Last Sunday and Monday...
...it was very high 80s and 90ish. Had to turn on the a/c.
Yesterday? Forecasts called for 53 degrees. Don't think we ever saw that, though. Highest I saw on my cell phone was 49 degrees. Amazed that wasn't a record- but not even close. Record was 37 degrees in 1949. Still, it's been the coolest Memorial Day weekend that I can recall. Natalie and I sang yesterday at Chestnut Hill, and for the first time I was wearing a sweater, and everyone was wearing jackets. It was really overcast but at least it didn't rain or storm, so, there is that. The turnout was high for this year's memorial service. Was surprised given the poor forecast but later I reflected that a lot of people lost loved ones in this past year.
For the most part, COVID cases are going down. Ohio seems to be doing well. Last map a couple weeks ago showed far more orange and yellow than red (my county was still red). This week there was no map; those might actually be dropped. Still not calling us out of the woods, though. I'm worried about numbers in mid-June, after proms, and graduations, and Memorial Day weekend get-togethers. Would not be surprised to see a spike again. If we don't then I'll start to hope that maybe, just maybe, the worst is behind us.
May not be doing an art show any time soon. No, not because of COVID-19, but the place I was supposed to go, the building they are in has been sold and the coffee shop is supposed to move out (I think they've vacated already). They shared a building with Family Video, one of the last holdout video/dvd rental places. That's the end of an era, with Family Video gone. There's only Blockbuster store left in the nation, in Oregon. The end of an era. Admittedly, I don't recall the last time I rented a movie (heck, I don't even have a television or dvd player). I do remember when this was a fun weekend tradition, and when all sorts of video stores, from Blockbuster and other rental places, including smaller family-owned, were all over. Trying to recall the place my family used to go to all the time- Family Time? Drat, don't recall. They are long gone. I saw many movies through those places, including and especially the Disney classics such as The Love Bug, The Nutty Professor, Pollyanna and The Parent Trap. It also used to be a nice, less expensive alternative to seeing a movie in the theater. However, the streaming services were the last nail in the coffin for the business.
One industry whose survival I wonder about long-term is telephone, especially landlines. Frankly, I won't be surprised if landlines disappeared in my lifetime, and perhaps the traditional phone industry. Email, messaging and texting have practically replaced calling. But the real issue I think will be the amount of junk calls. In January, I had more than 80 messages on my work phone message. MAYBE one was a legit call (by the way I get those messages emailed to me so I'd already screened them, just wanted to make sure my box was clear). Went in last weekend to clear my voice mail. 220-some calls (223, I think.) I think maybe 10-12 had been legit calls.
That's beyond ridiculous.
I know with email there's a stupid amount of spam as well, but that's easier to filter and delete.
Oh well, enough negative. Really looking forward to tomorrow, will be spending time with my parents and lil sis. Grilling burgers and corn (I'm picking up the corn this evening). Yum! Also, fingers crossed I'm planning to take some lemons and make...lemon bread. Heh, yeah, I had ordered what I thought would be A lemon because I was really wanting lemon with my water. I got a bag. My fault entirely, didn't read the description close enough. So, I'm going to try an easy-looking recipe for lemon bread, might bring it over if it turns out. Fingers crossed!
Also finished some more books!
10. Literary Journalism, by Norman Sims and Mark Kramer, editors. This is a worthwhile read for journalists, prospective journalists and writers. It's a form of writing that's almost like a nonfiction novella, with detail usually found more in nonfiction magazines. They are all worthwhile reads for those interested in this writing style. A couple stories are kind of dry and were a bit too long and delved too much in the minutia, but most I enjoyed, such as The Mountains of Pi, The American Man, and The Road is Very Unfair. That last one especially struck a chord and serves as a reminder as to why making lasting change is so difficult.
11. The Professor and the Madman, by Simon Winchester. Who would have thought the creation of a dictionary would have so much history and drama? While there had been attempts, more on the lesser side of successful, in creating a volume about words and their definition, the Oxford English Dictionary was groundbreaking. It's funny now to think of a time when there was no dictionary, but the OED has only been around since post Civil War, and it took decades to put together. The editor most credited with its compilation, Prof. James Murray, sought volunteers to search for words, write definitions, and find quotes and examples of the words in use. An especially prolific volunteer was American Civil War veteran Dr. W.C. Minor, who submitted more than 10,000. When Murray went to personally thank him, he made an interesting and unsettling discovery- he was also a longtime inmate at an asylum for the criminally insane, committed there after he murdered a man. This was a fascinating read, and I love how each chapter begins with a word from the OED. Nice touch. It not only gets into the history of the dictionary, but in the stories of Murray and Minor. Minor's story especially is heartbreaking. He was highly intelligent but suffered from a serious mental illness that, for most of his life, really had no name, much less any effective treatment.
12. Slave Play, by Jeremy O. Harris. The play revolves around several couples and two counselors in a very different sort of couples therapy/research setup. The result is a raw look at race, sexuality and identity. There's a phrase about how good art afflicts the comfortable and comforts the afflicted. That's the perfect way to describe Slave Play- it will make you squirm, but it will also make you think.
Currently reading: Insane: America's Criminal Treatment of Mental Illness, by Alisa Roth.