Haha! 🙂 And one of the biggest hits for each (aging) artist…

Relatedly…

And last but not least, a fond farewell. Adieu, Angela…

Yes, it’s that time of year…

Everything?

But if you do this with your candy, we can’t be friends…

And, finally, a public service announcement…

🙂 Books, of course, are better than binges, so I enjoyed this one, too…

Notice her brew on the floor. No doubt it’s pumpkin spiced this time of year. And no doubt she’s reading poetry…

Thankfully, we know the turning point in the history of literacy…

Bonus Tip: Get a free poem-of-the-day from https://www.poetryfoundation.org.

Relatedly…

Haha! Well, that’s a bit of an overstatement, even for us introverts. We just need to recharge in our alone place after peopling for long periods of time. So, come on over…

Looking for a new binge until the next season of Stranger Things, The Crown, Jack Ryan, and Bosch: Legacy. (Outlander has a great plot concept, but it’s unnecessarily raunchy.) Any suggestions?

And for an even worse pun (try not to hate me)…

And the best brand of sneakers to wear if you have to run…

This “unwelcome” mat cracked me up, too:

That’s based, of course, on the popular Journey song from 1981. I’d love to re-write certain parts of the verses, but the delayed chorus is well worth the wait.

What are you still waiting for and believing in?

Yes, it’s been too long since I’ve posted anything. My apologies. I’ve been under the weather lately and just plain zonked from trying to tie together so many loose strands of life. 

Moreover, political “silly season” is upon us, and I find it demoralizing. My son and I especially find the lunacy to be intolerable, and it sometimes it weighs heavily on us.

But, hey, so as not to be too much of a Debbie Downer today, here are a couple more chuckles. Enjoy!

In addition to which…

I just received a picture from a high school friend who came back to Reading with her family so she could scatter her mom’s ashes. I wasn’t able to join them for the ceremony because of my residency schedule, so she sent me a snap of her sitting outside our alma mater (the “Castle on the Hill”) before heading back to Houston. The outside of the building hasn’t changed a bit after all these years.

A Brief Update

It’s nice to be back in the saddle after another Th.D. residency this past week. The schedule was awfully thick, but it was a delight to be with the students on campus again. Several of us went to Sight & Sound to see David after the last class, and we were blown away by the production. Do yourself a favor and go see it if you possibly can. No spoilers here, but I guarantee you will feel “hugged by heaven” during the finale. Most of us in the audience just sat there in silence for a while after the curtain came down. Good art will do that for you!

On top of all that, I had a funeral and graveside service to do this week. The dearly departed was a believer, and it was honor to highlight his Christian faith during the service. Additionally, I celebrated my daughter’s last day as one of her grandmother’s caregivers. Stage 7 Alzheimer’s is right around the corner, and Lorena is needing a new kind of specialized care, so Bethany is pursuing a new opportunity that matches her skill set, passion, and experience. We had a lovely lunch date together and a mini-shopping spree as a thank you for all her hard work this past year. Andrew has also been helping out as needed, and he is much appreciated, too.

Our Friday night movie binge resumed. Having completed Stranger Things season 4, which is a masterclass in storytelling, we went back in time to watch The Fugitive (1993), starring Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones. Dr. Richard Kimble, unjustly accused of murdering his wife, pursues the real killer while being the target of a nationwide manhunt led by a seasoned U.S. marshal. It’s quite good, and we’ll probably watch the follow-on production, U.S. Marshals (1999), next week before settling on a longer binge-worthy series.

Finally, adorable pics and clips of our little “Bubby” (Samuel) are stacking up, so I may need to pull some of those together soon and post an update. After all, that’s why most people really come to TNL once in a while, right? 🙂

Relatedly…