Did You Know?

It occurred to me recently that a lot of us on social media tend to rage about those things in society which we are against. It is good and right, in my view, to express our righteous indignation about those things that don’t square with our values and harm people. I would never suggest in a million years that any of us ought to stay quiet and comply in the face of injustice.

Yet don’t you agree there is value in expressing that with which we are in favor of? The things we are “pro” instead of “con”?

The first thing that comes to mind when I think of something I am “pro” is education.

I don’t think I need to go into great detail here as to why that is, especially given the fact that I’ve got smart readers who no doubt consider themselves to be pro-education. I will say that critical thinking is something I value deeply and education is the key.

Now comes the part where I answer the question posed in the title of this little blog post.

You can take classes online at Harvard for free!

I learned this from someone I recently met. As a person who knows for certain that if I won the lottery, I’d waste no time applying to colleges to get my MFA (or maybe my MBA. Or a Master’s in Sociology or Psychology), this really intrigued me. I love learning. Always have, and always will.

Naturally, I had to check it out. There is quite the bevy of classes available, which was a sweet little surprise. I haven’t made the time to actually attempt to register myself for any of these free classes so I can’t vouch for what the process would be. There weren’t any classes available that really jumped out at me but it’s sure nice to know that this is a potential option. Though one I saw about omens, oracles, and prophecies sounds interesting.

Now, it wouldn’t be as much fun, perhaps, as I can imagine it was for a former client of mine from back when I was a social worker, who regularly “audited” college classes at the local university. He’d mosey over to the nearby state university and sit amongst the enrolled students (though in retrospect he may have been creeping on them) and listen to the professor’s lectures. No need to take notes or run to the campus library or the local coffee shop to do actual homework. I wish I could recall what classes he audited.

Please share in the comments if you have taken any of these free online classes via Harvard, or, if you happen to take a minute to peruse the offerings, which class or classes you’d be liable to take.

As always, I shall end this post with a song. It’s a favorite of mine from Steely Dan. You might want to get your dancing shoes on for this one!

Blogaversary Number 8

Saturday, February 8th, 2025 was a snow day for us here in Minnesconsin. We adjusted our plans and hunkered down inside.

As I was sitting at my dining room table, peering out at the snow falling down outside my window, I saw a WordPress notification congratulating me on 8 years of blogging.

With 8 being my guiding number, I can’t pass up the opportunity to share my thoughts about this blog-aversary.

First off, I’m in a different place than I was 8 years ago, physically and mentally. At that time, I was living a more free-wheeling life in Colorado with Mr. NOA. My responsibilities at the time were minimal and I had oodles of free time. Just for fun I decided to start this blog. My aim was to put myself out there and see if I could find like-minded souls who appreciated my ramblings.

Fortunately, I did. And I appreciate every one of you. And I miss the ones who wrote some of the funniest, righteous, and heartfelt writing I’ve ever read. The ones who, in some cases, for no known reason, stopped blogging (on WordPress anyway).

I wrote a lot of sub-par posts. I didn’t have any grand plan when I first started out. I still don’t.

I wrote about wins and losses. I wrote about what I think about the state of the world and the state of my life. I wrote about vacations I took and books I read. I wrote about interactions I had and my dreams for the future.

I shared in this space stories of my personal failures and misadventures and my passion for music and comedy. I wrote about work and I wrote about my friends and family.

I feel good about the fact that I’ve stuck with it.

But I don’t want to keep waxing nostalgic about this milestone today. That’s because I’m grounded in the present and, frankly, I’m boring myself. It only stands to reason that I’m probably boring you right now as well.

So here I go, switching gears.

*Cue the sound of a record being scratched*

8 Good Things To Share

Disclaimer before I proceed: I am in no way forgetting the fact that America is essentially on fire and the American people are suffering and by God I will do whatever it is I can to minimize the damage. But, on this day, I’m leaning into my Pollyanna-ish inclinations.

  1. My work hours have increased. Meaning instead of working M-W-F at my lovely local non-profit, I’m working M-W-Th-F. Tuesdays are all mine! She says greedily. The reality of working more hours, however, is that I’ve inadvertently challenged myself to ramp up the focus on that one little word I declared allegiance to when I was feeling slightly shinier about 2025. That would be “intentionality”. As in, how am I choosing to spend my downtime? Which gets to the heart of the word itself. Note to self: say a prayer of gratitude for the luxury of having downtime to begin with. You’re a lucky broad.

2. SNL 50 Homecoming Concert: the music, the laughs. What a surprising and terrific Valentine’s gift to me and all the other lifelong fans of the show. Kate McKinnon introducing Brandi Carlisle and THEN watching Brandi and her phenomenal band (even the sisters playing their strings!) perform perhaps her best song ever: “The Joke”, made my heart soar.

3. Speaking of Valentine’s gifts, Mr. NOA (for those new to this blog, it’s my nickname for my husband, Mr. None of the Above) surprised me with a dozen red roses and a box of chocolates on Valentine’s Day. Yes, they smell as good as they look. I think this guy is a keeper.

4. Circling back to music: The Fire Aid concert, which was to benefit those who lost their homes in the recent California wildfires. Wow. Blew me away. Do yourself a favor, unless you hate music: find this online and watch it. Highlights? Let me test my memory here. Alanis Morissette traipsing her cool self all over the stage like a boss while reminding us all what a gift her voice is. Sheila E banging her drums. And, well, so much more. I’ll share a video of the best performance at the end of this post.

5. Our grandson turned 11 recently. He celebrated on Saturday with family and three of his friends snow-tubing and eating pizza. His Grandpa and I gave him an itinerary of the overnight we’re taking him on this Spring for his birthday. That is something for us all to look forward to.

I hope you all have something to look forward to these days. Or the motivation and ability to find something to look forward to, however small. It’s important.

6. The sight of Uncle Sam (as in L. Jackson) at Kendrick Lamar’s SuperBowl halftime show last Sunday. I loved the subversiveness of it. Good trouble.

7. The movie “A Real Pain”, on Hulu. It was the right combo, in my view, of sweet and sour. It did not have a convoluted or complicated storyline. It was very well-acted (Kieran Culkin, Jesse Eisenberg…and Jennifer Grey, my fellow Gen Xr’s). It was sweet and sad and funny at the right times. If you like sweet but not saccharine, relatable relationship stories with humor in your movies, you’ll agree this one is a winner.

8. The queen on her throne singing a most meaningful and bittersweet song at the FireAid concert. I’m not a big crier, but this performance brought tears to my eyes.