Charlie's Diary: More Crater Lake

Defying Others, Germany Finds Economic Success

August 13, 2010
By NICHOLAS KULISH, The New York Times

BERLIN — Germany has sparred with its European partners over how to respond to the financial crisis, argued with the United States over the benefits of stimulus versus austerity, and defiantly pursued its own vision of how to keep its economy strong.

Statistics released Friday buttress Germany’s view that it had the formula right all along. The government on Friday announced quarter-on-quarter economic growth of 2.2 percent, Germany’s best performance since reunification 20 years ago — and equivalent to a nearly 9 percent annual rate if growth were that robust all year.

Click here to read more in this above-the-fold, front-page story.

Wisdom & Humor: "Gay Marriage Jokes"

"A federal judge in California struck down Proposition, saying it was unconstitutional. Gay couples can now get married in the state of California. Remember when women used to say the best ones were either gay or married? Now they can be both." -Jay Leno

"A federal judge overturned Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage in California, which came as great news for both gays and wedding planners. Although that might be redundant." --Jimmy Kimmel

"Opponents of gay marriage will now appeal to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco -- good luck there. You’d have better luck with a show of hands at a Lady Gaga concert." --Jimmy Kimmel

"People are trying to understand the judge's thinking on this. Well, I think it's pretty clear. After seeing straight couples like Bristol and Levi, Larry King and his wives, Charlie Sheen and his wives, gays couldn't screw it up any worse than that, right? So what the heck, go for it." --Jay Leno

"A California judge has overruled California's ban on gay marriage. Finally gay men can marry someone other than Liza Minelli." --Jay Leno

"Wedding planners can now plan their own weddings." --Jay Leno

"A federal judge struck down California's gay marriage ban. In West Hollywood, gay men were dancing in the streets with rainbow flags and playing techno music, and then they heard about the ruling and they went crazy." --Craig Ferguson

"As of today, same-sex couples may now legally get married in Vermont. So finally, finally, after years of waiting, we'll get to hear these words out of Vermont: 'I now pronounce you Ben and Jerry.'" --Conan O'Brien

"In New Hampshire the state Senate approved a bill that would help legalize same-sex marriage. Yeah. Their new state motto is 'Live Free or Bi.'" --Jimmy Fallon

"Dick Cheney said today, he supports gay marriage. I think he only supports gay marriage because he sees marriage as a form of torture, but anyway, he supports it." --Craig Ferguson

"Well, the big story here in California -- California Supreme Court today upheld Proposition 8. That's the ban on gay marriage. They upheld the ban, which is bad news, unless you're a gay guy that doesn't want to get married, you see. Now you can go, 'Bob, the courts have spoken.'" --Jay Leno

"The California Supreme Court today upheld Proposition 8, the ban on gay marriage, but that's not all. The court also upheld Prop 9, which allows metrosexuals to continue using too much bronzer." --Jimmy Fallon

"Here's something to think about. A new study says that legalizing gay marriage in the state of Massachusetts has pumped an additional $111 million into the state's economy. Isn't that amazing? In fact, it's been so good for the state, you know Bunker Hill? Now renaming it Brokeback Mountain." --Jay Leno

"Maine legalized gay marriage today. Maine became comfortable with the idea after years of touching Canada." --Craig Ferguson

"On Wednesday, Maine became the fifth state to legalize gay marriage, after Governor Balducci signed a same-sex marriage bill into law. It's the best news for gays in Maine since L.L. Bean introduced a line of assless duck-waders." --Seth Meyers "The gay agenda put another notch in its thick leather crotch harness yesterday Maine has legalized gay marriage." --Jon Stewart

"New York Governor David Paterson announced that he will support legalizing gay marriage in New York. Well, you can understand why New York politicians are for this. Let's look at the problems. I mean, David Paterson and his affair, Eliot Spitzer with the hookers, Hillary and Bill. Straight marriages obviously don't work in New York. Let's try the gay thing." --Jay Leno

"In California, the ban on gay marriage passed. Gay people are furious. They stormed the State Capitol in Sacramento and caused $3 million in improvements to the city." --Craig Ferguson

"Somehow bigotry won out here, even in liberal California. We voted to outlaw gay marriage. ... But I have to stand with the gays on this. Gay people, I think, have every right to insist that they will not be happy until they're allowed to be miserable." --Bill Maher

"Gay marriage is now legal in California and yesterday, a lesbian couple who are 83 and 87 years old got married. Witnesses are describing the ceremony as 'beautiful' - and the honeymoon as 'horrifying.'" --Conan O'Brien

"Some say gay marriage will soon be an everyday event as common as, like, a Pamela Anderson marriage." --Jay Leno

"And New York Governor David Paterson announced that he will support legalizing gay marriage in New York. Well, you can understand why New York politicians are for this. Let's look at the problems. I mean, David Paterson and his affair, Eliot Spitzer with the hookers, Hillary and Bill. Straight marriages obviously don't work in New York. Let's try the gay thing." --Jay Leno

"During an interview with The New York Post, Rudy Giuliani said that he is against gay marriage. He feels marriage should be between a man, a woman, the other woman, and the other woman he met after that." --Jay Leno

"Gay folks are now allowed to get married in San Francisco. All of California. So right now, gay men are asking themselves the big question: who's driving and who nags." --David Letterman

"A monumental victory for the gay rights movement. The California Supreme Court on Thursday overturned a ban on gay marriage. This is great news for the state's mesh tuxedo industry." --Amy Poehler

"The California Supreme Court ruled that it is legal for homosexuals to get married in California. ... As a result, thousands of wedding planners will finally get to plan their own wedding." --Conan O'Brien

"The California Supreme Court overturned the state's ban on gay marriage. Man, you thought it was bad for single women before. All the good ones are either gay or married. Now they're gay and married. ... In fact, in West Hollywood, man, guys are so happy, they were overturning each other." --Jay Leno

"The California Supreme Court has overturned the ban on gay marriage, paving the way for California's first legal gay marriages not involving Liza Minnelli. So that's pretty good. This is groundbreaking. You know what this means? Finally, taking loved ones for granted won't be just for straight people anymore." --Jay Leno

"A monumental victory for the gay rights movement. The California Supreme Court on Thursday overturned a ban on gay marriage. This is great news for the state's mesh tuxedo industry." --Amy Poehler

"Big vote in the Senate yesterday. They voted down the gay marriage ban. ... It was a very close vote. 43 voted 'yea.' 44 voted 'nay.' And 3 voted 'fabulous.'" --David Letterman

"The constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage was defeated in the Senate. Did you see the gay people celebrating in West Hollywood? They were tipping over Volvos, spraying each other with Evian, looting the Pottery Barn. It was unbelievable." --Jay Leno

"The Senate has rejected the gay marriage ban. When you think about it, do you really want Congress defining marriage? That's like asking Charlie Sheen to define monogamy." --Jay Leno

"A Senate committee on Thursday approved a constitutional amendment banning same sex marriage, apparently forgetting that our forefathers wore wigs and satin Capri pants." --Tina Fey

"Congratulations gay people -- you are about to discover the joys of alimony." --Craig Ferguson, on a California judge's ruling legalizing gay marriage

~Compiled by Daniel Kurtzman

Charlie's Diary: My God, look at that guy run for the streetcar!!

Hello Dear Friends, You all know how Charlie LOVES photographs...but I'm actually glad this is only a verbal image:

10:30 this morning, Friday, August 13, 2010, Charlie has left for his training session at the gym, Takashi enroute to the public library is trekking up the steps towards Naito Parkway to see if he can make the streetcar. At the top of the steps he spies it to the south at the red light, and so, like any of us, he sprints down the sidewalk. The prize is so close. But yikes, some unpleasant abnormality in the sidewalk trips him up and he FALLS, striking the pavement with BOTH KNEES and his head! Some blood, a lot of pain and suffering, but on this Friday-the-13th one bright spot:
Takashi was able to pick himself up, race across the street and hop on the streetcar. My God, look at that guy run for the streetcar!! Yes, that is success!!

Another day I'll ask him to report what happens to the guys when they go shopping at Fubon Asian Market in NE...despite mistaking a "14" for a "4" bus. Think three hours in the sweltering Portland heat, an extra two-mile walk-to-nowhere, and perhaps 20 minutes of actual shopping.

Charlie's Diary: Friendship

Charlie's Diary. What is a friendship? On Friday, Jul 30, 2010, Charlie Jewett wrote:

Hello all, I'm in southern Oregon at Crater Lake National Park with Takashi and six friends...hikes, dinners, lots of heart-to-heart conversations. I was struck by the attached email note about friendship and connections as I received it from John & Jane Stuart, dear uncle and his wife who like many others have CONTINUED to hold me close in their minds and hearts despite my divorce. They, all of you, even some others are dear, precious, authentic friends and family. I just wanted "you guys" to know that. (Hiking companions today told me how they HATE that expression "you guys" so of course I'm using it.)

This trip has reminded me of the ability of one person to cherish, love, support, and nurture another. Like the recent two week in Portland with our exuberant grandson Kahlil...grandfatherly-babysitting at its best.

So, if you want, send me a note back, and cc a message to FRIENDS OF YOURS.... (I know I know....we're all busy. I can do it right now as I have a leg cramp and cannot sleep!!....and because of course I love you all dearly.) Post-hike hugs, Charlie/Woody

Responses:
(1) Jean M: "Charlie, Thanks. I too have been having the same thoughts after a vacation to Europe where I had my whole family. Relationships are the heart and purpose of living. Thanks for being a friend."

(2) Rif: I'm just getting back from Rehoboth, so it has taken me a bit longer to respond. However, I have certainly enjoyed our friendship. You are such a nice, intelligent person. I marvel at the depth of your knowledge, the time you spend reading up on issues, and the active live you lead. I've enjoyed our times together in the DC area, Chicago gay pride weekend, and FLL. I'm happy that you have found Takashi. I am happy that you have such a wonderful grandson. You have a lot of love to share, and I see you sharing it all the time. You really are special."

(3) Anna: "I love these greetings from you and I know they are real. I feel the same way, though do benefit from the reminder. I love loving certain people, and you are one of them. I bask in and am inspired by candor like the below.

I'm so glad you're having a rich trip. I love that you are loved and I love you."

Charlie's Diary: Our Morning Walk

As often as possible, partner Takashi and I walk in the morning north from our condo to the Steel Bridge and back, round trip about three miles. We love to have grandsons, family, visitors and friends join us. A major component is feeding the Canada Geese who feed on the great lawn at the south end of McCall Park adjacent to us.

For several months I've been carrying my Oregon Society for the Blind "white cane" as part of my plan to be safe from boisterous walkers! I suffer from Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) - total lack of peripheral vision - so my white cane is a SIGNAL to others to stay clear. It's working and I feel good. (My central vision is intact; it's just the side stuff that is impossible. I'm a lucky guy that my vision has remained stable since my diagnosis 20 years ago. RP often leads to blindness.) cwj

 

 

 

 

A Primary Victory Boosts White House, for Now

August 11, 2010
By JEFF ZELENY, The New York Times
WASHINGTON — President Obama and his White House on Wednesday were savoring one of their sweetest victories of the midterm election season, as Senator Michael Bennet’s triumph in the Colorado Democratic primary on Tuesday interrupted the political storyline that all incumbents are doomed by voter discontent.

Click here to read more about Bennet's victory.

Charlie's Diary: I'm interested in this race as our daughter and grandson live in Denver, as do many cousins. Also, Bennet is the son of Douglas Bennet, former USAID administrator and now president of Wesleyan University, and a former resident of my hometown of Lyme, Connecticut.

Charlie's Diary: Our visit to Crater Lake July 2010

 

 

We joined three other couples in weekend at Crater Lake, Oregon. It's part of the US Park Service and is only open for a few weeks in the summer because of snow.

We booked a boat tour and island hike for our second day, Friday, July 30th. I had focused on the hiking for weeks and when starting my program with my personal trainer on June 22nd I told him I wanted to be able to hike down the 700 feet from the crater rim to the lake. (A helpful! friend in Portland told me several times that his 80yo mother had done it successfully...in under 90 minutes, so I had a challenge and a goal. Later he said she had done it when she was 85!!!)

Here's my report on Facebook that weekend after the hike: Takashi, I and six friends are spending three days at Crater Lake, in south central Oregon. July 30th we took a boat tour out to Wizard Island, itself a small volcano in the lake. The day required a 700-foot hike down from crater rim to boat dock, boat to island, then five hours hiking which included walking to the mountain summit. Then to get home, did everything in reverse. We ALL made it...great fun with friends, a bit sore in the lower legs. Next day, Saturday, for Charlie at least, a day to ponder the Minoan blue lake color, chat with Rangers, walk around part of the rim, read, write postcards. Peace...

"A bit sore" was a euphemism as actually in bed after the hike I had been immobilized by a "charly horse" in my left leg. I have NEVER felt such pain...and yes, I'm a big strong masculine guy!

Kudos to Christian Alano, my certified personal trainer at 24-hour fitness in downtown Portland. Our new project: getting to the top of the 1,368 steps at the Kotohira shrine during my September 13-21 visit to Japan!

 

 

 

Letting Go: What should medicine do when it can’t save your life?

What should medicine do when it can’t save your life?
by Atul Gawande, The New Yorker Magazine, August 2, 2010

Modern medicine is good at staving off death with aggressive interventions—and bad at knowing when to focus, instead, on improving the days that terminal patients have left.

Keywords: Dying; Death; Terminal Diseases; Sara Thomas Monopoli; Dr. Paul Marcoux; Oncologists; Lung Cancer

Sara Thomas Monopoli was pregnant with her first child when her doctors learned that she was going to die. It started with a cough and a pain in her back. Then a chest X-ray showed that her left lung had collapsed, and her chest was filled with fluid. A sample of the fluid was drawn off with a long needle and sent for testing. Instead of an infection, as everyone had expected, it was lung cancer, and it had already spread to the lining of her chest. Her pregnancy was thirty-nine weeks along, and the obstetrician who had ordered the test broke the news to her as she sat with her husband and her parents. The obstetrician didn’t get into the prognosis—she would bring in an oncologist for that—but Sara was stunned. Her mother, who had lost her best friend to lung cancer, began crying

Click here to read more.

Charlie's Diary: Dim sum lunch in Beaverton

We love dim sum (Chinese equivalent to "tapas" with food carted around on small carts). We joined friends today Sunday, August 8, 2010 at Wong's King Chinese dim sum restaurant in Portland suburb. LOADS of food and we had two friends who speak Chinese and could order with authority.

Charlie's shirt is a new purchase for 1970s dance/costume party on Saturday. Being a suave dresser he chose a tie-dye shirt, and we danced to "Abba" and the "BeeGees" among other groups.

Wisdom & Humor: "Greatest protest signs for gay marriage"

A collection of funny signs seen at pro-gay marriage rallies, as well as clever signs mocking anti-gay protesters. from Daniel Kurtzman

Wisdom & Humor: "Hollywood Squares" television show

Thanks to my friend Frances P for sending this out:

> FOR THOSE OF US WHO REMEMBER .........
>>
> Hollywood Squares:
> These great questions and answers are from the days
when ' Hollywood Squares' game show responses were spontaneous, not
scripted, as they are now. Peter Marshall was the host asking the
questions, of course..
>
> Q. Paul, what is a good reason for pounding meat?
> A. Paul Lynde: Loneliness!
> (The audience laughed so long and so hard it

> took up almost 15 minutes of the show!)
>
> Q. Do female frogs croak?
> A. Paul Lynde: If you hold their little heads under
water long enough.
>
> Q. If you're going to make a parachute jump, at
least how high should you be
> A. Charley Weaver: Three days of steady drinking
should do it.
>
> Q. True or False, a pea can last as long as 5,000
years.
> A. George Gobel: Boy, it sure seems that way
sometimes.
>
> Q. You've been having trouble going to sleep. Are
you probably a man or a woman?
> A. Don Knotts: That's what's been keeping me awake.

>
> Q. According to Cosmopolitan, if you meet a stranger
at a party and you think that he is attractive, is it okay to come out
and ask him if he's married?
> A.. Rose Marie: No wait until morning.
>
> Q. Which of your five senses tends to diminish as
you get older?
> A. Charley Weaver: My sense of decency..
>
> Q. In Hawaiian, does it take more than three words
to say 'I Love You'?
> A. Vincent Price: No, you can say it with a
pineapple and a twenty..
>
> Q. What are 'Do It,' 'I Can Help,' and 'I Can't Get
Enough'?
> A.. George Gobel: I don't know, but it's coming from
the next apartment.
>
> Q. As you grow older, do you tend to gesture more or
less with your hands while talking?
> A. Rose Marie: You ask me one more growing old
question Peter, and I'll give you a gesture you'll never forget.
>
> Q. Paul, why do Hell's Angels wear leather?
> A. Paul Lynde: Because chiffon wrinkles too easily.

>
> Q. Charley, you've just decided to grow
strawberries. Are you going to get any during the first year?
> A.. Charley Weaver: Of course not, I'm too busy
growing strawberries.
>
> Q. In bowling, what's a perfect score?
> A. Rose Marie: Ralph, the pin boy.
>
> Q. It is considered in bad taste to discuss two
subjects at nudist camps. One is politics, what is the other?
> A. Paul Lynde: Tape measures.
>
> Q. During a tornado, are you safer in the bedroom or
in the closet?
> A. Rose Marie: Unfortunately Peter, I'm always safe
in the bedroom.
>
> Q. Can boys join the Camp Fire Girls?
> A. Marty Allen: Only after lights out.
>
> Q.. When you pat a dog on its head he will wag his
tail. What will a goose do?
> A. Paul Lynde: Make him bark?
>
> Q. If you were pregnant for two years, what would
you give birth to?
> A. Paul Lynde: Whatever it is, it would never be
afraid of the dark.
>
> Q. According to Ann Landers, is there anything wrong
with getting into the habit of kissing a lot of people?
> A. Charley Weaver: It got me out of the army.
>
> Q. It is the most abused and neglected part of your
body, what is it?
> A. Paul Lynde: Mine may be abused, but it certainly
isn't neglected.
>
> Q. Back in the old days, when Great Grandpa put
horseradish on his head, what was he trying to do?
> A. George Gobel: Get it in his mouth.
>
> Q. Who stays pregnant for a longer period of time,
your wife or your elephant?
> A. Paul Lynde: Who told you about my elephant?
>
> Q. When a couple have a baby, who is responsible for
its sex?
> A. Charley Weaver: I'll lend him the car, the rest
> is up to him
>
> Q. Jackie Gleason recently revealed that he firmly
believes in them and has actually seen them on at least two occasions.
What are they?
> A. Charley Weaver: His feet.
>
> Q. According to Ann Landers, what are two things you
should never do in bed?
> A. Paul Lynde: Point and laugh
>
> WE DON'T STOP LAUGHING BECAUSE WE GROW OLD, WE GROW
OLD BECAUSE WE STOP LAUGHING!

Gay Marriage Ruling a Challenge for Both Parties

August 5, 2010
By JESSE McKINLEY, The New York Times
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge’s decision on Wednesday overturning Proposition 8 — California’s ban on same-sex marriage — has tossed a largely unwanted issue into the middle of the November midterm elections.

The decision, which ruled Proposition 8 unconstitutional, has complicated the political tasks before President Obama, whose aides had to explain in the wake of the decision that the president supported equal gay rights but opposed marriage rights for gay men and lesbians.
Click here to read more.