I knew this was coming. The pandemic is raging throughout the country and our state—and I do mean raging—and I blame the politicization of the mitigation measures, so therefore trumpists. My friends and I, and my intelligent family members, have been careful and studious and respectful of others and we have sacrificed a whole helluva lot throughout all of this. And then there are those who flip us the middle finger. “Ain’t gonna tread on MY gaddam rights!” I’m really sick of the bozos that make up a sizable portion of our country. And they are the ones who are keeping us mired in this nightmare!
So, Thanksgiving is cancelled. And I’m 99.999% certain that Christmas is cancelled as well. IT. DIDN’T. HAVE. TO. BE. THIS. WAY. And that’s entirely on trump and his cult members. Have I mentioned lately that I utterly hate him with the intensity of a gazillion white-hot suns?
In spite of the bitter disappointment of not being able to spend the holidays with Nate, Sandra, and QUINN (!) , I am finally feeling a little calmer about things in general today, especially since two more states were called for Joe Biden (Arizona and Georgia (!)). Plus, trump’s batshit crazy lawsuits to try to halt the ballot counting and try to deny the will of the people have all been laughed out of court. The judges have been merciless in their admonishment of the trump lawyers’ idiocy. (To the point that all of trump’s law firms have pulled out of these suits and now trump has installed Rudy Giuliani as his defacto attorney, which is hilarious. For example, “Four Seasons Total Landscaping” and “Rudy Plays with His Crotch” in the Barat movie). You know, WINNING! So yeah, there’s that.
I believe I mentioned before how wonderful Netflix’s “The Queen’s Gambit” was—I think we hadn’t finished it when I first went on about it—but now that we’re done, I can’t sing its praises more. It was, indeed, wonderful. So incredibly well done, well-acted, well-written, just absolutely everything! If you want a grand escape, watch. And find yourself immersed.
And now, we are watching an intriguing, unexpectedly wonderful Netflix series called “Midnight Diner.” I saw someone on Twitter highly recommend it, so we decided to give it a try. It’s not for everyone, but I’m loving it! It takes place in a dinky little diner in Tokyo, owned and operated by a rather mysterious tall Japanese man with a scar on his face whom everyone calls “Master.” The diner seats no more than 8 or 10 people around the horseshoe bar, and the only thing on the posted menu is pork miso soup, BUT, Master will make anything to order as long as he has the ingredients. (And he almost always does). Lots of intriguing food prepared, served, and eaten with immense pleasure. Every half-hour episode is like a vignette about the current customers in the diner, and the complexities of their lives. It can be funny and it can be poignant. Mostly it’s just very human. I find it calming, and I love the music during the intro as well as the glittery shots of downtown Tokyo with it’s nicely paved streets and bright white wayfinding road paint—which speaks to actual investment into actual infrastructure. At the end of each episode, a couple of characters break the 4th wall and explain the preparation of the food featured in that episode. (And I found recipes online!) Anyway, it’s a gem of a show. (And yes, it’s subtitled, but we’re accustomed to that).
We had an incredible high tide yesterday that pretty much blew my mind. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen such a high tide here!
Here’s a quick vid (yes, it was windy!)
