Flipping through YouTube while writing code today, a scene from “A Very Brady Sequel” came up as a suggestion. I took a peek and faster than Roy Martin could eat Alice’s spaghetti I realized the Brady’s have the very same clock Grandma City had for very many years.
And then there was happiness.
I’ve started this blog entry three times. At first I was going to write a rant about the latest idiocy from Trump but then I decided it wasn’t worth my time. How any American citizen can still support this idiot is beyond my comprehension, but then again, I don’t understand how people enjoy giving an time to a Kardashian, so I’m often out of step with those around me.
I then thought I could write something witty about the latest idiocy from Trump but we are way beyond any of this being a laughing matter. Recently, when asked how much I enjoyed age 50, I quipped that I was happy to be halfway through my life and that lingering damage done by this administration may screw up only half my existence. The first half was a great run. I hope there’s a country, even a planet, for the second half of my life. And quite frankly, there’s nothing funny about that.
Trump’s little flip-flop maneuver on the word “would” vs “wouldn’t” this afternoon, after he realized that the majority of intelligent Americans were freaking out about his remarks in Helsinki yesterday, is just another example of how stupid too many in the United States really can be. Anyone accepting his explanation that he “misspoke” yesterday, albeit one word, which is completely out of character for the entire theme of his remarks yesterday, née, his entire presidency, is an unabashed idiot.
I can’t believe how stupid people have become. I can’t believe this guy is still in office. In an alternate timeline, Hillary has secured healthcare for everyone and we are now working on getting the homeless fed and off the streets.
The Netflix series “Easy” is filming in our neighborhood this week. Earl and I couldn’t recall the series when we saw the signs posted along nearby streets, but then we looked it up at home and realized we had watched some episodes back when we lived in Central New York.
We started watching season two this evening.
I remembered enjoying the series when watching season one last year (before our move), watching season two is extra fun because we live in the same city as where the series takes place and was filmed. This never happened when we lived in Utica, because after all, the only thing that took place in Utica was the first episode of a Jenny McCarthy flop, and that wasn’t even filmed in Utica.
If you want to see what it’s about, here’s a link to the show on Netflix.
“Easy” on Netflix. The “new” content channels are so much better than the traditional networks.
“Easy” is on on our binge list for the month. We’ll have to check out the filming going on later this week.
The two tourists sitting in front of us on the Brown Line, pointing out landmarks as we went along, inspired me to snap this photo from the moving train. I feel a love for this city that others find unbelievable. Chicago gets a bad rap, and there are small pockets of bad places in the city, but overall I love it here and moving here was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. Seek your happiness so you can find it.
Growing up I loved sitting on the screened in porch on the back of the house. It sat about 25 feet from the woods and it was peaceful and quiet. Breezes from Lake Ontario would make their way inland and they’d be accompanied by crickets and frogs making noise and the sounds of an approaching train way off in the distance. The cats would strategically place themselves about the back lawn, our dog would settle in under her house for the night. It was summertime and it was peaceful. I loved it.
Fast forward 38 years and I’m sitting on the balcony on our fifth floor condo in the city of Chicago. The breezes are blowing from Lake Michigan. The rumble of the ‘L’ visits periodically. Overhead lights indicate passengers on their way to and from O’Hare and farther in the distance, Midway. The ambience is different. The sounds are different. The vibe is more electric but I feel very relaxed.
Growing up I always loved being home because it was home. I still feel the same way. The place is different and I’ve moved from a little bit country to a little bit rock ‘n roll, but I love being home because it’s home.
As Earl and I were driving along the roads of Northwestern Illinois yesterday I asked him how he was doing on a more than normal basis. This was his first time on a ride in the Jeep since his surgery and since he’s been in recovery for only a couple of weeks, I was worried this might have been a little much for him.
I was wrong.
When I asked to his well being, my husband would respond in a very positive voice, “I’m doing great”. It’s this positivity that has brought him along in his recovery much faster than I ever thought he would progress. He would occasionally ask me how I was doing and I would say, “OK”. In reality, I was enjoying the moment, and I was feeling grounded in my element. When I can’t fly I enjoy going for long rides. It’s what I do. Earl’s response to my “OK” was, “I want you to be better than OK. I want you to be great! It’s all about the attitude.”
This led to a discussion about the world in general and how recent events in the country are really bothering me. This is when Earl told me something that helped adjust my attitude.
“They want you to be just OK. They want you to feel fine. But our life is better than OK. Our life is great. And it’s OK to be vocal to help others make their life great, but it’s important that we stay upbeat and positive as it’s the only way to beat the negativity.”
As always, my husband is completely right. It’s time to stop worrying and to put more positive energy in the world. The people in charge right now lead miserable lives and they want everyone around them to be miserable. Let’s counteract and shut this out with a whole bunch of awesome.
That’s how we can make the world a better place.
One of the best things about living in the third largest city in the United States is the diversity. I love walking the streets and hearing languages I don’t know being used in regular conversation. I smile when I see a same-sex couple holding hands. I revel in the ability to do so with my husband. I appreciate the differences in our world when I see a person living life in religious garb that would probably get them screamed at in other parts of the country.
I am fully aware that I won the silver medal in the American birth right lottery: I’m white, I’m male. The only thing I’m missing is the straight part, so that’s why I say I won the silver instead of the gold. There’s nothing degrading about me in this assessment; it’s more of a commentary about American society. I think many forget that they’re American by sheer luck. They were born here in a society that unfortunately cares too much about skin color, sexual orientation, and gender definitions.
I care about a person’s character. Show me who you are through your actions. That’s what counts.
I enjoy watching reruns of the old TV series “Maude”. Don’t tell anyone but they’re readily available on YouTube. The versions I’ve found are cut down for syndication, but you still get the gist of the story, despite the attempts to wedge more commercial time into these masterpieces. One would think the story lines wouldn’t age well, since “Maude” was so politically and socially topical back in the early 1970s, but since the Trump administration is so adamant about pushing our social agenda as far backwards as possible, “Maude” feels like it was made yesterday.
I hit the pause button on a video last night and it happened to stop on the screen cap I’ve included with this blog entry. The cap struck me as hilarious. Of course, it could be because I’m drinking beer and sitting on the lanai (see what I did there?) while typing this blog entry, but the look Vivian is giving Maude, who is exuding her typical smugness, is priceless. It feels Gay Pride Month appropriate. When we go to Chicago’s Gay Pride parade next weekend I’m wondering if I’ll see any Maude and Vivian drag.
“Rue, I have no desire to play ‘Maude and Vivian meet Sue Ann Nivens'”. That’s what Bea Arthur said to Rue McClanahan when she called up Bea to convince her to consider joining the cast of “The Golden Girls”. My mother didn’t let us watch ‘Maude’ during its original run; it was way too adult for my elementary aged mind. My great Aunt Jenn had the height and a bit of a Bea Arthur presence. My mother was a closeted feminist; she tried to fit into the rural town we called home, but being raised in a decent-sized city, she was independent and thought outside of the cowtown box. I inherited that worry of what others think of me from my mom, at least to a certain degree. As I approach the half century mark I don’t really give a damn anymore.
You know what’s kind of kicky to me? Rue and Bea are playing characters that are younger than what I am today. Same goes for Bill Macy and Conrad Bain. They are actually in their late 40s and here I am less than a month away from 50. I don’t feel like I should be waltzing around with a head of gray hair and a dress over a pant suit. I still feel young and vibrant and alive. I wonder if Bea and company felt that way back when “Maude” was in its original run?
I’ve never been a huge fan of “All In The Family”. Sally Struthers’ whining seemed way too formulaic to me. But I can groovy on “Maude”; she’s just as groovy as the Wurlitzer organ that’s so prominent in her theme song.
“Amelia Earhart flew a lot of airplanes, except that time when she didn’t come back”. She what I did there?
I think the beer is kicking in a little bit. Mrs. Naugatuck would be proud. OH! I rode my bike by the old Cabrini-Green Housing Development a bit south of where we live. J.J. wouldn’t find it so “Dyno-mite!” anymore. It’s been gentrified and is pretty much prime real estate here in Chicagoland.
God’ll get me for this blog entry.
More and more of these modern houses are popping up in the neighborhood. I’m enjoying this modern, 21st century twist on mid-century stylings. I don’t know much about architecture, but I do know what I like, and I like this style of home.
I mentioned to Earl that when we win the lottery we’ll have to build something like this and sublet our condo. Lost in my musings of the moment, I don’t remember his response, but I’m sure it was something of a positive nature.
A quick look online prices this particular home at $800K. It’s not as expensive as I thought it would be, but it’s kind of close to the ‘L’ so that probably brings down the price just a bit. It’s not for sale, but it’s great to admire.
It was 11 years ago this weekend that Earl and I decided to head down to New York City and join up with other bloggers for “GB:NYC4”, or “Gay Bloggers:New York City 4”. Before the days of Twitter, with Facebook confined to college campuses at the time and with MySpace trying to gain traction, folks were writing personal and professional blogs and sharing their thoughts through the medium on the Internet. This was before we got in the habit of communicating in 140 280 characters or less and it was before we tried to reduce our thoughts down to dancing, leaping, and squirming emojis. Back then an emoji looked like this: 🙂
I still use 🙂 and nothing more. I am not an emoji kind of guy.
Going through my photos of the event and remembering the nice time we had with this great group of people back in 2007 made me miss the days when I was sit down and actually write something of substance on this blog. It was back before Obama, so I would wretch on W from time to time, but I liked to think that I had a fairly breezy attitude toward life. Of course, I was 11 years under (38 at the time), the country wasn’t being smothered by this plague called Trump (he was just a nuisance trying to grab airtime any way he could), and the future still felt like it could be brighter. We were still a month away from the dawn of a smartphone in every hand. People were flipping open their phones, plunking messages on a physical keyboard, and taking photos with cameras.
Are we any better off today?
I’m still friends with a few of the folks shown in the picture and I try to follow along with the few bloggers that still update their blogs (JoeMyGod being an exception to the blog abandonment trend, of course, because he still blogs a lot and he does a nifty job at it). As much as I wretch about Facebook, it’s become nearly an indispensable way to maintain contact with those in other parts of the world.
It’s a shame that decently composed discussion has given way to the burps and bleeps of today’s Internet experience.
Seeing these pictures and remembering what life was like just a little over a decade ago has helped me smile a bit more this weekend. It’s also inspired me to try to blog more; I’ve been lazy in the month of May. I think my 30-day personal challenge for June will be to blog something of substance at least once a day.
Who knows, maybe my efforts will catch on and someday we’ll get back to speaking in complete sentences without crazy emojis jumping off the page.
🙂
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!