Sunday Stealing

The Alphabet Meme

Answer these questions with anything from a single word to a paragraph or two. It's up to you.

A is for Age.

A. I am of an age when I am now old. Some might even call me elderly, although I prefer "older person," myself. I'm old enough to know better, and old enough not to care so much.

B is for your Booze of choice.

A. My beverage of choice would be an A&W root beer.

C is for Career.

A. I worked as a freelance news writer for about 40 years. Some of that time I was on staff, but most of it I worked freelance, writing as many as 30 articles a month. It was not great pay but I did, heard, and saw many things I'd not otherwise have.

D is for your Dog's name.

A. My last dog's name was Ginger. We had her for 17 years. We got her in 1984 and she died in 2001.

E is for Everyday Essentials.

A. I need lotion, powder, toothpaste, and mouthwash every day.

F is for your Favorite Food.

A. My favorite food is chocolate. I am a confirmed chocoholic.

G is for your favorite Game.

A. My favorite game is a video game called Skyrim, which I haven't played in years, but it is still my favorite video game of all time. 

H is for your Hometown.

A. My hometown is the community in which I still live.

I is for an Instrument you play. 

A. I play guitar.

J is for your favorite Jam or Jelly flavor.

A. My favorite jelly is Welch's Grape Jelly.

K is for Kids.

A. I do not have any kids.

L is for the Last show or movie your watched.

A. The last show I watched was an episode of JAG.

M is for your Most prized possession.

A. My most prized possession is my wedding band.

N is for the Name of your first crush.

A. My first crush's name was Jamie.

O is for what you Observe from your window.

A. From my window, I see oak trees in the pasture, a mock orange tree, grass that's a little greener than it has been because we had a small shot of rain, threatening skies, and a fence,

P is for Phobias.

A. I am not afraid of much, really. I will ask my husband to kill spiders and snakes if he's here, but if he's not, I'll do it myself. I'm not afraid of heights although at my age, they're not the smartest thing for me to indulge in. 

Q is for your favorite Quote.

A. Not all those who wander are lost - J.R.R. Tolkien

R is for Regret.

A. Regrets, I've had a few, but then again, too few to mention.

S is for Sweets.

A. We'll just go with chocolate again here.

T is for the Time you wake up.

A. I am generally up by 6:30 though sometimes I sleep until 7 or so.

U is for Underwear.

A. I wear it.

V is for your favorite Vegetable.

A. Does anyone really have a favorite vegetable? I like peas, green beans, and broccoli.

W is for your Worst habit.

A. My worst habit is engaging mouth before brain sometimes.

X is for X-rays.

A. I just had some for my shoulder about a month ago. 

Y is for your Yummiest recipe.

A. That would be for fudge.

Z is for your Zodiac sign. 

A. I am a Gemini through and through.

Thank you for playing! Please come back next week.

__________

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.

Gratitude: Day 18

Prompt: Something that fills me with hope.

I find my hope in quiet things

like a puzzle solved, a truth that sings,
the moment chaos steps aside
and lets me take the wheel and guide.

I find it when the small things shine,
a pattern forming clean and fine,
a story rising from the dust
that says, you can, because you must.

I find it in the spark that stays,
imagination’s steady blaze,
the proof my mind can still create
a brighter path, a lighter weight.

_____

Last month, The Gal did a 30-day gratitude challenge. I've swiped it to do for July. Only I'm going to try to do it in rhyme, just because.

Saturday 9: Kung Fu Fighting

Saturday 9: Kung Fu Fighting (1974)

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

I always wanted to know why everyone was Kung Fu fighting when I heard this song.

1) Have you ever taken a martial arts class?

A. Once. I went to see if it was something I would like. I did not. I did, however, complete a self-defense course offered at the local sheriff's office about 30 years ago. I'm not sure that counts as martial arts, but I got to beat up a guy who was dressed up as puffy marshmallow.

2) In this song, Carl Edwards sings about funky Chinatown. Many cities – including San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Vancouver, London and Antwerp – have a Chinatown. Have you ever visited Chinatown?

A. I have been to Chinatown in New York, a very long time ago, where I had the best ever sweet and sour shrimp known to man.

3) Many Chinese restaurants give out fortune cookies. Can you recall one of your fortunes?

A. Ha. We ate Chinese just last week, and I'd stuck the fortune cookie in my purse and forgot about it. Let's see what we have here: "Your positive energy will attract an abundance of blessings." Otherwise, no, I don't remember my other fortunes. They're like horoscopes, you read them, you laugh, you move on.

4) This week's featured artist, Carl Edwards, was born in Jamaica, spent his childhood in the US, and relocated to England. Have you ever lived abroad? 

A. I have visited abroad but I have never lived abroad.

5) In 1974 he became the first Jamaican to have a #1 hit in the US with this song. Have you been to Jamaica?

A. I have never been to Jamaica.

6) When this week's song was on the charts, ABC TV had a hit with the show Kung Fu. Today it's available to stream. Were you a fan?

A. I remember watching it, but I was like, nine years old. I don't recall being a big fan of the show but we only received two TV channels at home so we watched whatever was on.

7) Also in 1974, the FIFA World Cup was played in West Germany. Have you been following the FIFA World Cup this year?

A. I have not followed this sport ever, including this year.

8) Two of 1974's most popular toys were popular with adults, too. Would you prefer a Rubik's Cube or a Magic 8 Ball?

A. I would prefer a Rubik's Cube. I had one a long time ago and got to where I could solve it in 2 minutes. I doubt I can remember how to do it now, though.

9) Random question: Have you ever cut someone else's hair?

A. I have not. I have cut my own hair (very badly) but not anyone else's. 

_______________

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. 

Gratitude: Day 17

Prompt: Something that makes me smile

When I see the number on the caller ID

and know it's a caller just for me

then my heart does a tiny little smile

because I can sit and chat a while!

_____

Last month, The Gal did a 30-day gratitude challenge. I've swiped it to do for July. Only I'm going to try to do it in rhyme, just because.

I Will Not Watch the Soufflé

I spent forty years watching local government.

I watched zoning battles that lasted longer than some marriages. I watched supervisors argue about storm drains with the intensity of Supreme Court justices. I watched planning commissioners debate parking spaces as though civilization itself depended on whether there should be twenty-six or twenty-eight.

And I loved it.

Because every meeting, every hearing, every painful compromise eventually produced something. A vote. A decision. Meeting adjourned. And then I made that vote or decision into a thing you could hold in your hand. I created a story with a closing paragraph, and it went into a newspaper that anyone could buy and hold and read while they drank coffee.

Then I retired, and I discovered television had invented a completely different kind of process. Shows with no ending.

For example, there are shows about cars that are endlessly restored. Tractors that endlessly cultivate. People watch other people spend an entire hour making the perfect soufflé, only to eat it after the credits roll.

I blame Bob Ross. Not really, of course. PBS has enough problems already. But Bob Ross may have been the start of this trend. He stood in front of a canvas, spoke in that soothing whisper, assured us there were no mistakes - just "happy little accidents." He somehow convinced America that watching paint dry could be relaxing.

The rest of television apparently took notes, and now my husband watches car restoration shows like they're scripture.

These are not people driving beautiful cars, although he likes to watch people buy expensive cars. Mostly, he watches men tear cars apart, sand them, and put them back together.

He'll happily spend hours watching someone hunt for an original carburetor, tape off pinstripes, or debate the correct shade of factory paint for a 1969 Ford Mustang. Then he'll switch over to RFD and watch tractors putter across fields as though the steady rumble of a diesel engine is a complete narrative.

And then there are home decorating shows. Or cooking shows. I don't want to watch someone whip egg whites, reduce a sauce, or explain why Himalayan pink salt is somehow superior to the salt already sitting in my cabinet. I've never understood why anyone would voluntarily spend an hour watching somebody else cook dinner.

I hate to cook dinner.

One day, while I was . . . cooking dinner . . . it occurred to me that this isn't really about television.

It's about the difference between how my husband experiences time and how I do.

I spent four decades as a reporter. My job was chasing what happened. Every story demanded a beginning, conflict, facts, resolution. Deadlines didn't allow for endless process. Eventually the meeting adjourned. The lawsuit settled. The election ended. Somebody won, somebody lost, and I wrote the last paragraph.

That became the rhythm of my life.

My husband's rhythm is different.

For him, watching someone restore a car isn't really about the car. It's about the quiet satisfaction of seeing order emerge from chaos. One bolt at a time. One coat of paint at a time. One field at a time.

He's resting in a way I simply don't recognize as rest. He's not wrong to enjoy it. It's just not my peace.

So here's my anti-manifesto.

I Will Not Watch the Soufflé.

I will not spend my retirement marveling at someone's perfect meringue.

I will not become emotionally invested in whether a carburetor is period-correct.

I will not pretend sanding a fender for forty-five minutes is edge-of-your-seat television.

Instead, I'll get a fresh glass of water.

I'll open another book and I'll disappear into stories that actually end.

Meanwhile, my husband will happily watch another tractor crawl across another field.

And that's okay.

Marriage doesn't require us to enjoy the same things. Sometimes it simply requires us to let each other enjoy different things in the same room.

So, Bob Ross, wherever you are, I forgive you.

You probably never imagined your happy little trees would inspire an entire generation of television devoted to watching people patiently make things.

I'll let the tractor puttering be the soundtrack to someone else's peace. Because peace, I've learned, doesn't have to make sense.

It just has to be mine.

Gratitude: Day 16

Prompt: Something that makes me laugh

I confess I giggle hard

when Monty Python's Holy Grail

offers up a bunch of monks

and not-dead-yet men wail.

This is a movie so endearing

that I can speak the lines

of the Black Knight as King Arthur swings

and it's "just a flesh wound" he cries.

The movie's just so darned absurd

with a subject so ingrained

that Englishmen who love lakes and swords

must always wince in pain

at the very idea of this silly tale

of King Arthur and his men

For who could have foretold an eon ago

that a rabbit would win in the end.

_____

Last month, The Gal did a 30-day gratitude challenge. I've swiped it to do for July. Only I'm going to try to do it in rhyme, just because.

Thursday Thirteen

13 Movie or TV Characters I’d Actually Want to Have Tea With

1. Christine Cagney (Cagney & Lacey). I loved her tough‑girl style and her matter‑of‑fact way of taking charge of her life, even when it went down the toilet in an alcoholic frenzy.

2. Xena: Warrior Princess. Another tough girl who could knock a man across the room with the back of her hand and then grab him by the hoo‑haas and kiss him until his eyes crossed. Who wouldn’t want to have coffee with someone who was once very bad but then set aright by Hercules?

3. Captain Kathryn Janeway (Star Trek: Voyager). The female captain of the Star Trek franchise was always noble, always on top of things, and always right. She would let me know what flying through the Delta Quadrant was all about.

4. Colonel Sarah MacKenzie (JAG). She could beat up a bad guy and then prosecute another one all in the same day, and then later that night she’d get Harm all hot and bothered just by fluttering her eyelashes, and you know she never meant to do that. I would love to hear the stories of some of her most famous cases.

5. Gandalf (The Lord of the Rings). I mean, he’s a wizard. He’s lived a couple thousand years. He fought a Balrog and died and came back to tell about it. He can whistle up the king of horses. Imagine the tales this man could tell you.

6. Sandy (Grease). Let’s face it, I’d really be having tea with Olivia Newton‑John, who has unfortunately passed away, but maybe I’d find out what it was she wanted Danny to “tell me about it” when she said that line near the end of the movie.

7. Aragorn (The Lord of the Rings). The king of the new era in Middle Earth would have lots of tales to tell, I’m sure, but honestly, the way Viggo Mortensen portrayed him means I’d mostly just sit and drink him in instead of the cuppa I had in front of me.

8. Jamie Sommers (The Bionic Woman).  Let’s face it, she had a tough time with being bionic and all, and I know Lindsay Wagner actually sometimes does those 2‑minute face‑to‑face things with people online because I follow her on Facebook. I thought about doing one of those but then I thought, what would I tell her for 2 minutes? That I loved the character but the writing was awful in season 3 and I’m sorry, but I didn’t like the bionic dog Max?

9. Captain Jean‑Luc Picard (Star Trek: The Next Generation). If I'm going to have tea with a Starfleet captain, I may as well pick the one who can quote Shakespeare, negotiate peace between warring planets, and still make time for Earl Grey. He’d talk about diplomacy, leadership, and that time he got turned into Locutus. He'd do all in that calm, steady voice that makes you feel like everything’s going to be fine.

10. Diana Prince (Wonder Woman, film version). Compassionate, fierce, and heartbreakingly earnest. She’d talk about the burden of knowing humanity’s flaws and loving us anyway. Plus, she’d absolutely insist on paying for the tea because “it is my honor.”

11. Amy Farrah Fowler (The Big Bang Theory).  Imagine sitting across from a woman who can explain neurobiology, medieval harp music, and the mating habits of fruit flies without ever losing her deadpan delivery. She’d ask me three extremely personal questions before the coffee even cooled, then apologize for her “enthusiasm for data collection.” And she’d have stories about Sheldon that would make me laugh so hard I'd snort.

12. Sabrina Duncan (Charlie's Angels). She’d sit down, smile that serene smile, and suddenly I'd feel like the world wasn’t such a mess. She could talk about truth, justice, invisible bosses, and how she managed to fight crime in heels with her head and her heart, all without ever breaking a sweat.

13. Mr. Spock (Star Trek: original series). Imagine the calm. Imagine the logic. Imagine the eyebrow. He’d sip his tea, explain the universe, and gently point out the flaws in my reasoning without making me feel stupid. And if I asked him whether he ever secretly enjoyed McCoy’s sass, he’d give me that tiny almost‑smile that means “yes, but I’ll never admit it.”

_________________

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 968th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

Gratitude: Day 15

Prompt: Music

Give me my guitar

and a good song to croon,

I'll be forever grateful

to the dark side of the moon.

Let me belt out verse

with my voice still in key

and you'll know that it is music

that brings out the best in me.

_____

Last month, The Gal did a 30-day gratitude challenge. I've swiped it to do for July. Only I'm going to try to do it in rhyme, just because.

A Writer's outing

Earlier this month, I ventured out to check out a writer's group that meets monthly in Salem.

The speaker was a former professor of mine from Hollins, someone I'd not seen in many years. Professor Marilyn Moriarty spoke about her efforts to locate information about her mother's years in World War II and where her search had taken her. Her memoir, Slivered Shadows: Recovering a French Résistante, will be published in August 2026. 

This was the first time I'd been to this group, but I don't think it will be the last.

Dan Smith, group founder

The group on the other side.

Another one of my Hollins professors, on the left.

Professor Moriarty.

Professor Moriarty reads from her upcoming book.

From the Hollins.edu website:

Marilyn Moriarty received her doctorate from the University of California, Irvine, with a dissertation on Shakespeare and a second emphasis in literary theory. She compiled the text of two Shakespeare plays for drama anthologies and co-edited a collection of essays on postmodern architecture. She is the author of Writing Science through Critical Thinking, a scientific writing textbook, and Moses Unchained, which won the Associated Writing Programs Creative Nonfiction Award. Her essays have been published in The Antioch Review, The Chattahoochee Review, Creative Nonfiction, The Kenyon Review, Raritan, River Teeth, and others. Three have been named “Notable” by editors of the Best American Essays series.

She won the 2014 Faulkner-Wisdom Gold Medal for the essay. Her stories have won the Katherine Anne Porter Prize, the Peregrine Prize for fiction, and the University of Utah novella contest. Her essay “Bone Lab” was anthologized in the 2024 Best Spiritual Literature.

Gratitude: Day 14

Prompt: Color

I am thankful for the colors

that splay across the land

when Autumn comes or winter leaves

and life renews again.

I am grateful for the pale blue sky

and the gray one that brings rain,

The color of love is a touch of gray

With purple in each refrain.

I love the greens of summer

the whites of winter too

but the color I love most of all

is the one that reminds me of you.

_____

Last month, The Gal did a 30-day gratitude challenge. I've swiped it to do for July. Only I'm going to try to do it in rhyme, just because

Gratitude: Day 13

Prompt: Smells

Me with my man

I love the way my husband smells

when he's showered, fresh and clean

It's a comforting scent of only him

old shirt, hat and jeans

I also love to smell the rain

when it falls down from the sky

because it means grass will grow

and things are better for a while.

_____

Last month, The Gal did a 30-day gratitude challenge. I've swiped it to do for July. Only I'm going to try to do it in rhyme, just because

Gratitude: Day 12

Prompt: Texture

I love the smoothness of chocolate

how it plays upon my tongue

It brings a smile to my solemn face

and makes my heart go, "yum."

_____

Last month, The Gal did a 30-day gratitude challenge. I've swiped it to do for July. Only I'm going to try to do it in rhyme, just because.

Sunday Stealing

What Is Your ...

1. ROCK STAR NAME (current pet and first car)? Example: If you have a dog named Max and your first car was a Chevy Malibu, your rock star name would be Max Malibu.

A. Cow Camry. That doesn't sound very rock star-ish, however. 

2. RACECAR DRIVER NAME (the first names of your grandfathers)?

A. Eugene Lewis

3. SOAP OPERA NAME (your middle name, town you were born in)?

A. Virginia Jeanne. (That's not the town, but some things people don't need to know. It's also backwards.)

4. WITNESS PROTECTION PROGRAM NAME (your parents' middle names)?

A. Marie O'Dell (Also not accurate, but names in the family.)

5. ROMANCE AUTHOR NAME (favorite flower, favorite season/holiday)?

A. Iris Autumn.

Thank you for playing! Please come back next week.

__________

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.

Gratitude: Day 11

Prompt: Noise

Nearly every morning when he rises

he drops something on the floor

and I smile to myself when I hear it

The same clatter as before.

Sometimes I hear him mutter

sometimes I hear him curse

but I think if I heard only silence

it would really be much worse.

_____

Last month, The Gal did a 30-day gratitude challenge. I've swiped it to do for July. Only I'm going to try to do it in rhyme, just because.

Saturday 9: There'll Be Some Changes Made

Saturday 9: There'll Be Some Changes Made (1962)

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

1) In this song, Ann-Margret sings that she's going to change her way of living. If you could simply snap your fingers and change something in your life, what would it be?

A. A big re-do of the room I use as my "office" even though I don't need an office anymore. It still looks like it did when I was a journalist. I've not had the heart to change it.

2) She tells us she's going to change her name. Have you ever changed your name, or asked people to refer to you differently? (Example: "Don't call me Betty anymore. I want to be Elizabeth.")

A. Yes, I have. I prefer to be called by my given name, not a nickname I was given when I was a child. Some people, however, are stubborn and controlling and think they have the right to determine what I am called. They do not.

3) Ann-Margret was born Ann-Margret Olsson in Sweden and when was 5, her family moved to Winnetka, Illinois. She is fluent in both Swedish and English. When did you last converse in a language other than English?

A. Every now and then when a friend who knows a little Spanish calls, I answer in Spanish and we manage, "Hola, como estas?" "Muy bein, et tu" "Muy bien." And that's about it.

4) Olivia Newton-John was a big Ann-Margret fan. When she was cast in the movie Grease, Olivia asked that her character's name be changed from "Sandy Dumbrowski" to "Sandy Olsson" in tribute. Grease is one of the most profitable movies ever made. Have you seen it more than once?

A. I have seen it many times. I saw it originally at the theater and I've watched it on TV.

5) Ann-Margret celebrated her 85th birthday earlier this year. Back in 2024, Ann-Margret told a reporter that she planned to celebrate her 83rd birthday with a spin on her motorcycle, a lavender Harley-Davidson. "I love speed," she explained. Do you always observe the speed limit? Or have you been known to zip along a little faster?

A. I have been known to have a lead foot on occasion. We have new speed trap cameras out along the interstate so I'm trying to watch that now. Cruise control helps.

6) This week's song was written in 1921 and over the last 100+ years it's been recorded more than 400 times. Before today, had you heard it?

A. I don't think so.

7) The lyrics were written by William Weldon Higgins, who was better known as vaudeville comic Billy Higgins. When did you most recently laugh out loud?

A. Oh, I'm sure it was sometime this past week, but I don't remember an actual time.

8) The music was composed by William Overstreet. In addition to writing music, he was a respected director at Chicago's Grand Theater. When did you last see a live performance (concert, play, etc.)?

A. The last live performance I saw was in April, when I saw Melissa Etheridge in concert. Great concert, and she hugged me at the end!

9) Random question: Do you have more or less than $20 cash in your wallet right now?

A. I had to look, but I have a little more than $20 in my wallet, if you count the change.

_______________

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. 

Gratitude: Day 10

Prompt: Quiet

Silence is my place to think

the time I am alone

It's when creativity calls to me

like ET with a phone.

The quiet brings me solace

though I'm happy when it breaks

because that means someone I love

has walked into my place.

_____

Last month, The Gal did a 30-day gratitude challenge. I've swiped it to do for July. Only I'm going to try to do it in rhyme, just because.