Yes, I've Been Taking a Little Unannounced Break

My apologies to my regular readers for the lack of daily posts. I've been recharging those ol' brain cells.

I also kind of ran out of things to say that weren't political, and I wasn't keen on writing about politics. I feel that edge coming back, though, so don't go too far away from me.

After all, there are statues to talk about, and immigration laws, and hurricanes, and who-knows-what-else. It changes daily, the topics unfolding in this fast-charged world. 

However, before I tackle such weighty issues, I must get over an ear infection and a bit of drama with a new medication that created a problem, so I can be sure my head is on straight and things are working properly. (Yeah, yeah, who says my head was ever on straight?)

Memes are another matter entirely - so yes, I have been doing those. Though Thursday 13, which comes tomorrow, can be hard and as of this moment - 7 p.m. on Wednesday night - I've no topic.

Sometimes it is hard to write about 13 things.

Anywho, I thought I'd let the world know I'm still around, just not quite in the best of form. Ear aches make it hard to think, as do the headaches and sore throat that go along with them. I'll be back at it full speed soon, though.

I promise.

Sunday Stealing: Back to School

Sunday Stealing: Back to School

1. What kind of school did you attend (Big? Small? Public? Private? Specialty? One-room schoolhouse?)

A. I attended public schools. Living in a relatively rural area, these structures and teachings were probably considered "quaint" by my city cousins, but I seem to have had a better education than many people I know. At least I know how to think for myself. By most standards, the school system would be considered small. My high school graduating class was just over 200 kids.

2. What did you wear to school (uniform? dress code? Whatever you wanted?)

A. Whatever we wanted, for the most part. My mother made me wear dresses until 7th grade, at which point I discovered blue jeans and never looked back.

Me around 1977.

3.  How did you get to school?

A. I rode a bus until I learned to drive.

4. Who was your favorite teacher?  Why?

A. I loved most of my teachers as I tended to be a "teachers pet" in that I was a good student, made As, and didn't cause (too much) trouble. I also treated them like human beings. I still see a few of my high school teachers and have lunch once or twice a year with my old high school math teacher.

5. What was your favorite subject? Why?

A. English, because I liked to read and write and I was good at it.

6. What was your least favorite subject? Why?

A. Gym. I hated gym with every fiber of my being. I am a brainy couch potato, not an athlete. I used to get out of it as much as I could. If I could get another teacher to write me a note excusing me from gym so I could go do something for her, I would.

7. Did you belong to any clubs?

A. I belonged to the Honor Society, the Spanish club, band (which wasn't exactly a club, it was a class but we also had a jazz band of which I partook), the debate team for a short time, and something else that had to do with public speaking and oration but I forget the name of it.

8. Were you a picky reader?

A. No. I read everything, and still do.

9.  What did you do in your free time?

A. I lived on a farm, so my free time was frequently filled with chores, which included feeding livestock, carrying in firewood, caring for my brother, cleaning the house, and occasionally fixing dinner. (Can you imagine kids today doing that stuff?)

10.  Did you get good grades?

A. I was a straight-A student except for gym. I received Bs in gym and it was irksome because it kept me off the Straight A honor roll and because it lowered my GPA so that I graduated 5th in my class instead of as valedictorian.


11.  Did you like/participate in sports?

A. No. Band, though, is a sport if you are in the marching band, which I was, and so I attended many football and basketball games.

Me with my flute.

12.  Did you have a boyfriend/girlfriend in high school?

A. Yes.

13.  When did you get your driver’s license?

A. I received my driver's license the day after I turned 16.

14.  What kind of kid were you?  (Popular? Class clown? Shy?  A nerd?  Teacher’s pet?)

A. I was a nerd but I don't think that word was around yet. Or if it was, it wasn't a compliment.

15. Who were your heroes?

A. My teachers were my heroes for putting up with the things that went on and for noticing me and giving me much-needed attention.



Ms. T., my math teacher, who put up with me. Photo taken about two years ago when we had lunch.

16. Were you ever bullied?

A. Yes.

17. Did you learn how to touch type?

A. Yes. I guess that means without looking at the keyboard. I never look at the keyboard.

18. Who was your best friend?  (Are you still friends today?)

A. I had several close friends, none of whom I see today. I played in a dance band, playing Top 40 music (which meant disco at that time) and we were all close friends then, but as soon as we graduated - really before that, when the band broke up - we drifted apart. I have one other friend, a year younger than I, with whom I stay in touch. I saw her for the first time in 30 years this past year.

19. What is one thing you regret about high school?

A. Nothing that I care to speak of.

20. What were you most proud about?

A. That I was a good student in spite of myself.

Bonus:  Did you like high school?

A. I didn't hate it.

__________

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: 9 to 5

Saturday 9:  9 to 5 (1980)

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

1) This song begins with the clacking of a typewriter. Did you ever learn to touch type -- beginning with your fingers on "the home row" -- or do you hunt and peck?

A. I learned to type in high school. At one time I typed 110 wpm. A typing test I just took on Bing (type in "typing test" and it should be the first thing that comes up), says I type 84 wpm (better than 98% of the scores). So I've declined a bit but then I am no longer 18. That's still pretty speedy.

2) Much of the video for this song revolves around the office coffee room. Are you enjoying a beverage as you answer these 9 questions?

A. I have a glass of water in front of me. That's mostly all I drink.

3) This week's artist, Dolly Parton, loves telling the story of how she once lost a Dolly Parton lookalike contest. What contest or sweepstakes have you entered lately?

A. Does playing the lottery count?

4) Dolly is one smart blonde. Early in her career she set up a company so she could retain the publishing rights for all her songs. Two alone -- "9 to 5" and "I Will Always Love You" -- made her a multi-millionaire because they have been recorded so many times. Do you have a good head for business?

A. Apparently not, since I am not a multi-millionaire.

5) Dolly is a crusader for childhood literacy and her organization, Dolly's Imagination Library, has donated more than 10 million books all over the country. What's the last book you read?

A. I'm reading Fire Is Your Water by Jim Minnick at the moment.

6) This weekend may offer a golden opportunity for napping and sleeping in. Do you snore?

A. My husband says I have "kitty cat" snores. I think that means I purr.

7) Labor Day was introduced to celebrate the achievements of the American worker. How many different employers have you had?

A. I can come up with at least 10, and since I have at times worked for those companies that hire you out for six weeks or whatever, I'm sure it is many more than that.

8) Will you be attending a Labor Day picnic or barbecue?

A. Not that I am aware of.

9) Labor Day traditionally marks the beginning of the new school year. When she was a kid, Samantha was crazy for her brand new box of 96 Crayola Crayons. It even had a sharpener in the back! What do you remember about preparing to go back to school? If you're a parent with school-age kids, are they ready?

A. I always loved going back to school. Such a relief it was to be back in the classroom and learning. I remember new notebooks. I still have a thing about notebooks and have to stay out of the stores during the school sales or I will come home with two or three 25 cent notebooks. I have more now than I will ever use. But they have to be in perfect condition or I won't write in them. If they get torn or bent, or have something spilled on them, I must have a new notebook.
_____________

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

Thursday Thirteen #515

1. I've been having trouble with my blog - notices of "Failed to get post option from server." I also am having issues with their new "smallest" print option and sometimes my print turns out so tiny no one can see it. First time in a long while I've had blogger issues. Why can't they just leave well enough alone?

2. If you don't follow Bloom County on Facebook, I urge you to do so. Today Berkley Breathed posted a cartoon that went like this: the newspaper has done away with the personals, and instead are posting "offensionals," where you can go and post the thing that has offended you today for "$5 per posted umbrage." But down the hall, you can post gratitudonals - and they're free. Which line do you want to stand in today?

3. While I find many things offensive, I tend to overlook them. I am not offended by race, sex, gender issues, etc. I am offended more by "stupid" than anything else, and I'm afraid there is a lot of that going around.

4.  I've been a Game of Thrones fans from the beginning; this most recent season, that ended Sunday, seems to be setting up the final season with great clarity. I hope I am wrong in what has turned out to be a rather predictable way of moving toward a final destination, even with the grand fighting and dragons and all. Storytelling is an art and with this series I always want more than the mundane. To have the show end with Jon Snow on the Iron Throne after a sky fight between him and the Night King with both on dragons seems predictable. Now, having everybody die and the land full of zombies because the Night King wins is not so predictable. That's not what I want to happen but it is actually the better story line.

5. Sometimes when I read the rantings of trolls on Facebook, and see people walking around in a daze at the grocery store, cell phone in hand and oblivious to what is going on around them, I think maybe the White Walkers are already here. But that sounds more like a statement for the offensionals than the gratitudonals, doesn't it?

6. My mail box surprised me yesterday with a copy of Packing a Suitcase for the Afterlife, a poetry chapbook by my fellow blogger Colleen Redman over at Loose Leaf Notes. It's a nice book, with a slick cover and good quality innards. I haven't had time to read it yet but I am eager to settle in with it.

7. I've known Colleen for 10 years, but we have never met in person. We live about two hours from each other. Her book, by the way, is available on Amazon. Go Colleen!

8. The Internet brings people like Colleen and me together, but it also has contributed to the political rift we are having in the United States. It allows people who don't know one another to lash out and call names and create a general overall tenor of dismay and distress. It lets people say things they wouldn't normally say in public - it has created a total loss of moral control and a complete dismantling of personal etiquette in some circles.

9. Last weekend I had a bad reaction to some medication that I've been taking for a few years. There was a change in the generic manufacturer's name; that was the only difference. I went back to the stuff I had been taking and have not had any problem. You can't tell me generics are all alike. They aren't.

10. I recently learned to Skype. Yes, I am behind the times in my technology these days. There once was  a time when I was always ahead of the curve; I could write DOS programs and even created my own text games in the 1980s. But now, like the change in cars, the stuff in computers is so different that I can't change my own oil anymore. (I have figured out, though, that behind the Windows façade still lie DOS commands, if you know how to find them. But that is getting harder to do.)

11. Language matters. People take it for granted but it is what tears us apart or brings us together. It is the difference between hurt and hate and healing and love. A good demonstration of this is the Black Lives Matter statement, which seems to bring out a lot of ire in many people while others acknowledge its truth. Yesterday in my local newspaper, a writer compared All Lives Matter and Black Lives Matter to firefighting. To a firefighter, all houses matter, but at certain times it is the burning house that matters. With racism still alive and well in this country, we have a burning house (or two or three or a thousand) that needs attention.

12. I have studied linguistics all of my life without realizing that was what I was doing. Every English class, every poetry course, every novel-writing class - it was all about the words, the language, the nuances, the rhythm of life. Have we as a country lost our words? When thousands of instruments play, it's a racket, but when they fall in tune, time, and rhythm, and begin to speak as one, we have a song. Right now I think we have thousands of voices yelling and screaming, and no song.

13. Maybe we all just need to stop and sing America the Beautiful. This land is your land or I'd like to teach the world to sing.

Sending money today to the American Red Cross for the folks in Texas. I've been in a flood, as has most of the old-timers in my area, and I know how difficult it can be to recover. We've been having a drought for most of the summer. The weather is fickle, I know, and maybe you don't believe in climate change. I, however, believe in clean air and I don't see where it hurts to force manufacturers to keep the environment safe, regardless of your stand on the issue. I'd rather pay a bit more for my electricity and be able to breathe and see the mountains than pay less and go to an early grave.

_________

 

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 515th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.

When Turkeys Fight

Last week, around 7:50 a.m., I heard a racket on the other end of the house. At first I thought it was the washing machine, but I quickly realized it was not that. I went into the kitchen and heard a sound as if something was trying to climb through the stove venting into the house. I went to the door to look.

Two tom turkeys were deadlocked together, having a nasty fight, and caught in between my heat pump and the house. They'd stomped on the stove vent, ruined my water gauge, turned over and broke several flower pots, and were turning purple in the head as they tried to kill one another.

I screamed at them to "shoo" and "get away from my damn heat pump," mostly because I was afraid they were going to pull wiring loose. They finally moved away from the heat pump, but they continued to fight. I yelled some more and they paid me no attention.

The birds come up my chest and are huge. I had no intention of trying to separate them, so I did what people normally do nowadays.

I picked up my camera.

This was about as close as I dared get.

I shall eat you, you fowl bird.

Let's dance. Put on your red shoes!

Definitely not love.

Turkey waltz?

I am going to eat your face! Forsooth!

Let me have a taste of your upper beak.

Which turkey shall prevail?

Standoff.

There shall only be one Major Tom in this crowd!

A rally and a come back.

Give up, or I shall eat your face again!

Yes, we are taller than the heat pump.

Do I hear someone screaming, "No, stay away from the heat pump!" while I eat your face?



If I can't beat you one way, I shall body slam you into this garage door.



As if! I am going to eat your face again!

Maybe we should make tracks?

The devastation from the fight.

 

Thus endeth the rain gauge. The gnome survived.

The flower pot looked a bit worse for wear.

Most of it was salvageable.

Turkey feathers everywhere.

Sunday Stealing: Art History

From Sunday Stealing

1. Do you look forward to the spring?

A. In the winter I do. We're heading into Autumn now. Spring is a long way away.

Spring

2. Which area of the sciences do you enjoy the most?

A. I think we could all use a bit more alethiology (study of truth) and kalology (study of beauty). I liked archeology and geology when I was younger but did not follow that route. I suppose one could say I have been studying linguistics (language) all of my life, since I write.

3. If you could own a classical statue in the form of any figure from myth, religion, or even modern fiction, who would you choose?

A. I would like a trio figure featuring Athena, Artemis, and Demeter.

4. Do you have a good relationship with your mother?

A. My mother passed away 17 years ago last week. I do not think we had the best mother-daughter relationship out there, but I tried.

5. What is your favorite mythological story?

A. I always loved the story of Persephone, and how Hades kidnapped her and took her to the underworld. She ate three pomegranate seeds and thus was forced to stay at least part of the time in the underworld. We have the seasons because her mother, Demeter, mourns during the months her daughter is away. That is winter.

6. If you were to put on a big feast, what would you serve?

A. I'd serve Cornish game hens in orange sauce, stuffing, rolls, green beans, spinach, fried yellow squash and zucchini, and chocolate cake with ice cream and/or whipped cream for dessert.

Fortunately, I don't put on big feasts.

7. How do you have fun? (What is your favorite 'Earthly Delight'?)

A. I don't have fun. I'm not even sure I know what the word means. I read for pleasure, I like video games, I enjoy traveling if I am well. I love to write and answer these silly memes and do other blog posts. I enjoy fantasy. But I don't think I have a favorite "earthly delight."

8. Do you often look for hidden messages and meanings?

A. I don't have to look for them. They generally hit me over the head and point themselves out to me.

9. Have you ever received an award or special position?

A. I received a dozen Virginia Press Association awards for my news writing over the years. I was appointed to the local library board and served as its chair. (During my time there we added on to one library and built another.) I served as president of the local historic society for a few years.

10. If a revolution was about to happen in your country, would you be part of it?

A. I think I already am. I think we all are, whether we want to be or not.

11. Have you ever planned an act of revenge?

A. No. At least, not consciously. I don't think that way.

12. What is the most dramatic thing you have ever done?

A. I can't of anything as an adult. When I was a teenager, I ran away from home for a day.

13. Do you care about your weight?

A. I do, but I am not able to manage it.

14. Is your life moving too slowly or too fast?

A. Some days it is a little of both.

15. Do you prefer to stay in the shade?

A. Yes. My medication makes the sun bother me and I do not do "heat" well.

16. If you could have any mural on your ceiling, what would it look like?

A. It would be something the Lord of the Rings movies. Maybe Rivendell.

17. Do you enjoy the countryside?

A. I live on a farm in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. It is the most beautiful countryside in the world.

The view out my office window.

18. Are you a romantic?

A. To a point. I also am well aware of the realities of the world.

19. What is your favorite historic subject?

A. My local history, which I have written about and studied for the last 30 years.

20. Do you prefer landscape paintings?

A. Actually, yes, I do. I also prefer to take landscape or animal pictures over taking photos of people.

21. Are you interested in social issues?

A. Yes, I am. I give to various charities/organizations involved in things I care about and read as much about what is going on in the world as 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.

Saturday 9: I Wish It Would Rain

Saturday 9: I Wish It Would Rain (1968)

. . . because Janelle recommended the Temptations

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

1) This week's song focuses on rain. Ombrophobia -- the fear of rain -- is fairly common in children. How do you feel about rainy days?

A. Rainy days and Mondays always get me down. They even make me talk to myself and feel old and like I want to quit because nothin' ever seems to fit.

2) Lead singer David Ruffin always wore corrective lenses. Are you wearing glasses or contact lenses as you answer these questions?

A. I have on (expensive) progressive lenses. Can't see a thing without 'em.

3) Those thick-rimmed glasses were David's trademark. When he custom-ordered a luxury car, he had the image of those glasses painted on the door. Tell us something that makes your vehicle distinctive.

A. Dirt, I guess. I live on a long dirt driveway and it gets dirty. Otherwise, it's just a white Camry. I don't put stickers on my vehicles. Oh, wait, I have the thing around my license plate that says Hollins Alumnae on it. I guess that would be considered distinctive. I do have that, don't I? Darn. Now I have to go get up and look. I'm back. Yes, I do have that around my license plate. I thought I did.

4) David also had a penchant for mink. Rumor has it that he wore a mink-lined hat and even had that car upholstered in mink. If you could really splurge on anything right now, what would it be? Car? Travel? Clothes? Jewelry? (NO responsible answers allowed.)

A. Let's say I had won the $730 million PowerBall. If I cannot be responsible with it, then I shall own a mansion with 52 rooms, five of those libraries, one full of arcade video games, another full of computers, and the most lavish bathroom this side of golden thrones. I would buy my own jet airplane and hire my own pilot. The plane would be plush, totally first class, with room for about 10 people. I would have four secretaries (excuse me, "personal assistants") to do my bidding, from writing up letters and emails to whatever else I wanted done. I would go to New York and go to some big clothing place (sorry, not up on designers) and have a full wardrobe made for me and my fat butt, one that would make me look like a beautiful big body and not a plunky f*cked up housewife.

5) He sings that he badly wants to go outside. What are your plans for today? Will you be outdoors very much?

A. I need to weed my flowerbed, and if the humidity is low, then I shall do that. Otherwise, I most likely will be inside.

6) The Temptations originally called themselves The Elgins because in 1960, Elgin watches were the high-end timepiece of choice. Today, in the age of cellphones and FitBits, wristwatches aren't that popular anymore. Do you often wear a watch?

A. I wear a watch from the time I get up until I go to bed. I have for as long as I can remember. My favorite watch was a Waltham moon and stars, which got damaged when a jeweler messed up the back changing out the battery. He gave me a new watch in exchange but I never liked it as well as I did that Waltham. That was around 1995. Waltham doesn't make watches like that anymore. It had a dual-colored silver and gold stretch band. It looked something like this, but not exactly:

7) This sad song was inspired by a real-life event. Motown songwriter Rodger Penzabene discovered his wife was cheating on him. Much to his own surprise, he didn't want to divorce or even separate from her; he just wanted her to love him and only him again. Tell us about a time when you didn't react as you thought you would. (Your story doesn't have to be as dramatic as Rodger's.)

A. I surprised myself by the ferocity of my reaction to the November 2016 election.

8) In 1968, when this song was popular, a Pittsburgh McDonald's sold the first Big Mac (two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickle and onion on a sesame seed bun). Describe your perfect hamburger.

A. One beef patty. A bun with a top and bottom and not sesame seed. Cheese. Catsup. Mayo. Lettuce. No onion, no mustard.

9) Random question: When you catch a cold, do you soldier through it? Or are you a big baby?

A. I usually get really sick when I catch a cold because of my asthma, and end up in bed. So I guess I'm a big baby but at the same time I'm not a whiny baby. I just go to bed until I can get back up.

_____________

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

Our "Eclipse Party"

As I noted in a blog post on Monday, I had serious concerns about my camera equipment and my ability to get the photos I wanted during our 90% eclipse.

I had resigned myself to trying to use my Nikon D3200, which doesn't have a movable monitor. This meant that in order to see the eclipse through the monitor and line things up, I was going to have to turn myself into a pretzel or something, since I needed to use a tripod and the self-timer on the camera.

Inspiration hit when I went to the bathroom. No, not that kind of inspiration! I figured out a way to put the solar film over my Nikon Coolpix P500, which is a point and shoot and truly my favorite camera.

 



I placed the solar film over the toilet paper tube, cut the tub in a few places so it would slide over the extension/zoom on my camera, and viola! I could now use the camera with the moveable monitor and the one with the best zoom on it. All I had to do was take the solar film on and off.

This worked well, as you can see from the photos.

With that all set, and my glasses available (including some that Amazon supposedly recalled and said they would refund me for, but no money has yet fallen into my account), my husband and I, along with my mother-in-law, settled in to watch the totality on TV and the eclipse from our area.

My goofy husband models his eclipse glasses.

We went old school, too, and made viewers out of cereal boxes.

My mother-in-law with her ball cap and dark sunglasses.

During the 90% part, it was this dark. The world seemed more like a burnt orange color, which unfortunately did not show up in the photo. But it did grow rather dark. The rooster down the street crowed the entire time the eclipse was going on.

My husband takes a gander at the sun through his special specs.

My mother-in-law looking through her special specs.

It was fun to take the afternoon off and enjoy a Mother Nature show. For me, the best thing was that for a few minutes there, we were once again a united people, with a lot of us, anyway, enjoying a spectacle that didn't involve death or destruction and nothing but warnings to not look at the sun (which you shouldn't do anyhow). See, we can come together and overcome our differences. We just have to do it in the 2 minutes of darkness during a total eclipse.