"The Year Of Magical Thinking"

by Joan Didion, was my book club selection for this month.
12 women gathered at the marina decks on a beautiful afternoon to discuss this incredible book.

I was hooked from the beginning. This is the story of woman whose life changes in the blink of an eye. And she wrote about it. Her husband of 40 years dies at the dinner table, and this while her daughter lies in a coma. It is the story of a woman who suddenly finds that the world has run out of air. She is blunt and honest, and takes us on a journey through the year after her husband's death. Death. Grief. Mourning. Things that in our culture we don't look at squarely in the face.

The women who attended the book club had such a diverse range of feelings about the book. Some felt that she was whining and incredibly selfish. Others: how brave she was. Either way, a book that gave one pause and food for thought.

Mariner Luke

Susan, Luke and I spend 9-11 down at the boat. Beautiful fall day.
(Click on pics to enlarge).


It was Luke's first time down on Hajime since he was a baby. He was so proud when he finally was able to buckle himself into his life jacket without help.









I had mailed him a postcard of USS Constitution, and he brought it along to help us "find" it. :-) Because it was 9-11 Old Ironsides was closed, so we'll have to go aboard a different day.









What is it with boys and guns? He kept trying to "shoot something".







9-11 on Boston Harbor










We were able to board the USS Cassin Young. Hours of fun to be had.








Luke with his Aunty Susan

End of Cinemascope

I recently decided to end a group that I started and have run for years. Part of the email that went out to the group's members:

I want to let you that I will cease all Cinemascope operations in September.

Way back in 1994, I started this group to develop a network of women who like to go out and play, and at that time, there were few existing groups of that kind in Boston. Through Cinemascope, I have met many wonderful women, developed some very good friendships, and had countless fabulous times.

However, the time has come for me to move on to other areas of interest, and so I will no longer administrate the Cinemascope group and it's email list.

It's been a fun ride. Remember to Get Out and Play!

Quote of the day

"I have found that you do have only to take that one step towards the gods and they will then take ten steps toward you. That first step, the heroic first step of that journey, is out of, or over the edge of your boundaries, and it often must be taken before you know that you will be supported. The hero's journey has been compared to a birth: it starts with being warm and snug in a safe place; then comes a signal, growing more insistent, that it is time to leave. To stay beyond your time is to putrefy. Without the blood and tearing and pain, there is no new life."

- Diane K. Osbon
"Reflections on the Art of Living - A Joseph Campbell Companion"