Month: June 2023

  • ODDS and ENDS: Masking Up Again, Tom Tom Club, The Simpsons Renaissance, and Summer

    (Raise expectations to a new intention)

    Honestly; I’m pretty glad that we didn’t throw away all of our Covid masks. The smoke in New York on Wednesday was insane. Everything was shrouded in an orange haze, blocking out the sun. It was like sitting in front of a camp fire with the smoke blowing in your face. It didn’t feel good, and hurt my eyes and the back of my throat. I am glad that we pulled the A/C’s from storage last month, as that made the apartment livable with the windows closed. Walking the dog wasn’t fun, as I was back to having a mask on, stumbling around the neighborhood. It makes me think the end of the world won’t be sudden, but more like a slow car pile-up of minor inconveniences.

    I swear, I am so late to the party on everything. I just discovered the Tom Tom Club the other day.

    And The Simpsons have started getting better. A good friend sent me an article in Vulture about just that. After reading it, I started re-watching the last two seasons, and I have to agree.

    The kid only has eleven school days left before Summer vacation officially starts. But, we’re on Summer vacation. The kid has checked out; I’ve checked out; the wife wants to check out; the dog wants to get a puppy short cut so she can check out, too. Funny, but for the last two years, I have started to look forward to the coming of Summer. Before, growing up in Texas, Summer was a never ending season of just feeling uncomfortable. Mind you, Summer’s in New York can be very humid, sticky and awful, but it’s done after three months. (In Texas, it can go on for six months!) And I am sure it has everything to do with the kid, but Summer now means road trips, and hikes, and water parks, and experiences. I’m ready for it.

  • Not Happening

    My heart wasn’t in it today. I know I need to push through it, and write even on the days when it’s tough.

    But my daughter wanted to reorganize her doll’s closet. I had some idea that I thought would work, so I saw them through.

    I’ll try writing tomorrow.

  • Air Travel

    Flying on a plane sucks. It’s not fun anymore, and is more akin to being crammed on a busy bus. It is the necessary evil for vacationing which makes it a chore to accomplish, rather than part of the fun.

    But who I really feel bad for is my daughter. She lives in this age of airline hassle. Some of it might be needed, like the security checks, but most of it is just an inconvenience.

    We tell her about how there used to be space on the plane. And that people could meet you at the gate when you arrived. Her great grandmother used to go to the airport and just watch people at the terminal because you could just show up and walk around without a ticket.

    I know things change and old people, like me, always think things were better in the past. But in this instance, I do fault the airlines for putting profits, and the theory of seeing how far they can push us with nickel and dime inconveniences with ruining the joy of air travel.

  • Gone Fishin’

    See you tomorrow…

  • Pete Seeger’s Goofing-Off Suite

    I was 35 years old when I learned that the soundtrack to one of my all time favorite movies, Raising Arizonia, was based off the music of Pete Seeger.