Well, dear readers, I have graduated from a scratchy throat to a horrid cough and blowing my nose every two damn minutes. That is the sorry state of affairs in the home environment, but I’m hoping since it moved to stage two overnight, that we’ll be in the final stage tomorrow and on the way to feeling better. Hoping the NyQuil I’ll take as soon as I post these here sick notes will alleviate the runny nose so I can get a good night’s beauty sleep. And as I write these cough-filled notes, I’m listening to Malcolm Arnold’s magical fifth symphony. Otherwise, I got about eight hours of sleep, started the coughing and blowing routine, had a turkey sandwich for food with potato salad as my side – sandwich was great, potato salad less so, decided I wasn’t going out, did some organizing and cleanup, and continued the coughing and blowing routine. I wish there was some excitement to write about but really it was just coughing and blowing and answering e-mails and stuff like that. I did watch or attempt to watch another 2025 motion picture, this one entitled A House of Dynamite. I’m not a fan of the director, Kathryn Bigelow, but the plot sounded interesting – a nuclear weapon is launched towards the U.S., and it isn’t known who launched it. It’s going to hit Chicago in nineteen minutes. Unfortunately, I dozed off for almost the rest of the movie, occasionally waking up for a bit of dialogue and not understanding why it was still going on given the nineteen minutes to obliteration and all. Turns out, the movie is in three parts, all replaying the same events from different perspectives. I’ll finish it, just because I want to know how it ends and we haven’t had a serious Fail Safe-type thriller in quite a while. That was really about it. Oh, I had some rice pudding as a treat and a treat it was. It’s amazing to me how few restaurants serve pudding anymore. I mean, I can count on the fingers of two fingers where I can get pudding via DoorDash or in the restaurant, one being Uncle Bernie’s Deli, which is where my turkey sandwiches have been coming from. And here we are. Coughing and blowing. Just did Flonase and Melatonin and then comes NyQuil.

Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, I may have yet another turkey sandwich for food with more pudding for a treat, but mostly I just need to rest and hope that stage three, the getting better part, arrives by the time I get up. I’m sure I’ll finish the movie and start another one – everyone seems to like the horror movie Sinners, and its director says a big influence was – The Faculty. But it’s yet another vampire movie so I’m not sure I need to see it. There are plenty of other things to watch, heaven knows. Heaven also knows Mr. Allison, but that’s another story. In fact, I have to see if I own that – I really liked that movie when I was a young teen and it played on TV quite often. I’m sure that Twilight Time must have done it. Finding it is another story. Finding anything is another story. Anyway, that’ll be today.

Tomorrow, I’ll have to be up by ten and to the recording session by 11:30. It’s about fifteen or twenty minutes from here via surface streets. Thankfully, it’s only three hours and we might even finish a bit early. I could stop on the way home and get some Cheesecake Factory to bring back home and I may just do that – lots of money left on my gift cards. Then I can continue to rest. Sunday will be more resting, Monday, she of the Evil Eye comes for the last time this year, so even though I don’t really want to, I’ll have to go have breakfast somewhere, but then I’ll come right home as soon as she’s gone. Then I have to order all the ingredients for the Do.

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up when I’m up, eat, rest, and hope that stage three, the feeling better stage, arrives posthaste, I’ll finish the movie and watch another, and then be in bed by twelve-thirty at the latest. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – what is currently in your CD player and your DVD/Blu and Ray/streaming player? I’ll start – more Richard Hickox conducts Malcolm Arnold. Streaming, more DGA screeners. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, hoping the coughing and blowing routine goes away soon.