Truman was happy to notice that he was not being packed up with the big suitcases. He’s in the care of the rest of our family as we travel back east this week. I’m sure he will make his demands known.
He enjoys the stools that line the counter between the kitchen and the family room. When the dogs run by he’s gives them a swat on the rear to say, “keep it moving, canine”. No claws are to be found, he’s just giving them his version of a motivational love tap.
We walked a mall again today. Unlike yesterday’s experience at the Cherry Hill Mall, this mall was a little depressing. Two missing anchor stores, closed up shops everywhere, and the JCPenney was downright depressing. There were blocked off areas where merchandise used to be and a less than enthralling selection of merchandise.
As a Gen-Xer that grew up during the “mall era”, I’m used to shopping malls that thrive with lots of stores, plenty of places to eat, and a variety of merchandise to be found in solid anchor stores at the end of each wing. ‘Tis not the way of the 21st century, where folks now focus on their phones, buying things online, their phones, and socializing via their phones.
While malls were the “fake community” of those earlier times, at least people still had to be frequently present. It’s important for humans to exchange energy in person, not just scream at each other through their little devices. Have conversations, not exchanges of 280 characters. Find the meaning.
And can someone please guide me to middle aged men’s fashions in a mall? Thank you.
Speaking of storm chasing (in my previous entry), I’m already planning ahead for 2023 storm chasing trip. Last year I went storm chasing for a week in the first half of the month of June. Weather patterns had me up in Nebraska and Kansas for the experience. I’m thinking in 2023 I’m going to go a little earlier in the season and focus on southern Oklahoma and northern Texas. I still venture farther north if I have to, but I want to check out another part of the country while chasing storms across the flatlands.
My husband is supportive of the endeavor. I asked him if he’d like to join me on the chase in 2023 and he declined. His response, “rent a car, get plenty of renter’s insurance, and don’t get killed”.
This is why we’ve been married for nearly 26 years. He gets me.
I’ve been writing Yelp reviews for a long time. Starting in Central New York, through our years in Chicago, and now in Tucson, I write plenty of reviews. I also tend to check in and write reviews when we travel.
I know some are not a fan of Yelp but I still enjoy the idea of crowd sourcing data, especially when traveling. I was a Foursquare fan back in the day but then they went crazy with splitting up the app and the like. And wasn’t there another one called Gowalla or something like that?
Anyways, if you want to follow along with my Yelp reviews, here they are.
It was nice to see a piece of familiarity at the mall today. Though not as big as the original stores, Macy’s seems to be doing a decent job bringing Toys ‘R Us back.
It’s been a few years since we’ve been in this neck of the woods, but when we would visit on a regular basis during the holiday season, we had a tradition of heading over to Cherry Hill Mall in Cherry Hill, N.J. They have an enjoyable eatery in the middle of the mall called “The Bistro”. We went there today while doing some Christmas browsing. The mall wasn’t very busy, but we had a nice lunch together.
I love how my husband is wearing a scarf with his t-shirt. He’s a little bit desert southwest and a little bit northeast on this trip.
I’ve mentioned before that I enjoy watching extras employed in a movie or television series. Some of them overact, some of them underact, and some are just a delight to look at.
I spotted this extra in a scene in “The Devil Wears Prada” years ago (I’ve always been a fan of the Miranda Priestly character). I actually think I spotted him in a deleted scene that I saw on YouTube or something. I don’t know anything about him and his name isn’t listed in the credits in IMDB, but he is a delight to look at.
We are en route from Tucson to O’Hare for our trip back east. We are in row 23 on this A320. The airplane is about 60% full and it’s not as awful as I thought it would be.
I honestly don’t remember the last time I was on Twitter. I think it was two weeks ago; I’m not sure. The other day I was going through my password manager and noticed I had some extraneous Twitter accounts that I had forgotten about, so I went ahead and deleted those account. My two primary accounts (one for aviation, one for everything else) were locked down and the tweets were pretty much deleted a few weeks ago when the Elonification of Twitter took place. I’m not sure if I like Elonification or Muskification. They both sound gross.
I continue to be on Mastodon but it’s not the same as Twitter. Some of that’s on purpose; it’s designed to be different. My interactions on Mastodon are pleasant but not as plentiful. If anything, the destruction of Twitter has forced me to step away from social media a little bit and that’s a good thing. My mood doesn’t need the algorithm. Slave to the clicks and all that.
At this point I don’t really care if Twitter fails or succeeds. The last couple of weeks have shown me that I don’t really need it in my life. It started downhill back during Trump’s birther idiocy. It’ll probably just become a bigger cesspool of idiocy under the new ownership.
Who knows, maybe folks will fire up their old school blogs (like this one!) again.
I first discovered the music of Anders Enger Jensen back when we lived in Chicago. I used to listen to his album “Retro Grooves, Vol. 3” with surprising regularity while walking the North Center and Lakeview neighborhoods surrounding our condo. His music is rooted in 80s and 90s synth pop and strikes very familiar chords in my love for music. His music continues to bring me joy.
One of his tracks on “Retro Grooves, Vol. 3” is called “A Song Long Ago”. The lyrics are melancholy but the production is beautiful. I can easily identify with the lyrics. The track reminds me of a lost ABBA track from the early 1980s. I enjoy the vibe.
From “Retro Grooves, Vol. 3”, here’s Anders Enger Jensen with “A Song Long Ago”. The track and album are also available through Apple Music and Spotify, as well as Band Camp.
Just a guy with a husband. We’ve been together 28 years and he still makes me see fireworks on a daily basis. Hiker. Storm Chaser. Private Pilot. Tech Guy. Hackerish.
Weird? Eccentric!