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March 9, 2026 - my 59th year on this earth starts today...
59 years...doesn't feel that long somehow. Good news - I only have three-four years until retirement now. Yippee! (Actually it may be more like three and a half, we'll see, it depends a lot on finances and crazy org, and crazy union.) Although the body feels it. What's that saying? It's not the years, it's the mileage? I always consider my birthday - my own personal New Year's Day. Since our years on this earth and for things like pension, medicare, senior discounts, and retirement are tracked by the date of our birth.
It's been a good birthday so far. The Universe gifted me with a sunny spring day, with barely a cloud marring the pristine robin's egg blue surface, plus Daylight Savings Time - so the day is ever so slightly longer, with sunset around 6:45 pm - granted no flowers or green trees as of yet, but I bought some reddish purple carnations to fill a vase in my living room window and a smaller vase in the bathroom. Also, took a long walk to Courtyelou Road in Ditmas Park, and browsed a smaller bookstore (which had comics, and mostly books by minority authors), the Brooklyn Artrery, and just meandered. Didn't buy anything.
Finished Merrily We Roll Along - which I rented for $9.99 from Apple TV (it's also available on Prime for the same amount). It's the 2024 smash hit Broadway musical revival by Stephen Sondheim, Martha Friedman, George Kaufman and Moss Hart - starring Jonathon Groff, Daniel Radcliff, and Lindsey Mendez. It's much better than expected. Daniel Radcliff blew me away during his number Franklin Shepard, Inc. Also features the classic, "Not a Day Goes By". I found it weirdly comforting - in that it shows how friendships can dissolve over time bit by bit due to various things, but mainly that the friends don't want the same things or have the same central focus. They think they do - but they aren't listening to each other. Fascinating character piece about friendship, and relationships, and art.
It tells the breakup of the friendship backwards - starting with the breakup, then slowly going backwards to various high-points in the friendship, showing what most likely caused it to fracture - via the point of view of the charismatic self-involved ego-centric (somewhat narcissistic) composer Frank Shepard who is trying to figure out how he lost his two best friends.
Also been binging Count of Monte Cristo on PBS. Had the last of the three slices of Birthday cake from BY THE WAY BAKERY (courtesy of Whole Foods in the Financial District). Tonight - am considering having the freshly made artichoke and spinach gluten free ravioli.
[And I've been enjoying the three birthday gifts that I received - which are: a digital picture frame that can either do a slide show or just one picture, and shows both temperature and time. You download photos from your phone or a friend's phone, and voila. I plan on bringing it with me to work; Bose Ear Phones with Immersive Spatial Sound, and Enhanced Noise Cancelling (I use these daily to listen to music on commute and at work, and for teams meetings and work calls); and finally a cell phone mount and speaker for my cell phone - that I can use in the kitchen or taking calls at home. Very useful gifts.]
Was considering renting another movie ("Hamnet by Chole Zhao") - but I may hold off, it could very well become available for free - soon enough.
Question a Day Meme - March Catch-Up
4. Have you ever been in a road traffic accident (either as a driver, pedestrian or on a bike)?
Not that I recall? I've witnessed quite a few.
5. How many local birds can you name?
Robin, Bluejay, Pigeon, Whitetail Hawk, Bald Eagle, Sparrow, Cardinal, Crows, Ravens...technical names? No. I have enough issues remembering the names of humans, let alone names humans give specific birds.
6. Have you ever seen a dinosaur skeleton?
Yes, at the Museum of Natural History in NYC
7. Do you embrace technology or prefer things the way they used to be (or a bit of both)?
See birthday gifts. So yes, I've embraced it. I resist for a bit, give up, and embrace. I don't go overboard. I have co-workers who update their iphones and headphones and watches every year. I don't. Also, I learned from my parents to wait a while before trying the latest gadget - like maybe a couple of years. (We learned this lesson - when we were among the first to get the 8 track player (I even owned a mini-one) - which was the newest gadget and my father was convinced it would take off. It well...didn't. So after that colossal failure - our family waits a few years before getting the gadget.)
8. It’s International Women’s Day – can you name any famous female artists, musicians, scientists or authors?
Octavia Butler, Chole Zhao, Marie Curie, Billie Holiday, Aretha Franklin,
Kate Bush, The Runaways, The Go Gos, Cyndie Lauper, Lady Gaga, Toni Morrison, Jane Austen
9. As it’s ‘Check Your Batteries Day’, when was the last time you checked your stock of batteries? Or, do you just buy them when you need them?
I have batteries that will last at least ten years in my fire/carbon dioxide alarm. So not an issue. They are too hard to replace - so I got one last year that has batteries that last close to fifteen years.
It's been a good birthday so far. The Universe gifted me with a sunny spring day, with barely a cloud marring the pristine robin's egg blue surface, plus Daylight Savings Time - so the day is ever so slightly longer, with sunset around 6:45 pm - granted no flowers or green trees as of yet, but I bought some reddish purple carnations to fill a vase in my living room window and a smaller vase in the bathroom. Also, took a long walk to Courtyelou Road in Ditmas Park, and browsed a smaller bookstore (which had comics, and mostly books by minority authors), the Brooklyn Artrery, and just meandered. Didn't buy anything.
Finished Merrily We Roll Along - which I rented for $9.99 from Apple TV (it's also available on Prime for the same amount). It's the 2024 smash hit Broadway musical revival by Stephen Sondheim, Martha Friedman, George Kaufman and Moss Hart - starring Jonathon Groff, Daniel Radcliff, and Lindsey Mendez. It's much better than expected. Daniel Radcliff blew me away during his number Franklin Shepard, Inc. Also features the classic, "Not a Day Goes By". I found it weirdly comforting - in that it shows how friendships can dissolve over time bit by bit due to various things, but mainly that the friends don't want the same things or have the same central focus. They think they do - but they aren't listening to each other. Fascinating character piece about friendship, and relationships, and art.
It tells the breakup of the friendship backwards - starting with the breakup, then slowly going backwards to various high-points in the friendship, showing what most likely caused it to fracture - via the point of view of the charismatic self-involved ego-centric (somewhat narcissistic) composer Frank Shepard who is trying to figure out how he lost his two best friends.
Also been binging Count of Monte Cristo on PBS. Had the last of the three slices of Birthday cake from BY THE WAY BAKERY (courtesy of Whole Foods in the Financial District). Tonight - am considering having the freshly made artichoke and spinach gluten free ravioli.
[And I've been enjoying the three birthday gifts that I received - which are: a digital picture frame that can either do a slide show or just one picture, and shows both temperature and time. You download photos from your phone or a friend's phone, and voila. I plan on bringing it with me to work; Bose Ear Phones with Immersive Spatial Sound, and Enhanced Noise Cancelling (I use these daily to listen to music on commute and at work, and for teams meetings and work calls); and finally a cell phone mount and speaker for my cell phone - that I can use in the kitchen or taking calls at home. Very useful gifts.]
Was considering renting another movie ("Hamnet by Chole Zhao") - but I may hold off, it could very well become available for free - soon enough.
Question a Day Meme - March Catch-Up
4. Have you ever been in a road traffic accident (either as a driver, pedestrian or on a bike)?
Not that I recall? I've witnessed quite a few.
5. How many local birds can you name?
Robin, Bluejay, Pigeon, Whitetail Hawk, Bald Eagle, Sparrow, Cardinal, Crows, Ravens...technical names? No. I have enough issues remembering the names of humans, let alone names humans give specific birds.
6. Have you ever seen a dinosaur skeleton?
Yes, at the Museum of Natural History in NYC
7. Do you embrace technology or prefer things the way they used to be (or a bit of both)?
See birthday gifts. So yes, I've embraced it. I resist for a bit, give up, and embrace. I don't go overboard. I have co-workers who update their iphones and headphones and watches every year. I don't. Also, I learned from my parents to wait a while before trying the latest gadget - like maybe a couple of years. (We learned this lesson - when we were among the first to get the 8 track player (I even owned a mini-one) - which was the newest gadget and my father was convinced it would take off. It well...didn't. So after that colossal failure - our family waits a few years before getting the gadget.)
8. It’s International Women’s Day – can you name any famous female artists, musicians, scientists or authors?
Octavia Butler, Chole Zhao, Marie Curie, Billie Holiday, Aretha Franklin,
Kate Bush, The Runaways, The Go Gos, Cyndie Lauper, Lady Gaga, Toni Morrison, Jane Austen
9. As it’s ‘Check Your Batteries Day’, when was the last time you checked your stock of batteries? Or, do you just buy them when you need them?
I have batteries that will last at least ten years in my fire/carbon dioxide alarm. So not an issue. They are too hard to replace - so I got one last year that has batteries that last close to fifteen years.
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My mother had a two-volume hardback of The Count of Monte Cristo so it was the first Dumas I read.
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I'll watch Merrily if I have a chance.
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5. How many local birds can I name? Even here in the Arizona desert still a lot, including vultures, cactus wrens, road runners, ravens, several varieties of doves, cardinals, and several kinds of hummingbirds.
6. Dinosaur skeletons? I believe I saw some at the natural history museum in Denver, certainly saw some at the Dinosaur National Monument in western Colorado in the visitor center both reassembled, and still to be dug out of the ground.
7. I admit I don't need to get the latest and greatest pieces of tech any more. But I do have more than one computer in the house and the fancier current version of the XBOX.
8. Yes, I can name several, Zinaida Gipius, Anna Akhmatova, Sierra Hull, Caterina Lichtenberg, Reba McIntire, Elizabeth Langdon Williams.
Never heard of them? Look them up!
9. I probably should replace the batteries in my smoke detectors in the house. Some of them are five years old or more. I have replaced at least half of them in the last three years, due to power problems on some of the house circuits.
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