The Soloist

I finished reading this one yesterday. Ack! Wikipedia changed the format of their web page. The book was very good. I also liked the movie. I could imagine how hard it was for Mr. Lopez to keep working with this homeless man. And I can't help wonder what would have become of this musician if Mr. Lopez had not discovered him playing music.

What a story. Most of us are uncomfortable around mentally ill people. I know I am because I am not familiar with it. I try to be compassionate or empathetic when I do get a tiny little bit of exposure to one, but conversing or seeing one such being is very rare in my life.

To hear about the conditions of how these people live in a large city completely boggles my mind. I have NO concept of what that would be like. Growing up in my tiny little town, we knew nobody like this. I live in a slightly larger town, now and I hear of homeless people but I rarely see any.

While I was browsing the library I came into contact with some folks who were very smelly, had layers of coats on and looked as if they were homeless. I imagine the library is a place to come in and get warm. It still boggles my mind.

Meanwhile, my troubleshooting continues with my computer. I am running certain diagnostic tests on it now. I found some Dell manufacturer CDs in my stash and am putting the system through a series of tests, now. The memory march tests are next. Whoopee! It's gonna be a long day.

I'm supposed to meet some sisters for lunch. There is a winter advisory but I am not sure how bad it will get. It doesn't look too bad to me, but I guess we are better safe than sorry.

I am getting real tired of trying to type on the wrong keyboard since I have both systems side by side so that I can watch the diagnostics while I work on this backup system. What a dork. Sigh. It is time consuming and takes a lot of patience and perseverance. I have a few more books that I am going to be reading. I just did it again. Tried to type on the wrong keyboard. (silent scream).

The books are:

"When Battered Women Kill" by Angela Browne. I have never, ever been hit (let alone battered) by a man or woman for that matter. I think my Mom smacked my behind when I was little, but I was too little to remember. I was the good kid. (Boring!) Anyway, with this book I am always interested in empowering women. Or the weak in general for that matter. I cannot fathom women in this type of situation, so I try by reading books like this.

"Climate Change" by Robert Henson and "The Suicidal Planet" by Mayer Hillman with Tina Fawcett and Sudhir Chella Rajan. Wow, there's a mouthful. I like to educate myself on current events. I cannot stand those who preach and rant about subjects they know nothing about. Or, they think they know something about it when they have not researched it. I like to be informed. I like to listen to both sides. I like to keep an open mind.

So, my computer can run tests all day. If I come up with a solution, fine. If not, I'll just keep on reading. I have five computers in this house right now - all with Internet access. Well, except my main one. I think I have enough to keep me busy on this cold (very cold) winter, blustery President's day. Which is not until NEXT Monday by the way. Or, did they change that, too? Is it now the 3rd Monday of February? Wouldn't surprise me. Huh, yep. Looks like they did make it the 3rd Monday of the month. Whatevuh! Loco!