Byline: Annette Kurman

I am known for leaving devices and pocketbooks all over the place, especially at home, but also in restaurants and other venues. Fortunately, they had all been recovered without anyone stealing my identity or the few dollar bills in my handbag that are stuffed in there.

Growing up, I don’t ever recall either of my parents becoming sick enough from seasonal afflictions (flu, cold, etc.) to take time from being a parent and employee to spend a week in bed or on the couch slowly recuperating, sipping tea, and watching the test pattern on television.

For some reason, I still have all my report cards. Why? Not sure. But back in the day, in Philadelphia at least, report cards were printed, and the teachers had to fill in the “As” and “B’s” and actually write (using cursive) their comments for parents. I chose this particular report card to share to demonstrate what was being evaluated back in the day as well as to examine my fourth-grade teacher’s comments (You’ll note I wrote in my own penciled comments in the blank Third Report area.

First, I have to admit that the very first concert I saw with ’tween friends was in 1967 at Philadelphia’s Convention Hall where we screeched and screamed at The Monkees. Of course, a parent drove us and chose not to attend; good choice! And if you’re really interested, here’s a link to the setlist from that concert!

Well, I had a dream that began a few years ago: To create a calendar featuring my favorite album covers; they had to be someone else’s favorites, too and I could make a bundle. But here it is 2024 and all I’ve done is choose my album covers. What’s stopped me is knowing that the artwork is owned by individual artists/corporations/businesses all of whom own the rights of usage and knowing the endeavor will cost lots of money.

When I knew I would become a grandmother, in addition to all the joy this brings, I realized I needed to have a “name” the child would refer to me as. So, I did what many baby boomers would do these days: I took a Facebook poll.

Do you ever feel like the Pied Piper of healthcare professionals? It’s a beautiful day and you’re skipping along the path of life playing your magic flute as all your healthcare providers join the line behind you?

I came across a Facebook support group for women undergoing this transformation. Their reasons were varied, as were their ages. Women in their 20s and 30s who wanted to embrace their early gray (but then, they had their sun-kissed young faces), more mature women who were ready to become their “real selves” as well as those who wanted to take back the two hours of time (and money) on a regular, monthly basis spent in the stylist’s chair. That Facebook group, however, didn’t feature anyone who had short, curly hair like mine. ☹

I had some fun at work with the first installment of infamous quotes from movies as I hope you did with family and friends. With that being said, I present Part 2 for your summer pleasure.

Remember learning how to tell time as a young child with those bright clock faces and numbers with minute and hour “hands” our teachers/parents moved around the clock face to teach us to tell time? Do they still do that at school? 

I was at the gym Monday talking with my fellow exercisers at the Y in their 50s, 60s, and 70s, following the opening of the Barbie movie (which none of us had seen), noting that Barbie, in people years, would be facing retirement soon, as she was “born” in 1959. Born in 1959, she can retire at 66 years, 10 months.

In the 1950s, her creator, Ruth Handler, noticed that her son, Kenneth (Get it: Ken) played with toy guns, trucks, and soldiers, while daughter Barbara (“Barbie”) played with baby dolls, enforcing the idea that little girls would grow up to be mothers and housewives. A prescient Handler wanted to develop a doll that would allow little girls to believe they could do and be anything. Hander and her husband Elliott with friend Harold “Matt” Matson created Mattel and there was no looking back. Daughter Barbara took part in the ceremony immortalizing Barbie’s (full name: Barbara Millicent Roberts) hand and footprints in cement on Hollywood Boulevard in 2002.

And then my mind wandered back to the 1990s, when a Michael Jackson look-alike was boppin’ around the park and it seemed as all the Pinkerton High School students held summer jobs there (my daughter was a “slushie girl” and often came home with a blue arm from the grape slushies she made.)

I give you the famous line, you come up with the name of the movie. Extra points for recalling who said it and the year.

So how much did the groups receive for their efforts during this infamous weekend, which went into Monday with headliner Jimi Hendrix playing to only 30,000 to 40,000 of the estimated  400,000 to 500,000 people who attended?

Did you attend Woodstock? Do you have tons of stories to tell anyone who will listen to your adventures during the three days of peace and music (and mud) August 15-18, 1969, at Max Yasgur’s farm in Bethel, New York? Are your tickets framed in your home as proof of attendance?

I was trying to fall asleep last night but was caught up in the hamster wheel of my mind of the various and varied software programs each of my jobs entailed over the years.