Tazio Nuvolari

Doesn't it happen to everyone?
But it seems to be happening to me more often now.
Aging? I dunno.

We have one of those alarm clocks that projects the time onto the ceiling so you can learn the time without lifting your head from the pillow.
3:37 it said.
And I'm wide awake.
"Tazio Nuvolari" says my brain.
Okay... maybe I was NOT QUITE awake!
Mulling it over, I was pretty sure Tazio was another of those superhuman race car drivers from the past, like Juan Manuel Fangio. But I wasn't absolutely sure.
"I'll have to look Tazio up after a couple cups in the morning", I said to myself.

"Leopold and Loeb", shouts my brain."
"Why are you doing this to me?"  I ask.
3:38 says the ceiling.
I KNOW who Leopold and Loeb are. I read a fictionalized account of their story while I was in High School.
It obviously made a pretty big impact on me.

"Sacco and Vanzetti"! 
ARRGH!
3:40.
"This is REALLY irritating!"
I force myself to roll over and think boring stuff.
And I refuse to look at the ceiling.

Blackface

Several of our political leaders are, and have been in trouble because of blackface. "Cultural appropriation"?
Watching old movies, I sometimes find myself cringing at what was deemed "normal" behavior and attitude toward "people of color", most often negroes.
That was then. That's history. The fact it makes me, (and I hope others) uncomfortable? That's a good thing.

Canadian PM Justin Trudeau now finds himself in hot water.
He was attending an "Arabian Nights" costume party in full regalia... clothing AND darkened face, neck, and hands to fit the occasion.
Photos have emerged, and he's under political pressure from some.
And I'm questioning "WHY?"

I've long been an admirer of "Pastor, Civil Rights leader, and (now notorious) philanderer," Martin Luther King Jr, and I wonder...
If I was invited to a costume party celebrating the life and accomplishments of MLK Jr,
would I be chastised for getting out the brown shoe polish and time correct clothing?
I think in today's world, that answer is a given. And that's a shame.
I'd be honoring a great man. I fear we no longer have a sense of proportion... or a sense of humor.

And this is the reason I have fewer friends today than yesterday.