Virginia Gregg

            On Saturday morning I memorized the chorus of “Amour année zéro” (Love In The Year Zero) by Serge Gainsbourg but I still have to make sure it doesn't vanish from my mind when I sing the whole song. I'll have it done tomorrow and then start looking for the chords.

            I emailed a link to my Global Modernisms instructor Apala Das of the funny “Disappointing moments in Modernism” cartoon that I'd found. 

            I weighed 86.8 kilos before breakfast. 

            In the late morning I went over to Vina Pharmacy to ask them to fax my doctor about renewing the prescription for my psoriasis cream. The druggist pointed out that they didn't have to fax him because there was a repeat on the cream. I hadn't even noticed that since he doesn't usually give me repeats. While they were preparing the cream I went to the supermarket.

            At No Frills I bought seven bags of cherries, a two pint pack of strawberries, five year old cheddar, cinnamon-raisin bread, a large pack of ground beef, a can of fruit cocktail, and a container of Greek yogurt. 

            I weighed 86.3 kilos before lunch. I had Breton crackers with five year old cheddar and a glass of raspberry lemonade. 

            I took a siesta in the afternoon and slept almost half an hour longer than usual. 

            I bundled up and headed out into the minus thirteen temperature for a bike ride, not knowing for sure how far I wanted to go. I went as far as Bloor and Ossington. I went down Ossington to Queen and found that Queen wasn't closed for streetcar track construction like I'd expected it to be. A week ago it was closed running east from Dovercourt but now the signs are all down. I don't know if they finished or if they've shut the work down because of the omicron variant of the covid 19 virus. Certainly the track construction can't be finished since the streetcars still aren't running on Queen in the west end. I weighed 86.4 kilos when I got home. 

            There was an email from Apala Das saying she thought the Modernism cartoon I sent her is hilarious and perfect and she said she's going to share it with the class on Tuesday. 

            I got caught up on my journal at around 18:00. 

            I finished reading Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. It had been Kurtz who ordered the attack on the riverboat by the natives. It had been meant only to scare Marlow and the others away. A queenly and beautiful native woman appeared and gestured in mourning for Kurtz. It is implied that she had been his lover. Kurtz doesn't survive the trip and dies on the boat. Marlow has Kurtz's letters which he gives to his white lover back in civilization. She asks for his last words and Marlow doesn't have the heart to tell her that they were, “The horror! The horror!” Instead he just tells her that he spoke her name. But we never learn her name. 

            I read the lecture transcript of Raymond Williams's “When Was Modernism.” He doesn't like the term “post-modern” because it freezes modernism in history. 

            I read E.M. Forster's preface to Untouchable by Mulk Raj Anand. He thinks in 1947 that the development that would end the caste system in India is flush toilets. 

            I had a poached egg with heated naan and a beer while watching an episode of The Addams Family. 

            In this story we learn that there are two branches of the Addams Family that are in conflict. The enemy of Gomez and his household is Abigail Addams who does not think Gomez is competent to manage the vast wealth of the family. She is constantly trying to rest control from Gomez. Meanwhile Wednesday is in love with Robespierre Courtney but her affections are unrequited. Morticia tries to bridge the gap by inviting the Courtneys for tea. But Mrs Courtney wants to connect her family with Abigail, and she has the false impression that Abigail Addams is the grandmother of Wednesday Addams when in fact she is only a cousin by marriage. Every member of Wednesday's family try to fix her up in preparation for Robespierre's visit. Morticia dresses Wednesday in a gown similar to hers but gives her a bear trap in case that doesn't work. Gomez teaches her to tango but also gives her a rope for tying Robespierre up. Fester tells her boys can't resist a long face and gives her a musket. Mama lets Wednesday's hair down and gives her a bag full of love dust. When the Courtneys arrive Wednesday immediately throws love dust in Robespierre's face. When the Courtneys mention Abigail, Fester thinks they are Abigail's spies. He thinks the pens in Mr Courtney's pocket are microphones but when he tries to prove it he squirts ink all over Mrs Courtney's dress. When the Courtneys meet Mama and realize she is not Abigail they call for Robespierre to leave with them. Robespierre says Wednesday tried to put his head in a guillotine as was done to the original Robespierre. 

            Mrs Courtney was played by Virginia Gregg, who started out playing double bass for the Pasadena symphony before becoming a radio actor and then moving on to film and television. She was extremely prolific on the radio, with a very wide range and could play any female character. She was the voice of Mrs. Bates in Psycho. She said that whenever there was a casting call for a woman who looked like the wrath of god, she was called. She appeared on nearly every narrative TV series from the late 50s to the early 70s. She was the voice of Tarra on The Herculoids.