8/24/23

Thursday, August 24, 2023

almost typed '1941'

In bed at 8:20, awake at 3:20, moved to brr and up at 4:00, with Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah lyrics bouncing around my brain. 69°, high of 90°, AQI=41.  The wind is N at 4 mph,  3-11/21.  DPs today 67 to 77😰.  No rain in sight.  Sunrise at 6:06 at 74°NE, sunset at 7:40, 13+33.

Pelvic pain day.  More shooting pains.  Not good.

A Dystopian Conundrum:  At last night's Republican presidential debate show (which I studiously avoided) Bret Baier said 'Milwaukee had 30 shootings last weekend." Quaere: What constitutes a "shooting"?  Actually, there were 2 mass shootings, 26 people were wounded, and at least 3 victims died.  9 people were wounded Saturday night at 14th & Burnham.  Was that one shooting or 9, based on the number of persons hit by the shooter?  Or should it be based on the number of rounds shot from the shooting weapon?  On Sunday, 4 people were shot at 13th & Mitchell.  One shooting or 4? or more?  What should we count - how many shooters were shooting?  How many people were shot? How many shots were fired?  

In any event, I was entirely reassured 😂 by Mayor Cavalier Johnson's reaction, saying on Monday that the gun violence is "entirely unacceptable" and that his thoughts are with the shooting victims, as well as their families and friends.  To drive his point home, he added  “I insist our criminal justice system fully prosecute and punish those responsible for this violence.  I am directing our Office of Violence Prevention to take every reasonable step to educate, intervene and mediate so that we can reduce the gun violence here."  

Moishe Pipek is a fictional Yiddish name with many connotations, but literally Moses Bellybutton.  I've come to think of one Milwaukee attorney, a former student of mine, whose face I see whenever the television is turned on and even on internet ads.  He is ubiquitous, impossible to ignore and impossible for me to avoid thinking of him as Narcissus, the mythological boy who fell in love with his own image reflected in a pool.   He reminds me of Woody Allen's mother  Sadie Milstein whose huge visage looms in the sky above her son Sheldon, impossible to escape, in his film Oedipus Wrecks.  

VA cancellation.  Dr. Chatt had the office call to ask if I'd like to reschedule today's visit because of the heat, which I did, to 9/6.  Also rescheduled video visit with Jill Hansen re diabetes meds.

Birthday call from Sarah.  On the Skype call for almost an hour💗

Lovely email from my Bavarian pen pal.  "Hallo Lieber Charles....

Wir Wünschen Dir Alles, alles Gute zu Deinem Geburtstag.   Hauptsache gesund bleiben.Und Hauptsache Zufriedenheit mit der ganzen Familie.  Wir haben wieder eine schöne Familie. Treffen gehabt. Die Jugend hat uns gut versorgt, es war Wunder schon.

Schöne Grüße an Deine Liebe Frau Geri  und an Die ganze Familie.

Liebe Grüße  Olga und Gerhard"

Geri refuses to serve me leftovers on my birthday.  We were planning on finishing the Mediterranean Chicker dish we had last night which was especially tasty; I loved it.  Geri stopped at the store this afternoon and returned with a birthday New York strip steak, fresh corn on the cob, the makings for mashed potatoes, and a small chocolate birthday cake💓

LTMW at a little immature male house finch.