Link to Prince... and a bunch more... in These titles mean nothing.

I don’t know if it will work but give it a try. If it does work, give it a little time. It’s a marvelous photo.

I found it wandering around the ‘net this morning. It was an image associated with google maps of Chanhassen MN. It’s a 360 degree photo of a memorial to the musician Prince at his Paisley Park place. It was taken late in the day in April soon after he died. The light and color are fantastic. It shows how open and ‘rural’ the area is and it shows the plainness and utility of the facility. There are many people there at the chain link fences that surrounded Paisley Park. It shows the balloons and flowers and ‘stuff’ the people brought to show their emotions or their memories or their need to just come and see what was going on. I zoomed on the photo and was surprised to see the detail of all the people. There is a middle aged woman taking a selfie of herself (duh) and an elderly woman beside a wheelchair. There are young-ish men standing alone with their arms crossed. There is older man with a very big fancy camera. All ages, all colors - though mostly white, all purposes, solemn and attentive, all surprised at what had happened.

Prince was well liked in his town. My daughterinlaw told many stories of people who knew him, who had contact with him, who respected his privacy. He rode his bicycle, he would stay in a local motel when his own place got too crowded, he shopped the local pharmacy (chills a bit there).

Talking bad things from legal drugs, the Cedar Rapids paper had a front page story on deaths from prescribed opioids. Funny, we now have a new word. Life is big and awful, isn’t it? The story is a reprint from the Washington Post. The small headline says 6 in 10 people surveyed said the doctor did not give them advice on how or when to stop taking the drugs. The survey was made by the Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation. Here’s another link to the Post’s story.

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I’ve been thinking of writing here but I don’t get A Round Tuit. So anyway. I’m here now.

a - Avocados/es. I bought two at Kwik Trip because I thought it was fascinating that the convenience store had them. I ate half of one on a turkey sandwich and the other half and the other whole avocado are in the fridge. One thing about unfamiliar foods - it’s hard to know when they go bad.
b - Books. I got a few going in various stages of completion and concentration. I first ready every single word of E. M. Forster’s Where Angels Fear to Tread. I have a weakness for him. He writes of silly rich English people and their fascination with Italy. One of his character’s (an Italian one of course) defines ‘simpatico’ and that is all you w.ill ever need to know about soul mates.
And a few more stories from Updike’s The Afterlife. He still is me.
I’m also reading bits and pieces of Loving Frank by Nancy Horan. I think TC Boyle’s The Women is a better book. FL Wright is a limitlessly interesting man. You can chase him around the internet to great advantage too.
I have Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. It’s about Thomas Cromwell and Henry VII who like Wright had a string of women. Funny, how the more important, striking, royal, not to mention rich, a man is the more women he attracts. What does that say about us? Huh? Anyway I thought I might pick up some new insights or polish up some old ones. I can see if will lead me to a good long google/wiki session.
I have Colm Toibin’s book on Henry James but I haven’t read much and I want to give it a good chance
c - Christmas dinner at work. Thursday will be catered by the Rossville Store. We can bring desserts. I figured to be different I’d bring olives, pickles, carrots, celery. I still have ingredients for two more batches of box cheesecake/pie filling/Kool Whip extravaganza so I could do that again too. Last time almost all was eaten and what was left I ate in the car on the way home. Think about that for a minute.
d - Deb’s birthday. I totally forgot it this year. It’s the same day as the Marine Corps. I am a bad motherinlaw.
e - The Election. OMG. I found a man at work who is very happy Trump was elected. I am glad he’s happy. The Russian thing and the Hillary having three million more popular votes really make me wonder if the Electoral College can just rubber stamp Trump when they meet next week. I guess we just wait and see.
f - Formatting. I worry how Prosebox is going to format this list. Oh heck. Guess we just suffer.
g - Gracie has a limp. She gets them from going balls to the wall through rough country and hurting herself. This one is lasting quite a while. She gets almost better and then hurts it again. Jim has discussed it with the vet.... there doesn’t seem to be anything specifically wrong.
h
i
j
k
l
m - Mail. The mailperson has brought a few Christmas cards. I need to decide who and what to send out. I enjoyed the post cards that I sent to my political losers but I haven’t found Christmas post cards. Guess I could have googled them. It’s getting a bit late to do that. Or maybe it isn’t. I see there are plenty of offers out there. I’m not the best shopper. No doubt you are aware of that. Though see Next item in list.
n - Naivete scene. I bought a very sweet small wooden cutout - like a jigsaw puzzle - manger scene. The pieces fit into a small stable with a star and two palm trees behind it. I haven’t decided if I am keeping it for myself or giving it to Katie. (photos below)
o -
p - Public radio. In addition to mornings on the way to work with BBC and NPR, I’ve been trying to give my old favorites another chance. I really wish the new Prairie Home Companion guy had more personality and a better voice. I wish him well though. That is such an important time slot - the close/the middle of the weekend. I am tired of listening to ordinary people’s stories though. The Moth and there are other shows like that. I get enough.
q
r - River Town Books. The green glass cups, saucers, plates, and teapot were a gift from River Town Books. I looked them up. They are Arko Agate glass and there is one very small chip. Oh I forgot. They weren’t a gift. I paid two bucks for them. (photos below)
s - Snow. We have some new snow. This is colder snow than what we had for the Christmas train. It’s light and would blow and drift if the wind were blowing but so far the wind hasn’t blown so that is good. (photo below)
t - Temperature drop. We are having more classical winter temps. Next week promises to be really cold. All week.
u
v
w - Wood. Jim brought home two pickup loads of really good wood, one Friday and one yesterday. I helped unload them. Many trips up and down the cellar steps. I felt good though. I really need to be more active. Cause it makes me feel good, physically and other ways.
x
y - Yoga. Sphinx pose. I’ve been doing it for my back. Lay on your belly and lift the top part of your body from the floor. Lengthen your legs and tail. It helps.
z

Looks like I have some leftover letters. If anyone would want to adopt one or more, please feel free.

I took some pics.

ps.
Just realized the alphabet is like the Electoral College. Z is Wyoming and Q is Alaska. S and T and C and M are New York and California and Texas. Some letters just have a lot more words than others.

Last updated December 11, 2016