spending more aarp money!

I've been shopping like a woman possessed!

Some of these AARP e-gift certificates I've had for three years.

Why have I just been sitting on that free cash?

Let me say, that's coming to an end.

In the last two days, I've used nine e-gift certificates - NINE!!!

Yesterday, I spent a total of $35 on six of those AARP e-gift 'cards', with four used to benefit others and two just for me.

Today, I was out shopping again, this time with those three AARP e-gift certificates for Walgreens.

The impetus was the need for Vitamin C.

Usually I would go to CVS, so I could guerilla-shop.

I kno where everything is, so I can get in, get what I need, get out!

However, I had $20 of e-cash for Walgreens, so there I went, and look what I  found... a package of pretty new ponytail holders!

They were on sale, too.

(smile!) 

today, i was proud of my students

"Your students? You haven't taught for nearly eight years, ya know."

Yes, I was reminded of that yesterday while talking to Cathy of California. She'd called to check in and made sure I knew she was retiring on June 29! I told her I keep thinking it's been 7 years, but... I retired in May of 2018... so next month will make 8 years.

"Yes, indeed. You need to plan something to commemorate that occasion. So, what brought that up tonight?"

Well, you know that crazy TV show I like? "The Game With Balls"? Tonight was the second show of their second season and it had male firefighters - complete with them partially clad in calendar shots!!! - versus male and female nurses. I liked that diversity, as some of my students had been men, too. Anyway, it gets down to one lone firefighter playing three rounds all by himself. All of the others - all five on the nurses' team, as well as his two brothers and the other two from their fire house - had all missed answers and fallen into the pool. Splash!!!

"Oh, wow!"

So, he manages to win them $31,000, theirs to keep. Then he gets to go up against the Golden Balls for $100,000 of prize money. All he has to do is answer five questions correctly, that's all.

"Easier said than done, I'm sure!"

Get this: he chooses "Chemistry" over "Girl Groups". "Chemistry"!!! He says that's the topic he goes for when playing "Trivia Crack", whatever that is. The other four guys applauded like crazy!!! Apparently, he does pretty well with that. And so I was excited to see what would happen in this duel between Nate and those Golden Balls.

"And..."

And he did impressively well! The question that stumped him would have gotten me, too. But the others? He really did know his science! The first question had been a soft pitch. "Which element forms table salt when combined with chlorine?" He knew immediately that was "Sodium"! Take that, you Golden Ball!

"Hahahaha! That was an easy choice, though. Given that the other possibilities were 'Lead', 'Nickel', 'Nitrogen', 'Boron', and 'Hydrogen'."

Very true. The next question was a little harder. "Legume plants are known for fixing which element into the soil?" Well, he ran right onto the space for 'Nitrogen', knowing that element to be good for dirt... and he was right, of course!

"Oh, nice, you caught that in the photo!"

You bet I did! The third question was a bit harder. "Deuterium is an isotope of which element?" My students would have known 'isotope' means 'type of atom of same element' and that 'Hydrogen' has two isotopes, Deuterium and Tritium. Somewhere in his mind, he know that, too!

"Very good! Three questions down, two to go!"

The fourth one asked: "Galena is the primary ore of which element?" He recognized that to be a metal and chose 'Lead'. Bravo! I feel like my students would have gotten that, too. But the fifth, and final, question? That was tough. "Which element has a Curie point?'

"Yikes! What's a Curie point???"

Well, as Jay told us afterward, a Curie point is "the temperature at which a metal loses its magnetism". That's not anything I ever recall talking about, ever. I would have thought it had something to do with its radioactivity, given Marie Curie's work. However, it's named for her husband, Pierre Curie, not her. Oh, well!

"So, what was the answer? 'Nickel' or 'Boron'?"

'Nickel'. I bet he'll never forget that! I know I won't. Nice to learn something new, especially when it's from an unexpected source like a game show.

women's history: take 1

"I get it! March is Women's History Month and you went to a movie about some famous woman. Am I correct?"

You're half-right. Yes, it is WHM! I hadn't realized that's such a recent thing. I was almost 30 when it came into existence. I guess that's one thing that Ronald Reagan did that was good.

"And the thing I'm wrong about?"

I went to a semi-biographical play, over at SavRepTh, not a movie. It was based on the real story of Jennifer Blackmer's mother, who was a stenographer called into service in 1973 to record the debriefings of returning POWs from Vietnam. She was 22 years old.

"1973... wasn't that Operation Homecoming? I was 15 years old and had just started 10th grade at Jenkins High School. So, that makes her just 7 years older than me."

Thereabouts. 'Esther' had already spent some time in the secretarial pool there at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base before she landed that job. She had caught the eye of a 34-year-old officer there, and, to keep her from taking a job in Vietnam, he got her that position to keep her handy. The play spent a bit of time on the courtship of 'Andy' with her. It even covered a fancy dance he took her to, with the focus on the black-tipped, high-heeled, Chanel shoes her mother sent for her to wear!

"I know that was a very special moment! 'Esther' thought she'd be following in her mom's footsteps and become a military wife, too."

Yes, she did, even though the courtship was moving slowly, with 'Andy' truly being an officer and a gentleman and not pressuring the virgin into sex. Later, though, when she came to him distraught over a debriefing she'd heard, he wasn't above plying her with alcohol. Don't get the wrong impression, though. She had to tell him that she was ready to have sex. So, this wasn't a forced situation.

"Well, that's to his favor then. Did he have her move in?"

I don't recall that ever happening. You see, the POW she'd been so upset about? His name was 'Daniel Case'. He turned up outside her apartment four days after his debriefing and she invited him in for some food. They got to talking and realized they had a lot in common with languages. With her it was Plover, the sound-based one used by stenographers to operate the blank black paddles of the little steno machine. For him, it was all wrapped in the poems of e.e. cummings, the man who used his own grammar and punctuation rules. In any case, she and he ended up together in her bed, having a lost night, with him gone in the morning.

"Say what? Just four days after she and the officer had sex?"

Yep. But what she and 'Daniel' had was clearly love-making, to hear her talk. In any case, she ended up pregnant with the daughter who wrote her story. However, before 'Esther' knew that had happened, she'd been called in for interrogation. Why? 'Daniel' had been AWOL when he showed up to her place and someone had seen him in the area. So the military wanted to know why he went to see her and what did they do and what did he say??? It was quite a harrowing thing for the young woman.

"Yes, I'm sure it was. Then she found out she was pregnant and 'Andy' thought he had to marry her, but she went back to her parent's house instead. I'm sure the truth was this: she wanted to believe the baby was the product of her time with 'Daniel'. Perhaps that was even the case. I'd like to think it was."

I agree. I After the play, Carolyn Cook came out to talk with those of us who wanted to know more about the character she portrayed. That's her, on the right, next to Natasha, the producer of this traveling show. You know the most interesting tidbit for me?

"What was that, dear?"

It was when she was asked something about the script. She said it was 44 pages with 168 light cues. Can you believe that??? Wow. 168 light cues!!!

"Oh, I get it. You've run lights for A.C.T.O.R. and the Armstrong Masquers, so you have personal experience with that sort of thing."

That's right! It came up because she was talking about the use of triangles and diamonds in the light patterns on the floor. Those were silent visual cues to move her to where she needed to be and to keep her on track with the story. Just by use of light cues! There were some sound effects, too, to accentuate what was going on. But the light operator - and that would be Justin Bishop - was the one who helped keep her on target. Well, I'm assuming it was Justin. The "program" was a QR code that my reader can't transcribe. I'm hoping Jenn Bishop will send me the URL.

"Was this the play you mentioned a week ago? The one you already bought a ticket for?"

Yes, it is. I'd been drawn in by its sponsorship by the foundation for Abbie DeLoach, one of the young nurses killed in the car wreck in 2015. She was only 21. I'd said at the time that her political uncle would cause a change, and I was right. I guess I have her to thank for the merger of Armstrong with Georgia Southern that led to my retirement in 2018.

"That's all true. Good thing you bought your ticket ahead, as this was a sold-out show. The Vintage Events Center at least has free parking! You know, you still haven't mentioned the name of the play. You're wanting to include the poem on which it's based, don't you? Well, now's the time!"

Here it is!

i carry your heart with me   

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)
               i fear
no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want
no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

blessings so far in 2025!

This dining room wall, with the painting of the Wormsloe Plantation gifted by step-sister Susan (for my wedding to Jeff back in 1992), is where I always begin posting the programs and tickets from events attended.

Amazingly, I paid for only eleven of those events I attended between January and April.

Several of the free ones are from events at the Telfair or Jepson museums, courtesy of my membership to those cultural sites.

Some are free events I found on fb.

And quite a few are from volunteer stints for the Savannah Music Festival (SMF36) or the Savannah VOICE Festival!

Plus, the Savannah Jewish Cultural Arts Festival and the Black History Month events were all free this year, too.

That pink mesh bag?

That's a party souvenir, as well as a memento of my trip to Tallahassee!

This smaller bit of dining room wall, graced with a framed bit of embroidery done by my one-and-only Grandma, has the next set of blessings.

Those events, between mid-April to mid-June, include six that cost money.

Technically, the week-long vacation to Orlando with Christina and her daughters also cost money, but Christina covered the gas and food expenses, so I consider it fairly even.

But that meant I had two trips, in fairly quick succession - hooray!

Then there's my third dining room wall on which I post event mementos.

That's the wall with the painting I bought in Italy for less than ten Euros.

I had actually resisted putting anything up there for almost a month.

I was a bit blue then and thought I'd just forget about that wall.

Then came the second party at Bonnie Blue's little blue house and I taped all the programs and museum lecture notes and such right on up there!

Amazing what that did for my mindset!

Four events had a fee attached, but that was all.

Then I had volunteer duties for eight glorious events with SFV13!

Now, that wall is full... and life is good.

I am surrounded by the proof that I am not missing out on fun!

Hooray for retirement!

Golden years, gold, whop-whop-whop

As I told Robin Eifler, every time I hear the name of that Swiss movie, my mental jukebox cues up the David Bowie song from 1975.

Hey, why wouldn't it?

I heard it all of my senior year of high school...

"Look at that sky, life's begun
Nights are warm and the days are young"...

perfect for an 18-year-old with adventures ahead!

I'm sure that Esther Gemsch and Stefan Kurt were familiar with the song, too, as they would have been teens like me that year.

 

They were the stars in "Die goldenen Jahre", the award-winning 2023 film that Tomasz brought for us to enjoy.

She's 'Alice', the 65-year-old wife (actress was 68) who's been trying to wait patiently for her husband to retire, hoping for more of a sex life.

She sets it up that their two kids will present them with a cruise at his retirement party, knowing that he would not refuse the gift from them.

And he doesn't... but he's not happy about it.

The retirement was hard on 'Peter', a man with no discernible hobbies or interests outside of his career.

Even worse, the company let him know a robot would be taking over his job.

Ouch.

Meanwhile, 'Alice' finds out her best friend had been cheating on her spouse, 'Heinz', for the last fifteen years.

How did she find that out?

As her friend was dying, she asked 'Alice' to remove the love letters from the night stand.

Wow.

Of course, the letters just stir the libido of the lovelorn 'Alice'...

and lead to her abandoning 'Peter' on the cruise...

and having a series of adventures.

I do wish Robin would have been able to go to Cinema Savannah tonight!

What fun it would have been to talk to her about this!

I also would like her take on the appearance of the couple.

The whole time I was watching, I thought, "Do I look that old?"

Or was it the raising of two teens that made them seem older to me?

Yet another question to ask others!

That won't be tomorrow, though.

Last night was Shakespeare, and so shall be Saturday night.

It's been so long since I had two of the Bard's tales so close together!

That was back in November of 2018, with me having "Twelfth Night" on a Thursday, then "King Lear" on a Friday.

Such bliss to have two for my bday67!

(smile!)

sushi in the morning, skyelite at night!

 

Yesterday was the 23rd, which means my SNAP had life to it again!

Yesterday was also Wednesday, which meant $5 sushi at Publix!

It's been a little while, so I treated myself to two trays.

The spicy tuna roll was dinner last night...

letting me have the crunchy California roll to start my day!

(smile!)

Then I popped into fb to wish happy birthdays to friends - real ones, not just the casual acquaintances that the social media site calls "friends".

While there, I caught this from Patrick Young, down in JAX.

He was looking out his kitchen window and found himself looking right at a deer in his yard...

but, he wasn't.

Upon closer inspection, it was just a dead bush with Spanish moss on it.

As I told him, perception is everything!

He wanted to see a deer... and so he did.

(smile!)

Next was a visit to Sherry Giddens page.

She can be counted on to have a giggle or two posted, and most are puns.

Take this one, with two Star Trek peeps.

The captain says, "A lady asked me if I would help her get a job as a professional Scrabble player."

As Lt. Ryker waited, Picard added, "I put in a good word for her."

Hahahaha!!!

Absolutely beautiful!

(smile!)

Then it was time to go work on the yard.

I chose the side yard by the Sullivans, as I knew the spiderwort had straggled all over that area.

I also had dead sticker vines and thorny things to pick up, plus more sticker vines and thorny things to pull off the side of the house.

I'd thought one of those big paper bags would be too much, but I took one out there anyway... and found that I'd filled it within 90 minutes.

Even with me continually tamping it down, it filled and is ready for the curb.

See, that's perception on my part: "oh, that isn't so overgrown." 

Indeed it was.

There's some kinda sorta dandelion that's sprouted up and it grows up to three feet tall, with at least thirty buds to send spores flying.

Yikes!

Fortunately, those plants are very easy to uproot, but, as they have nice leaves on their thick stalk, they hide in the azaleas very well.

Every time I thought I'd pulled up the last one, I'd see another, lurking in the bushes.

Good thing I had a protein-rich breakfast!

However, clad in long sleeves, long pants, and gloves, I was ready to get out of the sun and into a tall, cold, glass of water!

Instead, I poured two of those into me after I ditched the clothes.

Ah, much better.

(smile!)

Time to cruise over to Savannah Arts Academy for a free jazz concert!

Woohoo!!!

 

The first half was performed by the regular jazz band.

Their program had been arranged chronologically from 1933 to 1963.

"Stompin' At The Savoy" got the blood flowing, then "Bernie's Tune" challenged the saxophone players to get their long solos done.

"All The Way", the Frank Sinatra song, let the trumpets shine!

How about those trombones?

Well, their turn came with 1963's "Doxy" - and it was good!

I liked that it reminded me of "Baby Let Your Hair Hang Down"!

Time to "Take Five" after that while Skyelite Jazz Band took the stage.

(There's a little jazz joke from me to you, dear reader!)

Their program ran the gamut from 1928 all the way to 1985, starting off with "Harlem Air Shaft", guaranteed to blow a skirt up!

(smile!)

That Duke Ellington really knew how to swing, didn't he?

But "Brass Machine", the toned-down version of Mark Taylor's "Scream Machine", written for the Army Blues Jazz Emsemble, has to be my favorite of the concert.

All five pieces of brass was up front and turned up!

And there was cowbell, lots and lots of cowbell!!!

As Christopher Walken said, "I need more cowbell" in my life!

(smile!)

Oh, then there was Kermit's song about "Bein' Green", played with trombone solos in all the right places... very nice.

So far, there had been no singers.

Then, surprise!!!

Truman Nash came up to do a bit of New Orleans' skat for the "Basin Street Blues" and to shake his moneymaker a little bit, too!

Yes, I sure did love that!!!

Living the "Lush Life" while on a "Caravan" is all well and good...

but to dance is the best!

(smile!)

 

I'm so blessed to be retired!

At this time of year when I was teaching, I would not have had such a day as this.

It's unfortunate that five young nurses lost their lives on April 22, 2015.

One of those young women had an uncle who was big in Georgia politics.

Her death was the motivation for the merger in 2017 between Armstrong State and Georgia Southern Universities, obliterating my alma mater by making it the "nursing epicenter" for the larger school.

Those changes are responsible for me retiring in May of 2018, as my teaching position was eliminated by the merger finalization.

i thank You, God, that I am in retirement and have the freedom to script my day as I like, free to attend the many cultural events in this town.

(smile!)Hallelujah!