It is in no way hyperbole to call me a superfan of "The Wire". I've watched all sixty episodes twice. I've sat and had long discussions with friends and associates alike on the way the show depicts governmental politics, inner city schools, drugs, unions/ blue collar jobs, Baltimore, and homosexuality. I got a copy of show creator David Simon's "Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets" and watched the entire 1990s NBC "Homicide" series it inspired. "The Wire" also got me on to "Treme", and has led me to becoming a fangirl of its actors. Michael K. Williams as Omar is a revelation; so is his turn as Chalky White in "Boardwalk Empire". I followed Wendell Pierce from Baltimore, down to NOLA and even on up to New York City for Michael J. Fox's shortlived NBC sitcom.

And whenever I'd come across a story online about any of "The Wire" cast, I made sure to Tweet it out. A few weeks ago, while going through my RSS feed, I saw a link to a short story on The Root about actor Tray Chaney, and after a quick read, clicked on the little blue birdie. To my surprise, Tray favorited that tweet and then followed me.

Happy Weekend.

We woke up to snow this morning here in Jersey, and we may get some more early next week. Or not, since some meteorologists said we would this past Wednesday and there wasn't even a dusting. So we'll see.

Snow is plain depressing to me. Actually, most of winter is. Not enough daylight or sunshine makes for one sad Alisha. 

(Source)

I just finished a recent This American Life podcast and it really touched me. As a disabled person, I could relate to the main subject of the hour, Daniel Kish... I mean, of course, in my own way. My doctors were once taken aback by the fact that I live in an apartment building with a flight of stairs I must utilize in order to get in or out. 

Happy New Year, Dear Readers. I hope your holidays were full of good food, laughter and love.

After tweeting a link to my last post with a mention of "Boardwalk Empire" actress and singer Margot Bingham, I got a shock days later when she actually responded:

The original Hollywood Bad Girl, Mae West. (IMDB)

Hello All! Another week flew by, and I feel like I've barely done much. I've got most of my Christmas shopping done, and my father-in-law is here from Trinidad, so things are at least falling in place. 

Kelly Heaton is one of those people you just don't forget- even if you only meet them once. She's model tall with long blond hair and a sweet, pretty face. But it's not just the aesthetics that make her unforgettable; it's the comically witty, at times even biting, words that flow out of her mouth just as easy as her hair flows down her back.

She's perpetually busy. She is a professional makeup artist, costume designer, and jewelry maker. She's also an integral member of Be The Change, a group dedicated to helping the community in various charitable ways based at Kean University and overseen by beloved professor and popular author Dr. Norma Bowe.

Norma Shearer (Source)

Hello, All. I feel like the last couple of weeks have been a blur. My dad is still in the hospital with pneumonia, but it looks like the antibiotics are working, and is slowly recovering. I went to see him on Monday, and it was hard. Wracked with fever, and unstable blood pressure rates, he didn't even know I was sitting next to him. At a loss for words, I cried. I tried to pray but couldn't. Finally, I said the "Our Father". It was the first prayer he taught Joe, Jos and me. Praying to Heavenly Father for my earthly one.

Happy Sunday. I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. Ours was quiet, and actually involved not a single traditional Thanksgiving dish. No turkey, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, pumpkin or sweet potato pie. Not that we set out to purposely not do a "Turkey and all the trimmings dinner", it just worked out that way. Still had fun.

I'm going to pause here to do a couple prayer requests. First for my friend Aja, whose father passed over the weekend, and for her niece who's going through a lot right now. Her niece needs guidance, strength and peace. Lastly, keep my dad in prayer. He's back in the hospital again with pneumonia. He's responded well to treatment, though, and should be released back to the nursing home in the next day or so. Because he has a trach, he is highly susceptible to infections of this type. In a meeting with his team of doctors a couple of weeks ago, my stepmom was told they are planning to wean him off the trach. So prayers for his healing and improvement so that he will be free of it are much appreciated. 

This week I stumbled back into a documentary rut, binging on old episodes of the PBS program "American Experience" available on YouTube. One of the first I watched was "1900" which gives a great (and rather thorough) snapshot of life at the turn of the 20th century. One segment briefly touched on "The Gibson Girl", which according to Wikipedia:

Happy Sunday, All. I've been to church and Starbucks, the forecast for today and the next couple days is above freezing, so I'm feeling pretty optimistic.

In pondering what I'd post about today, I considered the big pop culture story of the week: the downfall of Bill Cosby. I linked to a few stories about him on the blog's Facebook page and wound up reaching over a thousand people, which I believe is the best numbers I've ever received there. Comparatively, the story I did a week ago marking the anniversary of my sister's death hit just under 200, while my random stuff hovers around 30 to 40. 

Despite the huge uptick in views, I just don't want to go into it here. Primarily because I don't have anything of consequence to add to ever-increasing list of alleged victims, the possible years of coverup, or even constructive criticism of how the media is covering it. You know the old saying about if you have nothing good to say? I don't have good, bad and the story is already ugly. I'll just recommend Ta-nahesi Coates's "The Cosby Show" piece at The Atlantic, and a follow-up interview he did with On the Media about it. And if, for some bizarre reason Mr. Coates ever lands here, I want to say, please do not carry any burden about how you chose to handle the Cosby story those many years ago. Forgive yourself.

(Screenshot, "Boss") 

"I wonder what it's like to take the shape of the space you're in?" -Tom Kane, "Boss"

(Source: @sarahcpr, Twitter)

While the Internet went cray (but, alas, not broken) over Kim Kardashian's oiled-up cakes on the cover of Paper magazine this week, I was busy binging on the cancelled Starz show, "Boss", which centers on corrupt Chicago mayor Tom Kane and his battles with political enemies and his own body. Kane, played by a scarily beguiling Kelsey Grammer, is diagnosed with Lewy bodies, a degenerative neuro disease with no cure that will eventually lead to incapacitation and death.

Hello! Another week just flew by for me. I'm doing okay- I did come down with a little infection, but I'm almost through with the antibiotics and am feeling better. At the end of last week's post, I closed with Brandy's "I Wanna Be Down (Remix)" from 1994. Well, today I'm taling it back even earlier- to 1989, twenty-five years ago.

Actor David Hasselhoff in 2013, on a return visit to the Berlin Wall. The Hoff has been weirdly but deservedly linked to the fall for the past 25 years. (Source: The Guardian) 

Long time no write. But I'm doing okay, staying busy with family. My dad was moved from a subacute wing in a hospital to a nursing home. This is progress- after having pneumonia four times and bronchial infections, needing to begin dialysis three times a week (which is continuing)- he has finally become stable enough to be released to a nursing home. He will now begin extensive occupational therapy and physical therapy. He has a tracheotomy and will have to learn to speak through it. On Tuesday, Zoe and I accompanied my stepmom Kathy as Dad was moved via ambulance to his new digs. Daddy got so excited when he saw Zoe. It was his first time seeing her in six months, and when she sang "Itsy Bitsy Spider", I had to calm him down because I'm pretty sure he was going to cry. Actually, the Big Softee almost cracked up another couple of times, and being that he hasn't gotten the hang of the trach, crying equals severe coughing spells. So I had to shut that down. 

He's got a long road ahead of him, so please keep him on your prayer lists. It was so good to see him out of a hospital, though, and in a pretty nice nursing home, to boot.

Zoe as Batgirl on Halloween

Me, yesterday, enjoying the unseasonably warm weather while deep in thought... and snapping a selfie.

Long time, no write. I hope all has been well with you, Dear Readers. I've been doing alright. Staying busy. Despite- or actually because- Zoe being more independent than ever (potty trained and all!), I have far less "free" time on my hands. Starting around July, I began doing a bit of homeschool for Zoe. A bit because I don't have a strict curriculum, and I don't write lesson plans (outside of notes in an agenda planner). I use free resources available online, and follow Zoe's natural curiousity (she asks "Why?" at least fifteen hundred times a day, give or take a hundred).  We go to the library regularly, as well as the park and a local Anglican church. We've gone to a farmer's market a couple of times and a watercolor show at the nearby university. And of course, these trips are either low- or no- cost.

Like millions, I was shocked on Monday when I heard the news that beloved comic actor Robin Williams had taken his life. I wound up in tears over my iPad, my nephew Justin offering a brief but heartfelt, "I'm sorry". 

I grew up watching reruns of Mork and Mindy on Nick at Nite, and I'd still happily dawn a pair of rainbow suspenders today. My favorite Disney movie is Aladdin, and of course I watched Hook, Mrs. Doubtfire, and Jumanji. I even liked his decidely creepy turn as a villian on Law & Order: SVU. 

It was actually that one episode guesting gig that popped in my head as I emailed my friend Aja on Monday night. She wrote that he "seemed like such a sad person" despite "all of his comedy and shenanigans" and I have to agree. There was definitely something dark there, and his sudden death shone a bright light on it.

Zoe and I enjoying the beautiful weather on Thursday.

Happy Saturday! I've had a pretty great week with my nephew Justin here. I'm very sore now, the result of three days of walks to the park, stores and a farmer's market, but it was totally worth it. Zoe had a blast, and Justin, although perpetually having a teenaged grumpy face, has had fun, too. I really, really, really wish he could stay another week.

Let's go to the links. First up, this story by Kristen E. Vincent on Protestant prayerbeads, a.k.a., rosaries:

(Source)

Yesterday was the Feast of The Transfiguration of Jesus, a day observed by millions of Christians worldwide. The story can be found in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. Here it is in Matthew 17:

After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.

...

Happy Saturday. I can't believe we're into August already. Time really does fly, and pretty independent of how much fun a person is having.

I wanted to start this post off with links that I shared on the blog's Facebook page throughout the week (if you haven't already done so, go ahead and "Like" it, if you're on Facebook; while I don't blog everyday, or even every week, I usually post links to interesting stories over there with some regularity).

I posted to a story by Eric Metaxas (author of the excellent "Bonhoeffer") at the Christian Post about young atheists who are former Christians. They shared what actually turned them off to their former faith. An excerpt:

Zoe with her new birthday gifts from my nurse, Stella- a puppy purse, a Cabbage Patch, and a tiny stroller.

Happy Saturday, All, and a very Happy Birthday to my cousin Ean. I can hardly believe the cute little curly haired toddler I loved to squeeze is now 26. I feel ancient.

I've never been into astrology.

Not just because I was raised that in fell into the category of the "occult" and was not to be dabbled in, but because it made very little sense to me. At least the way it was told to me, that your life was predetermined based on your birthdate and what type of moon and stars you were born under. So everyone with the same birthday should have the same exact horoscope, the same personality type, the same predilections in love?