Karl Rove, Surgery, Cloud Atlas, Northeast Regionals, Jazz Piano and Percussion

A note to my readers: Do not click on any highlighted words. They are not my links, but ads that have mysteriously crept into my posts. I'm trying to communicate with google, (grrrrr-oogle) but that's like calling President Obama and expecting to be put right through. If anyone has any idea what's happening, please comment.


To say a lot's happened in the past week is like saying the Pope is Catholic. The Presidential Election was an exciting night for me, Marty and our friend Doug who can recite all the presidents frontwards and backwards. We started with Chinese food but couldn't decide what to drink with it. We thought Scotch would be a stoic Republican spirit.

We surfed through many channels. Marty and Doug were feeling down, but I was positive that we were not going to change horses in mid-stream. I do think Florida should be sliced away from the US and floated out to sea. At least their election officials should be.

At 11:30, someone said, let's check out Fox, which we should have tuned into a lot sooner. That's where where we heard that Obama had snagged enough electoral votes to stay in office. Has anyone seen Karl Rove lately?

The next morning, I was up bright and early for cataract surgery. I once was half-blind, but now I see.

As a matter of fact, I saw Cloud Atlas, the movie, the next day. I've always raved about David Mitchell's book of the same name. The film is nearly 3 hours long, but it's fascinating to watch, with terrific special effects and enough action to make you gasp. Well, to make me gasp. I plan to re-read the book, which I've put a hold on at my local library. See the movie, read the book. Repeat. You'll still be challenged, and the images will haunt you.

Saturday morning, we drove to Madison, CT to see the Division I Northeast Regional Cross Country Championships. Columbia had a strategy the proved highly successful. Running in a pack, their score garnered them 2nd place, sandwiched between powerhouses Iona and Syracuse. My son Mark came in 2nd for his team, running a 30:32 10k The team now goes on to the National Championships in Lousiville, KY on November 17th.

On a final note, we went to see a jazz concert down the road apiece. It was packed, and all donations are going to the local food pantry. The son and husband of a woman I know in our town gave a great concert. The son was featured, playing jazz, salsa, classical and a Beatles tune. His father, who's a jazz percussionist and professor at Bard College, played a piece on his own, and joined his son for a piece he played in a concert in NYC we saw two weeks ago. It was a great night in a great little town we we are moving to permanently this week.

The Word returns to the Woods.