Thursday Thirteen #690

Some quotes to think about:

1. The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other’s life. ~ Richard Bach

2. The beauty of genuine brotherhood and peace is more precious than diamonds or silver or gold. ~ Martin Luther King Jr

3. A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a difficult time. ~ Proverbs 17:17

4. The universal brotherhood of man is our most precious possession. ~ Mark Twain

5. United we stand, divided we fall. ~ Aesop

6. If thy brother wrongs thee, remember not so much his wrong-doing, but more than ever that he is thy brother. ~ Epictetus

7. Our brothers and sisters are there with us from the dawn of our personal stories to the inevitable dusk. ~ Susan Scarf Merrell

8. Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. ~ Hebrews 13:1

9. It’s better that we feel something for each other rather than behave like corpses toward one another, the more so because as long as one has no real right to be called a corpse by being legally dead, it smacks of hypocrisy or at least childishness to pose as such. ~ Vincent Van Gogh

10. Man lives freely only by his readiness to die, if need be, at the hands of his brother, never by killing him. ~ Mahatma Gandhi

11. A brother may not be a friend, but a friend will always be a brother. ~ Benjamin Franklin

12. I believe in one thing, that only a life lived for others is a life worth living. ~ Albert Einstein

13. We’re all just walking each other home. ~ Ram Dass

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Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 690th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

Turkeys at the Window

 

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing

1. What are your plans for January?

A. Mostly to live through it. I also need to work on our taxes.
 
2. What do you want to see happen in 2021?

A. A kinder, gentler world. I don't see it happening, though. What I want and reality are two different things. Unlike some people, I can tell the difference between what I think I see and what I really see.
 
3.  What would you give a 5 star rating?

A. Omaha Steaks sends out good meat.
 
4. Do you have writing goals for 2021?

A. Yes.
 
5. How do you feel about memoirs?

A. I read them occasionally. I am not a fan of them. They're self-serving, usually, and try to "explain away" some incident or another that was not a good look for the person. I prefer a biography where you have a little more balance and a lot less "me."
 
6. If you could join any musical group who would you choose?

A. The Indigo Girls.
 
7. What are your favorite genres across all media?

A. All medias is a pretty large area. In music, I like Adult Top 40 and older songs. I read fantasy, historical fiction, mysteries, local history, and self-help books. I don't watch much TV but I like shows that feature strong women characters.
 
8. What candle scents are your favorite?

A. Unscented. I'm allergic to most scents.
 
9. How well can you mimic other accents or voices?

A. I have a strong southern accent, so I assume not very well.
 
10. What books are on your TBR list in 2021?

A. I have a stack of Stuart Woods books that my husband has read that I will use for those days when I want to read something and not have to think about it. I am not a big Stuart Woods fan but the books read quickly.
 
11. When do you decide it’s time to upgrade/buy something new?

A. Usually when it breaks, tears, or no longer fits. I have many items around my house that are over 30 years old that I continue to use. No point in replacing something that doesn't need replacing.
 
12. Why is your favorite color your favorite color?

A. Had to read that question twice. My favorite color is my favorite color because I like it and because it looks good on me.
 
13. Who understands you the best?

A. My husband.
 
14. Do you write letters?

A. Yes.
 
15. How do you keep going when times are hard?

A. You just do. Even darkness must past, and a new day will come. You have to hope that there is some good in this world, Mr. Frodo.

________________

I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.

Saturday 9: All Shook Up

Saturday 9: All Shook Up (1957)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

Chosen because January 8 is the anniversary of Elvis Presley's birth. (*It kind of applies to the state of the nation at the moment, too.*)

1) In this song, Elvis shares quite a list of maladies: he's itching, his hands are shaky, his knees are weak, he has chills . . . How are you feeling this morning?

A. Not very well. I have had a return of my chronic pain issues in my abdominal muscles. I am six months overdue for return visits to physical therapy for it, thanks to the coronavirus, but I am doing the best I can with my own efforts and help from my husband. Stress makes it worse.

2) He also mentions being "tongue tied." The dictionary defines it as, "unable to speak freely, as from shyness." Do you often find yourself tongue tied?

A. Not anymore. I did when I was younger. Now that I am old, I say what I want. Usually.

3) Even after he was wealthy, Elvis never lived away from his parents. At one point Graceland Mansion was home to four generations of the family: his grandmother, his father and stepmother, Elvis, his wife and daughter. Have you ever lived in a multi-generational household?

A. No. Well, my immediate family when I was growing up, but that was it.

4) Thinking of family, Elvis Presley was a distant cousin of President Jimmy Carter. Both of their family trees can be traced back to the 18th century and Thomas Preslar (before the surname was changed to Presley in the early 1800s). Have you traced your ancestry? If not, is it something you'd like to do?

A. I have traced my ancestry down various paths, but it is a never ending pursuit. There is always another relative to find. (My family was here before the Revolutionary War.)

 

5) As an adult, Elvis never wore denim (except for a movie role). That's because when he was in school, his classmates teased him for "dressing poor" in jeans and coveralls. Is denim a big part of your wardrobe today?

A. Yes.

 

6) Before becoming famous, Elvis drove a truck in and around Memphis. Have you ever had a job that kept you behind the wheel most of the day?

A. No.

7) In 1957, the year this song was a hit, the Allstate Mechanical Freight Set was popular, too. Kids would wind up the engine and watch it pull two cars and a caboose around the track. To enhance the realism, sparks would shoot from the engine's smoke stack as it rumbled by. Did you ever play with a toy train? If not, tell us about a childhood plaything you remember fondly.

A. I had a Mrs. Beasley doll that I hung on to for a long time.

8) The best-selling book of 1957 was Peyton Place, a scandalous tale of life in a small New England town. Do you suppose there are enough steamy stories behind closed doors in your town to fill a novel?

A. There are enough steamy stories behind any closed door to fill a novel.

9) Random question: Can you do 10 push ups?

A. I doubt it, and I'm not going to try to find out.

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I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.

Apophenia

Apophenia is a word I recently learned. It means “the tendency to perceive a connection or meaningful pattern between unrelated or random things (such as objects or ideas)."

In contrast to an epiphany (a moment of sudden revelation or insight), instances of apophenia do not provide insight into the nature of reality. They also do not create a factual interconnectedness, but instead creates an abnormal meaning that is then considered to be factual or real, even though it is not. 

Instead, what comes from an apophenia is self-referential, solipsistic (the view or theory that the self is all that can be known to exist, i.e., "this is my opinion and therefore it must be correct"), and paranoid, which would or could include thinking all the news media is out to create harm, that all government officials are evil (unless they're on your side or speaking your language), that people are following you, etc.

In today's world, it would be things like 5G is more than another advancement in technology, it's something sinister (so wear the tinfoil hat), we couldn't possibly have a pandemic without it being some covert operation (even though history is littered with instances of pandemics, the 1918 flu and the Black Plague being but two examples), there can't be a vaccine created so quickly (even though they've been working on vaccines for SARS and related coronaviruses for over a decade now), etc.

The falsehoods spread on social media are great examples of apophenia. It's how people are creating these alternate realities, where up is actually down, where fascism is "democracy," where wearing a mask is taking away rights, where someone can believe that people who went spent four to eight years in college and then went into the media are out to get them by telling untruths, where they really believe that Democrats suck the blood from babies and eat the hearts of their enemies, or whatever that idiotic stuff is that I see float across my Facebook pages from time to time because I haven't managed to unfollow the latest person to swallow the bait.

This word explains a lot about what is going on today. We have a large group of people - less than half of the nation, I suppose, but close enough, who believe certain things. These things are based on opinion, unrationalized suppositions, and information pieces that people are trying to put into a space that fits into their world view.

However, the information doesn't fit into their world view, so they create a way to try to make it fit. For example, Donald Trump was unfit for office right from the start, and those of us who voted against him knew that. He made it blatantly obvious that he was a racist, a white supremacist, that he wanted to be king of the world.

It was also obvious that he knew nothing about government, why we have it, or how it actually functions. 

I do not know how the people who voted for him could overlook all of that. They wanted a change, from what I've read and been told. To be sure, most people don't understand government, but I have been writing about it for 30 years. It has a function, but apparently people who voted for this man could not follow their thoughts through to the logical conclusion of his taking office (which was the insurrection seen on January 6). They wanted someone who could "speak to the common man," which means someone who knew the racist dog whistles. Did they honestly think Donald Trump would sink so low as to have a beer with them on a hot summer day after they've done hard work and smell like a working man? Maybe they did, I don't know.

There's a very good article that explains these delusions in video game terms here. It is where I learned the word.

I have experienced this apophenia myself, mostly visually in patterns. I have always seen things in random designs on bathroom floors, in tile, or in curtains. As a child, I had a dinosaur I saw on the bus ride everyday. It was a patchwork of brush that looked to me like a dinosaur. (This is actually called pareidolia, but it falls under apophenia.)

It's the same way we see things in clouds as they float by. Who hasn't looked up at the sky and thought, oh, that cloud looks like an elephant, or whatever.

This is all well and good and harmless. When these kinds of interpretations move into the real world because one cannot accept reality, truth, or facts, then we begin to have a problem.

Addressing why people cannot accept reality, truth, or facts then becomes the question.

I do not have the answer.

Thursday Thirteen - Insurrection Edition

Biden calls Capitol riot ‘insurrection,' Trump tells mob to 'go home' - live updates (msn.com)

Trump’s election attacks on Twitter spark new online calls for violence as rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol (msn.com)

Statehouses evacuate amid protests in support of Trump | News 4 Buffalo (wivb.com)

Pro-Trump protesters storm Pelosi's office, take over Senate chamber at US Capitol | Fox News

Protesters gather outside state Capitols nationwide as chaos sweeps Congress (nbcnews.com)

Woman shot capitol lockdown as Trump storm building Washington DC | wusa9.com

(8) Officials say the Capitol is secure after pro-Trump mob breached the building and forced lockdown / Twitter

Biden calls Capitol riot ‘insurrection,' Trump tells mob to 'go home' - live updates (msn.com)

TV Networks Shift From Coverage of Electoral Tally to Storming of Capitol - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

Watch Live: Trump supporters breach Capitol as violence forces lockdown (cbsnews.com)

How Television News Outmatched Donald Trump on a Dark Day - Variety

Trump supporters, police clash at Capitol steps | king5.com

Georgia Senate results who won news & more | Live Blog | 11alive.com

Washington DC, Parts of Virginia Go Into Curfew After Wednesday's Attack (vadogwood.com)

§2383. Rebellion or insurrection

Whoever incites, sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof, or gives aid or comfort thereto, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.

§2384. Seditious conspiracy

If two or more persons in any State or Territory, or in any place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy war against them, or to oppose by force the authority thereof, or by force to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States, or by force to seize, take, or possess any property of the United States contrary to the authority thereof, they shall each be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.

lincolnproject.us:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 6, 2021 - “Today’s violence and insurrection in Washington and in state capitols is the direct responsibility of Donald Trump. This shameful culmination of four years of lies, propaganda, dog whistles, gaslighting, and conspiracy theories at the hands of a dangerous, unstable president has now put our Constitutional system of government at risk. While our democracy has been under attack since Donald Trump was elected in 2016, today’s domestic terrorist attack on the Capitol highlights just how much Trump and his enablers have entirely abandoned the principles of the Constitution and the Republic.

This is no longer simply about Donald Trump’s charade. It is an armed, violent, and planned insurrection against the United States of America. It is a moment where the tenets of Trumpism replaced the tenets of American democracy with the inevitable, violent results.

“Make no mistake, this is sedition and insurrection,” said Lincoln Project co-founder Rick Wilson, “People have long asked why the Lincoln Project has targeted Trump’s Republican allies, and today they have their answer. Those Republicans who have endorsed and encouraged Trump’s lawless coup attempt in the House and Senate deserve to be prosecuted, not seated in the halls of government.”

“The House should immediately impeach Donald Trump for directing and provoking this attack. The United States Senate should immediately vote to convict and remove him from office. Any Member of Congress who refuses to do so should be considered a co-conspirator.”

The Lincoln Project is a group of former Republicans who worked to defeat Donald J. Trump’s reelection and will continue to battle Trumpism in America.

****

I could not let the events of yesterday, Wednesday, January 6, 2021, go unmarked in my blog. On this date a mob of terrorists attacked the U.S. Capitol as the House and Senate convened to count the Electoral College ballots for the 2020 election.

At the urging of President Donald Trump, this preplanned coup involved a lack of police protection for the lawmakers, an inordinately long wait for approval for the National Guard to move in, and tweets from the president urging the violence to continue, with minimal "oh, gee, be nice to the guys in blue" tweets in between his continual falsehoods of "I won by a lot. Bigly." (That's all paraphrased because I'm so pissed and upset. His bullshit is on twitter and if anyone wants the exact wording, they can go look it up. (Twitter has blocked his account for 12 hours. I guess it is still up there.)

One person died (update 5:50 a.m. - NPR is reporting 4 deaths); I don't know how or who. More blood on this president's hands, along with the deaths of 350,000+ who have died from his mishandling of the Covid virus, and God only knows what else. 

I am shaking I am so angry. I have known from the moment this man was elected that he was nothing but an autocrat who would be king if he could. He doesn't give a flying fuck about anyone but himself and his cult of simpletons cannot see how he has deluded them and led them astray and right into the gaping maw of fascism. He surely doesn't give a damn about the United States Constitution.

Hopefully by the time this post hits my blog, he will be in a strait jacket or handcuffs.

_____________

Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 689th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

January is Not My Month

January is my least favorite month.

Here in southwestern Virginia, it is a cold time of year. Nothing is green. The ground is barren, the grass not yet growing. The trees stand naked against cloudy skies - or as dark protrusions against a bright blue sky on cloudless days.

The chill goes into the bones, leaving me huddled in blankets and sweaters. The humidifiers run day and night to keep the air moist so my asthma stays in check. It is a constant struggle to keep the humidity just right - too much, and I worry about mold. Too little, and the air is too dry. Dryness brings about colds and other ills. It is also not good for the wood furniture, or the hardwood flooring.

The winds howl too, in January. They sounds like rabid coon dogs baying at terrified rabbits as the gusts bluster up to 40 or 50 mph, rounding the corners of my house, making a wail that would frighten the church out of a priest.

Sometimes, the winds keep me up at night, the gusts blowing strong against the siding. It is worse now since we had to remove the blue spruces, all dead or dying from some fungus created by a drought a few years ago. 

We need to plant more trees. But who thinks of planting in the dead of winter, when the forecast calls for snow or ice, and the bitterness is enough to freeze the snot up inside of your nose?

This is also my month for the blues. I cannot recall a January when that particular darkness did not come creeping forth to haunt me during this languid, frigid month. It moves along the pathways of my mind like a spider, leaving webs of despair and dismay behind. I sweep, I clean, I wash, but that spider is quicker than I, I cannot outrun its filmy traces, the dust it collects, or the remove the clingy mess from my mind.

Sunshine helps, and that doesn't come until mid-February, when I see green shoots rising from the ground, a tinge of color on the weeping willow trees, the robins suddenly landing in the front yard. The spider runs from the birds, then, still leaving a webby trail, but disappearing until I sense it no longer. 

Or at least, sense it not so much in the highlights of my thoughts.

Wonder Woman: 1984

This post contains spoilers for the Wonder Woman: 1984 movie. Reading more is up to you, dear ones.

We watched Wonder Woman: 1984 on Christmas Day. I had been anticipating the movie for some time, since it was originally scheduled for release back in June.

Reviews mostly have not been kind. The Facebook crowd have been merciless in calling the movie boring, stupid, etc. Some liked it, but the more vocal negatives (negatives are always louder, are they not?) are the ones dominating the conversation.

I was not enthralled with the movie. I did not dislike it, but unlike the initial Wonder Woman, this second movie is not one I would pause and watch again should I happen to catch it on. I do plan to watch it once more before it leaves HBO/MAX, but if I don't manage that, I don't think it will bother me.

I give it a solid 3 stars. Had the writing been better, it would have been a better movie. It was a "message movie," and those can be well done. This one was not.

The story finds us in 1984, complete with frizzy hair, crazy clothes, and music of that era. Diana Prince is working for the Smithsonian in antiquities. She is joined by a new co-worker, Barbara Minerva, who is portrayed rather unconvincingly as a bag lady with a degree and a job. She is painfully shy and unable to hold her own in a conversation. She is immediately envious of Diana, who has it together, dresses well, holds intelligent conversations, etc. Of course, Diana's had a lot of practice, being immortal and all and having lived amongst humanity since World War II.

Barbara is asked by the government to review a cache of stolen artifacts. One of these is the DreamStone, which grants wishes if you hold it. Diana picks it up and makes her wish that she could see Steve again. Barbara picks it up and wishes she could be just like Diana.

The stone is stolen by the bad guy, Maxwell Lord. He is a grifter who cons people out of money. He has a young son he sees on weekends. He does not treat the boy well, which apparently is meant to indicate how bad a person Lord is.

Here we have the main problem with the writing of this movie. Lord as a bad guy simply does not work. He is not someone you can root against with absolute certainty. He's a guy who wasn't a fortunate son. He's tried to make something of himself and gone about it the wrong way, is all. He's not evil, he's just caught up in the grips of capitalism and the "me, me" and "I want I want" maxims that we have all been raised with. I could not root against him with any amount of rancor. He isn't Ares trying to keep evil in the forefront. He's a guy who wants a condo and a fast car.

Lord wishes to be the DreamStone. Anyone who touches him is then granted their wish. He goes about giving wishes for money.

Diana, meanwhile, is accosted by someone who says something to her about not having enough time. Those were Steve's last words. She stops, and says, "Don't ever say that to me again." The man yanks off his wristwatch and repeats Steve's last words to Diana. "Oh Steve, it's you, it's you." 

He doesn't come back from the dead. He comes back but he is in some other guy's body. Who knows what happened to the other guy. This has a huge ick factor if you stop and think about it. I mean, Diana sleeps with this guy who is Steve but isn't Steve. It is a major yuck factor in the movie, on my part, anyway.

Barbara, meanwhile, discovers that there is more to Diana than just a sense of presence. There is power and speed. She becomes a superhero-bad guy but not really a bad guy, just someone else who wants more of what she didn't have before.

All of this takes a long time to set up, and the first hour of the movie moves slowly. Diana is weakening and not as powerful as she should be. At first I thought that this was because her powers were transferring to Barbara, but eventually it is explained that she is losing her powers in order to keep Steve there in some other dude's body.

There's some detective work and finding out about the stone; it seems to be involved in the ruination of every single civilization because people won't renounce their wishes. Too much of a good thing means the end of all things, I guess. 

Lord takes off for the Middle East, so Diana and Steve steal a plane and go after him. Diana can turn the plane invisible thanks to the powers of Zeus. There's some fighting and Diana takes a few bullets and bleeds because her powers are being drained.

Diana eventually renounces her wish for Steve, and she goes off to stop Lord, who is going to use a satellite (new cable TV technology, I suppose, for 1984), to broadcast wishes all over the world. People start wishing for others to drop dead, for money, power, etc. Chaos reigns.

Barbara sides with Lord and tries to stop Diana from stopping him. She loses. Diana manages to broadcast all over the world that people need to renounce their wishes, that having everything means the end of everything, or something like that. People begin renouncing their wishes. Lord sees his son on a camera and realizes his boy means everything to him, and he renounces his wish, too and goes to find the kid.

The movie had multiple messages, and I think this was the main objection to the movie. It hit you over the head with all of them. The characters were flat and not fleshed out as much as they could have been. The messages, while all very important (and it's too bad so many reject them), should have been secondary.

The messages?

Capitalism is bad and doesn't give equal opportunities.

Women have a tough go of it. (Men were not portrayed well in this film, except for Steve.)

Relationships are more important than things and acquiring things.

Watch what you wish for.

The biggest mistakes of the movie were not making the bad guy bad enough - you really need someone to root against in a superhero movie - and in not fleshing out the characters enough. There was not enough action in the beginning of the film.

I don't usually do film reviews, but I waited to watch this one  for a long time. To be disappointed was, well, disappointing. It is not a bad movie, but it doesn't stand up to the promise of the first one.

A third film is in the works. I understand the same writers are involved. That does not bode well, if you ask me. Patty Jenkins should stick with directing and leave the script writing to someone else.

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing

1. First things first, did you have a good year?

A. It was the worst of times, it was the best of times. It was a year of change. My husband retired from his job as a battalion chief with the fire department, and having him home all the time was a huge change. Then we had the pandemic, and the worst part for me was that a job I had always coveted opened up but I did not feel I could apply for it during a pandemic, so I did not. In the end, the person who has the job now is simply phoning it in and I feel I could have done a better job even all I did was phone it in. At least what I phoned in would have made sense. But that is water under the dam, and I can only hope the pandemic comes to an end soon. Mostly, I think 2020 was a turning point. Whether that turn is for good or ill, only time will tell.

2. What was your favorite article of clothing this year?

A. My blue jeans.

3. What song sums up this year for you?

A. How about a song from The Brady Bunch? When it's time to change, you've got to rearrange who you are what you want to be.

4. What was your favorite movie of the year?

A. I don't have one.

5. Did an actor/actress catch your attention for the first time this year?

A. No.

6. Favorite new TV show?

A. We watched The Voice for the first time. It passed the time.

7. Did you make any big permanent changes this year?

A. My husband's retirement.

8. What was one nice thing you did for yourself?

A. I became a pen pal.

9. Did you develop a new obsession?

A. No, I stuck with the old ones. I did manage (mostly) to stop biting my nails because of concern for the virus, though.

10. Did you move?

A. No.

11. Did you get a pet?

A. No.

12. Do you regret not doing anything?

A. Yes.

13. Do you regret doing something?

A. No.

14. Did anyone/thing make you so mad it stayed with you for days?

A. Yes. But no one I know personally. The political arena was one big pile of pooh this year. There was always something to be angry over if one read the news.

15. Did you lose anyone close to you?

A. Not close, but I know of five people who passed away from Covid-19.

16. Who was important to you this year but wasn’t important last year?

A. I don't think I want to answer this question in a public forum.

17. Who wasn’t as important to you this year as they were last year?

A. Same answer as #16.

18. What was the best moment of the year for you?

A. Nothing stands out as a "best moment," but Christmas was a lot less stressful. My proudest moment was when my husband received an axe for retiring from the fire department.

19. What was the worst?

A. Again, nothing stands out, but I did have a six-week bout with some kind of sinus thing (not Covid) that left me feeling not so well for quite a while.

20. What have you learned about yourself this year that you didn’t know in the years prior?

A. Procrastination is apparently my default. Also, I like to sleep until 7 a.m.

21. What do you wish for others for the coming year?

A. I hope that every who wants it gets the Covid-19 vaccine, and those who don't want it, for whatever reason, manage to stay safe. I also hope we don't return to normal, because normal wasn't working for a lot of people. There are better ways.

22. What do you wish for yourself?

A. More productivity.

________________

I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.

Saturday 9: Feels like the First Time

Saturday 9: Feels like the First Time (1977)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

Welcome to the first Saturday 9 of 2021! 

1) Look up from your screen. What's the first thing you see?

A. A card that says "No one can stop you but yourself," which my high school math teacher sent to me last year.

2) Looking back on 2020, what surprised you?

A. The selfishness of my fellow Americans surprised me. It shouldn't have, but it did. I had no idea so many people would walk right past someone dying and leave them there. Basically that is what someone who refuses to wear a mask for public health purposes is doing. Killing people because they have no time or empathy for anyone else. I don't see wearing a mask as being any different from signs that say "shirt & shoes required," wearing a seat belt, or stopping at stop signs. No one has the right to do things that infringe upon the health of others, and that is what not wearing a mask does.

3) Have you made any resolutions for 2021?

A. No. I know of some things I would like to achieve, but things are so unsettled right now I think it would be foolish to commit.

4) In Italy, it's said that if you wear red underwear on New Year's Eve, you'll have good luck all year around. Do you have a lucky charm?

A. I do not.

5) In Spain, some New Year's Eve revelers believe that, at the stroke of midnight, you should eat exactly 12 grapes, one at a time and one right after the other, to bring you luck for the next twelve months. Did you have anything special on your New Year's Eve menu?

A. No.

6) In this week's featured song, Foreigner lead singer Lou Gramm lets us know that he'd sail across a stormy sea to reach his true love. How is the weather where you are today? Are you kicking off 2021 under calm skies, or is it stormy?

A. It is raining and cold. It is a good day to stay inside and read a book.

7) In the 1990s, Gramm joined forces with Billy Joel in a series of concerts to preserve the Montauk Point Lighthouse. Do you have a favorite Billy Joel song?

A. Just the Way You Are

8) In 1977, when this song was popular, Star Wars was breaking all box office records. The Spy Who Loved Me, a James Bond movie, was also a hit. If you were going to binge on one of these film series, would you choose Star Wars or Bond?

A. Star Wars.

9) Random question: Would you rather have nothing but green lights for all of 2021, or never have to stand in line for anything all year?

A. I would rather never have to stand in line for anything all year, because that technically would also include sitting at red lights, wouldn't it? Besides, with Covid-19 still raging, I'd rather not be in a long line for anything.

 ______________

I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however. (#370)

Happy New Year!

Welcome 2021! At long last, 2020 is over.

Unfortunately, as years tend to do, this one so far looks like last year. It's raining, it's cold, and there is still a bad virus out in the world.

But now we move on. Beginning years of decades seem to not be the best ones. Maybe soon this will be the Roaring '20s of the 2000s. I hope so.

There are many rituals about the first of the year. The ones I am aware of have to do with what you eat and opening doors. I have never subscribed to any of them, so while I tried black-eyed peas one year, they were not on the menu today.

I did get up and open a door and shoo out the old year and then waved in the new. I didn't think it could hurt anything and fresh air is always nice.

Another superstition, maybe it's a local one, I don't know, is that good luck comes depending upon who enters the house first as a visitor - a man brings good luck, a woman brings bad luck. (Sexist much?)

This superstition has haunted me a long time. When I was seven, we went to my grandmother's house on New Year's Day. I was so excited to see my grandmother that I bounded into the house.

My grandmother immediately burst into tears. "She came in first. We'll have bad luck all year long," she wailed.

My grandfather, who had watched my father enter second, suggested that only held true for adult visitors and children didn't count, so my father was bringing good luck.

My grandmother was having none of it. I had ruined the entire year. I still remember her clutching at her chest and the tears in her eyes.

I was walking bad luck.

As one might imagine, this had quite an impact upon me at that particular age. I spent the entire year ducking anytime something bad happened, sure I would be blamed. My young uncles would tease me if something happened - a glass broke, I remember, - and remind me it was all my fault. 

I was bad luck.

This kind of thing can dampen the spirits of even the most resilient child. I, however, have always been prone to melancholy and moodiness. 

That year I was about as melancholy and moody as a little girl of seven could be. I had moved to a new school that year. I told my classmates to stay away from me - I was bad luck. I shied away from making friends.

I told my teacher I was bad luck. After about the third time of hearing this, Mrs. Wright sat me down and told me there was no such thing as good or bad luck. She asked me where I'd gotten the notion that I was bad luck.

"My grandmother said I was bad luck because I'd walked in the door first on New Year's," I explained.

I remember seeing Mrs. Wright inhale deeply and look off in the distance. Then she looked back at me.

"Now see here. There is no such thing as bad luck or good luck. That's all superstitious nonsense and you should not believe any of it," she said.

"But my grandmother dropped a glass," I said. "She said it was my fault."

"Everybody breaks things. In life, things happen. We have to accept that. But they do not happen because someone walked into a room. Sometimes things simply happen, and all we can do is accept them," she said.

This advice lightened my heart, but only a little. (To this day, I do not leave my house on New Year's Day. Nor do I go into anyone's house first, if I can help it.)

However, on this New Year's Day, I think back on Mrs. Wright's advice and realize that she was right. I also realize that this lesson - that sometimes things simply happen and we must accept that - is one lost on the majority of the population right now.

The virus happened. The election happened. People have car wrecks, lose their jobs, lose their families, and sometimes - maybe most of the time - it's through not fault of their own. Nor is it bad luck. Sometimes it is the result of a choice made a decade ago, one that a person may not remember ever having made. 

Sometimes things happen.

Occasionally, we break a glass.

Thursday Thirteen

So, we're all getting ready to kick 2020 out the door and hope for better things 2021. Honestly, as introverted as I am, I did not find this year to be much of a burden. I prefer doing my own shopping, but the pickup at the stores works to keep us fed. I also miss my twice-monthly visits with my chiropractor, but other than that, life has basically gone on as normal for me. I don't mind the masks and will probably keep wearing one in the stores. Even though I have been sick a few times this year, I haven't been as ill as I normally am, and I chalk that up to masking, hand washing, and physical distancing.

I don't do resolutions anymore - I am old and there's no point, really - but here are a few things I'd like to do in 2021.

1. Get the vaccine shot for the Covid-19 virus. 

2. Take day trips. (We haven't been doing this because I always have to go to the restroom every couple of hours and it's hard to find a clean restroom in the best of times. I certainly didn't want to go into a filthy public restroom during a pandemic.)

3. Take a vacation. I would like to go to Washington, D.C., to the Library of Congress. I would also like to go to Philadelphia, Chicago, and Orlando, Fl. But things will have to be much better before this happens.

4.  Go out with friends.

5. Return to my regular chiropractic adjustment schedule.

6. Lose weight. This would be easier if I didn't have to eat.

7. Read more books.

8. Take more photos.

9. Write more.

10. Keep up with our tax information better. I tend to let it go and do it in spurts. I need to do it once a month, at the least. Once a week would be better.

11. Learn new songs on the guitar.

12. Get to know my little grand niece better.

13. Read the entire Bible. I've done that once before; it's time to do it again.

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Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 688th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

The Clothes Dryer

I do a lot of laundry, considering there are only two people here.

My husband can go through three changes of clothes in a day, working on the farm. In the winter, there are extras - insulated coveralls, jackets, thermal underwear. 

If I don't stay on top of it, stuff piles up.

Saturday is always change-the-bed day. However, the day after Christmas, I suggested we wait and change it on Sunday because I had not done the laundry for two days plus we'd each received new clothing. All of that needed to be washed.

I put my husband to work taking a few items from his closet. It's the rule - new clothes in, old clothes must come out.

I washed a load of clothes, hung them up. Turned around and loaded the dryer with a load of towels.

I turned the dial and there was nothing. It moved freely. This dial on this dryer had always been a bear to turn; even my husband found it difficult to move around the circle.

Now it moved and nothing happened.

I bought the dryer on February 21, 2019. It hadn't even hit two years yet.

"The dryer won't run," I yelled. He came in and twisted the dial. 

"The timer is broken," he said.

I went to the warranty drawer (yes, I am organized enough that I have a warranty drawer), and pulled out the file marked GE Dryer 2019. I had purchased a 3-year extended warranty through Lowes.

First I tried to call. I ended up somehow with GE, even though I'd called Lowe's, and was informed the one-year manufacturer's warranty had ended.

My husband took the phone from me and went through the menu options again, this time getting the correct place.

He was on the phone for over an hour. The customer service person, whom we shall call Miriam, did everything she could think of to keep from having to pay out on this warranty claim. She asked for non-existent numbers, non-existent invoices, etc., etc.

My husband, finally, had had it.

"Let me get this right. I'm sitting here with a receipt for a warranty I paid $130 for, and a receipt for a dryer that I paid for, and you're telling me because there isn't some number that you think I am supposed to have, that you're not going to service this dryer. Is that what you're telling me?" His voice was terse and his jaw was set.

But yes, that was what she was telling us. She would, however, set up an appointment with their factory repair people and someone would be in touch.

In the meantime, I had a load of wet towels to deal with. I have a clothes rack, so I put it up in the kitchen next to a space heater and eventually got the towels dry. They were stiff as a board, but they were dry.

My husband watched a video on how to fix the dryer at some point during the day.

Sunday night, as we were getting ready for bed, I had a thought. "You know, I've always turned that dial clockwise," I told my husband. "Maybe I should try turning it counterclockwise."

He laughed at me.

I went in to the laundry room and turned the dial counterclockwise. After a few turns, it started making the strange ticking sound it had always made when I turned it before. I stopped it on a drying cycle, and hit the start button.

It ran.

My husband cursed.

That wasn't the end of it, of course. Monday morning he rose at 5 a.m., because he had to feed. He threw a load of his thermal underwear in the washer and put it in the dryer.

I watched the timer. It went a little long, but it dried the clothes. He left to feed and I tossed another load in the washer. This time, the dryer didn't want to work as well. It stopped before the clothes were dry. I backed it up and started it again.

When my husband came back from feeding, I told him the dryer still wasn't working right. He called Tribles, which is a place that carries appliance parts, and told them what he needed.

They had a timer.

He went after it. I emptied out the laundry room so he'd have room to work. He came home, replaced the timer, and just like that, we were back in the laundry business.

We cancelled the appointment with the repair person.

I learned several things. First, I will never, ever buy the extended warranty from Lowes again. In all likelihood, I will never purchase another appliance from Lowes. Their customer service is simply awful.

Second, I had no idea how much my life revolved around doing the laundry. I hop up and down every 45 minutes to go wash something or dry something. I also like doing it.

Lastly, this thing of planned obsolescence that the manufacturers have going on simply is horrible for consumers. A $600 dryer should last me a very long time, not less than two years.

So This Was Christmas in 2020

Quiet.

Less stressed.

Maybe not as much fun, but definitely ok.

Yes, I missed my family and my husband's family. But things are changing anyway, so I think the Christmases of the past will stay there.

Facetime likely will be the new reality.

Our holiday began on the 23rd, with my father and stepmother stopping by. We all stood outside my house in a chilly wind, masks on our faces, talking about the strange year. My father dared not get any closer because there was a Covid outbreak at his company. While he is retired, he still goes into the office occasionally. Everyone was awaiting test results.

We had placed two chairs on the deck - one for taking presents, one for leaving presents. It worked well.

My brother came by later, dropping off gifts and picking his up. When I put on a mask and moved to go outside to speak with him, he stopped me. "You stay in the house!" he said firmly. He, too, works at my father's business and was awaiting test results. (The family's all came back negative, but several employees have not been as lucky.)

I am sick a lot. Since August, I've had two infections that required antibiotics. Immediately after Thanksgiving, I started fighting a digestive thing that mimics the ulcers I had in 2013. It's either ulcers, my hiatal hernia, or intensely bad reflux. Whatever it is, it took the chocolate out of the holidays, and I've dropped eight pounds by eating a mostly bland diet. (The pounds can go, so that is not a bad thing.)

Christmas Eve in the past would have been a long day. I always had a open house; people came and went from about lunch time until 8 p.m. My table would have been piled with food - cakes, cookies, fudge, brownies, cheeseballs, crackers, etc. This year, I made three small cheeseballs - one for my husband and me, one for my mother-in-law, and one to stash in the freezer for a few weeks.

That was the extent of my cooking.

Christmas Eve this year was calm and quiet. I did laundry. My husband fed the cattle. We watched the weather, which was calling for snow. 

Around 4 p.m., my brother and I had Facetime. He opened his gifts and I opened mine. We have always exchanged presents on Christmas Eve.

He told me his son had become engaged the night before, on the boy's birthday. (My nephew announced it after Christmas on Facebook, complete with photos.) He warned me Christmas would be different in the future, probably. Of course it will be, if my nephew becomes a father himself. My brother will want to spend the holidays with his grandchild.

My brother gave me some Legolas Greenleaf Tea from England. His girlfriend gave me a Kalimba, a thumb piano, to learn to play. I gave him cookware (he loves to cook) and a book of photos of children, made from pictures I'd taken over the years. He and his girlfriend gave me a Joe Biden coloring book. We are opposites in politics, but I took no offense. I don't see Joe Biden as a superhero, as he was depicted in the pages. He's just a nicer guy than the current occupant of the White House.

Christmas morning, we woke to snow on the ground. I couldn't remember the last time I'd awakened to snow at Christmas. I remember Christmases when there was already snow on the ground from earlier snowfalls, but not waking up to the shimmering whiteness of a new snow.

My husband and I opened our gifts to one another.  We bought each other clothes, mostly. I gave him nine books to read; he's already finished one of them. He gave me a looper for my electric guitar, which I will have to learn how to use. It allows me to have background tracks to songs.

My father and stepmother had given us a goodie basket that included fudge (I froze that until my tummy is better), three Christmas bells that once belonged to my mother, and chocolate items from Harry & David's. Those I haven't figured out what to do with yet. I don't know if you can freeze truffles.

I received two books from friends. Another friend brought cookies earlier in the week, and gave me a cooking gizmo that makes spirals out of zucchini and squash.

At lunchtime, we visited my mother-in-law. She lives across the street (which is not as close as it would be in a city - it's a half-mile away). We had ham biscuits accompanied by crackers and cheeseball. We gave her a necklace, a sweater, and an embroidered blanket. She gave me a Barnes & Noble gift card, which I have already spent online.

Past Christmas Days used to be full of people. We'd got to my mother-in-law's and have dinner. My husband's sister's family would be there as well. We'd have a merry time exchanging gifts.

We did not see any of my husband's family on Christmas Day, aside from his mother. We wore masks in her house except when eating.

I think those party days at my husband's mother's house are over. My sister-in-law is a grandmother now; she wants to be with that grandbaby, not her older brother. I understand that. Life goes on, as it should.

I spoke on the phone with my aunt in Texas. I talked briefly with my father and he later texted me that he and my stepmother loved their presents. My niece also texted me a thank you for her present.

It really was the most stress-free Christmas I can remember. A little sad, too, I suppose - I would have loved to have seen my great niece (18 months old) around presents and a tree. I would have liked to have seen my niece, who turns 19 next week, to congratulate her in person on her first semester of college.

I told my husband we've moved into the realm of "old people's" Christmas.

It wasn't so bad.

We had each other.

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing

1. Star or Angel?

A. Angel. Although we've had a star, too, over the years.

2. White Lights or Colored Lights?

A. We like colored lights.

3. Blinking Lights or Still Lights?

A. Blinking lights.

4. When do you open your gifts?

A. Most gifts are opened on Christmas Day. My brother and I exchange presents on Christmas Eve. When we were young, my mother used to allow us to open our present from each other on Christmas Eve in order to calm us down.

5. Do you buy gifts for your pet?

A. I give the cows hay. That's all they need.

6. Be honest: What's the worst gift you've ever gotten?

A. A vacuum cleaner from my husband. He learned in short order that household items are not considered decent Christmas presents from him. If someone else wants to give me a vacuum cleaner, that's fine, but he must by me more personal presents.

7. Have you ever traveled for the holiday?

A. No. Well, when we were young we used to go to my grandmother's house, but that was 30-minute drive. I don't consider that traveling.

8. Did you see Santa as a child?

A. I first read that as "satan." Ha. I did. Maybe I've seen them both.

9. Can you name all the reindeer?

A. Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen. Rudolph came later, as did Olive the other reindeer.

10. Have you ever gone caroling?

A. Not that I recall.

11. Do you drive around and look at the Christmas lights?

A. We certainly did this year. There wasn't much else to do.

12. Have you ever left Santa cookies?

A. I did when I was a child.

13. Have you ever had a white Christmas?

A. We had one this year.

14. Have you ever made a gingerbread house from scratch? From a kit?

A. I have tried and failed miserably. Gingerbread and I do not seem to get along.

15. Be honest: Do you think the season is too commercial?

A. I think the season is nothing but a commercial.

16. Imagine you were going to create the quintessential holiday soundtrack -- which song(s) absolutely must be included?

A. The older ones.

17. What are your Christmas pet peeves?

A. The Christmas stuff going up in September, mostly, not that it mattered this year as I wasn't in the stores to see it. The other is the stress and expectations. Covid actually made this one of the least-stressed holidays I've ever had, because nobody really had an expectations.

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I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.