J.P.
Caturday.
Truman enjoyed some sunbathing for much of the week. With record temperatures in the Sonoran Desert, he enjoys the sun from air conditioned comfort. Don’t we all.
RIP Dame Maggie Smith.
Last night I dreamed about a scene in the latest “Downton Abbey” movie. It was the scene where Violet Crawley, the Dowager Countess of Grantham, passed with her family at her side. The role was famously played by Dame Maggie Smith.
This morning I learned that Dame Maggie Smith has passed.
A tremendous talent with a formidable presence in anything she was in, I found her fascinating. She kept much of her life private. In what I’ve seen in interviews and the like, she seemed like a delight.
She will be missed.
Here’s a clip from “The Carol Burnett Show”, with Maggie Smith as a teacher dealing with Carol’s famous “Eunice” character.
Sunset.
A snapped a photo during our walk the other night. I’m really enjoying the camera on this new iPhone 16 Pro.
The Truth About Billionaires.
I’ve been a fan of Adam Conover for years. Here he talks about the truth around billionaires and how things are going things these days.
Simpler.
I stumbled upon this screenshot in my iPhoto Camera Roll today and it gave me a feeling of nostalgia.
Not only has tech appreciably changed in the past 12 years, but how much has the world changed in the past dozen years? How much has our approach to technology in our lives changed during this time frame?
The usual social media suspects are present: Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, etc. This screenshot evokes feelings of fun when I think of these social media services back then, not the absolutely awful crapfest they’ve become today.
I miss the relative innocence of 2012, when we thought the world was going to end on the Winter Solstice because of Mayan Math and every move wasn’t being mined by corporations that told us to “Lean In”.
I need to find a way to find that simplicity again.
Bowling.
The city side of my family was big into bowling. Grandparents and great uncles and great aunts all participated in bowling leagues. Grandma City was often found on the “Davenport” on Saturday afternoons watching people bowl on the television. It was a way of life.
My work sponsored an employee bowling tournament in the spirit of team building. It’s an interesting thing, building a team across several continents in places where there may not be another employee from the same company for more than a hundred miles. In these Work From Home instances, we were encouraged to take half a day off and go bowling with our family. To enter into the tournament we needed to take some photos, submit our scores, etc.
Earl and Jamie went bowling with me and we had a really nice time. I thought it would be dead on a Monday afternoon but half the lanes were in use. I’m not much of a bowler, but I did my best.
Phoenix, Arizona.
Earl and I decided to make a spontaneous trip to Phoenix yesterday. We did some shopping along the way, stopping at the outlets outside of Tucson and enjoying the autumn weather.
Last night we went to a local brewery for supper and then out to one of the local gay clubs where I watched people do their gay thing. I didn’t talk to many people, other than my husband and the bartender, but folks around me seemed to be having fun. I did too. I’m happy as an observer.
We’re headed back to Tucson in a little bit. This adventure has been fun and my head is in a good place.
Caturday.
Truman has been parking himself fairly close to my feet lately. He doesn’t want to relax on my feet; he just wants to be in the general vicinity. I take this to be his way of being cuddly.
It makes us both very happy.
Moon.
There’s going to be quite a bit of photographic content on the blog over the next few days as I try out all the features on my iPhone 16 Pro.
Tonight I was inspired by the Moonrise behind the Rincon Mountains to the east of Tucson. The Rincons are about two miles from the house, and often make for some dramatic photographs.
