I'm listening...

I decided that I should listen to President Trump's speech to Congress this evening, even though I'm not a fan and didn't vote for him. I accept that he is my president, and I must admit a lot of what he is saying sounds positive, and, I might add, positively presidential. I know he's right about the stock market being stronger than it was. Now I guess we wait and see if all of his promises can come to fruition. Of course, in fairness, in all my adult years voting for presidents, I don't remember any one who didn't make promises or any one who was able to deliver on all of them. This speech was so much more controlled and thoughtful (and dare I say well thought out) than some of his off the cuff comments and tweets. I'm still not a Trump fan but I do hope this is a sign of a new, more presidential attitude.

Thunder and crazy geese

Considering the very mild February we've had this year, I'm not feeling too bad that a trip to Florida that some friends and I had tentatively planned is not going to work out. It's feeling like spring can't be too far away, even including the really unexpected thunderstorms.  I'm evidently not the only being sensing that spring may be coming. The geese have been crazy around here, honking and squawking  and carrying on. I wouldn't mind this so much except, for some reason, they seem to fly in huge groups around my apartment building at midnight. Why midnight?  They always sound like they're having a great time. Who knew that geese had such a wild night life?

Oscar's anyone?

While flipping through the channels this evening I happened upon the Oscars just as the three stars form "Hidden Figures" were making a presentation for best documentary. I watched for a little while because I really liked "Hidden Figures" However they moved on to a different category, 'best supporting actress' and the winner, who wasn't anyone I was rooting for, launched into a thank you speech that went on and on and on, reminding me of why I don't watch the Oscars. Total Oscar watching time this year about 17 minutes, which may be a new record for me. I can't remember ever watching that much of the Oscars before.

Another opportunity missed

I love to watch "Antiques Road Show" but it always leaves me daydreaming. What if if found a fabulously valuable painting tucked in the rafters in my attic? What if one of many pieces of old silver or glassware handed down from my grandmother is really a rare old piece of incredible value? Is there a forgotten piece of jewelry tucked away somewhere? Then reality pops the 'what if'' bubble. I don't own a house so no rafters for things to hide in, I don't have anything particularly old and valuable, although, even as I say that I realize that, considering my age, anything I've owned since my youth is rapidly approaching antique status. Maybe all I need to do is wait a few more years. In the meantime, maybe I'll buy a power ball ticket - about the same odds of great wealth, I think.

something else going the way of the dodo bird?

I walked into the salon where I get my nails done this morning, and asked to borrow their phone book. The receptionist, who is not that young, looked at me blankly, then stammered that she didn't think they make phone books any more. Then she amended that to say she didn't think they had a phone book. However, when I explained that I needed a particular number because I thought I had left a credit card behind at the business I had just left, she quickly looked the number up on line and I was able to make my call.
I know that they do still make phone books because I have one from August 2016, but it only contains business phone numbers. Gone are the days when you could pick up a phone book and leaf through it to see if anyone in this town had the same last name as you. And, it's sad but true that, thinking commercially, it is much easier to Google a business phone number and get the phone number, driving directions, hours of operation and so much more information. Now I'm wondering, will there be a 2017 paper phone book? If not, at least we'll be saving a lot of trees.

It must have been an interesting sight

I said sure, I would pick up the balloons we were using for centerpieces for a church lunch this weekend. After all, it sounded like a pretty easy job. I went to Dollar Tree on Monday to order 48 large, shiny foil balloons and the little weights to attach them to for table decorations. Well, the decorative little weights were no problem. They were all in one bag that fit nicely on the passenger side floor of my car, The balloons, on the other hand, took up a whole lot of space in my little Fiat. The very helpful clerk helped me carry them out to my car and then we pondered how to get them all in. She had tied their strings together so we wouldn't loose any. To get the job done, she climbed into the back seat of my car pulling the balloon bundle behind her. As she crawled across the seat coaxing the balloons along, I stayed out side pushing more and more balloons into the car. She got out the other side, slammed the door, then ran around to help me stuff the last few into the car. We did get the door shut. Then I got into the driver's seat to drive downtown.. There were balloons beside me, behind me, all around me, which was fun except for the fact that it sharply restricted my side and back views as I drove. I do have a nifty back up camera that shows what's behind me but I didn't feel like driving the whole way in reverse. I made it safely to church, than goodness, but any other drivers glancing my way as I drove into town may have wondered what was going on. Maybe they thought I had the ultimate in multi color, always inflated airbags.

A perplexing statistic

I heard this comment on a morning news show earlier this week. They were expressing concern about the travel bans in or about to be put in place and concerned that foreign medical professionals would not be able to enter the United States. The statistic they quoted was "One in four doctors in the US is foreign born." Really, one in four??? I guess if someone had asked me I would have guessed one in ten.  One in four makes me wonder why their aren't more American born doctors? Don't our kids want to be doctors? Is the work too hard? Or could it be that this is one of those questionable statistics? A very wise person once said to me, "50% of all statistics are made up on the spot." Think about it.

Count!!! I meant Count!!

Where's spell checker when you need it? Actually I guess spell checker wouldn't have caught the embarrassing typo in yesterday's title? I guess I need something more, maybe a super proof reader app that would send me a screaming message "IS THAT WHAT YOU REALLY MEANT?" To anyone who was offended, please forgive me.  It was only a typo. To anyone who is still laughing - stop it!

If you think about it does that cunt?

A friend of mine told me recently about a nice little folding, light weight exercise bike that she bought last year. She likes the size and the fact that she can easily move it from room to room. After enthusing about it for a while she admitted that she hasn't been using it. I then told her about the very nice work out room that we have on the ground level of this building I live in. I have used the machines there (mainly the tread mill) five times in the 17 months I've lived here. So much "thinking about" goes into most people's exercise routines that I think it should count for something. I would like to see a study about the positive effects of thinking about exercise. Goodness knows they do studies on everything else. Well, that's enough thinking about exercise for today. Good night.

Chili challenge met

My daughter recently returned from a 6 month deployment and when I asked her what she would like for a celebratory welcome home family dinner her immediate response was "chili and nachos". I said "sure", remembering that my family always like that particular meal. The problem was I had to remember the magic combination of beans and beef that made the chili so good. The thing is, it's been a long time since I made chili. Usually, these days when I cook for the whole family it's for a holiday and chili and nachos just doesn't seem like the thing to cook for Easter or Thanksgiving. The nachos were no problem. Put some bean dip on a Dorito chip (or actually a whole cookie sheet of chips) put a small chunk of sharp cheddar on top of each dip covered chip, pop em in the oven for seven or eight minutes and, hey, presto, nice hot nachos. This time I made two trays, one for the adults and one for the teen and almost teen table. I figured that gave the adults a fighting chance. Evidently, I got the chili recipe right. Almost everyone went back for seconds and my son-in-law had three helpings.Let's hear it for Brooke's Hot Beans and ground beef.

another fabulous Fort Wayne show

I saw the musical "Memphis" at the Civic Theatre" here in Fort Wayne this evening. The weather was so beautiful that we walked to a restaurant, Main Street Bistro, yumm, and then to the theater. I almost didn't go to this show because I had seen the play once before - a professional touring company performance - but I'm so glad I went. The local talent put the pros to shame. High energy dancing, great music, marvelous singing; it was really a show worth seeing. It makes me proud that we have such talent here in Fort Wayne. Everybody in the cast was wonderful but when Ennis L. Brown, II, playing the part of 'Gator' sang out "Say a Prayer" it was riveting. As Ed Sullivan (are you old enough to remember Ed?) used to say, it was "a really good show."

Don't miss this special morning

I am writing about the special day that is tomorrow today because this is one you should not moss.  Are you ready for this? According to my special calendar tomorrow, February 18, is "Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast Day'. Seems like a fine idea to me. After all ice cream is made from cream which is part of milk which everyone know is one of nature's most perfect foods. The calendar didn't specify a particular flavor but I figure, whatever your favorite flavor, if you top it with chocolate syrup (chocolate is a basic food group) and some banana slices you've got a positively healthy breakfast, right?

Leonard or Lucinda?

Well they do both start with 'L'. I received a thank you note today for a donation I made to a charity in memory of a friend who died a couple of months ago. It was a very nice note from the son of the man who died. I have never met the son but do appreciate that he took the time to write the note. Based on the age of his father I'm guessing the son is probably in his 50's. I only mention that because (reflecting back on another blog I wrote recently about cursive writing) the note was hand printed very nicely on an appropriated thank you card, printed, not written in cursive. Another interesting thing about this note was the salutation. It began Dear Leonard. Leonard? Who's Leonard? I double checked the envelope and sure enough it was addressed to Leonard Foltz at my address. I've been thinking about this and am wondering if this is a case of someone not being able to read cursive. I don't have my full name printed on my checks, just initials and last name, so the only place he might have seen my first name written out was on the signature line on my check. But my signature is actually quite clear, I'm not a doctor or anything. And much as I look at it I can't see how he got Leonard out of Lucinda.  Maybe, on the other hand, there is a man out there named Leonard who I should be getting to know?

use by vs best if usd by

An interesting news report today about a move to simplify the expiration dates on foods. Highly perishable foods like meat, eggs, milk will be marked 'use by' implying that if you use them after that date they can make you sick. On the other hand foods like boxes of cereal, macaroni and cheese mixes, etc will be marked 'best if used by' which means it won't kill you but it might not taste as good as when it was new. Sounds like a reasonable, easy to understand system. It reminded me though af a time a few months ago when a girl friend took some milk out of my refrigerator and asked me if it was safe? It was about a month past its expiration date. What she didn't know, til I explained, was that I freeze milk. When I see a really good price on half-gallon jugs I stock up and store them in the freezer. Of course you have to pour a little off the top of each jug so it doesn't explode in the freezer. My husband and I first discovered that you could freeze milk when we were camping with our young children. We figured out that jugs of frozen milk work really well to keep other food good in the cooler and, as it melts, it's cold, fresh and ready to use on cereal. So there you have it, my fresh food tip of the day.
PS You can also freeze cheese.

an unsentimental Valentine's Day

I saw on TV this evening that one couple was celebrating their 70th anniversary on Valentine's Day and everyone agreed that that was very sweet and sentimental. My current relationship is much more casual. My 'go with guy' called me this morning to set up a date and as we talked we wished each other a happy Valentine's Day. Then he said "Did you get the flowers?" to which I responded "No." "Oh" he said, "That's because I didn't send any." To which I replied, "That's ok, you probably didn't get any chocolates from me either." Valentines are just not so sentimental when you're dating in your 70's. Ah well.

What day is it?

Everybody knows that tomorrow is Valentine's Day, or is it Valentines Day or Valentine Day? I'm never quite sure, but, and this is important, today is Tortellini Day. Now there is no doubt I love chocolate, especially dark chocolate, making Valentine's Day very popular with me. However, pasta is also a basic food group, and I find those small squares of pasta stuffed with meat or cheese especially delectable. I particularly like the cheese ones. So if you missed out on Tortellini Day today feel free to enjoy some pasta before your chocolate tomorrow. Chocolate and cheese, what could be better?

Who's the boss here?

I heard an interesting report on one of my favorite morning talk shows that contended that there has been a power switch in American families over the last 50 years. Kids seem to have the bulk of the power in families, and (I thought this was interesting) it seems to be directly related to parents spending more time with their children. I think I would have guessed that parents spend less time with their kids than when I was growing up, since families often include two working parents. Of course when I think about it I and many of my friends grew up in households with two working parents. However it seems that the time spent driving kids to and from events, etc. counts as time together. I really wasn't too surprised to hear this report. My daughter-in-law teaches a sociology class and, from time to time, invites senior citizens like myself to come in and meet in small groups with the students and compare notes on life now and then.  At one such meeting I was at a table with one other older adult and five students. At one point in the conversation I made the comment that when I was young my dad and mom were definitely the authority figures. I joked about my father's "master sergeant" voice that you simply didn't argue with. What they said went and there was no back sass. The other adult chimed in in agreement, talking about a very similar life style in her family. This seemed very natural to both of us but the students looked at us like we had just sprouted two heads or something. The comments from the kids included "Boy, it's not like that now.", "I argue with my mom all the time." "I pretty much get to do what I want." and other similar sentiments. It's an interesting situation. Do we blame it on Dr. Spock or was that too long ago to count?

flying to Seattle

I just booked a flight to Seattle. My oldest nephew is getting married in the spring. I am so pleased for him and excited for me. I love going to family gatherings that revolve around weddings and similar happy events. I was debating if I should come back on Sunday (the wedding is on Saturday) or wait until Monday. The airline solved the problem by having a flight available at 12:30am on Monday. I believe that's what is referred to as a "red eye" flight which is just fine with me. It saves me the expense of one more night in the hotel and I still can spend Sunday with family. I think it's wonderful that I can sit here, all comfy in my pajamas,and make travel reservations. And speaking of pajamas, I could probably wear them on that overnight flight home. I seem to see lots of people on flights these days in the most casual attire imaginable. Mind you, I am not longing to go back to the days when men wore suits and women wore dresses, hose and heels to travel. That was even before my time, but sometimes I think just a bit more class would be nice. Although I must admit that those baggy flannel pants I see people wearing do look might comfy. Hummmm.

going the way of the Dodo bird??

A friend asked me recently what I thought about the fact that they are not teaching cursive writing in schools any more. My first impulse was to say it's terrible that they aren't teaching cursive any more. After all we had to learn it why shouldn't they? But the more I thought about it the more I found myself wondering why they should learn something they will seldom, if ever use. My grandson, a sophomore this year, recently told me about the process he used in submitting a written report. He researched and typed the report on his computer, and e-mailed it to his teacher before midnight therefor getting it turned in on time. Not only did he not use cursive to write his report he didn't even use paper.  Another friend pointed out to me that people need to be able to sign their names on checks and other documents. I guess there are still documents that require signatures - checks, mortgage documents, etc. although honesty compels me to admit that the signature I scrawl on the card reading machines at grocery and other stores seldom really resembles my actual signature. I was talking about this with my grandson and granddaughter as I drove them home from school today and they both assured me that they can sign their names. In fact my granddaughter went on to tell me that she had very good, pretty handwriting but when she showed me a sample it was very good, even, nicely shaped printing. Perhaps they just need to teach a class on signing legal documents'
I have a few samples of my grandfather's handwriting and he wrote in what they used to call copperplate, very elegant cursive. Perhaps we should promote cursive writing as an art form - like the calligraphy I studied in college. When I was in eighth grade our teacher, in an effort, even back then, to improve our cursive writing, actually had us writing with pens (no,  not quills - I'm not that old) dipped in ink. It was messy but fun. I think he gave it up and switched us over to ball point pens pretty quickly.One more thought, schools might consider teaching cursive as a relaxation exercise. I remember thinking, as I wrote rows and rows of c's that they reminded me of ocean waves, very relaxing.

It's fun to watch a pro at work

This evening we had a play rehearsal, the first time on the stage for the scenes I'm in. The purpose of this evening's practice was to block out the scenes, making sure that everyone who is on stage knows where they are supposed to be at any given time. Sounds simple, right? But I was fascinated, when I wasn't taking my turn on stage, to watch the director working with two people who I assumed would be sitting side by side on the sofa having a rather intense conversation. No, that would be much too simple. Throughout the conversation, they were directed to get up, walk away from each other, turn their backs on each other, circle around, stand face to face, have one person sit in a chair, and then, finally, bring them both back to the sofa where they sat face to face. By the time they were finished walking through the scene it all seemed quite natural and much more interesting than just two people sitting on a sofa. It was such fun to watch the scene come alive. Now if I can just get my lines memorized by Monday when we are supposed to be off book, life will be good indeed.

Having a snow night

After successfully driving three grandchildren home from school this afternoon in the most exciting snow fall I've seen all this season, I got home safely and received a text message that the rehearsal I was supposed to go to this evening had been cancelled. I felt like a child who has just gotten the word that school is closed. Yahoo!! Having all this extra time this evening I wish I could say I spent it doing something worthwhile, maybe educational, but no, I goofed off with computer games and TV, just as my grandkids will do if they have a delay tomorrow. I did take time to check what special day it is today.  According to my calendar it's "Kite Flying Day"! Really? Shouldn't that come in March?
Needless to say, I did not fly a kite today. It was certainly windy enough but all those pesky snowflakes would keep getting in the way.

the eyes have it

I had my annual appointment with my eye surgeon today. He's the one who did the surgery on both of my eyes when it was first discovered that I had Glaucoma. While the damage that had already been done (the reason I don't have much peripheral vision in my left eye) couldn't be reversed, the surgeries have effectively stopped the problem from getting worse.  My Glaucoma has been under control for about 12 years now. That's all good. Over the last few years my doctor has been watching the progress of my cataracts. Happily, I was told today that they are still very small and no problem at this time. "Everything looks good. Come back in a year." Such sweet words to hear.
Oh yes, the fact that I find myself using a magnifying glass to read numbers in the phone book and selecting large print books at the library is just a reflection of my age and the fact that I probably should have my prescription checked. Ah well, time does march on.

Pizza memories

Some friends and I had pizza for supper this evening as an unplanned divergence from our original goal. We were going to eat at one of our favorite Mexican places but when we got there we discovered they had closed early in honor of Super Bowl Sunday. Well, deciding not to go hungry we went to Clara's Pizza instead. I haven't been to Clara's for a couple of years so it was a real treat.  We had the "Meat Feast" on a thin crust and it was excellent. As we ate we reminisced about the early days of pizza in our lives. It turned out that for two of us the first pizzas we ever remember having were made from the good old Chef Boy R Dee box mix. As I recall the mix consisted of dough mix, tomato sauce and grated cheese. If you wanted toppings (toppings???) you could buy some pepperoni slices. Those were pretty stark pizzas compared to what we enjoyed today. Oh, it had the crust, tomato sauce (not too heavy) and cheese, but it also had ground beef, ham, pepperoni, bacon, ham and sausage. Now that's a pizza. I won't wait so long to go back to Clara's.

Opera in Fort Wayne

I attended the opera Tosca at the Embassy Theater this evening. Talking it over with a friend on the way to the performance we decided that we would probably only be hearing the music from the opera because the stage there just doesn't seem large enough to show an opera. When we went to our seats we saw that the whole stage was taken up with chairs and instruments for the orchestra so assumed we had been right. What a great surprise to discover that we were going to be treated to the whole opera with some genius staging. All of the action took place in front of the orchestra with the singers (who had glorious voices by the way) using just a few chairs as props and no scenery. What made this work was the ever changing scene being projected on a giant screen that spread across the stage above the heads of the orchestra and performers. From interiors of cathedrals to a night scene of Rome to interior shots of a palace the scene always reflected the action of the story. To add even more to the experience the English translation of the sung dialog was also projected on the screen along with occasional notes explaining upcoming scenes. What a creative way to stage this production. Bravo to the Fort Wayne Philharmonic.

Falcons and Falcons

Well now I know. It appears that the two teams playing in Super Bowl LI this Sunday are the Atlanta Falcons and the New England Patriots which brings me back to a question I've asked before but to which I've never had a satisfactory answer. Why are some teams associated with cities while the names of others are linked with the state in which they are based. Happily I'm not so stressed by this question that I lose any sleep over it. There was one thing I found really interesting though. On the same day I listened carefully enough to hear the names of the teams the news cast I was watching also had a segment about falcons (the bird type) that were being flown by plane, first class by some sheikh. They showed a shot of several falcons, each perched on its own seat in the plane. It was an interesting picture but I didn't hear where they were going. Are they on their way to the game? Will a flock of falcons be let loose whenever the Falcons score a touchdown. If I thought that was going to happen it might be worth watching.

a special day twice over

I woke up this morning knowing that it is Ground Hogs Day, and quickly learned that that pesky Phil had seen his shadow and we will be having six more weeks of winter. I was actually so pleased to see sunshine that I didn't even care. Then I checked my calendar and discovered that today is also, are you ready for this, "Play Your Ukulele Day". Well, I would but I don't own a ukulele which is a blessing for the world. On the other hand if you ever want to hear really amazing ukulele music listen to music by Jake Shimabukuro or better yet go to one of his concerts. I haven't had the pleasure for a few years but he really is amazing.

I'm a Nielsen family...

All by myself. I received a mailing a couple of weeks ago from the Nielsen TV rating group, sent a postcard back in and got selected to do the survey. I received their package yesterday and tomorrow is the start date of my one week of record keeping. I have three diaries - one for each TV. Isn't that a little rediculous, three TVs for one person?  But I do watch them all at various times during most days. So now the question is do I try to impress them by filling in a lot of PBS shows or admit the truth that I would rather watch "Fraiser" reruns on Net Flix than most of the new sitcoms currently on TV?  I shall try to be honest for the most part, I may even tune in to the Super Bowl for a few minutes. Oh, wait, I don't want to get too crazy here.