a*list here, there, and yon

I realized today that I had not written of my recent dance cards at AMC.

I know I've mentioned a few of the members a time or two, for those seen in the company of others, but I've made no effort to capture the order.

So, that shall be remedied forthwith!

Yesterday, I completed the A*List for the week of 27 January.

That was quite the quick step routine!

I'd seen "The Banshees of Inisherin" that Friday with Barbara and Carolyn.

I found it to be an Irish tale of two aging men, one of which had decided he wanted to work on his music, so as to leave something to posterity, so he was cutting off the friendship ... and cutting off his fingers when the other declined to leave him be.

Boys, right?

Still, 'twas lovely to listen to the accents!

The other two were solo pieces.

I literally did get up and dance while watching "Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody"! The movie has been out for a while, so I was the only one in the cinema. How lovely to hear some of these tunes from the 1980's that I used to kick my heels up at! 

I was surprised to learn the rationale behind her choice of that titular song: she was lesbian and was not allowed to dance and make merry in public with the one she loved.

I'd never known that about her, nor that she chose her songs so carefully.

How unfortunate that she chose to marry a man just like her father.

I rounded out the trio with "The Fabelmans", partly because I'd called out AMC in a survey for showing us this trailer and not bringing the film, forcing me and mi amigas to spend our money at other cinema chains in Pooler.

They had finally brought it, but the time had not been right for a viewing of this long film.

Still, I wanted to see it, and, as I told Tom at AMC 10, I felt the need to do so; I had forgotten how the movie ended.

I truly had!

I'm glad I saw it again!

I'm not quite as glad to have seen "The Whale" today, except for the excellent role played by Samantha Morton.

Like Toni Collette and Ashley Judd, she can be relied upon to deliver a solid performance.

She was the firmly rooted in the real world, seeing her teen daughter for the mean-spirited person she actually was.

The father, who had left the family 9 years earlier for another man, now wallowing in grief for the death of his lover and guilt for the desertion of his daughter, was obese to the point of being trapped not only in his body but in his apartment.

He was also trapped by his delusion that his daughter was an extremely gifted writer, based on an essay about "Moby Dick" that she wrote when she was younger.

She hadn't liked the book, nor did she like the whale her father now resembled.

Rather clever camera work to make it seem he was breaching when he would rise from the sea of his couch!

I'll grant them kudos for that.

Then there's the trio of male-dominant films shown here, for the week of 13 January.

Hombres, mga lalaki, boyz.

Nicely, they were all new, too!

That's not to say they were original; the first and last were remakes.

"A Man Called Otto" was based on the 2013 Swedish film, with Tom Hanks as the man formerly known as Ove.

Depression over loss of a loved one was at the core, with a solid push for those with mental illness to seek help.

"House Party" was a remake of the 1990 film of the same name, with LeBron James fronting the funds and lending his name.

Definitely had its fun moments, but nothing new.

On the other hand, "Plane" was fast, action-packed, and felt real.

Set mostly on a remote island in the the Philippines, I expected a credit at the end for the actual person who had executed these exploits.

Nope!

Just a Gerard Butler movie that had him to credit for the win!

I hope to see it again.

And what about the week of the 20th?

I barely managed to get in two movies and missed my photo op.

That Friday had been split between my brother in the afternoon and mi amigas that night. 

Smitty and I last met in July for the 2nd quarter payroll and June's sales tax; all else had been done via phone calls. That meant the company file was behind two quarters for payroll, as well as six months' of logging in sales receipts and payments. ACK!!! I was there almost four hours and still ended up bringing his computer home with me for updates.

At least the 1099 info has been entered, too, so we're just waiting on tax forms.

Saturday was the sea-themed musical and Sunday went to the dogs.

Monday, I took a break from texting to see "Puss In Boots: The Last Wish" una vez mas.

I do so enjoy all those fairy tales - and the one poem! - all mashed together!

Tuesday found me "Missing" with mi amigas and an Indiana bday girl...

and that was it for movies that week.

I'll try to make sure I get a trio in February!

(smile!)

soup, party of one... your table is ready!

I've been waiting for today for two months... two months!

It may well be three months since Dawn sent the invite for her 11th Annual Chicks' Soup Party and I eagerly responded in the affirmative.

Yesterday, I was sure the 28th had, at last, arrived!

I turned on the TV to watch cartoons - and was shocked to find it was only Friday.

No cartoons in sight at the 9 o'clock hour.

Well, drats.

So, this morning, when I arose and turned on the telly for confirmation of the week day...

I was thrilled to be greeted by the Warner Bros. bunch!

One of the cartoons even had a cross-over event going on, with the Road Runner on vacation and Bugs Bunny standing in for him against Wile E. Coyote.

Very nice!

Then I got busy after breakfast with clearing out a tin full of decorative pins and brooches.

One item was a flash drive from the 2006 SERMACS in Augusta, the only thing I seem to have as evidence I was there.

It certainly did not leave a mark in my memory.

The items on the flash drive, however, grabbed my attention with all of the memories that bubbled from the depths!

The voices of my Grandpa and Grandma! 

The voice of my Great-Uncle Sam!

The voice of my Uncle Bob!

All silenced by death for many years.

I had them transferred from tape cassettes, that had been shipped back and forth in the mail from the Walkers in Tallahassee to the Lees in Waycross and the Smiths in Savannah, back in January of 1974.

Uncle Sam had been diagnosed with colon cancer and had only a few months left to live.

I think that's why Aunt Linda had started this "voices in the mail" campaign, so Grandma would have her youngest brother's voice to cherish.

Mama and Daddy had been divorced the previous month, so it may well be that she simply didn't have the time to put into making recordings and getting them posted.

With four kids and one salary, both money and time were tight.

What I wouldn't give to be able to hear her voice again... but I digress.

I did get to hear my voice, though!

The flash drive had three videos of me from 1995, when I was teaching the CHE201 class at both Armstrong and Brunswick, in the distance learning project that semester.

What an absolute trip!

I always talk about my blonde roots, but I had forgotten just how dark my hair was!

What fun to listen and watch as I taught how to name branched hydrocarbons!

(smile!)

I thought about going to a movie, but stayed in after reading my email.

The genealogy site I use was changing its rules, in that the free membership I have was changing from 250 maximum people in my tree to 180.

I currently have 220, but they assured me, in writing, that I would not lose anyone - I just would never, ever, be able to add anyone else... unless I upgraded.

So, I did, at the 50% off special discount, for the membership with all the bells and whistles, the one that would allow me to respond to all the "smart matches" and "record matches" that I had received over the years since I started this.

That was a very helpful step forward, as it turned out!

I have made great strides in moving through more generations, going all the way back to the eighteenth century!

(smile!)

With a feeling of success and accomplishment, I started getting ready for Dawn's Party.

Hooray!

Yes, it had briefly touched 60F at noon, then slipped on down to the low 50's as the day progressed, as the Weather Song had forecast.

So, I'd put my pink tank top under my sweater, to keep my warm heart from the cold.

Then, I'd bundled up with coat, gloves, mask, heavy shoes... yes, all that stuff before venturing out.

I barely made it to the car before I felt the chill breeze seep through the layers, chilling the skin on its way to my core.

Nope.

I turned right around and went back to my front door, the house seemingly extra warm at 66 compared to the dark air outside.

Then my phone buzzed.

her: You coming for soup?

me: I was trying to, but the cold air started affecting my heart. Just got back into the house.

her: Sorry to hear that.

me: I was even all bundled up and wearing a mask.

me: Really aggravates me.

me: So sorry my heart demands warmth.

her: No worries, better to be safe.

me: Honestly, anything under 60 degrees is a danger now.

her: It's warm here!

me: Car heater takes about thirty minutes to warm up, so that wouldn't be good, either.

me: So ready for warm evenings!

me: Still gonna have soup! Miss y'all!

her: We miss you too!

me: Having soup in a mug from a previous soup party with you!

Then she returned to being the hostess with the mostest for the four cheftestants and fifteen or so judges gathered there.

What about me?

Well, besides hoping she'll still bring me a goodie bag when next we meet, I'm going to watch Hyacinth Bucket - pronounced Boo-kay, y'all - as she goes after a Rolls Royce for her very own.

(smile!)

giving the devil his due

"The devil went down to Georgia,

he was looking for a soul to steal.

He was in a bind,

he was way behind,

and he was looking to make a deal."

 

That's a 1979 song from the Charlie Daniels Band, but it would have fit quite nicely with the modern 2003 play that was based on the original Greek myth, which goes back to before there ever was an Anno Domini.

Although the play by Sara Ruhl is titled "Eurydice" and is supposed to be from that female character's point of view, I disagree.

The Lord of the Underworld was clearly the primary person of interest and center of the world in the Black Box offering in Jenkins Hall tonight.

Sure, it may have seemed that way, what with Ethan Goble being that character and being present in all three sections of the play - but that was how the playwright wrote him.

She was the one who made him the creepy guy who claimed to have a letter from Eurydice's dead father, luring the bride away from the wedding.

She was the one who made him the creepy oversized kid on a tricycle in the Underworld, telling everyone that dead people don't have rooms, dead people don't talk, dead people don't know how to read or write.

(That reminded me very much of how the zombies were in "Warm Bodies".)

And the playwright was the one who made him a creepy oversized character who wanted to "lie together like dead bodies do" with Eurydice as his wife.

Super deluxe creepy!

I don't know if Ruhl had intended for the person playing that dark Lord to also wear other hats, but Ethan Goble did; he was the technical director, the sound designer, and part of a quartet of set designers.

What an amazing job he did!

Kudos!

I'm glad the physicist had spotted this and alerted me.

I've become quite lax about checking on plays at GaSoU, I admit.

As near as I can tell, the troupe once called the Masquers is now nameless.

Still, this was a top-notch performance by all.

I'm glad I had been so enraptured by "Orfeo Negro" that I still remembered the story.

PFS had given us that movie link early on in the pandemic., gifting us a series of foreign films via youTube.

The 1959 musical was directed by a Frenchman, set in Brazil during the season of Carnaval, and starred a Brazilian athlete as Orpheus.

Fabulous, just fabulous!

And I had gotten a kick out of worms being used to deliver mail from the Underworld.

Clever!

So when that line was uttered tonight, the whole plot came rushing back!

Strange how that works.

(smile!)

The bfe had seemed a bit aggravated with me during dinner.

Quite possibly it was because I'd asked him to come and fetch me, meaning a round-trip through 5 PM traffic from campus to midtown and back to southside for the play.

I totally get it, but the weather had dipped to its lower register.

I'd wanted to dress up, but I couldn't see having on thick socks and clunky shoes with an actual dress, right?

But he was much calmer by the time he'd finished his steak at Outback, so all was right with the world.

Hooray!

spending the day with ice skaters!

Who would have thought that I'd be graced to watch ice skaters twice today!

It all started with the Planet Fitness on Victory Drive.

I decided to give it a spin, since the one on Waters was rude to me when I went to restart my frozen membership on the 12th.

That was okay, as there's more than one Purple Planet in town!

So far, I've been quite pleased at this new locale.

(smile!)

So, today I had a New Member Orientation booked with Irving.

He took me around to all the equipment, pointing out the new ones as well as a few of the older models, making sure I knew the meaning of the different colors.

Very nice!

Then, after our half-hour, I bounced onto a treadmill for my 30 minute walk.

Given my gait, I start off at 1.5 mph, then ramp up to 2.0 mph by the first minute's end.

The place is full of TV's, but I prefer to listen to the music and "dance" as I walk.

Still, this time, when I glanced about between songs, I found an ice-skating show on.

Hooray!!!

That's my jam!!!

Even if I couldn't hear the songs the skaters were using, I could still enjoy their flow!!!

That made my workout pass quite quickly, too.

So, what to do next?

Well, Kristin was still in town and pretty much trapped at Amanda's, as the film professor would be teaching all day and night.

A quick text confirmed that Krisitin was hungry and would love to go to Jason's Deli!

Another quick text and Barbara agreed to meet us there - perfect!

So, that's what we three did, arriving there between meal times and before the rain.

Did I mention rain?

Yeah, it came as we dined, but was down to a steady drizzle by the time we left.

Good!

 

Then it was off to The Joint in Twelve Oaks to tend to Kristin's aches.

The rain was a bit harder, so I dropped her off, then bopped over to Publix for groceries.

I finished my guerilla raid on the store just as the doc set her to rights.

Perfect timing!

So I drove over to pick her up and return her to Amanda's, with a big reassuring hug before I left and Mama's soup for dinner.

Perfect!

 

By that time, it was close to 8 PM.

Anything on the telly worth watching?

Oh, look, it's the Celebrity fundraising version of "Name That Tune"!

That might be interesting, I thought.

And it was!!!

The first half had Johnny Weir (now 38 yo) and Tara Lipinski (now 40 yo)!!!

Ice skaters, of the Olympic variety!!!

Very nice, very nice!

What a wonderful world we live in!!!

And me, in the right place, right time, too.

i thank You, God.

happy bday40, kristin!!!

That's the birthday girl, right there in the middle!

Woohoo!!!

Mi amiga Carolyn is the one with her back to us in this photograph.

We were gathered together in an oddly-shaped table for six at Bowtie's Barbeque. 

And just who is that laughing woman on the right?

She's Kathleen of Bluffton!!!

She and Kristin have been friends 21 years!!!

She's the one who helped hostess the baby shower for Kristin, along with Amanda, back in 2015.

What a delight she is!

(That can be our inside joke if you clicked the link!)

Moving the camera to the other side of the table now!

Aqui estan mi otra dos amigas!

Sandy and Barbara have known each other since Sandy was Barbara's middle-school student... so that's been several decades ago!

That's from before Kristin was born!!!

Very funny when it's expressed that way.

Honestly, between the four of us being so much older than her, Kristin must have felt quite young by comparison - most excellent!

I call that a successful birthday dinner!

We were all certainly happy with the food there.

It's one of B & C's favorite restaurants!

For Kristin and Kathleen, it was something new and that's always nice to have when you're back in your old stomping grounds.

Amanda and others had already treated the birthday girl to her haunts downtown, so being in midtown, where she once lived, was good!

Oh, and the movie?

"Missing" was a quick-paced thriller, about a teen girl's missing mom.

The best thing about it?

We learned so much about resources we had never known were online!

That was a bonus!

Okay, time for me to wind down with Becker while I await the Harper boys.

'Night, y'all!

which ups? are you sure?

"Why were you using UPS? I thought you preferentially went to the Post Office."

I do, but this time it wasn't for me. It was for Kristin.

"The librarian is back in town??? Sah-weet!"

You got that right! It's a quick visit to celebrate her bday40 with friends. You know: the family you choose, rather than the one you're born into.

"Heard!"

She got in too late on Friday for the movie Tomasz brought, but that worked out well for Amanda. That's who Kristin is staying with until she flies back to Indiana Wednesday. She's been kept pretty busy seeing folks, but it'll be our turn with her tonight!

"Marvelous! I remember when you came back to Savannah to celebrate your thirtieth birthday. Your 29th in Tall'ee had been so bland that you'd promised yourself not to do that again! So you came here to party with Rhonda and company and that's when you met Jeff. Wow, that seems like such a long time ago..."

Hold up, you have the right details, but the wrong date. That was in 1991, so I was 33.

"Oops! (smile!)"

Yeah, but that's okay, you just can't do math anymore. (smile!)

"Speak for yourself, chica. Anywho, what's down with the UPS?"

Hahahaha! Nice punwork there! Okay, let me tell you the story. Actually, it's another tale of me having blonde roots.

"Oh, goodie! Those are fun!"

You ready for this? It all started when I went to pick Kristin up at 2:30. She'd had a nice massage until 1:30, so I allowed an hour for post-massage afterglow.

"That's a real thing?"

I would think so. I know Mama always liked to laze around after I massaged her head and back, so it sounds right to me. It sounded right to her, too! So, when I got to Amanda's - which I kinda sorta recognized from the Rogue's going away party - we three were chatting. Kristin mentioned that she needed to go mail home a box of stuff so she wouldn't have to deal with it for her flight. I popped up with "well, we could do that now! We're just killing time until the movie starts!" Boy-o, we were off to the races then!

"What do you mean by that?"

Well, now that she knew it was happening, she hurried to get it all together! It was a h-u-g-e box, too, mostly filled with clothes and a small piece of rolling luggage. I chatted with Amanda about my missed half-year last year, and how much better I'd been, until Kristin finished. Then, we all got the box and luggage to my car - whew! Off to the UPS we went!

"Why not go to the Post Office?"

As big as that box was, I figured it would cost a small fortune to mail it from there. She agreed, so we headed to the one UPS store that I knew. Along the way, we passed one on Victory... oops! We were in the wrong lane to try to hit it, so, on we drove. Strike 1.

"Oh, yay, a little baseball humor! That means this is going to be three attempts, right?"

Ah, you know me so well! Yes, you're correct. Because when we reached the UPS store on Hodgson Memorial, the only one I knew for sure, it was g-o-n-e, gone. Gone! I would learn later that it had been gone for about three years! LOL! And strike 2.

"So, how did you find the other? Oh, yeah, you had your Nuvi in case you couldn't find Amanda's place, right?"

I did! But it didn't come to that. Kristin looked it up on her phone and found one over near Fresh Market area. It gave us whack-a-doodle directions to it, and it turned out to be in the shopping center with the closed Lucky's, but we found it! Swing and a hit!!!

"What a lucky break!"

Yes, but now we were way down Abercorn, near DeRenne. The movie was at AMC 11, at the part of Abercorn past the Savannah Mall. Time was going to be tight. The piece of luggage needed to be in the box, then the package needed to be sealed, then the address had to be put on it and it weighed and postage affixed...

"... definitely crunch time..."

So, I sent Barbara a message to let her know... an unwarranted message, as it turned out. That young woman behind the counter was so very efficient! She had it all wrapped up tight and was printing the label/postage for it as the message traversed the ether! Next thing I knew, we were in the car and headed south to the cinema, actually arriving right on time! We even beat Barbara there!

"Good deal!"

Indeed! Now, gotta go, the movie's about to start. More later!

"I'm gonna hold you to that!"

let's talk about x bb, let's talk about you and me

I think I'd like a bit of Salt'N'Pepa with that order, please!

Might as well make it spicy, right?

"Let's talk about x bb,

let's talk about you and me,

let's talk about all the good things

and the bad things

that may be."

 

Hard to believe it's been 32 years since "Let's Talk About Sex" hit the airwaves.

Now, we have something else speeding through the air.

Ah, yeah, and it's faster than a speeding bullet ...

well, maybe not, but it does seem to be traveling on planes.

How else to explain how the XBB.1.5 strain, which began in the northeast of this country, has spread so effectively west?

Remember, I'd introduced it after the first week of this month.

I'd even postulated that its origins were in the Great White North of the USA, with folks there carrying it home all over the country for Christmas.

Well, my theory was correct.

 

I can't say I'm happy about being right on this, but, what the heck.

Those purple pieces of pie don't lie.

The New England states are plum eat up with that shade, looking more like a new version of Pac-Man gobbling up the area.

(Yeah, a bit of humor, a little joke, and maybe a small pun to make the medicine go down.)

As travel pushed into the other regions on the map, the tiny slivers of purple have morphed into definite dessert-sized slices of pie.

 

Here's the table of SARS-CoV-2 omicron variants responsible for the recent cases of COVID.

My thanks to the CDC for making that map and this table.

Tracking from week to week since the past three months, it clearly shows the changing of the guard, so to speak, from one dominant strain to another.

I want to emphasize one thing: all of this data is for the omicron form of the virus.

The table bears witness that this form of the virus is clearly as malleable as the rhinovirus that brings us the common cold every year...

every year...

so the best we can do is pump up our immune system's warriors by showing them the general identity of the invader.

Namely, be sure to keep up with the mRNA boosters make sure to eat protein.

So what does the table show?

In October and much of November, the BA.5 was dominant.

That gave way over the holidays to the "barbeque" siblings, BQ.1 and BQ.1.1, until after Thanksgiving and Christmas were almost done.

That's when the XBB.1.5 stepped in...

and, as is clear, it has quick-stepped its way to the top of the charts for most hits.

I get my Omicron booster on February 2.

I've been waiting since the second week of December, when I had my PCP appointment and made the list for the 'vaccine'.

I am so ready for it.

 

I'm back!

I took a break from this serious talk for a bit of British fun.

Specifically, it was time for "Shakespeare & Hathaway"!

This week's episode dealt with a race-car driver getting killed and the disappearance of his vintage car.

Lucky me!

Their assistant, a Sebastian of all trades and thespian by training, was all dolled up like a rock star from 1968...

just like Elvis, from the black leather suit to the sideburns and curl in the middle of his forehead!

Such a treat!

So, on that high note, I'm off!

Toodle-oo!

23 january '23

"He'd glide across the floor,
with the girl he adored,
and the band played on.
...
He'd ne'er leave the girl
with the strawberry curls,
and the band played on!"

 

That's the song my mental jukebox had cued up for my morning.

Very odd, right?

I had not been watching anything even remotely associated with that the night before.

I mean, sure, I may have danced along with the Jackson Five when I watched the Carol Burnett Show yesterday...

and she is a redhead...

might that have sparked that long-ago tune in my brain?

For "long-ago" it is.

"The Band Played On" was written at the end of the 19th century.

I'm pretty sure it would have been introduced to me through a 1941 movie that had the song played by Guy Lombardo's orchestra during a dance number.

And just how did I come to know of "The Strawberry Blonde"?

It was a musical, see, and as a girl I would watch the musicals with Mama, see?

(smile!)

That was me doing my best James Cagney impression.

He was in that film.

So, this song got me to thinking about my introduction to music.

Bugs Bunny and Pink Panther laced classical music and opera in with their comedy, so I became familiar with those genres long before I knew any of the composers.

Mama had albums by Petula Clark and Herb Alpert and Ferrante & Teicher.

For those unfamiliar with their works, that would be pop and broadway tunes, jazz and big band, and classical piano and movie soundtracks.

Daddy had albums by Charlie Pride and Hank Williams, Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, and also Roger Miller.

Some might say those were all of the same ilk, but that would be incorrect.

They were, respectively, smooth country, old-time country western, bluegrass, and pop country with a side of humor.

(smile!)

 

Growing up in the 1960's and 1970's, I had the benefit of variety shows to broaden my musical palate, in addition to my parents' records, the cartoons, and musical films.

Some of those I still watch fairly frequently as reruns: "The Carol Burnett Show", "The Lawrence Welk Show", "Heehaw", "The Partridge Family".

Others have been gone for decades; shows by Sonny and Cher, Donny and Marie Osmond, "Laugh In", "Soul Train", "American Bandstand", "The Muppets".

How very fortunate I am to have had these to stock my jukebox!

(smile!)

No wonder I think of this graphic as a "weather song".

I regard the shaded blocks of temperature range as being notes on a musical staff.

Perhaps that's from my Glee Club days in middle school, right?

But I take delight in literally singing along with the placement of the shaded areas as if they were musical notes.

 

La La LAH 

La la La LAH

 

Nice, right?

I can accept the low's just fine, as I can see the high's on the way.

Such a nice little tune for the upcoming spring!

(smile!)

rabbit year and dog paws and a tulip tree, too

I have been waiting for today since the start of the week!

That's when I realized I had another opportunity to send lots of love in the mail.

The last time I did that - I mean, really, truly, did that, with no holiday in sight - had been back in October.

Inspiration came in the form of a Reward from Comcast: activity pages to help celebrate the Chinese New Year.

Okay, how best to to this without running through gobs of toner?

Well, I would pick two pages to copy for each child - 

yeah, that would work!

Everyone would get the second page, with its tidbits of info.

The very youngest children - Leila, Alyssa, Miyah, and Chloe - would get the page to be colored (p5).

The oldest children - Caitlyn and Ally - would get Page 13 with words to be unscrambled, like Jumbles.

Then, the kids in between - Kobe and C J - would get the find-a-word puzzle page (p8).

Those went out on Wednesday, with the glasses-wearing rabbit in the upper left of the envelopes!

 

Yesterday, Christy sent me a text!

No, no, not about the Year of the Rabbit.

It was about Caitlyn's package for her 16th birthday... which was on December 30 but not mailed until Wednesday of this past week.

Yeah, that's not "late", it's "extending the celebration!"

(smile!) 

Well, it had arrived and my great-niece loved the purple T-shirt and sky-blue Koozie with the Renegade Paws logo on them!

Major score for me!

See? I do listen!

Then Christy had mentioned that they were going to the Open House for the new location of the animal shelter.

Oh, sweet, I could go there, too!

So, I had marked "going" on the fb event page and planned on it.

At 5 AM, the rains woke me, but I was able to go right back to bed.

When I arose at 9 AM, the rains remained.

So, a quick flurry of texts to confirm they were still going - yes, and for the whole afternoon.

I sent back that I would see them at 2 PM.

They left about 1:40, because of the crowd and the rain.

Drats.
I was in transit, so I didn't get the message until I was there.

Double drats.

But, that was okay.

The shelter needed towels and had asked that folks bring some.

I brought three of the ones that Bonnie Blue had given me years ago when she and Don redecorated the bathroom.

Yes, Virginia, there are people who do such things.

(smile!)

Then, as I was out and about anyway, I thought about treating myself to lunch.

Yeah, yeah, yeah... no, that would mean getting in and out of the car twice.

Well, maybe I would go ahead and see a movie.

Here it was Sunday and my A*List was not touched.

Yeah, yeah, yeah... but no, as none of the start times were working out for that venture.

Very well, then.

I still have soup at home, though the pantry is getting a bit empty these days.

That's actually a good thing, as I had spent far too much money buying groceries I hadn't needed.

Back to home I drove, water splish-splashing all around as cars zoomed past.

Back to my tulip tree, my Japanese magnolia, fuchsia-tinted blooms somehow even lovelier in the rain...

right where I needed to be.

Such a feeling of gratitude washed over me!

(smile!)

code orange at bikini bottom!

I think I'll start at the end and work my way to the top of the day!

Here in my blog, if I want to run time backward, I can!

(smile!)

And, so, this is the bottom of the thread.

It was supper time and I was looking for something, anything, on the TV.

As there was naught, I turned to On Demand and pulled up the second episode of "Celebrity Jeopardy" from this season.

And there it was, fresh off the boat!

(Hey, that's an inside joke for one of the three comedians on the dais!)

"This TV show theme answers the question "Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?"

All three knew the answer, but Iliza buzzed in first.

I knew the answer, too, and couldn't help but grin!

It may have been almost thirteen years since I'd last seen the kids' show, but I was fresh from the matinee at the Savannah Children's Theatre...

so I laughingly said, "Spongebob Squarepants!!!"

And here he is, embodied by JoJo Ward in "Nickelodeon The Spongebob Musical"!!!

Oh, my, he just gets better in every show, and he radiates beams of joy when he's singing and dancing...

which he does often and with great glee!!!

I'm so glad to have been able to watch him these last six years in so many roles!

Oh, and more recently, too, in the tale of a cat!

I do so love this kid and he always... always... remembers my name... always!

This time, I had nearly two and a half hours with him.

And, amazingly, all the kids in the audience stayed as excited as I was the entire time!!!

But they didn't get the joy of having bubbles rain down on them from Sandy's Erupter Interrupter - but I did!!!

I just loved all the science in the show - bravo, y'all!

I loved all the pirates in the show, too.

Here I am, mugging with Patchey the Pirate afterward!

Michael Rogers was elated to have his photo snapped, too!

I made sure I forwarded that pic to Yvonne...

we Armstrong Pirates have to stand together.... aarrrggghhh!!!

(smile!)

So, what's up with that post title, eh?

Well, Bikini Bottom is where all of these under-the-sea folks live in the play (as well as the source of some inside jokes for the grown-ups in the audience).

When a long-dormant volcano starts rumbling and getting ready to rain down lava, the mayor springs to action!

"Code Orange," she proclaimed, "Code Orange!"

Shades of the fundraiser concert for a blind boy that gave me some inspiration for my tactile periodic table!

All it took was a different perspective and a bit of imagination... just like what is needed to watch a broken TV.

Bugs Bunny - what a perfect way to start my Saturday!!!

into the dark, around the big bend, into the light

This must be the year that my Periodic Table gets into students' hands!

Here's the message from Reverend Billy's weekly email.

 

"Community Focus - Dining in the Dark This Thursday
I will be forever grateful for the day that Asbury member, Roy Hill,
introduced me to the work of the Savannah Center for the Blind and Low
Vision. Like many of you, Roy not only serves at Asbury, he is very
active in serving the community. Roy is currently the president of the
board of directors for SCBLV. I encourage you to go to their website
and see the great work that SCBLV does.
This Thursday, SCBLV will be having their main fundraiser, Dining in
the Dark. To raise awareness of vision loss, a three course meal is
served in complete darkness by Savannah Metro's SWAT Team using their
night-vision equipment. Then you are in the dark trying to partake of
the food. It is a very affective experience. If you have not ever
participated, I would encourage you to do so. It may be too late to get
tickets for this year's event, but circle it in your calendar for next
year. Of course, you can contribute to SCBLV anytime. And by all means,
check out their services. For many of us who are getting older and
starting to have vision issues, SCBLV is not only for people who are
totally blind. It is there to help any of us who are starting to have
vision issues. They are trained to help us adapt and function with whatever
eyesight we have or don't have.
Thank you, Roy, and to all the folks at SCBLV!"

 

Apparently, there's a connection at Asbury Memorial Church, one of my fellow members there, who can possibly help lead me to the resources I need.

I will definitely look him up when next I go.

Weekends have been miserably cold this month, meaning I have not yet ventured there.

Still, maybe I can locate my church directory and contact him before hand?

Now, there's an idea!

But not today.

Cinema Savannah had brought a movie for us, along with a Q&A afterward - hooray!

I was there with dos de mi tres amigas, Barbara and Carolyn, and they were seated about four rows up from me.

I prefer the first row, at floor level, there at the Sav'h Cultural Arts Center, so I can stretch my legs instead of being cramped up.

That made me seem to be there alone and several friends tried to get me to sit with them.

I thought that was pretty funny!

Still, my thanks to Axelle and Jordan, to Amanda and Mark, to Margaret Clay, to Rob and Lindsay Norman and her towering son, Jesse!

So wonderful to have so many looking out for me!

(smile!)

 

The movie was fabulous.

The family had traveled from the suburbs of New Jersey to a tiny town in Texas, partly for a vacation, partly to visit college friends one last time.

The dad had cancer, but he didn't want to bring down the party, so he kept the news quiet for most of the visit.

The mom had news she wasn't sharing, either, passing off her expanded tummy as a result of fibrous cysts, not a third pregnancy.

However, when their youngest girl wanders off during a trip to the desert, the mom tells the truth about the dad's health, to add urgency to the search for the child.

Meanwhile, she keeps having a dream about a rock tunnel she had explored on an earlier desert hike, a tunnel that led into a darkened cavern that she had to pass through...

very much like the dark time she had to get through in her life.

Truly, it was an excellent film, full of the contrasting perspectives of the adults - caught up in their own troubles and strain - with that of the children, for whom the trip was an adventure into a land so very different from their normal.

 

Brett Wagner, the one with his left hand in the air, is a local SCAD professor who wrote and directed it.

Amazingly, it was based on a trip his family had taken the year before he wrote the script!

He's seated between his two daughters, Zoe and Delilah, who played the daughters in the film.

They were 10 and 8 at the time (two years ago).

He even used some of their actual dialogue from the real trip in the movie!

Very nice!

And that laid-back fellow on the end of the foursome is the cinematographer, Paul Atkins. 

So many questions from the audience!

And why was Brett's hand in the air?

Someone had asked about the filming of the hot-water heater scene, in which it had shot into the air (hence the hand being raised) before falling back to the ground.

Very interesting how they did that!

Afterward, we were off to Bonefish to grab some food!

I had intended to order their House Salad, as I so enjoy it, but I went for the Ahi Tuna Poke instead.

Good choice, but it was a lot of food for that late at night!

All that tuna rested on a mound of sticky rice... and I ate it all.

Carolyn ate all of her big dinner, too!

Barbara had the seared tuna appetizer, so she had to watch the two of us continue eating long after she was done...

so, roughly for an hour or more.

Yep, we closed the place down!

(smile!)

Lions and Legionnaires

I completely understand why Eugene was a Lion.

After spending about two and a half hours with the Savannah Lions Club, I definitely saw and heard the sense of humor mingled in with the proceedings.

I was greeted at the door of The Pirates House banquet room by Bart, a friendly face, and I told him upfront why I was there, rather than make him think I was interested in joining.

I'm glad I did that.

He took me over to Rush, who listened to my tale, and who took me right over to Lois Modell, who happened to be a guest for the luncheon, too.

And who was she?

She was the director of the Savannah Center For The Blind And Low Vision.

For real.

She just so happened to be at that meeting...

and I just so happened to be at that meeting...

and we sat together for the entire luncheon.

Right place, right time.

I'm still a bit in awe of the timing of this coincidence.

She has given me the name and contact information for Juliet Hardeman, the Parent Mentor for Chatham County Schools.

She is the one to help get my Elements of Touch Periodic Table into the hands of the local students.

Lizzy Ross, the Program Director at the Ronald McDonald House, had me show her how my invention works!

She deals with not only children who have lost their vision to cancer, but adults, too, and thought my Periodic Table could be of use for them in Chemistry classes.

She, too, was not a Lion, but a guest, like me, like Lois.

i thank You, God.

 

I'm so glad I had dressed up for the occasion.

In a way, it was as if I was going to an interview, but instead of a job being at stake, it was the future of my invention.

The universe sent this fellow on "Let's Make A Deal" to get my attention, and he did.

As a STEAM punk alchemist, he turns zonks into prizes.

I don't know if he meant it STEAM, but that's how I heard it.

That meant this was an official first outing for my Table.

The 'medieval roses' dress was warranted.

I was still wearing the dress when I went to the American Legion meeting at 6 PM.

I'm sure that's why Joe immediately recognized me as having been at the luncheon earlier.

Yes, Joe is a Lion as well as a Legionnaire!

He got a kick out of me recognizing him as "the bouncer" during the Tail Twisting portion of the Lions' meeting.

That was the "trivia" time, complete with bad jokes, which served to engage each member in answering a question, then paying a dollar "fine" for getting it wrong... which they all did!

I just know Eugene loved that part best.

So, back to this evening's get-together.

That started with dinner from Barnes' restaurant.

It was free, which was different from past meetings of Post 36.

Then again, we were no longer only that first post of Savannah.

Now, we were joined with Post 500, the first black post in town, so together we were The Two Firsts American Legion Post.

The space now inhabited is new to both posts and will eventually become a bar, as well as a site for "Hail & Farewell" parties for Hunter Army Air Station.

That will be an easy transition, as we're directly outside the Montgomery Street gate.

Of course, that will not be for awhile.

There's quite a lot of work to be done to the spaces.

For one thing, there's this ancient linoleum layer to be removed, as well as the marred tile floor and stained carpet.

Plus, the acoustical tiles in the ceiling are stained from both water damage as well as years of cigarette smoke - yuck.

But tonight was a time of getting to know each other.

I found out I'm one of three ex-sailors, that I'm one of three former electronic maintenance techs, and that I'm one of two who served down in Panama.

Very nice to feel like I belong!

the rogue's orchid

him, addressing fb friends:  

This is my oldest orchid, I think I've had her 5 or 6 years now. 

She's bloomed every year I've had her, even during a year of shameful neglect. 

I've long ago forgotten the name of the cultivar, but I call her "old faithful".

me:

Might that be the one I gave you? 

One of my students had given me an orchid and it had done well, but then my brown thumb caught up with it. 

You took it into your care and managed to get it to bloom again... I think.

him: 

It may be. 

I've had it for a while.

me: 

Looks gorgeous! 

Good work!

him:
Thanks!

me:

Okay, it wouldn't have been the one from my student, it had more purple in it.

me:

But, it could very well have been the one that Nami gave me. 

The timeline works, too.

 

him:

The purple one drowned one time when I was away.

I'm not sure about the other, though.

 

me:

It's lovely, no matter from whence it came.

 

You call that a resolution???

You bet I do!

A resolution is defined as "a statement of intent".

Here's the thing: I hadn't even realized I had made a resolution until a few minutes ago.

I'd texted my stepsister, Jean, to wish her a happy birthday.

She's 61 today.

She had responded with being glad to hear from me, what a sweet gesture!

I told her, justthatfast, that my resolution this year was to be more attentive to special dates I'd put on my calendar.

She was probably as stunned as I was by that statement.

(smile!)

I had not realized I'd even made a resolution until my fingers typed the words.

Well, good for my brain.

I know I've been a bit lax on keeping up with birthdays and anniversaries the last few years.

The Book of Face sends me reminders of those occasions, and that's helpful.

However, there are a lot of dates that it misses.

Not everyone I love is on that social site.

And, of those who are, not all of them share that information.

So, there are a lot of special occasions that get missed by me... even though I do have color-coded slips of paper all over my calendar to make sure I know.

The truth is, working on the genealogy has helped me a bit.

They send reminders to me for birthdays and anniversaries of family.

However, they miss those dates for my friends, that family that I chose.

So, I'm going to have to make a point of looking at my calendar each month and making a mental note of what is coming up and for whom.

Yes, that is indeed a resolution, and perhaps the best I've ever made.

(smile!)