Sunday Salon -- Concerts, Vacation, Politics, oh my!

Don and I drinking wine as we wait for the John Legend concert.

Weather: Overcast skies, but warm temperatures. Last night the moon was pink due to smoke in the air from forest fires.

Pictured (clockwise from top left): John Legend at his concert last Saturday in Woodinville, WA; my mom at a favorite spot in Central Oregon; Don and I at Chris Stapleton's All-American Road Show concert at the baseball stadium in Seattle; a clever use of the ballpark scoreboard with the artist's name and concert date.

Vacation bookended by concerts: Whew! What a week! Beginning with a John Legend concert at the Chateau Ste. Michelle winery on Saturday, July 20th. Followed by vacation/family reunion in Central Oregon from which we returned on Friday so we could attend the Chris Stapleton's All-American Road Show last night at T-Mobile Park in Seattle. Sheryl Crow led off the concert lineup at 6:15, followed by Willie Nelson and Family. Chris Stapleton and his band didn't come on until after 9:15 and he played non-stop until 11:45. What a show! Willie Nelson is 91 years old now and neither of us had ever seen him perform live in-person. It hit us both that this will likely be our first and last chance to see him since his age will certainly reduce the probability of catching another of his concerts.

Willie Nelson is concert last night. His guitar, Trigger, is falling apart but he doesn't care! He's been using the same guitar since 1969. In contrast, Chris Stapleton probably used eight different guitars last night.

We celebrated my sister Kathy's birthday during our family reunion. Here you see my grandsons helping her blow out the candles. We were joined one afternoon and evening by my high school friend, Rita. The previous week we had attended her mother's graveside memorial service and ate dinner with Rita, her husband, and daughter the evening beforehand. I'm sure Rita was overwhelmed at times as all sixteen of my family members swirled around, talking, laughing, and even dancing. I'm so glad she could join us for a visit.

Kamala: While we were traveling to our family reunion last Sunday we learned that President Biden had announced he would not run for president again and endorsed his V.P. Kamala Harris. A wild week of political news about her campaign kick-off burst onto the scene. I thought I'd share a few highlights that caught my attention:

• Kamala hit the ground running and had a whirlwind week, gaining more than 170,000 new volunteers and over $200 million in donations, 66% of those coming from first time contributors. 
• A series of Zoom calls broke records for attendance in this format and have energized dormant supporters. It started with 'Win with Black Women' with 43,000+ participants, followed by a similar call with Black men the next night. 'White Women for Harris' soon followed with 164,000+ women joining the call. Other groups have jumped in: South Asian Men, LGBTQ+, Hispanics, etc. 'White Dudes for Harris' will host their call on Monday. Enthusiasm abounds!
• Trump's VP choice JD Vance's negative comments from 2021 about single, childless, cat ladies have resurfaced and received push back to hilarious results. Taylor Swift jumped in on this and her fans followed. 
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• Voter registration is up this week, especially among Gen Z. Since registration is by states one has to look at each state but here are some stats from Voter.org. This past week the organization has helped over 100,000 new voters register, most are under 35-years old.
• The Villages, a senior living community in Florida, hosted a Harris for President parade of golf carts this week. This wouldn't be newsworthy if not for the fact that this community was a Trump bastian in 2020. (See "Senior Power.")
• There has been an energy shift this past week. Now Trump is the old, out-of-touch candidate. Kamala is bringing attention to his perilous Project 2025 plan, her surrogates have started calling out Trump and MAGA beliefs as WEIRD; and Harris is making the case that she is the prosecutor while Trump is the felon. Trump has not been able to dictate the newscycle all week and this is an unfamiliar position for him to be in.
• 100 days until the election and the world of politics is a different place than it was a week ago! WOW!
• In case you are still struggling to pronounce Ms. Harris' first name, here is some help: comma-la, Clever, huh?
  
  
  

Books: I didn't finish as many books as I thought during our trip to Central Oregon but Don and I did manage to listen to all 20+ hours of Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. It was my One Big Book 2024 Reading Challenge book for the year. Watch for my review this week.

Currently reading/listening to:

• Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange. A prequel/sequel to There, There. 50% complete. Audio.
• My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante. Identified as the #1 book of the century so far by NYT. 51% complete. Print.
• The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters. A book club selection. 50% complete. Audio.
• Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn. Another book club selection. I just started this one. 4% complete. Print.
• A Bell for Adano by John Hersey is my Classic Clubs Spin book selection. I haven't started it up yet.

Funnies:

I saw this flow chart this week on Twitter. It made me laugh since I always take more books than I can possibly read on holidays and I always go through these same types of deliberations.

An old audio clip of a George Carlin routine resurrected last week after the RNC when delegates donned bandages to emulate the one Trump wore on his ear. I warn you George Carlin uses crass language. But this is so funny.

Mom, age 95, with two of her grandsons. Photo credit: G. Ruddy.

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK. 

 

-Anne