CRAZY TOWN WAITING ROOM - TESTS coming up? All Stages Welcome.
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ducky, I love the golden slippers. I am glad that you did a little dance last night.
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DF.....glad you came on.............Ani looks so sweet.........I was the one who asked for her picture.....I love placing the person and the name with a face...........so glad you let ussee what a "lady" she is....especially with her "pearls"......my mother use to say ......."every fashionable women owns at least 1 pair of pearls"..........my mother had many......all different size strands...............and I still have them ..........my mother was a real lady too........Unlike her daughter..........LO
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Happy New Year everyone!
DF- glad you are feeling better, and Ani has stabilized.
Both DF and ChiS story had me weeping. I was going to post yesterday when I first read about the new clothes, but I couldn't do it. After reading Chi's story, I had to.
My mom lived with me the last several years of her life, a cancer patient (not BC) and in end stange renal. She was a beautiful, smart, active woman who played tennis until maybe six months before she died. She was an amazing cook. She went to dialysis 3 X/wk dressed to kill at 6 am while others were in their bathrobes and slippers. No judgement, just sayin. She always looked right, wherever she went. But she wasn't the type to go to the mall, or have a big spree, except when we went together, and had a fun lunch and spent way too much. She always said it was way more fun with me. And there was no one I'd rather spend time with. She was my mother, and I respected her, but she also was my best friend.
On her 70th birthday, after declining for several months, she collapsed after dialysis. She was checked into the hospital, where they tried to build her back up. Platelet infusions failed, dialysis wasn't doing what it should. I spent a lot of time with her at the hospital, and made some tough decisions (we had had the difficult conversations earlier, with crystal clear understanding months before).
So she passed one evening, shortly after leaving her side. She was not in discomfort, not on oxygen, yet 2 hrs later was gone. (I felt so bad I missed her leaving. It took me years to accept she may have been waiting for me to leave- when my younger brother was dying a few years later I was better at it and I never left his side. He died with me sitting on his hospital bed next to him, my arms around him. I didn't want to screw that up again)
I went to the hospital to collect her things, and was somehow surprised to find her wallet with cash and all of her credit cards and ID in it. Some mail order catalogs with dog ears. I set them aside and began the processes of grief and tying up affairs.
Then UPS showed up with packages. One day a beautiful skirt. The next day a sweater. Then some things for the kitchen. The worst was some cute Halloween decorations. She always loved seasonal decorating and did it with such taste. It was so hard to open them and realize that only a few days before, she was optimistic she'd make it out if there. I just kept returning things and watching to make sure her cards were properly credited. But it was as if she was still there, conducting business from beyond.
I came to view it as a very positive thing that she was going about her busines, enjoying the shopping and planning her Halloween tableaux. She lived in the moment and lived well till quite close to the end. One helluva woman. A great example.
I hope I don't make anyone sad by telling this story. But it's been wanting to be let out of its cage since DF first told her story yesterday. There is no moral to the story. I was just so deeply reminded of her in those last days. Thanks for letting me share about Alyce. I miss you, mom
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ducky, she can be a firecracker, too. She would excel on the bitch boat. Lately, though, she has been very sweet. I think she is having a letdown after the good news. We have had a crisis a day since November 2014, when my brother first noticed a problem on one of his feet that led to about eight hospitalizations and the loss of one-third of his foot. Today is quiet. I guess we are waiting for the next crisis to hit. We had a good family life, fairly calm, and then in recent years, so many things have hit each family member and hit us hard.
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Hi, Katy, that is a very beautiful story. It is not depressing. It shows the depth of your love for your mother and your brother. i am sure that I will read it again and again. It is very beautifully written too. I am so glad you shared this story with all of us. I am glad that others understand that is is very important to help someone who wants to live to live as fully as possible. I would sit by Anne with my laptop computer and show her clothes. She had bought me quite a few beautiful clothes in the past six or eight months. She always enjoyed seeing me look nice. and I have always been a fashion freak. Even with little money, I am still a fashion maven. Right now, I subscribe to a bunch of magazines, including Vogue, although I feel guilty looking at time. I don't know why I feel that way, but I do. I have so many hours when I am in pain that it would be good for me to distract myself with the magazines, but the pile keeps getting higher and higher. Anyway, I loved the scene in the Devil Wears Prada where the Vogue editor, Meryl Streep, playing what's her name, the big time Vogue editor that has set the pace for fashion for many years, now her name escapes me, gets very passionate about fashion and explains why it is important! I am sure I remember the name of that editor in a minute. Maybe I can find the scene on YouTube. It is a classic for women who love clothes. And, I have always loved clothes. My mother said that she and my father went out and bought me a bunch of new clothes when I was little, maybe three, and that I got very excited and jumped around and hugged the clothes.
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Suddenly very tired.
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Anna Wintour? (sp?)r
BTW TDWP, IMHO, very clever movie. But I've never not liked Meryl Streep in any movie.
I've been thinking about the movie submission for the CT all time Oscars ( we may need to get dolled up for this event- Ducky don't put those slippers too far back in the closet)
I'm having trouble with my list of humorous ones, I'm a Monty Python fan as is my whole family. Not for everyone I know, but I love the seemingly slapstick juxtaposed with honest historical reference. The scene in Life of Brian where the Roman Guard catches the graffiti artist and corrects his Latin conjugations aka British school master. Too funny. Then there's the "he won't 'aggle scene" when he's trying to escape through the open market and can't buy a quick disguise. One of the funniest all time for me.
But my favorite all time movie was a small foreign indie called Babette's Feast. Probably 25-30 years old now. I would bet my current wardrobe AND my kitchenaid red artisan stand mixer that many of our foodies here would love it. But it's much more than that. Family, life, love, heartbreak, an ashram-like drudgery, and back to love. It's a very simple film that takes place in a small village in the Jutland- a hard and unforgiving place. An amazing story that touches many subjects with such elegant simplicity of dialogue, but matched with sumptuous eye candy.
This movie is almost impossible to find, but it's worth buying, as I have watched it 20+ times and have never tired of it. I no longer have it in my possession, or I would watch it today. Right now.
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Thank you, DecisionFreak for inviting me to this thread! It's exactly what I need!
Here's my crazy story: 6 years ago I started having upper right abdominal pain - just a twinge now and then, but it went on long enough that I went to the doctor thinking it was my gall bladder. He ordered ultrasound and when that came back fine, ordered a CT. It freaked me out waiting for the results so much that I ended up in the emergency room with an anxiety attack. Turned out there was nothing on the CT either. However, the twinge kept coming and sometimes radiating up into my ribs. So in August this year, before my BC diagnosis, I went back to the doctor for a second look. Another ultrasound and chest xray showed nothing suspicious. Then in November I was diagnosed with lobular carcinoma. This cancer has a tendency to go to GI tract in addition to ribs, so I have been obsessing that I may already have mets. Went for another chest xray, and insisted on having a CT and bone scan as well - still nothing unusual (I know, these tests can sometimes miss things...). Last night, my son sent me a set of exercises to do pre-surgery to help loosen up my muscles (he owns a gym and specializes in helping people increase mobility and flexibility). The exercises entail leaning against a wall with a lacrosse ball rolling across the muscles of your back, kind of like a deep tissue massage. Anyway, as I was doing this for the first time this morning, I hit one spot between my spine and shoulder blade and WOW - I got the same twinge of pain in my upper abdomen and rib cage! I moved the ball and it disappeared, then got the pain again when I rolled the ball over the same place! Seems I may have a pinched nerve (google helped with my diagnosis, lol). I go back to the doctor for my pre-surgery checkup next week (surgery on the 13th) and will see what he says about it....
Happy New Year everyone!0 -
Wecome, grandma3x! You will love it here.
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Just a reminder (lookin' at you, Katy) that Season 6 of Downton Abbey is about to commence. We don't have a TV so will be live-streaming Monday evening.
Rewatching the first five seasons got me through chemo, and somewhere or other I found a blog about the hats of Downton Abbey, which gave me all kinds of ideas for head coverings....
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Katy, I have heard of that movie but never seen it. I have to say that you are an extremely talented writer, Katy. Having the verbal skills that you possess along with your ability to be honest and to avoid sentimentality, Katy, you are sitting on a goldmine.
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grandma3X, I wish your son was here to untwist my muscles.
You are really smart to insist on getting to the bottom of your pain.
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Katy, Billy Bob Thornton in Slingblade.
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DF.. Ani Is lovely.. She has such a sweet, gentle face.
Ducky.. You'll be wearing those golden slippers for many, many more New Year Eve's to come.! 😃
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Katy, John Turturro in Do the Right Thing and as Jesus in The Big Lebowski.
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Some of My All Time Favorites
Brother, Where Art Thou,? Could not believe what a comic talent George Clooney is.
Chinatown.
Bonnie and Clyde.
The Big Lebowski.
Slingblade.
Best of Show.
Dinner with Andre.
Fargo.
More nominees to come.
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No Country for Old Men. Based on novel by Cormac McCarthy. Tommy Lee Jones was fab.
A Beautiful Mind.
More to come.
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Rainny- set to record! Thanks!
Grandma- welcome! We are so glad to have you here.
DF- yes I was just going to write Billy Bob. Thank you so much for your compliments. I don't talk about it much, but I have been published, mostly magazine articles and special interest sporting newspapers. Maybe 50-60 articles. No book length stuff. I have started and stopped. Most of my production occured before the bipolar meds tamed me down- I was the symphony in 3 weeks type. Rarely used notes, it just formed in my head, thinking about it over time, then I would expel it in hours, edit, and submit. Most of my editors weren't as smart as I was haha. I remember one guy tried to change a reference (it was obscure, but still) to a sous chef, and he changed it to soup chef. Lucky for him, he checked with me first. He rarely changed a word after that.
It doesn't matter now, it is a past chapter in my life. Maybe could be revisited someday, but my attention span isn't up to the challenge right now. But I do enjoy writing here, getting the chance to express myself is very therapeutic for me, and I enjoyed the many letters I wrote this year protesting PINKTOBER and its associated bullshit. The fact that I got some traction on the issue was very rewarding.
My father was also an amateur writer (mostly Corinthian naval history and wooden boat architecture) and and it gave us both enormous pleasure to read each other's stuff. He did way more research than I did and labored heavily over the precision of the word and the facts. I was far more careless, feeling tthat my writing depended on an "in the moment" conversational tone. It looked and felt like overworked dough if I went over it too much.
Although it was only a hobby, and paled in comparison to the big bucks salary I made at the time, I valued each $250-500 check more than any paycheck or bonus I ever received. and accordingly, always and still find it difficult to write for free. My best gig ever was the $300 check along with a first class plane ticket and accommodations in Lanai which I was given to attend a sporting event and interview Tom Selleck, also attending. He was kind of an ass, another story. He hates the press. But I ate the freshest sashimi and vintage Veueve Cliquot for three day and virtually nothing else. I reckon that was about a $5,000 paycheck.
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Loved A Beautiful Mind. Read the book too. Burned some brain cells on that. Of course I have a special place in my heart for any subject matter dealing with the mentally ill. Or just "Crazy" people. Haha.
Just found out Babbete's Feast is available for rent again onAmazon video. They are having a 75% off special this weekend so I got it in HD for $1. Highly recommend for anyone who gets sick of football and parades this weekend.
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And finally, a little new year's share of Aretha Franklin live a couple of nights ago. It was a tribute to Carole King, and she killed it, bringing the house down and making the POTUS cry. First Lady looking hot, I might add.
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Okay, Katy. I got it right, then. I wrote mostly for money. I enjoyed using my talent to make money. I could pull down $5,000 in a week working on government proposals, but not every week. I would get exhausted after every writing project. It was as if I burned out my brain cells. Can't do it now due to disability. Yes, in theory, the Social Security Administration permits disabled persons to make money. But, I am not in good enough shape to work for big money now, anyway. I am glad to hear that you had the chance to use your writing talents in a satisfying way. Maybe the day will come when you can write again, at a time when you are ready.
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What about Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise in Rain Man, Katy. And Awakenings, based on the writings of who is it Oliver Sachs? And, there was that film about a pianist based on a true story, I think.
My brother wrinkled his nose at my nominations, but I don't think he has seen all the movies. He watches crazy movies. Dusk to Dawn, Quentin Tarrantino, I think he likes. Oh, I have seen Brad Pitt pull off some great roles, A River Runs through It, especially. I liked the Amazing Mr.Ripley, too. And, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
While I am at it, My Left Foot was great, and I think Daniel Day Lewis did a great job in My Beautiful Laundrette.
Not the greatest film, but TransAmerica deserves a honorable mention.
And, I loved Patrick Swaze in Dirty Dancing. May be the film itself was lacking, but Swaze was great.I was heartbroken to hear how he died.
More to come.
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Honorable mention to Charlize Theron, Monster and Hilary Swank, Boys Don't Cry.
I loved Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven.
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All of the Merchant Ivory Films
Remains of the Day
The early Branagh/Thompson films
I liked Hoffman in Tootsie best.
I just can't make myself watch Tom Cruise anymore.
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I also loved Pitt (and several other greats) in Legends of the Fall. Might be his best movie im
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You read my mind, Katy. Or, I read yours. I have an intense and active dislike for Tom Cruise. I think you can guess why.
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I am not sure why I have had trouble watching Remains of the Day.
Other movies you mention I may have not seen yet. Will have to check them out.
For a sometimes hilarious film, Arnold and Emma Thompson in Junior. Loved the scene where the shoe goes flying across the room.
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Will definitely have to check out Legends of the Fall. Brad Pitt can be great, but he has had some lousy roles.
Anne will never forget Brad Pitt's butt in that dance in A River Runs through It. She was hooked and talked about how sexy he was for years!
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Sean Penn had great talent but I think method acting screwed him up.
Still, Penn and Hoffman in Mystic River had some electrifying moments in Mystic River.
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Not Hoffman, Tim Robbins.
I just realized that I have seen very few movies with Philip Seymour Hoffman. Not sure if I am spelling his last name correctly.
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