Above where I just typed, "Back to the Sunday Blog", the Wix website here said, "Add a catchy title." Well, this title is not catchy, partially because I don't have one, don't want one, and will not be told what to do by a website server. AI is gonna have a hard time with me. I always say that my mama is the only person left alive who has the right to tell me what to do, and she never does since I moved out. So don't even try, even if you are a robot.
What a week. I can't even come up with the words.
Back in the early 90's I was in my undergrad program at Memphis State and had an on-campus job working for the Continuing Education department. It was run by 15 of the nicest ladies ever, and so my experience was kind of like a couple of hours having a bunch of mom's who all liked me. Easy stuff too, answering phones, running errands on campus. I kept that job for 3 years, and I remember the timing because in that office room of partitions between all the ladies' offices, I heard about the O.J. trial, the West Memphis 3, the death of Jerry Garcia.
There was one of the moms who listened to Rush Limbaugh, the first time I ever heard of that fool. She was also the person who smoked, so she was always going back and forth from inside to outside in what must've been the early days of requiring tobacco to be outdoors, and she was always talking about that idiot. I could tell she was spouting lies, and could not understand how a nice mom could be hoodwinked and brainwashed.
Apparently it all started with Newt Gingrich politically. Check out the Al Franken podcast from last year where an expert explains that to Al. I can't remember exactly when I heard it, but pretty sure it was in 2020, and definitely on the podcast.
How can so many people just be lied to and believe it? If you are conservative politically, I am fine with that in concept. I am conservative in lifestyle and monetarily. If you have to live on small amount of income, you get personally fiscally conservative or you don't make it. I unfollowed a former cousin by marriage in the early days of the quarantine last year because of a very offensive meme about how he was just gonna have to sit around waiting for government money like Democrats. I want to insult that guy, but I know he's had health issues, so I just unfollowed. I have long been a Democrat, voting-wise, but have always worked my butt off. I never had unemployment until the summer of quarantine in 2020, and only then because my college job is part time, and so because of gigs being gone, I actually had zero work for the first time in my life.
I won't get into the trouble in Washington D.C. this week that offended and angered me so much, just like everyone else. Just know that I think that if you are a Republican and you do not denounce QAnon, Proud Boys, right-wing violence, or this president, that I think you are partially responsible for the sedition at the Capitol, and we are not friends. However, if you are wrong about the truth, I wish I could change that. If I am wrong about the truth, I will change, because I am all about truth.
My hip replacement is healing nicely. Thursday I went to PT with my cane, but remarked that I really didn't need it, but was just being conservative. See what I mean? I take care of myself and I don't take too many chances in life. That is why I can be comfortable taking chances in music. That's a whole other story.
Yesterday I woke up and started walking for the first time since the surgery on Dec. 14 without the cane, and haven't picked it up since. I can reach my feet to wash them in the shower, that was the last thing I needed help with. I can pick stuff up off of the floor. The left hip is still pretty bad, so I will still have serious arthritis issues until I get that one done, but finally I have some relief from the right one. I can sit upright for the first time in years.
Only those who know the difficulty of not being able to bend at the waist will understand how I have felt for the past years. I just put several new videos on the Blues and Jazz pages of this site last night, most from the past 4 years, and I kept noticing my pain in the way I sat, the way I played, as I watched the videos. I don't think others noticed too much. We all have our own pains, and unless it's really visually obvious that someone is physically damaged, it is hard to see what someone is going through. But I can tell. Maybe you can too. The music is pretty good, if I do say so myself.
Ok for now, I am just writing to start back my routine of writing here on Sundays. Y'all be safe, stay away from the virus, please learn the truth, about politics and everything else. It is possible. Truth wins, but we have a long way to go as a society. I hope we make it.
Peace and love,
Gerald, 1/10/21