Continued Confessions

as the New Year begins

The first thing I have to report is that I am no longer a know-it-all. Back in the day, as the expression goes, I was considered quite smart; but I hope I was also a pleasant person to be around. I am now finding it increasingly difficult to function in this artificially generated information space. I shared somewhere that I had switched to Venmo because of PayPal’s heritage. Well, this morning I found out that PayPal actually now owns Venmo. So go figure! I cannot escape the tech bros after all. Unless, of course, I stay completely off my computer and phone and live as we did before technology took us by the throat. I know, I know, there have always been inventors and explorers who bring shiny new toys to the people. But the philosophical side of me wonders whether there is a limit? I, personally, have no desire to be an interplanetary species. Earth is still home.

But of course technology gives me the opportunity to connect with people all over the world. And I have to thank my music expert reader, Lee Penman, who sent me the video of the song “Stayin’ Alive” from the movie for my 2025 motto. I danced all the way through in my kitchen last night, and quite frankly it almost killed me. But I’m here to tell the tale this morning.

I’m also very happy to report that I did get my piano cleaned off so I was able to sit down and play yesterday. Or should I say, I was able to discover that I still can’t play? Luckily I unearthed The Older Beginner Piano Course a book by James Bastien, so I intend to start over. It gives me great pleasure to see the dust-free area and lovely lines of my piano. One note at a time this year.

Also coming to light in the piano area cleaning was a cassette tape of her book It’s Always Something by Gilda Radner. I listened to her reading some of it yesterday, then discovered that Netflix has a relatively new documentary Remembering Gene Wilder. I’m in the middle of watching that but (as my friend Carol wondered about) Gilda hasn't arrived yet. Still, it’s fun to relive Willy Wonka.

Last but certainly not least, another blast from my past. I dug out an Ed McBain 87th precinct mystery that I had not yet read. It’s called The Last Dance, and it is so much fun to reconnect with the squad. The cover tells me it is the 50th in the series; and in case you are unaware, this author has a number of other series under this name, as well as being in real life the author of the Blackboard Jungle, Evan Hunter. So much great reading material for my nighttime pleasure.

But the morning has become a bit more problematic. I simply cannot bear to finish the Isaacson biographies of Jobs and Musk, but I spent some time checking the sources and notes and confirming that I honestly don’t want to spend any more time with these people. And with respect to the leaping lizard attempting to run our country, talk about Mommy issues!

Just had my lovely morning call, so it’s time to get on with my day. Did you know that the slips that show how much money you have left from the machines on which you gamble actually have an expiration date? I spend very little time (or money) at the local casino, but I am a total penny pincher. The threat of losing the less than $20 that I have in slips is enough to make me take a trip up there to renew the 180-day window. It will be a fun outing to figure out the bus route too. Anything to distract myself from spending the day scrolling the news.

RESIST ALWAYS

TTFN