July 2005

- Sunday July 31, 2005 -
We had a low-key weekend. We hung out at the house and sorted through some boxes, organizing things a little bit. Exciting, huh? We are having a garage sale to get rid of some junk (valuable collectibles?) this weekend.

- Friday July 29, 2005 -
Today's appointment was with the reconstructive surgeon, he injected another ounce into Petra's chest. (look at this). It's a little traumatic, so we went to lunch beforehand. It's amazing what a calming effect a couple glasses of red wine can have. ;-)

- Thursday July 28, 2005 -
I had to work (see career), but Petra was able to join our niece and nephew Rhys and Dayn for an outting to Sutter's Fort. Just in case that was too much fun, we both went to her blood test in the afternoon. But good news, the hemoglobin count is up and she is less anemic. A sign of recovery, hopefully.

- Wednesday July 27, 2005 -
Today's medical-related appointment was at the Lymphodema Treatment Center. Was is that? Well, it is a disease that breast cancer patients are especially susceptible to. Because lymph nodes are removed during their surgery, this condition becomes much easier to develop. That is true forever, for the rest of their lives. The disease can cause massive swelling, sometimes permanent with no cure, in the arm on the side of the breast surgery. Breast cancer patients often need a special sleeve to wear for high altitudes or while flying, to prevent the swelling. Not to mention being super careful not to get even a scratch or cut on that arm or hand, or lift anything over 15 pounds. It can infect or damage very easily and turn into Lymphodema. So, basically, even after you get through the surgery, the chemo, radiation, and everything else, you still have to alter the rest of your life. Talk about unfair! But then the whole damn thing is pretty unfair. Anyway, we were just getting information on prevention, treatment, and also Petra was being measured for a sleeve.

- Tuesday July 26, 2005 -
We went to the Palms Playhouse (nice small venue, capacity less than 250 people) in nearby Winters to see legendary singer/songwriter Graham Parker. He's been making sharp and interesting music since the seventies but I had never seen him live. He was great and we had a table front row center! It was just him and another guy, both playing guitar and singing. Graham did songs from his early albums up through about 5 or so from his latest CD. Classics like Love Gets You Twisted, Local Girls, Devil's Sidewalk, Get Started (Start A Fire), White Honey,and more were mixed with strong, newer material. Everything was at least very good and some songs were really excellent. I bought the latest CD, Songs Of No Consequence, and he signed it for me.

Graham standing outside the venue, very casual
Graham and me posing
Graham signing my CD
Graham (right) and The Figgs' Mike Gent #1
Graham (right) and Mike Gent #2
Graham (right) and Mike Gent #3

Comments? Email me here.

- Sunday July 24, 2005 -
It was a nice, low-key weekend, didn't do that much. Mostly errands, like Costco (food and ...), Michaels (picture frames on sale and scrapbooking stuff for Petra too), etc.

- Saturday July 23, 2005 -
We went to the movies, we saw 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'. First let me say that when I heard about this 'remake' I was horrified. How could they remake such a classic film? Then I heard that Tim Burton (Beetlejuice, Batman, Edward Scissorhands, Nightmare Before Christmas, Big Fish) was directing and that Johnny Depp was playing Willie Wonka. With music by the talented and slightly twisted Danny Elfman. I realized that this version would be very different from the previous version, which is a good thing. Why do the same thing twice? I had heard that this version was darker, and that may be true to a point, but it certainly is stranger, and I mean that in the best sense of the word.

This one is not for the really little kids, more mid-to-older kids and grown-ups. Depp is quirky, outrageous, weird, and wonderful as Wonka and the look of the film is typical Burton, which means it looks really cool, from the weird angles inside Charlie's house to the vivid candy room in the chocolate factory and all throughout the film. The music from the Oompa Loompas is as close as we have ever gotten to a new Oingo Boingo album since Danny broke up the band. Not to mention the choreography. Depp as Wonka holds it all together and is fascinating whenever he is on the screen. I liked this movie a lot. At least 4 1/2 stars out of 5. I would need to see it at least once or twice more to see if it is actually a 5.

We watched a DVD from Netflix, it was "200 Cigarettes", a character comedy/drama set in the 80s and was about mainly a bunch of disfunctional people spending their new years eve in various ways with various people working through various situations. I liked it, Petra seems less impressed. It was offbeat and held my interest, not an all-time classic but worth a watch. Ben and Casey Affleck, Kate Hudson, Courtney Love, Cristina Ricci, Dave Chapelle, and others. 3 1/2 stars out of 5.

- Friday July 22, 2005 -
Petra is doing ok, except for some vision and other issues and a bit run down. But we went anyway! We had a busy evening with friends Karl and Betty. We had dinner at Crepeville in Midtown, lots of choices for vegetarians and non-veg folks too, crepes, omeletes, sandwiches, and more. Very good. Next we went to a Sacramento Rivercats baseball game. Petra's dad had given us his four tickets and we had a good time, the 'cats won, and there were lots of runs to make it interesting. Afterward we all went out for desert. A busy evening for Petra and she did get tired but we were still home before midnight and it was a nice, fun evening.

- Thursday July 21, 2005 -
Tonight and last night we had breast cancer support group meetings. Last night we both went, tonight was for Petra only.

- Tuesday July 19, 2005 -
Happy birthday to Linda aka Mama O.

- Saturday July 16, 2005 -
We went to a 1-year-old birthday party for Madeline, daughter of friends Michael and Shirl. I said, man there are a lot of kids here. Then I remembered it was a childrens birthday party.

- Friday July 15, 2005 -
We own a lot of music. But we collect, so we buy a lot of things by some of the same artists. Click here for a list of all the artists we own at least TEN music items by (CDs, records, tapes, does not include DVDs).

Want to know what music we own? The music list has been updated, the full list is here. Here are the most recent additions:

Jackie Greene - Gone Wanderin'
Garbage - Bleed Like Me
Nine Inch Nails - With Teeth
Prince - Extraordinary promo CD single
White Stripes - Blue Orchid CD single
Israel Vibration - Pay The Piper
Gorillaz - Demon Days
Devo - Freedom of Choice
Elvis Costello - King Of America 2CD version
Chantal Kreviazuk - What If It All Means Something
Michael Franti and Spearhead - Stay Human
Black Eyed Peas - Monkey Business
V/A - Motown Remixed
V/A - Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants Soundtrack
V/A - Taste of Greek Music
Prince - The Gold Experience promo 2LP gold vinyl

Comments about those items? Let me know here

Petra is feeling kind of lousy today. We are hoping for better tomorrow. We did go to Friday dinner at Kiko's mexican but she left some food and is pretty tired. Tomorrow is another day, as they say.

Seattle, here we come! The artist list has been announced for the yearly Bumbershoot festival. We go to this every year, it is one of the coolest things in the universe. Check it out at www.bumbershoot.org.

- Thursday July 14, 2005 -
Side efffects are surfacing and Petra felt pretty lousy tonight. We did watch a movie on HBO 'Win A Date With Tad Hamilton'. It was utterly predicatable and lighter than light. Still, it could have been worse. The two main stars, Topher Grace and Kate Bosworth, were both interesting, but you could see every plot piece coming from miles away. And if you thought too hard, or at all, you would say 'that wouldn't happen like that'. But it was ok fluff. I give it 3 stars out of 5. Is that too generous? Let me know.

- Wednesday July 13, 2005 -
Today was the last Neulasta shot. Of course we had to go for ice cream after! Petra is feeling ok so far.

- Tuesday July 12, 2005 -
Today was the last chemotherapy treatment. Yay!! Petra (web site) is pretty damn happy about that. And so am I of course. It went well, but the side effects will most likely kick in over the next week or two. But then it is done and her system will have a chance to heal before the radiation treatments start. Ya-hoo!

BTW we had some good Indian food for lunch at Kaveri. Recommended: the lunch buffet.

- Saturday July 9, 2005 -
We visited with Larry and Robin (friends) and then grabbed a quick dinner at Isabellas (go there!). Then Larry and I shot off to John M's (friends) for a poker game. Big fun! Robin and Petra (web site) stayed home, sampled a little red wine, visited, and make a very tasty peach cobbler.

- Friday July 8, 2005 -
Larry and Robin (friends) came into town this evening and we had dinner with Mike D (friends) and his son Ian at Thai Basil, a great Thai restaurant in the midtown area. Delicious.

- Thursday July 7, 2005 -
I won free passes for four to an advance sneak preview of a new movie coming out later this month. How could we not go? We invited friends Karl and Betty to join us. We saw 'Wedding Crashers' with Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn. We both thought it was very funny and entertaining. It was R rated and not for the young'uns but for older teens or adults it is a fast-paced comedy with some unexpected twists and a lot of humor. The chemistry between the two stars is excellent, you actually believe that these guys are life-long pals. Anyway, we all laughed a lot and I recommend this movie. I'd say about 4 1/2 stars out of 5. Here is an interesting review

If you see this when it opens and want to share your opinion with me, send your comments here.

- Monday July 4, 2005 -
Happy Independence Day. In 1776 our forefathers fought for liberty and freedom. Our leaders today in Washington DC may have other ideas, but here at stevenology.com we salute the ideas of freedom, concern for others, equality, liberty, and tolerance.

The rest of the holiday weekend was low-key. No fireworks, no barbeque, no craziness, just taking it easy and mostly relaxing. Petra's parents visited for a little while too.