Happy New Year: 2021

1/1/2021: Woke up precisely at midnight to hear fireworks going off. When I woke up at 2 AM there were still some fireworks being set off. Got up at about 6 AM. Changed calendar. Prayers, then started reading the Bible again from Genesis. Set up a new document and started this diary at 7 AM. I intend to go in about 9 AM (though I imagine Susan and Andy are still in for the holiday) and get some leftover spaghetti for breakfast.

I did, then at lunch ate the rest of the spaghetti. About 2:30 PM began frying potatoes. Finished cooking (with fish and black-eyed peas) at 5:30 PM. Went in and washed up at 7 PM. At 7:30 PM prayed rosary. Washed dishes. The new classic cartoon show on METV started at 8 PM. That fish/puppet/host is already terribly annoying.

The weather cleared up pretty well throughout the day. Some reading of GKC. Bed about 10 PM.

 

1/2/2021: Up at 7 AM. Prayers and Bible. The Popeye cartoons (including Betty Boop and Bimbo) had been on at 6 AM, and now it was the MGM shows (Tom and Jerry, Droopy, and Harman-Ising cartoons). At 8 it will be the Warner Brothers cartoons. Must now pluck out a quote for Niche of Time (NOT, hereinafter).

Andy came over about 10:30 AM, I guess, and brought the first of my Christmas orders! Here is what I wrote John about 12:30 PM:

One of them was the "Tolkien" DVD biography. The best of films such as these are both works of art and an accurate telling of the facts. Unfortunately, this is neither one nor the other, but rather falls between two stools, feeling neither accurate nor artistic enough, but rather a sort of patchwork quilt that strives for but never quite reaches a unity. Still, it is not completely worthless, and (as you know) I had to see it and even own it. It is part of the phenomenon.

The other item was Marvel's "Monster of Frankenstein, Volume I". Besides including the first four issues retelling the original story (which I've wanted to read since McQueeney, I think) it has ALL the patchy issues we had from the early years, including the werewolf woman, the Satanists and the werewolf, the boar-headed clone thing, the one-armed robot, and so on. And, of course, it fills in all the issues that we missed. By an almost eerie coincidence it ends a little after the last issue we ever bought. Seeing it all brings together a weird pang of nostalgia, the hot slice that is served when you finally receive something you've thought about for decades but never had.

Laid down about 2:30 PM and started my daily rosary. Up again about 3:30 PM after a brief nap.

About 6 PM Andy came in and got up into the attic, and after all our work we found that the bin where I thought the controllers were … was not. We got him down at last after moving quite a bit of stuff, but at least he was safe. Kam helped us too. I suppose I must look through everything again until I find the controllers. >sigh< Now almost 7 PM, and I’ve got everything put back, but must still look through the Wall of Bins. Where the heck did I put that, and why didn’t I write it down?

At 8 PM had a ramen with eggs. Been jumping around “City Lights”, Rick and Morty, and Storage Wars all evening. My right leg hurts; probably veins. Now 9:30 PM and probably going to read more Frankenstein, then bed.

 

1/3/2021: Tolkien’s Birthday. Up at 6 AM. Prayers, shower, dress, Bible. I should be out the door at 7 AM.

Arrived at church. Rosary. Fr. Stan did a good sermon today (Epiphany - celebrated) on how it sometimes takes the Wise Men a little time to turn from the halls of the exalted to the lowly creche to find holiness. Afterwards went to Family Dollar (FD from hereon after) and, among other things, got the last 2 eggnogs. Home at 9:30 AM and ate chopped ham lunch meat rolled in tortillas, with mustard and chips. Watched “Dr. Sinister” on the Flintstones, then took a nap. Up about 1:30 PM and straightened up the house, then looked through the Wall of Bins, but no luck. Filed “The Monster of Frankenstein Vol. I” up with my other comics anthologies. Now 2:20 PM.

And so the day wore on, with Andy bringing me out a leftover HEB chicken about 5:30 PM and me watching the new Simpsons episode at 8:30 PM (Comic Book Guy’s origin story and he and his wife’s consideration about having children). Read a bit and then bed.

 

1/4/2021: Up at 5:30 AM. Prayers and Bible; took medicine. Watched cartoon show on METV at 6 AM. Read up on Western Union in preparation to paying my GVH bill. It can be bought at Dollar General (DG). I should leave at 7:40 AM, if I do so.

So, I went all the way to DG, to find out that they only send money; they do not print money orders. Got a few things, like sausage biscuits, a couple of burritos, two cans of soup, and they finally had some chocolate crème drops. Walked home. Started wash at 9 AM.

The day went along as usual, with me checking the porch now and then for a delivery. At 1 PM I made the cucumber salad. At 4 PM I made the fish patties and couscous and fed the pets. At 5 PM I caught the Amphibia with the Grunkle Stan frog. Had a ramen with mushroom soup and couscous. Took a bit of a nap. At 7:15 PM I prayed three decades of the rosary, then washed up, then finished the rosary. Caught up diary. Gomer Pyle and Green Acres on now. I so much wanted to get some business out of the way today; maybe I can get a money order somewhere tomorrow. 

Notes

It doesn't seem like five years since I got Monster of Frankenstein. The same goes for the Tolkien biography DVD. Going to Dollar General and playing video games have fallen out of the list of usual things I do. If there is a chance of eggnog, perhaps I should look into Dollar General again. The seasonal drink is already gone from HEB and Walmart.