today, i went to the library and a concert!

"That makes you a busy, vibrant woman again! Good for you!"

Almost. (smile!) Those two adventures had me crossing from midtown to southside to lower midtown before coming back home. Not that I'm done this weekend. I have a musical out in Rincon tomorrow! None of these places today had a spot for me to use my handicapped parking permit, so I got a little walking in, too.

"Good for you again, I say! Any amount of walking is what you need to get those leg muscles built back up. Anyway, what was up at Southwest Chatham Library on a Saturday afternoon?"

A documentary and discussion. Remember that banned books talk earlier this year? The movie I saw today, "The Librarians", was also shown around that time, but I missed it. I'm glad to have finally caught it! Apparently, the post-pandemic paranoia started a big push against books having topics of homosexuality, race, and discrimination. The ban even applied to books written by LGBTQ, black, or brown authors, and started in Texas, Florida, New Jersey, and Louisiana. I'm glad they had New Jersey in the mix, so it didn't look like a Southern thing!

"I wonder why they chose today?"

I have to believe it's because Right To Read Day is coming up on Monday. That isn't a national holiday, but something Danielle told me about on fb. It's being promoted by the American Library Association, in honor of their 150th anniversary. 

"Okay, that makes sense."

Heidi and Jennifer and a couple of other Asbury folks were there, too. Nice! We all stayed for the discussion afterward between Lola Dewitt - the Executive Director of Live Oak Public Library in this area - as well as Nate Coulter, the Executive Director of Central Arkansas Library System. He had a very amusing anecdote for us!

"Oh, do tell!"

One of the patrons came in and checked out 53 - yes, fifty-three!!! - children's books, leaving a note in the book return that she would not be returning them as they dealt with banned topics. Coulter was notified and suspended her library card. A few days later, the woman was back to pick up two James Patterson books she'd wanted, only to find out she could not because her account was suspended! When she spoke with Coulter, she claimed that she had taken the children's books as an act of civil disobedience. He informed her that as long as she kept the children's books, her account would be suspended, as the library had the right to protect its assets. The woman thought for a moment, then agreed to return the books she'd taken! Guess she really wanted those Patterson books!

"Hahahaha! More likely that she was fine with being 'disobedient' as long as it didn't negatively impact what she wanted. Good for Coulter for standing up to her bully tactics!"

Amen to that! I drove from there to the First Presbyterian Church, over on Washington Avenue. I missed most of the introduction about the fundraising group, but not any of the music. See, this concert was part of their 'Music With A Mission" series, with proceeds to benefit Hope Arbor. There were Asburians there, too! Tom Lewis was present with Karen Townsend, as well as her parents, Mickey and Bob. I ran into them after the concert, as I was looking to see if anyone left their program behind. They had run out when I arrived late. Luckily, Tom found one for me!

"Most excellent! I'm glad Tom is getting out and about. What a year he had, losing his partner, his brother, and then his father, all within months of each other. I'm glad you'll be seeing him next weekend for the Asbury Theatre group outing."

Yes, I'm looking forward to that! I'm glad I found out about this concert! Kathy Mayin told me about it and I had expected to see her here. Titled "Center Stage: A Night Of Broadway featuring Savannah Voices", it was almost two hours of songs!!! My favorite of the eighteen performed was a huge surprise, which made it even more special. Suade Anderson and Tegan Miller sang "Suddenly Seymour"!!! I felt like it must have been just for me!!! I even gave them a standing ovation after they finished!!!

"G'friend, you are just too much sometimes!!! LOL!"

Hey, we both know I adore that song, and have for years. I'll even sing the duet all by myself if I can't find someone who knows it!

"Yes, I well recall you startling the folks at Post 36 one karaoke night. They never knew what to expect from you."

Songs I want to hear, that's what! These were songs I wanted to hear, too. Songs like "Some Enchanted Evening", "I Could Have Danced All Night", "Man Of La Mancha", "You'll Never Walk Alone", and "Moon River". That last one wasn't even on the program! The director, Danny Cohen - that's him on the far left on stage - just threw it on there so we'd have a little Johnny Mercer. Very nice!

"How very appropriate, too, as Savannah was Mercer's home. Are those the other singers from this concert?"

Indeed they are! From the left, that's Danny Cohen, Suade Anderson, Rebecca Flaherty, Tegan Miller, and Jillian Durant. All so very talented! I have to wonder if any of them are part of the Savannah VOICE program. There were two songs - "Lily's Eyes" and "Sing For Your Supper" - that I've only ever heard from them. Nice to have heard them again!

"I'm so glad you had such a nice day and evening! Hope you have fun at the play in Rincon tomorrow, too!"

Thanks, I'm sure I will. Now, time to catch up with the Buckets! Lol!

well, i thought i knew what i was going to say

This afternoon, I threw myself out of the house, at what I thought was nearly too late, and ended up on time for most of the previews at the cinema. I had determined that I would go see "Tyler Perry's A Madea Christmas" and compare the attitudes there, in these modern times to those Ron Woodruff faced in yesterday's film (during the years between 1985 and 1992). In other words, I wanted to compare how differently society today views a black man who cross dresses to share his philosophy of life with how society reacted toward a white heterosexual man who was diagnosed with HIV in the mid-1980's (only 28 short years ago).
Well, I'm here to say that I've changed my mind.
That sounds like it would be a fine topic for Philo Cafe, on some Monday evening when I might be able to make it to that group again. It would also make for animated discussions in literature courses dealing with sexuality and society mores.
But I'd rather talk about the movie I saw today.
My stepmom and I had loosely planned to go see Madea in her latest flick on the Saturday after Christmas. Concerned that there might be a blue language issue, and knowing her distaste of such, I suggested "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" instead.
That turned out to be a good choice for a couple of reasons.
First, we had the cinema to ourselves. Very nice! Especially as there were projector problems which delayed the movie's start, but that allowed us more time to catch up with our chats.
Second, when the film did finally start, they jumped right to the movie we were there for, with no previews slowing things down. Good! We had slunch plans with my eldest brother and his wife, so we would still be on time to meet with them!
Third, the movie was beautifully shot, though all the scenes of snow and ice eventually had us taking shelter beneath my shawl. Cool! (All puns intended!)
Fourth, the story was excellent, so much so that my stepmom said she was going to search out James Thurber's short story and read it again. Hello, library!
All of which brings me back to today's movie choice. I had putzed around and missed all of the earlier start times of the pricebuster films at the Carmike and Madea's was the last on the cheap seats of the day. That's okay; given the gravity of the film last night, something decidedly light was in order. Then I had the bright idea of the comparison and out the door I went.
And so, now, here we are.
And the reason I continue to write is this: I heard one of my favorite Christmas songs in today's movie. That song? "Mary, Did You Know?" As Christmas songs go, this one is very recent, having been written in 1984. One of the women in my church (Jamie Kelso) sang it beautifully for the Christmas Eve service.
At the tail end of the Tyler Perry movie, that song was featured. Sung in its entirety by a young man I was unfamiliar with, a 12-year-old named Noah Urrea. What a nice surprise!
And that is what my message is: be open to surprises.

boom shaka laka laka, boom shaka laka laka

I have been a girl on fire today.
It began with a phone call to a colleague. He is teaching one of the sections of lab with me and had a few questions, to make sure our classes would be in synch.
No problem!
Then I found out that not only does he have my old office (leaving me with none), but he has also been given a fourth year contract for temporary full-time. Say what??? After the department head had told me there was nothing he could do for me because "the policy is three years maximum for temporary full-time."
Really.
Unless you're a man, is that what he meant?
Because that's what seems to be what he meant.
Maybe I should bring a lawsuit for discrimination against the department and the college and the university.
Maybe I should just not sign this horrible contract for part-time work this term.
Of course, if I were to not sign it, then I guess I couldn't legally teach at the university.
Right?
Then the department would have to rush to find someone to teach my lecture and two labs.
All of which are at night.
That would certainly make for an interesting scramble of personnel! What would be hilarious is if the department head himself had to teach those classes because everyone else's schedules were already too heavy.
Truly.
I'm going to find out if I would be better served by filing for unemployment this term.
Then I'll decide whether to sign or not.
Since it's clear the department head doesn't want me around, chances are I'm not ever going to be offered a full-time gig there.
May as well look out for me.
I do hate it for the students, though.
It's a shame what the aftermath is going to do for them.
Still, $250 per week is not going to be enough for me for the rest of the year. Not after a summer of no income.
What ugliness.