"I read them as poetry, I like the sound of words

Dearest Anon!

No offspring for me. Niblings a-plenty, and those of friends can be spoiled (sometimes) by the travels I do.

This past year might have been the year where YT won out over other platforms of media presentation. I had it running in the background whenever I was working (or not working as well), which meant that this was the year I discovered how to finagle playlists (I know! so late!) and duly contributed to the my usual favourite artists, and then (re)discovered a few others and why media over-saturation is a concept that I couldn't articulate as clearly as I can now (as opposed to before).

Beyonce, Kate Bush, Darlene Love and Taylor Swift

I can talk about them in that order - Beyonce's 20th year as a solo artist, plus her Renaissance album, plus all the remixes, plus... well, just imagine that all the wiggles I could have ever gathered were gathered and wiggling away. Calmly. Sometimes. Made for an excellent occasion to revisit 70's/80's/90's music with gusto.

Kate Bush - Running up that Hill - I don't think I heard it as much when it first came out, but I *do* remember it being used at the opening ceremonies for the 2010 London Games, and then suddenly, it was *bam!* back on the charts and radios because of Stranger Things.

Darlene Love - the holiday season (and especially whether it's radio streaming, or even the SiriusXM's of our lives) means that there is a good month of both traditional and new seasonal songs that come back into radio play. Whether it's the umpteenth time of hearing Bing Crosby sing (with or with David Bowie), or Alvin and the Chipmunks and their infernal song, I always marvel at the absolute longevity of a career for Darlene Love. Next year marks 60 years of hearing her voice and Christmas songs beginning from the 1963 "A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector" - her trademark voice as part of the "Wall of Sound" has carried on these many years and then there is the fact that we can hear how her voice has evolved over the years with the new recordings she has released (both solo and with other artists).

Taylor Swift was the one artist I learned over the (pandemic) and the past few years that media oversaturation wasn't just a phrase but a thing that both got into my ears and then was promptly overplayed (by the radio stations) to the point where I listened to nothing but classical music for a good period of time in order to avoid. No blame to her team or such, but when I Knew You Were Trouble came out, there was a period of at least four to five weeks where it didn't matter which over-the-air radio station I changed to, that song was playing. Melody, chorus, end... at least four different mainstream radio stations (and it didn't matter if it was AC40, Top40, or anything else...). The past three years have been an opportunity to listen to her new (and old) songs at a pace that wasn't the radio releases, which slowed the tempo just enough that I could listen without being aggravated. Or some such thing.

All Too Well was probably the one short film I paid attention to this year. It appeared at the local film festival and I'm certain that the local Swifties also gathered to watch. :) I'll also be picking up the DVD for Everything Everywhere All at Once because I still like my consumption to be via tangible media. I can always find a media player or device, but I have significantly less faith in items purchased/stored on the cloud simply because the Cloud is not always secure or backed up a million ways.

Trusting this answers some of your questions,

I remain,

Dearest Anon!

My apologies on the tardiness of this response. I hope that you and yours have been enjoy the festive version of keep all the lights on... one way or another. Whether that may have been the earliest Diwali lights, or the current Chanukah lighting, or the winter Solstice that is is marked tomorrow, or the Christian holidays that follow, or perhaps the lights and candles-also related Kwanzaa holidays... I always find December to be a great time to bring out all and every version of the candle and have a bit of warmth in our lives. :)

I'm winding down the year with some parring back of things. My collective desk spaces are very challenged this year - I suspect that my paper penchant should be given up sooner rather than later.

I actually got a bit more practice with my chicken-scratch-imitations of handwriting - the holiday cards actually got out before the holidays - complete with pictures of baby beavers everywhere (the postage stamps were complete safe) which has in turn lead to various calls to the houseline because the card serves as an indicator that we are still on this side of the grass and will take phone calls (when I'm near the device).

I think these answers (post-wise) are as close to those annual Christmas newsletters that I've seen others mention as traditional. I don't do the grand summary of what's been happening in the household since last years Christmas letter because in some ways, it's not my thing to revisit the good, the bad, or the indifferent and then send the missive out into the world. We can talk about it if ever asked, but no letters from me. The ones I've seen wobble between the monthly rundown of what the kids were doing/not-doing/winning/starting/finishing etc etc and the meandering of someone who's forced to write (and then us, who are forced to read (and maybe remember some detail to bring up at the next gather).

I hope this note finds you and your family well. My tumblr mischief is not as frequent as it was in the past. I've clamped down on the twitter-shenanigans ever since the trust/safety aspect of that platform has gone to the wayside (or maybe just gone).

Trusting this answers your questions, I remain,

Dearest Anon!

I must worry that my radio thought-waves were escaping from this box and getting away from me. I’d been musing about the vagaries of Tumblr and lo-and-behold - a question! ;-)

I’m only vaguely on twitter (follow many, followed by none) and lurk on it atrociously. I am amused by the photoshopping - especially when the context is so upended by the presence of Paddington. ;-)

I’ll been alright. Or okay. Or fine. Depending on the time and the weather and all such. In times past (pre-Pandemic), mid-July would have been the exact time where I was planning (or preparing) or already on the vacationing and travelling mode - see some theatre, visit some friends, and go be alone in cities not my usual one.

I’m disappointed to acknowledge that this year will not be such a year of the travel. :( The Pandemic is not over, the virus is not endemic, and the silliness that would be involved with cross-border travel has not subsided. Testing to go into the US, expected testing to come back into Canada. I prefer to bring good treats at all times of my visit, not the potential of illness and unhappiness. So I’ll sit this year out as well.

I hope that this note finds you and your family well. I haven’t checked into tumblr with any frequency, but always think of those that have passed through these pages and wonder if everyone is doing well (and if not, then I hope that they will do better). Better in whatever sense works. It’s been a very challenging three years, time that has both simultaneously passed both quickly and slowly.

Trusting this answers (in parts) your questions, I remain,

Thoughts on Sondheim... are pretty much endless and not always sensible. I received the news by way of a Tweet from NYT while I was putzing around in the local big warehouse place. I had just watched a clip of the previews from Company, and had been musing to myself that I wanted to go see this production and what else would Mr Sondheim put together next. The news was both unexpected but also unsurprising. Unexpected in the sense that it was sudden in announcement, but unsurprising at the same time - too often when some of my favourite Broadway related names make the news, I have to check to see if it’s a sad announcement before I continue reading (ahem, every time I hear about Angela Lansbury, or Dame Maggie Smith).

Dearest Anon;

I hope that this past year has treated you well.

I'm hoping this year will end a bit better than it had started. It was a rough start to 2021 (I cannot recall how much I actually divulged, if any), but I had a parent with CovID-19 at the end of 2020 which extended into the first quarter of 2021. (All of this was pre-vaccine and very much the winter wave of rising cases and all of that). 2021 has been a challenging year. As someone based in North America, it's been wholly stunning how the tides have turned in an awful way with the non-uptake of the vaccination options for various segments of the general population and how that spills over into the more vulnerable parts of the population that are either unable to take the vaccine, or else, have less effectiveness in the same. I want to take a Mjollnir!hammer and bop people in the face, but am restrained by the fact that I look absolutely abysmal in any shade of prison!orange (I know this because I have a high-viz orange winter jacket and have had to deal with bupkises that claim to have not seen me... an orange blob walking on the sidewalk).

I hope that you and your family have been keeping safe - that was a primary wish that I started the year with - everyone to be safe and sound and hopefully we could survive 2021. It's been a wild rollercoaster ride of getting everyone to go get vaccinated (my household was not a problem - we all got appointments and/or tagged along hoping for a walk-in option as soon it became possible). It's been a long conversation with some other folks that were more reluctant and I can only note that if this is a giant science experiment, then so be it. I can deal with a vaccine, and I can deal with science. I will not deal with people that would try to argue me under the sun about something that they cannot even explain with validity (I received messages/phone calls suggesting I should strength my immune system with Zinc and vitamins (but not get the vaccine) - I had to wrap up that phone call right quickly).

The year is closing on a quiet note - Omicron is wrecking havoc on the general populous - it's wholly uncertain if I start 2022 on a WfH basis again (although I did pack all the necessary and essentials back with me before the holiday break). I had no plans to go anywhere or meet with large groups of folks - in fact, the one lunch (12/26) that had been discussed was promptly dismissed once we could see the numbers rising and felt that it was no longer safe to gather at the restaurants. We're back to doing take out meals (and then dealing with the leftovers for more meals).

2022 - I'm hoping that the year will treat us all better. May our wishes be fulfilled in a more forthright fashion - $ in our wallets, and more time to do what we hope to achieve. In general, I'm hoping that we will be able to reach a point where the virus is endemic and less severe (and most importantly), manageable by regular vaccinations. Maybe it will be like the flu. I'm all for getting the annual flu shot, and when the day comes for the annual coronavirus shot, I'll roll up my sleeve for that as well. I don't expect to see the situation improve enough that I could travel. Current restrictions (even at their loosest point) were involving the need for PCR testing prior to travel, and then a second test prior to return. That was simplest if I had to enter the USA. Elsewheres had a variety of restrictions - some as long as 21 days quarantine upon landing at the destination country.

My hopes - get out of 2022 with more in hand than without. Maybe dream a little bit of theatre whenever it relents. I'm going to hold out hope that the Broadway production of Company keeps extending and I'll have the opportunity to see Patti LuPone on the stage again.

Trusting this answers (in parts) your questions, I remain,

Dear Anon;

The plethora of options to watch this year - I remain hopeful that Happiest Season will get a hard copy release. No opinion can be given since I have the attention span of a gnat and cannot watch things without stopping for ridiculously long periods of time. (Let’s just say that I’ve had the LOTR extended box set and while other members of the household have done absolute marathons of watching the films, I think I just like to listen to the Ents talk).

Dear Anon;

The radio silence sounds tough - even though I would be the first to admit to craving silence (for prolonged periods of time); having it become an imposed thing (everyone WfH!) as opposed to a choice thing (GTFO! I want silence now!) [this is the conversation in my brain] is the challenge. We always want to be able to have choices (even when they are very hard). 2020 has become the year of choosing between evils and there were very few lesser ones.

Dear Anon;

My agreement on the need to numb (or dumb down) expectations and knowing that the shenanigans had already started even before election day (looking at you Postmaster DeJoy!). Especially with the post-November toddler tantrum that’s taking the entire nation along for this unwanted joyride. :/

Dearest Anon;

Happy Holidays! If you were celebrating any and all things during December, I hope that it was done safely and with care.

Silver linings... implies a bit of a cloudy situation to begin with. Which isn’t untrue, especially for this year (garbage-y year altogether).

However, now’s as good a time to recap 2020 as any other. I know from my tumblr timelines that I dropped off the face of the Earth since last winter (when you may have last asked a question).

I began locking down socializing and general gadding about in mid February 2020 because I was aware that the virus was already present in East Asia and virulent and the likelihood of it travelling over to North America wasn’t a matter of (could it?) but when. I had Cow-Irkers that were doubtful to my admonitions on logistic expectations on products we were expecting to begin transport in February 2020. I said: First, giant parts of China are now in lockdown, no movement, no factory operations, our order will be completed and shipped when the factories reopen and things roll again). I said this in the capacity of my own functions (procurement) combined with the fact that I was aware of news that was overnight (Asian news channels) and rarely if ever making it to mainstream/North American channels of any sort.

I began WfH in early March (already had the laptop, but needed to pick up a second screen and other dangly parts) and it continued on a serious basis all throughout the spring and the summer. I would go into the workspace once a week (on Thursdays) to address matters that could wait (or required me in person). During the summer, I went in two days a week: Tuesdays and Thursdays. By late summer, it was fully back into the office and has continued until two weeks ago when I took the balance of my yearly vacation time and will be out of office for three weeks.

My province is now on an overall lockdown (no non-essential travels/activities) until late January 2021. I packed up my laptop on my last day in office and suspect that I may go back to WfH again in January as the case counts are running amok (AGAIN). :(

In the mean time, I’ve probably drawn attention to my postal efforts with the ordering of massive amounts of masks and other PPE during the spring (for my shop employees). I was placing orders on both the business side (existing vendors) and also through consumer channels. My consumer orders took anywhere from 6-8 weeks to travel. My business orders did not travel much faster simply because the supply chain is global and people were all ordering the same sorts of things.

There was no theatre-going this year. :( No travelling this year (and none planned for the next year that is 2021). I remain ever hopeful that I will be able to see Patti Lupone/Katrina Lenk in Company in New York City but I don’t know how the ducks will line up.

I probably spent too much of the summer very agitated about an election process that wasn’t mine, nor could I vote in it. I was very chuffed to see the nomination of Kamala Harris but at the same time, I wish that D’s had shown more support for their candidates earlier in the primaries. I really liked the ideas from Liz Warren and hope that some of them will be adopted by the incoming Biden Administration.

In the meantime, I’ve fallen into the Reddit rabbithole that is r/foodporn - even if I can’t taste it, I can always appreciate lovely food. ;-)

I think I’ve spent more time reading things (online and off) than watching things this year. No cinema visits but I’m not sure if Ma Rainey will get a hardcopy release of some sort because I haven’t been able to figure out Netflix to my own satisfaction :/

Would these be considered silver linings? I hope so. The year has been tremendously tough on everyone. I never thought I’d have to engage in continuous public health education efforts with a shop full of grown ups all older than I. Yes, lessons on why hand washing is important, lessons on why lighting up/smoking as you are using hand sanitizers is to be discouraged (especially the alcohol based kinds), lessons on why you have to wear masks and face coverings and maintain physical distancing.

As the challenges of the pandemic continue, I can only do my small parts which mainly come back to: not socializing beyond this household, wear masks, maintain physical distancing (my elbows have gotten good exercises this year), and regular hand hygiene. Masks in all pockets, hand sanitizers in the bag, car, desk, and other pocket, and I swear, even after this all comes to an end, I’ll probably keep wearing masks. Apparently people can’t tell if I’m frowning at them when I wear a mask... ;-)

Trusting this answers (in part) your questions, I remain,

Good evening Dear Anon;

(at least, I presume that it could be evening if you were on either side of the Atlantic... and earlier evening if you’re touching the Pacific ocean). 

I will do a search for the podcast. :)

Mmm. Sara Bareilles - I am always glad to learn that my favourites have made it into the mainstream -- especially over the holiday season that just passed. :) Between the holiday music duet that she had with Seth McFarlane, and various other songs off her albums, I’m glad that she’s garnered both good radio play exposure and I can hear less male pop vocals... ;-)

Commenting on Broadway - the past two weeks just saw the production run end for Waitress (I shall miss the smell of pie) and I’m already looking forward to the spring. Maybe this year is the year where I will get to line up my ducks and see some work in NYC while it’s still playing there. Among the productions: the ever present Company with Patti LuPone and Katrina Lenk - the wonderful London transfer with Lenk being Bobbie :)

As well, Jagged Little Pill because why wouldn’t I try to support another Canadian music icon... ;-) Possibly Six and depending on timing - maybe Caroline, Or Change as well as the Off-Broadway revival of Assassins.

Hadestown - I haven’t played a full version of cast recording so a song intermittently isn’t enough for me to fall in/out of like for a musical. Although, I’ve found that I can listen to an occasional song from an ALW musical, but not to a full opening-to-ending listen. Aka, songs yes, whole cast recordings no.

Pedro Almodóvar - I know of him but not because of his films, I mean, because of that one film: Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. I really do like the cast recording - if for nothing else, every time Model Behavior with Laura Benanti singing the role of Candela demands that I not turn away from the song until it’s finished.

Trusting this answers (in part) your questions,