It's late in the afternoon; I should be napping, not blogging

I wish I knew what was going on.  For as long as I can remember, I've been going to bed around 11:30 pm, falling asleep in minutes and aside from waking up 2-3 times during the night to pee, getting a pretty full night's sleep, 7-8 hours.

Fast asleep in my favorite green flannel shirt, 1978  

But then a couple weeks ago something changed; nothing in my nightly routine, still going to bed at the same time and falling right asleep, but waking up around 5-6am and unable to get back to sleep.  

Since then, I've been needing an hour's nap in the afternoon and still feel tired afterwards.  Oh well, maybe it's a sign I'm getting old or my long covid is up to something.

Speaking of 1978, I was going thru my old high school scrapbook and found this--my first W2 form, from 1978.

It was from the Olde Southern Pancake & Steak House, I started working there in the fall of 1978, my senior year of high school.  I made $2.25 an hour, worked 2 nights a week but always asked for Saturdays as that shift was 12 hours long--from 8pm to 8am Sunday morning.  

Started as a busboy, worked my way into the kitchen and every 6 hour shift included a half-hour, sit-down dinner break of anything from the menu.  And if you worked a 12 hour shift on Sat nights, you got breakfast in the morning too.

I know I talk too much, but wanted to share this one story.  My boss was named George, who also owned the restaurant.  He was in his fifties, bald, morbidly obese.  He always wore black trousers, a white dress shirt with short sleeves, a big white apron.  He spent all his time in the kitchen.  He almost always had a frown, but half of his employees were teenagers like myself and he never had a cross word for any of us. 

The night of my Senior Prom, we stopped there before the dance (other guys & girls who worked there did the same) to show off our tuxes and gowns and introduce our dates to everyone we worked with.  George was so pleased, he invited us to come back afterwards for a late night treat.  

So we did, pretty late--and he was there with a big coconut cake and sundae bar.  I loved, loved working there.  Even if I did only earn $625.00 for 4 months work!

Believe it or not, I have another "black woman" story.  Two days ago I was exiting Kuhn's and there were two middle aged black women in front of me.  The one on the right said "I don't hate ALL white men, just the skinny ones."  Her friend laughed then nudged her and nodded her head back towards me.  The one on the right looked back and said "Oh he's good!  He knows he's good!"

I shared this story with my friend Pen that night and she said it didn’t necessarily mean the woman thought I was a chubby.  Hello, that's exactly what it meant!

Finally, something very nice happened to me yesterday.  Last week I was taking my garbage out, and a woman stopped me and asked if I could show her where to go, she had recently moved in and didn't know where to take her trash.  She said she asked a couple others who ignored her.  I showed her the way I take, then the more popular route thru the underground garage.  She was so appreciative and looked so much like Kathy Bates, I had to tell her.  She said she'd heard that before, and her name was Kathy too!  I told her if she needed anything else, I was in 402.

Anyway, yesterday around 10:30am, someone knocked on my door.  It was Kathy with a white haired gentleman.  She said he was her husband Denny, who wanted to meet me.  Denny explained his wife moved in a week before he did, and he just wanted to thank me for helping Kathy.  

I asked if they were new to the city, they both laughed and said no, they used to live "across the bridge" (local slang for nearby McKee's Rocks) and had been looking for a smaller place.  They somehow landed one of the few 2 bedroom apts in the Tiffany.  I thought it was so nice they took the time to visit and introduce themselves.  They appear to be in their mid-70s.

I have a really good feeling about them, maybe we'll become friends. 😏

And now that I've bored you to sleep, I'll try doing the same.

Remembering the days when I was somebody-- with a badge

The other week when I was going thru a shoebox of old photos in my closet, I came across a couple of work badges that really surprised me.  I thought I'd lost these or turned them in years ago. 

I wish one of them had been for my first IT job in downtown Pittsburgh.  It said:  Omega Systems, Information Technology & Consulting Services.  

Below that it had my name, with "Data Services Specialist".  

I was so proud of that badge.  After dropping out of college and floundering for a few years in minimum wage jobs, I went back to school and landed my first professional position in 1988.

I wore a suit to work everyday, sat behind a desk and drew up flowcharts and met with users and wrote a thousand computer programs.  I loved it and woke up every morning thanking my lucky stars.  

Anyway, no Omega Systems badge in the shoebox, darn it.  But here's an early ID badge I was required to clip on my breast pocket when I visited secured areas as a consultant for Allegheny County Computer Services.

I sure miss those days!

Here's an official work badge from Allegheny County.  After 10 years as a contractor for the county, I was working at GNCorp but was miserable and knew I had to find a new job.  I contacted an IT headhunter and got an offer right away from BNY Mellon.  At the same time, my former boss from Allegheny County Computer Services heard I was looking and offered me a permanent position.

I took the county offer, I could set my own schedule and even dress business casual, a rarity at the time.  But right after I started, Mellon came back with another offer that was 5K higher in salary. 

The look on my face below says it all--the people at the county were like family, but I had to reconsider Mellon's offer.  I worked out a deal with both and went to work at Mellon after 3 months.  

As for Mellon, I enjoyed my work there but my supervisor and I did not get along.  After a couple years I got an offer from UPMC and decided to move on.  When I gave Mellon my 2 week notice, they took my green metallic work-badge and handed me a paper "Temp Employee" badge.

And finally, my work badge from UPMC Health Plan.  I worked there 16 years, retired, then a couple years later they called and asked if I wanted to come back.  I was so flattered I said ok and did, for a bit.

Once you've had a taste of freedom though, it's hard to go back to that grind.  But I confess, some days I miss my working years still.

Why 1971 was a big year for my dad, Donovan Morris

After the recent passing of Dolly Parton and my mentioning Dad was part of the country music scene in the early 1970s, I thought I'd share a little more of that here.  After forming the Morris Brothers band in the 1960s with his brothers Mike & Shane, Dad struck out on his own and got a weekly gig performing as a singer and piano player on the WWVA Jamboree in Wheeling, West Virginia.  

One of Dad's publicity photos

It was a very popular live audience radio show showcasing regional country music, but always billed someone famous.  Conway Twitty, Loretta Lynn, Jerry Lee Lewis, June Carter & Johnny Cash, Tammy Wynette, Charley Pride, Dolly Parton--the Jamboree had 'em all, and was considered second only to the Grand Ole Opry.

Mom with Charley Pride, after one of the shows at the Wheeling Jamboree

Dad became a local celebrity of sorts, and when he recorded 2 of his songs for a 45 record, the local paper accompanied him to the recording studio and did the nice article above.

Those songs got played plenty on our own local AM/FM radio station in Waynesburg, WANB.

I remember as a kid, strangers often approaching myself or one of my siblings and saying "Aren't you Donovan Morris' kids?  We're big fans!"

One time in sixth grade, the kids were invited to bring in their favorite records for an afternoon party.  The girls brought in Donny Osmond, the Carpenters and Partridge Family, and one boy (Audie M) brought in my dad's 45.  I was so proud of my old man.

Anyway, Dad spent a couple years on the Jamboree then reteamed with his brother Mike and played music for the rest of the 70's as Donovan & Mike Morris and The Country Rockers.  But those early years were some heady times for sure.  You can listen to my dad's 2 "hit songs" below.

The older I get, the stranger some things from long ago seem

This is me, October 31, 1981.  It was my 20th birthday.  (My mom always got me a Halloween-themed birthday cake.)   I have a good memory of this day.  No longer a teenager, I got a pretty short haircut and Mom told me I looked like a man.  It really meant a lot to hear that.

I was dating someone my age named Charlotte who I really, REALLY cared about.  She took me to dinner at Pizza Hut, and then we went to see a movie.  Two pictures were playing:  Arthur with Dudley Moore, and Only When I Laugh with Marsha Mason & Kristy McNichol.

Charlotte wanted to see Arthur, I didn't.  I saw the trailer and didn't think there was anything funny about someone who was drunk all the time.  (45 years later, I've still never seen it.)   I remember telling Charlie "C'mon, Marsha Mason is great!  I loved her in The Goodbye Girl!"  

Since it was my birthday, she said okay.  Afterwards she said something along the lines that it was a lame movie and I remember thinking she was right.  

The reason I'm sharing this is because a few days ago I came across the movie on The Roku Channel, and realized I hadn't seen it since the night of my birthday, almost 45 years ago.  I couldn't even remember what it was about, so I put it on.

In a nutshell, Marsha Mason is a stage actor who is coming home from a 3 month rehab stay for alcoholism, and her estranged daughter (Kristy McNichol) wants to move in with her for her senior year of high school.

Without giving away the ending, it's a pretty tough film and doesn't have a "happily ever after" ending--but it does have a bittersweet, very honest one.

So the whole time I sat here watching it in the present... our culture was so different then.  I wasn't feeling any sense of nostalgia.  More like a sense of wonder.

In the opening scene, Marsha is leaving an upscale rehab clinic in upstate New York.  She fumbles out a cigarette and lights it, and will begin every scene in the movie lighting a cigarette or smoking a cigarette.  Every single one.  No exceptions.  She kisses the row of white doctors and thanks them, hugs the row of white nurses and thanks them, waves goodbye to the row of black housekeepers and shouts "Thanks for smuggling in that rumcake for me, girls!"   

She's so madcap! 😏 Her upper East Side, wealthy best friend Joan Hackett is waiting to take her back to the city.  (Sadly, Joan died of ovarian cancer just 2 years after making this picture.)   

While driving her Cadillac in Marsha's neighborhood, Joan sees kids playing in the street and says "Why must you live someplace with all these children?"  Madcap Marsha puffs on her cigarette and says "Because I've got a 2 bedroom sublet for $300 a month from Mary Todd Lincoln that I'm keeping till the day I die!"  

Marsha is so funny.. and wow, 300 bucks for a 2 bedroom apartment in the city.

Meanwhile, Marsha's best gay friend James Coco is arranging flowers in her apartment and fluffing pillows, when a smirking Latino grocery boy delivers 2 paper sacks of groceries.  In one bag you see a one liter bottle of TAB Cola and red carton of Marlboro cigarettes.  The delivery boy tells James Coco it's $14.28.  James is shocked--for two bags of groceries??

James Coco put out bagels and cream cheese for Marsha's triumphant return

I forgot to mention that while in rehab, Marsha lost 35 pounds.  When James opens the door and hugs her, he yells "Where is your ass--WHERE IS YOUR ASS!!"  Madcap Marsha flings her luggage down and says "I packed it away in one of my suitcases just for you, I knew you'd miss it!" 

Anyway, in the days that follow Marsha meets up with estranged daughter Kristy McNichol and is talked into letting Kristy move in with her.  Kristy is not madcap, in fact she's quite the opposite.  

"Someday when I grow up" Marsha tells her daughter "I want to be just like you."  Not exactly what a kid wants to hear from their mother.

That first night, Kristy comes into Marsha's bedroom and asks if they can have a mother daughter chat.  Marsha takes off her reading glasses, puts down the script she was reading and invites her into her bed.  

You can't see it in the photo above, but when Kristy begins talking, Marsha reaches over on her nightstand for her pack of Marlboros and lights one up.  Smoking in bed?  Yep, we all did.  With your kid right beside you breathing that secondhand smoke?  Yep, we all did.

I don't want to give away the rest of the picture, but in one scene where Marsha falls asleep on her living room sofa during the late show, she wakes up and fumbles around, looking for something.  "Where's my cigarettes?"   She slips on her shoes and exits the building and looks for an open business but can only find a bar.  Ducking down, she enters and puts 55 cents into the cigarette machine and pulls the knob--nothing comes out.  She yells "GIMME MY CIGARETTES!" and pounds the top of the vending machine.

The bartender says "Lady, stop beating on my machine!  How much money did you put in there?"  She yells back "TWELVE DOLLARS!"  The bar patrons erupt in laughter.  

A pack of Marlboros in New York will now run you $18.00.

There will always be ones who feel like Family

The other night I was listening to a podcast on YouTube, "The Jim Masters Show".  He was interviewing Gary Frank, who played son Willie Lawrence on "Family".

Family aired on ABC, Tuesday nights at 10pm from 1976-1981.  Critics praised the show and it won it's share of Emmys.  But the show tackled a lot of heavy subjects at the time (breast cancer, divorce, homosexuality) that the network never liked.

Anyway, Gary is 75 now, born in October 1950.  Listening to the interview (a long one, 2 hours) I found it both comforting and sad.  Gary's a withered figure now, bordering on frail.  He claims he was an alcoholic and chain smoker until he turned his life around at age 67.

Gary went on to do guest starring roles on other shows until retiring from acting in the 1990s.  But he spent his childhood in a poor, abusive home and to this day identifies more with his twentysomething character Willie on Family, then his self in real life.

He makes no apologies for it, and is both grateful to be part of that wonderful show, and heartbroken still that it was canceled by ABC in 1981.  He talks of every cast member like they were his real family.  He deeply loved his tv parents Doug & Kate Lawrence (played by James Broderick and Sada Thompson) and says they treated him like a son.

FYI, James was the real life father of actor Matthew Broderick and died of thyroid cancer just one year after the show ended, in 1982.  Sada died of natural causes in 2011.

Here's how the Lawrence family's home looked in 1977, and how it looks today.  A real house in Pasadena, it was rented for the show's 6 episode miniseries.  But when the network decided to make Family a series, they built a duplicate of the home's interior to make it easier for filming.

I suppose I'm sharing this for a couple reasons.  For one, Gary Frank has released his autobiography (using the picture of himself that sat on the Lawrence family's piano for 5 seasons, for the book cover).

I'm sorry to say I won't be reading his book.  He admits it's a pretty tough read, and holds nothing back.  I think I've heard enough.

The other reason I'm sharing this here is because frankly, I'm surprised I didn't do so years ago.  Family just happens to be in my Top 5 All-Time Favorite tv shows.  Did you watch this show?  Bonus points if you loved it too.  

Even though I had 5 brothers & sisters, I grew up watching this show alone.  Like I said earlier, it aired on Tuesday nights in the 1970s at 10pm.  My older brother was watching his own tv in his own bedroom.  My younger sibs were all in bed by that hour.  Back then, our retail mom worked 2 nights a week, usually Tuesdays & Thursdays, and didn't arrive home until after 10pm.   So I pretty much watched (and dearly loved) this hour-long drama on my own.

I have to say, as much as I loved my own mom, I dearly loved Sada Thompson as Family's mom and still do.  I wish more than anything she could've reprised her role.  She wanted to, but ABC was never interested in any reunions or tv-movies.

I own the first 2 seasons on DVD, but they never released the entire series.  FYI, that dvd set at the top is now an expensive item.  But the very good news is, the entire series is available to watch on Tubi.

Last night I watched Season 1 Episode 2, "Mondays Are Forever".  (Kate has a lump in her breast and suspects it's cancer.)  The show was not only ahead of it's time, it was a wonderful time capsule of the era--on Saturday nights, the Lawrences enjoy sundaes while watching The Mary Tyler Moore Show.  And youngest daughter Buddy's best friend is moving to Detroit, but Buddy can't phone her.  Why?  Because it's long distance and the charges are 16 cents per minute.  

I miss Family, I miss Mary Tyler Moore too--but I sure don't miss those old phone bills.

Happy Mother's Day to my favorite working mom

This is a Mother's Day card my dad made for Mom sometime in the mid-1970s.  (Her name was Linda, but he always called her "Line".)   On the card, she's wearing her red Fisher's Big Wheel smock.  It had a large white button pinned on the front that displayed her name and the caption "We're Big on People".

When Fisher's Big Wheel came to our hometown in 1972, we were all excited.  It was our first big department store.  We had a GC Murphy's and McCrory's, but those five and dime stores were small-fry compared to this.

It was right around my 11th birthday that Fisher's opened for business, and on Opening Day my mom took a couple of us kids to check it out.  We walked out of there with Mom holding a job application. 

That night at dinner, Mom told Dad about the store and how she was hoping to get a job there.  Dad (in a half-kidding manner) said "Now Liney, no wife of mine is going to get a job..."  and Mom said "Then go find one paying double so I don't have to!"   

   The inside of Mom's card

I swear to God I remember this--after the dishes were cleared, Mom was sitting at our kitchen table filling out her application, and where it said 'Age' (yep, back then they could ask for it) she drew an arrow pointing to the side and wrote "I believe women are like fine wines, we improve with age."  

She showed it to Dad and asked what he thought and he said "Oh sure Line, they'll like that" and winked at me!  I didn't say anything but thought "You blew it, Mom."

Apparently, Fishers liked it just fine--they offered her a job and she worked there for 23 years.  Happy Mothers Day Mom, and to all the other awesome moms out there.   

A puffy face, pioneer rigatoni and you've come a long way, Baby: Jennifer Grey in her own (sometimes dirty) words

I just got a haircut (which was long overdue) and I'm feeling downright civilized again.  I can't say I'm too happy with my puffy cheeks here, they are pretty sore and swollen right now.  But I suppose things could be worse.

This past Saturday was a mostly good day long covid wise, until sunset when the inflammation in my temples and cheeks sprang into action.  I awoke Sunday morning feeling better, only to have those same symptoms returning at noon and hanging around until 7pm before mysteriously vanishing.

Long covid is a strange and persistent animal, but I'm convinced I'm heading in the right direction.

Speaking of long covid, shortly after I was diagnosed in March 2024, I was filled with regret:  "If only I hadn't asked Typhoid Susie for that ride to Giant Eagle, I wouldn't have gotten infected..." 

I began watching videos on YouTube of people expressing regret for various things like getting bad tattoos (or worse, getting Lasik) to see how they cope, and that's when I saw an interview with actress Jennifer Grey, talking about her infamous nose job.  She said it changed her looks so much, Hollywood dropped her like a hot potato.  She said it was probably one of the worst decisions she'd made in her life.

The interview was for her book Out Of The Corner.  You know where that title came from, Patrick Swayze telling her father "Nobody puts Baby in a corner" in Dirty Dancing.

I put my name on the waitlist for the e-book at Carnegie Library, but after waiting two years, went on Barnes and Noble last week and bought my own copy for $7.99.

She doesn't waste any time getting down to the business at hand.  There's a 20 page prologue before Chapter One, where she discusses the surprise success of Dirty Dancing in 1987.  Why wasn't she being offered more acting roles?

She was convinced to get a minor nose job which made it fuller but less long (that's it on her book's cover).  She absolutely loved it and was soon offered a movie role right away.  But one year after that, cartilage began to grow on the tip of her nose.

When she returned to the same surgeon in 1990 to have it corrected, he went too far and she came out with a different face.

Filled with panic and despair, she was shocked to discover no one recognized her.  Invited to the Golden Globes, she approached other celebrities and was treated like a stranger.  Her plastic surgeon even admitted he'd never seen such a radical change in someone's features.

End of prologue.  The book is 310 pages long and I'm currently at the halfway point.  But for the first 140 pages it's only about her privileged upbringing, growing up with a celebrity father (Joel Grey) and living in big apartments in New York City or on the West Coast, in Malibu.  I'm not a prude by any means, but boy did she have a wild youth, especially her teenage years!  Everything is sex, cigarettes, booze, sex, "blow" (cocaine and she stresses she only snorted the primo stuff), more sex, Studio 54 while living with her fortysomething hairdresser at age 17 and getting every STD in the book.  

I never thought I'd say this, but frankly I'm sexed out.  Where's the acting career, the girl I fell in love with in Dirty Dancing?  Okay, I just started Chapter 21 where it's now 1984 and she lands her first acting gigs in The Cotton Club and Red Dawn.  Finally!  

I didn't know Jennifer was 18 months older than me, she just turned 66 in March.  Wow.  I can still remember my sister Shawn coming to visit me in 1987 and telling me we were going to see this movie Dirty Dancing.  Last night I watched it (probably for the first time in 30+ years) on Peacock and was surprised how charming it still was. 

EDIT:  I'm in the second half of Jennifer's book, discussing her acting career and backstories to Dirty Dancing, and it is much, much better.  She really is a good writer.

Finally, I thought I'd show you what I had for dinner Monday.  A couple weeks ago I decided to stop watching The Pioneer Woman's cooking show, but not before making her homemade pasta sauce and loving it.  She only uses crushed tomatoes (which I had a hard time finding, but got 2 generic cans), adding tomato paste, brown sugar, olive oil, garlic, peppers, basil & ground beef.  I cooked it for 2 hours and filled 4 freezer bags of the stuff, and added one of them to a pot of cooked rigatoni.

Throw in a garlic breadstick, some lettuce with some Bleu cheese dressing... yep. 😋

A forgotten letter from Mom, and a thanks to Dad

When I was looking through my shoebox of old photos for my family's years at Reeseman's Park, I came across this thank you note from my mom that made me tear up a little.  I have no memory of it, but I'm very glad I held onto it.

My mom always had the nicest stationery (and a real love for nature and hummingbirds) and the most beautiful handwriting.  In this letter, she was thanking me for my contribution to Dad's headstone, and her Mother's Day gifts.

There's no date on the note, but when she congratulated me for passing my driver's exam, I knew when this was written.  I wasn't able to get my driver's license at 16 like most kids, because I was diagnosed with epilepsy a couple years prior.  In the state of Pennsylvania, you had to be documented seizure free for a certain amount of time (2 or 3 years, I can't remember) before you could drive.

My final seizure was in Nov 1989, when I was 28 years old.  By the time I was eligible to get my license I was in my early thirties and had learned to get by in life without the need for a car.  But when Dad passed in February 2001, I told my mom at his funeral that as soon as I got back to the city I was going to sign up for driving lessons and have a car by that summer.

I kept my word and got my license (and a car) 4 months before my 40th birthday.  I was able to start driving back home on a regular basis, and got to spend a lot of weekends with Mom. 

Sad to say, but it was Dad's passing which motivated me to learn so Mom wouldn't be so alone.  Here is Dad's headstone (with his mother, my Grandma Morris directly behind his) in our family's cemetery.  My mom's headstone is now besides Dad.

Love you, Mom & Dad.

The Reesemans Years: A small look back for posterity's sake

In the spring of 1985, my oldest brother Duke was living in Washington DC and my sister Shawn & I were working and living in a small house in town, back home in Waynesburg Pa.

There were still 3 kids at home—our brother Steve, and two sisters Donda-Lin & Courtney.

One day, Mom called Shawn & me with some exciting news; they were moving out of the old farmhouse and into a brand new mobile home.  What!   

My sister Shawn on the front porch at Reeseman’s, Aug 1995

After years of scrimping and saving on Mom’s part, they bought a brand new mobile home with a room sized ‘tip-out’ giving them a double-sized living room.  

They managed to secure a corner spot on the perimeter of Reeseman’s, a large mobile home park halfway between the farmhouse and our high school in Jefferson Pa.  Dad installed a porch and shed on their lot, and Mom planted flowers everywhere.  My mom was very, very happy.  Every time I made plans for a visit, Mom would say "Doug, bring your laundry home!  We have city water now, we've got all the water you need!"  

(Growing up with a shallow well, we never seemed to have water.  I never brought my laundry to their new place, but it was funny and generous of her.)

Just months after moving there, my brother Steve graduated high school, married and moved out.  One year later in 1986, our sister Donda-Lin did the same.  Shawn moved back in with them.  

They lived there from 1985 - 1999, before Dad talked Mom into moving to a house in the country again.  But I know my mom was very happy there with her compact place and city water, and I was surprised she let it go.

I have hundreds of family photos, but only a dozen of the Reeseman years.  I wanted to share them here as they are so few and I miss those times with my family so much.  We got together at Reesemans often for holidays and family things, but shortly after they moved from there, Dad died and then Mom a couple years after that.  All of the kids went their separate ways.   

So if you'll indulge me... here's the few photos I have from those years at Reesemans.

My brother-in-law Bobby, me in the back and my pretty sister Donda-Lin at Christmas, in the 1990s.

Bobby & Donda-Lin’s baby Drew looks about a year old here, I’m guessing this is sometime in 1994.  Drew and Dad were very close.

Dad is giving Drew a piano lesson, 1995.  I just love this photo, Drew was curious & sweet as can be.

Here’s myself on the left, my brother Duke, our brother Steve with his sons Stevie and Eddie, and Dad.  This is the only photo I have of the Morris men together.

My brother Steve from behind, Dad, a 3 year old Drew and our Grandma Morris, Christmas 1996.  Where did the time go?

My (always photogenic) sister Donda-Lin enjoying our Mom's new "art" couch.  That thing was super comfy, I miss it still.

Here's my youngest sister Courtney in her acid washed jeans, outside the front door

Grandma Morris and me, my birthday, Halloween 1996.

Here's Mom & Dad's dog Frankie (who Mom insisted was our brother).  He was a sweet little guy, and after Dad & Mom's untimely passing was adopted by my sister Donda-Lin and her family, where he lived a long time.

I wasn't going to share this one, but oh well--home for Christmas, in my Superman sleep-clothes.  (Mom supplied me with that red smock for my cape.)

And finally, I wanted to share this one with a funny story.  The night before Thanksgiving 1993, I came home for the holiday weekend and saw no bags of food or such on the kitchen bar.  I asked "Where's the stuff for tomorrow?" and Mom said Donda-Lin wanted to prepare the entire dinner, and would be arriving with everything.  

I said "But she's 10 months pregnant!" and Mom said she couldn't talk her out of it.  Sure enough, Donda's car pulls up outside and she comes clanging into Mom's house, giant with a baby and carrying all these pots and pans.  I said "Donda what the hell!" and she started laughing and yelled at Mom that I was going to make her water break.

Sure enough, an hour or so later--her water broke.  Shawn, Mom & Donda-Lin rushed to the hospital and Donda gave birth to her daughter Drew Thanksgiving morning.

The End

A dirty secret no more, the return of Barb Wire & a paper sack for retirement

20+ years ago, I worked alongside Mike Cullen, a guy my age who was single like me.  He was also twice as good looking, in much better shape and dressed twice as nice.  He even had better hair than me.  Normally I avoid guys like this but I loved Mike.  He was a rascal, but kindhearted too.

One time he told me we should sign a pact.  Whoever dies first, the other would enter the deceased one's home and remove any embarrassing things.  A key to get in and location of the nasty stuff would be supplied in advance.

I didn’t really have anything but didn't want to let Mike down, so I said I had some adult stuff on an old laptop in my bedroom closet.  When I asked Mike what he had, he just laughed and said I'd find everything hidden in his oven.  Surprised, I said "Don't you cook?"  

He just smiled at me and said yes, but not in the kitchen.  

Anyway, it seems that every time I put something in my oven I think about Mike because of the nasty stuff I've been hiding in mine.  About 5 years worth of grease and grime.  How did I let it get this bad?  I bought rubber gloves, large sponges and oven cleaner a couple months ago, but was waiting for the weather to warm so I could tackle this with an open window and plenty of ventilation.  So with Spring arriving this week... ta-da!  

I thought this would take about an hour and I wound up spending almost 3.  But this turned out better than I hoped for.  Y'know, I have an air fryer in my cupboard (a small one).  I'm going to try and cook more with that going forward, every chance I get. 

A couple days ago I ran up the street to Kuhn's to get some eggs and other things.  When I walked down the dairy aisle, I saw Barb--aka Barb Wire--looking at the cheeses.  I wrote about this woman last August, she's in her upper 70s, maybe 80.  She always wears the same thing; a skin-tight black jogging suit and black baseball cap with her ponytail coming out the back end.  She's pretty fit.

The woman has some peculiar issues though--the first time I met her at the Senior Center last summer, she asked me if I grew up in the city or somewhere else.  When I said in the country, she snapped "I think you're too soft to be a country boy!  I think you're a liar!"   

But I haven't seen her since September, so I figured I'd let bygones be bygones and say hello.  I walked up and said "Hello Barb, do you remember me?"  She turned around and frowned, and said "You look familiar..."   I told her I used to be a regular visitor to the center but haven't been there since last fall because of health issues.  She said "How did you know it was me from behind?  BECAUSE YOU WERE CHECKING OUT MY BEHIND!"

Sigh... I'm looking forward to returning to the center, hopefully this summer.  I'm not so much looking forward to that. 😣

Finally, I've had this paper sack with "For retirement" written across its front for umpteen years in my old apartment's storage locker and now my current one, and I honestly can't remember what I put in here.  

It's pretty heavy, I'm guessing a stack of books.  I decided it was time I opened it up and took a look.

Inside were unopened dvds of Babylon 5, a sci-fi tv series from the 1990s that I've never seen.  There are 5 seasons in here, plus a box labeled Babylon 5 Movie Collection.  

When did I buy these?  According to Amazon, they were purchased in November 2007.  It's a little kooky that I can remember conversations with my friend Mike from 20 plus years ago, but draw a blank when it comes to these dvds.  

Are there any sci-fi fans out there that have seen and liked this show?  Is it worth watching?  These hologram boxes are pretty cool, but there's so much here and frankly I feel done with 90s television.  I don't know what the me from 2007 was thinking. 😐

The Next Ten Movies I've Enjoyed Again & Again

After the positive feedback from my recent movie blog The Top Ten Movies I've Enjoyed Again & Again I thought I'd strike again while the iron's hot.

If you recall in that post, I mentioned my list was more like 20 movies, but thought it was too many for one blog-post.

I want to stress these aren't necessarily what I consider the best films ever.  I saw a horror movie in 2020, Saint Maud that I consider a masterpiece--but I couldn't sit thru it again. 

These movies are 'wonderful comfort movies', that I enjoy revisiting whenever I can.

So in ascending order...

10.  Every time I watch Butterflies Are Free (1972) I'm struck by Edward Albert's portrayal of a young blind man.  It's flawless. He's a 20 year old aspiring musician, living on his own for the first time (in a very slummy apartment in hippie-San Francisco) and Goldie Hawn lives in the adjoining unit, an aspiring actress who spends most of the movie in her underwear eating his food.  She's wonderful.

I love when Goldie takes him shopping for some far out threads, but there's a scene where she pretends to move on and Edward's world is suddenly very dark again.  It makes me tear up every darn time.  Goldie won an Oscar for her performance but Edward Albert deserved the prize.  I'm glad I own this on dvd.

9. Breaking Away (1979) is about 4 young men from blue collar lives who just graduated high school with no idea what's next--except for David who loves his Italian bicycle, singing opera and dreams of becoming a professional bike racer--in Italy.  His father (Paul Doolie, God bless him) is a used car salesman in Bloomington Indiana struggling to understand what happened to his boy.  

This coming of age drama was released one month after my own high school graduation, and like these four boys I knew college wasn't in my cards either--at least not yet.  But it's poignant and original, and after all these years this movie still resonates with me.  

8.  This movie bears the distinction of being the first thing I recorded on a vcr when I got one in 1983.  (I think it aired on Sunday Night at the Movies but I can't be sure.)  It's The Final Countdown (1980).  I replayed the recording so much I wore out the tape.

The USS Nimitz is a nuclear aircraft carrier in 1980 (102 aircraft, 6000 men) that is mysteriously thrown back in time to 1941--right before the Japanese are set to attack Pearl Harbor.  The captain (Kirk Douglas) must now decide if he should use his vessel (which contains more firepower than the US & Japanese fleets combined) to stop one of the greatest attacks in American history. 

I'm not into war movies, but I do love time travel stories--and I love this one.  Also, this movie is unapologetically patriotic.  It's like a Navy recruitment film, but it works.  Watch this just once and you'll want to enlist, I guarantee it.

7.  I miss Jill Clayburgh.  I can't believe she's been gone since 2010.  The first time I saw Starting Over (1979) was the night of my 18th birthday.  I'd been on my own for a few months and this cheered me up so much.  After Burt Reynold's wife Candice Bergen announces she's leaving him to pursue a "disco songwriting" career, his brother (Charles Durning) convinces him to leave a slushy New York City and start over in slushier Boston.

Charles wants to fix Burt up with their friend Jill Clayburgh--who is dubious of Burt the first time she meets him, let alone all the baggage he comes with.  And then his ex-wife decides she wants him back... did you know this movie was written by James Brooks of The Mary Tyler Moore Show?  

I feel the need to watch this every couple years, and every time Candice Bergen breaks into her hit song "Better Than Ever" to a stone-faced Burt Reynolds I burst out laughing.  It's so good!

6.  I can't remember the first time I saw Moonstruck (1987), but boy did I fall in love with Cher here.  Cher plays Loretta, an Italian bookkeeper on the brink of middle age who is swept off her feet by her fiancé's younger brother Nicholas Cage.  The film is laugh out loud funny, but when Cher agrees to attend the opera with Cage, gets a glorious makeover and meets him at the Met... his look is priceless and so is hers.  It almost stops my heart every time.

5.  I'm going to say something that will bring the house down.  I am not a fan of Singin' in the Rain.  I'm not.  But I am a huge fan of Gene Kelly, and in 1944 MGM loaned him out to Columbia Pictures to star in Cover Girl (1944) with Rita Hayworth & Phil Silvers.

MGM later regretted this--the movie was a huge success.  I'm talking Oscars.   

Three pals dream of hitting it big, so what happens when one of them becomes a Broadway star?  "Make Way for Tomorrow" steals the show, but I LOVED the Broadway finale with giant sized 1940s magazines--Vanity, McCall's, Coronet, Woman's Weekly just to name a few--all with a living cover girl.  

My God this movie is awesome.  I'm glad I own it on dvd.

4.  Betty Hutton is picture perfect as Annie Oakley (sorry Judy Garland, originally cast) in Annie Get Your Gun (1950) as the real-life Wild West Show gunslinger.  I just loved how her jaw dropped every time she saw handsome Howard Keel!  And of course, "You Can't Get a Man with a Gun" & "Anything You can do I can do Better" are show-stoppers.  Did you know this movie was unavailable until 2000 because of music right disputes with Irving Berlin?  It was worth the wait.  Note: Bobi, thank you for reminding me of this one--it's my third favorite musical. 😊

3.  Jimmy Stewart is a photojournalist with a broken leg, in that marvelous run-down Greenwich Village apartment.  Thelma Ritter is his home nurse.  And Grace Kelly the socialite is in love with him!  Yes it's Rear Window (1954) and I've probably seen this 15 times, easy.  

Here's a fun fact--my first time seeing it was at our local theater in 1983, after Universal Studios bought & released 5 of Hitchcock's movies he had squirreled away for 30 years.

It was released on RCA Videodisc a year later.  I snapped it up and probably watched it 10 times with my sister.

Note:  Steve from Toronto, thanks for reminding me about this one! 😊

2.  How many times have I seen the best Star Trek movie of them all?  Countless.  I first saw Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn (1982) on a date with a very Trekkie woman named Amy and the moment Spock died, she literally screamed "Noooo!!" in the theater.  When I frantically whispered "Amy--stop!" she cried "Have you no emotions!!"  I swear to God, I'm not making that up.  

Fyi, when Leonard Nimoy died in 2015 I cried like a baby.

 1.  Wizard of Oz (1939)  Judy Garland, I am yours forever.  The End.

Finally, if I didn't give Honorable Mentions to The Graduate, When Harry Met Sally & every Charlton Heston movie between 1968 & 1973 (Planet of the Apes, The Omega Man & Soylent Green) I'd have to make a third list and we don't want that, do we? 😏