Year: 2018

Random thoughts upon turning 54

My celebration of Rosanna Arquette’s birthday was as low-key as I’d hoped. My only regret is that Harris-Teeter was out of every flavor of cake slices except “gay.” All the same, it was pretty good, even though I was really more in the mood for chocolate.

The annual pontifications:

  • There is absolutely nothing particularly interesting or special about being 54. It’s sort of like being 37.
  • One bad thing about this birthday is that it’s the first one I am spending as an orphan. And yes, I still feel like an orphan, even at 54.
  • My life is not as exciting as it was a few decades ago, but in many ways, I’m enjoying it more. Having enough money to live on and enough experience to know better than to do really stupid things helps. I’m happier than I’ve been in years.
  • Spending a bigger proportion of my time traveling and exploring is a big part of why.
  • So is having a job career that I love.
  • So is remembering how much I love being single and independent.
  • As I have said many times before, perspective and context are essential in every aspect of life.
  • I’ve never been more frightened about the direction of my country. Strangely enough, I’m also managing to maintain more optimism than I expected at this point.
  • If you don’t get your ass out and vote on 6 November, I no longer want to know you on 7 November.

Better off dead?

Tonight at the Food Lion:

CASHIER: How are you tonight?

ME: Good. You?

CASHIER: Well, I’m alive.

ME: That’s definitely better than the alternative.

CASHIER: Not really, because I know where I’m going when the lord takes me. That’s the easy part, right? Life is the hard part.

(Silence)

CASHIER: Um, if you believe that, of course…

It must suck going through life wishing you were dead.

Even back when I was a believer I don’t think I ever managed to convince myself that my life would be better if it were over.

Cross-promotion

In case you haven’t visited the other site — you know, the one that actually still gets lots of traffic and attention — you might be surprised to see how much its geographic reach has expanded in the past two years or so that I’ve been really actively updating again. There are now entries for forty of the fifty United States and eight of the ten Canadian provinces (none of the territories, alas). My goal is to get something up for all them within the next year.

Here’s a handy map:

Everybody needs a hobby…

True north and all that

So this conference that is keeping me from being in Canada for Thanksgiving and also making me miss The Bandicoots is now redeemed by the fact that I will actually be there for this (which I’ve missed for the past year or two) and for a friend’s graduation from library school in London (the one in Ontario that actually has its own Thames). Pretty good tradeoff all in all.

Also on the agenda:

  • Groceteria research in Detroit, maybe Toledo, and Niagara Falls
  • Quality time in the Toronto Reference Library
  • Falafel Queen (just discovered it’s now closed and I’m depressed) and all my other favorites
  • London and Windsor for the first time in twelve years
  • Seeing friends (I hope) in Toronto, Detroit, and Buffalo
  • Maybe another side trip yet to be determined

More later…

For the record, I’m home

You may not have known I was gone. That’s OK.

Some stats on this year’s October Canadian adventure:

  • 3600 km.
  • 7 states, 1 province.
  • 1 graduation.
  • 1 new border crossing point (Sarnia ON/Port Huron MI).
  • Dinner and assorted socializing with friends in Buffalo, Toronto, and London.
  • No recreational (nor any other) marijuana purchases.
  • 4L of assorted craft beers imported into the USA.
  • 19 books, 3 DVDs, 1 CD.

There may be more details later. Or there may not. I can be enigmatic like that…