* In the weeks preceding the 2024 Christmas, I loved my schedule. Lots of day-time activities and nights seeing local entertainers. My friends and I had a great time. Then came the day after Christmas and things slowed down–so much so that the week between Christmas and New Year’s seemed to go on forever.

* I’m at an age when New Years Eve on the Las Vegas Strip seems too crowded and too noisy. I am also a bit less energetic than in years past and don’t want to compete for Strip parking. So I stay home, read a bit, call some friends and listen to the radio or watch TV. However, after Christmas, my regular talk-show hosts are also on vacation! So I look at Facebook and see what others are doing, then at Midnight, I watch the Lad Vegas New Year’s Eve fireworks on TV. Spectacular! Let’s just say that I’m very happy to be back in the “normal” days of January.

* Recently I was watching a movie on TCM and heard an actor say, “Make it snappy!”. My goodness, these days, that’s an expression one doesn’t hear very often. “Hurry up” doesn’t have the same lilt, does it?

* Remembering expressions from years ago, I thought of my father. He swore, but the words were always “damn” or “damn it”. No “s” or “f” words were used. These days, the “f” word is used as an adjective, a noun, a verb and a t-shirt or sidewalk embellishment. I wonder what the next trendy swear word will be.

* I am a fan of Home and Garden TV and I notice when the upgraded versions of homes are shown, any books on the bookshelves are backwards. The book titles don’t show, only the pages. I fagree the backward books “create a cleaner, more visually cohesive look on camera”, but then my hair stylist said she had read that backward books have something to do with the copyrights of the books. I prefer to think the viewers shouldn’t see what books the homeowner reads. Maybe they are porn books, books with photos of nude females (or males) or even books by interior decorators saying their skills are better than those of HGTV. The homeowners children will have fun turning around all the books. (Actually, there is a legend that says that if the covers showed on TV, the show producers would have to pay the book publishers usage rights–never been able to confirm whether this is true or not. Since the owner of Living-Las-Vegas is a book publisher, I can certainly confirm that no TV show has ever offered to pay Imbrifex Books when they display their books.)

* I’m also a regular watcher of the shopping channels and time is passing. Just heard that a long-time host, Mary Beth Roe, will be retiring this year. She’s been at the channel for as long as I’ve been watching QVC. (Her start date is 1987, and I’ve been watching since 1990) Mary Beth is a former beauty queen. You mean even former beauty queens get to be senior citizens?

* I was listening to the radio the other day when a host asked his panel if they could re-live their lives, would they change any bad decisions. I asked myself that question too. No, I wouldn’t change a thing except–maybe, I’d make better eating decisions. I often wonder what it is like to be reed thin. What does “hunger” mean to thin folks? Do they cook? Do they have any cravings? Are they bulimic? I know there are pills these days that take away hunger pains and help folks lose weight, and I wonder what it would be like NOT to have a craning for chocolate.

* Well, it’s a new year and time for me to make some changes.

If I have a craving for Chocolate in 2025, I’ll make a point to think about getting dressed to take a walk instead. And I’ll tell myself to “Make it snappy!”