"A Change Is Gonna Come"

24 January 2021: 

This song has been running through my head for the past 24 hours or so. I watched One Night in Miami last night and watch Remastered: The Two Killings of Sam Cooke today. Both are really good and both taught me quite a bit I didn't know about Cooke. 

Seems like an appropriate song to be thinking about after last week/year/four years/400+ years. One of the folks in the documentary talks about how sad it is that we still need this song, which strikes me as absolutely correct.  

Update: right after the Youtube version linked above ended, I told Alexa to go back to playing the Pandora station that I paused...and it played "A Change Is Gonna Come." Spooky.

"That's Where It's At"

30 December 2020: How in the world would I have made it this far through this garbage year without my cats? It's almost unimaginable. They are there to help me remember to pause, to take a breath, to feel warmth and love. And yeah, sometimes they remind me of all of this even when I am trying to get work done, like earlier today. 

Today has been a day with some highs and lows. Got a lot done up at the office. Took a good walk around town. But I also keep thinking about how bad things are. So many COVID cases. So many people who travel and mix like it's not happening. And this new strain? Lord, help us. Found myself thinking today, "What if normal just isn't coming back?" (I know that's irrational, but just the idea of normal seems so far away.) 

All of this was on my mind when I was trying to do some work-related reading earlier. Even if I wasn't actively thinking about it, the mood was there. Sadness, loneliness, anger, fear all mixed up. 

An old Sam Cooke song came on the Pandora station--one that has always calmed me. Combine that with Bing's gentle demands that I see him and well, I stopped, breathed, and settled down a bit. And yeah: sitting here with my old boy, so loving and insistent in what I know are getting to be the tail end of our days together, that's where it's at. 

Midterm grades: DONE!

Another set of midterm grades done. I've still got a ton to do by tomorrow, but it feels pretty good to have this hurdle cleared.

Chair-dancing music...rocking it old school today!