Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Am I Old? A Curmudgeon? A Fuddy-Duddy?

First things first.  I am fifty-seven and a half years old, and grew up in a poor-middle class family.  My father's father, grandfather, great grandfather and great-great grandfather were farmers with large families. On my mother's side of the family, my forebears were fishermen, watermen, and farmers on Chincoteague Island, Virginia and in Denmark and Sweden.  Dad retired after 21 years in the US Navy on my fifth birthday, and we moved to north-central Florida.  We had a black and white television set until 1966, and were able to receive CBS, NBC, and the local WUFT , which turned into PBS.  We lived at the edge of the suburbs, the nest-to-last house on the end of a street, where the dirt run ran almost seamlessly into pin oak and pine woods.  We played a lot of memory games and read aloud, we played board games and cards, and we listened to the radio.  We watched the "local" (Jacksonville) news and national news, and then one or two national televised programs each night.  There was a set of encyclopedias from 1956, two dictionaries, and a family health book for reference and lots of other books that we owned, or were from the public library, for our edification.
  Now, skip to the present day.  I have a satellite television connection that gives me a choice of almost 800 channels; I have my desk top personal computer with an internet connection; I have a land-line telephone; and, reluctantly, I now have a cell phone that is only turned on when I am caring for animals away from my home, or when I'm on vacation.  I use the cell phone for emergency communications only, to or from owners; or for use on vacation when I'm mobile.  I have a CD/cassette player that also has an AM/FM radio; and I have what I call my "film viewer" that will play either a VHS video tape, or a DVD.  And I have books - lots and lots of books.   I walk between 5 and 20 miles each day, unless I'm ill; I do not own a car or truck.  There are three different grocery stores within a five block radius of my apartment, three shopping malls within that area, eleven movie theaters within that radius.  I can walk to the public library or to the library at the University of Colorado within 15 minutes.
  I have not watched more than 3 to 5 minutes of any reality show on television - and only that when I cannot escape the room gracefully.  I watch the local and national news;  I watch college and professional football; I watch any program that has to do with horses - training, showing, racing, jumping, Three Day Eventing.  Other than the game show, Jeopardy!, which I try to watch every week night, I have six televised shows that I watch weekly - or try to, anyway.  They are:  Almost Human, Sleepy Hollow, The Blacklist, NCIS, Person of Interest, and Blue Bloods.  Other than that, unless I have the Western Channel on for background noise, the television is off.  I play specific CDs and old cassette tapes for music.  If I listen to the radio, it is usually NPR, a classical station, or an Oldie Goldie Rock station.  I grew up listening to classical music, country and folk music, jazz, swing, the blues, and early rock-n-roll.  I appreciate a song that tells a story, or music that I find emotionally or physically moving.  I don't like "music" that is extremely loud, has offensive (either hate words or lots of profanity) language, or is degrading to anyone or anything.  I can listen to the new, "smooth" jazz, but I prefer the old, crisp songs.  I visit the movie theater once or twice a year - I don't like most of the films made, or re-made, today.  I'd much rather watch an old B Western  movie than one of today's dramas.
   I don't recognize most of the so-called stars or celebrities these days - I just saw an advertisement on the TV for the Grammy Awards, and while I recognized the names of most of the people, I could only identify Stevie Wonder, LL Cool J (because of NCIS: Los Angeles), Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.  I have the top ten "Entertainment" news headlines pop up on my screen, and I'm lucky if I recognize a single name.  I recognize the name of "Honey Boo Boo" but can't tell you what it looks like - the same for the Kardashians, or any other television celebrities.  Who the heck are they?  Why should I be interested in anything (much less every thing) that they do?
   I know the world changes every second, with every decision that any person makes.  I realize that a lot of people grasp every bit of technology they can, and there are those who avoid it at all costs.  I like the technology that I have and use.  But I'm not a tech geek.  I like using my PC to seek information quickly and easily; I use the telephone as a tool - it is not attached to me, nor I to it.  I like music that I can hear clearly and understand.  I am not enamored with explosions and profanity.  I enjoy going out for a hike in the woods or mountains without hearing someone else shouting on a cell phone.
   I was just notified that my high school class is having a meeting this Saturday, in Gainesville, at the downtown public library (at 1 p.m. EDT), to set up our 40th graduation reunion.  Am I old?  Am I a curmudgeon?  Am I a fuddy-duddy?  An old hag?   -  I don't care how others view me, in actuality.  I love my cats, I loved my husband, and I like who I am.  Period.

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