it is better to take many small steps in the right direction than to make a great leap forward only to stumble backward

Well, National Poetry Month is finally over, and thank God for that. I will not be posting more of that for a while. (FYI, the poetry is always pre-posted, often more than a month in advance. It is not worth the time to try and trace any deeper meaning into the specific day that it appears.) It is time to turn attention outward. Today is May Day, the annual arrival of a little construction-paper basket of candy on my doorstep. It creeps me the f$%^ out, and I always just bring it in and immediately throw it
away. Who would eat candy that just shows up on their front step? I do not get it. The funny thing is that, now that I am working from home (however temporarily), I have finally seen the little demons who brought it here. It was a group of 4 adult women and probably 10 kids (infants and toddlers). None of them had a mask, gloves, or any. social. distance. whatsoever.

This, ladies and gentleman, is why COVID-19 is booming in this county.
But that is another story for another day.

Lately, I have been sorting photographs. Deleting a lot, pushing some into folders, others onto a separate hard drive. (Have I ever mentioned that I take, and have archived, a LOT of pictures?) I have also rearranged some of the art in my house, which has come to be grouped by theme in various spaces. With recent changes to the wall colors, it was time to move the wall art around, too. The result of all this is some increased scrutiny of my own photographs. I may start posting some of that in this space again, as I have at various times in the past. (The label for such posts is "another thousand words".)

As may be apparent, watching movies has become a hobby bordering on obsession. This was handed down to me, genetically or behaviorally, by my dad. Conveniently, he also has a huge collection of movies on DVD, so now that I am coming close to running out of movies, he has started to lend me (a dozen at a time) a few each week to supplement my supplies. This will account for a somewhat different component to my selections in the foreseeable future. It also spurs the following commentary.

A few weeks ago, when the stay-at-home and lockdown orders first started to roll out, a lot of Facebook memes and games began, in response. One of them was "The Unpopular Opinion Game" - name 10 things you do not like, which other people like. My answers are below. Yours are welcome, in the comments!

1. Meryl Streep--I cannot get over her "Meryl Streep"-ness. She is obviously really good at what she does; I just do not like it.
2. Strobe lights--instant migraine
3. Wearing tight jeans
4. 3D ... anything
5. Wearing hats--though this one is likely to be moot shortly, as my neighborhood walk goes through an area that is kind of buggy. In the balance between my loathing for hats and my loathing for ticks, I will wear a damned hat.
6. Sour cream--shudder
7. Being called "smart"
8. Gravy on bread
9. Overloud music--hello neighbor, this one is for you
10. Margaritas

[the title quotation is by Louis Sachar, from Small Steps]