How many times did I start this blog today? Let me count the ways! It's after 3pm and this is the first moment I've had to finish at least part of it. Somewhere around 8am I sat down to blog about last night's Golden Globe Awards, but never finished, having to leave at 8:30 though I did have a very productive day ... my favorite kind. I like to feel I accomplished something everyday, which is generally the case. I also like watching myself setting it all in motion.
Along the way, I passed several senior citizens in their 70's. OMG ... is that my new (peer) age group? Gulp! They were sitting on a bench in the sun, relaxing and talking. I paused to see if that would make me happier than running around and doing things like spending my 70th birthday with friends in Nashville line dancing with cowboys ... nope! I like my life the way it is.
As a matter of fact, while waiting on line at the post office, I met a really nice man who was just ahead of me. He was in his 60's, flirted with me, mentioning his wife died in 2009 after 6 years in a coma, and he was lonely. We come to Ellie's alternate personality in this reality ... I didn't even tell him what I do and that she was standing next to us. I just listened. Did I offer him a card to call me as he lives nearby? Nope. He still works, a night shift, and I am a hard-core day person - not flexible about my hours. As he turned and waved good-by to me ... I wondered if I should have said something. Fate will determine these things or did his wife bring us together on this day? I think I'm going to be an old maid. :)
Oh ... in case you are wondering why I had enough time to hear his life story ... try going to a post office in NYC and seeing how long the lines are. It's the reason I don't tape phone readings. And while you're waiting on that long line with cranky people, you are also feeding the parking meters - hungry little devils who eat one quarter (25 cents) every 15 minutes or they take credit cards.
About Nashville ... though I have many pairs of beaded earrings and other authentic western jewelry from past trips, I was guided to this great pair of earrings on HSN. Ladies, it was love at first sight. They go perfectly with my pink gold watch. You can click the video on the website to get a better look. Yes ... I could see myself dancing in them. No cowboy hats this trip. My old western boots are gone, so I'll wear the boots I have with jeans and shirts, though I do see my buying a shirt while I'm there. I usually don't do the "tourist thing" ... yet alone the "shopping tourist thing" when I'm away. This trip is about the music and turning 70 with friends!
Reality check on the go ... As I listened to the car radio, the newscaster was talking about this being the one-month anniversary of the sad events in Newtown. "Only one month?" It seems like such a long time ago. Now I know I'm in the wrong space-time. I have to ask Steven what to do ... Hawkins or Spielberg?
Wait ... another Steven came into my life today. This man works for Apple. Remember when I got the 30 inch monitor in October 2010? Well something is not kosher with it and black areas are showing up here and there. I know what you're thinking ... it's burning out like everything else in this reality ... and you'd be right. Having the Apple Care Plan ... the monitor is going back to Apple to either be repaired or replaced. Luckily, I have my old 30 inch monitor in my storage area to use while this one is at Apple. Oh yes ... so who is Steven? He's one of the two men at Apple who is arranging everything with Fed Ex. so I won't have to go anywhere. Now let's hope the old monitor works with the new Mac Pro. It should. Is Mercury Retrograde? Let's see when that is ... Okay, all is well.
So how long ago do you think Hurricane Sandy hit? Does it seem like over two months or longer than that? Saturday, I read a teacher client/friend who lived in Breezy Point, near the water, where remnants of her life got washed away last October - another event that seems milestones away for me. She described fleeing from her home as some of the local boardwalk came loose flying into her yard. She and her younger son (26) drove to her older son's home nearby, safe because he lives on a high floor. Did anyone sleep that night? No. Through the night they watched the neighborhood turn to flames, the sounds of sirens everywhere, and feeling like it was a movie about a war-torn country. Never in her 62 years had she experienced anything like this. All gone ... her personal belongings ... her car. And guess where she moved? A few blocks away from me on Shore Road and 91st Street along the water where she plans to stay until she retires at age 65. Can anyone ever recover from this kind of experience? She took a deep breath, counted her blessings, got an apartment, then returned to work two weeks later when the school reopened.
Another time dilation experience for me...
We must be in an alternate reality, because I actually watched the the Golden Globes live Sunday night - a first for me since the days before VCRs and DVRs. There were many highlights and heart felt moments, but none that embraced the emotions of the audience like Jodie Foster's speech. Jodie, 50, receiving the prestigious Cecil B. DeMille award after 47 years in the motion picture industry, made a dramatic thank-you speech, which was regarded by some as a coming-out, others as a retirement announcement or it could have been both. I think she needs time off to spend with her sons and get over the break-up with her long time partner, Cydney Bernard. As to Jodie being gay, maybe it's because I'm a psychic, but I can't remember ever not recognizing that, and frankly not caring one way or the other.
I've always been a fan of Jodie's, highlighted when she played Ellie Arroway, a SETI scientist who finds strong evidence of extraterrestrial life and is chosen to make first contact, in the 1997 film Contact. What did Ellie discover? The hologram. Go to the beach scene at 2hr and 00 minutes or just enjoy the movie as a walk down memory lane with Ellie and touch the illusion with her as it spirals above.
