getting ready for a new year!

I'm getting ready to put 2020 into the rearview mirror!

Checkbook - balanced!

Out with the old and in with the new!

Fresh linens on the bed - done!

Rice, spinach, black-eyed peas, cornbread, and the honeybaked ham Smitty gave me on Christmas Day!

New Year's Day meal fixin's - assembled!

(Yes, even though I'll now be going to Christina's!)

Watching "Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist" and getting in a little dancing during episodes 3 (Boss) and 4 (Neighbor)!

Movin' and groovin' and not worryin' about whether every thing is under CTRL - you betcha!

Getting a little KINKY GREEN (from Dawn's party last year) into the apple juice from ARC, in the little stein from Club Pianissimo on Kadena Circle in Okinawa!

All set to see the year out - and welcome the next!

Joining Christa's "New Year's End" Zoom to watch a bit of Shaquille O'Neal as a man of "Steel", with a chaser of Judd Nelson!

There to start a year anew with Christa, Sandy, Barbara, Lauri, and Lynn - hallelujah!

pandemic in usa, in review

 

For these three graphs, I have plotted data I gathered from various DPH sites between May 20th and this penultimate day of 2020, for the ten states I monitor.

This first graph contains the total number of people who had COVID over that time span.

As can be seen, that sunny yellow of California has been leading the nation for the entire seven months.

Texas and Florida, sporting purple-brown and deep orange, were lagging until the start of summer but have nearly caught up with the West Coast a time or two.

Georgia's dark blue line had been running a distant fourth place with no contenders until early voting began for the 2020 General Election in mid-October.

Within two weeks, Pennsylvania (light blue), Tennessee (purple-blue), and Michigan (dark green), had caught up, all now having more than half a million people who have been infected by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.

(My hypothesis is that Georgia will again tower over them as the run-off election here takes its toll on people's health in the coming weeks.)

Alabama (light green), Louisiana (black), and Oklahoma (yellow-orange) are trailing the pack, but don't be fooled: each of them is still a heavyweight.

Alabama leads the charge with more than 350,000 infected people; Oklahoma is giving its best to catch up, with more than 280,000 having added COVID to their medical records.

For those interested in such things, my ten states have a whopping total of more than 8,358,000, representing almost half of the total cases in the entire USA.

That's pretty sobering news.

 

Looking at the rates of infection per 100,000 people is certainly not reassuring that the nation is heading in a better direction.

Remember, the goal is no new cases, and we have not even gotten past the first wave yet in this pandemic.

So, what do the rate curves tell us?

These ten states had less than 1 person per 100,000 that was infected by the coronavirus in the middle of May.

Then, from the middle of June to the first week of August, the rates climbed exponentially toward 3 people infected per 100,000 for all except Michigan and Pennsylvania.

There followed a period of the states maintaining that higher infection rate...

until the onset of early voting for the 2020 General Election.

Another exponential rise followed, one which has affected all ten of my states, one which has continued up to year's end.

The black line of Louisiana held dominance until that second rise; Tennessee has far outstripped it now, with Oklahoma and Alabama vying for second.

Tennessee, home of several people I know and love, will soon have 9 people infected for every 100,000 that live there.

Pennsylvania, seemingly bringing up the bottom, is no slouch, having 5 people infected for every 100,000 citizens.

So, what good news might there be?

The seven-day sums of new infections are starting to decrease, somewhat.

There have been peaks and dips for the most part, with those dips following two weeks after the close of the General Election and two weeks after the Thanksgiving holiday.

Only Georgia is having rising numbers of those newly infected.

No surprise there.

I will be so glad when this run-off is done, though I expect another round of folks contesting the results.

Hopefully, the new strain of the virus will still be susceptible to one or more of the vaccines which have been created and have begun making the rounds.

What is that poem I love about hope?

Oh, yes.

"Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul

and sings the tune without the words

and never stops at all."

Thanks, Emily Dickinson.

not an elf but a fresh prince

In search of a little light viewing, I put my money on BET - and won!

As well as the plethora of Christmas movies, they offered three episodes of "The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air"!

Sure, some of the political and current events jokes are dated and done, but Will Smith was such a cute kid back then!

This scene was in the first season, in 1990.

Such a nice time machine to go back and visit three decades ago!

(smile!)

i miss seeing faces

I miss seeing faces.

I really do.

The tinge of sadness in my eyes belies the friendly smile of the visage on my mask.

I would like for folks to be able to see my real smile on my real face, but this will have to do.

This is one of the two new masks I ordered for myself for Christmas.

I chose the kid-size face covering, hoping it would be a better fit for my smaller head...

and it most definitely is.

I guess I could have taken new photographs of my countenance, but I like this one, even though the color-correction is not quite my tone.

I don't think that shift has bothered anyone.

They miss faces, too.

When I went to the cinema on Sunday afternoon for "Wonder Woman 1984", the two young folks running concessions both commented on how much they like my mask.

When I went to the cinema on Monday evening for "News Of The World", the young woman behind the register told me my mask was very nice.

When I went to a different cinema today for "Promising Young Woman", the young man in charge remarked how much he liked seeing my face on the mask.

And when I went to Olive Garden tonight (for the Christmas meal from my stepmom Bonnie), the young man in charge of table assignments as well as Jasmine, the waitress I had, both smiled as they told me how much they like my mask and what a wonderful idea it was to put my face on it.

I'm going to wash it again so I can wear it on my next outing.

I miss seeing faces... 

I miss seeing smiles on faces...

but at least I'm showing my smile.

not the grinch you're looking for

He's just a big green meanie from outer space and he's bad -

oh, so bad!

I couldn't help thinkin' 'bout "Little Shop Of Horrors" just now and the song the show had about its big, green, blood-thirsty plant - I so love that musical!

Sarris isn't flora of any kind; nope, just like us, he's definitely fauna.

Unlike us, he's not from planet Earth and, as far as I know, not even from anywhere in the Milky Way Galaxy... nor even from a speck of dust on a wish puff dandelion.

That's where the Grinch was from.

(smile!)

For my Tina Tuesday adventure, I chose to go out of this world, On Demand!

Hahahaha!  Hahaha!

I had intended to watch "Focus", in truth, and was about to cue it up when the listing directly below it called my name - no, not quite like William Shatner had done, but as Tim Allen channeling Captain Kirk would do.

That's because he was actually doing that in "Galaxy Quest"!

Not calling my name, silly, but doing the other thing!

(Get the inside joke from the name? Hey, I already gave a big clue! LOL!)

Such a cavalcade of luminaries in this comedic adventure, including Sigourney Weaver, Tony Shalhoub, Sam Rockwell, Enrico Colantoni, and my dear Alan Rickman - and these were folks who already had name recognition in 1999 when they signed on for this spoof.

What a gem they have crafted!

I just may watch it again before it goes away on Friday -

the more mirth, the merrier!

(smile!)

wishes - they're complicated

Wouldn't it be nice if we could just make a wish and have it come true?

I know, it sure does sound good on paper, to desire something and have our own personal Technical Fairy First Class to dip his wand and make it REAL and not a dream.

That's what Private SNAFU thought, but he soon found out that wishes have consequences, some of which may be rather severe.

Well, that's the very lesson driven home by the two movies today.

Not that I watched the movies for that point in common, as I had not known "The Magic Christmas Tree" had anything to do with wishes.

I decided to watch it because I've been indulging in holiday films and that was the one offered up by PFS last Wednesday.

Other than spending far too much time on Dad cutting the lawn and Mom on the phone, the little movie wasn't that bad.

 

 

 

The boy climbs a tree to help get the old lady's cat down and he falls, hitting his head.

When he awakes, the old lady, who he thinks is a witch, give him a ring with a Santa Claus image and tells him it contains a seed which will grow a tree that will grant him three wishes.

(I guess a genie and a lamp were not available.)

(smile!)

So, after he gets home, he plants the seed.

The next morning, a giant fir tree stands there!

Somehow, no one thinks of using it as an outdoor Christmas tree, not once.

Instead, Dad goes off on Christmas Eve to buy a tree while Mom and Sis go shopping, leaving the boy home alone.

Eventually, the tree ends up inside and beautifully decorated, too, all of its own accord, and then tells the boy to start making his three wishes.

For the first wish, the boy wants the tree's power for just one hour.

Wish granted!

And the boy proceeds to point his finger and cause mayhem and distress for others until the time runs out.

For his second wish, the boy wishes to have Santa all to himself to give him all the toys he wants until he's done with him.

Wish granted!

So the boy gets to have every geegaw and trinket that he could think of while every other child gets naught and Santa is confined all night to a chair beside the magical tree, as the boy is not ready to release him.

But one of the toys the boy received was a rifle, so off he went to shoot.

He ended up in the forest, trapped by a giant who threatened to enslave him if he doesn't release Santa and cancel out that second wish. 

Scared straight, the boy does just that, telling the magical tree that his third wish is to recant his second wish as if he had never made it.

Wish granted!

Santa disappears, as do all the selfish toys the boy had amassed.

And the boy goes to bed...

and awakens at the old witch's house, just as she is offering him the magic ring.

The boy recoils as if it were poison, gladly accepting a plate of cookies and glass of milk instead as his reward for getting the cat untreed.

Not a bad little movie at all, and with a great message attached!

 

Then I went to "Wonder Woman 1984", opting for the BigD experience!

See that citrone sculpture she is gazing at so wistfully?

There was a Latin inscription on its metal band about the gemstone's ability to grant one wish for anyone who held it.

Of course, no one needed to hear her wish aloud - all in the audience knew she would most wish for Steve to be in her life again.

 

 

(No, I'm not giving out any spoilers about the movie, at least none that weren't already given in the previews.)

What she failed to realize at the time was that Death cannot be cheated.

As a girl, she had taken a shortcut to attempt to win an athletic contest and she had been caught up and told that cheating was not the way to win.

She had not again cheated... until she beheld this gemstone.

And she had not known of its true origin until she read the script on the inside of the metal band, the ancient tongue that bespoke the god that was its maker.

By that time, she knew the price exacted upon her for the granting of the wish...

and, yet, she still wanted the man, even knowing his image was a lie...

she still wanted the pilot she had missed for forty years.

I get that.

I'll definitely be seeing this one again.

I'm so glad I watched "Wonder Woman" last week to refresh my memories of this particular story, with this particular Wonder Woman.

I still miss my Wonder Woman.

Still.

Always.

why my house is so cold, or, stupid people tricks

Remember that bit that David Letterman used to do on his show?

He would have ordinary-people guests, either on the stage or in the audience, who had some special thing they could do that made them a bit different.

It was called "stupid people tricks" or maybe "stupid human tricks"; sure, I could look it up, but I don't want to right now.

I'm trying to tell a story.

(smile)

Well, during the summer for the past few years -

perhaps since the air conditioning broke in 2013 -

the attic fan would turn on and dump hot air into my house, making a bad situation intolerable on miserably hot days.

This summer, when my attic fan came on and started blasting heat into my house, something in me just snapped.

Instead of just unscrewing the fuse to shut it off -

an action that also renders useless my both my oven and the stove light -

as the idiots who had the house before wired those all together -

instead of just unscrewing the fuse as I had so many times before, I also removed the thermostat cover and clipped wires.

Seriously.

Yes, I did.

Sure, I knew there would be a piper - or an electrician - to be paid at some future date, but I wanted to be able to use my gas stove without having to resort to matches to light the burners.

I wanted to be able to cook like I normally did, even in this abnormal year...

perhaps especially because of this abnormal year of pandemic...

which meant I needed the piezo electric igniters on the burners to work...

which meant I needed to be able to keep the fuse in place this summer.

So, now the cold weather has come and my heat doesn't work.

Imagine that.

Here's what the thermostat looks like now, in its nonfunctioning state.

Four colorful wires with no tethers.

I do have a space heater, thankfully, and I've blocked off the two unused rooms, the sunroom, and the pantry

Plus, I use the oven to dump heat into the kitchen and stir it around.

Even so, with temperatures for the last two days only rising into the mid-40's Fahrenheit, that means the house stays low 60's at best.

No wonder my brothers kept warming their hands up while they visited on Christmas Day!

And me, the one who loathes cold weather?

I've been gratefully going to bed and snuggling into its warmth, thanks to the heated mattress pad I've had for so long.

The problem is getting up in the morning.

Yes, I need to get an electrician over here this week.

Right now, though, I'm going to see the new Wonder Woman movie.

In the Big D, of course!

I'm so glad the temperature outside is mid-50's today.

I've been staying in the house since Thursday.

Time to go!

(smile!)

elvis for christmas, morning and night!

Here he is, crooning "Peace In The Valley" from an old clip in "The Ed Sullivan Show" in a special that was just in time for my Christmas Day brunch!

That first meal was warm slices of panettone, generously topped with Melinda's home-made apple butter - 

yum yum!

Then I began my Christmas Day Film Festival, starting with "Dear God" - nice!

Not that I saw all of it: my youngest brother came by with presents for me!

Here Tony is, looking so much like my Grandpa - and sounding like him, too - that I just had to capture the moment!

I sent him home with a my gift to Noah and a large panettone to share with all!

Time for my Christmas dinner - margherita pizza from California Pizza Kitchen ... it was delicious!

While I munched, I watched "Everyday But Christmas", about a Grinchy writer that thought the holiday was too commercial - very nice to see it again!

Not that I saw the ending!

Smitty came by with rib roast and honey-cured ham from his family's feast...

and that delightful dancing and singing Rudolph there on the floor!

I even danced along with him!

He let with another of the Italian fruitcakes - good thing I bought two more yesterday!

Back to the CDFF, this time on Circle instead of Bounce.

"The 12 Days of Christmas Eve" is exactly the type of movie I love, with a guy having to try and try again to get it right.

Then came "Jack Frost", a tale told by a groundhog - what a perfect segue!

Supper was served when I could no longer resist the call of the rib roast, shown here with roasted sweet potatoes!

"Miracle On 34th Street" accompanied my meal, circling right back into another movie on my CDFF list before bouncing to the last one: "Marry Me This Christmas"!

What to do next, I wondered, but not for long.

Comet had Elvis and President Kennedy teaming up to defeat the mummy threatening the Shady Rest Nursing Home.

"Bubba Ho-Tep" should have known better than to tackle them!

It ended with the Universe sending Elvis this message:

 All is well.

I echo his courteous reply:

Thank you, thankyouverymuch.

And, now, "Earth Girls Are Easy" is coming on to grant me sweet dreams tonight.

I am so blessed and so loved!

i thank You, God!

definitely the elf i'm looking for

No, no, no, not this one.

True, Alec Baldwin is more in my age-group, as he was born a month before me, so I certainly would not mind his shoes under my bed...

but he comes with a cluster of 6 children under the age of 6, so maybe not.

Here he is, as the elf not to meet in a dark alley, in an old SNL skit resurrected for the holidays.

LOL!

This guy isn't dressed as an elf...

how did he get into this post?

Hahahaha! Hahaha!

Actually, he's from a movie earlier, "A Christmas Too Many".

And: he's a Kevin cum Kevan !

Born with the "i", he changed to the "a" and added an "s" to his middle name for a show-biz surname.

He's three years older than me...

so his shoes can go 'neath my bed.

(smile!)

And what's with this guy?

He's not an elf, nor is he a Kevin of any spelling, so why is he here?

'Mercial, 'mercial, 'mercial, baby!

Hey, I couldn't resist including Satan with his latest squeeze, Miss 2 0 2 0!

And just how was it that they hooked up in this year of pandemic?

How else, but through a dating site!

I guess Match is one of the reasons the COVID rate is so high for the 18 to 49 age group!

No, thanks... looking for an elf!

Goodness gracious!

These aren't elves, either, but at least they are  a bit closer in appearance!

These tiny guys are actually part of the Kringle family that raised baby Claus when they found him.

No, really, I learned that from the mailman in "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town"!

That was even a musical, so the story had to be true... 

especially if told by Frank Sinatra as a singing postal employee!

Still looking for an elf to bring home for Christmas?

Well, my gaze-casting is done!

"Let's Make A Deal" for the smiling fellow behind Wayne Brady, please!

I must say he made me pay a lot more attention to the show this morning -oh, yeah!

Sadly, I tuned in just a little late, so I don't know if he ever got to take a chance on stage... but I'll certainly give him one!

Santa, I've been a very good girl!

After all, this is what one of my fb friends is getting under her tree!

Like me, she's a Boomer, so I guess getting Jake on a lake would make her a cougar, not a purple panther like me.

I mean, just look at this guy, would ya?

I'd say he's in the late 20's to mid 30's bracket for his age and the 9.5 to 10 bracket for his looks -

you know, for those who prefer cuddling up with hard muscles.

That's not for me, never has been.

I'll take the tall, dark-haired elf from the game show, please.

Let's make that deal, Santa!

(smile!)

christmas eve eve dinner!

Great googly moogly!

The Carey Hilliard's on Skidaway just went ahead and gave us the entire back room!

There were only ten of us...

but I guess it seemed like more with four little blonde girls running around!

That's Papa Matt, as the girls know him!

He was holding down the end of the table where the food would eventually be.

Papa's got a brand-new... cap!

I guess James Brown needs to change up some lyrics!

 

And what's that?

A table full of nothing but gift bags!

It was just crazy the amount of gifts there were... 

there were even some for me!

Christina knitted an ocean-themed scarf and Michael gave me an ocean-at-night shoulder wrap with fringe (!) and Melinda made apple butter that I can't wait to try on panettone French Toast!

There were gifts from me, too.

Here's Michael, reading to Alyssa what I had written on the gift tag for her special ornament.

Her left arm is already nearly all healed up from her breaking it - 

just a soft brace, now, no cast.

Looking for Leila?

She's more independent and doesn't have to stay by dad all the time.

Her newly-engaged Aunt Chelsea read aloud her gift tag while Grammy listened in.

And this Littlest Girl?

She's Miyah, of course, and she's standing in her chair and holding the ornament her G'Aunt Tina gave her...

and giving her a big smile!

Psst... I think she likes me!

I think she's making sure that Miss Chlo likes me, too!

That little one does whatever her big sister does, that's for sure, and neither one of them miss a trick!

What a blessing to have this time with them - with all of them...

my first niece and her daughters...

my nephew Michael and his twins...

my outlaw Melinda and her hubby and their daughter...

all family!

i thank You, God!

better than i found, again

When I'd returned home from my second visit with Ronnie yesterday, my first niece had a message for me to call her.

She'd seen the logo for Gamble Funeral Home on Jean Marie's damaged grave marker and had telephoned them about getting a replacement.

They had been glad to make one for her cousin; I could pick it up from them any time in the next few days, free of charge.

I had gotten off the phone in tears, so very grateful for her initiative and care.

Today, after brunch, I gathered up what I needed and headed out.

First stop was the funeral home, where they very graciously provide the marker, this time on a marbleized plastic - very nice!

Then, out to Greenwich again and straight to her site.

During the night, the marker had completely broken along the lower left and was lying in pieces, the wire stand no longer fully attached.

I moved the pieces, and the moss and sticks, over to one side, out of the way.

Then I located the rocks I had moved from the road once upon a time and again piled them at her site.

After that, I was ready to dig out a trench to lay the stone I'd brought.

This dragonfly paver was something I'd bought several years ago, intending to build a garden walk and place it as a highlight.

I'd forgotten about it until a thought this morning - thanks, Mama! - had reminded me of it.

What a perfect gift for this niece.

As for the wreath of moss, I'd constructed it atop a circlet of vine from a nearby tree.

Totally serendipity, that was.

Or, perhaps, it was my mother's guiding hand, adding her creative touch at this, the Christmas season, her favorite time of year.

I miss Mama so much.

better than i found

I'd started this special day "playing Santa" with Christina, as she had a week or so ago.

She'd gone to pick up the toys and clothes over by Savannah Arts Academy, then swung by for my company on the way to their haven.

(Hey, that's a little inside joke for me and her.)

I then suggested we go over to Greenwich and 'visit with family' and, to my delight, she'd agreed.

Very nice!

 

We'd tidied up at the Barry plot, doing the usual: setting the flowers into the jars, picking up random bits of jetsam.

Then we'd walked over to Jean Marie's, only to find her sign half-broken and all chipped, with the rocks I'd left centered all strewn about or buried.

When we left, my goal was to return with duct tape and try to secure the marker to both wires.

That didn't happen today.

I'd pointed out to her, on our way to the cemetery, the Marathon gas station where Smitty said her dad hung out. 

We didn't see him on the way there, but she spotted him as we drove back along Skidaway, sitting in the sun.

She hasn't seen him since August of 2018, when she and I and he had dined together for lunch.

I had not seen him since the dinner at the Diner two months after that.

We visited him for about twenty minutes or so.
Then she took me home and headed out to pick up her daughters from daycare.

I took care of the November sales tax for brother Smitty's business.

Then I updated the bookbag for Ronnie that I'd carried in my car since summer, hoping to spot him.

The package of socks and bag of Tootsie rolls were items I knew he would like. 

Given the shift in weather, I added mittens, a knitted hat, and a scarf.

I'm hoping he'll use the bag of toiletries and the mask.

As the time was already after past 5 PM, I knew the cemetery would be closed, but I went ahead to deliver the bookbag.

Miracle of miracles, I actually found my middle brother for the second time today.

i thank You, God.

tang-erine tea

We started out talking about his birthday and the next thing ya know, we're talking about our moms!

Actually, it began with him talking of an upcoming trip to Pigeon Forge.

He was telling me about this bus that had been turned into a restaurant where all the foods were smoked - not boiled or baked or fried, just smoked.

Even the dessert, an apple pie, was smoked, though he wasn't sure if the apples were smoked or the pie itself was cooked by smoking.

He and Amy had stumbled upon the place when they took a shortcut that ended up being a lane through the woods.

Of course they'd sampled the food!

After all, that kind of place is what he lives to discover!

(smile!)

Anyhow, on one such trip, the folks in charge had included some "tangerine tea" along with the meal.

"Tasted more like it was Tang-erine tea," Jeff said.

And I just cracked up with laughter!

Then I told him about the "Russian tea" that Mama made when I was in high school...

and he remembered his mom making that, too, when he was about ten...

and it had some orange drink and cloves and cinnamon...

and I said, yeah, it was like "THE" crafty gift for the holidays that year, with folks putting it in fancy jars and tins...

and he knew all about that, because folks in Monteagle were doing the same thing...

and we realized we had both lived through the same fad at the same time!

That was pretty cool!

(smile!) 

 

Happy 56th birthday, Jeff...

good to have you 

still part of my life 

and my family.

(smile!)

thanks, amc, for the nutcracker!

Ordinarily, by this time in the holiday season, I would have seen at least two performances of this ballet, ushering for children's recitals at the Lucas Theatre.

My record, though, was six nutcrackers, only two years ago, although it seems much longer.

I have certainly missed that during the pandemic.

That's why I made sure to see this version when it came via Fathom events.

"Bolshoi Ballet: Live From Moscow - The Nutcracker" was a performance that had been filmed in 2018 - the very year I had ushered for six of the dances downtown.

(smile!)

While it was quite true to the others in the first act, it was markedly different in the second.

For one thing, it had a ship in it!

That was called the "Voyage of the Future" sequence and had Clara and the doll-made-man sailing above the stage as the other dolls danced.

For another thing, there was no Snow Queen and Snow King.

Instead, Clara and the Nutcracker danced for that music, then they were married!

Yes, quite different from the others, but apparently meant to be true to the version staged in 1966 by Gregorevich.
At least, I think that's what the multi-lingual interviewer was discussing with the woman in charge of this ballet.

I admit, I was rather distracted, and certainly more entertained, by the Spanish 'doll' practicing his twirls behind the two women.

Repeatedly.

Definitely a fan of being in front of the camera!

(smile!)

How wonderful to have shared this with Sandy and Barbara!

They happened to be there, too -

dos de mi tres amigas!

Magnificent!

Right place, right time!

i thank You, God!