When someone in a movie or TV show, let alone in real life, brings out a guitar I just cringe.

Bread

 

It's interesting (sad, disappointing) that bagels, English muffins, even croissants are converging on being just bread made in different shapes.  The characteristics that make each of them distinct, from each other and from bread, seem to be disappearing and we're left with, bread.

At the same time, muffins seem to be converging on cupcakes.

Things That I'm Tired Of

 

1) Men's facial hair.

2) Men with long hair.

3) Men with pony tails.  Even more so, men with manbuns.

4) Women with long, purposely "messy" hair, especially when it's blond, especially when it's parted in the middle.

5) Women wearing tight leotards and thinking a) they're pants and b) they look good.

6) Glitter on and in greeting cards.

7) Women (or men) with long hair who flick it back in elevators, theatres etc.  I mean ugh, who wants someone else's hair touching them?

8) Movies that are so dark that you can't see a damn thing that's going on. 

9) Fashion.

10) People who are famous for being famous.

New Years 2020-21

 

Like Christmas I spent New Years on my own.  Unlike Christmas I couldn't think of much to do to make it special.  I usually go away and spend New Years with a group of friends so it was a little lonely being on my own, but I was in touch with most of them by phone, email and Facebook.

I put a little more effort into dinner yesterday than I usually do.  I'm truly not fond of cooking.  I would probably live on prepared foods but they tend to have a lot of salt and fat which I'm trying to keep to a minimum, and spices, onions and garlic etc which wreak havoc with my digestive system.  So I do cook.  I just try to keep it simple.

So a new year begins with record daily numbers of new infections in the province.  I'm staying in even more.  I try to get out for walks for exercise but there are a lot of people not wearing masks, still!, and they're not always good at making the effort to distance.  I'm considering for the first time having groceries delivered rather than going to the store.  The library is doing a good job of being cautious but if the numbers keep going up I may put my account on hold for a while.

I do look forward to seeing people again, but at the same time it's been kind of great not having to bother socializing or having anyone over and I need to remember to enjoy that while it lasts.  Which realistically is going to be many more months.

Christmas 2020

So I spent a pandemic Christmas, that is all on my own, and it turned out well.

I was tempted to basically ignore it and then decided that I would make the effort to actually celebrate the season.  

I made a point of watching my favourite Christmas movies:

Christmas in Connecticut

The Bishops Wife (with Loretta Young, Cary Grant, David Niven)

It's a Wonderful Life

The Alistair Sim version of A Christmas Carol (1951)

The Family Stone

and my first choice:  The Holly and the Ivy (1952).  (I don't know why this wonderful film isn't more famous).

I listened to Christmas music, I put up decorations and I made the effort to cook a full Christmas dinner even though it was just for me. I looked at photos of Christmases past.  On Christmas day I contacted friends to wish them well.

And it was a lovely time and now I don't feel like I missed out on anything at all by being alone.

 

Several years ago, when I had a few weeks between selling one condo and getting possession of my new one, I stayed in a residential hotel in a furnished unit with a kitchen but no laundry.

I put almost everything, including most of my clothing, into temporary storage.  I lived for those weeks with two pairs of pants, two shirts, two pairs of socks, two sets underwear and a pair of jeans. Every night after work I washed one set of shirt, socks and underwear and hung them in the shower to dry.  On the weekend when there was no housekeeping in the unit I washed one pair of pants on Friday evening, and the other pair on Saturday evening.

Doing that for those weeks, making simple meals in the small kitchen, having almost nothing around me that I owned,  I was really so happy.

TP

 

I grew up with parents who lived through the Depression and a world war with rationing and our household was always very conscious of waste of any kind and there was always a stock of supplies (like toilet paper) in the house.

I wonder if all of us going through this pandemic will for the rest of our lives always be sure to have a stock of things like toilet paper in our homes.