“Do we want my grandmother’s silverware?” Matt asked me via email query.
“Sure” was my reply.
The silverware has arrived. Using only this picture, guess the year in which it was bought. (Don’t read further until you have guessed.)
Look at this nice label in the box, announcing its Solid Stainless status.
And on the back of the informational card, Matt’s grandmother had written the date of purchase.
Did you guess 1965? You are correct!
I’m pretty excited about this silverware.
This winter is one for the record books.
I love seeing how the sheet of ice coats everything, even if it makes it hard to do many of the things that need to be done. 
Recently, it was advertised that Roxane Gay would be judging a fiction contest for the Masters Review. There was an informative few sentences as to what kind of stories Ms. Gay likes and didn’t like. Among the things she didn’t like: stories about writers, and stories about white couples in sad relationships. I chortled, and decided not to enter that contest because the piece I had ready would have trended too closely to the sad relationship trope. 
Then, this arrived in the mail. I’m sorry to say that Roxane Gay’s comments were still too fresh in my mind. It’s a story of a white couple in a sad relationship. Even without Gay’s comments, I think I might have still compared it unfavorably to an earlier One Story about a white couple in a sad relationship. That one–“Queen Elizabeth”–I really enjoyed. This one, not so much.
This is an article by the Pecks, who are our local home-and-yard columnists. They were replacing the counter top to their island with their help of their neighbor.
I was amused at their uniformity in clothing. Apparently, everyone got the black-and-white flannel memo.
This is the documentary on which Jeff Nichols based his movie Loving. Watching it after having watched Loving, it felt repetitive, as the fictional movie follows this closely.* I enjoyed the original media coverage and felt this was a solid documentary.**
Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home
*This is, of course, not the documentary’s fault.
**If you have no time for either the documentary or the movie, might I suggest Grey Villet’s photos from 1966? Here’s a link.
Poster from random internet search.
I didn’t get a heads up that this is one of those films where they sing all the way through–not my favorite. It’s a beautifully composed story, the colors pop, and it’s worth watching just for the wallpaper.* It’s an emotional film, and quite enjoyable.
Cost: free via Vimeo. (Sometimes the subtitles blipped very quickly, so I couldn’t read them. This was annoying, but I still got the gist)
Where watched: at home
*Seriously.
I watched this so I could listen to the Next Picture Show podcast pairing this movie with La La Land.
poster from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Umbrellas_of_Cherbourg
Here’s a fun, old-time-y postcard. It’s from the usual suspect. She picked it up in the Charlotte airport on her way home from visiting family for Christmas.
Trimet Transit Mall, downtown. I don’t know what brought them all here, but they stayed long enough to make a huge mess.
When the gas leak that caused an explosion that leveled a building is fresh in your mind, it is little comfort to see that you are on the outside of the caution tape of an area that is being evacuated due to a gas leak.
I left early, as did everyone still in my office.
All was fine though. No explosions.
The level of glare from the two of them has been at an all-time high.
