2019: Not Quite My Favorite Year

 

11/10/2019: Up at 5:30 AM. Dressed, prayers, catechism, Bible. Off at 7 AM, church at 8 AM. Thought of the concept of "the big room"; that my life was lived in a big room that included Hardscrabble House, the park, St.James, DG and FD. A nippy morning, but not coat-cold, but with a nice smell of woodsmoke in the air; had a very good celebration, Father Greg presiding. Actually had a dollar for both collections, that made me feel good. Came home, ate chili and crackers, and watched a couple of episodes of The Practice. Lay down for a nap and up at 1 PM.

Lunch about 2 PM. Susan came over and we talked about what we needed to make stew, and how they're going to try to re-arrange Kam's room. Brought over some bananas. Don't need to make broccoli salad this week. A little after 4 PM Kam asked me to grass dogs, which I did. This evening Andy brought me some Whataburger fries and two quarters of burgers (delicious). Watched end of "My Favorite Year". Look forward to an evening of animation, including the Season Premiere of Rick and Morty.

Had a strange feeling today looking around and wondering how someone after my death would look at my stuff and what they would think of it, how it would be bereft of what meaning I gave it while I was alive, and what, if any, meaning it would have for them. The strange feeling was me imagining being that someone and seeing my stuff at a remove, like relics, seeing the arrangements and whatnot and wondering what if anything could be made of it.

Ricky Gervais is not a religious argument, he's a snotty attitude.

 

11/11/2019: Veteran's Day. Up at 6 AM. Prayers, Catechism, Bible. Ramen. Andy told me a little before 8 AM that I don't have to make chicken salad. At 9 AM went in and sliced apples for Kam. Went in at 10 AM and got Kam on his way; bus about 10:35 AM. S&A home about 12:30 PM; gave me breakfast taco. Pool guy had been here, so they let the Rotts out. At 2 PM the front struck, and the guy came for the windows at the same time; locked the Rotts up again, so he could work.

E-mail to John: Well, when the cold front hit it seemed to knock me into another dimension, a dimension where my well-laid plan to brew a stew this afternoon took a couple of strange turns. First, the pork carnitas that we had ear-marked for stew turned out to be ... not up to snuff (well, they were remainders that Kameron had brought home from his work program).  Never mind, from the same source were some vacuum sealed chicken fajitas that worked as a replacement. Then the taters (which I could have sworn I had seen in the cabinet this morning - just expectations, I guess) turned out not be there, having been forgotten while shopping. What was supposed to be a pork stew with carrots, potatoes, tomato sauce and onions in the end turned into a chicken soup with carrots and rice. Pretty tasty in its own right, but not quite what Andy was hoping for to go with the jalapeno cornbread.

Popped a picture of Pop in uniform on Facebook today. I listened to John Huston's son on Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast today - he does an eerily close imitation of his father's voice. It came to me that none of us had even a fair approximation of Pop's voice or could produce one, and you and Kenny both have great powers of mimicry. Mike would sometimes do Pop, but it was a mockery, and not so much a mimicry. I suppose we never really had that much time around him when we were kids to pick up his tones. "Friends, Romans, and countrymen, lend me your ears - for I am deaf."

 

11/12/2019: Up about 6:30 AM and decided to go for a Megamillions. Short prayers, then on my walk to and from the little store, I said my rosary. I was at the park, when Andy stopped by and offered me a ride to the store. Back by about 8:20 AM through the bitter cold. At 9 AM  went in asked Kam what wanted for breakfast (apples), then took my ramen, some bread, and some deer sausage. Went in at 10AM and got Kam going (he was already almost ready) and loaned him a padded jacket (he wanted to go in that thin little sweater!) because he wasn't sure where his warmer jacket was. Lay down for a nap. At 1 PM went in and got left-over chicken soup for lunch; brought the trash bin in. At 2 PM went out and swept back and kitchen porches, including screenless windowsills. Went ahead and fed the cats a little before 3 PM. Don't have to cook supper today.

Went out at 3:30 PM, grassed the chihuahuas and brought the recycle bin in. Picked up some wind-blown trash along the way. Was just feeding the inside animals when Kam got home. I went inside, said the rest of my prayers and read the catechism and Bible. Susan brought me a BBQ plate a little before 6 PM. Binge-watched about 6 episodes of "Green Eggs and Ham"; it wasn't quite Seuss, but I found it engaging and the traditional animation was stunning. 

John answered my e-mail with this news from Kenny: "[Kenny] did mention how proud he was of your work, and that he would like to do a screenplay treatment of it, to peddle to the various media platforms- a very good idea, as we have discussed in the past. He would be the guy to do it, too, he has screenplay writing programs and some proximity to the movers and/or shakers. Have ya'll discussed the possibility? Ventures with Kenny are always a bit misty to get your hopes up too much; but seeing as the source material already exists, perhaps this one might be more likely to come to fruition." Which is a nice thought to go to bed with. Kam called me in about 10 PM with a food order, but Susan said he should eat his BBQ plate. I did get him a root beer and wished him good night.

 

11/13/2019: Up a little before 6 AM. The Dream Wars continue, this time in a very personal way. Prayers, catechism and Bible. See 8 1/2 on this morning; dip in and out, but as it is subtitled it requires more attention than I can spare all the time. Wonder if my Paypal money is available yet? Got Kameron off to school. Nap at 12 PM.

Woke up from nap at 2 PM, with another dream. At 3 PM went in grassed chihuahuas and fed cats, then started supper. Chili, noodles, corn on the cob. Kam home at 4 PM. Went in at 8 PM and washed up. The night went as usual.

Notes

I'm still unsure how much money (if any) went into the Paypal account. That phrase about "friends, Romans, and countryman" is an actual quote we have on tape by Pop, one of the first tapes we ever made. Didn't get that photo of Pop placed quite right, but it'll do.