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The cleaning was the hardest part

A goes to B, and B goes to C

The cleaning was the hardest part when I was preparing to hold my near-annual hearts card game on Saturday, March 2. My wife talked about vacuuming the living and dining room floors. But from my point of view, I needed to take another tactic first.

The first point of attack was to figure out what were in the four bins that took root on the second-floor landing. Two were my wife’s stuff so that I could ignore them. The third contained miscellany from theater programs to the bulletins from funerals, plus pens, coins, and newspapers too old to bother to read, among other things.

The next bin contained clothes I could not fit into when I put them there. But since I lost a bit of weight in 2022, most of them now fit! But where would I put them?

Sans closet

Here’s the saga of my ever-shrinking closet space. When we first bought the house in 2000, my clothes were in a closet in the smaller spare bedroom. But a few years later, that room was renovated to become our daughter’s room. My wife acquired an armoire for me; it was never adequate, especially when the clothing racks in the attic collapsed. Since 2019, that room has become my wife’s office, as my daughter had moved into the guest room.

So, where will I put all those new old clothes? I asked my wife if she would remove her clothes from the armoire side panel. She said that they were my apparel, and she was correct. But there were boxes of eye care medicine that WERE my wife’s, all from 2021 and thus expired. There were also her jewelry boxes. With these gone, I was able to squeeze some clothes in.

But this was not enough. I needed to deal with – oh, the horror – my JUNK DRAWER! Specifically, the top drawer of my dresser. I found enough loose change to take someone out for dinner. Sample-sized toiletries are now on a box atop the armoire. I also had expired meds and enough other crap I could dispose of that I could put my socks and underwear in that section, making room for more T-shirts below. I have a LOT of T-shirts.

(In case you were worried about it, we’re not throwing away the expired meds but rather taking them to a pharmacy with a bin designated for disposal.)

Downstairs!

Now, I can go down to the first floor and tackle those boxes in the dining room. I found our 2022 tax filing and a bunch of mail, some unread, from about a year ago. Some family friend of my wife’s had given us some coins; I don’t know if they are of any value, but they don’t need to be clogging that floor. By the end of the tedious process, everything was off the floor, some in the trash or recycling, the rest upstairs.

The bay windows still have a bunch of stuff in front of them. That was intentional. The cats had mauled the window treatments so badly that the boxes looked much better.

This process took about twelve hours, and frankly, it was exhausting. Thank goodness for lots of music. I cannot clean without music. My wife can listen to people talking on NPR, but I cannot. I need Tom Petty or Johnny Cash or George Harrison or movie soundtracks…

Our garbage gets picked up early Friday morning. By early Saturday morning, the large recycling bin, emptied 24 hours earlier, was full again.

THEN I vacuumed the floors, and we had a lovely time playing hearts, eating O’s lasagna, and solving the world’s problems.

I wanna see the sun blotted out from the sky

The Strong Museum of Play

Rumor has it that a total solar eclipse would be visible in 15 US states, Mexico, Canada, and elsewhere on April 8. People would make up eclipse playlists. I thought of Paint It, Black by the Rolling Stones, with the lyric, “I wanna see the sun blotted out from the sky.”

As we traveled well together in Las Vegas, I conned my OLD friend MAK into a road trip to the Rochester area, where totality was projected. He picked me up c. 2 pm on Sunday. Immediately, he noted that a friend of his suggested we take Route 40 or Route 20. It couldn’t have been 40.

“You want us to take Route 20? Okay.” I directed him to go one block south and make a right turn. We’re on Route 20.” As I described a decade ago, it is lovely. More importantly, it wasn’t likely to be as crowded as the New York State Thruway, I-90. Once we got past the turn to Schenectady, it was indeed as charming as I remembered.

Bonus: When we turned onto NY-414 north, it was only a few miles to The Lux Hotel in Waterloo. It is 47 miles or 76 km, less than an hour from Rochester. We had a decent dinner there.

As is usually the case, I got up early. When MAK woke up, we went to the complimentary breakfast around 8:45. We got the last two pieces of sausage and ate pancakes.

Toys and games

We traveled to Rochester, avoiding the interstates (90 and 490) for a while. Our first destination was the Strong Museum of Play. It’s part history, part Toy Hall of Fame (sand finally made the cut in 2021), and a lot of interactive experience. MAK destroyed me in an oversized game of Battleship. I got the high score in Ms. Pac-Man (about 35,000; I used to be SO much better). Recommended.

Then we went to the house in Webster where MAK spent some of his high school years, a yuppie cul de sac neighborhood he mostly hated.

It was really overcast. I theorized that it might be less cloudy away from large bodies of water. So we headed back to Waterloo, with the GPS managing to avoid the interstates altogether.

The Western NY experience

We found ourselves in the Walmart parking lot next to the Lux Hotel at 2:53 pm. I wasn’t even sure where the sun was. About a dozen Walmart of young employees were allowed to try to watch the event. But it seemed it would be a bust. Then it wasn’t, as it got a powerful darkness in the western sky. I can’t explain it. But Kelly, in the equally overcast Buffalo area, tried.

“Those four minutes or so of darkness…? They were amazing. Truly, astonishingly amazing. For every cynic out there who has been saying things like ‘It’s just like at night, what’s the big deal,’ I can’t say it any other way than to simply say, ‘It’s not just like night.’ There was something qualitatively different about those four minutes…in how quickly they plunged over us… in how everything in my circadian-rhythm loving body was screaming, ‘This isn’t right.’ I can see how eclipses were terrifying moments for humans, for millennia, before we learned what they are and how to predict them and thus rendered them a thing of wonder.”

I didn’t take a picture. Someone on A Way with Words engaged in conversation about focusing on taking pictures “of significant events or situations (e.g., weddings, eclipses). Taking the picture becomes the focus, minimizing the event to the point that the event is missed.” Of the irritating “If there isn’t a photo, it didn’t happen,” I say BAH!

As MAK and I departed, he engaged in a conversation with a woman who had a car the same make and model of his previous car. She brought up A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. I remember that scene.

We returned east. A lot of people were departing from The Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, so the police directed traffic. We started on Route 20 but ended up on Route 5, which was not so scenic. When we got to Syracuse, we missed a turn and needed our GPS, theoretically, to get back to Route 5, but we ended up on the Thruway, which was running smoothly for the most part.

People look north

I’m glad that Chuck Miller got his picture in Newport, VT. Here is the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse: Through the Eyes of NASA (Official Broadcast), three hours from various locations in Mexico heading northeast.

My friend Dan, who’s not prone to oversentimentality, wrote about his experience in Plattsburgh, NY. “When the totality began, most everybody in the park started howling like dogs, which in itself was awesome. It got dark for three and a half minutes, and the streetlights came on. Everyone was on their feet.

“You could look at it with the naked eye and… also see the planet Venus nearby. It was indeed a black hole in the sky with a fiery corona around it. You could also see red spots at the bottom of the disk, which were probably solar flares but may also have been the habitations of the very warm extraterrestrials that live on the sun.

“When the first tiny sliver of the sun peeked out from the moon, and we all had to stop staring and put on our glasses again, there was applause and cheering. Just before and after, the light around all of us spectators in the park in the middle of town was… weird. When the light returned, it honestly felt like some kind of transformation took place here on Earth.

“And that was one more awesome thing. How often do crowds of people gather to watch a celestial event?”

So I got really cranky when I turned on the TV that night to catch the UConn/Purdue basketball Final Four. It was halftime, and commentator Charles Barkley opined about the millions of “dummies” watching the cosmic event. I turned off the set.

For me, it was an adventure—or, to use a highly technical term, a cool experience.

Actor Dennis Quaid is 70

Thing Called Love

Dennis Quaid was born in Houston, TX. He has appeared in several movies I’ve seen, all in the cinema except for The Parent Trap, but none of them I’ve viewed since the initial viewing. Most of them I liked.

Breaking Away (1977) -This is a sports movie about bicycling, which I really enjoyed. It was Oscar-nominated for Best Picture and won for Best Original Screenplay.

The Right Stuff (1983) – It won four Oscars, including Best Picture, and deservedly so. It was… what the title said.

The Big Easy (1986). Per IMDb, “Both Ellen Barkin and Dennis Quaid consider this the favorite of all the films they’ve made.” I saw it with a friend, and we both thought the crime drama had plot holes that one could drive a police cruiser through. But the soundtrack is marvelous. Someone posted most of it on YouTube, some with variations from the album. Notably, it leaves off what AllMusic called “a respectable track,” Dennis Quaid singing Closer To You, which he wrote. I can’t find the studio version, but here’s a live take with Bonnie Raitt and the Neville Brothers.

Dennis shows up on the video for Bonnie’s Thing Called Love (1989) from her Grammy-winning comeback album, Nick Of Time. It’s a sexy video, even though they were just friends.

Postcards from the Edge (1990) – the somewhat autobiographical account of the lives of Debbie Reynolds and author/screenwriter Carrie Fisher, played by Shirley MacLaine and Meryl Streep, respectively. Quaid plays the Streep character’s sometimes boyfriend. I related to the family drama.

The Parent Trap (1998) – Quaid and Natasha Richardson play the divorced parents of the twins played by Lindsay Lohan (X2). Having watched the Hayley Mills original film, I think the remake was better, which I imagine is sacrilege. I saw this on video with my daughter.

Traffic (2000) – A fine film, though Quaid, as one of the bad guys, gets about fifth billing.

21st Century

The Rookie (2001)—Based on a true story, it’s the tale of a high school chemistry teacher who coaches the school’s baseball team. Once a pitching prospect before an injury, he agrees to go to a professional tryout if his team wins the championship. (No spoiler: they do, so he does.) I immensely enjoyed it.

Far From Heaven (2002) – A seemingly perfect 1950s suburban couple, played by Quaid and Oscar-nominated for Best Actress Julianne Moore, is jeopardized. The Moore character consoles herself with the friendship of their gardener (Dennis Haysbert). A fine work by the actors and writer/director Todd Haynes. My favorite Quaid movie.

I might have caught other films. The TV movie Dinner With Friends is about two close couples who are confounded when one couple decides to split up. And I’m sure I caught some guest appearances on SpongeBob or Inside Amy Schumer.

Dennis is the younger brother of actor Randy Quaid. According to reports, “the two have not communicated in over 20 years due to a bad real estate deal in Montecito, California.”

Happy birthday to Dennis Quaid.

I voted in the Presidential primary

vote with your heart

**This is for Jefferson County in upstate NYS, but the format is the same as what I saw.**

On Tuesday, April 2, I voted in the Presidential primary. In New York State, we have a closed system. Democrats and Republicans can only participate in their respective party primaries. Those in other parties or not enrolled in a party, often called independents, cannot vote in either of those parties’ primaries.

In many other states, it’s advantageous to be independent, but in my state, one wants to be a Democrat or Republican because there are more chances to vote. And I ALWAYS vote, in large part because people have long denied the franchise. I feel an obligation to my ancestors.

I am a registered Democrat. My ballot had three choices: incumbent Joe Biden, Marianne Williamson, and Rep. Dean Phillips (MN). I voted for Phillips, whose “adoptive paternal grandmother Pauline Phillips was the author of the advice column ‘Dear Abby,’ under the pen name Abigail Van Buren.” After Super Tuesday, he dropped out of the race on March 6, though his site was still up as of April 3. Biden became the presumptive nominee by March 13..

Phillips’ fundamental pitch was that Biden was acceptable, but we needed a younger guy – Philips was born in 1969 – and he unsuccessfully urged others to get into the fray. I agreed with him about this. Neither Phillips nor Williamson had delegates to vote for; I voted for one of Biden’s.

Strategic voting

Much has been made of Democrats voting with blank ballots. In New York, it’s much the same as what happened in Michigan, Minnesota, and elsewhere over the administration’s policies in the Israel/Gaza war.

Is this a new thing?

For decades, I’ve believed you should vote with your heart in the primary and with your head in the general election. In the 1972 primary, the first time I could vote in the Presidential race, I cast a blank ballot because Shirley Chisholm was not on the roster in my Congressional district. Then, I voted for George McGovern in the general election.

In 2020, I voted for Elizabeth Warren, although Biden was the presumptive nominee by then. Then, I voted for Biden in the general election.

Polling

I don’t make political predictions; I’m not good at them. (I had Arthur attempt some back in December 2023.) The pundits muse about what the protest vote in the spring will mean in November. I have no idea.

Increasingly, I don’t think “they” know either. James Rosen, a former political reporter for McClatchy, wrote in the Boston Globe about why polling is so often wrong.

“The problems with political polls are multiple:

The dominance of cell phones and caller ID programs on landlines has made what statisticians call the “response rate” plummet.
There are too many political pollsters conducting too many polls.
The internet, with its voracious appetite and greatly expanded space for new information, no matter how incremental, has made some political journalists less discriminating and fueled more questionable polling.”

Pick and choose

Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the Catholic archbishop of Washington, D.C., said in an interview on CBS News’ Face The Nation that Biden is a “cafeteria Catholic” who “picks and chooses” which parts of Catholicism he will adhere to. Gregory was speaking specifically about abortion and LGBTQ+ rights, which Biden has championed.

I’ve read that for decades, the vast majority of U.S. Catholics believe using artificial birth control is moral, despite church teaching to the contrary. My old denomination, the United Methodist Church, has ruptured “over issues of sexuality and authority.” In my experience, many people of faith create their own theology, to quote an old Unitarian friend.

Meanwhile, the Great Trumpkin – a term used by the Boston Globe -claims that Election Day, Nov. 5, 2024, will be “Christian Visibility Day.” Apparently, he believes selling a $59.95 Bible is a qualifying event.

Or, as many Christians believe, “It is a bankrupt Christianity that sees a demagogue co-opting our faith and even our holy scriptures for the sake of his own pursuit of power and praise him for it rather than insist that we refuse to allow our sacred faith and scriptures to become a mouthpiece for an empire,” said Rev. Benjamin Cremer on X.

There’s a column in the Los Angeles Times, probably behind a paywall: I spent 24 hours on Trump’s Truth Social. No wonder it’s tanking. “The Truth Social feed I experienced was a mix of swaggering gun talk, typo-filled Bible scripture, violent Biden bashing, nonsensical conspiracy theories, and more misguided memes about Jan. 6 ‘hostages,’ trans satanists, and murderous migrants than anyone should be subjected to in one day. Or ever.”

Sunday Stealing: earthquake!

Statue of Liberty was struck by lightning

Before I get into Sunday Stealing, here are some headlines. The U.S. Geological Survey noted an earthquake at about 10:23 a.m. Friday, with a preliminary magnitude of 4.8, centered near Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, about 45 miles west of New York City and 50 miles north of Philadelphia. Sitting at my desk at home in Albany, NY, I suddenly felt queasy. Then the window began to rattle, off and on, for about 30 seconds. My wife didn’t feel it at work, but her coworker did.

On August 23, 2011, I was at my work desk at Corporate (frickin’) Woods. I also felt nauseous when the 5.8 earthquake hit Virginia. As a map on the page notes, “East Coast earthquakes travel much farther than West Coast earthquakes of similar magnitude.”

The Statue of Liberty was struck by lightning on Wednesday, and a photographer caught the image.

There will be a total eclipse over a big chunk of the United States tomorrow (Monday). Here are two reasons why this eclipse is so dangerous. Answering your eclipse questions.

Some folks believe the convergence of the earthquake and eclipse is an apocalyptic sign, even though the eclipse was forecast decades ago.

1. Name a TV series show or shows in which you have seen every episode at least twice:

The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961-1966), I Love Lucy (1951-1957), and The Twilight Zone (1959-1964), all of which I have on DVD. Two have connections to my hometown of Binghamton, NY.

2. Name a show or shows you can’t or would not miss:

CBS Sunday Morning, a magazine of the air. I’ve been watching it regularly since 1979. This is why I had a VCR and now have a DVR.

TV actors

3. Name an actor or actors that would make you more inclined to watch a show:

I don’t think that is a primary criterion. If the story is interesting, then I’ll try to see it. That said, I saw Bob Newhart on three different series. I’ve also seen Mary Tyler Moore, Ed Asner, James Garner, Dick Van Dyke, Andy Griffith, Raymond Burr, June Lockhart, and William Shatner in at least two different series.

4. Name an actor or actors who would make you less likely to watch a show:

There’s a whole crop of 21st-century actors I don’t know well enough to ascertain whether I like them. Television has become so diffused with streaming and other platforms.

5. You’re having a lovely dinner party for friends and family. What will you serve for appetizers, main course, and dessert?

I’m having it catered because I don’t have “lovely dinner parties.” The rules are that I need to find foods for people who are vegans, vegetarians, have allergies to nuts, peanuts, dairy, gluten, and/or eat kosher or halal. My daughter falls into three of those categories.

6. Snowstorm! You’ve got house guests, and you’re all stuck inside for the night. What do you prepare for dinner? Will you watch a movie? Which one?

All things being equal, it should involve eggs. If we have a movie, the choice will be by consensus. That said, I have a bunch of Mel Brooks movies. Maybe Young Frankenstein (1974). “Pardon me, boy, is this the Transylvania station?” “Ya ya.”

7. We are going to New York City for the weekend. Where do you want to go?

I’d see a Broadway play. BTW, I highly recommend the Museum Of Broadway.

Night school

8. You are going to night school. They offer courses in writing short stories, painting, piano or guitar lessons, simple home repairs, baking, and gardening. Which do you pick (or make up one of your own) and why?

Simple home repairs because I suck at simple home repairs.

9. Have you ever been to a Drive Theater? Would you like to see Drive-In Theaters make a comeback?

I went to drive-ins a lot growing up. They ARE making a comeback.

10. Should towns provide community entertainment like bands in the park, fireworks on the 4th, and community picnics, or is the cost just too much?

Our city has plays in the park, concerts on the plaza, a Tulip Festival, and other events that give the place its identity.

11. What would you change about your town if you had the power?

During the Women’s March Madness basketball tournament taking place at the arena downtown recently, “ESPN commentator Rebecca Lobo remarked about Albany… While discussing the family of Caitlin Clark and their plans while staying in the host city for the latest round of the women’s NCAA tournament at the MVP Arena, Lobo stated, ‘And by the way, good luck finding something to do in Albany.'”

This generated a great debate about what to do in downtown Albany in the winter. While the area has plenty of attractions throughout the year, and there are things to do in the metro area, the downtown, which was in trouble before the pandemic, is not necessarily… robust. It WAS Easter weekend.

Grocery shopping

12. How often do you find yourself shopping for groceries?

My wife goes shopping once a week using the car. I pick up stuff we run out of twice a week, walking with my trusty cart.

13. Do you have a favorite nighttime snack?

Spoon-Sized Shredded Wheat.

14. Do you buy in bulk, and what kinds of tips do you have to save money on grocery shopping?

I was a vigorous coupon clipper in college and for years after, going to two stores for the best price. But I don’t do that anymore. The only things we get in bulk are paper products (napkins, paper towels, toilet paper) and canned cat food.

15. Let’s have a picnic in the park. What foods are we packing, and will we cook anything there, or is it all prepared ahead of time?

There must be deviled eggs. My preference is cold chicken and potato salad. Beyond that, I don’t much care. But no anchovies.