Facebook Fallout

Yes, I am late in getting to Facebook. And I'm not really all that into it. But I was told that family's trip to Australia could best be experienced on Facebook. Then I learned that some friends had asked me to join them there, so I accepted some. Long story short, I'm going to dinner with Chandan in Baltimore on Friday. I haven't seen him since I left India over two years ago. We Gchat now and then, but he is often 10 hours ahead of me. Who knows how long he has been in Philadelphia. The man does get around, but I will be seeing him before we both leave. If I hadn't seen his complaint on Facebook about being stuck somewhere, we never would have done this.

Then we're going to see a play on Broadway with Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman. I can't afford to

stay over night, so I'm taking the bus to NY, finding Eric and Cindy to see the play, then visiting with old friend Tom before the bus takes me home again that night. This happens on the 10th. Very exciting. I used to visit Tom in NY when he ran the Times Book Prizes. It is run by gnomes in LA

now, so no more visits with Tom. This is not thanks to Facebook, but to a very tight wallet.

Work Monday was very exciting. Got to laugh and chat with retired general Abizaid. Working for Gary can be exciting. Didn't get a chance to tell him good bye, nice to work with you. But I did say goodbye to his EA. She seemed very sad that I am leaving. I told her she didn't take off enough time for my budget. Good to know that I will be missed.

And I've been reading. One has no picture. It's called Gourmet Rhapsody by the woman who wrote the Hedgehog book. This is about a food critic in Paris who is dying. Mean old man. Lovely little book. I think I'd get this from the library rather than spending money on it. It seems very light weight. But it has wonderful things to say about food.

And then I read the last of the Reacher books on my list of those I had not read. So, no more of those on these pages. Nice little juxtaposition, though. Gourmet Rhapsody is on the total other end of the fiction spectrum from this nameless book. Both entertaining, but the food one is just a bit more involving.

Always nice to read an old P.D. James. A Mind to Murder is one of her slowly unwinding mysteries. Recommended only if you like that sort of thing. Or if you get it for free.

And finally a little piece of fluff by the man who writes the Number 1 Ladies' Detective books. See, the thing is, I'm re-reading Nixonland, thanks to Adrian. It is just that good. I've only re-read half of it, folks are still making me mad, especially my folk. We were certainly the great unwashed. I guess you always want your side to be right. But we certainly weren't always right. There is always some assinine (misspelled on purpose) group of people who go way too far. But Dick and crew were no better. At least that perspective hasn't changed.

The Lost Art of Gratitude is another slow, lovely book. The heroine is always right, always perceptive and always grateful. Nice. See, it happens sometimes. Just not in America in the '60s.

Stuff

So funny that I haven't used that title yet. All my miscellaneous folders, files, and stuff are named Peg's Stuff. I even taught a File Manger class, back in the day, and told people to create a file folder called (my name) Stuff. I wonder how many of those folders have carried on at The Times. So Stuff it is.

I'm moving back to LA on Halloween. At least, that is when the trip West begins. We'll see how long it takes me to get there. I'm missing having my own place. I think it must be a woman thing. You are always a guest in any other woman's home. I know I felt that So Pasadena was Adrian's place when I visited earlier this year (January), but I promise I will pee in every corner to reclaim my home.

Stuff

Kevin put this fun link on his Facebook page. We are #37 in healthcare in the world. I guess that isn't so bad, since there are probably more than 100 countries in the world. We beat Afghanistan. Don't know the criteria, the guy is singing, not giving a lecture, so we'll never know. But 37 is pretty far down, considering our impression of our place in the world.

Stuff

North Carolina was fine. I did go to the beach with Adrian. He is a very patient soul. We walked there twice. It wasn't far away, but it was a beach. Full of sand and sun. Yippee. Adrian talked to some of the fisherfolk at the shoreline. Now that seemed interesting. Otherwise, sand and sun. Loved being with Adrian and someday I may load the pictures to my computer and share them. Maybe not. If so, you will see the light house at Cape Hatteras. Magic name, no? Also saw Kitty Hawk. You know how I love to see the places that I've read about. Outer Banks. Cool.

Stuff

I have some work coming in before I go. That will be nice. Linsay seems to be reconnecting me to all the VP's I've worked for in the year that I've been here. I told her that I need a lot of money before I go. Hope she finds more for the 6 weeks before I travel again. She is setting me up with Kelly in LA and telling the Booz people in San Diego that I have experience temping for them. It might be fun to go down there for jobs, get to see other Lundstroms. Haven't mentioned it to them yet, since for now it is all talk.

Stuff

We are going to New York to see a play on October 10. 10/10. Works well for the military, Europe AND the US. I can never remember the name, but it stars Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman. Swooon. Hotels in NY are way too expensive for me so I'm taking the very early a.m. bus from Arlington, seeing the show and then having a drink with my friend Tom. He knows a great place and will pick me up at the stage door, where I will be clinging to either stars' leg. Then I catch the 7:00 bus back to Arlington. Just a 5 hour bus ride. I will be sure to charge my iPod and settle in. Cindy and Eric are taking the train and more time. That is the plan at the moment. They don't have reservations yet. I'm sure they will be fine. We'll just meet at the play and then go our separate ways. They have a lot to see and I am looking forward to seeing Tom. I visited him two years in a row for the Book Awards announcement in NY. He was in charge of the Book Awards. That's all changed now. It will be good to see him.

Red Faced in NC

No, you know me. I haven't been to the beach yet. You may take that to mean I never will. I'm not crazy about sand and sun, so Adrian and I have done other things. I'll post again after I've downloaded pictures. If you want to see where we are look here. I'm redfaced because this place has a lot of books. We found Silva's The Defector. Remember how I thought it ended abruptly and was a little upset about that? Hummm, guess I fell asleep at the end because Eric didn't think it ended in Russia. Nope, it didn't. It actually had a very complete ending. Sigh.

The Help is a fabulous book. It's about the life of maids in Jackson, MS in the early 60's and their impact on the families they serve. It was great to listen to. Adrian and I are also listening to Nixonland. The beginning of Nixonland covers the same period of time as The Help. It's interesting listening to the two different perspectives. Even so, it's Chick Lit. Lovely, obnoxious people to hate and ever-suffering, kind people to love. Nothing really horrible happens to anyone and the two protagonists live happily-ever-after. Chick Lit. Love it.

New Tricks

As my dear friend, Per, would say, "Hubba hubba." I am one happy camper. Adrian arrived on Thursday. We went to a Nationals' ball game on Friday and today he barbequed a wonderful dinner. Chicken, fennel, peppers and pineapple. Fabulous. All of it, fabulous. Tomorrow we leave for the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It is all good.

New Tricks is the book that I read through sleep and a couple of days. It was pretty cute, good mystery and enjoyable enough to go back several times to catch up on things that I missed when I drifted off during the night.
Drifting off was never an issue with The Elegance of the Hedgehog. The question was whether the girl would kill herself, would the concierge successfully hide from all her "charges?" There is a lot of philosophising in this book. You can skip that. Lovely plot. Good characters. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and never fell asleep once.

The End of August

I think I made up for only blogging once in July. It pays to work only 2 weeks out of a month. Well, that would be wrong. Nobody pays you not to work. My dear Linsay is back. And work will be coming in, I'm sure. She even found a half day job for me for Friday, but Adrian arrives on Thursday night and I am looking forward to spending time with him.

I have filled this time with reading while California burns. So sorry, dear friends, it sounds horrible from the right coast. I was half way through two books last night. Both were too good to listen to as I drifted to sleep. So I played a light weight mystery. I listened to the first half hour and drifted off. As usual, I awoke every couple of hours. I'd hear the story advance as though I was reading it while riffling the pages of the book. There was still an hour left when I woke up this morning so I got to hear the end. I'll probably do the same thing tonight, but start further in the book. By the time I'm done, I'll have heard it all.

One of the really good books is The Stalin Epigram. Robert Littell won The Times Book Prize a couple of years ago for his book Legends. I loved that book. He writes like Le Carre. This is a deep and slow moving book. It's about the Soviet Union in 1934. People are snatched up and tortured. They are shot or exiled. Somehow I kept getting Stalin's name mixed up with Cheney. Not really, but you can see where Cheney got some of his ideas.

The story is about a little poem that Osip Mandelstam wrote about Stalin. It was not complimentary, so he was jailed then sent to a gulag. I'd highly recommend this for those who need to be reminded what happens when people do not have our constitutional freedoms. One fascinating character was a weight lifter who was jailed for having a sticker of the Eiffel Tower on his suitcase. He can't read and is as dense as a post. His take on his trials is fascinating. It doesn't answer one of my questions about whether dumb people know that they are dumb. He is, but he is a lot happier than the very smart poets. Ignorance is bliss. And is a delight to read.