Ideas

Notes on acting your age:

Here are a couple of signs that provide evidence to friends and family that your thinking like an old person. We should review this classic sign of aging.  It used to be the typical sentence that started off with, "When I was a boy, we...."

Presently,  it's a little more subtle. Try to see the senior citizen seeping out of this statement. "I don't like reading off a computer or tablet screen. I love the feel of a real book in my hand."

First of all, I admit I agree with that preference, but I do also read books on my tablet. I have a hand-me-down I=Pad with a cracked screen on which I read books that I have purchased for pennies when compared to mass-market paperbacks.

I also purchase used books from various venues, including the rack at the Public Market, which offers books for one dollar each on an honor pay system. Why am I so stingy? (Wait for it.) Because I'm on a fixed income and have to watch my spending.

The next telltale opinion that tells people you are too old to be a baby boomer.
"Watching movies in a theater is so irritating. Everybody is talking during the film like they were at home in their living room." And then, "It's the kids these days. Who brought them up that way?" And let's face it. We've all heard this one, "God knows what germ you're going to catch from that crowd huddled up like eggs in a carton."

So many clues. Where will we start? First of all, while it's true many people do talk during the performance, I find most of them are seniors. It's the wife usually. She's trying to keep her hard of hearing spouse up to date on what's going on in the film.

As far as kids are concerned, seniors may have a point, but my question is, why are you watching a film that kids want to see?

No comment on the germ thing. I've spent my life developing natural resistance to most common diseases by making close contact with other human beings.

As far as the 'when I was boy statements.' My grandkids laugh when I tell them gas was twenty-five cents a gallon and cigarettes were less than a quarter a pack. I can live with that.

Living where you belong.

My friend Anne Wilde made a comment that has stuck with me. It was a couple of years after Maria, and I had moved to Milwaukee. Anne and I were co-workers at Swartz's Bookstore. I told her that soon after moving to Milwaukee, I felt at home. She said that sometimes you don't know where you belong until you get there. Now that I'm back in the place where I feel at home, her comment rings true.

I'm happy that I've been able to re-establish my relationships with friends in the city. It's excellent to afford so easily the things this city has to offer. We are in the midst of one of the two secular high-holy seasons I observe, the Milwaukee Film Festival. (The other is The Masters Golf Championship.) 

I've written about my need for good bread. I'm a regular in attending Marquette Law school-sponsored "On The Issues," where Mike Gousha interviews the movers and shakers in the State of Wisconsin. In the last couple of weeks, it's been my good fortune to see tremendous and worthwhile performances in two visits to the live theater venues.

I've learned that where you call home is not necessarily the place where your family lives. Realistically that would be impossible for me. My family covers the continent. It isn't always where your friends are. I have many friends in many different locations. It can be the stimulation of the big city or the quiet solitude of the countryside. Whatever floats your boat, you will know when you experience it.

It is Criminal on Netflix

Netflix has a series running called Criminal. Each segment takes place in the interview room, or the box as the cops refer to it, in a police station. The set for these dramas does not change, but the occupants do. The police and their 'guests" are from the UK, Germany, France, and Spain.

How many crime procedurals have we watched where inside the box the "perp" is broken down and finally confesses? If you're like me, the best answer is countless. It is drama at it's best. The stakes are high. The bad guy wants to be free. The cop wants justice. The clock is ticking. They can only hold the perp for so long. Sometimes it's personal. There is love, longing, and evil luring in every episode.