No Bummer Today

Not the greatest title for a post, but I guess I can do whatever I want. Which wasn't true when I was writing soap operas and I often had to write stuff I hated.

Yesterday was a good day. I met with a friend of mine who's working on some fascinating research about what's happening these days in corporations and in our culture. We talked about some ideas - and it was fun to brainstorm.

OBAMA must win this election. Just thought I'd throw that in.

Last night I watched a documentary about Alzheimer's disease on PBS called "The Forgetting." It first aired in 2004, so they had an update at the end of the show about where the research is now. Although it's certainly a depressing subject - 15 or so years ago only 500,000 people in this country had Alzheimer's, now that number is over 5,000,000 and will rise dramatically every year as people live longer. In 2035, if they don't find a cure, the entire Federal budget would have to go for the care of people with the disease. In 2004 they believed they were 5-10 years away from a cure. They are having some very promising trials now and tremendous progress has been made, but a cure is still probably 5-10 years away. It was fascinating "meeting" the researchers who have been working on this for so long. They deserve the medals, the Oscar, the acclaim.

We're leaving for two weeks in California soon to see Steve's family (in Los Angeles) and to go to our cabin in the woods outside of Laytonville, in Northern California. We leave on Saturday and hopefully, I can write a little while we're away. I feel guilty leaving my mother and my dogs...but I can live with it. Work is slow, this is a good time to ecape the city. I got a new book to read.. of course, I can't remember the title or the author. (That is not a sign of early Alzheimer's - it's normal aging.)

Okay, the title of the book (I cheated and looked) is "The Inheritance of Loss" by Kiran Desai. When we go to the land I get to sit around and read much of the time. In a hammock. It's heaven. Except when I happen to get poison oak anywhere on my body because it drives me insane. It's particularly bad when it's on my face or my butt...but - pretty much anywhere is horrible. I'm hoping that our friends Loren and Libbe, who moved to the land a few years ago, have found better remedies. Anyway, although this has been a pretty good summer here on the east coast, I'm looking forward to spending time California.