Local trivia #1: You know that Humboldt’s first church was the little wooden shed on Tuluwat Island, directly across from the F Street dock? At least, that’s what I was told when I started kayaking the bay 20-odd years ago. And when I was more gullible than I like to think of myself now. Truth is, it was a fisherman’s shack for years, and one of the occupants passed the time by carving lifelike outlines of deer, leading visitors to think they were seeing genuine wildlife. At some point a church sign was, um, borrowed from a real church in Eureka and nailed to the shed, hence the fake news that I bought into. (The shed shack has seen many occupants over the years, including “Mr. Kinetic Sculpture” Hobart Brown and the Madaket’s Leroy Zerlang.)

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Me: What is “Growing Old Ungracefully”?

ChatGPT: “Growing old ungracefully” is a humorous phrase often used to describe the process of aging without conforming to societal expectations of how older people should behave or look. It suggests that as we age, we may become more outspoken, eccentric, or rebellious, rather than conforming to the stereotypical image of the quiet, docile elderly person. The phrase is often used in a lighthearted and self-deprecating way to acknowledge the changes that come with aging while also celebrating the freedom to be oneself and live life to the fullest, regardless of age.

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Dame Judi: I’ve no idea if this story is true, but having watched many interviews with her, I believe it. The eminent British actress Judi Dench was walking down Oxford Street in London rehearsing lines for her next play in her mind. She stepped off the curb without checking for traffic and a taxi had to stop abruptly to avoid hitting her. “Look where you’re going, cunt!” yelled the driver. She walked up to his window: “That’s Dame Cunt to you.”

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New Age gone nuts: I was at a conference years ago when the keynote speaker mentioned that, as we all knew, “Men are from Venus, women are from Mars,” obviously trying to get a rise out of the audience. Sure enough, a woman at the back yelled, “You’re wrong! Men are from Mars and women are from Venus!!!” Best moment of the whole conference.

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Going to hell: This clip of Lady Gaga walking past a crowd of protesters, one of whom yells, “You’re going to hell!” Gaga turns back, plants a full-mouth kiss on the woman and says, “And you’re coming with me!”

(You probably know that Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta’s stage name derives from Queen’s Radio Ga Ga.)

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Local trivia #2: The City of Eureka’s first public library opened in 1859. It was housed in rented quarters until 1904, when it moved into what is now the Morris Graves Museum of Art, the Chamber of Commerce having obtained a $20,000 grant from the Andrew Carnegie Foundation three years earlier. The lovely octagonal structure was built by Ambrose Foster, who also constructed the Eagle House. Eureka’s was one of 2,509 public libraries funded by Carnegie.

Dollar bill: George Washington has graced the $1 bill “only” since 1869. The first version featured Civil War Secretary of the Treasury Salman P. Chase.

Have the best New Year ever!