It’s Thursday, March 19, 2020. 

Spring begins at 11:50 p.m. ET, the earliest start to the season in 124 years.

What a waste!

It’s the 84th birthday of Ursula Andress, one of the screen sex goddesses of the 1960s.

She was the first Bond girl, showing up on a beach in a white bikini in “Dr. No.” That was the only film I’ve ever seen her in that I’ve – at any time – thought was good.

Mostly, I associate her with crappy movies.

I’m thinking in particular of something call “She” from the mid-1960s. It was one of the movies my family saw at the drive-in – we went to the drive in every weekend in the summer – and it made the running list of spectacularly bad films my mother and I compiled over the years.

Being 11 years old when “She” came out, I might not have been that impressed with Andress’ physical attributes. That leaves the acting ability – although I guess that is not why people went to see films like that.

Anyway, I hope Andress – like everyone else – is safe on her birthday.

Speaking of the ’60’s and ’70’s, I watched “The Irishman” last night and was impressed with its depictions of some iconic American roadside establishments.

When we traveled, Howard Johnson’s were a must stop. The motels were considered state of the art – and the restaurants, way before McDonald’s, marketed to kids with characters and tchotchkes.

There was also a Stuckey’s – we lived on those pralines during our 1972 cross-country drive – and a Lum’s, where I ate once a week during my internship in Jackson, Michigan.

HoJo and Lum’s are gone. Stuckey’s is trying to make a comeback – now that I know there’s one in North Stonington, Conn., I’ll try to get there this summer.

If we can travel by then.

My friend and former colleague, Jessica Dickler, writes for CNBC.com that state schools could see a surge in enrollment.

That’s because families, crushed by what could become the great depression of the 21st century, look for more affordable college options than the really expensive private universities.

As someone who teaches at a state school in New Jersey, I worry more about the kids already in my class.

Even though a state school is a fraction of the cost of a private one, it is very difficult for many of these young people to afford. Just about every single student I’ve had works a full-time job or close to it to be able to pay for tuition. 

Now, with talk of 20% unemployment, are these students going to need their jobs to help support their parents – making a class in news editing a luxury for which they’ll wax nostalgic?

My iTunes playlist today is songs played between 30 and 39 since 2010.

The current song is “Confirmation” by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers.

In addition to all the stuff at the top, today is St. Joseph’s Day.

It was my paternal grandmother’s favorite day of the year. Unfortunately, she would spend it making a Sicilian dish that combined spaghetti with sardines.

Mercifully, there are better things one can eat. Like this recipe online for St. Joseph’s zeppole – including the ricotta-filled ones known as sfingi: https://olives-n-okra.com/saint-josephs-day-zeppole/

Buona festa di San Giuseppe!