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‘Wrinkle in Time’ author dies at 88 – CNN.com

HARTFORD, Connecticut (AP) — Author Madeleine L’Engle, whose novel “A Wrinkle in Time” has been enjoyed by generations of schoolchildren and adults since the 1960s, has died, her publicist said Friday. She was 88. L’Engle died Thursday at a nursing home in Litchfield of natural causes, according to Jennifer Doerr, publicity manager for publisher Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

What of the house I grew up in? It lay on a distant part of a hilltop field that overlooked the Ohio River.

The field had been part of my grandfather’s farm. My grandfather, I should tell you, was not a farmer, nor did he even have the basics of the farmer’s art, having grown up in a tiny, city-bound house. Rather, owning and presiding over an estate was what a powerful man was supposed to do in his mature years.

He build for himself and my grandmother a house in the style of the ranch houses on the Argentinian pampas. At the center of it was an octagonal turret, from which the proud owner of the ranch could oversee all his cattle, wherever they may be. My grandfather died before I was born, so I have no idea if he ever went up into the turret, or how often, My grandmother, I suppose could have also climbed the stairs for her own viewing, but she was not the stair-climbing sort of woman.

Other Patti and I just had dinner at Friday’s, and I am stuffed. This stuffed feeling is quite different from before, since my stomach is now tubular in shape, and sitting between my lungs. If the food can’t all fit in the tummy, which happens since the capacity is less, it mounts up the esophagus a bit. Yuck. Nevermind.

So I am a happy Friday’s diner, but I also feel a bit like a human sausage. But here’s the important bit: I did something normal! We went to a real restaurant, and I ordered from the menu, and ate the food with no problem. It’s been ages since I did a normal thing, and it feels wonderful.

Here’s how I’ve been celebrating my completion of radiation and chemotherapy lately: I took us to Las Vegas. I mean, Buck and me. Peter, unfortunately, still has to attend college, despite his arguments to the contrary.

Out here, the weather is sunny and in the low 70′s. In Ohio, it’s gray and freezing and a little snowy. Out here, I have a panoramic view not only of the strip but of most of Las Vegas and the mountain range, whatever its name is, that is just to the west of the city. I have just watched it emerge from the blackness as the terminator flew westward towards us and brought the daylight behind it.

I did go to the blackjack table last night, but my mathematical sensibilities overcame my compulsive tendencies and I left the table ahead by 5 whole dollars. Buck was slightly disappointed by that, because he was hoping I would lose all my money and return to the room in tears, having learned an expensive but valuable lesson. No such luck, sweetie. Life on the casino floor takes on a different aspect when you know that “The House always wins” is not just a bitter saying but a mathematically provable truth.

Enough for now. I have to figure out what spa treatments to get. There’s a kind of Japanese one where they point you in different directions and use rituals. Just getting a massage seems so passé all of a sudden.

Found this over at Alphecca:

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said “I love you” and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater Heck, we’ve got one here in town!
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol but not simultaneously, heh.
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse and fell off once
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper -
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad – and the Odyssey
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you blockprint
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life

Perhaps I should just title the thing “What you can learn in Manhattan,” because I see no reason to visit any of the other boroughs short of getting to and from airports. But I digress…

I often find NYC giving me plenty of things to think about. Most people, when thinking about things in NYC, think about boring existentialist nonsese, the meaning of life and all that crap, poverty, overcrowding, city life, western civilization on the brink of disaster. And other such stuff. New York is the place to be if you’re an unhappy, possibly discontented, intellectual, I guess.

But me, I guess I’m not that. This is because I end up, after a brief walk in Manhattan, thinking about things like: Should you really be playing your game boy at the same time that you are panhandling? I would think that either pursuit would be far more profitable and enjoyable when pursued with full-time energy and attention.

That’s just me, though. I have no Game Boy, and I have never panhandled. So what do I know?