Oh, I Think So

In July of this year, my landlady told me she was selling the building I've inhabited for over 17 years.  I have honestly never truly loved this apartment because it's on the first floor and on a corner so I can't leave my windows open to grab fresh air -- it's Chicago after all -- in the few months it's warm enough to enjoy that.  People could climb in, toss things in, even simply feast upon my things and me with just their eyes so it's not at all ideal.  But this place and I established a truce that went like this:  I would live here, it would accommodate me and my things, it wouldn't require too much, and I would run a not-terribly-powerful a/c in the summer.  Unfortunately, I stayed too long at the fair. I have managed to become more stockpiler than hoarder but there is a lot of stuff, knickknack, objets , books.  Personal papers of both of my parents,  personal papers of my own, hobbies acquired and hobbies abandoned before being adequately purs...

Let's all dig deep and think hard and decide that we all have things to be thankful for this holiday season. I am thankful for four brand new episodes of "Gilmore Girls," episodes that will finally end the show the way its creator, Amy Sherman-Palladino, wanted it to end.  They'll be available on Netflix starting November 25. I am thankful that my three gum surgeries are over and done with.  Yes, yes, y'all. I am thankful that I will be able to take advantage of 50%-off senior citizen transit rates this year. Starting in December, I get a small pension from a job I had for just seven years.  Thank you! I am thankful I've properly maintained my vehicle these many years.  After 18.5 years, it's still with me and doing well. I am thankful for the followers of my blog.  There are not a lot of you but I appreciate you all.  Thank you. Thank you, my friends and family.  I am a human being with flaws; thanks for accepting all of them. Have a w...

As Dave Chappelle said last night on Saturday Night Live, "I know Whites."  Well, Dave knows them better than me.  And Michael Moore was right.  And the sky fell. Donald Trump is now the President Elect. Hillary conceded with grace (and some tears).  She and Bill wore purple to symbolize the unity of red and blue. She won the popular vote but the electoral college gave it to Trump.  The electoral college, a system whose time has passed. I spent Wednesday being either nauseous or in tears.  I honestly said, "I am worried that I might not ever get over this."  Thursday was better.  On Friday morning I was okay but had to run a quick errand outside of the office at lunchtime -- this happens about thrice a year -- and thought about Trump winning the election and spent the rest of the day feeling nauseous or with tears in my eyes. Trump and Obama met at the White House.  They both looked pissed off.  My coworker said she thought Trump...

This might the view from my living room And this might be my lobby Yes, yes, I might just be taking the condo-buying plunge, even at my advanced age.  Yes, yes, the unit is quite petite but since I'd been thinking that living in a nice-sized hotel room wouldn't bother me, that having just a bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom would probably work out -- it surely does when I am on vacation and I even like it -- then I am embracing ridding myself of things.  The week I was on vacation got five bags of things to the Goodwill.  Today I am taking over seven bags of even better stuff that I just don't use and I am hardly making a dent!  I am going to attempt to put my bigass non-HDTV in the alley today but it's big and mostly heavy and I am not so upper-body strong and yesterday I managed to pull the living crap out of a hamstring muscle (yes, it hurt and still does hurt).  So stay tuned! I may be sending various shots of this view for the next few years if all...