Où sont les neiges d'antan?

As far back as 2007, I recognized that Obama, if elected, would be the first President younger than me. Today, for some reason, I decided to take a look at the birthdates of the current Senate.

More than a quarter - 26 - of the current Senators are younger than I am.

"Senex" means "old".

:sigh:

(The list: Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Mark Begich (D-AK), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Bob Casey (D-PA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Dean Heller (R-NV), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Mike Lee (R-UT), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Rand Paul (R-KY), Mark Pryor (D-AR), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Tim Scott (R-SC), John Thune (R-SD), Pat Toomey (R-PA), David Vitter (R-LA))

This Isn't Louisiana

Today, I went over to Shop'n'Save to buy the ingredients for this year's Thanksgiving feast. I found most of what I was looking for easily enough, with one exception: okra. I finally asked a stocker about it; he told me that they usually had it, but it hadn't been in stock for a few days. (I asked him what it looked like, remembering the leek incident, and he showed me a picture.) I bought the rest of the stuff, went home and put it away, and headed out again.

Next try: Schnuck's. After a cursory look-around, I again consulted a stocker. "Nope, we haven't had it for a couple of weeks now. I don't know why." I thanked him, and girded my loins for the rather longer walk to Dierberg's. There, without even needing a stocker's help, I found OKRA! I stuffed what looked like enough into a bag and headed for checkout.

The cashier peered at the bag and asked, "What is this?" "Okra!" "Okay. I don't see it very often, so I had to make sure."

I guess gumbo is not a major culinary item around here....

Sunday Music: Gold, Cher

Album Title: Gold

Why I Bought It: Mainly for her early work: "Half-Breed", "Dark Lady", "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves".

What I Like (Sad): "You Better Sit Down Kids". A man talking to his kids about divorce, and the fact that he's going to be leaving them... sung by a female singer, and very well indeed. This is linked in my mind with Elvis' "Don't Cry, Daddy", for some reason.

What I Like (Bitter): "Half-Breed". A song about falling into the cracks between two worlds. "...but I can't run away from what I am!" No catharsis here; just pain. Honorable Mention: "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves".

What I Like (Joyous): "I Got You Babe". Yeah, it's sappy, and naive, and all that, but it captures something real and joyful.

What I Like (Content): "After All". Looking back, through trials and tribulations, and hanging on to the one thing needful. It's "I Got You Babe" through the other end of the telescope.

Overall: This is a two-disk set, and there's a neat separation between the two. The first disk is raw, unpolished, sometimes dissonant, but powerful. The second, from her later career, is technically more sophisticated, but for the most part doesn't have much emotional resonance for me. On the one hand, sad songs like "Bang Bang" and "Dark Lady"; on the other, the equally sad but colder "We All Sleep Alone" and "Living in a House Divided". "All I Really Want to Do" and "All I Ever Need Is You", up against "Believe" and "A Different Kind of Love Song".... Some of her later work is powerful ("If I Could Turn Back Time"), but for the most part it's a triumph of technique over substance. I like both disks, in different ways, but I regard the earlier work as... more real, somehow.