14 Comments
User's avatar
Amy Cowen's avatar

I definitely have to wet fingers to open bags. That amaryllis is more than 50 years old? That's amazing, truly. I hope you enjoyed the game. It wasn't the most interesting of games, I think.

Expand full comment
Fran Gardner's avatar

The amaryllis is probably closer to 80 years old. It came to Robert on the death of his father, who got it from his father.

The game was a slog to watch, lopsided. And the commercials were dreadful! I was able to switch it off and return to more useful pursuits. Befuddled by the halftime show, too.

Expand full comment
Sue Cauhape's avatar

An 80-year-old amaryllis? Never heard of such a thing. I'm deeply impressed.

Expand full comment
Fran Gardner's avatar

Yep

Expand full comment
Abigail Thomas's avatar

I jot things down on the backs of envelopes and lose them immediately.

Expand full comment
Mary Anne Ericson's avatar

Oh my, I keep so many lists. One of my most important is of actions I've taken, especially calls and letters to elected officials, including the date, and on what topic. Since I do so many of these -- almost daily -- I can't keep track of them otherwise. Even though paper lists clutter up my desk and tend to get buried, I still find them more accessible than if I've put them in a Word document.

Expand full comment
Fran Gardner's avatar

I scan things like that (I have a sheet-feed scanner, so much easier than a flat-bed!) and keep them in my database. Then I can toss the originals.

Expand full comment
Mary Anne Ericson's avatar

Your tip about opening plastic bags should help with my dogs' poop bags. I hate fumbling with them when my dogs are eager to move on!

Expand full comment
Fran Gardner's avatar

I even wrote a poem (which may show up in next week’s posting) about dog doodie after a woman let her dog go on my parking strip, them walked away—while I was right there in my chair! “How am I supposed to pick that up?” I cried, but she ignored me.

German shepherd poop

A dog left a beastly bundle.

On our parking strip last week.

The owner walked away, no bag.

But then the pile disappeared . . .

About the time another appeared.

This time under the big camellia.

That pile sat there for a day,

Then it, too, just vanished.

Dog works in mysterious ways.

His feces to remove.

Expand full comment
Bruce Trachtenberg's avatar

Can’t wait to go to the grocery store to try your plastic bag tip!

Expand full comment
Rob Melton's avatar

I’m a list maker and I still prefer the reporter’s notebook. I order a package online every time I run out. To jot a quick shopping list or grab some quick info on the phone I have 3x5 cards stuffed in coffee mugs near desks I use. Yes, sometimes I photograph them with my cell phone, too, just in case! And I do write with a computer — even in high school it was with a typewriter. I love the intensity of a typewriter when writing. In college I actually wore out the letters that struck the ribbon in two years, and was thinking how fun that would be to write like that again.

Expand full comment
Fran Gardner's avatar

As for typing on a typewriter, it’s hard on your wrists. I love the sound and wrote about it here https://frangardner.substack.com/p/spiders?utm_source=publication-search. Scroll down to “The romance of the typewriter.”

Now my hands and arms are comfortable with the wireless keyboard I use with my laptop. I can put the computer on a table and keep the keyboard in my lap.

Expand full comment
Rob Melton's avatar

Loved my smith-Corona, but I wore out the keys! Love your description of that typewriter. And yes, if I was being sensible, my hands would hurt. Maybe I could add an old Smith-Corona sound to go with the keyboard!😂

Expand full comment
Fran Gardner's avatar

I like the little invoice pads some waiters use to take orders. I keep little piles of scrap paper and those notepads charities send me all over the house, and still can’t find a piece of paper to jot a note when I need one. I try to keep everything in my journal, so I can harvest the notes easily later, but it’s never there when I need it either.

Expand full comment