PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT:
this is 2025, 2025, 2025, get used to it
Weather in the Tries:
Wow, I really blew it last week. I’ll try to get it right this week (takes deep breath) here goes: The lows for this week will be 32-34 and the highs will range from 30 to 48! two days in a row. Wonder if the management will open the pool???
Things For Which I Am Grateful:
President Jimmy Carter’s state funeral will be this Thursday. I hope the OP watches it and learns something positive. It’s too bad more churches never met, or if they did, killed him quick, Jesus. Had I attended the Carter’s church in Plains, GA, I might still be a Christian. But I didn’t and I’m not. Here’s a quote that kinda makes my case: “Homosexuality was well known in the ancient world, well before Christ was born and Jesus never said a word about homosexuality. In all of his teachings about multiple things he never said that gay people should be condemned.” ~ President Jimmy Carter.
Did I tell you I’m on Bluesky? I think so, but I’m old and forget things. One of the things I love is it seems much more positive than X, in fact, God @godpod.bsky.social is on it. S/He makes it worth the move. I’m Lenora Good @lenora2.bsky.social should you care to visit.
I will continue my weekly foray into Facebook for a while, probably until 2025 wanders out, only because my chapbook, Saying Goodbye to Thomas will be released to Pre Order effective 24 Feb-2 May, with general release in June. I really want people to pre order, as that is what my royalty is set to, and I want lots of royalty to divide in half between ALS Assoc and End of Life WA.
I must admit, I am extremely grateful to be alive in this time and not in the ‘good old days’ of yore. I’ve seen a lot of new things come and old things go. I saw a pufferbelly pull the train I was riding when I was a little kidlet, I saw the first diesel locomotive pull into Portland OR. I saw the rise of antibiotics, and the first polio vaccine. I saw the arrival of The Pill, and boy howdy was I grateful for that one. BTW, the doctor who gave us The Pill was a Roman Catholic. I witnessed HIV/AIDS go from a death sentence to a chronic illness, and I’ve seen some, but not enough, total reversals. I saw men walk on the moon, books become available in choices of bindings, type size, electronic, and audio available on our phones.
People get upset at Amazon, claim it’s gotten rid of the mom and pop bookstores, but it really hasn’t. I fear it has made a good sized dent to a lot of traditional publishers, though. However, it has helped many of the small Independent publishers grow. Amazon pays a living wage, at least here in Kennewick where they hired my kids.
I remember when Fred Meyer’s (in Portland OR) was a five and dime store. Then they added a few staple groceries. Then a lot of staple groceries, and home dec, and electronics, and paint, and a plant nursery. And people started shopping there because it became a one-stop-shop. I shopped there for years, until they sold out to Kroger. When they did that, they started selling Kroger stuff, and I would have to go to 2 or 3 different stores to get my groceries. Fuggedaboutit! I shifted over to WinCo. But they, too, have cut way down on a lot of their bulk foods/spices.
But, you know where I can get a lot of stuff that is not available in Kennewick (at least not that I’ve found)? You got it, Amazon.com. And I don’t have to get dressed if I don’t want to, I don’t have to go out in the cold, I just have to wait a couple of days to get what I need. But I haven’t heard anyone complain about Amazon deliberately setting out to put grocery stores out of business.
Back to the gratefuls—I am truly grateful for YouTube and related. This morning, as I was going through my newsfeed, I came across Freddie Mercury singing operatic, every time this pops up in my feed, I watch and love it, and him, all over again. Brings to mind the saying that one never truly dies until no one remembers them. A couple stories down the list, I had the pleasure of watching and listening to Snarky Puppy. And then a short video came up of a young woman playing the violin while on a boat and the whales coming up to listen to her. It would be interesting if someone would follow those whales and see if they incorporate a bit of classical music into their whale song. Every so often, I have to get my royalty fix and call up the forever young and sexy Freddie Mercury. Yep from 78s to 33s to 45s to tape, to CD, to streaming. It’s great to be alive today!
And Zoom! (Remember the old Mazda commercials with the kid saying, “zoom, zoom”?) Well, thanks to the Pandemic, I discovered the new and improved Zoom. Just one. Take Monday last—I attended a poetry reading in NYC, then another, non-poetry reading in Seattle by Sherman Alexie (for those of you who don’t know, Kennewick where I live is in Eastern WA close to the OR border. Driving across the Snoqualmie pass in good weather is a 3-4 hr drive.) Tuesday night was an open mic reading, Friday was a poetry prompt gathering, Saturday a poetry critique and Sunday another open mic, and sometimes a gathering from around the world of poets. I can’t go to Seattle to attend a Sherman Alexie reading, but I can certainly attend via Zoom!! Hm, is that Ladysmith Black Mambazo singing the commercial? And drones. Not weapon drones, photo drones. One of my favorite channels on YouTube is the Desert Drifter. He backpacks all over the SW desert and shows some fantastic scenery and old homes and granaries of the Old Ones. I can even watch the Bolshoi with minimal searching, check out the Bolshoi Bolero from 1967 no less. I’ve never seen flamenco like this, if in fact is. Whatever it is, it is Spectacular!
How did we ever live without computers and the WWW and Zoom and AI and Word processing, and all these new-fangled things??
But the one thing I am most grateful for? YOU! None of this would be worth anything if I didn’t have you, my friends, my family of choice, my family of blood, to share my wonderful wacky life with. I have been friends with some of you for 65 years plus. How be them thar apples?
First Photo of 2025:
well, this a first. it’s been rainy and gray and I haven’t taken any yet.
from the paws of the big little dawg;
my human left her bedroom door open one the noisy night so I could go hide in her bathroom or the office with housemate dan. neither my human no me got much sleep. but my human still loves me. and there won’t be another noisy night until summer. why do humans love their noise so much.
Earworm of the Week:
Pavel’s Bolero by Wiener Philharmoniker
Quote of the Week from Stressless Country:
“Here’s to the year that lies ahead,
let’s face it with laughter instead.
With humor as our guiding light,
we’ll tackle each day with all our might!”
~ Catherine Pulsifer, Roses Are Red
It is 2025, 2025, 2025, 2025, do not forget