Porthole

Upsets reigned

NCAA Men's The first 8 games on the 20th had some exciting moments but the second 8 games had the upsets as Abilene Christian (14), Ohio (13), UCLA (11), and Maryland (10) all won. Abilene Christian's upset over Texas was rated (9.0), the best game of the tournament so far. It's been a quirky year. Illinois and Gonzaga are still favored to meet for the championship, but the upsets are entertaining.

36 degrees at 11:39 p.m.

I did write today, the 20th, but didn't get as much done as hoped. Never left the building, which isn't helpful. Did see Bri and Billie Jo.

41 grey degrees at 1:23.

I ate beefy mushroom over corn pudding. Well... kinda. Won't find my version in no fancy cookbook. And don't bother asking because I don't bother measuring.

Loyola-Chicago (8) upsets Illinois in men's NCAA basketball. Women's basketball started today with a promise of two days of yawns. There are great athletes and great teams but they could limit the field to 16 and there still wouldn't be much of a chance of a 4 beating a 1. The 'rich' schools simply gobble up all the talent. There isn't any parity.

Song in my mind? "Memories" by Maroon 5.



40 degrees and shrouded at 6:13. Probably snow mist between here and the mountains.

I wrote to Elisa:

"The comment about skin tone is interesting.

My father was 'pink' as is my sister. Noon day summer sun? Can you say burnt strawberry?

My mother on the other hand could tan sitting in front of a window in March. She knew she had English-Irish-French-German roots. What she didn't know was that the Franco-German just wasn't. It most likely was Iberian-Greco-Roman-Slavic. At least that's what the DNA tests said! So much for family secrets...

Now when I see a picture of her, age 28 with curly black hair and olive skin, I see that. My father on the other hand was definitely English-Scandinavian-Finnic but his German blood was most likely Slavic. Again... what people don't know or forget. He looked like a Swede. [My sister] and I look Swedish as well. People in Sweden assumed I was Swedish. People in Norway when I tried to speak Norwegian thought I was Swedish. I don't speak Swedish.

My mother had yellow undertones. She looked sallow in yellow and worse in green. She looked great in ice blue or pink. She had enough color that she could wear white without looking like a ghost or black without looking like a corpse. Was she olive skinned? Pale olive maybe. My memories of her when she was younger cannot be relied on. She's now 98, so whatever she was then doesn't really matter.

Neither she nor her mother (lived to be 93) became crinkled though like Arizonans or many people here in Montana.

As for the meat of your post... we are all brought up within family or community in a time and place (or families, times and places) and that skews our point-of-view. Just because I believe in the Oneness of Mankind doesn't mean I don't have blind-spots or that I'm totally detached from my childhood or my past."

Just told a friend re WDC ratings [edited]:

I have a poem "Fine wine" which has nothing to do with alcohol but the rating-nitpickers...

Mostly I just slap a 18+ rating on everything even if it's E and ignore folks who give a darn, because I don't give a damn.

I'm a writer not a Catholic middle-school nun admonishing pregnant 12 year olds for swearing."

Just turned midnight here. BB wrap-up. Men's had additional upsets and near misses. Oregon State (12), Oral Roberts (15), Syracuse (11) all won as underdogs. Arkansas and Houston barely escaped. Along with Loyola Chicago (8) that's 4 upsets out of 8 games.

There were no upsets among the Women's 16 games. Only two were close. Two games were rated 0.0. That bad from the first possession.

4,086