Musical Maladies

My iPhone hasn't been working right in my car again. All of a sudden, the touch screen won't work and I have to use the actual phone to do anything. That's not convenient when I'm trying to drive! I'm so frustrated with the Volkswagen radio system right now. I'm tempted to put the car back in the shop, but I'm afraid it will cost me big bucks this time. When I had the radio fixed a few months ago, I didn't

have to pay because the car was still under warranty. I don't know if that warranty still applies now though.

In other disappointing music news, how come iTunes Radio sucks so bad? Every time I tune in, I find myself quickly tuning back out because their sing selections are so lousy. Every iRadio station I have set seems to play songs I don't want to hear. Mindy Abair on the smooth jazz station? No thanks. Elton John in the 70s station? I don't need to hear "Dont Let the Sun Go Down on Me" again, thank you. This is why I prefer Pandora. At least they know what I like.

Whiplash

I saw the movie Whiplash today and thought it was great. The movie focused on a drummer at a Juilliard-like school in New York and his demanding teacher. (Demanding is too nice of word, but it's all I can come up with now.) As the movie progresses, you see the student just become more and more unhinged in his determination to be the best. When I walked out of the movie, my initial thought was that you can't let someone else control your mind. The teacher in the film just played so many head games with the kid and the kid wasn't able to handle it, mainly because he just didn't understand what the teacher was doing to him. He was being manipulated and moved like a puppet by the teacher. Sad.

Last Day

Today is my last full day at the beach. Wah! It's been great though so I can complain. The weather had been spectacular and I keep thinking, I could live like this! But life as I know it will be back before I know it, so I'd better enjoy my remaining hours of freedom while I have them.

Another Day at the Beach

It's another relaxing day at the beach for me. I'm getting some work done on my book and getting some reading done too. Speaking of reading, I finished a great book called Guys on Top by Darien Cox. I highly recommend it if you like m/m romances and you don't have hang ups about men in open relationships. 

Vacation

I'm taking a little vacation this week to try and relax and finish the novel I've been working on. So far, so good!

Trickle Down

Another day, another Ebola victim. I hate to be fixated on this health crisis, but I am. No, I'm not glued to CNN for 24-hour Ebola updates, but I am concerned about the nurses in Texas and the spread of disease. I keep wondering how many people will be affected by this trickle down epidemic before it's under control. I don't know what the hell went on at that hospital in Texas, but I certainly hope that the place has some serious changes instituted as a result of this mess. What I can't understand is how hospital staff contracted Ebola when Duncan's family members seem to be Ebola-free. Duncan's family members were stuck in a two-bedroom apartment with him during the start of his illness, yet I haven't heard that any of them have come become ill. Was he not at the most contagious period in his illness when he was still at home and that's why the family members didn't contract Ebola? I find it hard to believe that the sanitary standards at Duncan's family's apartment were better than those at the hospital.

From Hello to Hola!

With all of the bad news out there lately (Ebola anyone??), I was happy to see an actual bit of good news on the Internet today. A British man living in California who lost his African parrot four years ago was reunited with the bird recently. Apparently, he'd fitted the bird with a microchip and someone discovered that chip and returned the bird to its proper owner. The British owner had trained the bird to speak English that the parrot spoke with a British accent. However, when the bird came back after his four-year absence, he spoke Spanish rather than the British-accented English he used to speak. Clearly, this bird had been taken care of by someone who spoke Spanish and picked that language up during his disappearance. (The parrot also, unfortunately, bit his former owner when returned to his care.) I'm glad the owner was reunited with his parrot, but I wonder if the bird will eventually switch back to English and drop the Spanish he picked up.

Gone Girl

I saw Gone Girl over the weekend and thought it was okay. I read the book more than a year ago and really enjoyed it (except for the ending). The movie, while a little too long, did stick pretty closely to the book and was largely entertaining. Although I was initially annoyed with Affleck playing the role of Nick (my first choice for Nick remains Armie Hammer), Ben did a good job in the role. I was amazed at the size of Affleck's head throughout the movie. He has huge dome! I hadn't really noticed it before, but it was noticeable in the movie to me because it seemed like his head was double the size of many of the other actors. Oy!

Brown Apples

I read an article in the Wall Street Journal about genetically modified apples that wouldn't turn brown as apples normally do after being exposed to the air. As much as I don't like the idea of having Frankenfruit, I hate brown apples even more. I know they're still good to eat even if they turn brown, but a brown apple is just not appealing to me. That's why I hurry up and eat one before it turns or I get those pre-sliced apples that have been treated with lemon juice or whatever so they don't turn brown so fast. I am one of those freaks who don't want flawed fruits or vegetables. A grape has a spot on it? I won't eat it. An orange is bruised? Ugh. I don't want it. (Consequently, I don't eat a lot of fruit although I should.) I prefer perfect fruits and veggies. I love the pre-packaged orange slices from Dole that cost far too much and frozen vegetables. Damaged food is just not my thing so you'd never find me Dumpster diving for grub. But genetically modified and overprocessed foods are scary to think about. What, exactly, are we eating when we eat that stuff? Maybe it's better not to think about it. But, given the choice, would I go for the brown apple or the genetically modified non-brown one? Sadly, I'd probably choose the Frankenfruit, created in a lab by some scientist.

Jeopardized

The Dallas Ebola patient, Eric Duncan, died and it's unfortunate that this man lost his life, but I can't help wondering if Duncan had any idea of the jeopardy he put his fiancée and others in when he traveled to the United States. I don't know if he realized he was ill when he left Liberia, but he did know he had been in direct contact with an Ebola victim in Africa. He clearly used poor judgment and endangered the lives of others. I'm not trying to blame the victim here because the man is dead and the hospital he went to didn't do him any favors either by turning him away with antibiotics when he first went through Emergency for help.

Three Weeks

I've had three weeks of swimming lessons so far and I haven't drowned yet! Woo hoo! I'm still not entirely comfortable with having my head totally submerged, but I'm getting there slowly but surely. I know I'll have to take another class once this one ends, but that's okay. I need all the help I can get. As I told my swim teacher, "I don't need to be Michael Phelps. I just need to know how to save my life." I also want to be able to go to the Y and use the pool on occasion without feeling like I'm going to drown.


There are very young children taking lessons at the Y before my class starts and when I see those kids in the pool, I'm totally envious. I wish my parents had taken me to the Y or some other kind of activity center for swimming lessons at a young age when I was fearless and wouldn't hesitate to try new things. Fear certainly does get worse for some of us as we age.

What to Do? What to Do?

The Ebola outbreak is kind of freaking me out. It's scary that the guy in Dallas was initially sent home from the hospital and came into contact with so many people before he was finally quarantined. I don't know what can be done to try and stop the spread of this disease throughout the country and throughout the world. I would hate to see entire communities of people quarantined but how else can the spread of disease be contained?