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not in the cards
January 08, 2009
I was totaling up my Christmas cards received the other day, and realized that I had really not done very well, considering I sent out 60. My three best friends in all the world couldn't be arsed to send one, apparently. Nor my oldest brother.
And the Weetabix card exchange return rate wasn't very good, either. I really don't know whether to blame our atrocious mail delivery here in K-Town, or if people just punked. Of course, the ones that looked "money-card" shaped were open when I got them, so I do kind of incline towards blaming the USPS. And since Weetabix always sends a CD, and since I didn't get her card this year, I figure it got ripped off somewhere along the way from Green Bay to Kenosha.
And the recovering soldier card was apparently a waste of time and resources, as well.
I'm thinking I'll probably give the big version a pass, next year. Just a few cards to my old reliables like Mom & Dad, a few aunts and uncles and my cousin Steve, who always remember me--like that. And no card exchange.
Talked to Niece last night--got to wish her a (sarcastic) "happy anniversary", in honor of it being one year since she A)got her braces off, and B)had her house blow away in a tornado. She's selling pizzas, pies, and cookie dough--I ordered a couple of things, and it was 34 bucks! Jeez Louise, they don't screw around with that fundraising shit. I hope it doesn't all go to the supplier, though. She's raising money for her choir trip to NYC in the spring. My little baby girl is going to celebrate her sweet 16 by singing in Carnegie Hall.
Yes, I said Carnegie Hall.
And if that isn't something for an old auntie to go SQUEEEEEEE over, I don't know what is.
Her underachiever brother, on the other hand, aims a bit lower. He called his uncle last night to remind him that Gran Torino is coming out this weekend. And to casually mention that if his Aunt and Uncle were by any chance planning to go out to Dino's, and then see the movie, he'd be interested in joining them.
Spouse told him he could go , but he has to pay for his own movie ticket. So that's a weekend plan, I guess.
Finished the first Bobbsey book and have moved on to the second--"The Bobbsey Twins In The Country". Which provided me with this example of the racism I discussed yesterday: Just then Dinah, the maid, brought in the chocolate, and the children tried to tell her about going to the country, but so many were talking
at once that the good-natured colored girl interrupted the confusion
with a hearty laugh.
"Ha! ha! ha! And all you-uns be goin' to de country!"
"Yes, Dinah," Mrs. Bobbsey told her, "and just listen to what Aunt
Sarah says about you," and once more the blue letter came out, while
Mrs. Bobbsey read: "'And be sure to bring dear old Dinah! We have plenty of room, and she will so enjoy seeing the farming.'"
"Farming! Ha! ha! Dat I do like. Used to farm all time home in
Virginie!" the maid declared. "And I likes it fuss-rate! Yes, Dinah'll
go and hoe de corn and" (aside to Bert) "steal de watermelons!"
I'm not so stupid that I don't understand that society was very different back then. This book was published 102 years ago, and only 42 years after the end of slavery. But 1907 or not--the mind friggin' boggles. They wrote this in a children's book. A children's book that was read by untold numbers of impressionable youngsters, over several generations. Oh, my ears and whiskers--what a lot of racist thinking that must have implanted and reinforced in over the years.
Since I'm just now getting ready to leave for the dentist to have the post set for a new crown, I'm cutting this off here--and based on past reactions to dental work, I penciled in a vacation day for tomorrow, just in case. At any rate, I doubt if I'll feel like posting again anytime soon.
And oh, yeah: after five days, JTV finally processed my order. I wonder how many days it'll be in "waiting to ship status" now?
Reading: "Tenth Life", by Richard Lockridge. The last Heimrich, 1977. And "The Bobbsey Twins In The Country" By Laura Lee Hope (Edward Stratemeyer Syndicate).
Surfing: snopes.
Listening: Paul Simon, The Police, The The.
At Random: click here
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