Kiran...her best junior hi friend...me...and the Booker

 I was going to start this one a few days ago......never got to it.....

Then I was super busy - only here it is a couple of days later and I have absolutely no idea what I was super busy about.

And then I woke up yesterday as the world was circling around.  Praise be the pills I have from a year ago when I wound up in St Johns Hospital with a whole lot more wrong than the world going in circles. Anyway, we already know from experience that my immune system is suspect and that goes along with my screwed up gastro system, not to mention the low pulse rate that seems to be dropping - a bit - again........

But wait - getting older means much more bad news as longevity presents a problem the body never anticipated - living past the time that things wear out.  And that means my 'recognizing' that my eyesight ain't what it once was plus not being satisfied with a 6 January appointment with UCLA for my eyes meant following Katherine to a St John's eye practice where, on Rosh Hashonah morning, an Indian doctor, steeped far more deeply into Judaism than I ever was, added to my woes of older age by informing me that I am now at intermediate stage of macular degeneration.  This is permanent - it ain't gonna go away.  

First thing:   setting an appointment with a retina specialist recommended by my Indian eye doctor.  Then, switching more reading from my Kindle to my Amazon Fire 10" screen and larger font.  Eating more green veggies is going to be part of my life from now on.  But insofar as vaping is concerned, while I will cut down, a bit, it will now stop!  Vaping is deleterious to a vaper but hey, smoking is far worse and I haven't been a smoker for years.  And other than what I've written in this paragraph, it'll simply have to be one day at a time, discovering over time, what I will no longer be able to do that I cherish and take for granted right now.......damn, I love to cycle by the beach!

And in addition..........

In 2006, way back when Booker paid for the trip to the Shanghai Literary Festival for its winner each year, Kiran Desai won for The Inheritance of Loss.  I was seated next to her at the dinner prior to the Festival because the event promotors, clients of mine, wanted to see how I asked her a question'

About a third of the way through the book, Desai wrote of knowing someone who could touch her nose with her tongue.  I can do that, too!   So how did I ask?   I touched my nose with my tongue and asked who she knew........

Desai shrieked 'Oh my god, that's my best friend from junior hi'!!!    And we proceeded to have delightful and very quirky conversation for the rest of the evening.   And until this month, Inheritance of Loss was the most recent book she's written.....until 23 September when 673 page 'The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny' was published - and it is shortlisted for the 2025 Booker.

I started it - and I will plod my way through, knowing that it very well might be the last 'long' book I'll be able to read........more on this topic, later......



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