Barbie Explains Everything

 This oldster wanted to know what all the fuss is about.  My friends said the movie was about “girl power”.  “Like Legally Blonde?” , I thought to myself. 

Barbie and Ken leave BarbieLand for The Real World.  Waiting for them is Greta Gerwig.  And the human power of creativity.  I’m overwhelmed by how she made something so meaningful and important out of plastic and pink.

The moment for me was America Ferrara’s soliloquy on being a woman.  

Okay.  Maybe I’m taking it all too seriously.  

You know who else isn’t brushing off Barbie?  The men who went to the theater and now feel “barbi-qued.” And, the bloviating politicians who are screaming foul. 

The Pinocchio ending is perfect.

Repaired

 I hired a computer guy to come take a look at what Apple calls my "vintage" computer. (Age 8.)  My main questions were: "Why is this happening?" and "Why can't I do this?"  He dove right in with what he called "forensics."

As he clicked here and there, opening and closing messages, even he was momentarily stumped a few times before he declared: "Ah, ha!"

I watched as he restored severed connections, corrected improper installations, and finally created an integrated today out of a fractured yesterday.

I thought: "Wow. My computer's story is my story."

I feel repaired.

Unavoidable?

 

My friends Trudy and Phyllis pass along their copies of the New Yorker to me.  Unlike sharing passwords —  sharing books, magazines, and lively conversation still takes place privately.  Feeling the need to include the word “still” sends a shiver up my spine.

A recent article written by the popular Zadie Smith got me thinking about the “inevitable.”  She was referring to how her British roots were always nudging her to write a historical novel.  And, when she finally gave in to that inevitability, Charles Dickens was everywhere.  Too high a mountain to cross, burrow through or go around.

I quipped to Phyllis: “Is Zadie Smith, the writer, giving in to Dickens the same as you and I, the consumer, giving in to Amazon?”

On what basis do we pick our fights?  Or acknowledge surrender?  Or hide in the shadows, hoping to remain out of reach?

The Future Wins

 

When he lost the first set 6-0, I almost turned off the TV. "He's not ready.  The moment is too big for him."  But it was early Sunday morning and I had no plans.  "I'll stick around to see how he does in the second set."

Almost five hours later, I was standing and clapping in a fan's moment of amazement and joy.  What a match!  Right up there with the giants I had loved for so long.  I was having such a hard time saying goodbye and figuring out who the new ones were going to be.  

When the English lady was interviewing him, and he was thanking all of his support team, she said: "You know, the King of Spain came here to watch you today."

Carlos Alcarez smiled and said politely:  "That's very nice."  Maybe he was thinking: "You may be King, but the Crown belongs to me today."

Tornado!

 My phone started buzzing and when I looked at the screen there was an emergency tornado alert for the area.  I turned on TV where all local channels were following the storms.  When the TV guys and gals were showing the tornado path headed for the lake front, I picked up my phone and my keys and headed downstairs. My neighbor Abe was already in the lobby with his bag packed!  He was going to the garage (no windows). I settled on the couch with two women and their dog,  

When the sirens went off, I remembered when Daley got criticized for using them to celebrate the White Sox World Series victory.  This time they meant business.  I also remembered that, when I moved to Oak Lawn, people were still talking about the tornado that touched down on busy 95th Street back in 1967. Eighteen lives lost.

As the danger seemed to pass, I was anxious to get back upstairs to watch the ESPYs, my favorite sports awards show. The most moving award of the night went to the emergency medical team of the Buffalo Bills who rushed to the field to provide immediate care to the fallen Damar Hamlin.  Damar was overcome as he introduced the men and women who saved his life.

Danger and safety seemed the theme for my ordinary Wednesday night.

A New Country

 One of my favorite Fourth of July memories was when I was in California with my daughter-in-law Elsa and her friend Ignacio.  Elsa had recently come to America from Cuba.  Ignacio had come from Cuba a few years before.  Both were young, artists, full of adventurist spirit.  

We wandered around the tourist town of Long Beach.  Elsa visited a fortune teller.  I bought a sequined cap with an American flag design.  I don't remember if we ate hot dogs but it was a very American day.

The country was new to them, and made it fresh and new to me.

Locked Up

 

Walgreens recently opened a store where most of the stuff is locked up and only available upon request. I guess they’ve decided to forget the proceeds from browsing and impulse buying in favor of a crackdown on shoplifting.

I wonder if the other places where you pick out your purchases and take them to the check out line will follow Walgreens?  That would be a dramatic shift indeed.

Costco has a good approach. They have an employee who takes your receipt and checks it against what’s in your cart as you leave the store.

Is shoplifting an epidemic now? I wonder if it is the more respectable way of expressing economic despair?  More than carjacking or a hold up?

There’s certainly a lot of despair on display in my “good” neighborhood: The lines for food everyday in front of the food pantry next door.  The people who wait for a handout at my McDonald’s or any stoplight on a busy street.

Walgreens made the national news.  I guess it touched a nerve.