1. Why can’t us? Because the Astros, that’s why. The Phillies put up a good fight but Good beat Hot this time around. It is hard to lose to a team that should have been barred from the postseason to begin with, but that’s the way things work in professional sports these days. On the other hand the Phillies had a pretty great run and came within two games of stealing a championship from a better team, so I can’t say I’m all that upset by it.
2. Though it was perhaps a bit much that on the same day that the Phillies were eliminated the Philadelphia Union lost the Major League Soccer championship – and on penalty shots, which is a pretty stupid way to decide a championship all things considered. Even the NHL relegates that sort of nonsense to the regular season. So it was a hard weekend for Philadelphia sports fans, but we did have two teams playing for championships and that’s not bad at all.
3. I have already budgeted my $1.9 billion lottery winnings. Thank you for playing, but you can all go home now.
4. Actually I have no idea what I would do that that kind of money and I’m not even all that sure I want to find out. I don’t have enough materialism to spend more than a vanishingly small fraction of it on Stuff. I don’t have that many relatives to give it away to. I don’t have the monstrous ego required to buy a major social media site and fly it directly into the ground in a spectacular fireball of petulant incompetence. Maybe I should just be glad when my ticket inevitably turns out to be Not The Winner.
5. If you haven’t already voted, make sure you do on Tuesday. Fascism is on the march and all American patriots must oppose this as we have done for over 75 years, because if the world learned anything in the 1940s it is that if Fascism slithers into power it is not dislodged easily. And yes, I know what Fascism is and I have used that word both carefully and deliberately. If the Republican Party and its minions, lackeys, cronies, and enablers don’t want me to call them Fascists they should stop doing the things that Fascists do.
6. Is there any better song to spend a chilly November evening listening to than Monica Martin’s Go Easy Kid? Especially the version with James Blake on piano and backing vocals. No, no there is not.
7. Every once in a while I just call a halt to grading and lecture prep and exam writing and all the things ways that my various jobs invade my time away from campus and I just have an evening not doing anything productive at all, and every time I do this I think “Huh. This is how most people’s evenings go.” It is a strange thought. Sometimes I think I need to rethink some things, though at this point I suspect it is far too late for that.
8. Sometimes a single video can make an entire social media platform worthwhile.
9. It’s been more than a year since I started going back to work in person, after the worst of the pandemic had passed, and I still haven’t quite gotten the hang of packing my lunch the way I used to do. It’s always something last minute, never really anything that still sounds good to me by the time noon or so rolls around, and sometimes I don’t remember at all and I end up eating cheese crackers and drinking tea. Oh well.
2. Though it was perhaps a bit much that on the same day that the Phillies were eliminated the Philadelphia Union lost the Major League Soccer championship – and on penalty shots, which is a pretty stupid way to decide a championship all things considered. Even the NHL relegates that sort of nonsense to the regular season. So it was a hard weekend for Philadelphia sports fans, but we did have two teams playing for championships and that’s not bad at all.
3. I have already budgeted my $1.9 billion lottery winnings. Thank you for playing, but you can all go home now.
4. Actually I have no idea what I would do that that kind of money and I’m not even all that sure I want to find out. I don’t have enough materialism to spend more than a vanishingly small fraction of it on Stuff. I don’t have that many relatives to give it away to. I don’t have the monstrous ego required to buy a major social media site and fly it directly into the ground in a spectacular fireball of petulant incompetence. Maybe I should just be glad when my ticket inevitably turns out to be Not The Winner.
5. If you haven’t already voted, make sure you do on Tuesday. Fascism is on the march and all American patriots must oppose this as we have done for over 75 years, because if the world learned anything in the 1940s it is that if Fascism slithers into power it is not dislodged easily. And yes, I know what Fascism is and I have used that word both carefully and deliberately. If the Republican Party and its minions, lackeys, cronies, and enablers don’t want me to call them Fascists they should stop doing the things that Fascists do.
6. Is there any better song to spend a chilly November evening listening to than Monica Martin’s Go Easy Kid? Especially the version with James Blake on piano and backing vocals. No, no there is not.
7. Every once in a while I just call a halt to grading and lecture prep and exam writing and all the things ways that my various jobs invade my time away from campus and I just have an evening not doing anything productive at all, and every time I do this I think “Huh. This is how most people’s evenings go.” It is a strange thought. Sometimes I think I need to rethink some things, though at this point I suspect it is far too late for that.
8. Sometimes a single video can make an entire social media platform worthwhile.
9. It’s been more than a year since I started going back to work in person, after the worst of the pandemic had passed, and I still haven’t quite gotten the hang of packing my lunch the way I used to do. It’s always something last minute, never really anything that still sounds good to me by the time noon or so rolls around, and sometimes I don’t remember at all and I end up eating cheese crackers and drinking tea. Oh well.
10. The chicken flock is slowly dwindling, which is only to be expected given the lifespan of chickens. But for now they still give us eggs, so that’s a win.
4. Like most people, I have given such a windfall much consideration; I have come to the conclusion that there are enough worthy charities to burn up any excess funds not required to take care of myself and my family, keeping in mind the maxim that expenses rise to exceed resources & income.
ReplyDelete5. Now is the time for all good [People] to come to the aid of their [Country].
6. Thank you for that. “.. Fuck it. It’s only rock and roll.” For those whose google foo is lacking:
https://youtu.be/3G4T6L7tm4I
9. Lunchtime is a desert. For that matter, so is breakfast. For the evening meal, everything that sounds good is either frozen or still at the store.
In less than four hours I get to go spend 8 hours in a classroom completing my 23rd and final Annual MSHA Refresher Training so that I can get a piece of paper that will allow me to continue doing my job for the next 352 days before I officially retire. Next week, my last DOT physical will allow me to continue doing my job for the remaining 345 days before I officially retire.
But who’s counting …
Lucy
4. There are always charities, and enough need to sop up whatever money is available. This is true. I do have a list.
ReplyDeleteAlso, maybe I could buy a few Congressmen/women? They seem to be going at bargain rates these days.
6. Such a lovely song - I'm glad you liked it. It's been my theme song this year. I suppose this is marginally more hopeful than last year's ("This Year" by the Mountain Goats).
10. Breakfast is good - I can eat breakfast food all day. I was in high school before I figured out most people eat pancakes in the morning - they were dinner food in my household. Dinner has choices and I do like to cook, though that requires energy and focus and both of those are in very short supply these days. Lunch? Sigh.
Good luck with all of the Lasts! Just a few more hoops and then you're free. :)