kidzdoc is living the highlife in 2016, part 9

Shakespeare sonnet in Leiden, The Netherlands




Currently reading:

    

Devil on the Cross by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
Amsterdam: A History of the World's Most Liberal City by Russell Shorto
My Struggle: Book Two by Karl Ove Knausgaard
Failure by Philip Schultz

Completed books: (TBR = book acquired prior to 1/1/15)

January:
1. My Struggle: Book One by Karl Ove Knausgaard (TBR) (review)
2. Walking Prey: How America's Youth Are Vulnerable to Sex Slavery by Holly Austin Smith (review)
3. Ru by Kim Thúy (review)
4. Fifth Business by Robertson Davies (TBR) (review)
5. Bodies of Light by Sarah Moss (review)

February:
6. Stokely: A Life by Peniel E. Joseph (TBR) (review)
7. Literary Lapses by Stephen Leacock (review)
8. When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
9. How to Be Drawn by Terrance Hayes
10. The Weight of Shadows: A Memoir of Immigration & Displacement by José Orduña
11. Ready to Burst by Frankétienne (TBR)
12. Don't Let Me Be Lonely: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine

March:
13. And After Many Days by Jowhor Ile
14. Lighthead by Terrance Hayes (TBR)
15. A General Theory of Oblivion by José Eduardo Agualusa
16. I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
17. The Vegetarian by Han Kang
18. It's All in Your Head: True Stories of Imaginary Illness by Suzanne O'Sullivan
19. A Cup of Rage by Raduan Nassar

April:
20. A Whole Life by Robert Seethaler
21. Tram 83 by Fiston Mwanza Mujilla
22. NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity by Steve Silberman
23. The Last Act of Love by Cathy Rentzenbrink
24. Widow Basquiat: A Memoir by Jennifer Clement
25. White Hunger by Aki Ollikainen
26. Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude by Ross Gay

May:
27. Pocket Rough Guide Amsterdam by Martin Dunford, Phil Lee and Karoline Thomas
28. Quiet Amsterdam by Siobhan Wall

Books purchased or acquired in 2016 (purchased books in bold):

January:
1. Ottolenghi: The Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi (4 Jan, gift book from brother)
2. The Sea by Blai Bonet (4 Jan, gift book from brother)
3. Walking Prey: How America's Youth Are Vulnerable to Sex Slavery by Holly Austin Smith (6 Jan, Amazon Kindle e-book)
4. Ludwika: A Polish Woman's Struggle To Survive In Nazi Germany by Christoph Fischer (20 Jan, Amazon Kindle free e-book)
5. Snowball in a Blizzard: A Physician's Notes on Uncertainty in Medicine (23 Jan, gift from MichiganTrumpet)

February:
6. Literary Lapses by Stephen Leacock (1 Feb, Amazon Kindle free e-book)
7. Christopher and Columbus by Elizabeth von Arnim (2 Feb, Amazon Kindle free e-book)
8. Pioneer Work in Opening the Medical Profession to Women by Elizabeth Blackwell (3 Feb, Amazon Kindle free e-book)
9. The Weight of Shadows: A Memoir of Immigration & Displacement by José Orduña (8 Feb, LT Early Reviewers book)
10. When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi (8 Feb, Barnes & Noble)
11. Soups, Stews and Casseroles (Food Writers' Favorites) by MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) (13 Feb, gift from Mom)
12. Negroland: A Memoir by Margo Jefferson (13 Feb, Amazon)
13. The Indian Slow Cooker: 50 Healthy, Easy, Authentic Recipes by Anupy Singla (22 Feb, B&N)

March:
14. Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond (15 March, B&N)
15. The Vegetarian by Han Kang (17 March, Daunt Books)
16. White Hunger by Aki Ollikainen (17 March, Daunt Books)
17. Tram 83 by Fiston Mwnza Mujilla (17 March, Daunt Books)
18. The Four Books by Yan Lianke (17 March, Daunt Books)
19. Man Tiger by Eka Kurniawan (17 March, Daunt Books)
20. The Outrun by Amy Liptrot (17 March, Daunt Books)
21. I Think You'll Find It's a Bit More Complicated Than That by Ben Goldacre (17 March, Daunt Books)
22. What Happened, Miss Simone? by Alan Light (17 March, Daunt Books)
23. The Interior Circuit: A Mexico City Chronicle by Francisco Goldman (17 March, Daunt Books)
24. The Last Days of the Spanish Republic by Paul Preston (17 March, Daunt Books)
25. It's All in Your Head: True Stories of Imaginary Illness by Suzanne O'Sullivan (22 March, Foyles Bookshop (Royal Festival Hall))
26. Playthings by Alex Pheby (23 March, Blackwell's (Wellcome Collection))
27. The Last Act of Love: The Story of My Brother and His Sister by Cathy Rentzenbrink (23 March, Blackwell's (Wellcome Collection))
28. Signs for Lost Children by Sarah Moss (23 March, Blackwell's (Wellcome Collection))
29. States of Mind: Experiences at the Edge of Consciousness by Wellcome Collection (23 March, Blackwell's (Wellcome Collection))
30. A Cup of Rage by Raduan Nassar (26 March, Foyles (Waterloo))
31. A Whole Life by Robert Seethaler (26 March, Foyles (Waterloo))
32. A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (26 March, Foyles (Waterloo))
33. Widow Basquiat: A Memoir by Jennifer Clement (26 March, Foyles (Waterloo))
34. The Noise of Time by Julian Barnes (26 March, Foyles (Waterloo))
35. Les Blancs: The Collected Last Plays by Lorraine Hansberry (26 March, National Theatre Bookshop)
36. Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond (30 Mar, B&N)

April:
37. The Heart: A Novel by Maylis de Kerangal (11 Apr, Kindle e-book)
38. A Strangeness in My Mind by Orhan Pamuk (17 Apr, Kindle e-book)
39. Rick Steves Spain 2016 by Rick Steves (17 Apr, Kindle e-book)
40. Rick Steves Amsterdam & the Netherlands by Rick Steves (17 Apr, Kindle e-book)
41. Tales of the Alhambra by Washington Irving (19 Apr, Kindle e-book)
42. Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude by Ross Gay (20 Apr, Kindle e-book)
43. Seville, Córdoba, and Granada: A Cultural History by Elizabeth Nash (20 Apr, Kindle e-book)
44. The Swallows by Adriana E. Ramirez (27 Apr, Amazon)

2016 Reading Globally Themes and possible reads from my TBR collection:

First quarter: Writers from the Caribbean



Alejo Carpentier, The Lost Steps
Patrick Chamoiseau, Solibo Magnificent; Texaco
Edwidge Danticat, Claire of the Sea Light; The Farming of Bones; Krik? Krak!
Frantz Fanon, Black Skin, White Masks; The Wretched of the Earth
Frankétienne, Ready to Burst
Marlon James, The Book of Night Women
Linton Kwesi Johnson, Selected Poems
Peniel E. Joseph, Stokely: A Life
Oonya Kempadoo, All Decent Animals
George Lamming, The Emigrants
Earl Lovelace, Is Just a Movie; Salt
E. A. Markham, The Three Suitors of Fred Belair
Paule Marshall, The Fisher King
Shiva Naipaul, Fireflies; North of South
V.S. Naipaul, The Enigma of Arrival; The Loss of El Dorado; India: A Wounded Civilization;
The Writer and the World: Essays
Orlando Patterson, The Cultural Matrix: Understanding Black Youth; The Ordeal of Integration
Caryl Phillips, The European Tribe; The Lost Child; The Nature of Blood
Claudia Rankine, Don't Let Me Be Lonely: An American Lyric
Monique Roffey, Archipelago
Simone Schwarz-Bart, The Bridge of Beyond
Lyonel Trouillot, Children of Heroes
Derek Walcott, Omeros

Second quarter: Writers at Risk



J.G. Ballard, Empire of the Sun
Mahmoud Dowlatabadi, Missing Soluch
Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
Herta Müller, The Hunger Angel
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Devil on the Cross
Solomon Northup, Twelve Years a Slave
Nawal El Saadawi, Woman at Point Zero
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

Third quarter: Soviet and Post Soviet Writers

Fourth quarter: Dictators, Dictatorships and Other Forms of Tyranny

2015 Booker Prize longlist:
Did You Ever Have a Family by Bill Clegg
The Green Road by Anne Enright
A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James
The Moor's Account by Laila Lalami
Satin Island by Tom McCarthy
The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma
The Illuminations by Andrew O'Hagan
Lila by Marilynne Robinson
Sleeping on Jupiter by Anuradha Roy
The Year of the Runaways by Sunjeev Sahota
The Chimes by Anna Smaill
A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

2016 Man Booker International Prize longlist:
José Eduardo Agualusa (Angola), A General Theory of Oblivion, translated by Daniel Hahn
Elena Ferrante (Italy), The Story of the Lost Child, translated by Ann Goldstein
Han Kang (South Korea), The Vegetarian, translated by Deborah Smith
Maylis de Kerangal (France) Mend the Living, translated by Jessica Moore
Eka Kurniawan (Indonesia), Man Tiger, translated by Labodalih Sembiring
Yan Lianke (China), The Four Books, translated by Carlos Rojas
Fiston Mwanza Mujila (Democratic Republic of Congo/Austria), Tram 83, translated by Roland Glasser
Raduan Nassar (Brazil), A Cup of Rage, translated by Stefan Tobler
Marie NDiaye (France), Ladivine, translated by Jordan Stump
Kenzaburō Ōe (Japan), Death by Water, translated by Deborah Boliver Boehm
Aki Ollikainen (Finland), White Hunger, translated by Emily Jeremiah & Fleur Jeremiah
Orhan Pamuk (Turkey), A Strangeness in My Mind, translated by Ekin Oklap
Robert Seethaler (Austria), A Whole Life, translated by Charlotte Collins

  

2015 Wellcome Book Prize shortlist:
The Iceberg by Marion Coutts
Do No Harm by Henry Marsh
Bodies of Light by Sarah Moss
The Incredible Unlikeliness of Being by Alice Roberts
My Age of Anxiety by Scott Stossel
All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews

2016 Wellcome Book Prize shortlist:
Playthings by Alex Pheby
It's All in Your Head by Suzanne O'Sullivan
The Last Act of Love by Cathy Rentzenbrink
Neurotribes by Steve Silberman
Signs for Lost Children by Sarah Moss
The Outrun by Amy Liptrot

Books about Medicine and Public Health:



1. Walking Prey: How America's Youth Are Vulnerable to Sex Slavery by Holly Austin Smith
2. When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
3. It's All in Your Head: True Stories of Imaginary Illness by Suzanne O'Sullivan
4. NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity by Steve Silberman
5. The Last Act of Love: The Story of My Brother and His Sister by Cathy Rentzenbrink

Literature from the African diaspora:
Ready to Burst by Frankétienne
And After Many Days by Jowhor Ile
Tram 83 by Fiston Mwanza Mujila

Nonfiction from the African diaspora:
Stokely: A Life by Peniel E. Joseph

Poetry from the African diaspora:
How to Be Drawn by Terrance Hayes
Don't Let Me Be Lonely: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine

Potential reads for the ABC (AmBritCan) Challenge:

Am=American Authors Challenge/Pulitzer Prize Challenge (A, P)
Brit=British Authors Challenge (B)
Can=Canadian Authors Challenge (C)



January:
Anne Tyler, A Spool of Blue Thread (A)
Robertson Davies, Fifth Business (the first novel in The Deptford Trilogy) (C)
Kim Thúy, Ru (C)

February:
Stephen Leacock, Literary Lapses (C)
Tracy Smith, Life on Mars: Poems (P)

March:
Ali Smith, How to Be Both (B)
Paul Harding, Tinkers (P)

April:
Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin (C)
Michael Crummey, Galore (C)
Hanif Kureishi, The Black Album (B)

May:
Emily St. John Mandel, Station Eleven (C)
Robert A. Caro, Master of the Senate (P)

June:
Sinclair Lewis, Arrowsmith (P)

July:
David Levering Lewis, W.E.B. DuBois: Biography of a Race, 1868-1919 (P)
H.G. Wells, The Time Machine (B)

August:
Joyce Carol Oates, Black Girl/White Girl (A)
Ian McEwan, Amsterdam (B)

September:
Doris Lessing, Martha Quest (B)
Miriam Toews, All My Puny Sorrows (C)

October:
Michael Chabon, Telegraph Avenue (A)
Lawrence Hill, Someone Knows My Name (C)
Caroline Elkins, Imperial Reckoning: The Untold Story of Britain's Gulag in Kenya (P)

November:
Michael Ondaatje, In the Skin of a Lion (C)
Rebecca West, The Return of the Soldier (B)

December:
Alice Munro, The View from Castle Rock (C)
Rawi Hage, De Niro's Game (C)
Caryl Phillips, The Lost Child (B)

Planned reads for May:

African Rhythms: The Autobiography of Randy Weston by Randy Weston
Amsterdam: A History of the World's Most Liberal City by Russell Shorto
The Four Books by Yan Lianke
The Hunger Angel by Herta Müller
Missing Soluch by Mahmoud Dowlatabadi
My Struggle: Book Two by Karl Ove Knausgaard
Negroland: A Memoir by Margo Jefferson
The Outrun by Amy Liptrot
Playthings by Alex Pheby
Quiet Amsterdam by Siobhan Wall
The Sea by Blai Bonet
Signs for Lost Children by Sarah Moss
A Strangeness in My Mind by Orhan Pamuk

Hmm. Extra message. Let's see...



The summit of Arcos de la Frontera, one of the White Villages of Andalucía, which we'll visit next month.

Happy New Thread, Darryl.

>11 Ameise1: Thanks, Barbara!

Congrats on the new thread, Darryl!

>1 kidzdoc: Nice! I'm impressed that they'd feature one of his sonnets like that. We had a tutored read of the sonnets with Liz a couple of years ago, and it really helped me appreciate them more.

I just finished When Breath Becomes Air, a recommendation from Debbi. As expected, it was a knockout.

Thanks, Joe. According to Wikipedia's page on Leiden, "Hundred buildings in the centre are decorated with large murals of poetry, part of a wall poem project active from 1995 to 2005."

This is Danse Africaine by Langston Hughes:



I hope to see and photograph some of these poems when a group of us meets in Leiden on June 4th.

I'm glad that you also liked When Breath Becomes Air. His wife's conclusion to the book was shattering.

>14 kidzdoc: Yes. Yes.

Happy new thread, Darryl

Happy new thread mate.

Andalusia brings back fond, fond memories.

Happy new thread.

I loved this museum in Leiden

https://volkenkunde.nl/en

and they have a museum of the body I think too.

>15 jnwelch: I still haven't written a review of When Breath Becomes Air. I really need to do that.

>16 RebaRelishesReading: ¡Gracias, Reba!

>17 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul. I can hardly wait to see Andalucía!

>18 Caroline_McElwee: Thanks, Caroline! I'll have to look into this museum. Diana mentioned a couple of museums that we'll probably visit in Leiden on the 4th.

Happy new thread Darryl.
It is nice to see all the fun you have preparing your trip!

Just making sure you saw that the Champions League final is Athletico versus Real.

>20 FAMeulstee: Thanks, Anita! It's been very enjoyable to plan this trip, and now that I've very nearly finished with the second half of it I can spend more time thinking about my visit to The Netherlands. Tickets for the one way flight from Granada to Barcelona on June 26th start at 199 € (ouch), so I want to ask Bianca about this before I book them.

>21 Oberon: Yep. I was following the match online: Real Madrid 1-0 Manchester City. So, the Champions League final will be Atlético Madrid vs Real Madrid in...Milan. I looked at Atlético's schedule in La Liga this year, and if I read it correctly they have the better head-to-head record, with a win and a tie against Real.

I don't know if there are any rankings of the top European football clubs, but it could easily be argued that the best three teams are all in La Liga: FC Barcelona, Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid. Although none of the three will duplicate last year's treble by Barça (Champions League, La Liga, Copa del Rey), each of them has a chance at a double, as Barça will be heavily favored to beat Sevilla in the Copa del Rey final later this month, and one of the three will win La Liga.

Are you able to watch La Liga matches on television in the US?

Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera is the winner of this year's Best Translated Book Award for Fiction. The Poetry Award went to Rilke Shake by Angélica Freitas.

http://www.themillions.com/2016/05/and-the-winners-of-the-best-translated-book-a...

Good Morning and Happy New Thread, Darryl!

What a lovely idea decorating walls with poems!! Maybe I should do that in my new appt instead of hanging pictures... but then the place is so small that I'll need the walls for bookshelves.
Love that sonnet. It's among the few I once learned by heart but since mostly forgot again. I need to read more Shakespeare this year.

To come back to a question from the last thread: when I speak Italian here in the region, it's to native Italian speakers who had to learn some German at school and often also have to use it in their profession. They switch to German to speed the conversation up and save me from all the "err..."s. :)

In "real Italy" I found two reasons for people answering back in English: either they really want to train it (or show off a bit also in front of friends and sometimes admit it), but many Italians have a real problem understanding foreigners speaking their language, at least at the beginning of a conversation until they've fine-tuned their ears. :)
They can have the same problem with Italians from the far North or South, they are very much used to the local "melody".

My Italian ex spoke German very well, but still made many mistakes and spoke with a heavy accent. I didn't mind at all, but he could get really nervous when we were in "real Italy" and I said something in the wrong way. It "hurt his ears". :(( We had a long discussion once on the correct pronounciation of "che bello" (how lovely/ beautiful) - and in Italy you have countless occasions to say that. Well, I returned to "Wie schön" at some point. :/

Happy new thread, Darryl! I absolutely LOVE the sonnet up top. One of my favorites.

Darryl, thanks for posting the link to the NL meetup thread. I've added a message.

Morning and Happy New Thread, Darryl! Love that pic of the White Villages though I'd have a constant fear of falling off the cliff. *shudder*

Hi Darryl! Thanks for posting the shortlist for the Wellcome Trust book prize! The only book on there that I have is Neurotribes, which I intended on reading last month for autism awareness. But I didn't get much read last month. Hopefully this month will be better. I'm hoping to get to My Age of Anxiety this month.

I love the idea of the Wall Poems of Leiden. From what I read there are 101 of them in the city, so I'll take photos of the ones we do see when we meet up there next month.

Interesting comments about your choice of language in different settings. Many of the Hispanic families I meet speak at least some English, although there is a wide variation between near complete lack of knowledge and full fluency. Unless the speaker is at least conversant in English it's often easier for us to speak in Spanish, although I'll flip between the two languages with conversant English speakers if I'm searching for a word in Spanish.

At least a couple of times every year I'll make the mistake of assuming that a Latino parent speaks Spanish, based on their name and appearance, start speaking to them in Spanish, have the parent look at me with a mixture of confusion and embarrassment, and say, "Uh...I don't speak Spanish."

many Italians have a real problem understanding foreigners speaking their language

It "hurt his ears"

Not to agree with your ex, but I get both of these points. I sometimes find it painful to listen to Americans or other English language speakers try to speak Spanish, particularly if they forget to pronounce the letters correctly not at all, and if they draw out the syllables, American style, instead of the short, sharp manner that they are supposed to be pronounced. This includes television broadcasters, particularly on the BBC, who can be horrible. The word hablo ("I speak") is a good example; the "h" is supposed to be silent, and it should be pronounced "AH-blo", with the pronunciation on the first syllable. However, I often hear it pronounced "haaah-BLOOOW", in a drawn out fashion that "hurts my ears". It's a bit unreasonable and snobby for me to expect those unfamiliar with the language to speak it properly, though, so I always keep my opinion to myself (although I do remember teasing Heather (@souloftherose) once over lunch at the London Review Bookshop for the way she pronounced the name of a couple of Spanish authors!).

I also throw Spanish speakers off at work and when I visit Spain, many of whom have said that "you don't speak Spanish like an American" or ask me where I'm from. Several of them assumed that I was from the Dominican Republic (or, less commonly, Cuba), because of my skin color and possibly because the NYC area, where I grew up and first heard Spanish, has a large percentage of Latinos from the Dominican Republic or Cuba. Some are also surprised when I tell them that I don't have any Latino blood, and a couple of parents actually thought that I was denying my Latino heritage and were angry with me for doing so!

>25 scaifea: Thanks, Amber! I'm wasn't that familiar with that sonnet, but I will be from now on.

>26 Sakerfalcon: Hi, Claire! I'll visit the meet up thread (http://www.librarything.com/topic/221270) and read your message shortly.

>27 Carmenere: Thanks, Lynda! I'd hate to be a sleepwalker and live in one of those buildings close to the cliff's edge.

>28 The_Hibernator: Hi, Rachel! NeuroTribes is a great read, as is My Age of Anxiety, which was shortlisted for the Wellcome Book Prize in 2014 or 2015.

I took the train from Cordoba to Barcelona- it was about 5 hours- a little crowded but adequate

>22 kidzdoc: La Liga games are shown on BeIn Sports. I specifically negotiated to add it to my cable package when I renewed this past year. I don't want all the game but is a fun option and I enjoy catching the Classicos.

Happy new thread, Darryl! The wall poems are amazing.

>31 torontoc: We could take a train from Granada to Barcelona, which I believe involves a change of trains at Madrid Atocha. However, that trip takes over 7-1/2 hours, as there are apparently no high speed Renfe AVE trains that call at Granada, and the only train that day leaves just past noon, which would mean that we would spend that day (the 26th) riding on the train instead of seeing Granada. (In comparison, the AVE train we'll take from Barcelona to Sevilla on the 19th takes 5-1/2 hours, even though Sevilla is 250 km further west of Barcelona than Granada is, and a Granada-Barcelona ticket costs 116,80 €, as compared to 84,00 € for our Barcelona-Sevilla tickets.) I think it makes more sense to spend the day in Granada, and take a late afternoon or evening flight on Vueling Airlines to Barcelona. I booked a hotel room at the Barcelona Airport Hotel, as we'll both be flying out the following morning.

The cheapest option would be to extend our rental car coverage by a day, and drive from Granada to Barcelona. That is a nearly 900 km journey, though, which would probably take 10 hours or more.

I'll send Bianca a text message now, and she what she thinks.

>32 Oberon: Thanks, Erik. I actually don't have cable television, but I'll probably subscribe to it later this year, so that I can waste countless hours watching sports (college basketball, NFL, Premier League, La Liga, etc.).

>33 tymfos: Thanks, Terri! There should be many more photos of these poems this time next month. It looks as though there will be a sizable LT meet up in Leiden, with at least six and possibly 10 or more of us in attendance.

Happy New Thread, Darryl. I do love the poems on walls, etc. Your trip is going to be magnificent.

Oh. And

You ARE a whirlwind, Darryl. I'm glad for a chance to drop in near the beginning of a Kidzdoc thread. I'd like to keep up with this one.

>34 kidzdoc: O.K.- I did take the fast train that had come from Seville- never considered that Granada didn't have that high speed train- your plane plan sounds better.

>35 EBT1002: Thanks, Ellen! Your trip to Alaska sounds fantastic, too.

>36 weird_O: Good to see you here, Bill! I hope to have you onboard for the entire journey.

>37 torontoc: Right, Cyrel. I noticed that the Renfe AVE train we'll take from Barcelona to Sevilla stops in Córdoba. The Granada Airport is tiny and has very limited service compared to BCN, MAD and the one in Sevilla, and I still haven't found a great alternative option other than the ones I've already mentioned.

This, I think, meets the definition of a first world problem...

Good to see you seem to still be travelling around ... or am I wrong ?

Have a great weekend

Happy new thread!

>32 Oberon: I don't find La Liga as compelling as the EPL but then again I suppose I may be a little biased! The Bundesliga is an exciting spectacle and certainly beats that torrid game of cat-and-mouse practised in Serie A.
There is no arguing though that the Spanish teams are to the fore in Europe. They fielded 4 of the 8 semi-finalists in the two UEFA competitions and 3 of the 4 finalists (only Liverpool denying them a clean-sweep).

Have a great weekend, Darryl.

Bianca and I have decided to drive from Granada to Barcelona on the 26th instead of flying or traveling by train, and since the trip will be in the mountains from Granada to Valencia and along the Mediterranean coast from there to Barcelona it should be a very scenic journey. Hmm...now that I think about it we'll be traveling on a Sunday afternoon, so it's very possible that the major highways will be congested with heavy traffic. I did order a Michelin map, though, so we may take a less direct route, or possibly stay in the mountains.

I also found out that I was granted my request to go to a medical conference in Chicago at the end of July, so I'll start making plans for that trip.

>39 roundballnz: Traveling? Me??? Nah, you've clearly misread my posts, Alex.

I hope that you have a good weekend as well. I'll fly from Philadelphia to Atlanta late tomorrow afternoon, so I won't spend Mother's Day with my parents, as I have a very busy work week starting on Monday and I'll need to cook and do laundry on Sunday.

>40 BBGirl55: Thanks, Bryony!

>41 PaulCranswick: You? Biased??? Nah, that's not possible.

I haven't seen that many La Liga matches on television compared to Premier League ones, but from what little I've seen I'd give a slight nod to La Liga, at least at the top of the table. I've never seen or heard of any Bundesliga or Serie A matches on television in the US.

I'm eagerly looking forward to the new Major League Soccer team, Atlanta United FC, that will begin play next season in the new stadium that is being built for the city's NFL team and Atlanta United. I plan to buy tickets for several matches as soon as tickets become available.

I hope that you have a good weekend as well, mate.

Morning, Darryl.

Really enjoying your discussion with Nathalie in >24 Deern: and >29 kidzdoc:. I hadn't thought about the potential discomfort/pain of hearing non-natives speak your language. I do think of Italian as melodious - but not when I try it! Just about every Italian we came across in Rome and Florence spoke good English (and made it sound melodious), and liked Americans. We weren't totally sure why the latter would be true, but we sure appreciated it.

>43 jnwelch: Hm... never thought about it, but I believe you're right - Italians generally like Americans. I think there has always (okay since WWII) been a great enthusiasm for everything US. Many Italians have relatives in the US and have travelled there. And then they know that most Americans love Italy and not in the critical way many European tourists do.

Listen to a group of German tourists and they'll most probably discuss the things that could "easily be improved". Not just in Italy. And the more we love the country, the more things we see that could be improved. And believe me - we love Italy to bits! :/

We can really learn from you in that respect. The Americans I met in Italy were open, friendly and interested and as openly show their enthusiasm for the country/city. They ask questions and are happy with explanations. And they are generous as well! :)
When I sat with Americans in the Italian fast trains that connect the big towns, we were always chatting away happily within minutes.

Thank you for that post! It made me realize something and I'll try to take it to heart!! :)

>43 jnwelch: Good morning, Joe!

On the other hand, I almost never get upset or flustered if someone who is a non-native speaker tries to speak English, which seems to bother a good number of Americans, most of whom presumably only speak one language. Those Americans do get under my skin, though, especially those who make comments like "Why don't you learn English?" to or about the foreign born people they encounter. Many Americans expect people they encounter abroad to speak English to them, yet they expect those same people to speak English when they come to the United States.

Did I ever post a link to the article I read in The Guardian about complaints expressed by British travelers who used Thomas Cook to make holiday plans about their travels abroad? It was quite amusing and ridiculous; at least one person expressed frustration because the taxi drivers in Barcelona only spoke Spanish.

I assume you have gotten away from the original theme of your thread due to all the fantastic travel plans but I thought I would share a link from the Guardian of Fela Kuti's top 10 songs: http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2016/may/05/fela-kuti-10-best-songs

>45 kidzdoc: People who say "Why don't you learn English" really irk me as well. The ignorance and lack of acceptance of some people is shocking. I may have an ultraconservative boyfriend, but at least he isn't racist or homophobic. I have a hard time even being around such people.

Finally caught up with your threads, Darryl, and all that happened over the month of April. Going way, waaaaay back to two previous threads, thank you so much for providing the link to the Branagh theatre live. I have bookmarked it for future reference.

Great new glasses! Although I have been wearing corrective lenses since I was 10, I am still a newbie to progressive lenses and I am starting to wonder if my new prescription is slightly off... I find that I alternate days for wearing my new glasses and wearing my older pair. I find reading is better with the older pair but if I am just out and about, the new glasses are just fine. Never thought I would find myself swapping around my eye-glasses like this. ;-)

Wonderful review of A Whole Life. I will be keeping an eye out for that one when I go book shopping. Will definitely by dodging Tram 83.

I see you have your June travel plans are well in order.... sounds like another wonderful trip!

Wishing you a lovely weekend.

For many years I ate lunch with a group of people from many different countries. One of them was fluent in four languages. One day he was speaking with a visiting Italian professor when the professor got a very confused look on his face. A few more phrases later and they were both laughing.

It turned out that they were speaking Italian when my friend started speaking Spanish. He said that he just got confused because the two languages are so much the same that he switched them around in his head and started speaking in the wrong one. Can you imagine that level of fluency?! I was just amazed. For me, the lone single language speaker in the group (and the only American) it was a jaw-dropping experience.

Hi Darryl and happy new-ish thread! I also love the Shakespeare sonnet above, and it's one I am not too familiar with.

>45 kidzdoc: Doofuses.

>49 benitastrnad: It doesn't really take fluency...I know just enough Portuguese to mess up my Spanish, and enough Spanish to mess up my Portuguese. It doesn't help that (as I understand it) Portuguese was designed from the start to be incomprehensible to Spanish speakers (it split off from Spanish, becoming more a separate language rather than a dialect, when there was a Spanish king on the Portuguese throne and the Portuguese wanted him and his Spanish hangers-on not to understand them). I have a good Spanish accent and a decent Portuguese one, but my vocabulary is slim in both languages - and there are many words I know in one language and not in the other. So speaking to someone who speaks one but not the other, I'm throwing in random words from the other language - not a chance they'll understand me properly. I also have a very poor grasp on grammar in either language, so I'm not speaking properly in any case - I can (I have) confuse someone who's fluent in both, if we speak for more than a few minutes.

Reminds me of the years I lived in the Netherlands. I'm a native English speaker but fluent in Dutch and, in the years living there, often thought and dreamed in Dutch. Sometimes when my mother came to visit I would be talking to her and noticed a puzzled, blank look on her face. I came to recognize that meant I was speaking Dutch to her.

Hi Darryl - Happy newish thread. I love the Leiden poetry project. Another thing to see that goes on my bucket list.

Happy Sunday, everyone! Sorry that I've been AWOL for a couple of days. After a very enjoyable (but rainy) visit to my parents' house in suburban Philadelphia I'm now back in Atlanta, after a pleasant and uneventful flight last night. I didn't spend Mother's Day with them, as I have a long work week ahead (Monday-Friday days, Sunday night call) and wanted to cook and do laundry today. I've already made a batch of Zuppa Toscana, the chicken and shrimp Creole jambalaya is nearly done, and I'll probably make another caramelized onion, mixed mushroom and Gruyere quiche later this afternoon.

I made lunch for my parents and aunt before I left yesterday, Brussels Sprouts Salad With Crispy Chickpeas, which was one of the recipes that Katie posted in a link on my Facebook timeline, and Mexican Green Smoothies. I liked both recipes; my father liked the salad more than the smoothie; my mother added mayonnaise to her salad and Diet Sprite to her smoothie, but she finished her meal (I told her that she couldn't leave the table until her plate was clean); and my aunt turned her nose up at the salad and the smoothie, but she did like the jambalaya I made earlier this week (she was placed into Time Out after lunch). I'll post photos and the recipes shortly.

I had a salmon burger, a banana and wine for lunch not long ago, and all of a sudden I'm very sleepy. I'll catch up a bit later.

>55 kidzdoc: - Don't you just love repeating *mom phrases* back at them? I recently told my mother, "Well, MY mother taught me to ...whatever it was in the conversation at that moment". She cracked up and so did I! I'm glad to hear that your mom finished her meal. I hope she didn't make any faces; that was a real no-no at our table when I was growing up, though not for lack of trying...

>55 kidzdoc: Man, I need to have dinner at Darryl's house... It's not even 9 AM and he's already made me hungry! :)

>55 kidzdoc: I love the story of making the grown-ups eat, or face the punishments they imposed when you were a kid. I hope there's a photo of auntie in the "time-out" corner!

Woo! TGIF!!! This was a grueling week on service, as we continue to be far busier than we rightfully should be at this time of year. I'm off until my night shift on Sunday (8 pm to 8 am), and I'll work on Thursday and Friday of next week.

The month is nearly half over and I haven't finished a book yet. Hopefully I'll get on the scoreboard tomorrow.

>46 Oberon: Thanks, Erik! I'll check out those Fela Kuti selections this weekend. I had intended to read African Rhythms, the autobiography of the American jazz musician Randy Weston, to get started on the long delayed Highlife music theme, but I seriously doubt that I'll get to it before July.

>47 The_Hibernator: I think it's far easier for Americans to be xenophobic and intolerant of those who don't speak English well or at all, due to this country's size, relative isolation from other countries, and the dearth of native born Americans who speak a second language. According to the article America's Lacking Language Skills from The Atlantic in 2015, "less than 1 percent of American adults today are proficient in a foreign language that they studied in a U.S. classroom." (I'm not sure how "proficiency" is defined, and if I can count myself amongst that less than 1%, since I can converse in Spanish comfortably but am not yet fluent.) Dutch schoolchildren, on the other hand, are required to learn English as well as Dutch in grade school (if I remember correctly what Connie told me last year), and many people in Barcelona speak Castilian, Catalan and English comfortably.

>48 lkernagh: I'm still getting used to my new glasses, Lori, as the lenses are significantly larger in the new frame than in the old one, and I have to tilt my head back farther to be able to read small print. I have more trouble with them in the early morning and late evening hours, and although I haven't been using them I may revert to my old pair (which have new lenses) for reading at night.

The second half of next month's trip is pretty well planned out, as I've made flight, hotel, train and car rental reservations, and purchased tickets for us to go to the Alhambra in Granada. I'll now start to focus on our plans for the first half of my trip in the Netherlands, although some meet ups have already been set (Leiden on June 4th, Maastricht on June 11th).

>49 benitastrnad: I haven't studied Italian, but from what I've seen there seems to be a lot of similarities between it and Spanish.

There are several people in Club Read who probably speak three languages or more, including @lilisin (French, Japanese and English), @deebee1, @rachbxl, @RidgewayGirl and @wandering_star. I'd love to learn a third language after I achieve fluency in Spanish, possibly French, but I doubt that I'll do that until I retire.

>50 banjo123: Hi, Rhonda!

>51 jnwelch: Definitely doofuses, Joe. Here's the list of noteworthy (for their stupidity) complaints from Thomas Cook (number 13 is my favorite):

1. "I think it should be explained in the brochure that the local store does not sell proper biscuits like custard creams or ginger nuts."

2. "It's lazy of the local shopkeepers to close in the afternoons. I often needed to buy things during 'siesta' time - this should be banned."

3. "On my holiday to Goa in India, I was disgusted to find that almost every restaurant served curry. I don't like spicy food at all."

4. "We booked an excursion to a water park but no-one told us we had to bring our swimming costumes and towels."

5. A tourist at a top African Game Lodge over looking a water hole, who spotted a visibly aroused elephant, complained that the sight of this rampant beast ruined his honeymoon by making him feel "inadequate".

6. A woman threatened to call police after claiming that she'd been locked in by staff. When in fact, she had mistaken the "do not disturb" sign on the back of the door as a warning to remain in the room.

7. "The beach was too sandy."

8. "We found the sand was not like the sand in the brochure.Your brochure shows the sand as yellow but it was white."

9. A guest at a Novotel in Australia complained his soup was too thick and strong. He was inadvertently slurping the gravy at the time.

10. "Topless sunbathing on the beach should be banned. The holiday was ruined as my husband spent all day looking at other women."

11. "We bought 'Ray-Ban' sunglasses for five Euros from a street trader, only to find out they were fake."

12. "No-one told us there would be fish in the sea. The children were startled."

13. "It took us nine hours to fly home from Jamaica to England it only took the Americans three hours to get home."

14. "I compared the size of our one-bedroom apartment to our friends' three-bedroom apartment and ours was significantly smaller.."

15. "The brochure stated: 'No hairdressers at the accommodation’. We’re trainee hairdressers - will we be OK staying there?"

16. "There are too many Spanish people. The receptionist speaks Spanish. The food is Spanish. Too many foreigners now live abroad."

17. "We had to queue outside with no air conditioning."

18. "It is your duty as a tour operator to advise us of noisy or unruly guests before we travel."

19. "I was bitten by a mosquito, no-one said they could bite."

20. "My fiancé and I booked a twin-bedded room but we were placed in a double-bedded room. We now hold you responsible for the fact that I find myself pregnant. This would not have happened if you had put us in the room that we booked."

>52 jjmcgaffey: I'll remember to only speak to you in English the next time I see you, Jennifer!

>53 RebaRelishesReading: That's interesting, Reba! I don't think I've ever had a dream in Spanish, but there have been a couple of times at work when I've left the room of a Latino family and addressed someone in Spanish.

>54 BLBera: Thanks, Beth. There should be many more photos of those poems when we have an LT meet up in Leiden next month.

>56 jessibud2: We had fun over lunch last Saturday. They all usually like what I make, and my aunt did like the jambalaya, but the Brussels sprouts salad and the Mexican green smoothies weren't exactly in their comfort zone. My aunt is a very picky eater who isn't adventurous at all, and she has problems digesting many foods, so I'm not surprised that the salad and the smoothie wasn't to her liking (she liked the way they looked, but I don't think she even tried them). My father can be a bit picky, but he was the only one of the three that didn't doctor his smoothie or salad. I liked the salad and the smoothie, but I'll stick to fruit smoothies when I make them at my parents' house in the future.

>57 drneutron: Ha! You're always welcome to visit my parents' house, Jim! If you give my father and (if I'm there) me enough warning we'll be sure to feed you well.

>58 laytonwoman3rd: Unfortunately there is no photographic evidence of my aunt in the Time Out corner. Next time for sure!

Sounds like you are having fun planning your trip, Darryl. Sometimes I think that the anticipation is almost as good as being there!

>61 kidzdoc: #20 -- ha!

Happy weekend, Darryl.

>61 kidzdoc: Ha! Those are great, Darryl. Thanks for posting them. #13 is a gem. I also particularly got a kick out of the sand complaints and the soup/gravy guy.

Enjoy the bit of time off until Sunday night, and I hope the workload lightens a bit.

>61 kidzdoc: The complaints are dandy. Thanks.

>61 kidzdoc: Must have been hard to keep a straight face when they received the complaints...

Hope you get the chance to do some more reading this week (and that the children in your area aren't so sick, of course!)

>63 Familyhistorian: Right, Meg. The planning is definitely fun, but being in Europe with good friends and making new ones will easily eclipse it.

>64 lauralkeet: Yep. Double beds are so much more tempting and dangerous than twin beds.

>65 Ameise1: Thanks, Barbara! Make way for ducklings!

>66 jnwelch: You're welcome, Joe. I would guess that the person who complained about the beach being too sandy came from Weston-super-Mud or somewhere else in Somerset.

I made a comment on a post on my Facebook timeline earlier this week that there should be a "too stupid to fly" list in addition to the "no fly" list. All of these complainants should be added to the UK "too stupid to travel" category.

I partially misremembered the complaint about Spain. I thought it was a complaint about the taxi drivers in Barcelona being unable to speak English (which I understand that many of them don't), but the actual complaint was that there were too many Spaniards in Spain, which is considerably more absurd.

BTW, I found out this week that I will be going to the Pediatric Hospital Medicine Conference at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago from July 28-31. I made a reservation at the hotel from July 27-31, and I'll be in touch with you, Mark, and my residency classmate Bilkis to see if we can meet up on any of those dates (July 27-30).

>67 weird_O: You're welcome, Bill.

>68 charl08: I would think so, Charlotte!

I'll definitely get some reading done next week, but this month will almost certainly be a subpar one. I did start reading the Pocket Rough Guide Amsterdam, which I'll probably finish today or tomorrow, along with Amsterdam: The World's Most Liberal City, which I want to finish before I fly to AMS on June 1st.

>69 kidzdoc: Oh, you got me laughing with Weston-super-Mud, Darryl. What a lovely location that was.

I'll tell Debbi about 7/28-31. With any luck we'll be in town. We've pushed for the family get-together to take place in Michigan the week before. Assuming so, we'll make time to meetup whenever it works for you. Looking forward to it!

Happy new week Darryl!

>70 jnwelch: Right, Joe. The only thing we didn't do was experience the town's mud up close and personal.

Great! I hope that we can meet up at least once in town. Do you have any restaurants, cafes or pubs near the hotel that you would recommend?

>71 The_Hibernator: Thanks, Rachel! My shift will be over in a little more than 2-1/2 hours.

Oops...my phone is ringing: another admission. Back to the ER...

>72 kidzdoc: Oh gosh, Darryl, there are so many great restaurants you can easily get to from the Hyatt Regency. I wouldn't miss Rick Bayless. Topolobampo is his top of the line, although we also like Frontera Grill a lot. Two I haven't been to that are very popular right now are The Purple Pig (I know, what a name), and Chef Luciano's. In Chinatown, Emperor's Choice is really good.

People travel from all over the country to go to Alinea, but it's tough to find a seat there. The Girl and the Goat is very creative - Debbi and I have that one next on our list. Blackbird is great. Shaw's Crab House is more mainstream and old-timey, but man the food is good. We want to get to Eataly, too - I don't like the cutesy name, but people rave about its food. Greektown, across the river, has a bunch of good restaurants, Santorini maybe the best. Meli Cafe there has really good breakfasts, and Lou Mitchell's is an old-timey breakfast staple downtown.

You could come here for months on an eating safari, but that should give you some ideas!

>73 jnwelch: Fabulous! Thanks for those recommendations, Joe. One of my partners (Ann Beach) made reservations for us for a very late dinner (10:25 pm!) on Saturday night at The Girl and the Goat, after one of my other partners recommended it. I'll check out the other places you mentioned shortly.

My night shift is done, and although we had 12 admissions it wasn't a bad shift, as the admissions were nicely spaced out, which allowed us to stay on top of them. I'm off until Thursday, so I'll readjust to day time life, catch up on sleep after an afternoon nap, and get some reading in.

The Vegetarian by Han Kang is the winner of this year's Man Booker International Prize. I read it, and although I had a slight preference for A Whole Life by Robert Seethaler the Kang is a worthy choice, IMO.

>75 kidzdoc: Good to know. A Whole Life is the next one up for me after the Doig I'm reading, based on your recommendation.

>76 jnwelch: Sounds good, Joe. I gave The Vegetarian 4-1/2 stars, so I would highly recommend it as well.

#75 I just brought home The Vegetarian from the library today. It's next on the pile.

>78 brenpike: Sounds good, Brenda. I should write a review of it. I'll be very busy this week and next, but I should be able to get to it.

That's cool! I think the Vegetarian was the only Booker finalist I read, and I liked it so well I requested Human Acts from Early Reviewers. I have just barely started, but predict it will be fascinating and disturbing.

Oh dear, I'm a month behind even in lurking, so I just zipped past your travel plans, no need to be envious now because I'll have another chance when you're actually there.
>61 kidzdoc: Here the tourists complain when the Amish won't pose for photos, as if they're employees.

Howdy, Darryl! I did not realize you started a new thread awhile back, so here is belated, Happy New Thread!

I hope work isn't grinding you down and I hope your current reads are treating you well.

Hi Darryl - I like # 16. So, what is going to be your first Chick Lit novel? ;)

Confess I had been avoiding The Vegetarian, given all the descriptions of its quirkiness, but after hearing both the author and translator talk on NPR today, my curiosity was piqued.

Chatted with the Grove/Atlantic Press folks at BookExpo last week, who believe (well, of course they are promoting their own author, but still...) that Yan Lianke will start to be talked about as a potential Nobel laureate in a few years' time. Both that book and The Vegetarian came home from the library with me yesterday.

An interruption for a health message, if you please.

This afternoon I received some shocking and disturbing news about a friend and medical colleague, who is a primary care pediatrician for one of the groups that is close to the hospital I work at. H. turned 50 last year, the age at which Americans are recommended to receive their first routine screening colonoscopy (unless they far into a higher risk category and should be screened at a younger age). H. posted a couple of humorous links on her Facebook timeline two weeks ago, as she was undergoing a clean out in preparation for the procedure, and those of us who had it done laughed and commiserated with her and gave her encouragement. H. is in excellent health, and had no gastrointestinal complaints or symptoms. However, her stools were noted to be black and tarry during the procedure, which usually means that the stool contains a significant amount of bleeding within the GI tract, and the gastroenterologist noted a duodenal ulcer (the duodenum is the first part of the small intestine, followed by the jejunum and the ileum). H. subsequently underwent a CT scan, which revealed that she had pancreatic cancer. The good news (if there is any) is that it was detected before she had any symptoms of it, and hopefully she will be completely cured; pancreatic cancer in its most aggressive form is often not caught until it is symptomatic (with abdominal and flank pain, and profuse vomiting), and if isn't detected until that stage it is almost always lethal.

H. will undergo a major surgical procedure (the Whipple operation), start chemotherapy, and be out of work for several months. She is a great pediatrician and person, and the mother of two outstanding daughters who are both students at UGA, the University of Georgia. We who know her are all stunned by this news, including some of my partners, and we all pray that her cancer was caught in time to achieve a cure.

Although a routine colonoscopy isn't a typical way for pancreatic cancer to be diagnosed I would encourage all of you to get one when you hit the age of 50. One of my former residency professors, an ICU attending who was highly respected by the residents and staff physicians, ignored worrisome GI symptoms for a few months, only to find out that he had metastatic and incurable colon cancer. He was only a year older than I was, and he died in 2003 at the age of 43, leaving behind a wife and two small children. A routine colonoscopy wouldn't have saved his life, due to his young age, but it can detect subtle abnormalities such as polyp formation, which can indicate that the person is at risk for developing malignancy. Some of you may remember my postings about the colonoscopy I had four or five years ago, and I didn't find the prep to be as onerous as I had been told it would be, and the procedure itself was a piece of cake.

Apologies for this lengthy post; I'm still quite shaken up about this sad news.

So sorry kidzdoc. I will be praying your friend has a happy outcome.

>80 banjo123: Excellent, Rhonda! I didn't notice that Human Acts was one of the LT Early Reviewer books. It's gotten great reviews so far on LT, with an average rating of 4.8 stars. It apparently won't be published in the US until next January, so I'll look for it in the Netherlands or Spain next month. I look forward to your review of it.

>81 qebo: Hi, Katherine! I thought that you had given up on me for one reason or another. ;-)

If I remember correctly the Amish don't like having their photos taken and don't have photographs of people in their homes, due to religious reasons. I'm pretty sure I learned that in high school when we took a trip to Amish Country (which is, of course, relatively close to Philadelphia). I think I took a photo of Smucker's when we went to Reading Terminal Market last year when I first tried scrapple (yum), but I made it a point to not capture the Amish man behind the counter or the young woman working with him, keeping this in mind.

>82 msf59: Thanks, Mark! I haven't gotten much reading done this month, save for two Amsterdam travel guides, and it will almost certainly be a subpar reading month, as I mentioned earlier.

>83 BLBera: I like #16 as well, Beth. What can you say in reply to a complaint that there are too many Spaniards in Spain? I think my brain would either melt or freeze if that person expressed that complaint in front of me, or the one about the unfair differential between flying times from Jamaica to the US as compared to the UK.

So, what is going to be your first Chick Lit novel? ;)

Ha! Actually I did buy and read a chick lit novel several years ago, either just before or after I joined LT, The Dim Sum of All Things by Kim Wong Keltner. It was about a young Chinese woman living in San Francisco who was trying to navigate a path between her strict Asian upbringing and her life as an independent Western woman, which sounded interesting at first glance. However it was very trite and whiny, and I sped through it after I realized how superficial it was. I left it in the laundry room of the building I lived in at the time, and deleted it from my LT library, as my hard earned reputation as a literary connoisseur does not permit me to have any chick lit novels in my collection. ;-)

>84 Chatterbox: Thanks for mentioning the NPR interview of the author and translator of The Vegetarian, Suz. I'll listen to it online later tonight...yikes, it's after 10 pm already??? Yep, I'm definitely still in night mode, as I just finished dinner and am wide awake (dang it).

I did buy the paperback version of The Four Books in March after the MBIP longlist was announced. I had planned to read it this month, but I doubt that I'll get to it until after I return from Europe. I've read two of Yan's books, Serve the People! and Dream of Ding Village, both of which were superb, and based on those books and what I've heard and read about him I think he would be a very viable candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature.

>86 avidmom: Thanks, avidmom. I've been in a state of shock since I read this unexpected and awful news this afternoon, and I'm still having a hard time believing it. H. and her family are far more stunned about this than we are, of course. She has received an outpouring of support today, which will only grow as the news becomes more widespread, as she is widely loved by the staff at Children's, the families whose children are entrusted into her care (which I base on their glowing comments to me about her), and her colleagues in her group (I know nearly all of them very well). I would appreciate any prayers you and anyone else wish to send to her and her family.

>85 kidzdoc: Oh my, what a shock.
>87 kidzdoc: No, I haven't given up on you or anyone else! I'm in the throes of selling a house, lotsa little details occupying attention and time. Yeah, I got a photo of you guys at the Smuckers counter, and caught the Amish proprietor with his face turned away, maybe intentionally on his part. Not easy to avoid inadvertent photos in a crowded public space, but it's certainly poor etiquette to approach a working farmer with a camera.

>61 kidzdoc: "the beach was too sandy"
Brilliant.

>65 Ameise1: I spent a good 5 minutes watching a (fully grown) duck try to do that this weekend, the thing had persistence, Ill give it that! This image makes it look impossible.

>85 kidzdoc: that is really sad news, Darryl. It is such a blow to hear that someone you know and like is now living under such news. I hope they pull through well and quickly.

>85 kidzdoc: Echoing this. I've been having colonoscopies since my 20s, when stubborn gastro pain ended up revealing something that didn't actually cause the pain but if it had been left alone, would have ended up killing me -- the kind of polyps, or growths, that typically develop into cancerous lesions along the wall of the colon. Many polyps don't; these do. I didn't need further treatment, but I've been swilling that noxious brew and undergoing those colonoscopies for long years, and I'm only just into my 50s. Examples like the one Darryl just gave are precisely why. If I hadn't had weird stomach problems (probably related to various dietary issues, combined with stress, the docs ultimately decided, but agonizing enough at the time, and that still afflict me from time to time), I might well not be posting this, because this sucker is silent and you'll be asymptomatic. If you ARE symptomatic, DO NOT IGNORE. Do NOT say, ooh, this test sounds uncomfortable... It is, mildly. You know what? It's less uncomfortable than chemo. It's less permanent than death for your loved ones. So suck it up.

Excuse me for seizing the podium, Darryl.

>89 qebo: It was definitely a shock, Katherine. I had to read H's Facebook post at least twice before the news sunk in, as it was inconceivable to me that she could have such a grim disease. True to form, she posted photos on Facebook of her shopping with her daughter, who just finished her freshman year at UGA, for "chemotherapy socks", both with huge smiles on their faces, and another of a sign that read "Kick pancreass". H has a tough and uncertain road ahead of her, but if anyone can beat pancreatic cancer, she can.

I remember someone caught the Amish man at the counter in a photograph, but I couldn't remember if it was you or Bill. I figured that it was accidental, since you two would know far more than me about their reticence to be photographed.

>90 LovingLit: Yep. That comment reminded me of the comment a dear friend of my father's made several years ago after Dad served chicken and vegetable soup that he made to Steve. Steve, who is one of the fussiest eaters I've ever met, looked at the soup with disdain, and proclaimed that he didn't like the looks of it, since it had "too much chicken" in it. My father scooped out some of the chicken, and Steve happily ate it afterward. We now call it '"too much chicken" and vegetable soup'.

Unfortunately Steve has Alzheimer's disease, and is now in a nursing home close to where my parents live. He was my parents' closest friend, and a former long time work colleague of my father's, and he was practically a member of the family (I called him my "Polish uncle"). My father visits him at least once a week, although Steve no longer recognizes him, his children, or anyone else.

Thanks, Megan; I hope so for H., too.

>91 Chatterbox: Thanks for your useful comments and exhortation, Suz. My parents' gastroenterologist suggested that I use MoviPrep for my clean out, as I only had to drink one liter of fluid instead of the three liters that is typically required. I decided that it made more sense to eat lightly during the two days before my procedure, so there wasn't a lot of residual bulk in my colon to be flushed out. As a result the clean out wasn't bad at all, and the MoviPrep had a pleasant lemon taste, so it wasn't hard to drink the liter of fluid, and I was fully cleaned out after it went through my GI tract. The gastroenterologist employed an anesthesiologist, who administered IV propofol to me before the procedure. Within five seconds I was out like a light, and I didn't wake up until I was in the recovery area, with my mother seated next to me.

So sorry to hear about your friend and colleague. Sending lots of good vibes to her and her family and to you and her other friends.

>85 kidzdoc: So sorry to hear that. It's a terrible kind of cancer. We lost several friends of it. I too recommend doing the test, just to be on the safe side. My next one will be to upcoming year.

>93 streamsong: Thanks, Janet.

>94 Ameise1: Yes, pancreatic cancer is awful, Barbara; for all types the one year survival rate is 20%, and the five year survival rate is only 6%. I would think that H.'s odds are considerably higher, but right now I don't want to know what they are. I don't know of any friends or close family members who have had it.

My brother turned 50 in December, and my parents have been getting on him to have a colonoscopy done. I had mine done by their gastroenterologist, who is a great guy. I'm not sure if I should mention H's story to him or my parents, as it may freak them out more than anything else.

Such terrifying news, about your friend. My strongest healing vibes go out to her, and strength to her family and friends. Pancreatic cancer is the worst possible diagnosis one would dread getting but, as you say, in a way, it is fortunate that it was caught so very early and able to be aggressively tackled before it gets to the really bad stage. I have lost 2 family members to it. I had my own first colonoscopy a couple of years ago, way later than I probably should have although I had been doing those slide smear tests for a few years prior to that. As a person who very much dislikes lemon, I had a much worse time with that MoviPrep than many people I know. It was only AFTER the procedure, in the dressing room, that I noticed an ad stuck on the wall for a prep that was cherry-flavoured! I made a note of it, for when I have to repeat the test, in 10 years!

>85 kidzdoc: Very sorry, Darryl, to read that about your colleague :-(
Sending comforting and healing thoughts for all involved.

So sorry to hear of your colleague's diagnosis. A family member had that last year, and as you say when caught late there seems to be very little they can do. I hope that your colleague has a full recovery and am also hopeful that there is research in the works to make a change. I was horrified to find how untreatable this form of cancer is.

>85 kidzdoc: I'm sorry to hear about your friend Darryl, but hope catching it so early will lead to a full recovery, and it sound like she has a firm bunch of friends to see her through it. We don't automatically get colonoscopies here.

The Vegetarian has been in the pile for a while, so I'll nudge it up.

I'm so sorry to hear about your friend's diagnosis - I'll keep her in my thoughts. Thank you for taking the opportunity to pass on helpful advice.

Wow, what a story about your friend and colleague, Darryl. I bet her family's shaken. Such good news, though, that they caught the pancreatic cancer early. I'm hopeful the operation goes well.

I remember when our family doctor really wanted to persuade me to get a colonoscopy when I turned 50. She actually acted out a commercial she had seen about it, which amazed me (way out of the normal for her!). I thought, if it means that much to her, I've got to do it. As you say, the prep was not that big a deal, and the procedure even less so. Well worth it. Nothing found, so I'm on the long return schedule.

They found polyps in one of my sister's colons, and removed them. The colonoscopy may have saved her life.

I'm a bit hesitant to post this message, and I hope and pray that I'm wrong, but I fear that we may have sad news about one of our own. I'm sure that everyone remembers Pat (@phebj), who was diagnosed with breast cancer several years ago and had a recurrence of it in the middle of last year. Thinking about H. early this morning made me think about Pat, since I hadn't heard from her in months. (You may also remember that we were set to meet in Paris two years ago, as I was going to stop there for a couple of days en route from London to Barcelona. The French railway union whose members operate SNCF trains went on strike just prior to her arrival at CDG, and a day before I was set to travel from London to Paris by Eurostar. My Eurostar train wasn't affected, but the SNCF train I was scheduled to take from Paris to Barcelona was cancelled, so I ended up flying from London to Barcelona, and cancelling our meet up.) We were Facebook friends, but I noticed that she was no longer in my list of friends, and I couldn't find her on Facebook. Fearing the worst, I did a quick Google search, which does mention that a woman with the same name and the same age who lived outside of Boise, Idaho died at her home on January 13th of this year. Her name is a very common one, so this doesn't definitively prove anything. If anyone has good news about Pat please let us know.

ETA: I should have mentioned that my search also revealed that there is a woman with the same name who lives in the same town (Eagle, ID), who was a former attorney from New York State; this matches the profile information listed on Pat's LT profile page. Normally I wouldn't look up someone like this (as it borders on stalking IMO), but I was a bit freaked out about H., couldn't sleep well, and was also worried about Pat.

>96 jessibud2: Thanks, Shelley. My knowledge of adult medicine isn't anywhere near as good as pediatric medicine, but from what little I know, pancreatic cancer is all but a certain death sentence. H. is younger than me, in better shape, and one of the more vibrant people I know, so this news came as a great shock to me, my colleagues at Children's and in the pediatric community, and everyone else who knows her, especially since she is having no symptoms. Something like this makes one reflect on his own mortality and those of other loved ones, and I tossed and turned all night long. I'm glad that I'm off from work today, so that I can try to catch up on sleep before I return to work tomorrow.

I was 51 years of age or close to it when I had my routine screening colonoscopy, so it wasn't that late compared to the general US population, but African Americans are now supposed to get them starting at age 45, so I was actually six years "late" (although when I turned 45 this recommendation wasn't in place). My colonoscopy was completely normal, save for mild diverticulosis, and Dr. Breslin told me that I didn't need another one for 10 years as long as I remained asymptomatic. However, 45 + 10 = 55, so I'm not sure if I should have another one done this year, or wait for another six years as he suggested. I'm due for a repeat EGD (esophagogastroduodenoscopy) in a year or two, since I have gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and am taking a daily antacid (Prilosec OTC) to keep it under control. I may touch base with him when I visit my parents this summer.

>95 kidzdoc: When I've done it four years ago they found a polypus (is this correct) and the pathological examination said it was ok. Therefore I have to make my next test five years later. Otherwise I could have waited ten years.

>102 kidzdoc: I had actually googled Pat earlier this year, too, and came to the same very sad tentative conclusion. Although I haven't mentioned it, I've been having my own BC re-emergence scare, and while good news so far, it leaves some hard decisions for me to wrestle with. Anyway, Pat has been much on my mind.

>97 FAMeulstee: Thanks, Anita. H. has been receiving a large amount of support online, and she just posted an optimistic message taken outside of Emory University Hospital, where I presume she will be treated. Emory, where she and I attended residency several years apart, is in Atlanta, and it's one of the leading medical centers in the Deep South, so she should receive excellent care there. The hospital is about 15 minutes away from where I live, so I could visit her there, although I imagine that she may not have her surgery until after I leave for Amsterdam.

>98 charl08: Thanks, Charlotte. As you said, in most cases pancreatic cancer is caught late, when it is symptomatic, and at that point the likelihood of a cure is essentially zero. I'll read more about it in the coming days, and what research is being done to detect it earlier and to treat it. Fortunately Emory University is one of the country's leading research institutions, and there will undoubtedly be gastroenterologists and oncologists on the medical staff who are at least aware of the cutting edge of this cancer, if not actually involved in the studies of the newest treatment options.

>99 Caroline_McElwee: Thanks, Caroline. I'm a bit surprised that routine colonoscopies aren't available in the UK, though, although I understand that there is evidence to suggest that checking stools for occult blood as a primary screen is a reasonable option. Those who have occult blood would be referred for colonoscopy. However, I would think that this method would miss polyps that aren't bleeding, and that those with premalignant growths would be missed and at much higher risk of developing colorectal cancer.

>102 kidzdoc: - I don't know the person you are mentioning, Darryl, but this discussion brings to mind a similar discussion I have had with online friends over the years regarding this issue. Online friends - even those we have never met in person, and maybe especially those we have never met - are just as legitimate as real life friends. When I first entered the world of the internet many years ago and started frequenting places like bookcrossing, other message boards, and LT, it seemed a bit *odd* but we all know how quickly the online community becomes real.

The thing no one seems to think or talk about until something like this happens, is just how do people find out if something bad has happened in your real life? Some of us talked about writing out a note and placing it in our physical phone/address books, sort of like a contact list for online friends to notify. These days, with facebook, that may be a moot point as probably most people are connected that way and I imagine that word would get out sooner rather than later through social media (I am not on facebook, nor do I wish to be) but it is still a subject I think about from time to time. Can't say I've come up with a perfect solution. Not all my real life friends are integrated into my online life, or vice versa, though there is a bit of crossover. Life is complicated....

>100 scaifea: Thanks, Amber. Several of my partners, colleagues and other employees at my hospital use the practice where H. works for the care of their children, and for some of them it's a double blow. If I had children she would be my first choice as a primary care pediatrician as well.

>101 jnwelch: Thanks, Joe. It's certainly better news that H's cancer was caught at this stage, but I don't think anyone knows if the news, and ultimately H's long term prognosis, is good or not. She is certainly coming across as optimistic and cheerful, but I'm sure that she and her family are scared half out of their minds. I'm just a casual friend of hers, and I'm moderately freaked out!

As you mentioned, the prep and the actual colonoscopy were, for me, far less onerous than I was led to believe. I like the taste of lemon drinks, so drinking the liter of MoviPrep wasn't difficult, and because there was less volume to ingest there was less effluent to be expelled. The most uncomfortable part of the whole procedure was the needle stick for the peripheral IV placed in a vein in the back of my hand (which was a rather trivial event), and except for being a bit woozy after the procedure was over I didn't have any other effects. Propofol-induced sleep is very nice; I can see why Michael Jackson got hooked on it.

I'm glad that your sister's polyps were detected in time. My father was also found to have non-malignant polyps on at least one previous colonoscopy, so he is on the Q5 yrs (every five years) schedule.

>104 Ameise1: Right, Barbara. I'll have to make myself more familiar with the recommendations, but my understanding that the finding of any polyps puts you on the Q5 yrs schedule.

>105 streamsong: I had wondered about Pat, since she hadn't posted since, I think, last summer and hadn't created a 2016 thread, but I didn't want to intrude into details of her personal life. The information I found seems to be all but confirmatory, but her first and last names are common ones, and it's entirely possible that there is another woman in Eagle with the exact same name who died earlier this year.

I'm very sorry to hear about the re-emergence of your BC, but pleased that the news has been good so far. I'll be thinking of and praying for you as well.

This thread has become horrifically depressing all of a sudden...

Read slowly through your thread dear fellow with an increasingly heavy heart (especially after the wonderful Thomas Cook posts).

I do hope your friend and colleague will come out from the other side of her treatments fully recovered and, with early detection, I pray that the good likelihood of this is fulfilled.

Very sad (sort of news) about Pat of whom so many of us are very fond of in the group. I distinctly remember her excitement and enthusiasm of having built her new home in Idaho and her bravery in facing down cancer the first time around. Caro did tell me during our last meet-up that Pat's illness had re-occurred. Very sad.

>102 kidzdoc: Oh my, so sad. Thanks for posting the news. I've thought about phebj every so often, and feared the worst because she had been maintaining an upbeat presence on her thread but things sure hadn't sounded good and she hadn't surfaced in months. I didn't know her last name or specific town.

So sorry about all the sad news. Prayers and good thoughts to your colleague, her family and friends.

Very anxious about Pat... I hope you are wrong, but....

>85 kidzdoc: that's both shocking and sad. I hope for the best for H.

>102 kidzdoc: oh no ... thanks for investigating, Darryl. I thought of Pat a few months back for similar reasons but didn't have enough information about her to be able to search as you did. That's very sad.

>109 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul. H is remaining very positive in her Facebook posts today, as support continues to pour in on her Facebook timeline and Caring Bridge page. She has a long and hard road ahead of her, but I remain optimistic that her family, friends, and especially her faith in God, will carry her through this difficult path.

I also remember Pat's posts about her new home as it was being built, and even more so the plans we had made for the two days we were going to spend together in Paris (she went there with several friends from the US). I'm even more upset now that the union decided to engage in that crippling and incredibly selfish strike, which caused thousands of French students to miss their year end exams and caused chaos throughout the country. It would have been great to meet up with her then, but that chance is (apparently) forever gone. Similarly, I never got to meet @JanetinLondon, as our two planned meet ups in the capital were derailed by her illness before she died.

>110 qebo: You're welcome, Katherine. I wish that I didn't have to, though. Since we were Facebook friends I did know her last name (Howard) and the town she lived in (Eagle, ID), so it was easy to look her up with that information.

>111 RebaRelishesReading: Thanks, Reba.

>112 Chatterbox: I'm all but completely certain that this information is correct, Suz, but I'd love nothing more than for someone to come out and say that I'm wrong.

>107 jessibud2: Sorry, Shelley! I did see your message, but I wanted to think about it before I posted a reply.

I do value my online friends here, especially since several of them have become good real life friends as well. (I also find it interesting that several of them have little or no activity on LT, particularly Bianca, Caroline lately, Rachael and Fliss.) However, I would say that the real life good friends, i.e. those who I've spent a significant amount of time with in person, hold a higher place in my ranking list compared to similar online friends, whether I "see" the RL ones online or not. Granted, a sizable number of the online only friends would likely become good "real life" friends if we lived in the same metropolitan area or met in each other's backyard or elsewhere. On the other hand, I'm very fond of several of my physician colleagues in my work group and in other ones, yet we hardly ever see each other outside of work. Are they more valuable than my online friends who I spend just as much time with but don't see in person? I'd probably say yes, since I feel that sitting and working alongside them allows me to know them a bit better than the ones I don't see, but I wouldn't minimize those online friendships either. I'm sure that many would disagree with me, including those who feel more comfortable with online than personal friendships, and those whose friends are mostly physically removed from them, including people who live alone, are in small towns or rural areas, or are housebound due to illness or infirmity. Regardless, I think we could all agree that online friendships are very valuable in the Internet age, and that many of us would be much worse off if we didn't have them.

how do people find out if something bad has happened in your real life?

Right. If a spouse or other family member is part of the online group then it's considerably easier for the community to receive bad news, assuming the afflicted one isn't able to respond directly (as H. was able to do yesterday), but what if that isn't the case (as was true for Pat, if she has died)? We found out about the death of @JanetinLondon from her husband, who posted a message on her LT thread to let us know that she had died, but that came several weeks or months later, as (to my knowledge) no one on LT knew her well enough to have learned the news from one of her family members or another online source.

Another factor in learning bad news is the size of your online footprint. If, like me and numerous others in the group, you have an active Facebook page that includes LT and non-LT friends, then it would be far easier for people in this group to learn if something has happened to you, especially if you aren't able to post anything yourself. As a licensed physician in the US I have an even larger footprint, as information about myself must, by law, be made available to the general public for free. If you enter "darryl" "pediatrician" and "atlanta" into a Google search information about me pops up immediately, starting with my Children's profile page (which includes a photo of my unsavory mug), without having to search for my last name, since my first name is less common than "robert" or "mary". I'm not sure about other states, but the Georgia Board of Medical Examiners requires that all licensed health care professionals maintain an up to date page on themselves, which includes their educational background, places of work, which hospitals they have privileges at, languages spoken, insurances taken, if they have ever been sued (even if the verdict was in their favor), lost a malpractice suit, accused or convicted of a misdemeanor (other than routine traffic violations, although DUIs and vehicular homicides must be reported), if their hospital privileges have ever been revoked, etc. Failure to do so or to report anything which could be construed as a black mark on one's record is grounds for suspension or revocation of the person's state medical license, which would make it impossible to practice in that state, and very difficult to practice in any other one.

Huh. In doing this search I see that I someone created a Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Darryl-Rodney-Morris/863078417142674) with my name on it, which includes my workplace and office number. Needless to say I didn't do this, and after I'm finished here I'll look for similar pages for my partners and physician colleagues.

So, for me it doesn't make much sense to try to "hide" my identity too much, unless I was to use a given name other than my real one, and of course it's far too late for that! Even if I didn't have a Facebook page there would probably be enough information about anything serious that happened to me (death, serious illness, went batsh*t crazy, etc.) online, from Children's or the local media.

Sorry. That was TMI, I think...

>113 lauralkeet: Thanks, Laura. I'll keep you posted, although I don't imagine there will be much new information in the coming weeks. H posted a message to her patients and families on her group's Facebook page that she'll start undergoing chemotherapy this week, and in the summer or early fall she'll undergo a major operation which will hopefully resect any remaining tumor.

It sounds as though Pat was on the minds of many of us, and that at least some of us feared the worst, since she dropped off the radar so suddenly, and for so long.

I had an idea to post a message on the "In Memoriam" thread, both to mention that I do have credible information that she has died, and to see if anyone out there who doesn't follow my thread has news to the contrary. Should I do that?

Would it be worth reaching out to the mods, who might have some kind of contact info associated with her account?

Interesting points you've raised. I have a very public profile, because my name goes on everything I write. That means people hunt me down on Twitter and say obnoxious things about me publicly. In the last few months I've even had death threats from the "Bernie bros", simply because I happened to say that Clinton's Wall Street policies were more nuanced than those of Sanders. So on here, I have a moniker that doesn't include my real name. If someone WANTED to link what I post here to who I am, they certainly could, but I figure that's possible anyway. Privacy, sadly, is an elusive concept. I regret that. It's not that I don't want to be accountable for what I do as a professional, but I want a line to be drawn between my personal life and my professional life, and between what publications want you to do (i.e. build up a personal platform and audience) and what technology does, that's difficult.

D, my ex, had the passwords to all my social media accounts in case anything horrible happened to me; indeed, he had those even before we became a couple, for that reason. Now? Hmm. I have lost a relationship, and a healthcare proxy and emergency contact and notification person and my social media updater and all that stuff too! Could I train the cats to do this, after they finish eating me? (Sorry, I know, poor taste.)

So many of my RL relationships also take place in cyberspace now, simply because the patterns of our lives have left us scattered across the world. My closest friends from high school live in Belgium, Sweden, Washington, DC and one or two other places. My two closest college friends are in Canada. I have former work colleagues to whom I'm close living on three continents. I've moved; they have moved. So I really just distinguish between those whom I have met and spent time with IRL vs those whose relationship with me is predominantly a cyber-relationship. Those can be great (hello, Cushla!) but it's not the same as sitting across a dinner table and solving the world's problems, or working alongside one another, or sharing another set of common experiences.

>102 kidzdoc: - Very sad news. Thanks for sharing it, though. I would often think of Pat and wonder how she was doing.

>115 kidzdoc:, >116 Chatterbox: - Yes, there is much overlap these days between online and real life when it comes to friends and friendships. My 3 closest friends don't live in my city, one of them is in the States, and my family also lives in different places, not close by at all. Interestingly, I am in the process of redoing my will as the one I have was drawn up almost 20 years ago and a lot has changed in my life in that time. I have been experiencing some anxiety lately over who to ask to be my healthcare proxy as there really isn't anyone I am that close to here in my city. Despite having local friends, it's not the sort of thing that you can just dump on any acquaintance. This is precisely what makes one think carefully about personal connections (and contacts) near and far. And yes, some of my online friends I am in daily contact with via email, or texting, more so than with my real life friends who I may not see in person as often. I think in the early days of internet, I remember how weird it felt to meet the first online friend in person. But these days, that is no longer the case, at least not in the same ways. I've met several online friends in real life and I can't think of a negative experience.

As for privacy, I have nothing to hide in my rather boring life, but the truth is, I have always been a rather private person and the very idea of facebook makes me uncomfortable. I know that once you are on it, you really can't get off. I have never been even remotely tempted. None of my online screen names relate to my real name and that is deliberate. I am also a person who uses my cell phone mainly as an emergency phone and to text. I don't have a data plan to check the internet and rarely log into my email if I am not at home. I know I am in a very small minority but I honestly don't like the idea of being *available* 24/7. Never have.

Anyhow, just rambling thoughts now, apparently...

Sorry about your friend Darryl!

As for the conversation about the relative importance of online friends vs. real life friends: That's a really difficult subject. To me, the life of a person I meet online is just as important as the life of a person I know in RL. So when I hear about good and bad things going on in their lives, I feel almost as strongly for the online friend as for the real-life friend. I say "almost" because I don't think it's possible (for me) to have the emotional connection to a string of posts online as I do to a real-life conversation. But in this digital age, maybe that's possible for some people.

I value online friends for a different reason than I value my real-life friends. I'm more likely to get immediate gratification from my real-life friends - conversations take place in real-time. But the responses to my life-issues may be better thought out when coming from someone online.

But I think most importantly, I can have MORE online friends than real friends. I would say that I have (including my boyfriend) 3 RL friends that I spend most of my time with & about 10 friends that I hang out with less regularly. Then there are hundreds of acquaintances. Online the first tier (most of my time) has more like 20, the second tier is in the hundreds, and the third tier is close to a thousand.

It's less likely for me to have the emotional connection to an online person than a RL person for two reasons: I don't have the emotional connection that comes with physical and auditory contact, and it's harder to find a friend "important" when you have 19 others that are just as important (compared to the 2 others that are just as important in RL).

Consider a unit of benefit "positive vibe units" (PVU) that you get from friends. I get more PVU from each individual friend in RL, but because I have so many more online friends, I think the cumulative PVU balance out. But that's just me. Other people would be different based on their social anxiety online and offline, as well as other factors.

Sorry. I just looked at that like an engineer, didn't I? TMI?

As for you guys hearing about it if I die or become seriously ill and unable to post, that would depend on Morphy letting the LT world know. She's the only LT-to-RL connection I have because we're in the same book group.

I think I'll end on that morbid thought.

ETA: Actually one more comment on the discussion of how the online world affects your real world relationships. I had to stop following my boyfriend on FB because he kept "liking" and "sharing" ultra-conservative and climate-change-skepticism posts. It was damaging to our relationship. In real life we can get by for a month at a time without a political discussion coming up, but it's many times a day on FB. Sometimes the two worlds need to remain separate. (I AM still friends with him, I just don't automatically see his "likes" and "shares" anymore.

Morning Darryl! Thanks so much for the info on Pat. Very sad. She will be missed. I had the privilege of meeting her in Portland, a couple years ago, surrounded with other loving LTers. I will keep that memory close.

>85 kidzdoc: What a great and invaluable public service post, Darryl! I agree the pre-procedure and the procedure itself is an inconvenience but well worth it. I wish your colleague all the best.

Oh my, I have thought about Pat quite often and thought that perhaps her treatments were not successful, yet I hoped that her upbeat attitude and wellness activities like yoga etc would be beneficial. That would be incredibly sad as she talked about her new house and posted pics of her new bookcases.

A lot of very thoughtful discussion going on here. I'm part of a private group on LT, and we all agreed years ago to designate someone to notify at least one member of the group via e-mail or phone if something unexpected should happen to keep one of us off line for an extended period or, god forbid, permanently. It hasn't happened so far, thank goodness. Those without a real life connection to anyone else in the 75'ers group might think about making a similar provision. I did lose an dear LT friend a few years back, who some of you may have known. His name was Charlie, and his LT username was brainflakes. It wasn't sudden or unexpected, but he had asked his wife to inform me when he became unable to use LT any longer, and when he finally passed away. I shared the news of his death through pm's with other members who I knew would be concerned, and I also advised the LT POBs, because I knew his wife did not use the site. Cyber friendships are "real" friendships to me. Naturally some people mean more to me than others, but the fact that a relationship exists only through internet contact does not automatically mean it's less important to me than if it were a face-to-face kind of thing.

>122 laytonwoman3rd: - Some very good ideas in your post, Linda. I especially agree with "Cyber friendships are "real" friendships to me. Naturally some people mean more to me than others, but the fact that a relationship exists only through internet contact does not automatically mean it's less important to me than if it were a face-to-face kind of thing."

Designating someone to notify others is a good idea, too, though, for me anyhow, I'm not sure it would be so easy. I don't have a big footprint here on LT... something to think about...

Another adult and thought-provoking conversation. Thank you all, Shelley, Linda, Darryl (Of course), Lynda, Rachel, and the others who contributed thoughts. I like these sorts of discussions.

I know that for some of us RL has taken over at this point in the year. I've not had much time for commenting lately. I agree with your assessment about RL friends being very important.

That is so sad about Pat! I also met her at the epic Portland LT meet-up; and she was just a lovely person.

>119 The_Hibernator: Great analysis, Rachel.

I'm so sorry to hear about Pat. I also met her at the Portland LT meetup, and she seemed so young and vibrant.

I had feared the same conclusion you have reached, Darryl. We knew her breast cancer had come back, and that she was at the point where they were having to keep changing treatments because the cancer kept adapting--never a good sign. Her continued silence was ominous, especially since I had PMed her several times. I had had her old address but not the one for the new house. I'm also concerned about Cee in Maine, who didn't start a new thread, as the two of them had fought through the first bout together and I fear she also may have had a recurrence.

I read an article on LearnVest.com recently on the documents you should have prepared in case of your demise, and one I would never have thought of is to create a digital executor, someone with the authority to shut down your accounts. I have several deceased friends who still have active Facebook accounts.

My elderly cousin Jack's Facebook account is still active. Odd, and still eerie, like a ghostly echo/shadow. He died last February (2015).

Following along here. A very difficult discussion. I remember JanetinLondon's unexpected death and I talked to my husband and my kids right after. They know that they are supposed to take care of my online life if anything happens. Darryl, I am sending best wishes to your friend H and I can only hope you are wrong about Pat.

On a brighter note, one of the upsides of having a total colectomy is I never have to have the dreaded colonoscopy again...ever!! I have had more than my share though, so no need to be jealous. LOL.

I feel rather pensive now after catching up here.

After JanetinLondon died I remember really thinking about her a lot. Or a lot more than I though I would about someone who I only knew online. But since then I have really come to recognise how much I value the relationships I have with people here on LT. Some of you have seen and chatted about my ups downs and books for 7 years now! That's a good chunk of time, and as discussed in >119 The_Hibernator:, the PVUs (positive vibe units) are cumulative! I love knowing that *this* is here when I want or need it.
It's the sad thing that comes with forming friendships, that the more of them you have, the more chance you take with also feeling the hurt of them hurting, or the sadness of something more final. Just as in RL.

>129 Chatterbox: I dislike Facebook pages of people who have died. I am lucky to only have two Facebook friends who are no longer here. I would feel very odd about having my profile remain active for too long after I am gone. I must talk to my lovely other about that...he is virtually anonymous online so will be ok.

That's for the thoughtful posts Darryl. I appreciate them, and you!

Great discussion on online friends versus RL friends, Darryl.

There is a difference, of course, but once I've met an LT friend in person it has changed for me to a RL friend. I think of you and Karen and Ellen and others whom I've met pretty much in the same way I think of friends I have from other, non-online contexts.

I've got a friend coming into town this weekend who I've known since junior high (he's our daughter's godfather), and I think he'd enjoy the LTers I've met just as much as I have.

I thought the comment about the number of online friends we can have being so much larger than in RL was really interesting. True for me, too.

ETA: Mark, of course, lives in my area, so we can to see each other quite a bit, and he's become a particularly good new friend. You're right that physical proximity, with barbecues and so on, makes a difference.

Woo! I'm done with my last shift for the week, which was another tough one. I'm off from work for at least the next four days, and if all goes well I won't have to work until next Saturday. It's just past 10 pm and I'm fading quickly, so I'll catch up here tomorrow.

There's actually some research out there about the # of friends we can have in each "circle" of friendship. Our very closest -- the people we would die for, basically -- number about four or five, and then each tier gets larger, but even the biggest group (acquaintances) is really only about 500 -- it's our acquaintances -- while our casual friends number 150. For more on the very cool research behind these "Dunbar numbers", check out this New Yorker article: http://www.newyorker.com/science/maria-konnikova/social-media-affect-math-dunbar...

>133 kidzdoc: Have a well earned rest Darryl and a wonderful weekend.

Appreciated your thoughtful comments on RL and online friendships and share the sentiments exactly. Those group members we have actually met are of course more vivid in our minds than those we have not yet had the pleasure of.

There does seem to be a nexus between your meet-ups and decreasing LT activity though buddy - hahaha.

Happy Saturday, everyone! I didn't wake up until nearly 9:30 am today after going to sleep shortly after 10:30 pm last night, so I slept for nearly 11 hours, which is almost unheard of for me (I rarely sleep for more than seven hours, and I'm normally awake by 6:30 am at the latest, even on non-work days). I'm working on my first steaming mug of strong Peet's coffee now, which will hopefully kick in soon, as I'm still a bit out of it.

Catching up...

>116 Chatterbox: Would it be worth reaching out to the mods, who might have some kind of contact info associated with her account?

Possibly, but not for me, though. Although my findings aren't definitive, I do believe that the information I found out about Pat is correct, although I still hold slim hope that I will be proven wrong, and I have no desire to investigate the matter any further. The news about her and especially my friend H. this week has been pretty depressing, especially now that H. provided more information about the stage of her cancer and her unfavorable long term prognosis even though it was detected early, and I have had about all the bad news I can handle at the moment.

So many of my RL relationships also take place in cyberspace now, simply because the patterns of our lives have left us scattered across the world.

True. None of my closest friends from high school, undergraduate school, or medical school live in Atlanta, and several of my closest friends from residency moved away from here after we were finished. Facebook, in particular, has been a great way to keep in touch with them, and to maintain our friendships.

To me, "friend" is a very elusive concept to define, especially in the Internet age where so many more options are available for people to contact one another, sort of like trying to describe the shape of a moving cloud that changes from one moment to the next. Unless one lives in the same town and are around the same people all the time our collection of those whom we consider to be friends changes frequently, and I highly doubt that any of us could say that we have maintained the same small number of best friends (spouses and significant others not included) over more than a few years. My best friends for most of the 21st century would have been my medical school classmate and his wife, who live in Madison, WI, but I haven't seen them in nearly two years and we've hardly been in touch during that time.

Fortunately I'm close to my parents and brother, and although we haven't talked about it I would be very comfortable if he was my healthcare proxy and social media updater. I'll have to investigate this in more detail, as I'm feeling much more mortal and vulnerable after H's diagnosis (she is younger than me) and Pat's apparent death.

>117 katiekrug: You're welcome, Katie. I'm sorry to do so, and I wouldn't have posted that information unless I was certain that it was true.

Wow 150 "casual friends" and 500 "acquaintances" -- really?! I'd have to count but I would think I have more like 50 casual friends and maybe 150 acquaintances. Does that mean I'm socially awkward? lol

>118 jessibud2: My 3 closest friends don't live in my city, one of them is in the States, and my family also lives in different places, not close by at all.

Same here, Shelley. If I came up with a list of my closest friends, none of them would be here in Atlanta, and I have no close family members within several hundred miles. My parents, brother, two surviving aunts and closest cousins (save for one in Houston and another in Ann Arbor, Michigan) live either in the Northeast Corridor between NYC and northern Virginia.

I do know a lot of people in Atlanta and feel comfortable that someone would come to my aid if I suddenly took ill (as has happened twice before when I had to be admitted to hospital), but I would be reluctant to ask any of them to be my healthcare proxy, especially since I am so close to my brother. Thinking out loud...if I had to choose a non-family member to be my proxy I would still ask my friend in Madison, as we've been extremely tight from 1993, our first year of medical school, until a few years ago, after his wife's mother died (she hasn't been the same since then).

I was initially quite skeptical about Facebook and was a relatively late adopter, but, as I mentioned earlier, I have found it to be a great way to keep in touch with old friends. I found my old roommate from college there (and met up with him a few years ago in New Orleans, more than 30 years after I last saw him), I'm able to keep in touch with medical school classmates (my class has a Facebook page that allows all of us who participate to chat with each other and plan our upcoming 20th year anniversary), and lately I've been using Facebook Messenger to plan meet ups and holidays with LT friends abroad. There can be a lot of "noise", but it's relatively easy to decrease the number and type of messages some friends send. Facebook certainly isn't for everyone, but for me it is a very valuable tool.

I am also a person who uses my cell phone mainly as an emergency phone and to text. I don't have a data plan to check the internet and rarely log into my email if I am not at home.

Ooh, not me! I do use my smartphone multiple times per day, and I have a data plan (I recently increased my monthly data allowance from 5 GB to 10 GB per month, which was only an additional $10). I find the apps to be very helpful, both at home and especially when I'm traveling, and I would be lost without my phone!

I know I am in a very small minority but I honestly don't like the idea of being *available* 24/7.

Agreed. I also have an iPhone from Children's that I use as a work mobile phone, but I turn it off when I go to bed to avoid getting unnecessary calls, especially from nurses and doctors in the middle of the night when I'm not on service and shouldn't be called. (One of our ER doctors is notorious for calling the long call doctor, whose shift ends at 10 pm, in the middle of the night if the night doctor (8 pm to 8 am) doesn't answer right away, and the younger night nurses will do the same thing with disturbing frequency.) I do leave it on during the day, unless I'm trying to sleep, in case one of my partners or colleagues needs to reach me urgently. I have my personal mobile phone set to silent from 11 pm to 6 am, so that my precious sleep isn't interrupted by calls or other notifications, as I find it very difficult to go back to sleep if I'm awakened by a middle of the night phone call or loud ping.

Back to >118 jessibud2:

I remember how weird it felt to meet the first online friend in person. But these days, that is no longer the case, at least not in the same ways. I've met several online friends in real life and I can't think of a negative experience.

The first online person I met was Rachael (@FlossieT), who used to be active in the 75 Books group and is, unfortunately, unknown to most people here, even the 75ers in the London area. She proposed meeting up during my second visit to London in 2009, over lunch at the London Review Cake Shop (the café within the London Review Bookshop), so it was easy for me to agree to that date. The subsequent meet ups with other LTers have been almost always positive ones, and I'm sure it's obvious that I'll readily meet new LTers on my travels.

>119 The_Hibernator: Thanks, Rachel. H. is providing her family and friends with daily updates, and since she is so widely respected and loved by her patients, their families, her colleagues, and her church members, family and friends she has received a huge ground swell of support from us this week, which I expect will continue in the weeks and months to come.

I feel almost as strongly for the online friend as for the real-life friend. I say "almost" because I don't think it's possible (for me) to have the emotional connection to a string of posts online as I do to a real-life conversation.

Exactly. Although I was quite saddened to discover that Pat had died earlier this year it didn't have anywhere near the same impact as H's news did. I'd bet that I'd feel far worse about Pat if we had been able to meet in Paris two years ago.

But in this digital age, maybe that's possible for some people.

I think that's true, especially for people who are isolated in their homes and towns and don't see friends and neighbors in person on a regular basis. I generally keep to myself and stay at home during my off days from work, as I need some quiet time to myself after the often intense environment in the very busy hospital I work in, which is the main reason I haven't made many close friendships here. I suspect that many of my partners and physician colleagues feel the same way, as hardly any of us spend significant time with each other outside of work, and most of them who have spouses and families would, of course, choose to spend the bulk of their spare time with them.

Very interesting comments about the differences between online and real life friends, Rachel. One other benefit of real life friends, for those of us who underwent a challenging training experience, as we did in medical school and residency (and others would have in other academic and non-academic (e.g., military) setings), is that you've been "in the trenches" with them, grown alongside, cried and learned with them, and relied on them in sometimes highly stressful settings, and for support during particularly dark days. Those shared experiences can't ever be duplicated in an online friendship, even if that friend is in the same field as you and has undergone the same training.

A third category of friends IMO would be "online/RL", those people who you have met and do see in person on at least a semi-regular basis, but you spend more time with online, as they don't live nearby. People like Debbi & Joe, Bianca, Claire, Caroline, Fliss and Rachael come to mind immediately, although several other people would be included in this category.

I love your description of "positive vibe units"!

Yikes; how is it 1 o'clock already? I'm still in my PJs!

>120 msf59: Hi, Mark! I'm glad that you were able to meet Pat, and vice versa. I was bitterly upset that the French railway union, whose members are very well paid and have far more generous benefit plans than many other workers, held the country hostage during their crippling strike in 2014 and caused the cancellation of my meet up plans with her in Paris. We had vowed to return there or meet up elsewhere, but that was before the recurrence of her cancer that apparently claimed her life.

>121 Carmenere: Thanks, Lynda. My two recommendations, other than ensuring that you get a colonoscopy as scheduled or see a gastroenterologist if you have worrying symptoms, is to eat lightly for one or two days beforehand, and ask your gastroenterologist to give you a prescription for MoviPrep, as it requires you to drink far less liquid to achieve the clean out (and, therefore, you'll have fewer trips to the toilet).

Thanks for your good wishes about H.

To be honest I hadn't thought that much about Pat this year until H's announcement. It dawned on me in the middle of the night, while I was struggling to sleep, that I hadn' seen any posts from her this year, and couldn't remember the last time that I saw a post from her on Facebook. That led me to do some investigation, and it only took a few minutes to find the obituary.

I also remember her posts about her new house. That is sad that (if the news is true) she won't be able to enjoy it.

>122 laytonwoman3rd: Your idea to designate someone who is an "online/RL" friend to notify others here in the case of serious illness or death is an excellent one, Linda. There are LTers who disappear from the radar screen for months at a time, or permanently, and their absence often causes a good deal of anxiety about them, especially if they don't have a presence on Facebook or have real life friends who can report on them to the group.

Cyber friendships are "real" friendships to me. Naturally some people mean more to me than others, but the fact that a relationship exists only through internet contact does not automatically mean it's less important to me than if it were a face-to-face kind of thing.

Agreed. Some of these cyber friends would certainly be close real friends, and far closer than many FTF friends, if they were in close physical proximity or if you could visit them elsewhere.

>123 jessibud2: One challenge I would face in choosing an LTer to update others about me is that I haven't met and am not friends with any of the Atlanta area LTers. The only LTer I've met in Atlanta was Lisa (@labfs39), who lives in metropolitan Seattle, which took place in March when she visited a friend of hers here. None of my closest LT friends live anywhere nearby, so I'd probably rely on those who also follow me on Facebook to keep the group posted if I was unable to.

>124 weird_O: Thanks, Bill. Everyone here who has contributed to this rich discussion deserves equal credit for posting their thoughts.

>125 thornton37814: Agreed, Lori.

>126 banjo123:, >127 arubabookwoman: I'm glad that you were also able to meet Pat, Rhonda and Deborah. We had a very nice itinerary planned for Paris, and I'm sure that I would have had a great time there and enjoyed spending time with her, as you and others did.

>128 ronincats: Right, Roni. I also knew that Pat had a recurrence of her cancer, and that the treatments didn't seem to be working, but I didn't want to believe that her condition was incurable, although from a medical standpoint (and especially being a physician) I should have known that this was very likely.

I've never followed Claudia on LT, so I didn't know that she was also absent this year. She was a frequent poster, as I recall, so her lack of activity is equally worrisome.

Would you be able to post a link to the article you mentioned on LearnVest.com? I'd like to read it, and I'm sure plenty of others would as well. TYIA.

>129 Chatterbox: In addition to reminding me about @JanetinLondon, whose LT account is still active, that also reminds me of one of the pediatric residents from Morehouse College of Medicine, who spend at least four months of their training on our service, who died several years ago after she contracted an incredibly rare and incurable form of liver cancer. Similar to H. everyone absolutely loved her, and we were all devastated at her diagnosis and her ultimate death. Her Facebook account remained active for several months, and it was eerie to see a post on it from a friend or family member, but ultimately it was closed down.

On the other hand, I am still "friends" with @JanetinLondon on LT, and I look at her profile page every so often, especially to see if a book I'm reading is one that is in her LT library. For me it would be a double blow if it was closed, as it would mark her permanent disappearance from my life, and from LT.

>130 Berly: Thanks, Kim. If ever there was a time that I wished to be wrong, the news I've reported about Pat is that time. I'm also trying to remain positive about H., but that has been very difficult so far.

I've been following this conversation all week, mostly just nodding along as I haven't had the time to compose a thoughtful response. Now that I find myself with a few minutes to spare, I can't seem to come up with anything additive. I'm not sure I distinguish too much between RL friends and online friends. The online friends I've met became RL friends. If I'm connected to someone on both LT and Facebook, our connection feels stronger and more personal. But even LTers I only see here I consider friends, because every single LTer I've met has proven to be a wonderful person. And I guess that's why I've felt quite sad about Pat this week, although we never met IRL.

>142 kidzdoc: Facebook has a way to "memorialize" an account and designate a legacy contact. Memorializing the account allows people to visit the page and remember the person, but prevents certain other Facebook functions. More here:
https://www.facebook.com/help/103897939701143

>136 kidzdoc: I like your cloud analogy. That is really what it's like; friendships that keep morphing. I think for me the key is -- do people still find value in them, and do they know in their hearts that the other person is of value (and is that reciprocal?) If that is the case, the intensity and frequency of contact can vary, as life events and geography dictate. The reality is that our lives aren't like those of our parents and grandparents. We live in this weirdly hyper-mobile world -- our parents moved around the country, and we do so globally. What we lose are these lifelong ties, formed in childhood, that endure. My father's oldest friend is someone he met at the age of 5. Not, perhaps a good example, but that is because of my father's character, not because of the generational issue. (Were he a more thoughtful/less self-centered person, that friendship would be stronger, I think; as it is, I'm so fortunate to be reaping some of the benefits in having a de facto uncle -- both of my parents being only children -- who has shown himself to be loving and caring in times of family stress, because of that lifelong tie with my father.) Neighbors once became friends, because they lived alongside each other in this thing called a community... Maybe in small towns that still exists? I don't really know. I don't feel that it does even here in Providence. The people here still have a sense that they're here for now, but might be gone soon, somewhere else in the city or to another place. And their friends are elsewhere.

But now we make our own communities, and their nature changes constantly. I would say that my core group of 15, to use that Dunbar category, does include people I have known all my life, nearly: the daughter of my father's oldest friend; someone I was at elementary school in London with; a friend from my high school in Brussels; some friends from college in Canada, 30 plus years ago. Some I have been in touch with almost constantly, but the intensity of that friendship has definitely varied, and newer friends have been closer in more recent times, simply because I'm not geographically present in their lives. Then, too, it depends on what is happening in my life at any given moment. But I'm glad that there are people in my life who knew me when I was a little girl and spoke with an English accent, or who remember me in high school; who don't just know the me of today. Because that's an outside shell, and anyone who meets me today would have to dig below some layers to get to the rest of me.

I'm so sorry about H. It's very, very difficult to deal with something like this. I've got a friend dealing with advanced heart failure (the latest in a long series of cardiac problems), who has rejected the docs' suggestion of transplantation. Again, a long-term scenario, and he's managing it (he just came out of another hospitalization, however), but while he is very good at dealing with the diet and everything else, you know where it's going. But yet, the awareness of mortality; the knowledge of one's friend facing something facing something difficult and painful, especially when, in your case, it arrives out of the blue to someone a few years younger. And there is little you can do to help, except to be there, as a friend. Which is actually the best possible thing that you can do, of course.

>141 kidzdoc: Do you have a healthcare proxy or emergency contact, Darryl? Whoever that is could have a list of people to call or contact in case you weren't able to do so yourself (that's what my own friend, above, does.) Spell out the circumstances under which they should use it. You could include one LT/Facebook person on that list, if so. For instance, if (god forbid) you were in a car accident and offline for two weeks, whoever was notified as your next of kin or healthcare proxy would then contact the three or four people on your list, and one of those would put the word out via social media, hey, this is what's happening with Darryl. I've got a list like that with all my work contacts on it, simply because otherwise I could vanish from the scene and leave all my editors wondering WTF was going on, and why I wasn't meeting my deadlines. In my case, it's to be used in case of emergency surgery, coma/unconsciousness, hospitalization in excess of 24 hours or (obviously) death. What my editors get told is different from what is shared on social media, though. (The latter is only in case of dire emergency -- i.e. if I'm in a horrible accident or dead, vs just incommunicado for a short while.)

(yawn) I can barely keep my eyes open after lunch, so I'll take a nap and resume catching up later this afternoon.

Here is the LearnVest article, Darryl. Besides our social accounts, it also talks about digital assets like our iTunes and Kindle libraries.

https://www.learnvest.com/2014/07/how-to-estate-plan-digital-assets-123/

It also references this article.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/03/technology/personaltech/how-to-digitally-avoid...

>142 kidzdoc: That's great info--I was unaware. Thank you!

>147 ronincats: - Thanks for those links. I am going to read those articles and do some serious thinking about this

Digital assets -- that's a question I have had given the size of my Kindle library!! Thanks for posting, Roni.

I took a refreshing three hour nap, and...I'm still sleepy. I seem to have contracted a viral infection, with upper respiratory and lower GI symptoms, which probably has a lot to do with my excessive sleep and tiredness (I've slept for nearly 14 out of the past 24 hours, which is as much as I sleep in two days on average). I had a hard time waking up yesterday and was run down all day, so I've probably had this infection for at least a couple of days. Fortunately my symptoms aren't bad so far, and hopefully it will pass in a day or two.

>131 LovingLit: It's the sad thing that comes with forming friendships, that the more of them you have, the more chance you take with also feeling the hurt of them hurting, or the sadness of something more final.

Right, Megan. There is great joy in having friends, with celebrations of birthdays, graduations, marriages, birth of children and other noteworthy events, but there is also sorrow due to divorces, serious illnesses, and deaths. I've seen how the deaths of my father's siblings and close friends has affected him, particularly last year during one of my visits when he learned that a co-worker and good friend had died. These losses are cumulative, and each one seems to take a bit more out of him emotionally and spiritually, as all of his siblings and, of course, his parents, have passed on, along with all of his childhood friends that he kept in touch with. The deaths of well known public figures affect him, and my mother, as well, in the manner of repeated punches to the gut, as I imagine that it makes them think of their own mortality, especially when those figures are the same age or younger than they are. My mother's two sisters, her only siblings, are still alive and in relatively good health, all things considered, as is she.

I suppose this is something we'll all have to face, if we are blessed to live long enough. I'll turn 60 in less than five years, which is completely unbelievable to me and a bit frightening, as it seems that I was in my thirties just a few years ago!

Thanks for that sweet compliment, Megan! I feel sorry that physical distance separates so many of us, as I would love to have the opportunity to meet you, and several other LTers who live half a world away, in person.

>132 jnwelch: There is a difference, of course, but once I've met an LT friend in person it has changed for me to a RL friend. I think of you and Karen and Ellen and others whom I've met pretty much in the same way I think of friends I have from other, non-online contexts.

I agree with you, Joe, provided that I spent quality time with that person and got to know at least a little about them. I have met several LTers during large meet ups in Philadelphia, London and NYC who I barely chatted with, and since many of them have little or no activity in this group or in Club Read the little time we spent together doesn't count for much for me, or for them I would suspect.

I've got a friend coming into town this weekend who I've known since junior high (he's our daughter's godfather), and I think he'd enjoy the LTers I've met just as much as I have.

I agree. My work partner Laura is the one non-LT person who has met my LT friends, as she and I have happened to be in London at the same time twice in the past year (her sister lives in Islington). She has met Bianca twice and Caroline (McElwee) once, and she fit right in and enjoyed their company.

When my non-LT friends ask about my book club and the people I have met in it I often emphasize to them that we are a diverse group of people who share an interest in reading, and that we are more, much more, than a collection of bookworms who talk about nothing but books! I think some of them may be intimidated by the thought of joining a book club, whether online or in person, especially my physician friends who don't, or don't have time, to read that much.

I remember that I was a bit hesitant to participate in Fliss and Rachael's Cambridge book club meet up in March, as I wasn't sure that I would fit in very well, but Fliss insisted that I would. She was absolutely right, as I immediately felt comfortable with her three friends and had an absolutely splendid time with them.

>134 Chatterbox: Thanks, Suz; I'll read that article tomorrow or early next week.

I had thought in the past, particularly when the kids were young, that I would be more than willing to take care of my friend Dave's wife and children in case something happened to him, as I was closer to all of them that any of their family members were. We're not as close as we once were, but I would still do so without hesitation now. There are other friends, men and women, who I love to pieces, but I would have to give at least some thought to extending the same offer, which means to me that Dave remains my best friend.

>135 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul. I was definitely running on fumes yesterday, and I struggled to get through a long call day that I could have easily handled otherwise.

There does seem to be a nexus between your meet-ups and decreasing LT activity though buddy

Ha! Actually, I would say that the main reason for my decreased LT activity and, especially, my decreased reading output for the past couple of years, is that we have been more busy at work, both during our busy season (November through March) but also in the spring, summer and early fall when our inpatient census is traditionally lower and we don't have to work nearly as hard. When we're busy it's all I can do to see patients and write my progress notes, at work and at home, before I fall asleep, and many of those days I struggle to stay awake at home to complete my day's work, at 9-10 pm or later. That leaves no time for checking in here or reading, and because I'm often tired on my days off, especially if it's a short two day weekend, I don't have the time or energy to do much reading or posting.

>137 RebaRelishesReading: Wow 150 "casual friends" and 500 "acquaintances" -- really?! I'd have to count but I would think I have more like 50 casual friends and maybe 150 acquaintances. Does that mean I'm socially awkward?

Ha! I wouldn't say so, Reba. I have a lot more casual friends and acquaintances, both online and in person, as a result of living in different cities, attending three universities (Rutgers, Pitt, Emory) for my education and training, and working in a setting where I interact with a few dozen people every day, and well over a hundred on a regular basis. Someone who works in a small or even standard office setting. who lives in a relatively fixed community or town, and who hasn't moved to different cities would have fewer of these types of friends, I would think.

>143 lauralkeet: I hear you, Laura. There are many times that someone has said something, online or in person, that I would have if I had "gotten there first" or expressed it better than I could have, and all I can do is nod my head in agreement.

I do feel very sad about Pat's apparent death, but it doesn't have the same emotional impact on me than it would have if I had met her in person. I think that would also hold true for my dearest online only friends, in comparison to those LTers who I have spent time with in person and am fond of, in general (but not as a matter of fact).

>144 lauralkeet: Thanks for that information, Laura; that is very useful.

I looked at that link, and searched for the Facebook page of the Morehouse pediatric resident who died of liver cancer during her last year of residency, as I remembered that we were never actually Facebook friends (her account was not restricted, as many of ours are, so anyone could read her posts and keep up with her, which made me initially think that we were FB friends). Michelle's Facebook account is still active, even though it's been over five years since her death, and her American and Malaysian friends continue to post messages to her on it, as recently as last December. She grew up in Kuala Lumpur, and she returned home to be with her family when it was clear that her cancer was incurable.

>145 Chatterbox: Great comments, Suz. In the case of our dearest friends, the intensity and frequency of the contacts can vary, as you said, but that doesn't necessarily make the friendship any less important. Earlier this month when I visited my parents one of my closest high school friends, whose family lived across the street from ours, came over twice, as I may have mentioned previously. I hadn't seen Cheryl in at least 20 years, but we picked up where we left off with the same intensity, reminisced about old times, and vowed to stay in much closer touch from now on. I suspect the same will hold true with Dave, my best friend.

Atlanta is a very transient city, with lots of transplants and people from all over the country, and the world, which makes it more difficult to feel connected to the city and the people who live here. Although I only lived in Pittsburgh for four years, compared to the nearly 19 that I've lived here, I have much more fondness for the 'Burgh than the ATL, as I felt like part of a community, both at Pitt, in my building and neighborhood, and in the city, due to the civic pride that Pittsburghers had for the area. I feel no such pride about Atlanta, and when people ask me where I'm from I say that I live and work in Atlanta, but that I'm originally from the Northeast. Atlanta has never been, and never will be, home for me, and I wouldn't ever consider living here, or anywhere in the Deep South, after I hang up my stethoscope and decide to retire.

H. seems to be handling things as well as could be expected in these early days, but she has a hard road ahead of her, and, as I mentioned, the statistical odds are not in her favor at the present time. I remain optimistic that her personal strength, faith in God, and strong support from friends and family will guide her to a complete recovery from this awful disease.

I don't have a healthcare proxy yet, but I use my father as my emergency contact when I travel abroad, as he is fully competent and Internet literate, and unlike my brother he has a valid US passport and could travel to whereever I am in the case of a dire emergency.

>147 ronincats: Thanks for those articles, Roni! I'll look at them next week.

>148 jessibud2: Same here, Shelley.

>149 Chatterbox: Ha! I have a sizable Kindle library, but I'm sure that yours far outweighs mine, Suz.

Wow...it's nearly 10:30 pm. I think I'll read for a bit, and call it a night in the next hour or so.

Happy Sunday, Darryl. I followed the discussions about friendships. Of cause it's easier to have friends in RL because you can see each other frequently but there are also good friends I'm only able to comunicate by various platforms due to long distance.

Good morning, everyone! I feel much more refreshed after a good night's sleep, and I'll head out shortly to make my usual run to pick up groceries and bagels. There is a new recipe I found that I'm very eager to try, Peruvian Seafood Stew with Cilantro Broth, which looks absolutely divine:



>154 Ameise1: Thanks, Barbara; happy Sunday to you, too!

Good point. For me, though, my closest real life friends (the ones who I see the most) live a considerable distance away (at least a half day's drive or a flight of at least two hours), so much of my communication with them is online.

Hmm. I just thought of something. Given the massive size of the US compared to countries in Europe, and the tendency of Americans to migrate to different cities for work, is it harder for Americans to maintain real life friendships, or at least see their friends as often, than Europeans? It would be far easier to see friends if I was Dutch, for example, since practically everyone in that country lives no more than two hours from each other.

Morning Darryl! Happy Sunday! Glad you are well rested and feeling better. I hope a Meet-Up can happen, later in July. Fingers crossed.

Funny, I had two separate dreams last night, where an LT pal, made an appearance. Pretty special, huh?

We are having a beautiful weekend here in Chicagoland...finally.

^Ooh, the stew looks yummy.

I'm very lucky that I have a number of long-term friends who live in London, and I am likely to see at least one of them most weeks, but most of us live at the furthest reaches of the city, so tend to meet in the centre for lunch or supper.

Other friends are scattered around the country, or abroad. I value long-term online friends as much as my RL friendships. I've had some for up to ten years, and some who I first met online, but subsequently met in real life, for longer. Although there is still an element of making similar kinds of friends online, it does give a more international opportunity to ones circle, you meet people you probably would not meet otherwise via the Internet which has become a great pleasure.

That said, there have been a couple of online friendships that didn't work out. But that happens in real life too.

Glad you are feeling better today Darryl.

I have to own myself having the odd weekend where more sleep is required, but with a weekday three hour commute, I think that is reasonable.

>156 msf59: Happy Sunday, Mark! Thanks; I'm feeling at least 95% back to normal, and I'm glad that I was able to rest and catch up on sleep the past two days. Today will not be a PJ day!

I'll definitely be in Chicago in late July; it's just a matter of what the conference schedule is, the plans my partners and I make, and if I have any extra days before or after the conference. I'll keep you and Joe posted as the details emergence, and once my group's July and August schedules are published.

Interesting that you dreamt about LTers, not once but twice. I don't recall having any dreams in which LTers appeared, but I could be wrong. The dream I had was a pretty ordinary one, in which an ex-GF and I attended a classical music performance in a massive concert hall.

I'm glad that you're having a gorgeous weekend in Chicagoland. The weather is already nice here in Atlanta, as I've already gone to Publix and Einstein Bros., my usual Sunday routine. We'll hit 78 F today (25 C), and the next two days should be nice ones as well.

I agree, the Peruvian seafood stew does look amazing. It caught my eye immediately, due to its fabulous colors and enticing ingredients. I bought a package of frozen Patagonia scallops at Publix today, and I have a package of frozen mixed seafood (calamari, mussels, octopus and shrimp) in my freezer, so I'll get started on it later this morning, after I finish reading the Sunday NYT and AJC (Atlanta Journal-Constitution).

I'll post a photo of the stew I make as soon as it's done.

>157 Caroline_McElwee: Hi, Caroline! One major reason why I don't meet up with Atlanta area friends more often is the substandard public transportation in the metro area, which requires practically everyone to drive on horribly congested roads to get anywhere on most mornings and evenings. I had proposed a dinner date for my work group, and several people passed on going for that reason. I'm fortunate in that I can take one of the metro lines to and from work, which is a journey of three stops that takes less than 15 minutes on the train, and 25-30 minutes from my front door to the entrance of the hospital. I can drive that distance (11 miles) in 20-25 minutes most mornings, but if I leave at the height of rush hour the trip can take 45 minutes to an hour or more, especially on Fridays in the late spring and summer.

I'd have to say that the friends I've met in person are more important to me than those I've only met online, especially if (like you and the other London area LTers) I've met them multiple times in person and shared meaningful events with them (dinners, plays, museum visits, day trips...and picnics in gardens!). Those shared experiences can't be duplicated online, and they provide further cement to the strength of these friendships IMO.

As I get older I find it tougher to bounce back from long work stretches, as I had the past two weeks, especially when I have a mixture of day and night shifts. The past two nights were the first ones in nearly two weeks that I had adequate sleep, and I imagine that I'll feel even better after I get some afternoon naps in next week.

I can sympathize with your three hour commute. Before I went to medical school I moved back in with my parents, who live in suburban Philadelphia, to save money, and I commuted about 70 miles to and from my job as a lab technician at NYU Medical Center in Manhattan every day, which took at least 1-1/2 hours each way. I was much younger then, though; that trip would be far more exhausting now.

The Peruvian Seafood Stew with Cilantro Broth is ready!



Here's the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:
2 Tablespoons oil
1 yellow or white onion- diced
1 fresh green ancho chili - chopped
1 green bell pepper - chopped (optional)
6 cloves garlic - rough chopped
1 Tablespoon coriander
2 teaspoons cumin
4 cups chicken broth or stock
3 cups water - divided
4 cups small diced potatoes
2 cup diced carrots
2 whole bunches cilantro, including small stems
2 lbs seafood, mixed -shrimp, scallops, mussels, fish, (or sub cooked chicken, or chickpeas)
½ teaspoon- ¾ teaspoon salt
cracked pepper
2 limes
cilantro and sour cream for garnish
crusty bread for dipping

INSTRUCTIONS;
Heat oil in a large heavy bottom pot, over medium high heat.
Add onion, and saute for two minutes, stirring often.
Add ancho chili and bell pepper. Turn heat to medium and saute until tender about 10 minutes, stirring often.
Add garlic and spices and cook for two minutes or until fragrant.
Scrape this all into a blender and set aside.
In the same pot, add 4 cups chicken broth or stock, plus 1 cup water.
Bring to a boil.
Add the small diced potatoes and carrots and simmer over medium heat until just tender, about 10 minutes.
In the meantime, add two whole bunches of cilantro to the blender, stems and all. I usually cut or twist off 1-2 inches off the stems, leaving the rest.
Add 2 cups lukewarm water to the blender. Bend everything until VERY smooth, at least 45 seconds.
Do not add this yet, just have it ready.
Once the potatoes and carrots are tender, add the seafood and simmer until desired doneness, or about 3-5 minutes.
When seafood is cooked, stir in cilantro mixture from the blender.
Heat, but do not boil too long, or you will lose the lovely green color
Squeeze the limes - I used 1½ limes.
Taste, adjust adjust salt.
Serve in bowls with cilantro sprigs, sour cream (optional) and crusty bread

NOTE: Don't boil the cilantro mixture too long or you will lose the pretty green color. In the photos you see me using 2 poblano chilis, and this was quite spicy. The next time I used 1 plus a green bell pepper - spicy, but not overly.
__________________________________

I used 1-1/2 lb of Patagonia scallops and 1 lb of mixed seafood (calamari, mussels, octopus and baby shrimp) from Publix, so my stew is chock full of seafood. Other than that, and using 3 tbsp of lime juice in place of the juice of 1-1/2 limes I followed the recipe to the letter (I used up nearly all of the potatoes in my refrigerator, a mixture of Yukon Gold and purple potatoes). I normally don't use much salt when I cook, but this needed a bit more than the recipe called for to bring out the flavors. This recipe makes nearly a full pot of stew, and it should provide 6-8 healthy servings. This tastes as good as it looks, and I've added this to my list of favorite recipes.

While I was at home I cooked my mother some of her favorite casseroles so that I could freeze the leftovers for her, but I cooked a fantastic spinach soup that smelled good cooking, had a bright green color that looked great in the bowl and tasted wonderful. Spring is the season that people in Kansas grow spinach so this was fresh - straight from the garden. My mother ate two bowls of it. The stew recipe reminded me of that soup.

>161 benitastrnad: Yum! Do you have a recipe for this soup, Benita?

Re distances and friendships -- I think it all boils down to willingness to make the effort. If you aren't willing to block off the time, going from Brooklyn into Manhattan came seem to feel like as much of an effort as traveling from here in the Northeast to Miami or Denver. That said, if the only reason I was going to Colorado was to see a single friend who lived in Boulder (a dear friend and former WSJ colleague, who I was fortunate enough to reunite with after she ran in the Boston marathon last month), then yeah, I wouldn't (and didn't) do that. Sadly... The more reasons there are to go somewhere, and the more compelling those reasons are, the more the balance tips in favor of making the effort, even if it's an hour-long train or subway trip. Ironically, though, even when you're living in the same very large city, it can get easy to postpone meeting up, because the logistics seem so overwhelming, and oh well, there will always be another opportunity, won't there? London is like that. (Paris, not so much; it's a very compact city.) That said it's not cheap to travel on the TGV from one major European city to another, either.

#162
I have a copy of it and will get it out and post it for you. It was a good one and smelled great while cooking. Be warned - it has butter in it.

Sadly I am not one to eat seafood or fish ( shrinks away in fear) . Other than the seafood your soup looks delicious! :) Perhaps if I subbed in chicken as I see that is a possibility. My husband and his family all love seafood - but I take along a sandwich for the lobster fests, mussel eating etc. A bit of shame since we live about a mile from the fishing docks in the area :) I will eat salmon occasionally - but not farmed salmon , and maybe once a year we indulge in halibut fish and chips .

I still have plenty of cilantro mushroom sauce and pickled tomato salsa left over in my refrigerator from last month, so I cooked chicken thighs and rice and had Pollo Ciudad with Pickled Tomato Salsa for dinner. Mmm...

>163 Chatterbox: I agree that willingness has a lot to do with the desire of friends to meet up on a regular basis. To be fair to the members of my work group, several of my partners are mothers who have young children, and it is very difficult for them to attend dinner dates as compared to those of us who don't have children or whose children are old enough to take care of themselves, in college, or no longer living at home. It's also one thing to be able to take public transit to a meet up, and another to have to drive through hideous traffic to get there, particularly after a long work day or on a weekend when one is trying to recuperate from a brutal work week. I didn't go to my group's Christmas party, which took place in Alpharetta on a Sunday night, which is about 25 miles north of Midtown Atlanta, as I had to go to work early the following day, and dislike driving for long distances at night.

I absolutely agree with your point that it's easier to pass on meet up with local friends than with those who are visiting from out of town (or, in my case when I visit London, out of country). If you live in a large metropolitan area the area in which you live is also important. It's far easier for Bianca and Claire to meet up, since they both live in South London, but considerably more difficult to meet others who live considerably north of the Thames, especially if they are outside of the city (e.g., Fliss, Rachael, Rhian and Margaret), and the same holds true for Fliss and Rachael, who both live in Cambridge not far from each other. Large group meet ups are far more likely when a visitor comes to town, such as when Laura visited London two years ago and at least a dozen Viragoites traveled to London to see her. (Thanks again to Luci for inviting me, as I wouldn't have met Caroline or Claire otherwise.)

I've only ridden a TGV train once, on a very short (15 minute) journey from Figueres to Girona last year, but I'm much more aware of the significant cost of National Rail services in the UK, and Renfe trains in Spain. The NS trains in the Netherlands seem to be considerably less expensive in comparison.

>164 benitastrnad: TYIA, Benita. Actually it may make more sense to post your recipe to The Kitchen; I'll post the Peruvian seafood stew recipe there shortly.

>165 vancouverdeb: Sadly I am not one to eat seafood or fish

What?!? You live in Vancouver and you don't like seafood, Deb??? I'm coming, Elizabeth!!!



I would appreciate it if you would send the seafood you're allotted but don't eat to me. I can happily eat fish, shellfish, squid, octopi, eels, turtles, sea urchins and practically anything else that lives in the sea until they are coming out of my ears.

Ha, speaking of Atlanta traffic, the last time I was there, we were stuck in a traffic jam for so long that I ended up so desperate for for a bathroom I thought I was literally going to end up having an accident. I ended up just literally blanking everything from my mind for the final 20 minutes it took until we could get off the damn highway and find a Target. (yes, a Target... lol.) I think we had been driving in from Ball Ground, past Canton -- halfway to Tennessee, basically. On a Friday night. And then getting stuck on 285, that was the last straw. Three hours, maybe??

>167 Chatterbox: Yep. A Friday night on I-285 is an invitation to disaster. Three hours isn't unusual at all!

>168 kidzdoc: Yeah, well, don't have to do that again... :-/

>169 Chatterbox: Count your blessings!

Hope you had a great weekend Darryl! And happy new week!

Morning, Darryl!

>171 The_Hibernator: Thanks, Rachel! I hope that you have a great week as well. I'm off from work for at least today and tomorrow, and I'll go to LensCrafters for my annual eye exam at noon.

>172 scaifea: Good morning, Amber! No seafood stew for you, right?

>173 kidzdoc: Darryl: Yeah, no. I do like a good crabcake every now and again, and smoked salmon is lovely, but that's about the extent of my seafood palate, I'm afraid.

Waving Hello - I'm glad to see you posting your cooking adventures again. The Peruvian Seafood Stew looks really fresh and inviting.

>174 scaifea: I can't say that I'm surprised, Amber! I knew that the stew was a deal breaker because it's loaded with cilantro, and I suspected that much of that seafood wouldn't be to your liking.

I suspect that people who grew up close to the sea are far more likely to be fond of seafood than those who didn't, especially if they were introduced to it at a young age. My father was an avid fisherman when he was younger, along with one of his brothers, and both were members of a fishing club that had regular outings. My parents often took my brother and I fishing on Long Island or the Jersey Shore when we were young kids, and my uncle, aunt and their three sons frequently joined us, since they also lived in Jersey City. We would frequently get up early, catch fish shortly after sunrise, and my mother and her sister would cook them on a portable Hibachi and serve us fish and grits for breakfast, which was fabulous. My father isn't fond of shellfish, but my brother and I love it, in all forms.

On the other hand I'm not all that fond of beef, and I essentially never eat steak, save for once or twice a year when I have it in a fajita or a burrito. I wouldn't have a problem giving up beef, especially if I could have lamb in its place, and although I like lamb and pork I don't think it would be a huge hardship to give up red meat entirely. I doubt I could ever become a true vegetarian, as it would be tough to give up chicken and seafood.

>175 streamsong: Thanks, Janet. The Peruvian seafood stew was superb, although I was unable to purée the cilantro sauce as finely as the author of this recipe did, so it doesn't look quite as appealing. I did get seven full sized servings out of it, so the effort to make it was worth it.

Today I'll try a new recipe, based on the chicken gnocchi soup that is sold at Olive Garden. I'll post it here when it's finished.

>176 kidzdoc: Yeah, I don't know about that theory, Darryl, at least in my case; I grew up with parents who planted a HUGE garden every year and I still can't abide raw tomatoes, fresh green beans (the fuzz! so gross!) and the like. Just stubborn, I suppose... Ha!

>177 scaifea: I'm not a fan of green beans (I'll eat them if I have to, but I'd much rather have asparagus or nearly any other green vegetable), but freshly picked tomatoes, raw or cooked, are divine! My parents have had a vegetable garden ever since they moved to their current home 40 years ago, and they are usually up to their ears in tomatoes. One of our favorite summer sandwiches was sliced raw tomatoes on hearty Italian or hoagie rolls, sprinkled with salt, pepper and thyme, with mayonnaise and mustard spread lightly on the bread. Mmm...

Happy Monday, Darryl! Glad the seafood stew was excellent. I want some! Wah!!

I am big fan of asparagus too and I think the dear wife just picked up some...

>179 msf59: Happy Monday, Mark! I wish that we lived closer, as I have six Tupperware containers filled with seafood stew in my freezer and would happily give one of them to you.

Asparagus is superb if it's fresh and cooked well. I may pick up some later today.

Do you cook?

Fish and grits for breakfast? Wow. I'd be lining up for that. I like fish (and all seafood bar scallops) but the freshly caught stuff I've had at restaurants on the coast always seems like completely different food.

Your soup looks wonderful.

>181 charl08: I love grits, as long as the person cooking them knows how to make them properly, and doesn't put any weird things in them, like sugar, honey or anything else sweet. Southerners make grits well, for the most part, but the varieties made in other parts of the US can be dismal at best, or inedible at worst.

Scallops are the food of the gods, so sweet and tender! I intentionally overloaded my seafood stew with them.

ETA: Hmm...I haven't made any garlic cheddar cheese grits with shrimp for a long while.

grilled asparagus...one of life's great treats!!!

>183 RebaRelishesReading: Absolutely!

>176 kidzdoc: My husband and I both grew up in California near water (me, the ocean, him, the delta) and he is not a fan of fish at all. He's always liked calamari, and he'll eat sushi now, but a plate of cooked fish is really not something he would ever voluntarily eat. It's weird. I don't remember my parents cooking fish at all (fish sticks don't count, obviously), but I like it anyway.

But I really don't like seafood in broth. I guess it's just a holdover from my long-term dislike overall of soups that are both thin and chunky. I like creamy, I like hearty with pieces of things, but I don't like drinkable + big hunks of things. I have mostly gotten past it, but something about the texture of seafood makes it particularly unattractive to me in that format.

Somewhere I have a recipe for asparagus guacamole. Less fatty than the avocado variety (and I can't eat much avocado, anyway -- migraine trigger.)

The only thing on this whole page I don't like to eat is cilantro (provided nobody mentioned beef liver---I didn't see it if they did). I weep for people who don't like, or can't eat, seafood. Gifts from the sea gods, all of it. I have some preferences when it comes to food, but very few absolutes. As my mother says, ruefully, "My problem is I like EVERYTHING!".

>185 ursula: Interesting, Ursula. I wouldn't expect that everyone who lives near the sea would necessarily like all forms of seafood. My father loves fish, but he won't order or consume shellfish if there are other options available (he ate the chicken & shrimp jambalaya I cooked earlier this month, but he did say that he preferred to have Andouille sausage in place of shrimp). And, yes, fish sticks don't count as fish!

I don't have any particular preference for thin vs thick soups or stews, and I like seafood in them, going back to the time my great aunt made seafood gumbo for us when she came up from New Orleans and visited us in New Jersey.

The one texture and taste I don't like is overcooked, mushy vegetables (especially carrots and string beans), in soups, stews, or by themselves on a plate. I shy away from frozen mixed vegetables or traditional vegetable soups, although I can eat them if I have no other choice. Most canned vegetables, particularly mushrooms, peas, and string beans, but not tomatoes, are disgusting.

>186 Chatterbox: Huh. I've never heard of asparagus guacamole, Suz! I love avocado, so I seriously doubt I would ever make guacamole with asparagus.

>187 laytonwoman3rd: I'm pretty sure that no one in their right mind has mentioned beef liver, Linda. Actually I will eat it on New York style deli sandwiches, preferably combined with pastrami or corned beef on rye or pumpernickel bread, but not a traditional chopped liver and onion sandwich. It's probably quite obvious from my recipes that I love cilantro.

A hearty "aye, mate" to your proclamation about seafood!

There are very few foods that I'll reject out of hand. Only three come to mind: broccoli, as I don't digest the raw version well and don't like the taste of it cooked (although I'll happily eat broccolini or cauliflower), and turnips and mirliton, whose taste I find revolting.

My problem, which may be the same as yours, is that I often have trouble choosing between entrées and side dishes when I go out to eat, especially if I don't have particular foods in mind.

>188 kidzdoc: "traditional chopped liver and onion sandwich" In my mind that is made with chicken livers, and that I do like, although only in small, finger-food size portions. I know there is a beef liver version, but I try not to think about it.

>185 ursula: You described my feelings towards soup perfectly, Ursula. >187An boy do I agree with you, Linda, about cilantro. Why would anyone want to eat something that tastes like soap? >188 kidzdoc: never heard of mirliton -- must go look that up

Ah, Chayote, I've seen it in the store but never tasted it.

In the past I loved, loved cioppino and have eaten versions of it everywhere. However, the last two times I have eaten it, I have become violently ill about 4 hours after eating it. The first time I thought there was something wrong with the stew and that it had just gone "off" as they say. The second time, I knew better as the second incident behaved exactly like the first. I am fairly sure that I have developed some kind of allergy to something in the stew and suspect that it is either the calamari or the mussels. This is unfortunate because I love both of those types of seafood.

I try not to eat fish or seafood of any kind unless I am sure that it is sustainably obtained and not farm raised. For that reason I abstain from eating most shrimp in restaurants and often don't eat the fish if they can't tell me its origin. I am a big believer in quotes on fishing and while I am not loud about my beliefs, I do try to make my views known when I eat in a restaurant. For that reason I don't eat much at Red Lobster, Captain D's, or Long John Silvers.

Just stopping by to say hello, buddy. That Peruvian Seafood Stew with Cilantro Broth sure looks good.

>189 laytonwoman3rd: I looked up recipes for traditional Jewish chopped liver and onions, and you're right, Linda; they are made with chicken livers, and not ones from cattle, as I would have thought. Well, I've eaten that, along with haggis (which contains sheep liver, among other ingredients) last June in Edinburgh, and my mother used to cook beef liver many years ago, so I don't suppose I can turn up my nose at any form of that organ.

>190 RebaRelishesReading: I've heard some people mention that cilantro tastes like soap, Reba. Needless to say I'm not one of them. To me it has a splendid citrusy flavor.

>191 RebaRelishesReading: Mirliton is one of the staple foods of Louisiana Creole cuisine, and I've only had it two or three times when I lived and went to school in New Orleans. One year I made the mistake of going to the house of a friend of one of my great aunts for Thanksgiving dinner, instead of dining with her sister, my other great aunt, who was unquestionably the best cook in our entire family (and the one who made the seafood gumbo I mentioned earlier). The woman whose house we ate at was quite mean to me and my cousins (my aunt's sons), and it was clear that we weren't welcome there. She served us what was easily the most scant and worst Thanksgiving meal I had ever had, and we were given mirliton instead of turkey. I took a few bites of it, nearly gagged, snidely thanked her for the "meal", and rode one or two buses to my other great aunt's house, and had a fabulous meal with her, her daughter and her granddaughters instead. So, not only do I dislike the taste of mirliton, it also brings out a bad memory from 30+ years ago.

>192 benitastrnad: I looked up "cioppino", as I had never heard of it before. Apparently it's a Italian fish stew that originated in San Francisco. Shockingly, despite at least 20 visits to San Francisco in the past 20 years, including regular visits to North Beach, the city's traditional Italian neighborhood, I've never had it, or even heard of it! I'll certainly look for it the next time I go there.

On several occasions I have had violent intestinal reactions shortly after eating calamari, most notably twice at a Japanese restaurant in Buckhead in the company of a good friend of mine. The first time it only happened to me, but the second time it happened to both of us, at practically the exact same time. I love calamari, and most times I can eat it with no problem, as I did when I made the Peruvian seafood stew on Sunday, but that same reaction, though not as severe, has happened on at least one or two other occasions. I should investigate this further.

I don't eat much at Red Lobster, Captain D's, or Long John Silvers

Oof. It's been many years since I've eaten at any of those places, and I would have to be completely starved to go to any of them now, especially the latter two, um, establishments.

I tried a new recipe for lunch today, a copycat version of the chicken gnocchi soup that is served at Olive Garden (for those of you not in the US this is a popular Italian restaurant chain that is located in numerous suburbs here). As I mentioned on my Facebook page I haven't dined at Olive Garden in roughly 25 years, but I found this as I was looking for recipes that contain gnocchi this weekend, as I have four packages of potato gnocchi in one of my kitchen cupboards. This recipe sounded good, and the end product didn't disappoint.



Here's the recipe, from the web site Dessert Now, Dinner Later:

Ingredients:

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into cubes
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 Tbsp butter
1 medium onion, diced
1 cup celery, diced
1 tsp minced garlic
1 cup carrots, shredded
3 Tbsp flour
1 quart Fat Free Half & Half
1 (14 oz) can low sodium chicken broth
1 cup fresh spinach, chiffonade (finely sliced)
¾ tsp dried thyme
salt & pepper to taste
1 (16 oz) package Gnocchi

Instructions:

In a large stock pot heat olive oil & saute chicken breasts. Season with a little salt & pepper. Cook until mostly done (very little pink showing.)

Add butter until melted & then add the onion, celery, garlic & shredded carrots. Cook until onion is translucent. Add flour to absorb the liquid from the butter which will form a roux. Stir well.

Add the half & half and chicken broth. Stir until it comes to a boil. Allow to simmer while you cook the gnocchi in another pot of boiling water until dumplings float (3 minutes.) Drain & set aside. (*You could possibly just add the gnocchi to the pot of soup, but it might thicken the soup too much & be slightly starchy.)

Add spinach, thyme & cooked gnocchi to the pot of soup. Taste & adjust seasoning with salt & pepper. Serve hot.

*If the soup is not thick enough, add 1-2 Tbsp cornstarch mixed with just enough COLD water to stir it smooth. Add to the HOT soup & wait for it to boil to thicken up.
____________________________________________________________

I bought a package of three chicken breasts, so I used all of them in this soup. Otherwise I followed it exactly, using a 16 oz package of Gia Russa potato gnocchi. I did add red pepper flakes to the bowl of soup I had for lunch, to give it an extra kick. I was very pleased with this soup, and although I divided it into five Tupperware containers, not counting the bowl I had, I should probably have put less soup into at least two other containers, as it is a very rich and filling one course meal.

>193 jnwelch: Thanks, Joe! Sorry I missed you earlier. The Peruvian seafood stew tastes great, and I'll certainly make it again, though not for a while, as I have six containers of it in my freezer.

Back to >192 benitastrnad: I plan to cook more seafood, especially fish, in the near future, and I'll probably buy it from Whole Foods preferentially. I may visit my local store in Midtown later this week, especially if I'm not called in to work any of the next three days.

Hi, Darryl! You asked up there, if I cook. Yes and no. I can make basic dinners just fine and since I eat, mainly a meat and veggies, it works just fine. I don't seem to have the patience or the attention span, to do any "real" cooking. I leave that to my wife, who is a terrific cook. Actually my son is pretty adventurous too.

>194 kidzdoc: What a sad Thanksgiving! No wonder you don't like it. But hooray for the other great-aunt.

Mmm, chopped chicken livers. My mom used to make that, served with fresh red onion, and water crackers. Delish!

#199
We ate a variation of that same dish in our home when I was growing up.

>195 kidzdoc: Okay, yum!!! I have added that to my online recipe box at onetsp.com, duly noting that Darryl was the inspiration! Thanks.

Oh, Long John Silver's. I love and demonstrably don't love that place. For, well, reasons.

I've never been to a Red Lobster, but I enjoyed reading about one in Stewart O'Nan's Last Night at the Lobster.

The only reason to go to a Red Lobster is for the cheddar bay biscuits :)

Joe - when my book club read Last Night at the Lobster we had our meeting at one. We were trying to explain to the waitress what the book was about, but I think she thought we were a little crazy, as in "Who would want to read that?"

>204 katiekrug: Ha! She's living it.

It is impressive how involved O'Nan gets the reader.

there is also a vary nice vegetarian " chopped liver"- made with nuts I think- I have had it and it really has a " sense of chopped liver" favour- I don't have a recipe but will ask my brother in Toronto( a very good cook!)

>204 katiekrug: Amen to those biscuits!!

>199 katiekrug: The version my mother used to make had caramelized onions chopped and mixed in, and quite a lot of butter (the traditional kosher recipe would have called for schmaltz, which is rendered chicken fat, of course)...absolutely magical. I wonder if I have that recipe anywhere...

>160 kidzdoc: That seafood stew does look good, Darryl. I do love seafood so appreciate the variety that is available in Vancouver. But strangely, I do know other people who live here that don't like seafood.

I did have to work as the backup doctor Wed, Thu and Fri, and I'm on call this weekend through Tue. We are unbelievably busy for this time of year, so I'll check in when I can, although it's possible that might not happen until Wednesday, when I leave for Amsterdam.

Have a great Memorial Day weekend, everyone!

Awe, Darryl! Such a bummer to be sooo busy right before you head out on vacation! At least there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Have a wonderful trip!

I hope your weekend isn't too busy, Darryl...

Hi Darryl, I'd been asking around about Pat this past week as she's been much on my mind, and Mark mentioned to me you had been talking about her on your thread. I had direct dealings with Pat when she commissioned me to do a portrait of her beloved dog Rocky a couple of years ago, and so have her email and personal addresses. She's been on my mind often these past few months, as she is (mentioning her in present tense, hoping she is still with us) one of my biggest supporters when it comes to my artwork, and I couldn't help but notice that she never 'liked' anything I posted on FB for a very long time. When I checked her FB account a couple of days ago, I found it had been deleted. I'm very very hesitant about trying to write directly to her, or at her home address, as have no idea what one can say in such an instance without being painfully awkward, but I think many of us would rest easier knowing what has become of her one way or another. If anyone would like to ghostwrite a message that I can send her way, I'd be happy to do so.

>176 kidzdoc: I love seafood too- preferably in a coconut emulsion and loaded with cilantro (although, I would call it corriander). My dad makes a fabulous meal of just that, he got the recipe off the chef when he tried it at a place he was staying (sly dog!!).

My tastes were never geared towards seafood, but when i found out that it can be cooked well (ie quickly), i gphave grown to love it! I love prawns, scallops or any fleshy flaky white fish.

>214 Smiler69: I would suspect that the closing of the Facebook account, in combination with what Darryl has already discovered, might be a definitive sign.

>210 kidzdoc: I'll be looking forward to your travellers tales Darryl.

Only one more day to go before the big trip. Like others here, I look forward to hearing about your adventures.

Hi, Darryl! Just stopping by to catch up. So sorry to read about H and Pat.

One of my co-workers was blindsided by a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer earlier this year. She had chemo, recent surgery, and has much more chemo ahead. Her doctors are hopeful, as they caught it early. In her case, it appeared in just the right spot to create symptoms early -- though nobody expected to find cancer when they started doing tests. The surgeon who did her operation is a recognized expert in that particular cancer, so she is getting good care.

We had a friend from church who managed to battle pancreatic cancer more or less successfully -- again, caught early -- experience remission and recurrence and remission again, and live for years, eventually dying of something else. (She was older and had other health issues.) So there is hope.

I see you are traveling again. Safe travels!

Woo! My work stretch is over! I postponed my departure date until Thursday, as there is no way that I would have been ready to leave by tomorrow afternoon. It's nearly 11 pm here, so I'll catch up either tomorrow or Thursday.

Safe travels!

Woo! It's time to blow this joint. My flight to Amsterdam leaves in six hours, and it will arrive there a little before 6 am CEST (Central European Summer Time) on Friday, or just before midnight Eastern Standard Time (EST) in the US (also known as LT Time), as there is a six hour difference between CEST and EST.

I have plenty of books on my Kindle, so I'll probably only bring two books with me:

My Struggle: Book Two by Karl Ove Knaussgard (currently reading)
The Last Days of the Spanish Republic by Paul Preston

Claire and her sister Karen arrived in Amsterdam yesterday, and I'll meet up with them after I check in and take a nap on Friday. There is a large LT meet up planned for Leiden on Saturday; Claire, Karen & I will likely visit Utrecht on Sunday; the three of us will meet Anita and her husband Frank in Rotterdam on Monday; and I'll see Anita & Frank again on the 9th, as we have tickets to see a performance of the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam, and Connie, "Monkey" from Club Read, and her husband in Maastricht on the 11th, before I fly to Barcelona on the 13th.

I think I can purchase a WiFi pass on today's flight. If so I'll catch up here then, otherwise I'll probably do so sometime on Friday.

Safe & smooth travels, Darryl!

Safe and happy travels, Darryl!

>223 FAMeulstee:, >224 scaifea: What they said!!

Sounds wonderful Darryl. Looking forward to hearing about the trip and seeing all the photos.

Have a great time, Darryl! Looking forward to tales of your adventures.

Have a great trip, Darryl!

Happy travels, Darryl. Give my love to Utrecht :)

Bon voyage

I hope everything moves smoothly, Darryl. Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow in Leiden

Safe travels, Darryl! Have another wonderful trip. Keep us updated.

Good afternoon, everyone! The flight landed in Amsterdam on time, just before 6 am CEST, which is six hours ahead of EST. It was such an early flight that most passengers didn't sleep, and since I had an aisle seat near the restrooms I hardly slept either. I've mostly been sleeping this morning and afternoon, and I'll meet up with Claire and her sister for dinner shortly. So, I'll start catching up here in the mean time.

I'll start a new thread at some point this weekend, depending on the timing of my meet ups with LTers over the next few days.

I did bring one other book with me, Roads to Santiago by Cees Nooteboom, as he is a Dutch author and the book is a travelogue about his journeys through Spain, including stops in Barcelona, Sevilla, Granada and Girona.

May was the worst reading month for me in at least a decade. I only managed to read two books, and both of them were marginal in their length. I should be able to do much better this month, though.

>197 msf59: Good to hear that you can fend for yourself in the kitchen, Mark. Everyone should be able to at least make a meal for himself, IMO. Even better that your son is taking up cooking.

>198 RebaRelishesReading: Yes, my great aunt Ella, as always, came through with an outstanding meal.

>199 katiekrug:. >200 benitastrnad: That sounds good. We had it in Jewish restaurants and delis in NYC, but I highly doubt that I've ever had it at my home or anyone else's.

>201 Berly: You're welcome, Kim. I like the chicken gnocchi soup about as much as the Zuppa Toscana, so I'll add it to my roster of regular dishes to make.

>202 scaifea: I ate at Long John Silver's in high school and in my early twenties, and I tried it, once, in Atlanta at least 15 years ago. I doubt you could get me to go there now unless there were no other options and I was completely starved.

Oops, just saw an e-mail from Claire about dinner. I'll check back in later.

>234 kidzdoc: Welcome to the Netherlands, Darryl.
See you tomorrow.

Glad you arrived safely Darryl. Have a lovely meal this evening.

Glad to see that you've arrived safely!

On LJS: You know, they don't use cilantro, and that's Criteria #1 for a good dining establishment...

The Leiden group meet up was another great one, with seven LTers and one guest in attendance. It's after midnight in Amsterdam, so for now I'll just post two group photos for now. The first one was taken at the Pieterskerkcafé (St. Peter's Church Café):



Front: Karen (Claire's sister), me (@kidzdoc), Esther (@Wester).
Rear: Jacqueline (@zjakkelien), Sanne (@Ennas), Claire (@Sakerfalcon), Connie (@connie53), Mark (@thorold).

The three Green Dragon members (Jacqueline, Claire and Sanne) who remained toward the end of our day posed for this appropriate photo:



Tomorrow Claire, Karen and I will spend the day in Utrecht, and on Monday we'll travel to Rotterdam to meet Anita (@FAMeulstee) and her husband Frank.

I took nearly 150 photos in Leiden today, which I posted to Facebook earlier. I'll post some of them on my new thread tomorrow or early next week.

Great pics!

Sounds like a fabulous start to your trip, Darryl. Great pics!

Happy travels, Darryl. Thanks for sharing the pictures.

I love seafood and cilantro and will definitely try your stew!

Wow, that Peruvian cilantro soup looks great. Will check with my husband if he could eat something so green.

Enjoy your trip, sounds like your time will be busy with meetups and sightseeing.

Great pics Darryl! Glad you are having a good trip!

Great to see you so happily outnumbered in Leiden by the LT ladies, Darryl. I look forward to wallowing in your photos.

Good morning, everyone! Claire, Karen and I have had a fabulous time the past three days, with visits to Leiden on Saturday, Utrecht on Sunday, and Rotterdam yesterday. I've created several photo albums on Facebook, and I'll post some of the pictures in a new thread that I'll create tonight or sometime tomorrow. Unfortunately Claire and Karen will fly back to London tonight, but we'll spend a few hours together here in Amsterdam before they leave. I'll meet them in less than an hour, so I'll return here later today.

Give them my love, Darryl and a safe journey!

Claire, Karen and I had a lovely last day together, which we spent walking through the Oud-West and De Pijp neighborhoods in Amsterdam, including walks through Vondelpark, Sarapathipark and the Museumplein. They are on their way to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, to catch an evening flight back to London, so I'll mainly be by myself from now until I leave for Barcelona on Monday morning, although I'll see Anita & Frank again on Thursday, and travel to Maastricht on Saturday to see Connie, Monkey from Club Read, and her husband.

I'm a bit pooped after a day spent walking in the relative heat of Amsterdam (25-26 C), and feeling sleepy and a bit full after a substantial Surinamese lunch, so I'll probably turn in early, so that I can get an early start to my day tomorrow. I'll try to catch up here and create a new thread before I nod off, though.

Thanks for posting the pics, Darryl!

How great to be able to share all that with Claire and her sister, among others.

I thought you might be exhausted, Darryl ;-)) After four days of walking around. Relax a bit and spent a lazy day tomorrow. Reading in a park or somewhere in the shade.

*blinks* Ahem. Right. As I was saying, I'll catch up here before I nod off.

No, I wasn't sleeping for the past 2-1/2 hours. I just had my eyes closed for a minute. *yawn*

Whoa. I have a lot of catching up to do...

>203 jnwelch: I've never been to a Red Lobster

You aren't missing anything, sir, save for a severe case of food poisoning.

>204 katiekrug: The only reason to go to a Red Lobster is for the cheddar bay biscuits :)

Well, yes, those biscuits, as I remember, are scrumptious. Just order a half dozen biscuits and nothing else, Joe.

>205 jnwelch: Hmm. I haven't heard of Last Night at the Lobster. Must investigate.

>206 torontoc: I've never heard of "vegetarian chopped liver", Cyrel! I probably won't make it, but I would be interested to find out what's in it.

>251 kidzdoc: Hah! Cheddar bay biscuits. Got it.

Last Night at the Lobster was excellent. The warbling duo of Mamie and Katie can tell you more about Stewart O'Nan.

>207 RebaRelishesReading: Definitely, Reba. I don't remember much about the seafood at Red Lobster (which is probably for the better), but I scarfed up those cheddar biscuits.

>208 laytonwoman3rd: Either way, that chopped liver recipe sounds both authentic and potentially deadly.

>209 Familyhistorian: I do know other people who live here that don't like seafood.

Yep. I'm sure that it wouldn't be too hard to find New Orleanians that don't like gumbo or jambalaya, or Philaelphians who loathe cheese steaks.

>211 Carmenere: I am now completely through that dark tunnel, Lynda! I can't believe how busy we were last month, and many of my partners, colleagues and nurse friends said the same thing. Hopefully things will be much calmer when I return to work on July 4th.

>212 torontoc: Thanks, Cyrel! We packed a lot into the past four days, so it feels as though I've been here a week already.

>213 scaifea: That Memorial Day weekend is long behind me now, Amber, but it was an exceptionally busy one, considering that it's the first weekend of summer in the South, as the grade school and university students are all out of school and should be spending their days at the beach and in the parks instead of cooped up in the hospital with us. I heard more than one person say "WTH is going on?", or some variation of it, that weekend.

>214 Smiler69: I also noticed a few weeks ago that Pat was no longer a friend of mine on Facebook, and I was unable to find her account, leading me to believe that she had unfriended and blocked me (which I thought was unlikely), or her account had been closed. I did a simple Google search using her name and city of residence, and found an obituary from The Idaho Statesman from mid January. Additional searches provided information about a person with that name and town of residence who is/was a lawyer who was originally licensed to practice in New York State, which lines up with the information on her LT and former Facebook pages.

Although I would love nothing more than to be proven wrong, I am also (very sadly) convinced that Pat has died, and I have no desire to pursue this any further, as it feels morbid to do so.

>215 LovingLit: I adore seafood in all forms, Megan! I had an amazing slice of halibut for dinner in Leiden on Saturday, which was the best fish I've had in years. Claire, Karen and I were talking about all the good food we've had in the Netherlands on this trip, and we each mentioned our favorite meal. I chose that one, because of the fish, but I have yet to have a bad or even mediocre meal here.

>216 Chatterbox: I do feel that way, Suz. I certainly wouldn't want to discourage anyone from trying to find out more information about Pat, though.

>217 Caroline_McElwee:, >218 benitastrnad: Will do, Caroline and Benita. There are several hundred photos in several Facebook albums on my timeline, including ones taken today, but there are no descriptions of the meals we ate, and what we did and saw. I'll get to that today and tomorrow.

If anyone wants to see all of the photos feel free to send me a Facebook friend request.

>219 tymfos: I hope that your co-worker makes a full recovery from pancreatic cancer, Terri. I'll have to catch up with H's blog to see how she's doing, She did post a humorous message on her Facebook timeline today, which is encouraging.

>221 banjo123:, >223 FAMeulstee:, >224 scaifea:, >225 laytonwoman3rd:, >226 charl08:, >227 jnwelch:, >228 souloftherose:, >229 RebaRelishesReading:, >230 brenpike: Belated thanks Rhonda, Anita, Amber, Linda, Charlotte, Joe, Heather, Reba and Brenda!

>231 connie53: It was great to see you on Saturday, Connie! I look forward to this coming Saturday, to see you, meet Monkey and visit Maastricht, which Anita highly recommended.

>232 msf59: Thanks, Mark!

>235 connie53: The Netherlands is a most welcoming country, Connie. Claire, Karen and I were commenting this afternoon about how friendly we've found the people to be here, including the ones we pass on sidewalks. These greetings make me feel more comfortable here, and I mentioned to them, Anita and Frank yesterday that I would like to learn at least some basic Dutch, as I intend to visit Amsterdam on a regular basis, God willing.

>236 Caroline_McElwee: We did have a splendid meal on Friday night, at a South Indian restaurant on Overtoom that is a short walk from the hotel. I'll definitely go back there at least once more during this trip, along with the equally superb Thai restaurant that is on the same street and even closer to where I'm staying.

>237 scaifea: On LJS: You know, they don't use cilantro, and that's Criteria #1 for a good dining establishment...

Ha! I knew there was a good reason why I don't dine at Long John Silver's anymore.

I shall be thinking of you when I try raw herring with onions for the first time later this week.

>239 drneutron: We had as much fun as those pictures would suggest, Jim. I enjoyed meeting and spending time with Esther and Mark, and Jacqueline and Senna were very funny, outgoing, and a joy to be around. Jacqueline has the best laugh ever!

I continue to be amazed by the LTers I meet in person. All are lovely people, regardless of what country they live in or the books they like to read, and I feel very fortunate to have met so many of them, and to consider them personal friends.

>240 Familyhistorian: Thanks, Meg! There are many more to come from the past four days and the upcoming three weeks.

>241 BLBera: Thanks Beth; I'm glad that you enjoyed those pictures as well.

I'l be curious to get your take on the Peruvian seafood stew.

>242 avatiakh: Likewise, Kerry. I'd love to hear what you and your husband think of the stew.

Yes, this trip will be filled with sightseeing and time spent in the company of LTers. There are only three days (Wed, Fri and Sun of this week) out of nearly four weeks that I'm not scheduled to be in the company of a member of our merry and very large crew. I'll use those days to explore Amsterdam a bit more, particularly the Old Jewish Quarter and the Jordaan, and visit the museums, especially since I have a museum pass (Museumkaart) that provides free entry for dozens of places here.

>243 The_Hibernator: Thanks, Rachel!

>244 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul! I was happy to be outnumbered during the Leiden meet up, as all of them, men and women, were very pleasurable and friendly.

>247 connie53: Thanks, Connie. I passed on your comments to Claire and Karen, and they were appreciative of your words. The two of them enjoyed meeting you and the other LTers, and visiting Leiden, Utrecht and Rotterdam, and they wished they could have stayed longer and met up with us in Maastricht on Saturday, and attended the performance of the Dutch National Opera that I'll see with Anita and Frank on Thursday.

>249 jnwelch: You're welcome, Joe. I had a great time in the company of Claire and Karen these past five days, and hopefully we'll take other trips together in the future.

>250 connie53: I may do just that, Connie. Vondelpark is a very short distance from this hotel, and had I not taken a long nap earlier I may have gone back there, book in hand. I'll need to find an ATM machine that accepts my credit card, so that I can withdraw some more cash, and I may take the tram to Centraal Station to do that, but otherwise I'll almost certainly stay in Oud-Zuid tomorrow, since the Museumplein is also a short walk from here.

>252 jnwelch: Cool. I'll have to explore Last Night at the Lobster.

It's just past 11 pm here and I'm getting sleepy again, so I'll create a new thread tomorrow.