The week that was

It was an interesting one, and here are some highlights in no particular order:

Scrabble, part 1

The first game Nick and I played on returning from Canada was one of the best, if not the best, we've ever played. Our combined scores were a mere 17 points shy of 800. Nick had one 7-letter (squirms) that earned him 106, and even my two 7's didn't let me prevail. He played a brilliant game. And I promised him I'd blog here about his triumph. Well done, my love.

Scrabble, part 2

The re-match was last night, after I got back from Boston. Nick was winning from the first move and kept up his lead the entire game. He never relaxed (he never does when he's ahead) but as the game neared its close he started to believe the game was his. But I rallied: on my very last turn I did a 7-letter word (insults) which ended the game in a surprise victory for me. Great game, and whew.

Music

Our new season at Carnegie Hall started this week. It's a 3-concert series of string quartets. On Wednesday after a lovely dinner at Rue 57 we attended the first one: the Mendelsson string quartet, which is ending its 30-year run this season. Nick's favorite was the Bartok, mine might have been the Beethoven. Music so beautiful you could week (my eyes filled with tears as soon as the first piece began.) A beautiful evening.

Whitney

Our soldier sounds down. Clearly everything is wearing on her, and she's homesick and worried about her boyfriend, who is off on a mission. She's now a gunner. Liv and I are writing to her often, and we bought her a couple of really cute sweaters from J Crew that we'll send in the next few days. It was Liv's idea to get her cozy sweaters, and it's a great one.

Friends update

Gena and Peter broke up last Sunday, and we've been talking all week. She's heartbroken and I feel so bad for her; she was so happy right up until the end. Sarah and Toby are going to be moving to a house in the next couple of weeks and they're so psyched. It's a big upgrade and we couldn't be more thrilled for them. Hope to see them and the house soon. Tomorrow we have dinner with Lamia and Mirwan -- long delayed and long overdue.

Our weekend

Today we go to the Public Theater for a matinee of one of the parts of the Brothers/Sisters Play, which is supposed to be great. Unusual for us to go in the daytime, but we're really looking forward to it.

House activity

A sudden burst of interest this week. Lots of lookers and all of a sudden, and people seem to really like the house (this time, this week, no guarantees.) We'll see what happens.

Things medical

Based on Marty's advice (my old friend Jeff's partner, who is a doc) I'm going to see a rheumatologist to rule out RA (rheumatoid arthritis.) Just seems to be the responsible thing to do, given the rapidity and severity of my arthritis. Probably isn't RA (I know a few things about it since we work for a pharma company that makes one of the leading RA drugs) but worth looking into. When I called Jose the ortho to ask about this, I had an exchange with the PA about it. She said that if Jose had suspected RA he'd have addressed it. Given the silo'd nature of our medical care I've already learned that docs stay so tightly inside their own specialties that they don't always think beyond what they know and treat. The PA actually sounded annoyed at my question (which annoyed me); that I might be doubting a doc -- horrors. The return call -- after she'd spoken to him -- was a bit better; he said if I wanted to check it out he'd refer me to a rheumatologist. I decided to go see the rheum my Mom sees, and we've already had one email exchange. More to come, but I'd like to have this evaluated and answered before I go bionic (which looks now like late January.)

Things lost

So I lost my ipod on the plane home from Toronto. Matt sent me his recommendation on a replacement (another nano or the itouch) and I'll order one of them today. And I finally did something about the lost earring. I'd lost one of the beautiful earrings that Nick got me on a plane from SF -- what is it with me and planes? The people at the local jewelry store where he'd bought them were incredibly helpful. Even though the original ones were no longer available I was able to find similar ones and use the single earring as a trade-in. A happy resolution.

Mad Men

DM News ran a 30th anniversary piece on the history of direct marketing (I was interviewed a few months back). They called the piece "Direct Mad Men" and apparently I'm one of them. They misspelled my name, referred to me as "he", but what the hell, it's ink. And I feel privileged to be mentioned in such exalted company.

http://www.dmnews.com/direct-mad-men-talk-of-transformation/article/158503/