Thursday Thirteen

Things I’ve Learned About Myself This Year

1. I don’t need big revelations; small truths arrive just fine on their own schedule. They tend to show up while I’m doing something ordinary, like folding laundry or waiting for the microwave to beep.

2. I function best when the house is quiet and there’s a little chocolate within reach. I don't need anything fancy. Life is better with small comforts.

3. I can write more than I think I can, as long as I stop trying to make the first draft perfect. The trick is remembering that no one sees the messy version unless I let them.

4. I’m calmer when I keep my tech simple and ignore the bells and whistles. Every time I strip away a feature I don’t need, something in my brain exhales.

5. I’m more sentimental than I pretend to be, especially with old newspapers and the odd forgotten receipt that somehow feels historic. Apparently, I’m a sucker for anything that captures a moment in time, even if it’s just a grocery list from 2014.

6. I don’t enjoy clutter, but I will absolutely let it accumulate until it annoys me into action. My threshold for “annoyed enough to deal with it” is surprisingly high.

7. I’m happiest when my routines are predictable, even if I roll my eyes at them. There’s comfort in knowing what comes next, even when I pretend I’m spontaneous.

8. I’m still capable of learning new things, but I do it on my own terms. If someone tries to rush me, the learning shuts down like a stubborn mule.

9. I don’t need a crowd; a few solid people are plenty. Peace is worth more than popularity.

10. I’m more patient with others than I am with myself. I’m working on extending the same grace inward, but it’s a slow project.

11. I’m allowed to say no without writing a three‑paragraph explanation. It turns out most people don’t need the backstory anyway. And "no" is a complete sentence!

12. I’ve realized that “later” is not a plan, it’s a delay tactic, and I’m getting better at catching myself. When I actually do the thing now, it’s never as hard as I made it out to be.

13. I still love a good list, especially one that reminds me I’m doing just fine. There’s something satisfying about seeing my thoughts lined up neatly, like they finally decided to behave.

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Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while, and this is my 9765th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

Chores and a Tree

Today's happiness consists of getting the household chores done in a timely manner. Yay me!

I also learned that we have a tree in the backyard called a hackberry tree. I had never heard of this tree before.

A hackberry (Celtis occidentalis or Celtis laevigata) is actually a very common native tree in Virginia. The hackberry is one of those quiet, overlooked native trees that people can live beside for decades without ever learning its name. Its leaves resemble an elm, but the bark is rough, warty, and full of quirky bumps. 

Most years it goes unnoticed, yet every so often it surprises you with small purple berries that deer and birds devour before anyone else gets a chance to see them. It’s a tough, weather‑resilient tree that thrives in Virginia without asking for attention, content to simply stand there and get on with the business of being a tree.

We have lived in this house for almost 40 years and this is the first time we've ever seen purple berries come off of this tree. The deer have been eating them up for days.

Out of the House

Today I am happy because I have been out of the house and I've seen many people that I haven't seen in a while.

Also, last night I got to tell a good story and made a whole room laugh at a history lecture.

Midnight Margaritas

SPOILER ALERT - THIS TALKS ABOUT THE MOVIE IN THE PICTURE. IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ ANYTHING ABOUT IT BEFORE YOU SEE IT, YOU MAY NOT WANT TO READ THIS BLOG POST.

Friday, my husband took me to see Practical Magic 2, because he'd promised me at my birthday in June that he would take me to see a movie, and we'd not yet made that happen.

He knew I like the original movie. It's one of those movies I put on when I want to sit down and read and look up occasionally. I slot it in my mind as the same category as Steel Magnolias, Under the Tuscan Sun, and Grease. Well-acted and a fun movie.

And also, a movie that makes me think, which for me is what makes a movie good.

Critics are giving Practical Magic 2 mixed reviews. Well, actually most of the critics seem to dislike it. It is scoring around 35 to 37% on Rotten Tomatoes and recently had a 44 score on Metacritic. They say the sequel lacks the original’s joy and feels forced. 

 Audiences, however, are enjoying the return of Bullock and Kidman, noting the sisterhood and nostalgic moments. I've not seen a single bad word about the movie on my Facebook page, just gushes of how much women loved the movie. I haven't seen what any men think of the movie.

That's because this is a movie for women and about women. Of course the critics don't like it.

Practical Magic in its first go-round was not well-received. It has, over the years, developed a cult following, mostly among women, I imagine, who find some strength in watching other women defeat the assholes who generally make life miserable anyway while looking for the one man out there that a woman can make a life with.

But the Owens sisters are cursed, and any man they love dies.

Sally takes this very hard because she has lost two husbands. She ensures that her daughters do not know they are witches. She tries very hard to forget she is a witch herself. She blocks her own powers.

This is all well and good until her daughter Kylie falls in love. Her beloved Gideon is hit by a car and lies in a coma when Kylie demands to know the truth about her powers.

She also determines to end the curse.

And here is where I shall deviate from an actual review. I have not read these books; I checked and I've not read a single thing by Alice Hoffman, who wrote the books upon which these movies are based.

I am not saying I did not like the movie. The movie was fine as it was. If I have to rate it, I give it a solid 80 out of 100. 

I just felt like it went in the wrong direction.

Kylie leaves to go to England to break the Owens family curse. This bothered me greatly, because when my husband was hurt, it was all I could do to go home to get some sleep when he was in the hospital, and here Kylie goes off by herself to end a curse that's been around for hundreds of years, when she doesn't even know anything about her own powers. Nor has she studied spells or learned how to conjure or take care of herself in a magical world.

In a movie about sisterhood and motherhood and women holding each other up, it seemed to me that either (a) Kylie and her sister Antonia should have gone on this journey together or (b) Antonia should have gone in place of her sister, while Kylie stayed with her beloved to hold his hand and help him feel better.

As it was, Antonia was just barely a placeholder for a sister in the film. She didn't really do much except look after Kylie's boyfriend while she was gone. I kept thinking, “Good grief, give Maisie Williams something to do besides put a stethoscope on Gideon's chest every now and then.” Antonia was supposed to be Kylie's sister, but the movie never gave their relationship the weight that Sally and Gillian's relationship had in the first movie. I would have liked to see what Williams could have done with a more substantial role.

Additionally, this movie went into a little darker space than the first one as far as the magic goes, and the evil seemed to spring up from nowhere in the shape of a long-lost distant male cousin who thought he should have magical powers.

I'd have rather it had been some spirit or demon or something. Maybe that's just me, though.

I liked the movie as it was. I just felt like it wasn't actually as magic as the first movie. If you like Practical Magic, you will like Practical Magic 2.

If you didn't like it, then you won't like this one.

This is a movie I will watch again when it's on TV, and maybe it will become one of those movies that plays on a loop around Halloween. Sometimes I have to see a movie two or three times before I really feel it. Also, I am not a big screen fan; I find the movie theater too noisy and overwhelming, even if we essentially had a private showing because there were only four people, including us, in the theater.

Maybe, like magic, my judgment of the movie will change on a second viewing.

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Practical Magic 2 features Sandra Bullock as Sally Owens, Nicole Kidman as Gillian Owens, Stockard Channing as Aunt Franny, Dianne Wiest as Aunt Jet, Joey King as Kylie Owens, Maisie Williams as Antonia Owens, Lee Pace as Ian Wright, Xolo Maridueña as Gideon and Solly McLeod as Tom Lockland.

Scrambled Eggs

 

Happiness is scrambled eggs made by your husband because he wanted eggs before you were ready to start cooking, so he did it himself!

Sunday Stealing

TRUE OR FALSE

1. I'm married.

A. True. I've been married for 42 years, soon to be 43.

2. I'm raising a teenager.

A. False. I never had children.

3. I recently vacationed in California.

A. False. The last time I was in California, I was 13 years old.

4. I have traveled to Asia.

A. False. I have been to Spain and France, but not to Asia.

5. I have a dog.

A. False. I have had dogs, I grew up with dogs, but I do not have a dog at the present time. We hadn't been married quite a year when I got Ginger, a mixed terrier and Eskimo Spitz, as a tiny little puppy at the flea market. She lived to be 17 years old, which is quite old for a dog. We kept her outside in a warm cozy doghouse that we filled up with old rugs and fresh straw, and when the temperature dipped, I brought her into the garage for the night. She fought me like crazy every time I did that. I think she actually preferred the colder temperatures.

6. I received money from a class action settlement.

A. True. I have received money from a medical class action settlement, the Facebook class action settlement, and a few others. It's never a lot of money.

7. I've been in the waiting room when a family member had surgery.

A. True. I was in the waiting room when my husband had his ankle surgery, his hip replacement, and when he was hurt on a piece of farm machinery.

8. I have attended a convention.

A. True. I have attended several writer's conventions.

9. I subscribe to my local newspaper (either print or online).

A. True. I wrote for the local newspaper and still subscribe to it.

10. I recently had work done to the exterior of my home.

A. False. We haven't had to do anything to the exterior of the house since last August. Maybe that's recent? If so, then my answer would be true.

Thank you for playing! Please come back next week.

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I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.

Saturday 9: Devil in the Bottle

Saturday 9: Devil in the Bottle (1974)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) This song begins with T. G. Sheppard taking off his shoes to slip into the house with disturbing his sleeping wife. Are you wearing shoes as you answer these questions?

A. Yes. I always have shoes on. I have never liked being barefoot, even as a child.

2) His wife hears him anyway. Are you a light sleeper?

A. I am a light sleeper. I sleep with an air purifier on a high setting so I don't hear the refrigerator dump ice, or the dishwasher running, or whatever.

 

3) This is the first of 22 consecutive #1 hits for T. G. Sheppard. Not bad for a high school dropout. What's the last year of education that you completed?

A. I have a masters degree. I finished it in 2012.

 

4) He was born William Browder and chose the stage name T. G. Sheppard just because he liked the sound of it. He says "T. G." doesn't stand for anything, and he gets a kick out of fans who insist there's some secret meaning behind the initials. Since most of us didn't choose our names: Is there a story behind your name? Did your parents tell you why they chose it? (If you did choose your name, share what influenced your decision.)

A. My mother apparently liked my first name. I'm not sure where my middle name came from.

 

5) It was after hours at a Memphis roller rink when he first met Elvis and his entourage. As T. G. was leaving, Elvis was entering and asked if he wanted to stay and skate longer. T. G. was confused because he knew the place was closing for the night. "Not for me," Elvis replied and T. G. skated with Elvis and his buddies until dawn. Are you good on roller skates?

A. I'm not anymore. I was ok when I was a young thing, but that was many, many years ago.

6) T. G. loves NASCAR and was an associate sponsor of the Folgers Chevrolet. He enjoyed the collaboration with the coffee company and has performed the familiar jingle – "the best part of waking up is Folgers in your cup" – in concert. Are you loyal to a particular coffee brand?

A. I do not drink coffee. My husband drinks one cup a day, and I used to by him Maxwell House, but coffee's gotten so expensive that now I just buy him the cheapest brand. He says he can't tell the difference.

 

7) T. G. understands the lifestyle of his fans. That's why he named his live country music venue Guitars and Cadillacs. If you were going to name a business after two of your favorite things, what would you call it?

A. Books and Pens, I guess (for reading and writing). Maybe Pens and Books sounds better?

 

8) In 1974, when this week's song was on the country charts, Linda Ronstadt was getting a lot of radio airplay with "You're No Good." That song is about a real cad. Let's turn that around: Who is the nicest person you know?

A. I know a lot of nice people so I don't really want to call any of them out.

 

9) Random question: Have you ever had your palm read?

A. Yes, I had my palm read once at some kind of New Age fair thing. The guy was incredibly spot on, so much so that it was scary, and I flung $20 at him and got as far away from him as I reasonably could.

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I encourage you to visit the posts of other participants in Saturday 9 and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however. 

Lunch and Movie

 

Lunch out and movie with my husband gave me a happy Friday!

Never Forget - 9/11

Remembering the lives lost on 9/11/2001 when terrorists attacked New York, Washington D.C., and heroic passengers fought back and a fourth flight crashed into a field in Pennsylvania, stopping that attack.

I especially remember the 343 firefighters who died in New York that day when the Twin Towers collapsed. As the wife of a firefighter, that loss holds a special significance for me.

On the 25th anniversary of this horrific day, may we all remember we are one people, not only in this nation but also upon this good earth, and honor one another as individual humans with love and decency.

Thursday Thirteen #975

 

Things I’m Too Old for Now

1. Pretending I like pumpkin spice. I have never liked it, and I don't intend to start now. The "spice" part is nice; the pumpkin? Not so much.

2. Uncomfortable clothes that “look cute.” If it pokes, pinches, rides up, or requires strategic undergarments, it’s a no. Honestly, I've very seldom worn fashionable clothes. Give me jeans and a T-shirt and I'm good.

3. People who can’t read a room. I've been watching the local county meetings, and wow. What a difference 10 years makes. I remember when there was decorum and courtesy in gatherings. Now all I see is mad and a chairman who doesn't know how to use the gavel and tell the police officer to escort certain persons outside. Like, be prepared, dude.

4. Standing in long lines for anything. There is absolutely nothing in my area that is worth standing in line for, no restaurant, no event. If there's more than a 10-minute wait at Cracker Barrel, I'm out of there.

5. Drama disguised as “concern.” I can spot it from a mile away and I’m not walking toward it. See #3 above, because that's all that's going on there.

6. Overly complicated technology. If it takes three menus and a hidden toggle to do one simple thing, I’m done. Make stuff intuitive for regular people, not techno brains.

7. Noisy restaurants where conversation is a sport. I’m not shouting my order over a speaker system. Have you noticed how loud restaurants are, especially the ones with music playing in the background? Between the high ceilings and nothing to dampen sound, it's like you've been tossed into a noise room with a little food.

8. People who think “just bring your dog, it’s fine.” It’s not fine. It’s never fine.

9. Being polite to someone smoking near me. I’m too old to pretend I don’t smell it. Besides, why should I risk an asthma attack just because you're addicted.

10. Furniture that’s more “statement piece” than functional. Thankfully I think (hope?) the era of "big" furniture is about over, which as a short person makes me very happy. If I can’t sit on it without bracing myself, it’s decorative clutter.

11. Trying to keep up with trends. I’ll wear blue jeans, dusty colors, and lip gloss forever, thanks.

12. Forcing myself to finish a book I’m not enjoying. Life is short and the library is large. I just sent an audiobook back that I'd listened to 9% of after deciding I just didn't want to finish it. There aren't many I do that with, but sometimes the book just doesn't click.

13. Explaining myself to people who already decided not to understand me. My energy is better spent elsewhere.

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Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while, and this is my 975th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

A Clean House

 

Happiness is a clean house! The young woman who comes and helps me clean came today and it's always nice to get some of the dust gone and the floors mopped. I started using a steam cleaner on the tile floors and boy does that make a huge difference in cleanliness and in how they look.

So, hurray for spic and span!

Cooler Weather

 

The hot weather has finally hit the road, and we have cooler temperatures at the moment. I'm sure we'll have more 90 degree days before September ends, but for now it's more tolerable outside.

Whew!