Fun and Games Dept

I love it when people laugh. There’s not enough laughter in our world today, but making people laugh or hearing people laugh gives me a such a happy feeling. It’s so energizing.

You know who had an awesome laugh? Michael Landon. He had a hearty laugh that was often heard in both “Bonanza” and “Little House On The Prairie”. He had an honest laugh. It wasn’t something forced, it came from the heart and that’s probably why so many people still speak so fondly of him to this day.

Once in a while I’ll hear a laugh that is more startling than anything. Watching the clip from “The Golden Girls” above, around the 47 second mark you’ll hear a woman screaming in a very odd way. I don’t find it part of the laughter. It doesn’t give me a happy feeling. Maybe she was expressing her appreciate of Bea’s humor in the only way she knew how. Or perhaps she was making unnatural sounds to be remembered on an episode audience track until the end of time and eventually make it to my blog over 35 years later.

When I hear someone make unnatural sounds like that on a laugh track I have to wonder what that person is like in real life. Admittedly, I wonder what noises they make during sex. Do they scream like fire alarms? Do they make cattle restless? Does their amorous partner don ear plugs as part of the foreplay? Will I end up next to a person that screams like this at a movie theatre? I hope they’re not having sex then.

I guess honest expression of laughter are what fill me with happiness. Shrieks are more startling than happy. Perhaps after getting over being startled I’d laugh in a nervous sort of way while eyeing the room for evidence of some sort of psychotic action.

Laugh along with Bea. Don’t shriek at her.

Riding the ‘L’ for the first time in four months. Family dinner tonight but we didn’t want to deal with trying to find a parking place.

It’s starting to feel like winter in these parts. The other day it occurred to me that it hadn’t really felt like winter had kicked in yet. Temperatures have been relatively mild for this time of year and we hadn’t much snow.

This week in January has historically been the coldest week of the year. While still relatively mild, at least we’re seeing snow now.

With all the pandemic stuff going on we just had to get away and see some beach. I know, it’s the middle of winter in the upper Midwest but I don’t care. We hopped in the car and drove to Warren Dunes State Park in Michigan, just so we could hear the sounds of crashing waves from Lake Michigan.

It was brisk, but it was a delight.

I took this photo during our last big road trip, which was in October 2018. We’ve been going on little rides around our corner of the Midwest during the pandemic, but I’m really ready for a big road trip again. I have some vacation time leftover from last year and plenty to use this year. If only the United States could get COVID-19 under control.

I really want to see some different parts of the country again.

Happy 99th Birthday, Betty White! You are truly America’s Grandma. You are a legend and we love you.

I was never a fan of “Glee”, but I have always been impressed by this performance. Here’s “River Deep, Mountain High”. I feel like we all need the distraction today.

So this weekend’s ride across the prairie took us on rural “Chicago Road” from southeast of Dixon, Illinois all the way back to the western suburbs of the Windy City. At times the road was clear, at other times we were driving along hard packed snow with hints of brown sand to keep things from getting too slippery.

Even though we’ve done it a lot during the pandemic, I do enjoy these rides across the farmland and Illinois prairie. Living in the big city is exciting but as a guy that grew up in a pretty rural area of Upstate New York, I can sometimes be overwhelmed by the amount of “input” I get from urban life.

We drove through several small towns during our journey, and two of them stood out to me. It was too dark to take photos (I need to upgrade my iPhone to something with “night vision” or whatever it’s called), but Lee Center, Illinois looked like it was at one time a charming small town. It’s reminiscent of the hamlet near the house my dad built. Like that hamlet, Lee Center looks a little forgotten. This makes me sad.

We also passed through Paw Paw. There was a little more activity: a small supermarket, a convenience store, and a couple of store fronts. There was a few more signs of life but it too felt like it was a little forgotten. Maybe folks there want it that way. I don’t know.

I do know I find the farm pictured above quite charming. The simplicity of the landscape gives me peace.

Twitter suspended Donald Trump’s account. Permanently. He’s done on Twitter.

Facebook did the same thing yesterday.

Both Apple and Google have warned the owner of the Parler app they need to clean up their platform, pronto, else they’re kicked out of Apple and Google devices.

Let the sun shine in.

Remember when theme songs let you know when your favorite show was on? Here’s a fun video to the radio length version of “Making Our Dreams Come True” by Cyndi Grecco. “Laverne & Shirley” was always a favorite of mine (though I didn’t like it when the syndicated version called it “Laverne & Shirley & Company”.