Amzie Strickland

            On Wednesday morning after yoga I updated my journal. 

            Even just a little bit of slush is louder under cars than rain. It sounds like the street has bad table manners. 

            Song practice went more quickly than usual because only my B string went out of tune. 

            At 10:00 I logged on for my final British Literature tutorial. I think there were only five students. I feel I’ve put in a surplus of participation and so I just sat back on the couch and listened to them discuss Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko. 

            A handful of female students said that Behn seems ambivalent about slavery and that she’s more against a prince being made a slave than just your average African Joe Schmamadu. I was tempted to turn on my mic and point out that the narrator of the story is clearly racist in her aesthetic assessment of Africans. She points out how Oroonoko is beautiful because his mouth and nose are less African and more like those of a European. But I didn’t because I don’t think Alexandra deserves my opinions.

            I had Triscuits and cheddar and a bran muffin for lunch. 

            In the afternoon I went out to the liquor store to get a six-pack of Creemore. 

            I worked on incorporating my research on Nina Simone into my Canadian Literature essay. 

            For dinner I put a frozen microwaveable macaroni and cheese dinner into a casserole dish, added extra cheddar cheese and baked it in the oven. I had it with a beer while watching The Andy Griffith Show. 

            The story begins with Barney almost resigning as deputy because he’s never caught a criminal and some kids are starting to make fun of him. But then Miss Rosemary walks in and it’s obvious that she and Barney are sweet on each other. To impress her he continues with his job. Andy decides that what Barney needs is a boost to his ego so that he’ll be less shy with Rosemary. He plots with Ellie and gets her to claim that the drug store has just been robbed. Andy figures that this will keep Barney busy but then Barney arrests a drifter named Tracy Crawford who he’s sure is the one that robbed Walker’s Drugstore. Crawford says he’s from Chattanooga and so to humour Barney, Andy calls the sheriff in Chattanooga. It turns out that Crawford is wanted for several robberies in Chattanooga and so Barney becomes a big hero for his capture. When Andy suggests that he and Rosemary double date with he and Ellie, Barney says that now that he is somebody he might play the field. So when Rosemary walks up Andy asks if he could call on her sometime. Barney suddenly declares to Rosemary’s pleasant surprise that she is spoken for. The two agree to go steady. 

            Rosemary was played by Amzie Strickland, who worked steadily in film and television from 1937 to 2001. In 1978 she co-starred in the second season of the sitcom Carter Country. 

            After dinner I pared down the research material for my essay but my brain was too tired to try inserting any more of it into the paper.