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Bless My Happy Home
Apr. 23rd, 2024 08:46 pmI had originally intended on posting this a few days ago, but I haven't been able to for various reasons, so I'm adding some other things we've done.
On the weekend before last, Vicki Lawrence did a show near where Beth's mom and uncle live in South Jersey, so we went down and saw it with him. Her uncle is the one who introduced her to Mama's Family, and I mostly know about him from Beth. She talked about her start in show business and first meeting Carol Burnett, whom people thought she looked like. Her current husband did makeup for the show, and she and her former husband used to go on dates with them. He's the one who wrote "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia," which she sang at the show, as well as the Mama's Family theme, which she wrote, but they didn't use the lyrics. She mentioned that the Carol Burnett "The Family" sketches that led to the later show were done in a Southern accent to be like "Tennessee Williams on acid." She then did about half the show in character as Thelma Harper, with her observations on modern society and current events, including doing a rap. Then she came back as herself for a tribute to people she'd worked with who are gone now.
Earlier that day, we went to eat at Lucille's Luncheonette, a mostly breakfast place that closes early, and has a statue of the Jersey Devil in the front.
We'd brought Nellie down to South Jersey, as she'd lived there for a while before, and doesn't seem to mind the car ride. Felix is nervous even here, so we were afraid he'd be even worse in a strange place, and left him up here. It seemed to work out all right, except when she came back, he hissed at her. Apparently there's a thing where, if a cat picks up weird smells while away, even other cats who know them don't always recognize them at first. I think they're getting along again now, although she can play pretty rough.
Our last two cats never wanted to sit in this pumpkin.
They sat up here pretty often, though.
On Thursday, we saw Ben Folds in Tarrytown, of Headless Horseman fame. Ben was messed up on medication for bronchitis, and seemed to forget parts of songs sometimes. He cut "Annie Waits" short, then explained his condition and started playing something else. He talked a bit about "Still Fighting It," saying that when his son was born, it looked like he was having a really bad time. It's kind of weird to hear that song now, as it mentions something potentially happening "in twenty years or so," and it's been more than that since then. I get the impression that having kids makes you more aware of the passage of time. There were three Ben Folds Five songs in the setlist, "Eddie Walker," Don't Change Your Plans," and "Kate." We ate at a nearby burger place before the show, and there was a yarn store next door to the venue with this colorful sheep outside.
This past Sunday, we visited the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Since we're members, we usually go on member-only weeknights, but both today and last Tuesday were closed for private events. A week ago, we went to Green-Wood Cemetery instead.
On Sunday, it was pretty crowded. The cherry blossoms were in bloom, and a lot of people were gathered in that area.
There were also magnolias and a lot of different kinds of tulips near the conservatory building.
Yesterday, we saw John Waters at the City Winery in Manhattan, and it was his seventy-eighth birthday. He covered some of the same topics he did when we've seen him speak in the past, but had plenty of new stuff as well. I don't have any pictures of that, because they weren't allowed. I did get some pictures of the place right near the venue, which is called Tiny Island, and has a big hill with a good view and, for some reason, a lot of hypnotic spirals.
I've had a cold for a while now, which isn't that common for me, or at least it hasn't been in the past. I've been taking medicine, and for the most part it's not an especially big deal, but my head has been feeling congested. I'm not sure what the best way to deal with that is. I haven't much felt like writing recently, except for these posts, but I do have some stuff that I've finished at least in draft form, and I'm wondering if I should share some of it. It's pretty much all Oz stuff.
On the weekend before last, Vicki Lawrence did a show near where Beth's mom and uncle live in South Jersey, so we went down and saw it with him. Her uncle is the one who introduced her to Mama's Family, and I mostly know about him from Beth. She talked about her start in show business and first meeting Carol Burnett, whom people thought she looked like. Her current husband did makeup for the show, and she and her former husband used to go on dates with them. He's the one who wrote "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia," which she sang at the show, as well as the Mama's Family theme, which she wrote, but they didn't use the lyrics. She mentioned that the Carol Burnett "The Family" sketches that led to the later show were done in a Southern accent to be like "Tennessee Williams on acid." She then did about half the show in character as Thelma Harper, with her observations on modern society and current events, including doing a rap. Then she came back as herself for a tribute to people she'd worked with who are gone now.
Earlier that day, we went to eat at Lucille's Luncheonette, a mostly breakfast place that closes early, and has a statue of the Jersey Devil in the front.
We'd brought Nellie down to South Jersey, as she'd lived there for a while before, and doesn't seem to mind the car ride. Felix is nervous even here, so we were afraid he'd be even worse in a strange place, and left him up here. It seemed to work out all right, except when she came back, he hissed at her. Apparently there's a thing where, if a cat picks up weird smells while away, even other cats who know them don't always recognize them at first. I think they're getting along again now, although she can play pretty rough.
Our last two cats never wanted to sit in this pumpkin.They sat up here pretty often, though.
On Thursday, we saw Ben Folds in Tarrytown, of Headless Horseman fame. Ben was messed up on medication for bronchitis, and seemed to forget parts of songs sometimes. He cut "Annie Waits" short, then explained his condition and started playing something else. He talked a bit about "Still Fighting It," saying that when his son was born, it looked like he was having a really bad time. It's kind of weird to hear that song now, as it mentions something potentially happening "in twenty years or so," and it's been more than that since then. I get the impression that having kids makes you more aware of the passage of time. There were three Ben Folds Five songs in the setlist, "Eddie Walker," Don't Change Your Plans," and "Kate." We ate at a nearby burger place before the show, and there was a yarn store next door to the venue with this colorful sheep outside.
This past Sunday, we visited the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Since we're members, we usually go on member-only weeknights, but both today and last Tuesday were closed for private events. A week ago, we went to Green-Wood Cemetery instead.
On Sunday, it was pretty crowded. The cherry blossoms were in bloom, and a lot of people were gathered in that area.
There were also magnolias and a lot of different kinds of tulips near the conservatory building.
Yesterday, we saw John Waters at the City Winery in Manhattan, and it was his seventy-eighth birthday. He covered some of the same topics he did when we've seen him speak in the past, but had plenty of new stuff as well. I don't have any pictures of that, because they weren't allowed. I did get some pictures of the place right near the venue, which is called Tiny Island, and has a big hill with a good view and, for some reason, a lot of hypnotic spirals.
I've had a cold for a while now, which isn't that common for me, or at least it hasn't been in the past. I've been taking medicine, and for the most part it's not an especially big deal, but my head has been feeling congested. I'm not sure what the best way to deal with that is. I haven't much felt like writing recently, except for these posts, but I do have some stuff that I've finished at least in draft form, and I'm wondering if I should share some of it. It's pretty much all Oz stuff.
