“My name is Rhoda Morgenstern. I was born in the Bronx, New York, in December, 1941. I’ve always felt responsible for World War II.”
I’m Cranky. The above photo was taken in the 1980s, and since then I’ve remained, with few exceptions, gay, pantsless and ambivalent about motherhood.
After maintaining a thoroughly ridiculous Cranky Lesbian Blogspot blog in 2008 and 2009, I took many years off, occasionally posting to reassure readers I was still alive. During that time I’ve pursued other projects, but nothing quite like Cranky. Now and then I considered reviving the site, but it wasn’t until a prolonged COVID-19 lockdown that I finally dusted it off to see what happens. (If you remember me from way back when, here’s an FAQ from 2021.)
While I’m an all-around film fanatic who is particularly fond of screwball comedies, noir, American melodramas, foreign cinema, documentaries and nearly anything made in the 1930s, ’40s and ’70s, I prefer to highlight more sparsely covered oddities here, particularly telefilms.
Below is a map my wife drew of my brain, shared with minor edits for privacy. To this I would have added Classic Sitcoms, Lucinda Williams and Nonfiction Books About Fraud and Failure (encompassing everything from the Romanovs to Long-Term Capital Management). “The Only Disability” is a joking reference to one of my mother-in-law’s most insensitive mottos: “The only disability is a bad attitude.” Mostly I write about those subjects. Sometimes I write about my life.
2023 Update: In a stunning break from tradition, chocolate milk has been replaced in my affections by Fairlife Nutrition Plan chocolate protein shakes. But I’m still rageful and tennis-crazed.
Anonymous
Okay, I misunderstood what I was signing up for. Now, of course, it seems obvious I was commenting on a blog and it would be public. And the only notification I was signing up for was answers to this post. I was so focused on finding a way to get alerts on new posts to the site that I missed the rather obvious clues.
I didn’t intend for my comment to be public, but I guess that’s okay. I also wouldn’t object if you didn’t approve it, or this one. And now I see I just needed to keep scrolling to get what I was looking for. I will subscribe.
Cranky
Thanks for commenting. I’ll keep your prior comment private since your name was attached to it, but wanted to reply since you made a great review suggestion: 1974’s “Hitchhike!”, starring Cloris Leachman. Though I’ve not yet seen it, it’s in my queue now and will be a great companion piece to Valerie Harper’s “Night Terror.” Who knew driving was so dangerous for “Mary Tyler Moore Show” alumni?!
Glad to have you as a reader! Also, a quick note about subscribing to updates: There’s a confirmation email you have to click to verify your subscription. If it doesn’t show up in your inbox, please check your spam folder. Because of the l-word half of ‘Cranky Lesbian,’ some email providers automatically mark it as spam.