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Okay, too good not to share...



LOL!

(I know it will disappear in a month...or so.)

Cold morning. 21 degrees, feels like 9. Brrr.

But beautiful. Clear blue sky. Sunshine. I just don't get any direct sunlight. Indirect yes, direct, no. And there's a lot of shade in my neighborhood.

Day #317 - still cold, just not as cold...

So progress? I went grocery shopping at Carnival's fruit and vegetable stand.

Here's a picture of it with snowmen in front. (Note the snowmen have long since melted, there is no snow in front of it now - however this could change on Sunday and Monday, who knows.)



My parents got the first dose of the "Moderna" vaccine today, next dose in four weeks. I'm relieved. Talked to mother, who informed me that there were no side-effects, it was quick and easy, didn't hurt at all, and all in all took fifteen minutes. Her home-health care aid drove her there, she waited and got poked, then waited, then went home. Fifteen minutes tops. My father also got his today. From CVS.

Does the Happy Snoopy Dance of Joy. My parents are doing better this week - so I'm in a much better mood. Also less terrified about work, and my crazy country. Plus we've received more vaccines now - they are up to 300,000 a week. Transit friend who got vaccinated early on - turns out to be part of the Medical Reserve Corps and a license LMSW (I don't know what it stands for - my guess is Licensed Medical Social Worker.) So she's volunteering at her vaccine POD.

Just got off the phone with my niece - whose final essay for her Introduction to Race Theory - was on the effects of colonialization on non-binary genders in Hindu regions of India. Apparently the Hindu had three genders and are not binary in gender - and when the British and Europeans colonialized India - they disrupted that and imposed a binary gender structure on India and the Hindus. She said the Hindus saw gender as more of a spectrum. But the British imposed a binary gender structure, and this provided no place for the third gender to go, and they got disenfranchised, discriminated against, and suppressed or oppressed as a result. She was supposed to write a four to five page essay, which turned to ten - fifteen pages. [When mother had told me about it - I asked if it had reminded her of anyone?]

We had an interesting discussion about third gender - which is trans, she said in some cases in the Hindu culture they were born male and move towards female, or born female and move towards male, not always androgynous, although sometimes. And how horrible it was when the Europeans came in and superimposed a binary construct onto them.

I didn't know any of this. I'm kind of envious of these classes. There's so much information available now - that wasn't as readily available when I was in school. Also it shows how much damage we can do to other cultures when he superimpose our own cultural mores and views upon them.

This is a lovely picture provided by Heather Cox Richardson via her newsletter - it's from the Coast of Maine.



In other news?

The Sandman Cast has been announced and is...intriguing. You'll never guess who they picked for Lucifer (unless you've already seen this...). It actually makes perfect sense now that I think about it - I've read the Sandman graphic novels by Neil Gaiman, and am familiar with how Lucifer and Morpheus and others are portrayed in the graphic novels. So this casting of Lucifer is actually in some respects closer to the books than the tv series Lucifer's was.

And...I talked to Wales for a bit. I was telling her about an actor on a soap we both watch that got himself into trouble on social media, and unfortunately I looked for what he said - and it...well made me view him differently, although it also explained a few things. (Like why he's struggled with getting roles over the years, and his career hasn't quite taken off.)
( Read more... )

Also, a book I read on the subway in the 1980s for a contemporary literary course in college -- is being made into a Netflix series by Noah Baumbach (the guy who did The Squid and the Whale and Marriage Story) starring his wife Greta Gerwig and Adam Driver. Skimming the article - I just realized that I've seen most of this director's films, the only I don't remember seeing is The Meyerowitz Stories. This one is based on Don Delillo's satiric novel "White Noise". Delillo is kind of a middle class Generation X version of Phillip Roth and John Updike. I don't remember it well. Actually I don't remember it at all. Most of the books I read in undergrad are a blur.

I realized something today - I've stopped caring what wins awards.( Read more... )

Anyhow.. enough rambling for tonight. Stay safe and be well.

Hopefully tomorrow will be warmer. Not that I want to go grocery shopping again - Carnival was more crowded than I liked. I was doing a lot of steering around human obstacles. Also I despise smokers- every time I pass one, I worry that if they have Covid - they've given it to me. Smoke proves that the human breath goes a long ass way. [Hopefully I've not offended die hard smokers on my flist.]