We're having some dreary weather here, though perhaps not quite as dreary as in the video posted by the guy from Wales who found the monolith. We had light rain pretty much all morning yesterday and the plants are loving it. The temperatures have climbed a bit, too, with no overnights below 40ยบ F forecast in the foreseeable future. I'm starting to think about moving the avocado back outside, but I'll probably wait until April at least.
It's really hard for me to type this post because the dog is on my lap -- I'm on the couch, holding the computer with my left arm and typing with my right hand. Cumbersome! Also I'm once again noticing that many of the keys on my keyboard have completely worn away. Instead of letters I'm seeing a keyboard full of round O's glowing like full moons, which is hard to deal with when I'm not typing in a normal position and working from QWERTY muscle memory. I probably need to think about a new computer.
OK, I've shifted the dog.
As you can see, I have nothing to talk about today, really. I did read a fun and poignant column yesterday about the 50th anniversary of "Free to Be, You and Me," the TV special produced by Marlo Thomas back in the early '70s that is seen as a cultural touchstone for people my age. I don't remember watching it when it first came out in 1974, but I remember listening to the record and singing the theme song in our elementary school music class. The message that we were free to become whatever we wanted, regardless of the gender roles society tried to force on us, felt liberating to me even then. Girls could have careers, men could cry, boys could play with dolls, girls should learn to fend for themselves.
Of course, being a gay kid, I'm sure I felt that message more than some other viewers. Those songs told me it was OK to be different -- and even though I was seven years old at the time and wasn't entirely sure how I was different, I knew I was. "Like many works from the early ’70s," wrote columnist James Poniewozik, the show "can seem simultaneously a dated product of a specific time and an artifact from an alternative future that never quite arrived."
I'll leave you with this:
My iPhone made another video of Olga images. It does this now and then, all by its lonesome -- the last one was in November 2022. Unfortunately, Siri tends to be a bit haphazard about cropping. I once again had to manually replace a couple of the videos so you could actually see the dog -- she'd been cropped out entirely -- and as you can see, she's at the margin of several of the photos. But it's an enjoyable little snippet nonetheless, so if you want an Olga fix, feel free to watch.
(Top photo: Reflections spotted on my walk home from work.)
26 comments:
Get some mini alphabet stickers and stick them on your keys.
River: Well, there are other reasons I need a new computer, but yes, that would be a good temporary solution!
We have it pretty miserable here too..either warmer and wet or cold and dry!!
"Free to be whatever we want to be". But what if you have Down's syndrome and live in a tower block? What if you are of mixed race and live in a one bedroom flat with a chaotic mother who dabbles in drugs? Some people enjoy a massive headstart while others are thwarted right from the beginning.
I loved the "Olga" video.
Like you, I too felt different as a kid, but maybe kids at the same age who turned out straight felt different too. Just a thought.
The tv programme from the 70s sounds very progressive.
I remember Free To Be You And Me, but I was already too old for the target audience. I do remember how much it made me respect Marlo Thomas. The Sophie video makes me smile. Some really beautiful photos there. I just find her so endearing. Dave, too. (Not to mention you!)
I remember Free To Be, but it makes me wonder how, if that came out today, the right would suggest that it's a "grooming" technique.
Love the Olga video; her sleeping looks so peaceful.
I remember the uproar about the little boy who wanted a doll. My mother, though born in the nineteenth century, thought any toy was for any child. One of my brothers had a period, when he was about two, of playing with his sisters' dolls, and she used to say her own sisters tried to discourage him if they saw it. She stopped them. Good for her.
What is that layered monument thing behind Olga towards the end of the video? FayRouse on the building was a bit startling. Fay Rouse was my gym teacher in high school.
Some kids live in an environment that does not encourage, does not enrich, does not hold promise. Marlo Thomas took her message directly to those children. If a child is hearing 'you can't' having someone say 'oh but you can' is a powerful thing. It plants the seed. I was too old for it, but I always respected it, coming from a home where I almost always heard 'no you can't'.
Yes- that was a pretty earthshaking message at the time. "Free to be you and me."
I'm sure it comforted and inspired a lot of kids and probably made a lot of adults think.
Sweet Olga video.
Yes, I imagine the MAGAts wouldn't like Marlo's message today.
I enjoyed Olga's video. She has such a happy life with you and Dave!
I loved Olga's video. I love how Siri just creates things like that. I have some great photo memories from the beach that "she" just randomly creates. I remember Marlo Thomas's "Free to Be You and Me." I knew I was different too, but it would take me a long time to accept myself for who I am.
Marlow's book and message was a leg up, for all sorts. A lesson in non-judgemental being and allowing- for all. I think I got it for Erik but he was all like"this is old news" and "Obviously , Mom" about it. He was born cool!
The clips of Olga have made my day and i will be watching it often, such joy and such a wonderful dog life for the girl! Good parenting skills, you two!
the E on my keyboard is almost completely gone and several other are fading. I sort of remember free to be but I was never a Marlo Thomas fan. I was out there though telling the world I would not be pigeon holed.
It took a while for me to see what your first photo was all about. I concentrated on the building and thought the car in the photo was an accident
I enjoyed that little Olga video. I remember that Marlo Thomas song. It was one of those things that made the future feel positive. It's a bit sad that the feeling has slipped away over the last seven or eight years. I'm afraid that if the song were introduced today, there would immediately be plans to ban it.
I love that top photo. What a great capture.
The keyboard I use at work is starting to show its age, but it's a contoured ergonomic one I brought from home & I don't want to replace it. So I think I'll try the sticker route!
I love those iPhone vids although some of them have weird photos in them that don't go with the theme. I'm going to try to mow my lawn this week since the weather is improving. We'll see if I can do it!
Android does something similar to that, they gather up a bunch of photos and add music. Some of them are pretty good, especially the sunset bunches. I love the way Olga seems to smile - maybe she is because she's a happy dog.
MT knew what she was doing and made a big difference for so many. Sometimes it takes a visionary to get things rolling. Olga has the best life and her video is fantastic.
I thoroughly enjoyed the Olga slideshow. My phone sent me one (with the same title) with photos of Pat last week. I sent it along to my youngest grandson who made his mama play it over and over.
I got a new laptop last month and it's great! I scaled back from a MacBook Pro to an Air and love it.
I think I shall worry about a device that makes videos of my photos without my permission! Alexa, kill Siri!
Oh, I loved "Free to Be You and Me." It was just wonderful -- and it still is.
If you have a silver keyboard, a black sharpie works wonders (ask me how I know). If it's a dark keyboard get a white paint pen. That works too. Of course, what works best is a new computer....
GZ: Can't win either way!
YP: There's no question that's true. "Free to Be, You and Me" didn't mean there were no advantages or disadvantages -- just that they shouldn't be based on gender.
Andrew: Yeah, I'm sure most kids feel different one way or another. There's a reason that's such a common theme in children's literature!
Mitchell: Sophie? Who's Sophie? :D Yes, I think "Free to Be" helped elevate Marlo in the public eye from "That Girl" to a more serious person, and activist.
Bob: Oh, no question! There would be outrage! Apparently it was greeted skeptically in certain quarters back in the '70s too, but the opposition would now be louder and more organized.
Boud: I think that's very sensible. Any toy for any child sounds right to me.
Debby: That's right -- she spoke a language of empowerment that a lot of kids (particularly girls) needed to hear. The layered thing you're asking about is a grave monument at Hampstead Cemetery.
Ms Moon: I hope it made adults think! In a way it was just as much for them as for the kids.
Ellen D: She is spoiled! :)
Michael: Gender roles and the demands made on people because of their gender just never made sense to me. (This probably came from having a pro-feminist mom.)
Linda Sue: It must seem like that to many modern kids -- like, "Why does this even need to be said?" And yet many right-wingers would flip their lids over it.
Ellen: You were already Free to Be You!
Red: I suppose it's natural, when you see a bunch of windows, to look for something inside them!
Sharon: I feel like the early '70s, despite all the stuff going on in the world, seemed like a time of optimism in terms of social progress.
Bug: Yeah, I never even thought of stickers but that's a good idea!
Margaret: Siri is not perfect when it comes to choosing and framing!
Allison: She's always been very smiley. I choose to believe that happiness helps!
Susan: And it wasn't just her -- so many of those women who founded Ms., like Gloria Steinem and Letty Cottin Pogrebin, were on the ball! (And still are!)
Kelly: OK, you're making me want one! LOL
Catalyst: Ha! "WAR OF THE DIGITAL ASSISTANTS!"
Jeanie: I think it's also possible to get the keys replaced, but spending money on that seems silly when the computer is almost a decade old.
Sweet video. I love Olga.
Sophie??? That’s Olga’s alias. (I have no clue where that came from.)
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