3917

No class today! I slept the morning away! Have a movement class in the morrow. Looking forward to it. Have to do some form of movement/activity on those days that classes don't happen. More movement is better than no movement.

Feeling tired tonight. Heading for the bed! Sleep time!

3918

Busy day! Went to PD dance session this morning. We did some improvisation to start getting read for our showcase in October. Had lunch and then went to PD weight training class. It was warm but I powered through the lifting. Grabbed a drink and cooled down some before heading to an wonderful acupressure session in the late afternoon. I was somewhat zonked after the treatment and I grabbed a caffeine booster (green tea latte). Came home and relaxed before putting on a movie.

Watched an Italian film: Golden Door. It was a film about immigrants who came over to America from Italy during the early 20th century. The bulk of the movie deals with the setup of the principals and the boat trip. The last part of the film focuses on the way people were processed on Ellis Island. As depicted in the film, they were treated like they were subhuman and just names and numbers. The movie uses minimal dialog and lets the action tell the stories. There are some scenes in the early parts of the film that are shot in almost absolute darkness and are aggravating to watch. There are also some great shots where the camera is pure magic. There are also some fantasy scenes that deal with swimming in a river of milk. An interesting film--not anything to rave about but worth watching.

No PD gate and balance class tomorrow (and next week). Also no PD weight training session on Friday (holiday time). Dislike not having a full roster of classes each week. Have to fill in the blanks with other activities--other than sleeping!

3919

Finished reading out loud the book Flaubert's Parrot. It is an amazing piece of writing. Julian Barnes, the author, presents a novel-like ramble through a lot of Flaubert's life and letters. It is a bio-novel that is more entertaining, and thought-provoking, than mere historical details.

I watched a mystery movie tonight: Point Blank. It is a story about a criminal who takes on a host of underworld characters to avenge a double-cross that almost killed him. It is a tale of a somewhat perverse Robin Hood who takes from the rich because it's his rightful share. The film was directed by Boorman (Deliverance) and has some plot and action twists and turns that left me wondering what had just happened. It is surprising that the studio ever let the movie go with the director's cut. To their (and others) surprise, it is a classic, as is.

PD dance and weight training in the morrow. And, an acupressure session to top things off. Resisted getting a dose of caffeine earlier today. Felt like I needed one but didn't go for any. I think I need some restful sleep tonight.

3920

Goodbye, Irene! She didn't do as much damage as she could have, but for the people there she did enough! Mother Nature can be really tough!

Watched a Japanese film tonight: The Hidden Blade. It was a bit like a cowboy movie except set in feudal Japan. It was a good story about how Western influences were changing things for the samurai. They were being displaced and their values were being eroded. The film was a bit long but moved along well for the most part.

It is a new moon tonight. Weather is staying warm and muggy. Lots of clouds expected over the next few days, but no rain to speak of.

Picked up a book of "stories" in a genre called "hint fiction." It's a set of stories told in 25 words or fewer. Each story has a title and fits on one page of the book and provides a hint to a much larger tale. A model, purported to have been composed by Hemingway, goes--"For sale: Baby shoes, never worn."

The story of my life is a piece of hint fiction! Dreamery, Creamery!

3921

Well it's good night Irene, good night Irene! On the East coast, Irene is doing her dance along the coast. We could use some of the rain, but not a hurricane along with it.

Did my laundry today. Slept in late this morning, but got out and about finally to do laundry, run errands, and such.

Watched a movie: Affliction. It's a dark, brooding film that centers around family violence and corruption. It was overly long, I thought, but even so it also seemed somehow incomplete. One of the characters starts the film with a narration and closes the film as well. His set up and wrap up bookend the action, but seems more like a device than a necessity. The film garnered several awards including an Oscar for Coburn in a supporting role (Nolte was nominated for Best Actor). There was something not quite cohesive about the film.

Despite all of the sleep I've been getting, I still get tired. I've been using an afternoon caffeine boost which seems to work. Always something! Life goes on!

3922

PD weight training session today. It went well although I had to grunt a few times on the longer repetitions. I was also a little sore from yesterday's acupressure session--why I'm not that clear about. I just came away sore for some reason. Will get the kinks out next time.

Dreamed about working with a group of people who were doing some kind of research in outer space. There were two objects that had been put into orbit. The objects had flat surfaces that were aligned so that the flat sides faced each other. We were trying to figure out how to put layers of material on the flat surfaces that would stay in place and not slip off. In the dream, we were sometimes in space and sometimes on the ground. When in space, we were spacewalking and observing how the coating material behaved. When on the ground, we were running simulations.

Watched a movie tonight: The Snow Walker. I'd seen the film before in a theater. It's about a bush pilot who gets stranded with an Inuit woman in the frozen north. The story details how he survived principally because the woman knew how to make it in such inhospitable surroundings. It is a tale about the human spirit and the extremes that can be tolerated, if there is the will to do so.

Laundry day tomorrow! Oh, boy! Oh, joy!

3923

Did a movement class today. It was a full house of people taking the session. Went from that class to an acupressure/tuina session. Felt good! It's been almost two months since the last session. Will do another next week!

Came home after eating a big dinner and zonked out in my chair. If it had been less warm, I would probably still be asleep.

Watched a movie: A Somewhat Gentle Man. Norwegian film with a well known actor. The film started off with the subtitles in a small font and seemingly all overlaid onto light color backgrounds. I couldn't follow the story since I couldn't read the subtitles. I discovered a button on the DVD remote that I had never used--the zoom button. When pressed, it zooms into the frame, enlarging the image...and the subtitles! Magic! Enlarging the video image to 2x made the subtitles readable. Digital is the only way to go!

PD weight training session tomorrow. Ready for the heavy lifting!

3924

PD gait and balance class today. I got into a bit of a funk when we discussed things that had to be taken care of as the disease progresses. Not a lot of happy thoughts!

Watched a movie tonight--Life During Wartime. It is a film by the same director/writer that did Happiness (Solondz). It was an OK film but not as good as Happiness. It is an absurdest take on a host of family dysfunctions that deal with love, closeness, sex, perversion, loneliness, and more. It's a dark comedy that makes some of its points with lectures rather than actions. The cast of Wartime was not as strong as the people who appeared in Happiness.

It was hot here today! Not as hot as Texas, but getting there. TX has endured 70 days of triple-digit heat. Hotter than anything I like!

Movement and acupressure in the morrow! Roll out the stressors!

3925

PD dance and weight training today! Felt good to do both. It turned quite warm today despite a cooling episode last night. It's still warm tonight.

PD gait and balance tomorrow! Looking forward to the movement and such.

Awoke in the middle of the early morning (last night). Had some trouble falling back asleep, but did so and slept into the morning light.

Got a note from the acupressure person--I'm set for two sessions: Thursday and next Tuesday. Been almost two months since I've had a treatment. My body is ready for some work.

3926

Well, maybe things in Libya are going well. People are in Tripoli all have different stories/perceptions. It's not over until it's over!

Watched an indie film tonight: Killer of Sheep. It is by a black writer/director, Charles Burnett. The film is not as dark as the title implies. The title refers to a job in a slaughterhouse where sheep are processed. Burnett has only produced a handful of films, but he's gotten good notices for what he's done. Several of his films are short pieces. One of his most recent shorts (several shorts and two full length pieces are on the 2-DVD set) is about some of the aftermath of Katrina. It's a pedantic piece that I quit watching. The rest of the items on this set are worth viewing.

Awoke in the middle of the night (early morning). Had a little trouble falling back asleep, but when I did so I went out like a light. Dreamed about working with the people I once knew at SRI. I was put on a project that involved doing some computer modeling. The dream was complex and very technical. I managed to produce a model that was a good simulation of a technical process. I felt some of the uncertainty that I felt when I actually worked with these people. The model I produced, in the dream, helped me feel more comfortable working with them.

PD dance and weight training tomorrow! Be great to move and lift!

3927

Breakthrough in Libya! Still much to be done there, but amazing results so far. May the people in that conflict begin to know peace and a cessation of conflict.

Watched a well made film tonight: In Cold Blood. Script was good and drove the action, maintaining the suspense and tension. The story was based on an actual event where a family was massacred by a couple of paroled convicts. It was a senseless and terrible crime. The movie presented a more than superficial look at the psyches of the two criminals, looking at why they may have done what they chose to do. It was a surprisingly good film. One of the best I've seen.

Slept a lot this weekend. Back to being on the move again this week.

Dreamed last night a dream that I've had before. Not sure of the details right now but I was aware, in the dream, that it was a rerun.

3928

Dreamed last night about helping create an electronic device. I had dreamed parts of this dream in earlier episodes that I didn't recall until last night's session. In an earlier dream (I don't recall when exactly), I had postulated that a device could be made that would replace a current gadget. The current device could be engineered so that it used only a half of the materials and could be reduced to half its current size.

In last night's dream, someone (DP??) showed up with the redesigned device. He had already procured a patent application. He was there to show me the device and have me sign the patent application forms. He, another person and I was to be the patent owners. Everyone was happy and the new device worked perfectly.

Watched a movie tonight--Tin Cup--a "rocky" film centered around golf. It was an OK film but nothing to shout about. It was obvious that the story would end with a "rocky" conclusion--crowds cheering and the hero doing the improbable.

Into the darkness of the night... dreaming dreams of pure delight... taking flight, breathing light...

3929

PD weight training session went well today. It felt good. There were several new people in the class but it's still not really crowded. Julie, the woman who initiated the training class, popped by today. She remarked that I looked really fit and alert. That's the second or third time in the past few weeks that I've gotten positive remarks about my physical self. Yeah for the medication! I still need to be doing more--exercise, movement, walking, dancing and such. More is better! That's the admonition!

Watched a French film tonight: Vagabond. It's about a woman who is found in a ditch, frozen to death. The movie backtracks through her final days and records what she did and who she encountered. It's a typical French-style film with an unresolved ending (although she is dead fairly soon in the opening scenes) to what has transpired. In the extras, there is an informative discussion between the director and the person who created the music. They lay out how the music was used in the dolly shots to transition the movie. The director specifically mentions the visual links that were embedded in the dolly shots that threaded the segments together.

Dreamed last night but nothing that I recall. I awoke sometime in the middle of the night and lay awake for a while. I then conked out and slept into the morning.

3930

Had fun in movement class today--felt relaxed and at ease. My sleep last night was a bit spotty. I awoke around 2 o'clock (in the AM) and had a little trouble getting back to sleep. I did not have anything caffeinated-- was just awake for seemingly no reason.

Dreamed a complex dream about being in a competition. I was with a team of people (small team) who were vying to create a small how-to booklet for a device. We were up against another small team. We had built a prototype of our booklet and were just about to submit it for evaluation. I realized as we were about to hand in our prototype that there was an element that was missing. I knew that the other team were also missing details on the same element, but that we had information about it in our files. I told the evaluation panel that we needed some additional time to correct our prototype. They agreed to the delay. My team were puzzled as to why I was asking for the delay. When we were alone, I told them. They agreed that we did have the information and that it should be added to our version of the booklet. We set about making the correction.

Watched a movie tonight: The Darjeeling Limited. It was a really stupid movie. In the film, three brothers interrupt their lives (what lives they had) to journey to India. One of the brothers has a plan to get all three of them to contact their estranged mother. She is working in an orphanage in a remote area. The movie was somewhat like the Three Stooges search for their mom in the Himalayas. The sad part of the film was the incredible detailed work that had gone into outfitting a train on which most of the action took place. There were details upon details as revealed in the documentary on the making of the film. Too bad all that work was wasted on such a lame story and execution.

PD weight training tomorrow! Ready for the reps!

3931

PD gait and balance class today! It was great to be back in class. It's challenging and supportive. I was struck by seeing several people, who have been coming for a while, faltering and struggling with increased symptoms. They are showing increased symptoms despite their efforts to keep ahead of the game.

I'm feeling good! I attribute some of that to the classes I take and to my genetic makeup. Also, despite the difficulty in not working, I might be better off going lightly as I've been doing. Less stress is better than more. No doubt!

Discovered that I'm not scheduled for an acupressure session until next week. I was ready for it too be tomorrow, but have to wait a week. Have a movement class tomorrow. Relax and enjoy!

3932

PD dance and weight training sessions today! Felt really good especially after the long weekend without a class and not doing any weight training for a week.

I felt a little fragmented after the classes but I grabbed a green tea latte (caffeine) and that lifted me up and about in the late afternoon and evening. I had a green tea latte yesterday and it kept me awake last night, but not that badly. It seems that I need the lift in the late afternoon unless I want to just flop down and sleep. Noticed people in classes today who went off their medication while moving about and had to dig out their pills and take a dose.

Watched a film, Public Enemies, tonight. It was about the last days of Dillinger and the early days of the FBI and its G-men. It was an interesting film from a historical perspective. It had a good cast (Depp and Bale) and lots of vintage cars, clothes and guns.

PD gait and balance class resumes tomorrow. It's been a month since we've had a class. Will be good to get back to it!

3933

Watched an indie film Primer. It was done on a $7,000 budget which was spent mostly on film. It was supposedly a SciFi film. The science part was a bit sketchy which didn't help the fiction part all that much. Overall, the film came across as being clumsy--which might be expected for a first time film maker who wrote, directed, starred in, edited, composed/played music, and contributed to the design. It did return well at the box office and garnered a few awards--enough to help him work on a second film: Topiary that is in pre-production at this stage. Good luck to him and his extensive family and friends who helped him realize his first film.

Dreamed last night but all details slipped away at some time today. Read a lengthy chapter of Flaubert's Parrot to GH today. We've read almost all of the book. Perhaps we'll finish in two more sessions. It is quite an unusual novel--both in form and content.

PD dance and weight training sessions tomorrow! Looking forward to the moving and lifting. It was a long weekend. Time seems to go by more quickly when I am on the move. So, moving I shall go!

3934

Sunday! Slept some but also got up and about as well. Walked over to Starbucks in the mid afternoon and had a green tea latte. Took a book with me (very retro to have something printed and not beamed) and read some. Was a little tired when I got back but the caffeine kicked in and I've felt awake for the rest of the time.

Watched a Chinese film Ashes of Time Redux. It's a beautifully filmed piece with a fair amount of wild camerawork. It's a mystical story of love, battles and martial arts played out against a stark desert setting. It's quite a good film. Will have to see other films by the same director: Wong Kar Wai. He's directed 18 titles but several are either shorts or segments--not whole films.

Dreamed last night about having to shield my daughter from some people who were trying to do her harm. I was having to confront different people and groups. I was threatening them if they were involved in causing her any harm. It was an intense dream--very detailed and cinematic.

Off to the H's tomorrow for a chapter reading session. Going to be a busy week. Full schedule of classes, I believe, plus acupressure session and other events. May the force be with me!

3935

Didn't sleep the day away like yesterday! Made it to the laundry place. There were few people around and laundry was done quickly. Ran some errands.

Watched two movies--The Red and the White, and Skin. Red/White was directed by Jancso, the Hungarian director with about 80 films to his credit. The movie was somewhat chaotic (intentionally so) and fairly brutal (also intentional). It's a rough anti-war film even though it was supposed to be a tribute to the Russian soldiers who fought in the depicted battles. The film shows atrocities by all. The photography in the film is striking and I could see how Tarr picked up some ideas from Jancso.

Skin is a story based on actual events set in Africa. It's about two white people who have a girl who has black features. The film flip-flops back and forth over the laws of those times and whether the daughter is legally white. It's a heart rending tale of laws, racism, families torn apart, and the turmoil the girl/woman endures trying to find her place in the world.

Full moon tonight! And Perseid meteor showers again tonight! Cosmic happenings!

3936

Perseid meteor shower tonight...online with NASA! It's probably more fun to go lay out under the stars and watch the shower, but if you can't then you can go online.

I slept the day away today. Got up, ate breakfast and went back to sleep. Got up and had some lunch and then went back to bed (actually, I fell asleep in my chair). Woke up later in the afternoon, had something to drink and then, yes, back to sleep.

It's now getting late in the evening, but I'm not feeling sleepy. Guess I'll read for a bit.

Tomorrow is laundry day! Missed having a PD weight training session today.

Stock market goes up, stock market goes down! Stock market goes all around the town!

Turmoil and turbulence seem to abound! Where it will land seems to confound!

3937

Movement class felt good today. I awoke late, went to class, and went out to grab something to eat. Came back a bit logy and may have napped some.

Dreamed last night that I was telling someone about the free Starbucks coffee deal that was put online as a social media experiment. The person I was telling the details to was having problems hearing me. I kept saying things louder and louder. At some point, I realized I was sitting up in bed and yelling the details out loud. I'm sure my neighbors appreciated the information. I shut down the dream and went back to sleep.

I watched another Tarr film--Damnation. For some reason, this film did not click with me. I found myself getting upset with what was happening on the screen (or not happening as the case may be). Somehow, the movie made me feel that I had to struggle to understand what was being shown. It was almost as if the film was too structured in some way--not as organic as Satantango.

I did a little research and found the director that influenced Tarr in some ways--Miklos Jancso. Jancso has directed nearly 80 films but there's not much in the library on DVD. He was born in 1921 and is still doing films. That would make him 90 years old and still directing! Way to go Jancso! I'll pick up the one film that is on DVD (Red and White) and check it out.

No PD weight training tomorrow! Start of a long weekend. Bumped into Shawn Bek who did some chiropractic work on me when I was first diagnosed with PD. He hasn't changed a bit. Still looks like a 16 year old kid! Good for him! His practice is going well!

3938

Getting late! Got sidetracked following up on a story about a guy (Jonathan Stark) who posted a photo of his Starbucks card (bar code and account number) online. Anyone with a smart phone can download his card image and use it to get a free coffee (or whatever?) at Starbucks!

You can also recharge his card--a sort of paying forward concept to keep the free coffees flowing. He's going viral no doubt! His web site also has links to apps that let you monitor how much is on the card and a few other statistics. Just go to jonathanstark.com for details.

All for now! I didn't get my free Starbucks today so I'm a bit sleepy!

3939

PD dance and weight training sessions today. No PD gait and balance class tomorrow and no PD weight training on Friday. Makes for a long week but also means I can sleep in more. Oh, well!

Watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I'd seen the film a couple of times but it was good to see it again. It's an engrossing film and is executed superbly. A film that should be on everyone's list of best movies.

Slept well last night but awoke for a while with the moon shining brightly. Got up early this morning to take medication and then went back to sleep for about two hours--like a rock!

Stock market recovered some today. But the world is in turmoil--teetering it seems on the brink of possibly imploding. Maybe it's just near full moon madness! The moon is waxing gibbous, headed for fullness.

3940

My dragon friend up in OR sent me a link to a Factors Game. He asked me to play the game and see if there were strategies for getting the largest, smallest, tied scores. I played the game last night before going to bed.

Most of last night I dreamed about factoring! I was awake for some of the time but my brain was still running scenarios and game play sequences. Today, when I started looking at the game again, I realized that the game's Computer Player was using a maximizing strategy that repeated its moves. The game was too smart. I quickly came up with a series of game plays that always let me win! Also, knowing that the Computer Player was always trying for the largest score, playing for low score made it a non-challenge. Getting a tied score is trickier but can be figured out since the Computer Player repeats its moves and responses--just have to figure out the number pattern.

Stock exchange tanked again today! Not clear where all of these things are going to lead.

PD dance class and weight training tomorrow! Wonder if tonight's dreams will be factorisable?

3941

Felt logy and sleepy (tired) most of the day. Slept in this morning, but extra sleep didn't vitalize me. Just felt like staying in bed. Finally got up and out for a short spell. Had a late breakfast anad that helped some.

Watched another film by the Hungarian director Tarr. The film is called Werckmeister Harmonies. The title of the book from which the film is drawn is called The Melancholy of Resistance. The film is not as engrossing as Satantango, but stylistically it's clearly one of his films. It's composed of 39 languid tracking shots. In this case, the story imposed itself more into the action so the result is not as organic as Satantango. Like in Satantango, there are a few really difficult scenes--difficult to watch since they are so brutal. I'll watch it again so I can sort out the layers that it portrays.

I'm ready to hit the rack! It's been a long day or so here in the valley. Time to sleep some more!

3942

B-day ending! Had a good visit and lunch with friend PH today. Got several Facebook messages wishing me a happy one! Got a call from my SoCal son also wishing me a good one. I painlessly shifted into my 73rd year. Happy B-day to my younger sister in the morrow!

Night before last I dreamed an elaborate dream about being selected for a job. The company campus was this huge layout of buildings and open areas. I was there with hundreds of other applicants. We had all been selected based on applications. The job designation process was somewhat vague. I kept getting the impression that I was not doing things correctly. Most of the other applicants were much younger than me. They seemed to grasp the details behind the assignment process and were quickly being integrated into various work groups. I felt that I had been selected because I was older and had some unique skills that could be applied to the company's projects. But I was confused about the process and was wandering around trying to get some hint regarding what to do.

There were huge numbers of kiosks and booths where applicants could get validated for certain jobs. The entire setup was brightly lighted and there was a lot of gold-colored decorations and banners. In many cases, groups of kiosks were designated with sequential letters of the alphabet. However, some letters or sequences of letters were either missing or just terminated. My application notice had a set of letters that I was supposed to use to locate my job kiosks or booths. I couldn't locate those places as I traversed the campus. The dream seemed to last a long time.

Watched a movie tonight--Gallipoli. It was a somewhat truncated story of some Australian men who fought with the English against the Turks. They were chopped to pieces in a futile assault on Turkish fortifications at Gallipoli. The film featured a young Mel Gibson. It is an OK film but nothing spectacular. My remote for the TV seemed to stop working. Can still use the manual controls on the TV itself, but not sure if the remote needs batteries or the IR link on the TV is dead. The remote still flashes a red light when pressed, but nothing happens with the TV.

Earlier tonight, I watched one of my favorite TV shows--Flashpoint. It's about a Swat team that gets called in to handle extreme emergencies--usual criminal in nature. The show is action packed and has interesting scenarios that the team has to handle. Tonight, one of the team members let the others know that he had been diagnosed with PD. Made the show both less interesting as well as more interesting--it being my B-day and having been diagnosed with PD. The whole confluence gave me an odd feeling. Life and fantasy life merging!

3943

PD weight training session today. Felt good but I was a bit tired when it was over. I also was hungry and thirsty. I went to the Printer's Cafe and grabbed a lemonade. While there, I encountered a wave of people from the past. Three of them had the first name of George. How's that for coincidence? In all it was about a half dozen people. It had been years since I'd seen some of them.

After finishing my lemonade and saying goodbye to everyone, I ended up at the CG and had a delicious pasta and prawn dish.

Watched a movie set in Mexico, The Crime of Padre Amaro. It was a sort of hokey movie that dealt with many contemporary issues that the Catholic Church is sorting through--women's roles, women's rights, corrupt priests, corrupt officials, drug gangs, and such. None was handled all that well. After the movie Satantango, most films would seem somewhat banal.

Meeting PH tomorrow for a celebratory lunch. I'll be 72!

3944

Watched a movie tonight, Adoration, that I had watched late last year. Despite my having seen the film before, it was like a new movie with deja vu elements. Strange thing how the memory works. I couldn't predict the film's ending even though I'd seen it at least once. Fuzzy gray matter!

Here's what I said about the film when I first saw it (it still applies):

Watched a quirky movie tonight called Adoration. Still not sure how the title fits the film. It's a story about a boy who is encouraged to write a fictive story about his dead parents. The story leads him and others in his life down paths of discovery that would otherwise be left in shadow. It's a good film, but a bit unresolved in its final stages. It's a very modern film that utilizes today's technologies as a backdrop for the boy's actions.

Dreamed last night that I was with a group of people and we were walking along a trail that was taking us to a section of a town. We were coming into town to have some fun. We were camped back up in the hills near the town. I was familiar with the place and was directing our movements based on what I knew about the place. There were times when we had to consult maps and schematics of the town's layout to determine where we were going. The dream was quite detailed and specific.

Had a movement class today. I came away really relaxed and fell asleep in my chair for several hours in the afternoon. Have a PD weight training session tomorrow. The weight training is definitely toning up my upper body. Also helps with posture.

3945

Finished a marathon session of watching a 7-hour Hungarian film Satantango. Quite a movie! It's a visual treat. It also has some really disturbing scenes which are made more painful since the action is so drawn out. The director is known for his extended takes (averaging over two minutes in this film with several 10-minute takes).

PD gait and balance class got canceled today. It's been several weeks now with that class being put on hold. Miss the action.

Up late tonight! Have to head for the bed! Dreaming makes the scene!!

3946

PD dance class and weight training session today. It was a push but it felt good.

Slept well last night. Dreamed that I was in a cabin on a river or bay. We had come there to fish. I was with several people from the men's group. I had fished the area before and knew how to rig up for the fish there. In one part of the dream, I was standing on the shore and I could see large fish moving about in the water. No one caught a fish though. We just stood around and enjoyed the peacefulness of the place.

Making my way through an epic Hungarian film (7 hours) called Satantango. The director uses lengthy shots (average scene is 150 seconds--he has a 10 minute scene in this film), great b/w segments, crystal sounds, and not a lot of words. The result is mesmerizing and engaging. I still have about 1/3 of the film to go. Will see how it ends.

Congress (the Senate) passed the debt ceiling bill and the Prez signed it into law. Thank goodness that's done, for now. Guess I'll get a SS check next week. But I know the Republicans (aka the tea party) will try again to take from the poor and give to the rich--no matter what the consequences.

3947

First day of August! Where have the days gone? How can it already be the eighth month of this year?

The House finally got it done today--the debt ceiling legislation. Now it's up to the Senate! To the very brink! Politics over concern for the country and the people of this nation!

Slept well last night! Cooler weather helped. Don't recall my dreams. I know I did dream.

Read several chapters of Flaubert's Parrot to GH today. It's a really humorous book. The comedy comes alive when reading it aloud.

PD dance and weight training sessions tomorrow. Looking forward to some directed movement.