Goodbye, 2020. It's Time for 2021 and Another Customary Crandall Year of Posting. Here's to You and Yours.

  

For all who read Calendric, as custom, I'm moving for another year...year 14 of my daily mental meanderings. 

You can click on the image above and find where I'll be doodling in the upcoming year...it's customary, after all. Customary Crandall.

Hiking Out of 2020 With Mr. King, Wondering How We Might Channel Legolas & Rey Who Apparently Can Walk Atop the Trees

Disclaimer: Come back here tomorrow for directions for 2021. I never sit still, and this will likely be true this time on January 1st, too.

Yesterday, however, Jessica Baldizon, Chitunga, William King, and I met in Shelton to go for a hike which, I assumed to be an hour, but Tunga led the way so it lasted 3 hours, we climbed up and down hills, traveled to lakes, leaped waterfalls, and shook hands with the Ents. William and I spent most of the time trying to figure out how Jessica and Chitunga's little legs moved so much faster than our own. We walked the same pace, it seemed, but every time we looked up the two of them were further ahead. It was insane. We also wondered, "Why don't they stop to take in all this beauty? It's such a marvelous place to meditate and be one with he outdoor world?"

Nope. We climbed and we ascended....enough so, that I was soaked upon the return. It was a good work out and a great way to tip our hats to the 2020 year. The hardest part of all of this has been not getting together with usual folks The two of them had a rough start with it all, and Tunga and I are pretty much nerds who don't really need to be out in public. So, when the arrangements were made to hike, we were all in.

It also paid off that two nights ago I ordered Italian food in and the portions were enormous. We each are getting 3 meals out of it (and I'm thinking it's economical, as it ends up being cheaper in the long run - like $6 a meal, one head of a delicious meal extended over 3 days). 

And here we are upon the corner of 2020 and 2021, and I can say that once again I've made my resolution of 365 days of daily thinking a success. Hard to believe I'm about to head to the 14th year. At this point, it's sort of customary to blog everyday - it's like breathing and I imagine it's something I won't depart with any time soon.

The link to 2021 can be found here: https://customarycrandall.blogspot.com

Be good to yourselves today. I'm not optimistic about 2021, but it's got to be a happier new year than before.

Because I'm Me, I Thought It'd Be Cool to Document Covid-Bed Head Since March. Um, I Only Nailed 84 Days, But I Tried

To be Bryan Ripley Crandall, one must get obsessed with stupid things like growing one's hair out because one isn't supposed to be out and about and documenting said growth on a daily basis. The trouble is, I couldn't resist hair cuts (had three) and I failed to document all the days of growth during this pandemic. I just got tired of the photos clogging up my I-photo library and wanted to get rid of them. Hence, this post.

Truth is, the 84 pictures were from this year, mostly from morning wake-up bed-head rituals, and they are not in order. When I thought about the labor it would take to put them in chronological order in IMovie I gave up on my own goal. I did, however, meet my vision of semi-documenting the mop atop my head. I wish it grew twice as long, twice as fast, but I'll take the feathers the way they fell. My barber, Jerry, talked me out of cutting the top when he said, "Dude. At your age. Celebrate that hair is still growing on your head."

So, I am. 

So, I do.

I get weirded out about using copy-written material as a musical background so went with Apple's free animal and beach sounds. In some ways, I've been a bird of sorts laughing at the ways my hair falls in the morning.  A couple of times I did groom the entanglement for conference calls and interview recordings, but mostly this is what I looked like when I woke up each day. 

I get myself in the stupidest habits and don't allow myself much wiggle room out of them. This is one that I knew was going to obsess me, and become a nuisance. Why photograph your hair everyday, Crandall? Um, because I can. I could. It gave me mild humor through the crazy pandemic and something I want to remember about 2020. 

And with that, I'm still letting it grow...for now.

But, I'm allowing myself the freedom from "documenting" every day. Time to move on.

Shhh. Don't Tell Anyone. But We Are So Close to Fulfilling a Nerdy Dream I Never Could Have Thought Of as a Kid

I was five years old when the first Star Wars movie came out. Little could I know at the time that the series, of which I was obsessed with, would eventually land that 1st movie as episode 4 in the 9-part trilogy (or that Grogu would debut in The Mandalorian). I did a Google search of R2D2 ceramic lamps, and I can tell you none of them were as cool as the one my mother made for me in ceramics. It lit up my room as if holiday Christmas lights. I loved my toys, too, and some of my earliest memories were playing Star Wars and attacking my sisters' barbie dolls. 

The trash compactor was a tremendous hit, too.

Fast forward 43 years and we have the phenomenon that has been Mt. Pleasant this week. Chitunga and I watched all the Mandalorians together, and I was surprised when he said he wanted to watch all the Star Wars movies so he could understand the story better. Phew. I remember the resurrections of films in the 2000s when I still lived (1999)(2000)(2005) in Kentuckiana. The resurgence began. I felt alive. 2015, 2017, 2019, however, I lived in Connecticut, but went home to Syracuse, to watch the films as they came out.

1977, 1980, and 1983, however, were the films that raised me. My addiction and my imagination. I guess it is safe to say that I'm totally a Star Wars geek. The fulfillment of all the films together, however, belongs to my generation all the way! This was our childhood, early adulthood, and now adulthood. We feel the force within every episode because we were raised with it.

Perhaps this is why the past week has been extra special. With Chitunga off for the holiday, and me always in need of something that can successfully get me to unwind, we ventured to watch all 9 films in order of the story (not their releases). It made for something as magical as the day Bro-in-Law Mike and I did the Lord of the Ring marathon on Pine Grove in Cicero. Another epic series in my life. 

If all goes well, tonight we will complete the back to back series, and I can successfully cross off an item on my bucket list that I didn't know I had.

Loving this mild, yet ever-so-precious week of memories we made. Here's to many more stories in the series yet-to-be-told.

And poor Glamis. She just wants her couch back. 

It's Game Time, Folks: Three of These Photos Are True To My Older Sister & Three Are Made Up (& Fictionalized) - GOOD LUCK

Every year, December 28th, 3 days after the Christmas Hoopla, and 3 Days before a New year, my older sister, Cynderballz, celebrates her birthday. Typically, it is the marker date for when I should return back home from taking time off, but this year the home-stay brought a new way of being.

That being said, however, is not devoid of supermodel photos of my older sister, so readers can guess which ones are the real ones, and which ones are fabricated. She hates any and all photographs of her, so I thought this year I should mix it up and give readers an options to decide which is the coy designed to distract you.

Hint: It's the Birthday Girl. I'll let you decide which one.

Meanwhile, I can attest that Chitunga and I watched episode VI in the Star Wars series and have graduated past the 1970s/1980s versions. I will note, however, that watching Return of the Jedi after the 5 that led up to it, makes the scenes from the original three that much more magical. Bravo on the work and pure joy for us.

And it's a Monday. Happy Birthday to You. Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday, Older sister, Happy Birthday to you.

I'm back at my desk today as University work will quadruple in exactly a week, and I want to get ahead a little so I can go into the New Year standing on my feet. 

I wish I was in 'Cuse to have some cake!

Hoping her celebration goes marvelously (even though it won't be a 50th at Hafner's - Phew...who'd of guessed a year ago that this is where we'd be today).

They Were Supposed to Open Them Up at the Same Time, but We Still Can Ask, "Which One Wears It Better?"

I picked up a sweater for Chitunga in Syracuse and my mother said, "Hey, That's the sweater I want to give him." I asked, "Didn't you say you were only giving money this year?" and she responded, "Yes, but if I wasn't I'd give Chitunga that sweater. Your father would look good in it, too."

So, Bryan did what he had to do. He picked one up for Butchy-Roo, as well. Mom posted his picture, so today I'm posting that one next to one with Chitunga (we can pretend we are in the same room). 

I did a Cynderballz yesterday, and sitting around writing this morning, I suddenly thought, "You know what? I'm ready for the Christmas stuff to come down." It's the first time I've been able to chill out in my home in like, EVER, and because I'm in calm space, I have time to clean and not resent it. Besides, Chitunga and I wanted to transform the dining room into office space for the Spring semester (funny that I always will think in terms of semesters, but he's a working man now, so maybe it's just the Spring). Anyway, that's done.

And Pam and I did a food swap in the afternoon, just so we wouldn't get sick of our own leftovers. She made the lasagna that I would have had at Cynde's and I brought her brisket, carrots, and creamed potatoes. I was thinking that families should create such swaps on a weekly basis. I've always thought this. Rotate cooking schedules (and workloads). It would be smart.

It's hard to believe that today is Sunday, but it is what it is. It's also hard to believe that it is the Sunday after Christmas, I'm in my own house, and my decorations are all up, and I can move onto January projects a little earlier. I think I know why, now, people like to unwind and relax in their own homes.  I also see that I, like everyone else, have accrued a lot of shit over the years. SO MUCH STUFF. I think it is time for a purge.

Let There Be Light! I Didn't Know It at the Time, But I've Really Been in the Dark. Chitunga to the Rescue (with a Perfect Christmas Gift)

1. I should say that we are on 24 hours of a Star Wars marathon, watching them not in the order they were made but in the order of the story. It's so comical to get to the "4th" one (when it was originally the 1st). Cinematography has come so far, but the genius behind the entire series is simply epic.

2. The Holiday brunch was a success, as were the brisket sandwiches that came twice, later on (so good with perogies).

3. Tunga and I did the swap in the morning, and I'm beyond delighted by the fact that he had the insight, brilliance, to buy a light for the garage. It's so simple, so necessary, and something I never thought to do since moving into Mt. Pleasant. Instead, I run inside to get my cellphone so I can get a light for the darkness. You'd think I'd do something so easy, but nope. Perhaps that is why getting the light was the perfect gift. Now, I can just flick it on. In fact, I went to the garage often throughout the day to turn the light on and off. Just because I could. 

4. No desserts. 

5. Brisket on rolls with perogies. I'm telling you. 

6. The sunset was delicious last night, and I said to Tunga, "I don't think I've ever chilled out and relaxed so much in my own house. Usually, I'm on the go, go, go, and when I get a break, I'm heading to Syracuse, so I don't ever treat my house like, well, a house. To say I sat almost 14-hours watching Star Wars is something Mt. Pleasant has't experienced before.

7. Phew, Star Wars 1977 was ahead of its time, but so antiquated. It's funny actually, but I know why I had all the Star Wars toys as a child. 

8. I missed my mom's 'fuck yeah' cookies.

9. That sunset, though. 

10. And the holidays are over. Safe, calm, wonderful, and joyous...very thankful to have what I have and to share what I can. Now, it is time to say good-bye to this sabbatical shenanigan I had and to pay attention to the impossible chaos of the work. 

And just like that I'm off again.