1. The other evening Ernie and I sat in the living room talking about the day and listening to the boys giggle together and we couldn't help but comment on how well they get along. The next morning? HA! Very different. Leo truly feels like it will scar his soul if Owen walks with him the two blocks to school. Owen on the other hand, likes somebody to walk with him so if Leo won't wait then Ernie has to get dressed and trudge through the snow. We try to appeal to Leo's normally quite wonderful sense of helpfulnes..... Uh, NO! We beg Leo, he yells, eventually calls Owen a jerk, Owen cries and says, "WHY AM I A JERK?" and I just want them both out of the house crying or not. GEESH. Leo does finally relent but usually strides ahead trying to ignore him, with Owen doing sort of a puppylike gallop alongside as he chats away.... Good God but I love those boys.
2. A repairman was supposed to come yesterday to put us out of our misery. Our dishwasher is leaking, the disposal isn't working correctly, the microwave only works when you lean on it, the washer won't drain and the dryer is leaving burn marks on things. WTF? Now the washer and dryer are on their last legs and we hope to replace them shortly but not shortly enough to not fix them (Ernie had been doing laundry at my folks' house as he packed things up but now that option is gone). The dishwasher, disposal and microwave however are only a couple of years old. GEESH again. The repairman didn't show up. Geesh AGAIN.
3. The nice thing about having a Christmas party is that it pushes you smack dab into the season.
4. I was listening to the radio (yes, WGN) on the way home from work and the topic of moldaramas at Brookfield Zoo came up. I hadn't thought about those in a million years. I can just remember the SMELL of them. Huh.
5. And speaking of WGN (as I did recently), I got a wonderful email from my friend Richard Hill and am posting it in its entirety as I thought it was interesting. I had read some of the links but not all. The changes in WGN make me sad.... Even as they were talking about moldarams yesterday----it just wasn't the way WGN ought to be....
Being a half-generation older than you guys, WLS to me was Dick Biondi, Ron Riley, Clark Weber, and the rest, followed when I was out of high school by Larry Lujack and Bob Sirott (Biondi and Landecker can still be heard on 'LS-FM).
But as early as the mid-'70s, Roy Leonard sucked me into listening to WGN, as I was working in Frank Gallo's studio. Roy was one of the only voices on the radio who relished talking about the arts in Chicago. I even won a bunch of stuff from Roy's contest questions. One memorable pkg from Roy (obviously 1977 when you hear what was in it) contained the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack (3-discs, wasn't it?), along with a Star Wars promotional T-shirt, a red-vinyl 45 of "Seaside Woman" by Suzie & The Red Stripes (aka Linda McCartney), and a dinner certificate to My Place For ... , etc.
Yes, WGN was a pretty conservative MoR station for the most part (Roy, himself fairly conservative, was their Liberal), but Bob Collins and even more-so Spike O'Dell were very likable guys (apparently Spike could see the writing on the walls when he decided to retire early).
Ernie is definitely not alone. I, too, loved Kathy & Judy. I listened every day as I drove. They (especially Kathy) were the station's sane flaming Liberals. It was a real kick in the gut when they were unceremoniously dumped on May 22, 2009. (I even have a recording somewhere of all 3 hours of their last show).
I absolutely hate everything that Tom Langmyer, Randy Michaels, and Pig Virus Metheny have done to that once great station. John Williams (once my least favorite on-air guy) is the only guy left worth listening to during the weekdays. Dean Richards is still a pro on the weekends, and Nick Digilio, tho a bit too often over the top, is a relative breath of fresh air from time to time, too. Steve & Johnnie are still fine at what they do, but I'm sleeping when they're on. Thankfully, Michaels and Pig Virus have finally themselves been dumped, but the damage has been done.
I feel bad for Steve Bertrand, Beth Swirk, and the other behind the scenes peeps that have had to suffer thru all of it. Even right-wing Republican, radio hall-of-famer, Orion Samuelson has to be embarrassed by what has happened.
So anyway, yes as un-hip as it may be, I've been a longtime fan of what was WGN.
~Richard
6. I never even mentioned how magical it seemed a couple of Saturdays ago when we all popped out of our car as we got ready to head off to Fries and Peanuts for lunch and just as Ernie was stamping the snow off his feet, the door behind him opened and out popped Steve Lindstrom! Hugs and chatting as the snow fell until he headed off to get coffee and we trudged down the block for our Saturday post guitar lesson lunch. He was here working on the JANS project recording. I'm not sure I understand how he's aging so well. Huh.
7. Another reason I love my husband: he woke me up early yesterday because he wanted me to see the beautiful pink of the sunrise.
8. TONIGHT! KRISTI ROSE AND FATS KAPLIN ON WSM! An interview between 5:00 and 6:00 CST and then a live show from the Station Inn from 6:00 to 7:00! For those of us too far from the Air Castle of the South....we can listen online. Thank you WSM. Thank you Station Inn. Thank you Fats. Thank you Kristi Rose.
9. Owen and Ernie went shopping for Leo's Christmas present yesterday. Owen took me downstairs to show me where he'd hidden it. He told me how much it cost and my mouth dropped open. At my look of shock he patted my arm and said urgently, "it's o.k. Mom, I really wanted to do this....to make up for everything." I hugged him and assured him he didn't have to make up for anything....well, except maybe for hitting Leo occasionally. He just smiled. He is SO pleased with himself. I believe Leo goes shopping today....he's very excited about it too. I got a couple of Christmas boys.
10. Merry Christmas.