Photo of the Day: Time Flies

Over Vegas, heading back to NYC

Very late Vegas Time / Very early New York Time

Vacation passes too quickly.

Also, this year flew by.

Which is good, because this year has been ...

~photo by iPhone 

Totally Tublar*: TVs January 8, 2015 or 1955?

Ever been walking down the promenade of a suburban strip mall, 

looking in shop windows, and realizing...

something

doesn't quite

seem right?

But the more you realize you are near a government capital, 

the less you want to investigate ...

because ... it might be a front for something?

No?

Just me?

Because apparently I am NOT the only one who realized that the displays never changed, the shop never seemed to have people going in, and everyone (Dad) was afraid to investigate the entire time they were in DC?

~ photos via iTouch January 8, 2015

And other have noticed the "frozen in time" displays ... for years.

Kensington Television Service 10309 Kensington Parkway, Kensington, MD, 

but it actually DOES do business, according to Yelp and Angie's List.

via yelp reviews

Yes, Kids .. TVs used to look like this...

*totally tubular

this phrase, which has been here since...forever, is used to mean something's cool. like rad, this was used by nerds in the 70s, but is coming back as a 'punk' thing...surfers said it too. 

man, that wave was totally tubular!!! 

In this case referring to 

television tube

n

1. (Electronics) a cathode-ray tube designed for the reproduction of television pictures. Sometimes shortened to: tube Also called: picture tube

back when tvs looked like boxes and not screens

Noun

1.

television tube - a cathode-ray tube in a television receiver; translates the received signal into a picture on a luminescent screen kinescope, picture tube cathode-ray tube, CRT - a vacuum tube in which a hot cathode emits a beam of electrons that pass through a high voltage anode and are focused or deflected before hitting a phosphorescent screen color television tube, color tube, color TV tube, colour television tube, colour tube, colour TV tube - a television tube that displays images in full color boob tube, goggle box, idiot box, television receiver, television set, telly, tv set, tv, television - an electronic device that receives television signals and displays them on a screen; "the British call a tv set a telly"

 

How I'm Spending My Christmas Vacation

 Merry Christmas!

I hope you enjoyed all the time with family and presents under your tree.

I'm taking this holiday break off from travel, sleeping in, 

doing laundry on Christmas morning, chilling, 

taking a few days off from even working from home, 

and spending it binging on vintage movies, 

Doctor Who marathons, talking to people via technology,

working on back-logged UFO crafting projects,

enjoying a stigma free Christmas dinner of pizza and beer,

and FINALLY moving furniture and trunks that 

haven't been moved in 10 years to change out a tv for a new tv. 

A tv that's been sitting on my floor since it came back from DC in AUGUST.

(EWWWW. My carpet is gross. 

Good thing I'm putting the trunks back in the exact same spots to hide it.)

 Kids, when you open time capsules from the past, you find old technology.

This is a metronome and an answering machine.

I'm keeping one and recyling the other.

Can you guess?

Enjoy YOUR break. 

I'm also spring cleaning since it's humid enough to turn the air-conditioning on.

In New York

ON CHRISTMAS WEEKEND.

Spring cleaning. In capris.

In air conditioning.

In Late DECEMBER.

What is this? 

Seattle?

2015 Classic Christmas Movie Binge:

White Christmas with Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, and Rosemary Clooney c. 1954
Thoughts:

• It's not Christmas until I watch this movie;
• I want Rosemary Clooney's dressmaker to come fit me;
• "What is Christmas with no snow?" As asked by Bing, Danny and Rosemary http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CH2KGboA35c&sns=tw … via YouTube;
• The mysteries of White Christmas: what happened to the General's kids that his granddaughter is living with him alone in VT w/a housekeeper?

The Bishop's Wife with Cary Grant and David Niven c. 1947
Thoughts:

• One of my favorite things about this movie on VHS is the inclusion of the non-trailer. They try so hard not to spoil it.;
• "Nobody expects him to be normal. He's a bishop." Truer words were never spoken.  (Pastors' kids' humor!);
• "X sent in $15." "We had them down for $10,000." Honestly, this movie is REALLY a tale of frustrated fundraisers during a stymied capital campaign.;
• "Tell me about you." Classic relationship building technique. Though usually the solicitors are the ones crying in frustration.;
• "some horrid little brass plaque" Ha, this whole scene about naming rights, a wealthy donor, & a v. patient fundraiser ... strike a little too close to home;
• "Did you have a profitable afternoon?" "Not particularly. Did you?" Fundraisers' conversations everywhere, verbatim;
• Seriously. If Cary Grant was a solicitor for my capital campaign or other fundraising efforts, we would hit all our goals; 

Desk Set with Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn c. 1957
Thoughts:

• "I have been forced to work in an atmosphere of hatred & suspicion." Ha! An angry rant of many public servants & frontline workers.; 
• The epic drunkenness and shenanigans of the company Christmas party is ... hic... Epic. Hic. Bon Voyage!  Wheee!!!;
• I love how this is basically about trained reference librarians vs IT engineers. Librarians for information literacy & authoritative sources for the win.;
• I have apartment envy for Ms. Watson's Upper East Side apartment just off 75th/Lex, esp. the built-ins for her books & her oven.;
• "Not Ms. Watson? "Well she runs it, but he's the boss." - library admin stereotypes that are hopefully changing; 
• "Maybe we're getting that air-conditioning finally." "Figures, it's November." - the librarian facility struggles endure;
• How many librarians (current, lapsed, future) watch this movie & get unrealistic impressions about office space, salaries for housing/clothes?;

Christmas in Connecticut with Barbara Stanwyck c. 1945
Thoughts:

• The "I'm tired" rant at the end of this is the best, esp Barbara Stanwyck's summation gestures. "In short... I'm tired!";
• "I am not in a flipping mood this morning." You tell them Elizabeth. You tell your boss to "flip" off.;
• Felix is probably my fav chef, with The Swedish Chef coming in a close second. Was Felix was the inspiration? Maybe;
• "Some people say yes. Some people say no." "What do you say?" "I am inclined to agree with them." I LOVE this conversational detour.; and
• MY Christmases in Connecticut certainly NEVER looked like this;

An Affair to Remember with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr, c. 1957
Thoughts:

• What I really love the best about this movie, is that you don't even need to hear the dialogue, the non-verbal action is on point;
• "How do you get to Tomorrowland? (Tomorrowland). Close your eyes. Make a wish. And, you're there.";
• Oh no, Terry. Don't forget to look both ways before running across traffic. Something viewers shout every time we watch;
• "Everybody's doing it." "How nice for you. In your case, we'll make an exception." Quips. So many quips;
• Deborah Kerr's face when she flicks the champagne at the ladies at the bar is everything. I love the little gestures;
• and Cary Grant is just swooooony. So Swoooony;

Indiscreet with Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman, c. 1957
Thoughts:

• I have serious apartment envy;
• "I'm too old for this sort of evening. I always was."~ Alfred, the stick-in-the-mud brother-in-law;
• "Shall I see you to your elevator?" Past the doorman, lobbymen, the elevator operator, & live-ins = no privacy; 

Auntie Mame with Rosalind Russell, c. 1958

Thoughts:

• What is with these fake New York apartments, they set up such unrealistic expectations;
• "Nothing can ever really separate us." Mame to her nephew, Patrick. Yep. That's how we all feel;
• "I lived. I gotta find out what to do now!"  ~ Agnes Gooch;
• "idiotic, cockeyed nincompoopery" has to be brought back into conversation as an insult; and
• "Yes! Live! Life's a banquet..."

43 Ideas for Birthday 43: Time

Friday: Finally Featuring DC

This is going to be a briefer entry. It is almost midnight, again, and since Mom and I actually made it into DC today, there could be lots to report.

Things like:

Mary's first EVER trip on the DC metro.

As led and navigated by me.

Yes, we survived. Yes, we made it to and fro. Yes, we are still speaking.

Though, we may not when she sees yet another picture of herself on here.

The Smithsonians and The Mall and maps

We were there, and oh, there, and there....

The monuments and memorials

We did lots, but it was cold. Not as cold as earlier this week, but cold enough that you can see the ice flows in the Reflecting Pool at the Lincoln Memorial.

We headed back before rushhour on the Metro. It seemed wiser. And warmer.

It was a good, mellow, reconnaissance for future trips kind of day.

But, after dinner, things got a little fishy...

(Or maybe that was just my last supper of fried haddock and fries?)

Laundry was being done, under escort at the shared facilities, and Dad started assembling packing boxes.

It's like he thinks I am leaving tomorrow, and I have somehow got too much stuff to schlep back... And/or he's really ready for me to go?

Family Motto: We love each other... From a distance.

But, as I told some of the parents' new colleagues, it has been fun to play hooky this week, weirdness and all,  but I do have to head back to pay the piper.

To be continued from the train, later tomorrow/today

~post and photos via iTouch, 1/9. 11:57pm

And Wednesday's Adventure? Sewers & Shopping

Maybe I documented too soon. Maybe I cast a curse?

Wednesday's adventure in vacationing involved plumbing, as in crawling out of bed, heading directly to the bathroom -- as you do -- to be waved off by Dad. Early, frequent riser that he is, he discovered that the gurgling on the pipes was the sewer lines backing up in his ground floor apartment's bathtub and toilet.

And not just his, but the neighbors', the laundry room, and other area buildings.

I can't make this stuff up.

Things weren't awful, but the potential was there. Fortunately, they also got creative so we could complete ablutions. Luckily some 2nd floor apartments are vacant awaiting tenants, keys available, and building management is VERY proactively involved. Thankfully gravity runs down, so Mom and I ran up and down stairs to vacant units in jammies and robes, with shower caddies and towels to get ready for the day.  I was having dorm flashbacks. (And previous apartment flashbacks. I've had to deal with that mess before. And tried to bleach my memory of the experience and cleanup.)

Then, we deserted the field for shopping/retail therapy and left Dad to man the fort and monitor the situation.

This is not an accurate photo of how briskly cold the wind was in the parking lots.

Thank you Kohl's, for your clean, working restrooms. I did my annual winter vacation stocking up of jeans and unmentionables, usually in UT but this year in MD. MD where they sell you the ubiquitous  plastic shopping bags you usually get at purchase. Yes, I will pay a nickel for a bag to cart my bras and undies out to the car, thank you very much. No one needs to see my granny panties... Oh wait.

Then it was off to another series of shopping strip malls on the other side of town. Don't ask me where. Even my mother got temporarily turned around in Rockville, which she never does. We ended up at one of those Marshalls/TJMaxx/Ross' discount stores where you never know what you'll find or see. Random things just amuse me, things like:

Lurking skeevy santas

I know when you've been sleeping, muhahahahaha!!!!!!

Yikes!

Or this, which I wish I could get for a yard or a office entrance.

Why do you keep your poisons artfully arranged under glass?

Near the typewriter you wrote the ransom note on?

Why would you bronze up a big fish, a Buddha, and a squirrel?

So I can write this blindingly bad not-punny joke.

Big Fish turns to Buddha and asks: What do you  think of Squirrel over there?
Buddha: He's a tough nut to crack.
Big Fish: Buddha, your jokes flounder.

I didn't ever claim to be funny, funny.

I think I was hungry.

I do silly things when I get hungry.

After a pitstop in a Carter's baby outlet so Grandmary could buy presents and I could snap pictures of these onsies but not "snap them up," it was time for lunch.

Diners are both excellent and awful things when people can't make food preference choices.

Menus are so varied, it's hard to narrow down. Thankfully the Silver Diner lunch specials insert helped us, and the Amtrak ambassadors' not-so-subliminal suggestions helped me decide.

Me: Crab cake platter with Old Bay seasoned fries

Mom: Veggie chili and a turkey BLT with mozzarella

Really excellent diner, with lots of veggie, flextarian, gluten-free options. I'm none of those things and was still considering this  or one of the bison options.

Good conversation with Mom 

and then back to check on Dad and the plumbing. Thankfully it had been resolved, out by the street manhole, and not inside buildings!

The rest of the day involved an early birthday polish-free (my choice) pedicure

and an at-their-home mother/daughter haircut experience by one of the fellow temple workers.

Yes. My annual parental vacations usually involve annual shopping stock ups, quarterly hair shearing, and/or beautification rituals. You have your traditions, I have mine.

Plus, your family has a way of cutting through things ...

But I digress. It's late and my blog and I'lll digress if I want to.

These peeps. They are mine.

Also to note, someone pictured above was NOT best pleased with their pictures yesterday and I got a NO just as this was NOT taken.

Posterity needs must, I say.

What, aside from frigid cold and winds will tomorrow/Thursday bring? Almost afraid to ask.

~post and photos iTouch, late to publish 1/7 wednesday