The Crime Writer by Gregg Hurwitz; Viking, New York; 301 pages; 978-0-670-06321-5; 9/17-9/19

Gregg Hurwitz takes a break from his usual brand of suspense to try a more character driven thriller. Drew Danner a crime writer in Los Angeles awakens to find himself charged with the murder of his ex fiancee. As he tries to clear his name he becomes a character in a manuscript that he begins to write to figure out what happened. Lots of twist turns and even a few detours into reality, make for a compelling read. RRRR

This is a moment in time. Self portrait at 7:25 PM PDT, September 13, 2007.  It has been a strange day.  At one point I walked out of my office onto the sales floor at work and the entire store, staff and customers burst into happy birthday.  Another department at work sent a quartet over to sing to me, the women I have my office next to gave me fifty crisp sequentially numbered one dollar bills.  Their were two cakes, a mulitude of cards and birthday wishes.  My sister, visiting from Morocco stopped by, my brother and sister, who live in St. Helens, Oregon stopped in and surprised me with a mug from the ship I served on from 1976-1979 (they found it at Goodwill in Eugene).  We had a sale all day today, since I was fifty everything was 50% off.  We had a rather steady day.

My birthday changed forever three years ago.  It is no longer the joyous day it once was.  Three years ago my son Daniel, came to our room as I was getting ready for bed and told me I should I should sit down.  He told me that he had just found that our familys’ friend David Weisenberg had died in Iraq as the result of an IED.  How can one be joyous when you know that a family of close friends is mouring the loss of a son and a brother.  Today I spent praying for Jim and Marilyn, Liz and Eric, Jason and Cindy, Daniel and Adena as they grieve.

Thank  you for your birthday wishes and keep the Weisenbergs in your prayers.

The Palace of Laughter, The Wednesday Tales, No. 1 by Jon Berkeley; The Julie Andrews Collection, HarperCollinsPublishers, New York; 427 pages; 978-0-06-075507-2; 9/10-9/11

I just reread this again because on Saturday, The Corner Reading Society will be reading and discussing this book together after dinner.  This is the tale of the orphaned Miles Wednesday and the song angel Little as they try to get to the Palace of Laughter and save the townspeople and the Stormangel, Silverpoint from the Great Cortado and Genghis, who are trying to rule the world by making laughter a thing of the past.  Their adventures with the Tiger, Halfheads, Stinkers and Gnats make for exciting reading.   RRRR

I was going to share some more pictures with you but our regular computer seems to have come down with a virus so I am working on my sons laptop, which doesn’t have access to the photos. My parents and my sister just left a few minutes ago, they had brought a chocolate cake and raspberry sherbet for dessert. My sister who is visiting from her home in Morocco, bought me a hat that says “Old Guys Rule” on the front, “A Legend in his own Mind” on the back, and “The older I get, the better I was” on the inside.  My parents got me a great card and something I can really use, cash.  It was fun having them over.

My first 50th Birthday Present

My Aunt Sara stopped by last night on her way to spend the 11th with her daughter Cathy, whose birthday it is.  We went out to dinner with her at Mark Lindsays’ Rock and Roll cafe (a disappointment).   She showed us where her Aunt Erma and Uncle Earl used to live, and we tried to find where her Aunt Joy and her husband lived, but couldn’t pick out that house.  She showed us some of the beautiful quilts that she was making for people.   Then she handed me a large black garbage bag, which contained this beautiful pair of lopers.  They are really cool because the handles extend and get quite a bit longer.  It was great to see her and it was the first time she had seen our new house.