Bring Back Bartolo!

According to this article, Bartolo Colon wants to return to the New York Mets. I say bring him on. We should have resigned him in 2017. Bartolo is the workhorse we need on our pitching staff. Plus we may see more moments like this.

Bonus: This game was one of the Mets Classics and aired on SNY this afternoon. I turned the channel just in time to see the homer.

The Spanish Princess

The series conclusion of The Spanish Princess aired last night. Actually I had a bit of a Tudor weekend, watching parts of The White Princess on Friday, season one of The Spanish Princess on Saturday and the second season on Sunday.

Overall, I've enjoyed The Spanish Princess, but the finale annoyed me. Anne and Mary Boleyn make their appearances, and Mary had dark hair. I don't think Mary had a line, so I'm being petty. But Mary Boleyn was a traditional blonde beauty of that time: Anne was not. Many thought Anne was unattractive, except for her dark eyes, her style, and her engaging personality. It should have been easy to cast a blonde actress as Mary.

I hated the scene where Anne meets Henry and bears her breasts, but this show is based on Philippa Gregory's books. We're back to Anne Boleyn the brazen slut. 

More importantly, I didn't like the end of Catherine's story--it was inaccurate--she did not leave the court on her own terms. The writers said that Catherine had been maligned by history--I don't believe this is true. Catherine is admired for fighting for her rights and most importantly for the rights of her daughter. Catherine's mother Isabel of Castile and daughter Bloody Mary were maligned, not Catherine. Apparently it would be boring and lazy to tell the truth; a 21st century female audience wouldn't want to see it. 

We're not so fragile. 

A historically accurate description of Catherine leaving the ecclesiastical court convened by Wolsey would have a better way to show her strength. 

Thoughts about Leslie Van Houten

Today I read the news that California Governor Gavin Newsom has reversed parole for Leslie Van Houten. This is the fourth time a governor has blocked her release

It's strange that I read this just after I watched Charlie Says the other night, which focuses on Leslie.  It's been a while since I read about the murders, but the movie seemed to downplay her role in the LaBianca murders. It appears that Leslie stabs Rosemary Labianca after she is already dead, although she does so with glee.

There's a scene in the movie when Charlie rebukes Leslie because she slept with a visiting biker without his permission. The biker later returns with a few friends to give Leslie a way out. She refuses to go, but later in prison imagines that she left with him. A poignant moment, but she stayed after all. 

Leslie Van Houten along with other members of the Manson Family was sentenced to death. Her sentence was overturned when California abolished the death penalty. I don't believe in the death penalty, but I believe in sentencing people to life without parole or life and a day. No one who had previously been sentenced to death should be able to get parole. 

I don't believe that Van Houten poses an unreasonable danger to society if she is released from prison, but I believe she should remain in prison for the rest of her life. I don't believe she will ever be granted parole and should just honor the victims' families by not making them relive the horror once again with every parole hearing.

A Different Kind of Black Friday

I was never a part of the Black Friday shopping routine. The big difference this year is that I'm not hearing/reading stories about the lines, the crowds, the fights. Some stores even decided to close on Thanksgiving, stopping the last few years' sales creep into the holiday.

We had a quiet day. I spent most of it doing laundry: I had an extra few days' more laundry than usual, plus sheets I had forgotten about when I reorganized the linen closet. I also needed to wash the bathroom rug.  I walked Lola around the neighborhood his morning, then Jeff and I walked her at Oyster Shell Park and through South Norwalk this afternoon

I was happy with our Thanksgiving meal from Whole Foods yesterday. The only issue is that it forgot my order of lobster bisque. I made salad because I thought the green beans with scallions would be overcooked, but they were deliciously crunchy. I've never been a fan of gravy, but this gravy was good. I probably had crappy gravy for most of my life and only thought I didn't like it. 

We had leftover turkey sandwiches for lunch today, leftover green beans with salmon for dinner, and still have much more leftovers. But that's how we planned it: lots of leftovers. 

Last night we watched a film Charlie Says--not the usual Thanksgiving Day fare. It's a different take on the Manson family focused on Leslie Van Houten, Susan Atkins, and Patricia Krenwinkel after they've been in prison for three years. The acting was good especially Matt Smith as Manson (although he was too tall) and Hannah Murray as Leslie Van Houten. 

  

Thankful

I'm thankful for/that

• Jeff
• Lola
• our health
• we're financially secure through this hard time
• Biden defeated Trump and will be our next President
• we had a good dinner tonight
• my writing class on Zoom
• my in-person collage class
• being able to meet on Zoom
• it didn't rain all day as predicted; we got in two walks with Lola--one was a bit rainy, but the other was beautiful 
• The IRS has resolved my mother's tax mix-up from 2017 and will return some money.

I may think of more things to be thankful for later. 

Thanksgiving Memories

In my last post, I wrote about a Thanksgiving writing prompt. It got me thinking that I don't have many strong memories of early Thanksgivings. We used to have turkey on both Thanksgivings and Christmases, and I might be confusing the memories. My cousin Cindy mentioned spending Thanksgivings at our house in Audubon.

After my parents divorced and my mother remarried, she went to my stepfather's parents' house while they were still alive. I don't remember resenting it at the time (I was 20, not some little kid) but I used it years later to rationalize spending Thanksgiving with Jeff's family. 

Jeff and I spent several years going to this sister's house and a few times at her country club. The last several years found us at retirement communities with our parents. Sometimes we've pet sit for Jeff's sister's dog. We spent a Thanksgiving apart so each of us could be with his/her mother when there was no one else.   

As I wrote in my essay for my memoir class Saturday: Ultimately the number of people doesn't matter. It's the love that counts. 

The Extra Leaves in the Table

Last year, I read and blogged about Stephen King's book On Writing. I quoted the following:

"For me good description usually consists of a few well-chosen details that will stand for everything else."

Yesterday, I participated in a Memoir Workshop given by the Bridgeport History Center at the Bridgeport Library. We looked at this Norman Rockwell painting Freedom From Want as our prompt. As usual, I'm alone in my dislike of Rockwell, though this painting didn't annoy me as much as others do. 

I wrote a fictional piece based on the painting, but ended with a few paragraphs that were based on my life. In the fictional part, I wrote about Grampa putting extra leaves in the table. That was the detail that resonated with people in this class. I didn't think it was important; I just wanted to give Grandpa something to do. You never know.

I often focus on details in others' writings: Scott's grandmother's never used door that rattled and John's grandmother in her wheelchair mixing sugar cookies. I also remember how a teacher focused on spilled lime juice on the counter in a story I wrote that the class trashed.

Details are crucial to a story. So are realistic breaks in dialogues. I often wrote about smoking just to give my characters something to do. In my latest story, it was drinking coffee and wine. I need more work.

More Movies

Here are some movies I've watched recently.

The Trial of the Chicago Seven: When I was in college, I read the book The Tales of Hoffman based on transcripts of the actual trial. I loved the TV movie, Conspiracy: The Trial of the Chicago 8  (Bobby Seale was Number 8.) I also loved the latest film, The Trial of the Chicago 7. It was a circus of a trial, not because of the presence of Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin. It was a farce from the beginning.

Repeat Performance: I hadn't seen this movie in years. I remembered the premise and the end (I'm cursed with remembering the ends of films but forgetting the middles.) The film begins with a woman shooting her husband off screen, and she wishes that she could live the year over. She gets her wish, but she is thwarted with every step she takes to avoid her husband's murder. 

The Witch: I've heard about this story and looked forward to watching it, but was disappointed. I thought it would be more about the fear of witchcraft than actual witchcraft. The acting was good, especially Anya Taylor-Joy as Thomasin. Thomasin's parents were portrayed by memorable actors from Game of Thrones. 

Racket Busters: In this 1938 Warner Brothers crime/social drama, Humphrey Bogart tries to corner the produce market, starting with the truckers. But George Brent, miscast as the leader of the truckers, foils him. The film includes some horrible police protection. Cops let one guy go back to his apartment alone where he is brutally beaten. Pop identifies the bad guys in a lineup right in front of them who threaten him. Soon someone pushes poor Pop in front of a subway train. 

San Quentin: Humphrey Bogart (in a 1937 Warner Brothers film) is arrested and sent to San Quentin. The new Captain of the Guard is Pat O'Brien who coincidentally saw his arrest after watching Humphrey's sister Ann Sheridan sing in a nightclub. In a key plot line, Humphrey learns that Pat is seeing his sister and that's why he's getting preferential treatment. He's convinced to break out to save his sister's honor. OK, the break out to save your sister's honor worked in Crime School, but the target was only a Dead End Kid. Here Humphrey is manipulated by Joseph Sawyer, his subordinate in The Petrified Forest and Barton MacLane as a guard who wants to discredit Pat O'Brien's prison reforms.

Art Work

I had a good mixed media and collage class today. Before class, I reviewed what's in my bag. I have more clippings, postcards, etc. than I can comfortably carry, so I selected files of images to work with today. I remember our instructor Mari talking about wax, so I threw some colorful candles into my bag. I was in the kitchen a few minutes later and grabbed some aluminum foil.

I guess I can say I painted my first two abstract paintings today. First I played with gesso, wax, acrylic paint, and imitation gold foil. I used a paintbrush with the gesso, then later used toothpicks, Q-tips, and the outer edge of the Jerry's Artarama frequent buyer card with acrylic paint. I added some images to one painting. On a fourth page, I used the aluminum foil to make a mirror. I framed it with an arch from a theater and a string of Egyptian hieroglyphics. I glued an image of Nefertiti to the "mirror" and used a pastel pencil to fill in the background. I'll add something else to it, but ran out of time.

We don't have class next week. I'll try to do some work on my own. 

More Photos

I took a photo of prayer flags at Schenck's Island yesterday.

It reminded me that I haven't posted photos I took at Taylor Farm about a week and a half ago.

Finally I took this picture of a Red-Shouldered Hawk during out last visit to the New Canaan Nature Center a few months ago (I think.) For some reason my phone dated this photo 02-11-01, long before I got this phone. I had thought there was a problem with the light and the photo didn't "take."

Here's a shot of the hawk from Oyster Shell Park. 

On the Homefront

I've been in a bit of a cleaning mode. These are few and far between, so I need to take advantage of them. Unfortunately, I didn't finish cleaning the living room. By the time I do, the kitchen and bathrooms will need to be cleaned again. That's the thing I hate most about cleaning: it never ends. 

Today I was in a cooking mode. First, Jeff and I tag-teamed brunch--a difficult undertaking in our small kitchen. We had scrambled eggs with vegetables and cheese, bacon, toast, and a fruit cup. 

I've been talking about making chili all week. I finally made a big batch in the crockpot today with ground beef and ground bison. I needed to use two ripe avocados, so I made a salad with them and tomatoes, peppers, onion, and garlic. 

I tried a new recipe for dinner: French Onion Chicken. It was good and fairly easy to make with chicken thighs, onion, chicken broth, and thyme. I'll tweak it a bit, add garlic, maybe less chicken broth, and add it to our meal rotation. 

We had two nice walks in Wilton this weekend at the NRVT yesterday and Schenck's Island today. Both days it was nicer than I expected. I probably wouldn't have gone out except for Lola. Thank you Lola. 

The End of Indian Summer and What's On Deck

We've enjoyed a week of beautiful Indian Summer weather, with temperatures ranging from the mid 60's to the mid 70's. Today is still warm, but rainy. For the next few weeks, temperatures will range from the mid-40's through the mid-50's. 

I can't complain about these temps in November, but I will miss the balmy weather. 

In the past week, I've met a friend at Calf Pasture Beach, met others at the dog park and Sedona Tap House for its charity steak dinner. Jeff and I took several walks with Lola: around the neighborhood, Taylor Farm, Sherwood Island, and the Norwalk River Valley Trail (NRVT.)

A few houses in the neighborhood that favored plastic blow-up Halloween decorations now have giant blow-up turkeys in their yards. Another house jumpstarted its Christmas decor--way too early for me. 

Jeff and I are planning to spend our holidays alone this year. This will be the second consecutive year having Thanksgiving alone. The previous year I had bronchitis and had to stay home. We are checking out places to get pre-cooked meals. We've found two that sound good. 

I guess we'll bring out the Christmas decorations Thanksgiving weekend (or the week after.) We didn't decorate at all last year because we went down to North Carolina.

This will be the first Christmas ever with just the two of us. (Sorry Lola, there will be three of us.) For many years we spent time with both sides of the family. Sometimes we traveled to South Carolina and Georgia. I regret we didn't make it down to spend a Christmas with my father in Florida. We haven't started to talk about Christmas yet. We still need to figure that out. 

I have three more writing classes this session. Then we're off until sometime in January. My mixed media and collage class has four more sessions, but that will be it. The instructor will be teaching a silk painting class and that's beyond my skills.

I need to find a way to keep writing and doing collages. 

The Week That Was

It was a long time between Tuesday and Saturday.  On Wednesday,  I knew it would happen, even when friends were scared. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris did it--they won the Presidency and the Vice-Presidency.  I watched their speeches Saturday night and cried. 

John King said something the other night: Math and Democracy. That's what we're talking about. 

Of course Trump is unwilling to accept the will of the people and do the right thing. We'll keep watching.

Do's and Don'ts

I've recently realized that many of my "to-do's" are turning into "don'ts" as in they don't get done. There are many reasons for this:

• I don't want to do them
• I get distracted
• Other things come up
• I forget
• the weather is nice, let's go out
• I don't feel good/I'm tired

These are all pretty crappy excuses. Only "other things come up" could possibly be legitimate, but frankly I can't think of any legitimate "other things come up" that came up recently.

What should I do? I know. Plan, schedule, prioritize. My own PSP. The key is to not just PSP the required things (cleaning, laundry, etc.) but also fun and creative things. 

I can do this. 

Happy Birthday Spike

Spike's been gone for almost five years, but he is still often in our thoughts. We will never forget him. He would have been 20 today. 

Jeff suggested we honor him and Lola (this is her designated half-way day) with a steak dinner. That works for me.

Here are a few of my favorite photos of Spike.

Here's one of Lola.

Election Hangover

 I went to bed last night around 11:40. I had fallen asleep on the couch again, and there wouldn't be any determination of the presidency any time soon. I went to bed earlier than I did four years ago, and it was less certain who would win last night. Four years ago, I woke up in the morning wishing that CNN would report that some horrible mistake had been made.  

This morning I woke up almost afraid to turn on the TV. As the day went on, things looked brighter for Biden.

I don't understand how any rational, reasonable person could have voted for Trump in 2016. This year it's even more incomprehensible given Trump's disregard for people, institutions, and the truth. Then there's Trump's criminally negligent response to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

If we re-elect Trump, we deserve all the hell he'll unleash. 

Today's Voting

Jeff and I usually vote in the morning. We did so again today. The polls opened at 6; we arrived around 7:15. We had never seen a line outside the polling place until today. After we got in line, I walked over to Dunkin Donuts to get us some lattes while we waited. 

It was a chilly morning, but not too bad. I was glad it wasn't rainy and windy as it was earlier in the week, but it would have been nice to have temperatures in the mid-60's as forecast for later this week.  Oh well, I was glad to see the turnout. I live in a diverse voting district and I hope that we all voted for Joe Biden.

Watching the election results on CNN is tense. My shoulders are tight.

I can only hope.

Hawk Sightings

On Sunday, Jeff, Lola, and I went for a walk at Oyster Shell Park in a light rain. We were finishing our first loop when I saw a hawk. I turned over Lola's leash to Jeff.

Then I saw a second hawk! The first landed on a disc golf target; the second on a lamp pole. Both landing sites were relatively close to me. 

By the time I fished out my phone, the first bird was gone. Then the second bird took flight. I blindly tried to get a photo of it flying. No luck there. 

At least I saw two hawks: the second one appeared to be a Red-Tailed Hawk. 

I'll keep looking for them when we return.