Wednesday, January 03, 2007

2007: Excelsior!

2006 was a crappy year, this year, we hope to do better, I'm studying hard so I'll improve on my medical tests. Ha, ha. ( I hate the term "lol" - use your words, dammit!) Excelsior is a wonderful word meaning "ever upwards". It is the state motto of New York and is also a euphemistic term for sawdust, which was used to stuff furniture during the depression. My Dad, an upholsterer, was hugely amused by that grand description. It is not a bad philosophy tho; ever upwards, move along, get on with it. So let's do.
I lost my post in tribute to the godfather of us all, James Brown; dear JB: so good, so good, I got you. He was a constant player in the soundtrack of my life and in the life of all present day R&B and most modern music. Funk and soul, please, please, please. What a strange trio, JB, Gerald Ford and Saddam Hussein ( The big payback!), dead in the same week. Ford's death recalled the awful mess of the 70's and Vietnam. It's shocking that 30 years later we are enmeshed in a far more dangerous situation in Iraq and Afghanistan. I break out...in a cold sweat.
I myself have risen like a phoenix from the ashes of the old year. Probed and scanned, my nodules and lesions have proven to be non-cancerous. The doctor congratulated me on quitting smoking 19 years ago and said I was smart to do so. I sure wish others would follow my lead. ( No names please, you know who you are) The lung stuff is probably related to my new disease, Sjorgren's Syndrome, a connective tissue disorder. A pain in the ass but it won't kill me. I'm really, really tired of being ill all the time and of being tired. I finally got someone to clean the house, I hope it works out and I don't have to clean after her. I am usually loathe to post when I'm so grumpy,uninteresting and loathsome but here it is anyway.
To make up for it, here are sweet photos of Shelly and Ruthie and Michael, up from Florida a few weeks ago. We all had a lovely lunch at Lundy's in Sheepshead Bay. Carrie loved Shelly so much, she sat in his lap.
















We spent a lovely Xmas day at Joel and Audrey's with their wonderful fake in-laws and pseudo-grandsons. Then Joel got double pneumonia and wound up in the hospital. Oivavoi. I wish us health in the new year, everyone.
The cleaning lady (who is gorgeous, by the way) did a nice job. Happier. A clean house is certainly a mood elevator.
Blogger has made improvements here in blogland, there is now a spell checker. It is shocking to see how many words I misspell. But you, dear reader will not know my lexicologic shame. Damn, I got a red line under lexicologic. Must be another one of those imaginary words I find in my head. I'll change it to lexical. Bien entendu.