December 29

I had a delightful long weekend after Christmas, and now am ready to dive into the work pile. (There must be a pony in there somewhere.)

1964

Hello, hello! - at 2:05 AM. Ho- - Hum. Sat at T’s tonight, got $2.55. Remember what I said about tipping with the Ts? Yep. They gave me 35 cents extra. Oh, well., I’m grateful for that. I’m also pooped out. I heard a swell joke on Johnny Carson last night. The Ajax Knight and Katey Winters get married and for their honeymoon they go around spearing people in the armpits.

Everyone is reminiscing about 1964. I’ll say this - what with Goldwater, the Beatles, and Nikita Kruschev it’s really been something. I hope 1965 is better.

Comment 2022

I think we can assume that I considered the Beatles arrival in America a high point of 1964. I saw all of their Ed Sullivan appearances, and by the end of the year owned two of their albums. Barry Goldwater and Nikita Khrushchev both suffered major defeats in 1964, Goldwater at the hands of the American voters. (486-52 Electoral College votes and 61% of the popular vote, a landslide for Lyndon Johnson.) I am fairly sure that Barry Goldwater drove my mother out of the Republican Party. Up to that time, she and my father had routinely cancelled out each other’s votes. But Goldwater’s vote against the Civil Rights Act and his perceived hawkishness against the Soviet Union turned her off, as it did many other moderate-to-liberal Republicans. All I remember is the famous “Daisy” political ad, featuring a sweet little girl and a nuclear explosion, which was enough to scare the bejesus out of the “duck and cover” generation. Nikita Khrushchev, an even scarier figure from my childhood, was deposed by his political opponents. A quick review of the Wikipedia articles on both men confirms my suspicion that all I knew about them was their names. Don’t be fooled by the current events notes in my diary. We got a daily newspaper, but all I read was the comics.

Comment 2024

I have matured; now all I do in the paper is the puzzles.

1997

A wonderful beginning of the week. I woke feeling unrested, had my breakfast and read the paper, and then did a free-weight workout. Lighting my candle, I read today’s Simple Abundance entry, and then knitted for a while (my “meditation”). Aunt Carol called and we had a lovely talk. She enjoyed hearing about Kiddo 1’s musical endeavors, especially. It’s sad about my cousin, who apparently is depressed. Not surprising. It’s no fun to be thirty years old, handsome, single and living an interesting life, only to have an operating room snafu leave you semi-helpless. It’s going to be tough for everyone.

Comment 2024

Aunt Carol’s husband died suddenly this fall. She has slid into dementia, and she and my cousin both live in the same nursing home. If that sounds like a sad ending, you are only half wrong. It’s the best possible ending, under the circumstances.

1998

A two week hiatus from journaling can be such a good thing. Especially when those two weeks include a major holiday season. I’ve enjoyed Solstice and Christmas very much this year, with only one really angry time. But things got back on a more even keel and there was much music and fellowship and generally good spirits. Christmas was practically perfect. I got to see two “Christmas Carols” and the last third of it’s a wonderful life. My service went well but I feel pretty exhausted afterwards. But there were many positive comments that made me feel satisfied that it had been interesting and thought-provoking.

I went to my music therapy session with Marilyn yesterday and it was very different. So far I had mainly listened to music and daydreamed but this time we talked a long time about my parents and my family life. My guided imagery led me on a very detailed tour of the house in Westwood. So many mixed feelings. I love the house itself - - the size and color of the rooms, the wonderful attic and the shed – –but the years there were so unhappy. At one point I talked about my homesickness and my prayers to wake up back in North Platte, and I was close to tears – – or actually crying – – the whole time.

I got the feeling that Marilyn thought I should stay in that place longer; really feel the sadness and despair again. I don’t know. They are fresh enough, sometimes. Maybe I don’t need to hold them any closer.

Comment 2024

I was helping a friend earn her certification in music therapy. It was…interesting. She actually took notes of my narrated daydreams and gave them to me. I have no idea where they are. Gone, I hope.

2003

I had a delightful long weekend after Christmas, and now am ready to dive into the work pile. It’s going to be a warm, sunny day, a good day for a walk.

2014

Here’s a thought. By gravitating towards tomboyish/mannish/androgynous clothing nearly all my life, I have set myself up to be a very old lady who looks like a very old man. Can I handle it?

Comment 2024

Handle it? It’s the perfect set-up for my current writing. Thanks, Universe!

2016

Massage day. After dropping Jim off at IKEA, I had breakfast at Dunkin Donuts and worked on my 2007 syllabus revision. Today will be an unroutine day, though. After my massage, I will head to Vigilante coffee to do some writing, then to Busboys and Poets for lunch with Sandy, Kiddo 1 and Grandkiddo 2. Then I will head home for a few hours with Grandkiddo 2, then to the UM-UConn women's basketball game with Carol. Not a routine moment in there, especially for a Thursday.

The biggest omission will be the exercise. So I will try to fit in some dancing or something! Or do more exercise tomorrow.

Comment 2024

These “lunch with Sandy” posts are a gut punch, even after a year and a half.

2017

Today is Friday.

It is not a Franklin’s day, since we have already been to Franklin’s several times this week.

NPR played snippets by all the musicians who died this year. So many! The one that stood out was Barbara Cook. Not well known, perhaps, but an early favorite, from the time I heard her on the original cast album of The Music Mac. What a gorgeous voice! Seeing her live at the Kennedy Center was glorious. We took Mom as a Christmas treat.

I love this time of year, when the leaves are all gone and the branches are completely exposed. It’s like having x-ray vision.

Comment 2024

The best thing about these spiraling transcriptions is I get to fix all pf last year’s typos. (And probably make new ones.)