Archive for the ‘Curmudgeon’ Category

Ah, HumanityCurmudgeonFriends

January 14, 2016

Grievances

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Three weeks ago I set out to write another blog post about grief. It was going to be a calm, wise little reflection on a remark my (beloved) voice teacher Tommie had made. We were talking about the abysmal technical support that’s available for anyone over the age of 40 who is trying to cope  Read the Rest…

Choir SingingCurmudgeonHolidaysSingingTeaching

December 20, 2015

A Holiday Whine

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I yelled at the Chorale. In 23 years of directing the Chorale I never remember yelling at them. I am often irritated by them but I don’t let that show. I’m a singer and I know how to take a deep breath. I often raise my voice over them to get their attention, but that’s  Read the Rest…

Ah, HumanityCurmudgeonFriends

September 22, 2015

Too Old for This Shit

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“Bite of Broadview” signs are popping up in my neighborhood. They sadden me partly because this particular event used to be called “Christ the King Harvest Festival” and the whole “Bite of” thing is so played and partly because I won’t be going. As I gotten older I’ve contracted a condition called Tofts. It flares  Read the Rest…

CurmudgeonFriends

August 1, 2015

My So-Called Internet Connection

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Comcast changed its name to Xfinity (why?) a long time ago, but I still think of them as Comcast. Or more often, “Fucking Comcast.” For purposes of this narrative the company shall remain Comcast. Expletives may or may not be deleted. Several months ago Comcast began pushing a new and faster modem that would enhance  Read the Rest…

Ah, HumanityCurmudgeon

March 8, 2015

Your Call is Important Blah, Blah, BLAH

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I lost a day and half of my life to Customer Service last week. Its reverberations are no longer keeping me awake at night but I still shudder during the day when I pass the oven. It began when I called Seattle Public Utilities to make a payment arrangement. I’ve been doing this for years.  Read the Rest…

Choir SingingCurmudgeonFriendsHolidaysPianoSingingSongs

December 16, 2014

Christmas Lights and Glitches

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It’s been two weeks since I’ve written.  If you follow my blog, I bet you thought I was reading David Copperfield all this time. Not even close. I haven’t begun to look for my copy of it yet. No, I’ve been Doing Christmas.  I tried making divinity and ended up with vanilla soup.  Only then  Read the Rest…

CurmudgeonFriendsGarden

May 8, 2014

The Tilth Sale

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Seattle Tilth is an organization that helps people to grow their own organic food.   They say this on their website in TilthSpeak, a dialect of GrantSpeak.  But that’s neither here nor there.  What is here, or rather was there is their spring edible plant sale, which I went to last Saturday. It was Tim’s idea.   Read the Rest…

BooksCatsCurmudgeon

March 13, 2014

Daylight Savings Time Blues

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It’s been a discombobulating week, and not helped by the time change.  I particularly loathe Spring Forward. It throws me worse than Fall Back in terms of messing with my sleep.  In addition I am a morning person who counts the growing minutes of spring morning light like Scrooge counts his money.  I yearn for  Read the Rest…

Choir SingingCurmudgeonFriendsHolidaysLiteraturePoemsSingingTeaching

December 24, 2013

Christmas Eve

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It’s Christmas Eve (morning).  There are streaks of rose madder in the sky.  All is calm and bright before The Onslaught of Holiday.  This morning I read Robert Browning’s (very) long poem “Christmas Eve.”  A dream is set off by the poet going into a dreary church service on Christmas Eve, falling asleep during the  Read the Rest…

BooksCurmudgeonLiteraturePoliticsThe Norton Anthology

July 13, 2013

The Wollstonecraft Women

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I got a little exercised about Mary Wollstonecraft’s 1792 essay, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, after I watched, in 2013, women being dragged out of the North Carolina and Texas legislatures and arrested for peaceful protest on their Capitol steps. I wasn’t sure I wanted to write about it because I found it  Read the Rest…