Varia - Daddypops - Book Club - Steinbeck's importance in my life

I snatched this photo of Grace Catherine off FB.

Varia - a very smart woman in New Directions sent me an email titled Varia. I had no idea what it meant so I looked it up online. Take a look at the word and you can figger out what it means yourself.

Met Dorrie Hawkes at 9 am at Daddypops, where we took time out to relax over breakfast. I'd wrin about Dorrie and her family in the Intell.

We had a great conversation while Dorrie ate these humongous pancakes, the size of a plate, and I had sunny-side-up eggs, baked beans and two buttered pieces of whole-wheat toast.

Norm, her husband, is the mayor of Hatboro, and just met with the police chief. I told her that our chief - Chief Nestel of Upper Moreland - sends out email alerts when something dramatic is happening in our township.

For example, thother day he wrote that two neighboring streets - Ball and Greyhorse - had items stolen from unlocked vehicles.

I learned to lock my car the hard way.

Dorrie has a thick mane of blond hair. What high-class salon has the honors? Hair Cuttery in Warminster, Lynn. Guess who may just switch hairdressers? Only b/c my Amy has nearly doubled her prices under new management.

Today at our Book Discussion Group, I accidentally left my pocketbook in the back seat of my unlocked vehicle.

I learned this when I went to reach for it to pull out a pen and pad.

But I knew the pocketbook would be safe and it was.

When discussion leader, Margie, the library director, asked for comments, I said, "Thank goodness it was mercifully short."

Elaine said, "Ruth, you have yet to like one of our books."

As the discussion went on, I discovered I really did enjoy the book and was able to make intelligent comments. The group actually applauded me when I confessed, "I really did enjoy the book."

I'd said that the book was so thought-provoking, I often put it down to contemplate various passages.

When I have time I'm gonna read the Paris Review Interview with Steinbeck. 

As I left the room, I saw a lot of Steinbeck books on the table for us to read.

Margie, I said to the librarian, when I had bipolar disorder, I couldn't read for about five years. Then one day I came into the library, went to the stacks, and found Steinbeck.

I selected Tortilla Flat, a short book, easily read it, and that was the resumption of my reading life.

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Anne Strauss of Long Island is a friend of mine from when we both wrote novels at MediaBistro. We've kept in touch through emails and FB.

Now Anne is appearing in an HBO documentary about the toll of the recession on people on Long Island. Hopefully my son Dan has HBO and I can go over to watch. Here's the trailer of HARD TIMES: LOST ON LONG ISLAND.

Who would ever think something like this could happen in America!?

Nancy, my neighbor across the street, got new siding - light green with dark green shutters. And I, have finished my spending spree with these solar lights from Home Despot, that light my path when I come home in the dark.

You can also see my whirligig that I bought for $1.50 at Produce Junction. Whirligigs are an incredible phenomenon. My favorite ones are at the American Visionary Museum in Baltimore. Vollis Simpson,written up last year in the Times.

Simpson, 92, is hard at work making his sculptures and wind mills.

Atop the Visionary Museum.

My hero! Hey, maybe I'll go fill up my tank and drive down to NC to visit Vollis. Does he look like an easy man to talk to? I think he'd talk to me, don't you?

Look at those juicy colors!!!

Okay, gotta work on my Kidney Memoir. I'm at the part where I forget to set my alarm clock the day before surgery, the most important day of my life.