Woo Hoo!

On Friday, a lady danced up to the bain marie where I was serving the senior luncheon. The radio was playing a salsa tune in the background. I served up her 'picnic' of chicken salad, cukes, tomatoes, and cut up cantaloupe.

"Obligado."
"De nada."

Excitedly, she asked if I spoke Portuguese or Spanish. (She spoke in Portuguese.) I told her I speak a little Spanish (in Spanish) and that my grandmother was Portuguese. I said she was from the Azores. This woman told me that her grandmother was from Cape Verde.

"Ah," I said. "No wonder you are dancing -- Cape Verdeans love to dance!" I joined her in a bit of dancing before she sat to eat her lunch. I love serving lunch at the Senior Center because I never know what I will encounter. (This encounter was after a guy said he would fire me because I wouldn't run to McDonald's to get him a burger, lol.)

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Yesterday we had our first heat wave of the season. That's when the temperature hits 90 F. or above at least three days in a row. I don't think we hit 90 today but it sure was/is humid! We had a pretty powerful thunderstorm, but it's only drizzling a bit now.

Speaking of powerful, my heart goes out to those who suffered a 7.1 on the Richter scale (after one the previous day) in California. Mom is hundreds of miles away, but she still felt a rolling of the floor. Ugh.

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I went to see Renoir: Revered and Reviled at the Amherst Cinema today. I had no idea he had been reviled, but the critics were beyond harsh. They mainly did not like his later works which consisted of many nudes. Somebody said the women looked like they didn't have a brain in their head. How can you tell from a portrait, clothed or nude, whether a woman is intelligent or not? I thought that was a really stupid comment. Others commented on his "objectification of women." What I saw in his nudes is a guy who really knew how to paint and who really loved women!

I was thrilled to see a black and white movie of Renoir as he painted, sitting in a wheel chair. But my heart hurt for him when I saw his horribly twisted hands which had fallen prey to rheumatoid arthritis. My movie companion told me that at the end of his life, his aide taped a paintbrush to his hand.

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Flash notice: Wednesday is Pina Colada Day. So here's Escape (aka The Pina Colada Song) for you: https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?fr=yhs-iba-1&hsimp=yhs-1&hspart=iba&p=pina+colada+song#id=8&vid=4082cf716a5b88bb92eb6ca7ded71e36&action=view

I glanced at this as it started playing to see that the lyrics must have been written by a third grader, since I saw two grammatical errors in 20 seconds. But the words are mostly there for you if you wish to sing along.

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Just when I find something I really like, it goes away. I really like the HMM (Hallmark Movies & Mysteries) channel and they decided to make it "Christmas in July."  Ugh. I don't even like sappy Christmas movies at Christmastime, never mind July.

Which is why I ended up watching "The War" on an unknown channel. It stars Kevin Costner and Elijah Wood and was made in 1994. I liked it a lot -- and wish I had seen the beginning. It's about a very poor Viet Nam vet and his family while they struggle to survive and overcome his ptsd. I highly recommend it.


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I went to the Jones Library Stitchery Club today and Jess was VERY patient with me showing me a way to cast on so that you 'knit' it on. I'm not very good at it, but I'm going to keep trying.

Another woman picked it right up. I had noticed earlier that everything I said, if it was my opinion, she contradicted. And she wanted to make sure that I knew she was right. It was most unpleasant.

Since my retirement, I don't "do" conflict, but I will not be manipulated. I had 30 years of that while I was working and that was enough.

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Did I tell you how wonderful it was to hear James Taylor at Tanglewood on July 3? It was great. We had a modern coach bus and it took us about an hour and a half to get there. We had all brought a picnic but Nancy P. (the overachiever) also brought two tables and re-usable plates and a couple of salads. Others brought more food to share and a candleabra with candles that dripped very artistically.

The weather was perfect, although it was a bit hot until the sun went down, but I had brought my sun umbrella so I did not crisp. The music was great, the company was nice, and I was so glad that I did not have to drive! We sat in traffic a long time trying to leave Tanglewood. We got back to our cars about 1 a.m. and since the bus had left at 3:30 p.m., it was a long day. But it was a good tired!

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I'm off now to buy tickets for Hamlet starring Cumberbatch (National Theatre). It's tomorrow night, but we don't want to risk a sold out theatre.

Then it's off to the gym to make it two in a row. O.k. so I haven't been in a while. Actually, it has been so long that there is a whole new crew of teenagers at the front desk ...

Cheers!