(Some of these questions are the kind used as security questions, so those I will answer rather vaguely. There were also duplicate questions and I deleted those.)
1. Where did your name come from?
A. My mother gave it to me. I have no idea where she got it from, as she never said, and it is not a family name. My first name is apparently a form of Anna, which is a form of Hannah. The name appears briefly in the New Testament belonging to a prophetess who recognized Jesus as the Messiah. It was a popular name in the Byzantine Empire from an early date, and in the Middle Ages it became common among Western Christians due to veneration of Saint Anna (usually known as Saint Anne in English), the name traditionally assigned to the mother of the Virgin Mary. My middle name is French and comes for Joan of Arc. (The nerdy information comes from behindthename.com)
2. Where were you born?
A. In a hospital.
3. What as your house like, growing up?
A. We lived in a small suburb until I was 6. It had a nice back yard and tree in the front yard, and there was red carpet in the living room. There was also a ghost in the house. We moved to a farm when I was 6, and lived in a trailer. It was very small and cramped. Then we lived in an old farm house that my father added a room onto. I slept in the attic; it was very hot there in the summer as there was no air conditioning except window units. My father built his house where he now lives in 1976. By that time I was 13 years old. It was a big ranch. My bedroom had yellow and purple in it. A huge fireplace separates the family room from the formal living room and dining area.
4. What was your childhood bedroom like?
A. It was an attic for a while, and then after the age of 13 I had my own room. I hung love beads over the door and had a poster that said, "I am Me and I am Okay" on it, along with a Charlie's Angels poster. I had a white bedroom suite, and the bed was a double bed. I had a bean bag, my electric guitar, and an amplifier in there. I had two windows, and lots of books. I had a little hope chest in my closet. It contained some glasses and few other little odds and ends, nothing of consequence.
5. Did you travel as a child? Where?
A. When I was quite young we went to Florida to visit my great-grandfather. I remember little about the trip. When I was 12, my parents drove across the United States and back. When I was 14 or 15, my parents took me to New York with them. When I was 16 I flew to Spain and France on a school trip. 6. Write about your grandparents.
A. My maternal grandmother was a kindly yet stern woman who told us constantly to stay away from the river, because it was polluted (of course we went there anyway). She kept me when I was ill, since she lived only a block away from my mother's office. She had a set of encyclopedias that I read. My maternal grandfather died when I was 11. He was very stern and he fixed TVs on the weekends at his workbench in the basement. We were never supposed to touch Granddaddy's workbench (of course we did). He worked for Kroger. My paternal grandparents lived in California and I did not know them very well. My paternal grandfather was a Democrat and so was my grandmother until she decided she could not vote for President Obama because he was black, and then she became a Republican. She talked very loud and I never thought she liked me very much. She lived to be 93 and died about two years ago. My grandfather and I exchanged letters after I became an adult until he died in 1992. He played guitar and liked to write poetry.
7. Who taught you how to drive?
A. I took driver's education in high school. Coach Co, as he was called, was known to feel up the girls so it was a given that we never went out on a driving lesson with him alone.
8. When did you first leave home?
A. I left home when I was 20, when I married.
9. What did your parents do for work?
A. My father was a policeman and then he became a salesman. He started his own company around 1977 and it has been successful. My mother worked as a secretary (but not for my father).
10. Who inspired you as you matured?
A. Book heroes, mostly, or someone like Kate Jackson, who played Sabrina on Charlie's Angels.
11. What was the best part of your 20s?
A. I married and I started going to college.
12. What as the best part of your 30s?
A. I finished college and began a writing career.
13. Where is the most fascinating place you’ve visited?
A. Paris.
14. What is your favorite family story?
A. Apparently I had a great-great grandfather who was a preacher who owned a whore house.
15. What was your most memorable birthday?
A. My husband gave me a surprise party when I turned 50.
16. What was your favorite food as a child?
A. I liked cucumbers and mayonnaise, lettuce, and cheese sandwiches.
________________ 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.
A. I prefer writing with a black pen. Actually, I will only write with a Pilot G-2 .05 pen. When I was writing for the paper, I went through scads of them with notebooks as I took notes as multiple meetings.
2. Do you prefer living in the country or the city?
A. I live in the country, and I think I prefer it here. It is quiet and there are no people to bother me, for the most part. I like watching the wildlife and I enjoy the scenery.
3. How do you drink your tea or coffee?
A. I drink a cup of hot decaffeinated English Breakfast Tea with 1 teaspoon of sugar nearly every morning, though sometimes I forgo the sugar.
4. Do you prefer bath or shower?
A. I shower.
5. Do you prefer reading paper or electronic books?
A. I prefer to read a paper book. I have a Kindle and I do read on it, but if given a choice, I much prefer a "real" book to an electronic one. For one thing, I don't have to plug it in.
6. Would you ever want to be famous?
A. I have been locally famous, sort of. When one writes for a newspaper that at one point had a circulation of about 20,000 people, lots of folks get to know your name. I admit it was a thrill a few times when a checkout clerk looked at my name on my check (yes, it was a long time ago) and said, "Oh, I know you, you write for The Herald." After a while, it became a problem because I couldn't get through the grocery store without being stopped by 10 people to discuss some "story idea" they wanted to run by me. Now that I am no longer writing for the paper, I don't have that happen as much. Of course I haven't been in a store without a mask for a while.
7. Are you a restless sleeper?
A. Not anymore. I used to be. Now I sleep on a MedSlant wedge incline pillow and it's hard to turn over on your side when you're sleeping like that.
8. What is the strangest thing you have ever eaten?
A. Probably escargot.
9. Do you like cereal crunchy or soggy?
A. I eat my cereal without anything on it, because I am allergic to milk. So I guess crunchy.
10. Do you like ice in your drinks?
A. No.
11. Do you prefer swimming in pools or the ocean?
A. I used to like swimming in the ocean when I was young, but now I do not. I haven't been swimming in years.
12. What can you hear right now?
A. I hear the TV in the other room; my husband is watching an "iNascar" race. I also hear the wind, which is very strong today.
13. Where do you feel the safest?
A. In my house.
14. What would you like your legacy to be?
A. I would like to be remembered as someone who contributed to the community and made society a little better. I tried to do that with my newspaper work. I considered it an educational vocation.
15. Do you like spicy food?
A. My stomach doesn't like it at all. Ulcers will do that to you.
________________ 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.
I am sick and not feeling well. I'm pretty sure it is allergies and not Covid-19 as I have no fever. I am, however, a bit snappish as I answer these.
1. What is your favorite song lyric? Why?
A. I don't have one. I know hundreds of songs by heart and play them on the guitar. Any of them could be a favorite depending on my mood.
2. Who was the worst teacher you ever had?
A. I don't even know her name. She was supposed to be my 9th grade English teacher, whoever she was. She did not last even six weeks. Then she was replaced by a rotation of substitute teachers. This was the year I was supposed to learn Shakespeare, and I did not because substitute teachers do not teach, they babysit. I mean no offense to substitute teachers (I have been one). I was constantly asking somebody in the Guidance Office to be moved into a real English class but apparently I was slated to be stuck in this one because it was the college track and the others were for the non-college kids or something, I don't know. Anyway, I learned nothing in that class. As a result, my knowledge of Shakespeare is not what it should be.
3. What were 3 things that scared you as a child?
A. My mother, the ghost at the foot of my bed, and a bathtub full of blood.
4. What are 3 things that scare you now?
A. Covid-19, #45 and any Republican who believes money, power, greed and the 2nd Amendment gives them the right to dictate my life, and growing old.
5. Would you rather have the power of time travel or the power to see the future?
A. Time travel. If I can time travel, I can go to the future.
6. Money, power, or good looks – which would you rather have an unlimited supply of?
A. Money. I don't give a rat's ass about how I look and it shows. I don't care about power, either, unless it's the electrical kind. But I do want to pay my bills.
7. Are you jealous of anything?
A. I am not jealous of any thing. I may harbor some jealousy or envy towards folks who are especially talented, or who have been more fortunate than I. But it does not interfere with my life. I don't sit around and think about it, unless asked some question such as this.
8. What makes you feel most loved?
A. Melting into my husband's arms. Or a phone call from a friend when I need it most.
9. Do you believe in soulmates?
A. Didn't we have this question last week? It's a nice idea.
10. What is something that made you laugh?
A. I always laugh with my friends and my husband. But I think this is funny:
11. What were 3 of the happiest days of your life?
A. My wedding day, the day I received my BA, and the day I received my master's degree.
12. What is your biggest flaw?
A. I am a perfectionist. That means sometimes I simply don't do something for fear I'll get it wrong.
13. Who would play you in a movie about your life?
A. Kathy Bates. Twanda!
14. What is something you experienced that you have no explanation for.
A. Pretty much my entire life.
15. What is the saddest book you ever read?
A. Lucy. I don't remember who it was by or if there was more to the name of the book, but a friend gave it to me in the 7th grade. She was trying to convert me from my pagan ways. It was, I suppose, a Christian book. This poor Lucy woman went through deaths of children, losses of husbands, losses of her farm, etc., etc., but still she thought God was going to save her. It was a feminine modern-day Job story. It did not convert me.
16. What is your dream home like?
A. It would be much like my house is now except it would have a music room and a library room.
17. What creature/insect would most creep you out if you found it crawling on you?
A. Any of them.
18. What’s your preferred Monopoly piece?
A. I used to go for the wheelbarrow. I needed it to carry my money.
19. What was your most embarrassing moment?
A. That time I mailed a letter to an attorney for the defendant that was supposed to go to the assisting attorney for the plaintiff, and it outlined all of the defense strategies my boss had for the upcoming trial. Messed that one up good.
20. Could the earth be flat?
A. This question is a stupid question. The earth is not flat. Astronauts went to the moon. Hilary Clinton does not run a child pornography ring in the back of a laundromat. Covid-19 is not a Democrat scam to make you stay home. Science, people. Learn some science and find your common sense, wherever you left it.
"First, then, make a choice of your political party, on grounds that satisfy your reason if you can, by tradition or by environment or sentiment or impulse if you have not the wit to do better. In any event, make choice. Do not wait until you can find an aggregation of demi-gods or angels; they are scarce - some people think they are even scarcer than they used to be. Perhaps even you might not be comfortable in their midst. And do not expect to find a party that has always been right, or wise or even consistent; that would be scarcer still. Independent judgment and opinion is a glorious thing, on no account to be surrendered by any man; but when one seeks companionship on a large scale, he must be content to join with those who agree with him in most things and not hope to find a company that will agree with him in all things.” - The Honorable John W. Davis, Princeton, 1929 and repeated in a speech by John F. Kennedy, October 23, 1946, in Boston, before he became President of the United States of America
________________ 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.
1. Right now I'm watching and listening to a live Melissa Etheridge concert on Facebook. She does them daily at 6 p.m. EST. Check her out.
2. Being inquisitive is my well known quirk.
3. Are you happy?
4. Dessert first, then dinner!
5. That's why I am not the person I thought I'd be when I grew up.
6. Buffy the Vampire Slayer is one of my favorite tv shows ever!
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to watching either Tommy or My Brilliant Friend, tomorrow my plans include reading a book and Sunday (which is also tomorrow), I want to talk to someone on the phone.
8. If I could go anywhere on a road trip, I'd go to Disney in Florida.
9. The minds of about 25% of the population is something I don't understand.
10. Thanksgiving makes me think of turkey.
11. Reading is the best way to relax!
12. It looks like Autumn is going to bring another wave of Covid 19.
13. Mixed nuts is one of my favorite healthy snacks.
14. The smell of macaroni and cheese cooking makes me think of my grandmother.
15. When I am feeling lazy I take a nap (which I seldom do).
16. When I look to the left, I see two guitars, books, my husband, and my cameras. What more could a girl want?
17. The living room, my office and the bedroom are the room(s) that have the best view in my home.
18. Dirty deeds was done dirt cheap!
19. Voting and understanding the role of government in life are a responsibilities that all qualified citizens must share.
20. If you have any chocolate, feel free to share it with me.
1. Did you become what you wanted to be when you grew up? Are you happy with your choice?
A. At various times I wanted to be an archeologist, a geologist, an English teacher, a musician, and a writer. I ended up writing. I don't regret it. I did not go exactly where I thought I would with it but I have published literally thousands of articles (and became a photographer to go along with it and published thousands of those, too), and while I am no longer as well-known as I was when I was more active in publishing, I had a satisfying following for a while. The only thing I haven't done that I had expected to do by now is write a book.
2. Did man really go to the moon or was it a publicity stunt?
A. We went to the moon. Really? Is the earth flat, too?
3. Given the opportunity to change one major aspect of your life (i.e. career, relationship, family) with no guarantee of the outcome, would you take the chance? Why?
A. Yes. I would do so with eye closed and heart open and hope for better results in some areas.
4. Does money buy happiness?
A. No, but it buys health insurance.
5. What is the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning?
A. Tell Alexa, "Stop." She is my alarm. Then I crawl out of bed, put on my slippers, and go to the little women's room.
6. What are we going to do when we run out of room to bury the dead?
A. Cremate.
7. What is your greatest fear? Why? Is it rational or unreasonable?
A. My greatest fear is ending up alone and homeless, living under a bridge. It is probably not rational but I also do not think, given the current political climate, that it is unreasonable should something happen to my husband.
8. How do you feel about the exploitation of your private data in the digital age? Does it ever cross your mind or are you hyper-aware of the risks?
A. I am very aware of it and have taken precautions where feasible. I have even put off buying a new car because I am aware that they are tracking everything now in a vehicle. They may be doing that in my 2014 Camry but it wouldn't be as complete as what they are doing now. I read an article about this in Reader's Digest at lunch today.
9. You can be forgiven one debt. What is it? If you don’t have debt, then how did you do it?
A. I guess that would be paying off a tractor.
10. Hot or cold?
A. Hot or cold . . . what? Cold water, hot tea.
11. What is your favorite thing in the world (aside from family, friends, pets)?
A. An internet connection.
12. You have to give up one of your five senses. Which one would you go without?
A. Taste, I guess. I need my eyes and ears and I couldn't type I suppose without touch.
13. Do you believe everyone has a doppelgänger?
A. I think we all have someone who looks a bit like us though maybe not at the same time in history. I've been mistaken for someone else on occasion, and have mistaken others for someone else.
14. Likewise, does everyone have a soulmate or is it just a matter of proximity and circumstance?
A. It is probably circumstance but the idea of a soulmate is nice.
________________ 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.
1. What is something you are doing due to the pandemic that you normally don’t do? After the pandemic will you continue to so this?
A. I am trying not to bite my nails in an attempt to keep my hands from my face. Hopefully that will continue. We'll see. I have chewed on them my entire life; that's a long habit to break.
2. What made you happy, sad, or frustrated today? List, all big and/or small, as there may be some of one or all of these feelings!
A. It is still early for a range of emotions. I was happy when I woke up, as I had dreamt I was mailing the state Attorney General a letter about my medication costs, which went up 700% from last month to this month. I also had snuck in a chocolate rabbit for my husband. I sat that out and was glad to surprise him. Things have gone downhill since, and now I'm sad.
3. What is one of the first things you will do when the pandemic is over?
A. Probably go to the store. I would like to get a haircut but I expect it will be another month before I can do that - everyone will be booked and I don't have a regular stylist.
4. Are you an essential employee or do you know someone who is? Is this affecting you in some way?
A. My brother continues to work as his business is essential (something to do with making things for the military). I worry about him a lot. He has been good about stopping at the store a time or two for things we've not been able to find. He is out a lot because he has to keep his company up and running.
5. What are you doing to destress during this stressful time?
A. I read, play guitar, play video games. Same as I always do.
6. Have you tried any new recipes during this time? Please share your recipe if you want to.
A. I made a meatloaf that did not have a tomato base. I used vegetable soup in it and cut up a summer squash and put that in it too. It was pretty good.
7. Have you always lived where you do now? If not, how did you wind up in the place you currently live?
A. I have always lived in this area. We built our house here 33 years ago.
8. Where is the last place you visited on-line?
A. My video game, Elvenar. It's a city-building game. I've been playing it for a couple of years.
9. What is the nicest thing anyone has ever said to you?
A. That they love me.
10. Tell me about the last photo on your camera (phone or real camera or both!)
A. The last picture on my phone is a photo of a mailing label so I can track a package. The last picture on my camera is of my husband removing a tree stump with his backhoe.
A. So far today, it has been a ride around the block in the car. Of course, a "block" here is miles and miles.
2. What made you smile today?
A. Nothing much so far.
3. What made you laugh today?
A. A running joke I have with my husband about nasal spray. You'd have to live here to understand it.
4. Recall a time when you needed encouragement.
A. Way back in 1985, as I was trying to figure out what to do with my life (a task I have yet to complete, apparently), I was encouraged to apply for and attend Hollins College (now Hollins University) in order to obtain my bachelors and focus on writing. The encouragers were my professors at the community college and a couple of friends.
5. What is a luxury you are thankful for?
A. At the moment, being able to go to the grocery store feels like a luxury.
6. Favorite childhood memory.
A. I don't have a favorite one. I remember though that there was an abandoned house up the street from my grandmother's house, and my brother and my two young uncles (one a year younger than I, the other four years older than I), along with myself, would ride our bikes there and then dare one another to go look in the windows.
7. Favorite song–and why?
A. I don't have a favorite song, but I like most songs by the Eagles. They have nice melodies, are fairly easy to play on the guitar, and I like their harmonies.
8. Where is your favorite place? Why?
A. My favorite place is my home, because it is where I belong and where I seek shelter from the storms of every day life.
9. What is your favorite scent?
A. The smell of Nestle's Original Toll House Cookies baking.
10. What is your favorite topic to talk about?
A. Everyone's favorite topic is themselves. However, I also like to talk about writing, music, books, video games, nature, politics, and many other topics. I'm widely read and I know a lot of stuff.
11. What do you like doing so much that you lose track of time?
A. Write or read.
12. If you had 5 minutes and the whole world was forced to listen, what would you say?
A. Get over yourselves and think about other people. Go read the New Testament and forget about the Old Testament if you want to live a Christian life. Otherwise, just be a good, decent person. That doesn't take five minutes but it sums up everything wrong with the world.
13. Whose life do you envy the most, and why?
A. I don't envy anyone's life. I admire some folks who have more talent than I, but I don't actually envy anyone.
14. What would you do differently with your education if you got a chance to start over?
A. I'd go for the bachelors at 18 instead of 24.
15. What would you do with your life if you had no fear? A. I have a hard time imagining that, no fear. Actually I don't think I can.
________________ 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.
1. If there's a personal god, what quality would you most like that person to have (and why)? A. Empathy. If a god has no empathy, how can she have compassion, love, understanding, and comprehension of the human condition?
2. What's your death-row meal? A. Chocolate cake with chocolate icing, chocolate milk, a chocolate candy bar, and a banana.
3. Assuming we make it through this outbreak with minimal loss of life, what do you think our big takeaway should be? A. That we are all one world and that there is no "us" versus "them" except in our own minds. Being prepared for eventualities is not a waste of time or money. Human lives are worth more than economic prosperity.
4. Whom do you find yourself missing more than you would've predicted? A. No one, really. I stay alone except for my husband most of the time anyway, and the people I do interact with are generally still available to me via the usual methods - Facebook, the telephone, and text.
5. What brings you the most joy? Not happiness, not contentment -- JOY. A. Being completely immersed in something to the point of forgetting about everything else.
6. Do you find yourself regretting anything you've said or done on social media? A. No. I am particular about what I put on social media.
7. What are your favorite and least favorite things about your body and face? A. Isn't my face part of my body? Odd phrasing. My least favorite thing about my body is my fat, and my least favorite thing about my face is my right eye, which sometimes droops. My favorite thing about my body is my hands, without which I would not get much done, and my favorite thing about my face is my eyes, without which I could not see. Plus they're a nice hazel and they change colors depending on my clothes.
8. What are your favorite and least favorite things about your life? A. My favorite thing about my life is my creativity, and my least favorite thing about my life would be that I am alone too much.
9. How's the self-isolation affecting your libido? A. That's just too personal a question to answer.
10. Which three places in the physical universe would you most like to visit? A. (1) An M class planet in a galaxy far, far away (2) the sun, and (3) New Zealand.
11. On whom did you have a crush years ago? Have you ever told them? A. I can't recall having a crush on anyone long ago. I'm 56 years old and any crush I would have had would have occurred when I was a teenager and long before I met my husband of 37 years.
12. How have your religious views changed since you were in high school? A. I wasn't religious, then I was, now I'm not. Now I'm spiritual, not religious.
13. If you could change one law, what would it be? A. I would put term limits on federal House and Senate seat holders.
14. If you could add one commandment to the original ten, what would it be? A. All people are created equal and women are people.
________________ 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.
1. Has the COVID-19 affected your work environment?
A. I work from home when I work. So no.
2. How are you feeling about the Coronavirus?
A. I think the United States had a lackluster response to this at best. We were ill-prepared for something of this magnitude even though we've known about it since at least January. Some people in high places did not take it seriously.
3. Has anybody you know been tested / have you?
A. My nephew has been tested. He works in a hospital environment and came down with symptoms. He can't go back to work until he has the results back.
4. Do you have any friends stuck in any exotic locations?
A. Not that I am aware of.
5. Have you changed any of your personal habits due to the pandemic?
A. I don't go out now and I wash my hands more. I make my husband do a sexy striptease in the garage and then come in and wash his hands after he's been among the public.
6. What is the craziest thing you've seen or heard about the outbreak?
A. Some of the "cures" I've seen have been silly. Someone suggested pouring cold water in front of your face while at the same time blowing hot air through a hair dryer up into your nose. Something about moist heat killing the virus.
Sounds like a recipe for electrocution if you ask me.
7. Do you think our politicians are doing enough to curb the crisis?
A. I think our politicians are assholes.
8. Have you stockpiled anything because of the crisis?
A. I have always been a toilet paper hoarder, so I have my usual amount of items of that here and did before it became a thing for everyone else. We also stocked up on canned goods, like soup and green beans.
9. What do you think you will miss the most if you are subject to a lock in?
A. Not a whole lot as I don't go out that much anyway. Although it is nice to be able to simply pick up and go to the store if I want. Right now I am not doing that.
10. What is the weirdest rumor you've heard about the virus?
A. Isn't this the same as #6?
11. Do you have a favorite meme about the virus?
A. No.
12. Has the virus made you grateful for anything?
A. I am grateful my husband is still home on sick leave from his ankle surgery and not out on the front lines of this pandemic. He's a battalion chief with the city fire department.
13. Have any of your plans been upset by the outbreak?
A. Not so far. We will see how it goes as time passes.
14. Are you planning do to anything different because of the COVID-19 outbreak?
A. I am not going out much and I really need a haircut. So my hair is growing.
15. What do you hope to see in six months time?
A. Healing, and lots of change as people realize who are really important. It's not the politicians, that's for sure. It's the stock clerks, the firefighters and paramedics, the nurses, the doctors, and the people who drive the trucks, and we can't forget the farmers, because without them, there would be no food. If we're lucky, this will bring on an entire societal change for the better. That's my hope.
16. Has the Coronavirus upset your mental health in any way?
A. Listening to certain politicians has frayed my nerves, so I have stopped listening. I read the newspaper everyday and I watch the local news. That is all I need to know.
________________ 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.
