new configuration and an old(er) who

Yeah, that sounds like it would be an opener 

from an organic chemisty teacher 

for an Abbott and Costello joke riffing on baseball, 

but it ain't.

The joke's on you!

(smile!) 

I'm retired from that now!

Hahahaha!

So just what is it that I'm saying?

These are the words coming out of my mouth:

we had a new arrangement of brothers

at the S&K Friday Fiesta!

I had my coat on the back of the chair next to Mary,

so Laura sat in Betsy's chair,

leading Tony to sit beside Smitty in Mark's chair.

Addison sat next to him in her daddy's chair,

with Becca in her own usual chair.

Betsy was ill, so she never made it.

So where did the Kameron brothers sit?

They were to each side of me on my end of the table!

That was magnificent!!!

We don't usually get a chance to chat, so we loved it!

Tony loved being able to talk with Smitty,

Laura loved talking uninterrupted with Mary,

and the two young ones loved their talk, too!

The question now is: where to seat Betsy next week?

Hahahaha!

More comedy awaited when I got home.

AARP MFG had "How The Grinch Stole Christmas", the 2000 version with Jim Carrey staying true to the green one's spirit.

Hooray!

By the movie's end, I had a question.

Just how old might be Taylor Momsen,

the sweet-faced child that portrayed

Cindy Lou Who?

She had to have been 6 or 7 back then, right?

She was actually 6 years old during the filming, as that was in the latter half of 1999.

Taylor Momsen is now 31 years old.

That's only ten years younger than my first niece.

Wow... mind blown.

Then again, the story is 67 years old,

which I shall be next birthday.

I wonder if she watches this version of the story

every year, or the cartoon one on TV?

Actually, I wonder if she watches either?

She was apparently teased badly in school for being

"the Grinch girl".

I guess Paul Harvey would call that "the rest of the story",

and now I know it, too.

holding hands film festival

It all started with this image.

I'd signed up on AARP Theatre to watch "Broadway & Beyond with Marin Mazzie and Jason Danieley", filmed at a NYC club on 1 June 2017.

It was the word "Broadway" that caught me, as I knew nothing about either of them.

But, as I watched the film clip a few weeks ago, I noticed something that was different about their duet: they were holding hands.

In fact, they had been in contact during the entire song, but this was when I saw the held hands.

Wow.

And when I watched the entire film tonight, I was again struck with their near-constant contact, but this time I knew two things about them.

1) This show was filmed on their 20th wedding anniversary and celebrated their first touch as Dido and Aeneus in the Puccini opera.

It had not mattered that she was 36 and he was 25.

2) She had died within a year after this performance at Feinstein's 54 Below.

The ovarian cancer had returned, possibly before this show.

No wonder the songs were ones they'd sung before, meaningful lyrics with an extra dollop of poignancy at this time in their lives.

I couldn't help but draw a parallel from them to JinHi and Mark.

Her omnipresent cancers - plural - have given them many scares in their 24 years of marriage, but they are still holding tightly to each other's hands.

Wow.

 

Then it occurred to me that I've actually seen a lot of hand-holding recently.

Why not make this post a celebration of that emblem of love and trust?

So, the film of Marin and Jason stands as the first entry, though it was not the first seen.

That honor belongs to "Warm Bodies", watched last week on Peacock.

It's in the "my stuff" folder, too, so I can see it again whenever I like.

I really love this zombie movie!

R shows Julie what a sensitive guy he is by playing appropriately-themed cuts on the albums he's collected.

No doubt that led to the me watching "Ennchanted" as my $1 Reward from Comcast a few evenings later. 

Here, Ella and Prince Edward enter the ball holding hands, but her heart no longer belongs to him.

No, a couple of days in the real world has led her to Robert (and his darling little daughter).

Yes, even though it had been Edward who sang to, and with, her in the imaginary land of Andalasia!

It's so very important that a couple should be able to sing love - or play - love songs to each other to let each know know how they feel!

Such an interesting point, that is.

Language is important, and precise word choice more so.

How better than in song to express deepest feelings to a loved one?

This afternoon I saw the third film with hand holders.

Yes, the couple in this photo are my ever-helpful Sally with her beloved scientist, Jack, in "The Nightmare Before Christmas".

How glad I was that AMC gifted me with that for my dance card!

And I'm glad I was able to include this movie in this film festival.

(smile!)

whispers from a dead man...

That's the first thing to mind shortly after the movie started.

I heard Ray Liotta's voice saying, in hushed tones, "If you build it, he will come", and my instantaneous response had been, "whispers from a dead man."

He died two years ago, at 67 years old, from heart failure.

 

Nonetheless, I kept watching "Field of Dreams".

I've smelled that corn in the hot summer.

I've walked around the bases in that baseball diamond.

I've sat in those bleachers by that clapboard house.

I've touched home plate, and stood on it, too.

That place in Iowa is part of me now.

 

Besides, I was watching this time to pay homage to the late James Earl Jones.

He died a little over a week ago, at the age of 93.

He was born in January, too, just like Elvis Presley, but four years before the King of Rock and Roll graced this lovely planet.

 

My friend Reggie shared this photo on fb.

She had vouchsafed it as being factual, something the folks at the Empire State Building had done to honor the passing of the one who will forever be the voice of Darth Vader.

It brought to mind an episode of "The Big Bang Theory" in which Sheldon had tracked down James Earl Jones to ask the man to be a speaker at the comic-con he was creating.

J E J said, "You do know I did other movies..."

to which Sheldon nodded...

"but you don't care about those, do you?"

Sheldon shook his head.

"You only care about "Star Wars", don't you?"

Sheldon nodded agreeably.

Then J E J said, "I like "Star Wars", too!"

(smile!)

So, how did I happen to have access to "Field of Dreams"?

AARP's MFG had hosted the movie on the 5th, but I had forgotten and missed it.

But... they had granted access to it until the 20th!

The screening was several days before the death of J E J, so it wasn't as if that was their rationale for either showing the movie or extending access.

Right place, right time, for me, and tonight was the night.

 

Even though I knew in advance where the tears would flow for me.

That's because it's always the same place, every time, ever since the first time I ever watched this baseball classic.

It didn't matter that Burt Lancaster was still alive back in 1989, nor that he would be for another five years after the movie debuted.

After all, it wasn't the actor I wept for...

it was the fictional character, Doc "Moonlight" Graham, that brought the tears.

When he choose to step off that magical diamond in the corn field, in order to save the little girl's life, he also choose to give up his dream of playing baseball...

again...

as he had earlier in his life, when he forsook sports to become a physician.

That part always makes me sob.

It's such an irreversible decision.

What a movie about life...

dreaming of sushi

Even though the event was part of AARP, it wasn't local or part of their MFG lineup.

No, "Jiro Dreams Of Sushi" came from the California AARP, as part of their 3-film Ginger & Garlic Series, aimed at their Asian-American audiences.

I just happened to stumble upon it, too late for the first two movies, but in time for the 2011 documentary that I'd first seen a dozen years back.

Incredibly, I'd recently been reminded by fb of seeing the film - not once, but twice - as part of the Psychotronic Film Society's offerings at Muse Arts Warehouse.

That was on June 10, 2012, and here's what the "memory" said.

"Lovely Sunday! Thanks to Jim Reed for a film awesome enough to see TWICE!! Thanks to Jeff Secrest for sparkling conversation and sushi between showings of "Jiro Dreams Of Sushi"! Thanks to Joe Guy and Kristin Stout and Jim Reed for chocolate goodies at Lulu's to finish up the evening! And tomorrow I look forward to breakfast with bff Sam DeLong - sweet dreams, y'all!" 

What a good time that was, with a film group now gone, at a venue now gone.

I'm so glad my first viewing - I mean, viewings - have such happiness involved!

Right time, right place, then, and now.

 

And as I drank my morning coffee... 

 

and dined on a tortilla sandwich made with Canadian bacon and Muenster... 

 

all I really wanted was some of that sushi being lovingly prepared... 

 

by the 85-year-old shokunin extraordinaire, Jiro Ono.

 

That younger man is his 60-year-old son, who works with his dad in the family business.

Their 50-year-old sushi restaurant only - yes, only - sells sushi.

Period.

No soups, no tempura, just sushi.

 

Their patrons willingly pay the 30,000 Yen, or more, to dine there, and willingly make their reservations at least a month in advance.

 

Jiro and the two assistant shokunin keep a steady stream of sushi coming out, knowing that the dish is meant to be eaten immediately by the diner.

 

Thanks to the prep work done on the meats and the rice by the kitchen staff, the trio of men preparing the sushi dishes are able to meet, or even exceed, the goal to give each person twenty pieces as their meal.

As Jiro said, the staff do 90 percent of the work, so he can do his 10 percent and get the credit of being a talented sushi chef.

Very nice.

And the price really isn't out of line with top-end restaurants here in town, like Ruth Chris or Elizabeth's on 37th or Sapphire Grill.

That price of 30,000 Yen equates to about $205 per diner, making each piece of nigiri sushi cost $10 - an absolute steal, considering all the massaging the meat gets in the master's hand as he applies the rice base.

Yeah, I'll definitely have to get some sushi next week.

Maybe I'll even splurge and go to a restaurant...

perhaps!

from high noon onward!

Yep, pardner, high noon, that's what I said and that's what I meant!

When else would I have gone to see this here movie for the first time?

That's right, I started this new A*List dance card of mine with Kevin Costner's western, "Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1".

Partly I went so I'd get them extra bonus points added onto my account at AMC.

Oh, yeah, those come in right handy!

But, mostly, I saw the movie so I could see him again.

Especially after hearing him talk last weekend on "CBS Sunday Morning" about this story that he's wanted to tell for three decades, I just had to see for myself what he went and spent $38 million of his own money to make.

Let me tell you what, he must have called up everybody he ever made a movie with and asked them to be part of this one.

And, bless Pete, they came!

Will Patton, my man Michael Rooker, Luke Wilson, Giovanni Ribisi, and Jeff Fahey were the ones I recognized right off the bat.

And you know, I had been concerned about that three-hour movie length, but I needn't have been - the time just flew by!

Yeah, I'll want to see it again 'fore the next one comes in August.

Afterward, I stopped in at that southside Publix.

They have my favorite hotdogs on sale as one of those buy-one, get-one deals, and I'm gonna stock up!

Given that they haven't had those Ballpark Turkey Franks for several months, and they're now $6.05 for a package of 8, I'm making sure I have some in the freezer.

I even bought buns and sauerkraut!

Sounds like a mighty good lunch for tomorrow, don't it?

I can hardly wait... my lips are smacking already!

As for tonight, I had these two crunchy tacos.

Just ground beef, just like we Smith kids used to have when we were growing up.

'Course, we didn't have that special cheese on those, we just had shredded Cheddar.

Jalapenos of Sandfly is real Mexican, so I get the right cheese on top.

Plus, I got to see my brothers at that S&K Friday Fiesta, and it's good to see family while they're still able to talk back atcha!

It was right good to chat with those two Kameron fellas, too, and all the regulars.

They had a little to say about the Presidential debate last night, but I didn't watch that stuff.

Nope.

I knew I'd hear all about it from this bunch, as well as everyone and their pet dog on fb.

That's why I'm leaving the TV off for a while.

That AARP MFG has a movie coming on - "Miss Sharon Jones!" - that looks like it might be purty entertaining for a Friday night.

They're calling it a musical, but I'm sure that it'll be more like a documentary with a bit of concert footage of Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings.

You know, they were here a while back for the Savannah Music Festival, but I was always off volunteering somewhere else.

Oops!

Gotta go now, y'all, it's about to start.

aarp cinema, so to speak

Back to my own house, I am!

My brother and sis-in-law are safely home from Missouri, since just past noon30.

Good for Dane and good for me!

I had a ZOOM scheduled at 2 PM with AARP and Senior Planet to become more informed.

"Fact-Checking In The AI Age" was given by Devon of the News Literacy Project.

I just may have to watch it again.

He gave us a lot of information in that hour talk.

The best thing he told us to do to protect ourselves from misinformation and false images?

S-L-O-W D-O-W-N.

Take a few moments to do these five checks against anything presented, especially on social media.

Consider the context of the story or image; check the authenticity of the news; use your own reasoning skills; look at the source of the post; and, if in doubt,

look for evidence from other sources to validate the story or image.

So many examples he gave us for verifying something, rather than blindly passing it on!

Even so, when it came to images, those are the hardest to distinguish real from fake.

That's okay, as he even has some difficulty with that.

For close views of people, count the fingers, look for odd facial features, check the background.

However, for images like these two, of firefighters on the scene, one may be stock footage and not for the actual blaze still burning.

That's the case for Image A.

Looks pretty real to me, though.

Yeah, I think I'll watch that webinar again...

but not right now.

Rain is coming and the yard beckoned.

"Bring it," said that wild green that I left yesterday.

So I grabbed the Ryobi and we set to work!

By that time it was nearly 6 PM, so the day was cool enough and the sun had nearly fled the back of the house.

The growth was dry enough that I made short shrift of the task.

Then, to show the weeds I mean business, I changed the mower to its lowest setting, and went back over that open expanse.

Like I said, more rain is coming, and the weeds grow quickly.

I don't intend to mow every other week! 

I took a popsicle break and watched "Mr. Monk Goes To A Rock Concert" as I started dinner.

Ah, one of the little touches that was a sure sign I was home: "Monk" on Peacock!

(smile!)

I was so enjoying that part of life in retirement that I was late for this movie at the AARP MFG!

"The Blue Angels" is a new documentary about the US Navy's aerobatic demonstration team and I tuned in about 30 minutes late.

What an informative look at the training program!

How incredible that the new team members are chosen by the current team... and that the vote must be unanimous!

That's certainly understandable, though, as they have to be able to trust each other completely.

When flying in that "Blue Angels Diamond" formation, their wingtips are less that 2 feet apart.

Moreover, when they are making those rolls toward the ground, only the "boss" pilot is actually looking at the earth rushing up.

The three other pilots are sighting off him and each other, keeping the line tight.

That's why, in 1973, when the "boss" miscalculated and hit the ground, two others crashed right on top of his plane, with only the 4th in line seeing the error in time.

The movie didn't talk about that, but it did show us this framed painting multiple times.

Those are the 28 members who have died over the SEVENTY-EIGHT YEARS since the formation of the Blue Angels.

Amazing to have such a low mortality, given the inherent riskiness of their maneuvers in the air!!!

I'm looking forward to seeing this on Monday on the silver screen...

but, shhhh!

My friends don't know I've already seen it.

Yes, I've done that again, but it's okay.

My birthday is next week and I'm arranging these special times with others, watching movies they have agreed to see with me, and I am greatly looking forward to their company!

Dinner and a movie, or luncheon and a movie - both are just fine with me!

(smile!)

NASA, MFG, VA, AL36... and Elvis!

"That's quite some alphabet soup you have going there, until the last part."

Right? But it does all tie together, as all of it was experienced today.

"Oh? Do tell."

Let me start with Elvis. "I Can See Your Voice" had all their possible "good singers" doing songs from the King of Rock'n'Roll's discography. You know that was a big draw for me!

"Most def!"

So, the very first one the contestant suspected was a "bad singer" was the guy dressed as a firefighter, the one in my photo. Only he wasn't! His rendition of "Burnin' Love" was spot on! It turned out he had won the Ultimate Elvis competition back in 2008.

"Very nice!!! He had been a real ETA!!! Was he the only one who had been?"

I don't know. I remembered I had reserved a spot to watch an AARP MFG, which had started at 8 PM, same as that show. Oops!

"Oops, indeed. Did you forget to tell your Thursday kitchen cabinet Elvis about that?"

No, that's how I remembered. I saw it when I got some water. So, I missed maybe the first ten minutes or so of "Space: The Longest Goodbye". I tuned in for the talk with Cady Coleman, who was on the ISS, and her son Jamey Simpson, who was 10 years old when his mom left Earth. Coleman was one day past her 50th birthday when she left for Expedition 26.

"Wow. That sounds like it was quite interesting."

It certainly was, though it left me with a lot of questions. The documentary was about the ability of humans to cope with long separations from family and friends, as well as their ability to acclimate back into those lives when the separation was over.

"Well I recall the difficulty you had adjusting back to civilian life when you returned home from the Navy. In fact, you'd had a bit of a disconnect every time you returned home on leave from wherever you'd been stationed. There were always a few days of feeling like being in the military was a dream, then you'd settle in."

You know, I had forgotten about that! This movie brought to mind the one I'd seen in 2020, during the summer of the pandemic, about Scott Kelly. He was 51 years old when he was part of NASA's yearlong mission on the ISS that began in March of 2015. The 340-day mission was to determine health effects of long-term spaceflight. For that mission to the ISS, Scott Kelly was also part of a study by NASA on twins, which found his DNA was altered, and cognitive ability as well, from that of his identical-twin brother, Mark. Very interesting studies! It was also a very interesting look at isolation during that summer of COVID-19.

"I bet it was. It really doesn't matter if the isolation was chosen or not, the ultimate effects are the same: a disconnect from self-identity due to loss of connection to others."

I would be interested in the Russian studies about such isolation. Scott Kelly is the only astronaut from the USA to do such a mission. Russia has four cosmonauts - Valery Polyakov, Sergei Avdeyev, Vladimir Titov and Musa Manarov - who have been on missions that were longer, and which were done in the mid- to late-1990's.

"That's amazing!"

Truly, it is. I don't recall that the earlier documentary raised questions so much as it was reassuring that I would survive the pandemic and the inflicted isolation from all the social activities that had been my norm. However, this MFG tonight left me pondering. How could NASA's research be utilized for prisoners returning to their communities after they are released? How could that research be applied for military personnel returning home to the US from war zones? How could it be used to help folks adjust to life working in remote locations, or even for troops before they go to strife-ridden sites? I even left those questions in the comment section of the post-film chat.

"I wonder if you will hear anything back from that? As for the questions you've posed, I'm willing to bet recent events have a lot to do with those. The monologue from Lee Osorio, the prison film on Monday, even the talk with your brother at dinner - those all have had an impact on your psyche and resulted in those questions being raised."

Oh, I am sure of that. As for the military angle, that's probably from the American Legion meeting earlier tonight. I have officially become the Historian for Post 36! The former Historian, Byron Stephens, passed over to me the thin binder of documents. Surely some are missing, right? I mean, Post 36 was the first American Legion stronghold in Savannah and is more than 100 years old. Perhaps the rest of our history is with the district site?

"That's something to look into, for sure. How many members showed up tonight?"

Six. There were six of us. I was disappointed. I created an event page on fb, on the Post 36 page, and I had hoped to see some new faces tonight. Doug told me that's the first time we've had such an event listed on fb, so kudos to me. I replied that I'd like to have seen all the officers show up, at the very least. He feels that once we have the Two Firsts Club up and running that we'll have many more members at the meetings.

"Let's hope so. But do you recall how many came for the meetings when they were held at the Thunderbolt location? At most, there were about twenty, right? Not including the wives who were part of the Women's Auxiliary?"

Yeah. Maybe 25 or 30 on really special meetings, like the one tonight, or for the one for the official induction of those elected. That would have represented about 10% of the membership at the time."

"That sounds right. Only about ten percent of the members of any group show up for the activities and meetings. Given that, and that current membership is down to about 120, then a good meeting attendance would be about 12."

Yeah. Okay, new topic! Today, I participated in the 14th Annual VA 2K Walk & Roll!!!

"I thought that was yesterday."

It was, but I couldn't work it into my schedule. Between my first day tending to my brother's dog and the impromptu dinner with Christina and her girls, I couldn't juggle in the time at the Purple Planet. Specifically, I wanted to be at the one on Victory. So, I took care of that today! I trod the treadmill for 42 minutes, racking up 2.3 km while watching Vince Vaughn for 45 minutes in "Couples Retreat".

"Something is amiss with your math..."

... no, it sn't! I continued watching during the three minutes of cool-down! Now, excuse me, but I must return to the dog for our sleepover tonight! Not that he sleeps in the same room I do, but he does like to know he isn't alone in the house. Bye!

a luncheon, a dinner, and a brunch... plus pizza!

The luncheon was back on April 9th, a regular Tuesday rather than a Tina Tuesday.

The time and place had originally been noon at Olive Garden...

so that meant the meal was with Yvonne...

(smile!)

However, she was detained by family in the hospital...

a situation I have experience with...

so delaying lunch (by only an hour)...

and changing to a closer locale (Kayak Kafe Midtown)...

fit our needs perfectly.

Add an adorable, and humorous, Hunter waiting on us, and we both left with smiles!

(smile!) 

The dinner was at the Smiths & Kamerons Friday Fiesta, the first one I've been to since the Savannah Music Festival began.

How wonderful to see everyone again!

My biggest little brother greeted me with quite happily, especially as I brought him a list of golf matches that are fundraising for the Georgia Sheriffs Association.

He and his buddies can help that organization raise money, and maybe awareness, too, for the Youth Homes they operate.

That'll be great!

(smile!)

The brunch was today.

Yes, it was to have been a luncheon...

and for Dawn it no doubt was.

But I'd had a nightmare involving 'Nancy', of "Ghosts" -

she's one of the ghosts in the basement that had died of cholera -

having hold of my arm and trying to move my furniture out...

only, we weren't at my house but at my brother Tony's...

and I'd slept until 11 AM trying to get loose from her.

Crazy!

But having refried beans with queso, and fajita shrimp, was wonderful!

I'm so glad we were at Cancun this time around!

(smile!) 

And what's that about pizza?

Saturday, as it was the 3rd such day of the month, was designated BOGO day by Papa John's, and I've been looking forward to it for two months!

Somehow, I missed it in March.

Not this time!

I had it on the kitchen cabinet for Elvis to alert me to the event!

The one on the left is pepperoni and banana peppers.

The one on the left is Canadian bacon and pineapple.

Both have been delicious!!!

I ate pizza for lunch and dinner on Saturday, then for Sunday breakfast!

I'll have pizza for dinner tonight, then breakfast the next two days.

Ah...

live is good!!!

(smile!)

 

Now, I have a documentary, "Canary", on AARP as a MFG.

(smile!)

taking advantage of an extra day

Chilly and rainy it is, but that meant I had no excuse for procrastination.

If I was going to be housebound on this 29th of February, I may as well make it memorable.

 

All of that stress-inducing rancor from the house insurance folks came to a standstill.

I'd tried three times to speak to someone at Navy Federal Credit Union about the situation and was cut off twice.

Fine.

Joy Polite of Allstate had found me a house insurance policy through the Georgia Underwriters Association, so I made a command decision and signed off on it.

That meant I had to immediately pay the first quarter cost, so I charged it...

on my Navy Federal Credit Union credit card.

That was my way of giving them proof that I was seriously working on getting coverage on the house.

Oh, and by the way... it's raining and my roof is fine...

and this thorn in my side since October has been removed, hopefully for good.

 

What next to clear from my slate?

Yet another insurance thing, this time for the car.

GEICO had sent me a letter that my "good driving" discount was due to expire.

Damn, it'd been three years already?

Apparently so.

Fortunately, the IMPROV driving course was again an option on the list of driving schools.

The course seems to have more chapters this time, but that's okay.

It still has sweet Denise as its heart, Professor Gray Matter as the voice of science, and suave Jeff with the perfect hair - believe me, there's an inside joke there between me and the ex - to lead us through the information.

I've already gone through five chapters in about two hours, and I've done so with a smile on my face.

 

That's why I went ahead and filed my federal and state taxes today.

I had already started on them earlier in the week and logged all the data in.

All that awaited was me double-checking that all was correct...

or maybe that was triple-checking all those numbers.

Today, I logged in for one last look-see and pulled the trigger on it.

Both shot out of the website toward their destinations, free of charge to me.

Now to await their acceptance... and the refund which will provide my financial cushion, for payment of property taxes and house insurance and little extra expenses.

One praise-worthy note: that cushion will be a little more plush this time.

That's because I attended an AARP webinar in 2023 about keeping my Social Security benefits from being part of what gets taxed by the feds.

No, that's a real thing.

To quote the AARP site, "The Social Security Administration estimates that about 56 percent of Social Security recipients owe income taxes on their benefits."

I've been part of that 56% ever since I started receiving Social Security benefits in 2020.

You would expect Social Security benefits to not get hit with Federal income tax, but they do, iff your other income is above a certain amount.

After the webinar, I had immediately changed the income I get from my teachers' retirement fund to a lower value to make sure I'd be below that $25,000 threshold... 

and I was this year!

So, not one red cent of my Social Security income was charged Federal income tax!

I'll be getting back nearly all the money withheld from my TIAA withdrawals.

That's a nice change of pace.

 

Now, it's time for a treat from AARP, in the form of one of their Movies For Grownups.

God knows I certainly have been doing grownup tasks all day.

As my work is done, I'm going to let Amy Adams entertain me in "Leap Year", which will abound with Irish brogues and lovely greenscapes of Ireland.

Later, y'all.

always something to be grateful for

That's what the sign on Waters Avenue said, and, with the lovely day I've had, I'll vouchsafe that sentiment.

(smile!)

The Universe woke me up this morning just after 7 AM...

so, of course, I flipped on "Toon In With Me" and was greeted by this sight!

That's Toonie, a pizzeria owner from Chicago, and Bill, all smiling and happy.

Why wouldn't they be?

In honor of National Pizza Day, they were making their own fresh ones!!!

National Pizza Day???

Hooray!

Then, just in case I'd missed the point, I got the cartoon "For The Love Of Pizza".

It featured Woody Woodpecker, in a sketch that was a twist on Red Riding Hood.

Oh, good - I love that story!

This time around, Woody saw that the girl in red was taking pizza to her granny's house, as the old lady had a hankering for that special dish... and so did Woody!

So, he hustled over and tricked granny into going somewhere else and usurped her bed.

But his hustle didn't fool the granddaughter, no way!

Very funny bit!

Then I returned to bed and slept until my regular rising time.

My plan today was to see "Turning Red", a 2022 Pixar film only here for a few days.

"Hmm," I thought, "why not go ahead and reserve my ticket and order a pizza, too?"

 

So, that's what I did!

But here's the great part: I had $10 in reward bucks, and I knew cashing them in would net me a pizza...

and the supreme pizzas were on sale for $3 off, making them $6.99...

and I had the one on top, with the diagonal slices, waiting when I arrived.

Hooray!

However, my Lactaid was at home, so eating it would have to wait.

So, before I left, I went ahead and ordered another one, using the rest of my rewards.

So, two pizzas cost me only $4.26... what an amazing deal!!!

Going home, I stopped by the post office to finish Valentines for the four little blondes.

That put me on Waters Avenue going home... with the sign to brighten my day even more.

Maybe I'll take a photo of it on my next trip past.

(smile!)

So, I ate pizza and then went to the Smiths & Kamerons Friday Fiesta!

I was late, like almost by an hour, but all were glad to see me, and I them!

Of course the Super Bowl was the topic of conversation... this is a football crowd.

So I talked about watching the Lions come close, but not close enough.

Then I talked about the SBHF35 events going on, including the play the other night.

Plus, I made sure to tell Jimmy about the Steve Martin musical, "Bright Star", coming up at Savannah Country Day, with the music by Edie Brickell, and he was all over that.

He even remembered about "Picasso At The Lapis Agile", the Steve Martin play that had Einstein and Picasso in it, from at least a quarter century ago... and had been at it!!!

My guess is that was before he and Betsy got married.

Jimmy thinks he might be able to get tickets to "Bright Star"... that would be great!

We'll see!

And here's that play from 1996, recently done by a Brooklyn troupe... nice!!!

(smile!)

And what did I eat?

Dessert, naturally!

Sopapilla, again, and again shared with Mary and Laura and Tony.

I tried to get the others to try some, but they didn't think it'd go with their beer.

(smile!)

I just had time for my workout at Planet Fitness before "meeting" Barbara for "The Harvest: Integrating Mississippi's Schools", a documentary on AARP MFG.

Why was I interested in this?

The focus was on 1970 events, there in Leland, Mississippi, and I wanted to see if anyone of those children had gone through the same experiences I had.

Even my youngest brother knew that I had been beaten up just for being a white girl.

That was at Myers Middle School.

I and some others got caught by some older students from Savannah High School as we went from one building to another, and, as we ran to get away from them, I didn't make it inside before the door was closed.

The high school students beat me with their hands and kicked me when I was down, keeping it up until some adults chased them off.

Mama kept me out of school for a week, sending me back only after she had equipped me with Mace spray to ward off any future attackers.

That was a scary time.

Had any of those in Leland had that experience?

Nope.

For the most part, the film followed the seventy students who had started first grade that September of 1970, with most graduating in 1982.

 

In 2023, at 61 years old, these students were still friends, still people who kept in touch.

Douglas Blackmon, one of those "seeds of racial unity", was the host of the film.

The message that stayed with me was this: In those early years, they were close in school, and close at school events, but were not quite as close away from school, as their community was not as open-minded as they were.

That bias is still present today... but not for those who grew up with that open and integrated public school system.

And that's the rub: the status quo in 1970 had responded to the court-ordered mandate by opening multiple private schools, to keep white kids away from black kids, as well as black kids away from white kids.

Sad, right?

Barbara was already in college by that time, so she missed the change.

Not that she would have been affected, as she and her sister attended private school. 

My parents didn't have that option, which was good for me, allowing me familiarity at an early age with a more diverse population than she had.

Yes, the overall for me was positive... even though I did get beat up that one time, and had threats of more beatings on multiple occasions as I walked home from school.

It's good that those in Leland had a more positive experience.

It's even better that this film is viewable by all, via PBS on youTube.

Happy SBHF35 festival, y'all!

adding a bit more brightness

I can't really say that the dust in the curtains was making the rooms dimmer, but it certainly was contributing to the mustiness factor.

 

I can't really say that washing curtains was on my list of things to do today, either.

 

However, after a delightful luncheon with Dawn at our usual haunt, I was reminded that today is Wednesday... and that meant discounted washer prices at SUDS.

 

Fine.

 

It was certainly long past time to wash curtains.

 

I had been late with getting to the winter bedding - that was only done last month.

 

I can't recall just when I last washed the curtains in the living room, dining room, and 'dance' room. 

At least the winter stuff gets done every year.

 

I even washed the curtains in my bedroom earlier this year, when I noticed dust on them.

 

But those in the other rooms?

 

I know they didn't get washed last year, as that was when I was first diagnosed with A-fib and was getting used to it.

 

I know they didn't get washed the year before that, either.

 

I usually wash them in the late spring, when the cleaning frenzy is upon me, but I abstained for whatever reason.

 

Had I perhaps washed them that first year of the pandemic?

 

I doubted that.

 

I was doing all sorts of yard work, outside stuff, just me around.

 

Laundry would require me to be indoors, around strangers who might be sick.

So, that meant 2019 would have been the last time that all those curtains had been cleaned, if I had done so.

No wonder the curtains were looking a bit tired and dingy!

They're certainly much brighter now!

I had been concerned that they might fall apart in the wash, but there are no holes at all!

How very reassuring - I had not waited too long!

 

Now, I have a documentary about José Moreno Hernández, born the same year as my brother Ronnie.

 

"A Million Miles Away", hosted on AARP as an MFG selection, is about his quest to be an astronaut, which he eventually did after his twelfth application to the NASA space program.

 

That should be very inspirational and interesting, just before the National Hispanic Heritage Month kicks off.

 

Later!