come October and come the first of that month, I will have outlived him. How completely odd… and frankly, I hope I make it! Still so weird to have lost both my parents… feeling very orphanish this week.</p>
<p>S finally received a secondary to San Francisco. Thankfully, they do quite the prescreen before they send those out and the secondary is actually pretty straightforward and easy. So we’re back to 14 schools. One interview and all to which he applied receiving secondaries. Only one rejection thus far, so mostly all is good news and hopefully more interview requests will come rolling in the next few weeks. Everyone keeps saying it’s early in the application cycle and you really can’t start worrying until end of October. Well, I am ahead of that curve.</p>
<p>Rain and cold today… ugh. I am hoping for a few nice days soon so at the very least I can get the boats to storage without being in the rain or freezing. H was supposed to come back to put his ensign (sailboat) into storage but now it’s looking like I’ll either have to do it with friends (since I don’t technically sail) or call the marina to come and tow it back. Then there’s the buoy…. ugh ugh and more ugh. End of summer clean up is so not as fun as getting the toys out in the spring!</p>
<p>NM – so very sorry to hear your news. I can think of a few choice adjectives for cancer – none of which are probably permitted on this forum …</p>
<p>Moda – great news for your S. I always feel as if I’m ahead of the curve when it comes to worrying. And putting away the summer toys? Yeah, that’s no fun – mostly because of what it signifies, which is, of course, the end of summer.</p>
<p>sevmom – I was actually thinking of New Orleans, since we’ve never been there. (Well, H was once a long time ago on business, but hardly saw anything beyond his hotel.) We’ve been to the Keys. shaw – yes, I was (also) thinking of hiking in AZ and/or NM. We’ll see.</p>
<p>Latest puppy antics – unrolling the TP from the half bath. Honestly, she’s just like a toddler! Oh wait, she IS a toddler. Fortunately she hasn’t learned how to unlatch and open doors – yet.</p>
<p>For the last 13 years I have never “heard” overhead airplanes the way I did BEFORE – especially on this date, 9/11. And since S joined the AF, the sound really gets to me. I’m thankful beyond words that, at the moment, he’s based in the US, but I know his time will come. That’s beyond the limits of my imagination – but not beyond the limits of my worrying, (See above.) </p>
<p>S said his street has a fire station on it… not sure if it was threat or the date that had the street closed and police on patrol. Still… that 9/11 was so long ago I can hardly comprehend as it seems like yesterday - and yesterday I was complaining to my neighbor about the late bus times and it making my elementary kids late for school! </p>
<p>Missy - my sister lives in AZ and ordered these cooling vests for her dog where you dip them in the pool or something and they stay cool? Not sure but know she accidently shipped them here and I had to get to Fed Ex stat to reroute them. I swear, her dogs lead a far far better life than I do. Then again, I think we’ll be lucky to hit 60 today!</p>
<p>I think most of us are around the same age…Cold War babies. When I was born in 1958, WWII had been over for 13 years. 9/11 was 13 years ago. I agree that 9/11 seems so recent. So I guess WWII must have seemed quite recent to my parents when I was born.</p>
<p>A few weeks back we were treated to some of #theorymom’s poetry. I told her that I used to read a lot of poetry in HS and college but had sort of lost patience with it. Her poetry sparked my interest again. For some reason I started following Leonard Cohen Quotes on Twitter. I really don’t know Leonard Cohen much as a singer, but for 140 characters of beautiful poetry several times a say, follow Leonard Cohen Quotes on Twitter.</p>
<p>LOVE Leonard. He has a lovely book of poetry and we have all of his music. H and saw him decades ago when he was not at all popular and then again more recently. The theater was only 1/3 filled the first time and packed the second. </p>
<p>mp – which “Leonard Cohen Quotes” Twitter account are you following? I did a search and there are several. What’s the Twitter handle? The first time I ever heard of him was in French class in HS – my teacher played some of his stuff in French, including “Suzanne.”</p>
<p>CBBB, we rented a fabulous Luis Barragan-influenced house on the beach in a small town in Baja California Sur. Beautiful, safe, relaxing. </p>
<p>ShawWife has just driven ShawSon to the airport for his flight out west. Interestingly, this feels to all three of us more like an empty nest step than either kid going to college. We are proud of him but all feel a bit sad. I wonder if that s how my parents felt when I went out to the same school at age 21 to start a PhD program. I didn’t have the same close relationship with my parents that we have with ShawSon. </p>
<p>ShawSon and gf said goodbye yesterday just before we took ShawD and ShawSon for dinner. When she left, ShawSon said, “that may be the last time I see her,”. They were both sad as they have developed a very nice relationship. A couple of weeks ago, she intimated that he could ask her to move out west with him. He struggled with that as it would make life much easier but he concluded that it wouldn’t be fair to her if he didn’t think it likely that they were going to get married to ask her to upend her plans and change her life. She is headed off to Europe to teach English flor an academic year. </p>
<p>Leonard was my total literary hero in high school and college…he was my first post-modern novel (Beautiful Losers).</p>
<p>His book had been banned from the school system for more than a decade back then, but I had a brave, advanced lit teacher who studied it with us in high school, which was kind of unheard of.</p>
<p>That was the book, btw, that ended his short career in long form fiction after only two books…something that makes me sad to this day But I’ve always had that “Go Leonard” feeling watching him become popular in the US, especially so late in life, touring and releasing a new album at 77 ;)</p>
<p>I probably quote him more than I know and even if I don’t mean to…that’s how ingrained his poetry is in me. Or quote him in quips…one I use all the time is “Any relationship between a man and a woman not based on sex is hypocrisy or masochism.” ;)</p>
<p>It would be kind of surreal to see twitter clips from him, liberated from context. But I can see it working given hs gift for turning a poetic phase.</p>
<p>The Twitter handle is @LCohenQs. I assume that most/many of the quotes are song lyrics. I have to resist the urge to retweet many of them because my twitter account is more business than personal.</p>
<p>Everybody Knows
First We Take Manhattan
The Stranger Song
Suzanne
Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye
Tower of Song
Take This Waltz
I’m Your Man
Hallelujah</p>
<p>Nice to think about him and look at some of his songs on You Tube. Thanks for the reminder, missy!</p>
<p>hmm… maybe that’s the thread in the thread? Now following on twitter:
“I never got to love you like I heard it can be done: where the differences are many but the heart is always one.”</p>
<p>My family has expressed much angst over my love for Leonard. Last Dec.when H came home from his surgery ( and 2 friends H’s unexpectantly died within the previous 3 weeks) I put him on LOUD and decorated the tree. With wine. Had a nice evening given the situation.</p>
<p>Mod–have not yet shouted out a Hurray for yor S! DIL is two weeks behind your S as to having everything submitted (thanks to one prof–much like your S-( but as I am a MIL could do nothing).
I feel just as anxious as I ever did for D.</p>
<p>D had an article published this week in a Medical Journal about her (then) BF’s appendectomy inSpain. The journal is about Medical and Communication Skill. It is clever and interesting. An English major at heart forever. I am still astounded that she has chosen medicine. I think that 30 years ago when English Dept.'s had a path that she would have landed there.
She develops blogs of her dog and her foodie interests for entertainment and as a way to lower her stress now.</p>
<p>Good morning! I’m lovin the remember Leonard theme here ;)</p>
<p>Kudos, Oregon, on your d’s publication.</p>
<p>Mcson learned Friday night that it pays to have a glass of wine with the old broads now and then one of the book club peeps had very nice tickets to his alma mater’s game this weekend and she wasn’t able to go…so she gave them to him. So he made the trek back to AA for the weekend, giving me a some empty nest time. Win win ;)</p>
<p>Mch and I went to the Celtic festival and saw the craziest band ever – La Bottine Souriante. French Canadian-style Celtic/appalaton/folk/jazz/fusion/world sound. It was awesome to see a horn section mixed in with old time fiddle, accordion etc. Truly something different. And it was totally bizzarre to hear French sung in West Michigan :)</p>
<p>I am so looking forward to my trip Tuesday and so dreading tying up work details Monday…hi ho.</p>
<p>Spending some time at the lake remembering my friend. Beautiful memorial service at the Arboretum yesterday. Perfect setting and beautiful weather for enjoying the natural beauty she loved.</p>
<p>Congrats to Oregon D!!! What an accomplishment!</p>
<p>The heat kicked on last night. The evenings and mornings here at the lake are a little cool! I guess Fall has arrived!</p>
<p>NM so sorry about your friend.
Moda congrats to your son.
Feeling pretty sad, devastated really, our friends 27 year old son was killed in an accident Wednesday. We just went to a funeral Saturday for H’s cousin who was killed in an accident. Crazy but they were killed in the same town and not in the state where we reside. tragic.
School is crazy. seeing the difference between the younger kids and myself. makes me laugh. when I don’t feel like crying. </p>
But I’ve always had that “Go Leonard” feeling watching him become popular in the US, especially so late in life, touring and releasing a new album at 77 ;)</p>