Things I am Looking Forward to in 2018

The return of the sitcom “Roseanne” on March 27^th. I was an avid watcher when it was on the air for the first time in the late 80s/early 90s. My sister and I had a similar relationship to that of Darlene and Becky, though I wasn’t as tomboyish and definitely not as athletic as Darlene. I think my sister and I were probably more like Roseanne and Jackie (me being Jackie since I don’t have kids). From what I read Roseanne is back to her old tricks of stirring up controversy where she can leaving no stone unturned. We will learn who she voted for in the last election, why her grandson likes to occasionally wear girls’ clothes and even the opiate epidemic gets a mention. It should be riveting TV.

The return of “Call the Midwife” on March 25th. I have been a fan of this show from Day One and have at least a couple of the books (and used to own the dvds). The writers and producers always seem to keep things fresh by introducing new characters and story lines that echo the times (like the introduction of Thalidomide which ended up causing all sorts of birth defects in babies born in the 1960s). I look forward to more words of wisdom from Sister Monica Joan (the most senior, retired nun who lives at Nonnatus House) who doesn’t always make sense, but loves a nice piece of cake and isn’t above sneaking it when the opportunity presents itself (okay, yes, that’s definitely me!).

The return of Spring and Easter….

Who doesn’t look forward to longer, warmer days? It’s also when my birthday, my nephew’s, my brother’s, and my father-in-law’s birthday all are, not to mention lots of March birthdays in my cousin’s family. In fact, we’re having a sort of combo party next weekend to celebrate at least a couple family birthdays. I will be glad when Easter arrives because things will quiet down again at least in terms of my calendar commitments (March is pretty busy preparing for Easter almost every weekend at church). I can also reinstate eating chocolate candy and watching “Gilmore Girls,” which are the two things I gave up for Lent.

Summer Anniversary Celebrations…

My in-laws celebrate their Golden Anniversary on the 27^th of July, and then my husband, Andrew, and I celebrate our 20^th a fortnight later on the 15^th of August. We’re having an Afternoon Tea (party) for my in-laws at a local hotel where they live. I’m still not sure what we’re doing for our 20^th (apparently china and/or platinum are the appropriate gifts) anniversary yet, but tentatively thinking of a jaunt over to the continent (possibly Germany/Switzerland) since that makes the most sense geographically and economically. At the end of the month I plan to attend my 30^th class reunion. I’m just hoping for a better turn-out than the 20^th reunion.

Have a good weekend everyone!

“What would your six-year-old self say if he/she could see you today?”

I was recently reading (or rather looking at the pictures since it’s a book of drawings) a book called The Book of Us and came across this interesting question:

“What would your six-year-old self say if he/she could see you today?”

I think if my six-year-old self could see me now the first thing she would probably say would be, “Ewww! You married a boy!” 

Today I would demolish that cake so fast! (what do you mean I have to share it?)

She’d look around and wonder why I have so many stuffed animals for someone without kids.

I would just shrug and answer, “What can I say? I guess I’m just a big kid!” (not that big – you only have another two feet or so of growth to look forward to).

Then I’d pull out some art supplies to distract her and we’d draw or color for awhile until we got the munchies. Later we’d go down to the kitchen and make some brownies. I’d offer her chocolate milk or hot chocolate while I brewed my (chocolate) coffee – something she had to look forward to someday, I’d tell her.

Later after dinner (wine for me, Kool-Aid for her) I’d pull out some of my favorite movies – one of which was made during her lifetime: “Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory,” “The Sound of Music,” and

“The Wizard of Oz.” (I’d have to warn her that after reading Wicked and seeing the play off-Broadway, you’ll never be able to enjoy “Wizard of Oz” quite the same way again.)

 
Have a great week everyone!

Lucy and Lucy in Six String Concert...

Friday night my husband, Andrew, and I attended a Six String Concert at the Columbus Performing Arts Center (a lovely little venue with brick walls and a little wooden stage). This was our third Six String Concert (music played on acoustic guitars plugged into an amp) and was where we first heard Lucy Wainwright Roche. We’ve previously seen Dar Williams and Suzanne Vega (though I don’t think Ms. Vega was technically a Six String Concert since she’s kind of a big name). This time, in addition to Lucy Wainwright Roche, we also heard Lucy Kaplansky, who is slightly older than Ms. Roche, but lives in close proximity to her (Manhattan/Brooklyn). Both performers come from a musical family with either one or both parents who are/were famous musicians as well.

Lucy Wainwright Roche  (above) came out first and played a few traditional songs, as well as one silly song she and her sister made up based on a sort of dark fairy tale all about fat babies who grow on trees and if you sneeze, they fall out of the trees. Ms. Roche’s songs are full of lots of wonderful imagery like this. During the break I asked her about her first song (the title of which I forget) and whether it was inspired by Coney Island. She said it was, and we discussed how much destruction it suffered from Hurricane Sandy. Lucy said they were going to rebuild part of it, but it wouldn’t be the same – that it would be lacking the vintage charm it originally had.

Lucy Kaplansky played for the majority of the concert and seemed quite well-known and liked by most of the audience who gave her a long list of requests (which is probably why her portion was nearly 2 hours to Lucy W Roche’s barely one hour). I liked her songs too, but not as much as the other Lucy’s. I suppose I have a bias having seen Ms. Roche perform a couple times previously. She reminded me a bit of Dar Williams as both have a teenage child and are somewhat older than me. Ms. Kaplansky is also like Natalie Cole in that her father was also a musician and they’ve had duets – recorded both live and in the studio (she was selling the CDs in the hallway afterwards).

Lucy Wainwright Roche (left) and Lucy Kaplansky (right)

All in all, an excellent concert that we more than got our money’s worth ($26@ + free parking) considering the concert lasted almost three hours with a 15 minute intermission.

"The Post"

This weekend my husband and I went to see the movie, “The Post” which is all about how the Washington Post published excerpts from the Pentagon Papers which revealed that the war in Vietnam was not going as well as the public was lead to believe.

The movie starts slowly with The Washington Post in the shadow of The New York Times who got a copy of the Pentagon Papers first. Meanwhile, the owner of The Washington Post, Katharine Graham, debates whether to make the company a public entity in order to sustain financial stability.

It probably goes without saying that Ms. Graham was quite friendly with many of the politicians her reporters attempted to expose. If that’s not a conflict of interest, then I don’t know what is. I certainly don’t envy her when it came time to make the decision whether or not to give the go ahead for the print run making the stories public. It is to her credit that she did allow it, though very much at the last possible minute.

The ripple effect was that suddenly all the other major newspapers followed suit with their own articles, so it was obvious the freedom of the press wouldn’t be stifled. Of course The Washington Post was taken to (Supreme) court, but a majority of judges ruled in favor of the Post.

Now I need to see “All the President’s Men” again, which is a good sequel based on events in the last few minutes of the film.