Deliverance

 (aka, “Val can rarely bend the universe to her will“)

This movie made a great impression on me as a youngster: it seemed to be often in rotation on late-night TV, which I watched while my parents were enjoying their Game Night festivities with my older cousins. Come to think of it, I probably watched a lot of inappropriate things at a fairly young & impressionable age!?! (I accompanied my folks on their excursions to my cousin's house until I was 11 or 12 yrs old, at which point I was granted the great privilege of "Home Alone" status) What made the most impression on me as a kid was the awesome power of the river: it hurt me worse when Burt Reynold’s character broke his leg, rendering him helpless, than the infamous rape scene. (Don’t get me wrong - that was difficult to watch, too!) And poor drowned Drew with his arm pretzeled around the back of his head - a party trick Ronny Cox was able to do by subluxating his own shoulder...

It took me several attempts to read the book but I finally did - one of the few times I have judged the cinematic version to be superior to the literary experience! Yesterday was an experience in frustration & the general uncooperativeness of the universe, even though I did get a few things done; my day did not unfold neatly as it should - what a laugh, huh??

I had my long-awaited appointment w/the cardiologist yesterday (I was grateful when I made the appt 5 wks ago that it wasn't an urgent situation!?!) - I cleared my Thurs morning schedule "just in case" we needed to proceed with a full cardiac workup. Silly me, as it turned out, all they did was an ECG; I'm scheduled next week for a stress test, & sometime in Sept for an echocardiogram. I had hoped to see Z & deliver his few paltry souvenirs from NM, but he had gone to take an aptitude exam for the Navy? Not that I think the Navy would be a bad choice, kinda following in his grandfather's footsteps, but somehow I don't envision my son as a career sailor...

"He Still Hasn't Found What He's Looking For"

In other news, Tina Fea's condition waxes & wanes - I really though I might be making a hard decision today, but she's brightened up a bit & has regained 2 oz. As long as it looks like she wants to live, I'll keep trying this n' that.