Sunday Stealing
It's always nice when my husband holds my hand.
Oh, that is a rare bird to be sure.
It's a sure sign of the apocalypse when people deny their own best interests out of stupidity, racism, jealousy, or whatever emotion is ruling them.
Are we having chicken again??!.
My heart is in a million pieces but my husband shelters them all.
Do you believe in magic? I do!
I'm a gypsy living in a cyclone of fury racing through the meadows with my traveling cloak flying behind me.
I was listening to the sounds coming from the stars and the voices I heard told me that the universe is laughing at the earth.
The people go crazy and act like they're possessed when the moon is full.
When we kiss, oooo . . . Fire!
Game of Thrones is the best!
Underneath it all, one finds the absurdity of life and the cold hard truth is that reality is nothing and everything all at once, and what is is not and what will be will not be.
Oh! And thanks for nothing, certain people who are not helping me out when they should be and a few others who have hurt my feelings recently. Here's a gift for you - my middle finger.
And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to watching TV and finishing a book, tomorrow my plans include watching Game of Thrones and Sunday (which is tomorrow, so what's up with this question?), I want to start a new life! One that won't make me sick. One that won't make me nervous, wondering what to do. One that makes me feel the way I feel when I'm . . . oh geez, I'm channeling Huey Lewis & the News.
__________
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.
Sunday, April 14, 2019
Saturday, April 13, 2019
Saturday 9: April Love
Saturday 9: April Love (1957)
Unfamiliar with this week's song? Hear it here.
1) In this song, Pat Boone sings that April love is a wonder reserved for the very young. Do you think the sensation of falling in love changes as we grow older?
A. Love changes as you age but I don't know if the initial sensation is different. An old love, like mine, is more like an old sneaker, well-worn and well-loved, while new love is heady, giddy, and like a pair of dance shoes. I don't know if that is any different if you are older. I suspect not.
2) "April Love" reached #1 on the charts. Between this song and "Love Letters in the Sand," Pat Boone had a career year. Only one artist sold more records in 1957: Elvis Presley. When you think of Elvis, what's the first song that comes to mind?
A. My Way.
3) Pat was extremely busy in high school. He wrote for the school paper, ran track, and acted in school plays. Share a memory of your extracurricular activities during high school.
A. I played in the band, where I sat through cold football games and in overheated gyms for basketball games, all so we could play the fight song.
4) It was his track coach who introduced Pat to the new girl in school, Shirley Foley. Three years later Pat and Shirley married, and remained man and wife for 65 years, until her death earlier this year. Who is the longest married couple you know?
A. Some of my friends are near their 40th year of marriage. Most of the other folks I can think of are widowed now.
5) Pat has lived in the same house for more than 60 years. He once received an offer to sell it for $18,000,000 but turned it down because it's the Boone family home and he simply doesn't want to leave. Do you plan on moving in the foreseeable future?
A. No.
6) Pat has a warm friendship with his neighbors, Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne. Pat has mentioned in interviews that he has enjoyed bike rides around Beverly Hills with Sharon. Tell us about one of your neighbors.
A. My neighbor Lanetta is about 78 years old, give or take a year or two, and she is a farmer. She was the athletic director at my alma mater for a long time and was quite instrumental in instituting Title IX athletics for women in Virginia. Here's a video about her. She has been named to four halls of fame for women’s lacrosse: Hollins, the University of Richmond, US Lacrosse, and Virginia Lacrosse. The Virginia Umpiring Award for Service and Devotion to the game is known as the Lanetta T. Ware Award. Additionally, The Blue Ridge Board of Officials offers The Lanetta Ware Service Award to the individual who has demonstrated a lifetime of service to sports through umpiring. Ware was an internationally rated lacrosse umpire, working for 28 years at the collegiate level, and is a recognized authority on field hockey, having officiated in a number of national and international field hockey competitions.
7) Mr. Boone was very critical of Barack Obama, enthusiastically supports Donald Trump, and has appeared on Fox News to express his views. How do you feel about celebrities talking politics?
A. They have a right to express their opinions just like the rest of us. Unfortunately, too many people are unable to differentiate between opinion and fact anymore.
8) In 1957, the year this song was popular, Dr. Ian Donald pioneered the use of ultrasound technology. Today ultrasounds are commonly used by doctors in diagnosing conditions affecting the eyes, blood vessels, kidneys, gall bladder and more. Have you ever had an ultrasound?
A. Yes, I have had numerous ultrasounds, mostly when I was trying to conceive a child and suffering from severe endometriosis that kept creating massive cysts on my ovaries that would then twist and become septic, forcing a surgery. I had 9 abdominal surgeries before they finally did a hysterectomy because I was young and because as a woman I had no say over my own body and couldn't just say, "Give me a damn hysterectomy." They wouldn't because, "you might get lucky and have a child" even though the odds were like 1 in a 1000 that would happen. I finally had the hysterectomy when I was 29. Still paying for the problems with scar tissue issues, thank you very much all you stupid doctors who wouldn't perform a hysterectomy when I was 24 years old and writhing in pain and begging for one.
9) Random question: You're sitting alone in a restaurant, waiting for a friend. The waiter brings you a drink and the compliments of a member of the opposite sex seated at the bar. What's your reaction? Are you flattered, shocked, embarrassed, intrigued or annoyed?
A. I would be afraid I was being set up to be robbed, because who pays attention to an overweight old lady? Nobody. Maybe they want my iPhone.
___________
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. (#280)
Unfamiliar with this week's song? Hear it here.
1) In this song, Pat Boone sings that April love is a wonder reserved for the very young. Do you think the sensation of falling in love changes as we grow older?
A. Love changes as you age but I don't know if the initial sensation is different. An old love, like mine, is more like an old sneaker, well-worn and well-loved, while new love is heady, giddy, and like a pair of dance shoes. I don't know if that is any different if you are older. I suspect not.
2) "April Love" reached #1 on the charts. Between this song and "Love Letters in the Sand," Pat Boone had a career year. Only one artist sold more records in 1957: Elvis Presley. When you think of Elvis, what's the first song that comes to mind?
A. My Way.
3) Pat was extremely busy in high school. He wrote for the school paper, ran track, and acted in school plays. Share a memory of your extracurricular activities during high school.
A. I played in the band, where I sat through cold football games and in overheated gyms for basketball games, all so we could play the fight song.
4) It was his track coach who introduced Pat to the new girl in school, Shirley Foley. Three years later Pat and Shirley married, and remained man and wife for 65 years, until her death earlier this year. Who is the longest married couple you know?
A. Some of my friends are near their 40th year of marriage. Most of the other folks I can think of are widowed now.
5) Pat has lived in the same house for more than 60 years. He once received an offer to sell it for $18,000,000 but turned it down because it's the Boone family home and he simply doesn't want to leave. Do you plan on moving in the foreseeable future?
A. No.
6) Pat has a warm friendship with his neighbors, Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne. Pat has mentioned in interviews that he has enjoyed bike rides around Beverly Hills with Sharon. Tell us about one of your neighbors.
A. My neighbor Lanetta is about 78 years old, give or take a year or two, and she is a farmer. She was the athletic director at my alma mater for a long time and was quite instrumental in instituting Title IX athletics for women in Virginia. Here's a video about her. She has been named to four halls of fame for women’s lacrosse: Hollins, the University of Richmond, US Lacrosse, and Virginia Lacrosse. The Virginia Umpiring Award for Service and Devotion to the game is known as the Lanetta T. Ware Award. Additionally, The Blue Ridge Board of Officials offers The Lanetta Ware Service Award to the individual who has demonstrated a lifetime of service to sports through umpiring. Ware was an internationally rated lacrosse umpire, working for 28 years at the collegiate level, and is a recognized authority on field hockey, having officiated in a number of national and international field hockey competitions.
7) Mr. Boone was very critical of Barack Obama, enthusiastically supports Donald Trump, and has appeared on Fox News to express his views. How do you feel about celebrities talking politics?
A. They have a right to express their opinions just like the rest of us. Unfortunately, too many people are unable to differentiate between opinion and fact anymore.
8) In 1957, the year this song was popular, Dr. Ian Donald pioneered the use of ultrasound technology. Today ultrasounds are commonly used by doctors in diagnosing conditions affecting the eyes, blood vessels, kidneys, gall bladder and more. Have you ever had an ultrasound?
A. Yes, I have had numerous ultrasounds, mostly when I was trying to conceive a child and suffering from severe endometriosis that kept creating massive cysts on my ovaries that would then twist and become septic, forcing a surgery. I had 9 abdominal surgeries before they finally did a hysterectomy because I was young and because as a woman I had no say over my own body and couldn't just say, "Give me a damn hysterectomy." They wouldn't because, "you might get lucky and have a child" even though the odds were like 1 in a 1000 that would happen. I finally had the hysterectomy when I was 29. Still paying for the problems with scar tissue issues, thank you very much all you stupid doctors who wouldn't perform a hysterectomy when I was 24 years old and writhing in pain and begging for one.
9) Random question: You're sitting alone in a restaurant, waiting for a friend. The waiter brings you a drink and the compliments of a member of the opposite sex seated at the bar. What's your reaction? Are you flattered, shocked, embarrassed, intrigued or annoyed?
A. I would be afraid I was being set up to be robbed, because who pays attention to an overweight old lady? Nobody. Maybe they want my iPhone.
___________
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. (#280)
Friday, April 12, 2019
A Perfect Day
Waking with sleepies in my eyes
my heart soft from a dream
where people were nice, friendly, calm
life is good.
Shower is hot, bacon is warm, eggs scrambled
like a jigsaw puzzle in a box
a little exercise Tai Chi in the grass
just to be good.
Reading on a novel where the heroine is moving
forward to become a better someone
because character building is what it takes
to make a novel good.
Sipping on a cool glass of water
hearing turkeys gobble in the distance
watching a deer graze in the field
this is good.
Hearing from a friend someone who loves me
regardless of who I think I am because that is
not really who I am
because I am good.
A soft kiss, a quiet sigh, holding hands
in the twilight watching the sun sink below
North Mountain, catching the first glimpse of starlight
oh it is good.
_____________________
Linking up with Kwizgiver's April Challenge. You can find the prompts here.
my heart soft from a dream
where people were nice, friendly, calm
life is good.
Shower is hot, bacon is warm, eggs scrambled
like a jigsaw puzzle in a box
a little exercise Tai Chi in the grass
just to be good.
Reading on a novel where the heroine is moving
forward to become a better someone
because character building is what it takes
to make a novel good.
Sipping on a cool glass of water
hearing turkeys gobble in the distance
watching a deer graze in the field
this is good.
Hearing from a friend someone who loves me
regardless of who I think I am because that is
not really who I am
because I am good.
A soft kiss, a quiet sigh, holding hands
in the twilight watching the sun sink below
North Mountain, catching the first glimpse of starlight
oh it is good.
_____________________
Linking up with Kwizgiver's April Challenge. You can find the prompts here.
Thursday, April 11, 2019
Thursday Thirteen
It's National Poetry Month. Here are 13 stanzas from some of my poetry. These are actually unfinished. Some I hadn't looked at in years. They were in my poetry folder on my computer.
---
The day the harpoon
cut my hand in half
I was clinging to you
like a mollusk to a hull.
You flung me ashore,
no water, no food,
left me bleeding in salty
tangy water, with sharks
circling all around.
----
Dawn breaks down the darkness
sending sunshine trickling
like water over rocks,
gems glistening on sandy beaches.
Dawn beams down on earth
warming soils, bringing growth
to sprigs of trees,
petals to flowers,
soft like clouds.
Dawn shines over mountaintops
sending shadows on towns.
Children quiver, close their eyes,
thank God, they see
a light.
----
See, the zebra had stripes
with spots and sprinkles
but God, Almighty, looked,
laughed, and lightly sent Angels
to correct His mistake.
The God, Almighty, neglected
to mention His errors
to the writers of His Ways,
those dudes who wrote that Bible.
Like Paul and Peter, the one
with Pumpkins, who splattered and bled
all over some town.
While God, Almighty, watched
Sonny & Cher on a big screen.
----
Deer bathe serenely in sunlight
Acorns at their hooves.
Autumn comes.
Leaves turn dull brown
flung to the earth
by ruthless winds.
Rains slash skies,
gray, dark, light dimming
like a mother
drowning love.
Autumn comes.
Guns bark out death
while leaves fall
and I leave you.
----
Jezebel jerks and whirls
a spinning top, telling
tales, mothers’ wail,
waves swell, water falls
people fall, buildings tall
hear the cries
turn of eyes
hearts of sighs
no goodbyes.
----------------------------
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 599th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.
---
The day the harpoon
cut my hand in half
I was clinging to you
like a mollusk to a hull.
You flung me ashore,
no water, no food,
left me bleeding in salty
tangy water, with sharks
circling all around.
----
Dawn breaks down the darkness
sending sunshine trickling
like water over rocks,
gems glistening on sandy beaches.
Dawn beams down on earth
warming soils, bringing growth
to sprigs of trees,
petals to flowers,
soft like clouds.
Dawn shines over mountaintops
sending shadows on towns.
Children quiver, close their eyes,
thank God, they see
a light.
----
See, the zebra had stripes
with spots and sprinkles
but God, Almighty, looked,
laughed, and lightly sent Angels
to correct His mistake.
The God, Almighty, neglected
to mention His errors
to the writers of His Ways,
those dudes who wrote that Bible.
Like Paul and Peter, the one
with Pumpkins, who splattered and bled
all over some town.
While God, Almighty, watched
Sonny & Cher on a big screen.
----
Deer bathe serenely in sunlight
Acorns at their hooves.
Autumn comes.
Leaves turn dull brown
flung to the earth
by ruthless winds.
Rains slash skies,
gray, dark, light dimming
like a mother
drowning love.
Autumn comes.
Guns bark out death
while leaves fall
and I leave you.
----
Jezebel jerks and whirls
a spinning top, telling
tales, mothers’ wail,
waves swell, water falls
people fall, buildings tall
hear the cries
turn of eyes
hearts of sighs
no goodbyes.
----------------------------
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 599th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.
Wednesday, April 10, 2019
A Place I've Never Visited
Maybe the grass is maroon
glowing brightly in darkness
beneath two moons that skim the mountains
made of mushrooms
with a horizon the color of a brilliant sword
honed to the finest point.
Maybe the trees walk in that bright moonlight
clasping hands and greeting each other
old friends with many things and nothing
to say as the long drawn out evening wears on
because this place has no sunshine
not really
only a hazy glaze that brightens into twilight
a shimmer that fades quietly away.
Maybe the animals talk and there are no people
not people like we think of people, anyway
and the beings that inhabit this place do not
destroy or create hierarchies or consider one
better than another because they know
true equality exists only when you can see
that the planet will outlast you
and you're only an ant, if they have ants.
Maybe this place exists in the Delta Quadrant
far away in another galaxy
light years and generations away
a place I will never see
or maybe it is on the dust mote
beneath my feet and I am the shadow,
my sneakers the moons
my heartbeat the rhythm,
the only sound of this world.
_____________________
Linking up with Kwizgiver's April Challenge. You can find the prompts here.
glowing brightly in darkness
beneath two moons that skim the mountains
made of mushrooms
with a horizon the color of a brilliant sword
honed to the finest point.
Maybe the trees walk in that bright moonlight
clasping hands and greeting each other
old friends with many things and nothing
to say as the long drawn out evening wears on
because this place has no sunshine
not really
only a hazy glaze that brightens into twilight
a shimmer that fades quietly away.
Maybe the animals talk and there are no people
not people like we think of people, anyway
and the beings that inhabit this place do not
destroy or create hierarchies or consider one
better than another because they know
true equality exists only when you can see
that the planet will outlast you
and you're only an ant, if they have ants.
Maybe this place exists in the Delta Quadrant
far away in another galaxy
light years and generations away
a place I will never see
or maybe it is on the dust mote
beneath my feet and I am the shadow,
my sneakers the moons
my heartbeat the rhythm,
the only sound of this world.
_____________________
Linking up with Kwizgiver's April Challenge. You can find the prompts here.
Tuesday, April 09, 2019
How Turkeys Mate
This morning I saw a first - I saw a gobbler catch his hen and have his way with her.
It started out odd. The hen was on the ground in front of the gobbler, almost like she'd bowed down to him. Then he climbed on top of her. I was watching from a window and I confess my first thought was, "What the hell is going on?" and then I realized, as I watched the gobbler start to thrust, that they were having sex.
I had not given much thought to how turkeys have sex.
It went on long enough for me to leave the bedroom and into my office to grab a camera and get back to the window in time to take about 35 photos. I mean, how often do you get to see this?
Like, next to never.
This is from a science website:
"If the female turkey is receptive to his advances she will lower herself in front of the male. The male hops up on top of the female to mate with her. Sperm is transferred from the male's cloaca to the female's cloaca. The cloaca is the name for the vent that leads to the turkeys' sex organs. The turkeys place their vents next to each other in order to allow the transference of sperm."
So that is what I was watching in scientific terms.
Holy cow. Or maybe "totally turkey."
It started out odd. The hen was on the ground in front of the gobbler, almost like she'd bowed down to him. Then he climbed on top of her. I was watching from a window and I confess my first thought was, "What the hell is going on?" and then I realized, as I watched the gobbler start to thrust, that they were having sex.
I had not given much thought to how turkeys have sex.
It went on long enough for me to leave the bedroom and into my office to grab a camera and get back to the window in time to take about 35 photos. I mean, how often do you get to see this?
Like, next to never.
This is from a science website:
"If the female turkey is receptive to his advances she will lower herself in front of the male. The male hops up on top of the female to mate with her. Sperm is transferred from the male's cloaca to the female's cloaca. The cloaca is the name for the vent that leads to the turkeys' sex organs. The turkeys place their vents next to each other in order to allow the transference of sperm."
So that is what I was watching in scientific terms.
Holy cow. Or maybe "totally turkey."
Monday, April 08, 2019
Things in Common
I have several people whom I consider best friends, but my very best friend is my husband.
He and I are two very different people, and sometimes I wonder how it is that we've remained married and friends for 35 years. After such a long time, one might think two very different personalities would be sick of one another.
However, we have a few things in common. We both have a great sense of humor. While he tends more toward what I call "garbage" humor, as in, say, Monty Python or bathroom jokes, I am more sardonic and my humor is more of an off-the-cuff variety. However, my husband has taught me the value of a good laugh at a great fart joke (or a great fart), because after you live with someone for so long, you're just going to fart in front of one another. At some point, you may as well laugh about it. And now that I've read somewhere that smelling farts can keep one from having dementia, we have now nicknamed farts the anti-dementia gas. Go figure.
We also both love the rural life, although I like to look at it and take pictures of it from inside the house while he prefers to be out in the fields riding around in a tractor. Still, I'd rather look at fields of orchard grass than the backside of someone else's house. We both embrace the wildlife, me with my camera and he with his shotgun sometimes, but even so, we have a mutual respect for the land and what Mother Nature has given us to care for. For a time we had a garden, but between fighting off the deer and other animals and aging, we've given up on that for the most part. Even so, there are days when I enjoy having my hands in the dirt of my flower bed, while he enjoys having the dirt all over him. How's that for something in common?
Another thing we have in common is that we're both rather, um, thrifty. We don't spend money on stuff unless we have to. We have stuff around here that's 30 years old. So long as it still works, it will still be here another 30. However, we will spend money on important things, like nephews and nieces and home improvements and stuff like that.
And that's my thought for the day.
_____________________
Linking up with Kwizgiver's April Challenge. You can find the prompts here.
He and I are two very different people, and sometimes I wonder how it is that we've remained married and friends for 35 years. After such a long time, one might think two very different personalities would be sick of one another.
However, we have a few things in common. We both have a great sense of humor. While he tends more toward what I call "garbage" humor, as in, say, Monty Python or bathroom jokes, I am more sardonic and my humor is more of an off-the-cuff variety. However, my husband has taught me the value of a good laugh at a great fart joke (or a great fart), because after you live with someone for so long, you're just going to fart in front of one another. At some point, you may as well laugh about it. And now that I've read somewhere that smelling farts can keep one from having dementia, we have now nicknamed farts the anti-dementia gas. Go figure.
We also both love the rural life, although I like to look at it and take pictures of it from inside the house while he prefers to be out in the fields riding around in a tractor. Still, I'd rather look at fields of orchard grass than the backside of someone else's house. We both embrace the wildlife, me with my camera and he with his shotgun sometimes, but even so, we have a mutual respect for the land and what Mother Nature has given us to care for. For a time we had a garden, but between fighting off the deer and other animals and aging, we've given up on that for the most part. Even so, there are days when I enjoy having my hands in the dirt of my flower bed, while he enjoys having the dirt all over him. How's that for something in common?
Another thing we have in common is that we're both rather, um, thrifty. We don't spend money on stuff unless we have to. We have stuff around here that's 30 years old. So long as it still works, it will still be here another 30. However, we will spend money on important things, like nephews and nieces and home improvements and stuff like that.
And that's my thought for the day.
_____________________
Linking up with Kwizgiver's April Challenge. You can find the prompts here.
Sunday, April 07, 2019
Sunday Stealing
Sunday Stealing
1. If you could build a second house anywhere, where would it be?
A. Somewhere where it stays a little warmer in the winter. Georgia, maybe, if I could find a blue enclave in that state.
2. What are your favorite articles of clothing?
A. Apparently sweat pants and t-shirts, since that is mostly what I wear.
3. The last CD you bought or downloaded?
A. I think it was the latest Rolling Stones album, which I purchased for my husband.
4. What time do you generally wake up in the morning?
A. My alarm goes off at 6:15 a.m.
5. What is your favorite kitchen appliance?
A. The dishwasher.
6. If you could play an instrument, what would it be?
A. I play the guitar already.
7. What is your favorite color?
A. Blue.
8. Do you believe in the afterlife?
A. I believe we are all part of the universe and when we die we become one with it. We are breathing the air of our ancestors and tilling the soil upon which they tread. Others will do the same with me. My body will feed the worms and my heart will make a tree grow. I'm perfectly content with that.
9. Your favorite children’s book?
A. Anne of Green Gables, by L. M. Montgomery
10. Can you juggle?
A. I don't think so. :::makes an effort with a few ink pens::: Nope.
11. What’s your favorite day of the week?
A. I don't really have one. I think for six weeks it will be Sunday, when Game of Thrones premieres its final season next week.
12. Which do you prefer, sushi or hamburger?
A. I've never had sushi and have no plans to have sushi, so I will go with a hamburger. Besides, I'm allergic to fish.
13. What is your favorite flower?
A. An iris.
14. What is your favorite meal?
A. If my stomach wasn't constantly aggravated, I'd say pizza without thinking about it. But I haven't had a pizza in a couple of years, I guess.
15. Describe your ideal weather.
A. Sunny and temperatures around 72 degrees with a slight breeze and an occasional cloud in crystal blue skies. Although I can also get into a good thunderstorm.
16. What is your favorite ice cream?
A. I don't eat ice cream; milk products bother me. I do eat chocolate frozen yogurt, though.
17. What is your favorite breakfast?
A. Scrambled eggs, bacon, grits, biscuits and gravy.
18. Where did you meet your spouse or significant other?
A. At a high school football game.
Bonus: What is something you’d like to do that you’ve never done before?
A. Hike to McAfee's Knob.
__________
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 you could build a second house anywhere, where would it be?
A. Somewhere where it stays a little warmer in the winter. Georgia, maybe, if I could find a blue enclave in that state.
2. What are your favorite articles of clothing?
A. Apparently sweat pants and t-shirts, since that is mostly what I wear.
3. The last CD you bought or downloaded?
A. I think it was the latest Rolling Stones album, which I purchased for my husband.
4. What time do you generally wake up in the morning?
A. My alarm goes off at 6:15 a.m.
5. What is your favorite kitchen appliance?
A. The dishwasher.
6. If you could play an instrument, what would it be?
A. I play the guitar already.
7. What is your favorite color?
A. Blue.
8. Do you believe in the afterlife?
A. I believe we are all part of the universe and when we die we become one with it. We are breathing the air of our ancestors and tilling the soil upon which they tread. Others will do the same with me. My body will feed the worms and my heart will make a tree grow. I'm perfectly content with that.
9. Your favorite children’s book?
A. Anne of Green Gables, by L. M. Montgomery
10. Can you juggle?
A. I don't think so. :::makes an effort with a few ink pens::: Nope.
11. What’s your favorite day of the week?
A. I don't really have one. I think for six weeks it will be Sunday, when Game of Thrones premieres its final season next week.
12. Which do you prefer, sushi or hamburger?
A. I've never had sushi and have no plans to have sushi, so I will go with a hamburger. Besides, I'm allergic to fish.
13. What is your favorite flower?
A. An iris.
14. What is your favorite meal?
A. If my stomach wasn't constantly aggravated, I'd say pizza without thinking about it. But I haven't had a pizza in a couple of years, I guess.
15. Describe your ideal weather.
A. Sunny and temperatures around 72 degrees with a slight breeze and an occasional cloud in crystal blue skies. Although I can also get into a good thunderstorm.
16. What is your favorite ice cream?
A. I don't eat ice cream; milk products bother me. I do eat chocolate frozen yogurt, though.
17. What is your favorite breakfast?
A. Scrambled eggs, bacon, grits, biscuits and gravy.
18. Where did you meet your spouse or significant other?
A. At a high school football game.
Bonus: What is something you’d like to do that you’ve never done before?
A. Hike to McAfee's Knob.
__________
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, April 06, 2019
Saturday 9: Turn Back Time
Saturday 9: If I Could Turn Back Time (1989)
Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.
1) The official video for this song was filmed on board the battleship USS Missouri. When is the last time you were on a boat or ship?
A. We took a little boat tour around Myrtle Beach some years ago. So sometime in the last 20 years.
2) This song was written by Diane Warren. Ms. Warren has written love songs recorded by Celine Dion, Toni Braxton, LeAnn Rimes and more, yet she's never married and has really only had one serious romantic relationship. She acknowledges this makes her an unusual spokeswoman for the glory and pain of love. When you have a relationship problem, who do you go to for advice?
A. If it's a problem with a friend, I ask my husband. If it's a problem with my husband, and I usually don't ask anyone though I may occasionally ask a friend if I can't puzzle it out. I prefer not to talk about my marriage issues.
3) In this song, Cher wishes she could turn back time and have a different conversation with a former lover, changing what she said to him. Here at Saturday 9, we're not so ambitious with our time travel. We're only going back to yesterday. Is there anything you'd do differently?
A. Yes. I would have slept with a different mouth guard or something, because for two days in a row now I've awakened to find my jaw is locked shut from grinding my teeth. Apparently my mouth guard is not helping.
4) In 1966, Cher and her then-husband Sonny sang at a private birthday party for Jacqueline Kennedy. At first, Cher didn't want to do it, thinking that performing to a small gathering would be awkward. But it turned out to be a wonderful opportunity for her. That night, she met Diana Vreeland, the editor of Vogue. Vreeland liked Cher's look so much she set up a photo shoot. Cher, who always loved experimenting with hair and makeup, enjoyed the shoot immensely. Tell us about a social gathering where you had an unexpectedly good time.
A. I had a better time at my high school reunion in 2011 than I expected to. Now isn't it sad I have to go back 8 years to think of something?
5) At that same party, Cher said she was surprised by how big Jackie's hands were. Do you like your hands?
A. My fingers are a bit short and I keep my nails clipped very short in an effort to keep from chewing on them. Anyone interested in palm reading?
6) One night, before a performance in Detroit, Cher saw a little furry something under one of her tour buses. It was a kitten that that she named Mr. Big, hoping he would grow into the name. He did, and the tomcat was her constant companion for four years until he died of a congenital heart ailment. She has said that she will "never not miss him." Is there a furry companion who has a special place in your memories?
A. I had a dog named Ginger for 17 years after my husband and I married. She lived a very long time for a dog.
7) Cher recently appeared in Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again. It's the second movie based on the music of ABBA. What's your favorite ABBA song?
A. Chiquitita.
8) In 1989 -- the year this song was popular -- Mattel released a series of special "Scarlett O'Hara" Barbie doll to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Gone with the Wind. Did you enjoy the classic movie? Have you read the book?
A. I started the book and never finished it. I've seen parts of the movie but I've never watched the entire thing. Yes, I am embarrassment to the south.
9) Random question -- Check your spam folder and tell us one of the subject lines.
A. "Over 10K in debt? Help is on the way."
___________
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.
Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.
1) The official video for this song was filmed on board the battleship USS Missouri. When is the last time you were on a boat or ship?
A. We took a little boat tour around Myrtle Beach some years ago. So sometime in the last 20 years.
2) This song was written by Diane Warren. Ms. Warren has written love songs recorded by Celine Dion, Toni Braxton, LeAnn Rimes and more, yet she's never married and has really only had one serious romantic relationship. She acknowledges this makes her an unusual spokeswoman for the glory and pain of love. When you have a relationship problem, who do you go to for advice?
A. If it's a problem with a friend, I ask my husband. If it's a problem with my husband, and I usually don't ask anyone though I may occasionally ask a friend if I can't puzzle it out. I prefer not to talk about my marriage issues.
3) In this song, Cher wishes she could turn back time and have a different conversation with a former lover, changing what she said to him. Here at Saturday 9, we're not so ambitious with our time travel. We're only going back to yesterday. Is there anything you'd do differently?
A. Yes. I would have slept with a different mouth guard or something, because for two days in a row now I've awakened to find my jaw is locked shut from grinding my teeth. Apparently my mouth guard is not helping.
4) In 1966, Cher and her then-husband Sonny sang at a private birthday party for Jacqueline Kennedy. At first, Cher didn't want to do it, thinking that performing to a small gathering would be awkward. But it turned out to be a wonderful opportunity for her. That night, she met Diana Vreeland, the editor of Vogue. Vreeland liked Cher's look so much she set up a photo shoot. Cher, who always loved experimenting with hair and makeup, enjoyed the shoot immensely. Tell us about a social gathering where you had an unexpectedly good time.
A. I had a better time at my high school reunion in 2011 than I expected to. Now isn't it sad I have to go back 8 years to think of something?
5) At that same party, Cher said she was surprised by how big Jackie's hands were. Do you like your hands?
A. My fingers are a bit short and I keep my nails clipped very short in an effort to keep from chewing on them. Anyone interested in palm reading?
 |
| I don't even have a health line. No wonder I'm sick all the time. |
6) One night, before a performance in Detroit, Cher saw a little furry something under one of her tour buses. It was a kitten that that she named Mr. Big, hoping he would grow into the name. He did, and the tomcat was her constant companion for four years until he died of a congenital heart ailment. She has said that she will "never not miss him." Is there a furry companion who has a special place in your memories?
A. I had a dog named Ginger for 17 years after my husband and I married. She lived a very long time for a dog.
7) Cher recently appeared in Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again. It's the second movie based on the music of ABBA. What's your favorite ABBA song?
A. Chiquitita.
8) In 1989 -- the year this song was popular -- Mattel released a series of special "Scarlett O'Hara" Barbie doll to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Gone with the Wind. Did you enjoy the classic movie? Have you read the book?
A. I started the book and never finished it. I've seen parts of the movie but I've never watched the entire thing. Yes, I am embarrassment to the south.
9) Random question -- Check your spam folder and tell us one of the subject lines.
A. "Over 10K in debt? Help is on the way."
___________
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, April 04, 2019
Thursday Thirteen
Today I finished listening to In Pieces, a memoir by Sally Field. It was much darker than I anticipated and I think many people would find it enlightening, especially with regards to women in theater and television, along with the current wave of #metoo.
So here are thirteen quotes by Sally Field that I found on the Internet. They are not from the book.
1. My agent said, "You aren't good enough for movies." I said, "You're fired."
2. [upon accepting her 1985 Best Actress Oscar] This means so much more to me this time, I don't know why. I think the first time I hardly felt it because it was all too new. But I want to say "Thank you" to you. I haven't had an orthodox career. And I've wanted more than anything to have your respect. The first time I didn't feel it. But this time I feel it. And I can't deny the fact that you like me . . . right now . . . you like me. Thank you.
3. My country is still so repressed. Our idea of what is sexual is blonde hair, long legs, 22 years old. It has nothing to do with humour, intelligence, warmth, everything to do with teeth and cleavage.
4. Norma Rae (1979) is inspirational because it's the type of film where one person can be heard.
5. Forrest Gump (1994) is filled full of moments where your heart just cheers.
6. There are not a lot of places for an actor to explore what it's like to be a woman in her 60s. There aren't any films about it and there very few TV series about it.
7. [on trying her hand at golf] I would go to all these locations and think ... why don't I play golf? People walk around and enjoy God, God's gifts, the trees, so I think I've always thought I should have that in my life.
8. [In 2004, recalling her TV show The Flying Nun (1967) to Archive of American Television] I always certainly tried to do my best with it but deeply didn't want to do it. It went for 3 years. It was hugely important time in my life, because I learned a lot, because I didn't want to do it, and because I hated it every day. I hated the garbage. I felt it was just trivia that I had to say. With Gidget (1965), there was some kernel of something real in it. It was the father-daughter relationship that I always could hang on. But there was nothing in the nun that I could make sense out of. It made no sense to me. It was just drivel. And people when they hear me talk like that, they get very angry, "Oh, I grew up with that! I loved it." Well, God bless gesund that you loved it, but it was drivel and nonsense. There wasn't any piece of it that had any human behavior in it. And that bothered me....Madeleine Sherwood, who played Mother Superior, recognized my depression and how difficult this was for me and she recognized why, and she took me to the Actor's Studio. I didn't know that's where I needed to be, and it came a huge turning point in my life.
9. Being a mom is everything. It's mentorship, it's inspirational, its our hope for the future.
10. The industry has always, but certainly now to a huge degree, played to young men, and made a self-fulfilling prophecy about films that aren't directed toward young men by saying there's no audience for it. So they put no money in it, they don't promote it, and then when it doesn't make as much money as the films for young boys, they say, "You see?"
11. Having a long-term career is really about how to ride it and not be rigid. Keep asking yourself "What really blows my skirts up?" To me, it's finding the work.
12. I believe if you have the money, couples should have separate bedrooms. There's something unnatural about sleeping in the same bed, dressing in the same closet, sharing everything.
13. I think I'm much darker than people suspect.
----------------------------
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 598th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.
So here are thirteen quotes by Sally Field that I found on the Internet. They are not from the book.
1. My agent said, "You aren't good enough for movies." I said, "You're fired."
2. [upon accepting her 1985 Best Actress Oscar] This means so much more to me this time, I don't know why. I think the first time I hardly felt it because it was all too new. But I want to say "Thank you" to you. I haven't had an orthodox career. And I've wanted more than anything to have your respect. The first time I didn't feel it. But this time I feel it. And I can't deny the fact that you like me . . . right now . . . you like me. Thank you.
3. My country is still so repressed. Our idea of what is sexual is blonde hair, long legs, 22 years old. It has nothing to do with humour, intelligence, warmth, everything to do with teeth and cleavage.
4. Norma Rae (1979) is inspirational because it's the type of film where one person can be heard.
5. Forrest Gump (1994) is filled full of moments where your heart just cheers.
6. There are not a lot of places for an actor to explore what it's like to be a woman in her 60s. There aren't any films about it and there very few TV series about it.
7. [on trying her hand at golf] I would go to all these locations and think ... why don't I play golf? People walk around and enjoy God, God's gifts, the trees, so I think I've always thought I should have that in my life.
8. [In 2004, recalling her TV show The Flying Nun (1967) to Archive of American Television] I always certainly tried to do my best with it but deeply didn't want to do it. It went for 3 years. It was hugely important time in my life, because I learned a lot, because I didn't want to do it, and because I hated it every day. I hated the garbage. I felt it was just trivia that I had to say. With Gidget (1965), there was some kernel of something real in it. It was the father-daughter relationship that I always could hang on. But there was nothing in the nun that I could make sense out of. It made no sense to me. It was just drivel. And people when they hear me talk like that, they get very angry, "Oh, I grew up with that! I loved it." Well, God bless gesund that you loved it, but it was drivel and nonsense. There wasn't any piece of it that had any human behavior in it. And that bothered me....Madeleine Sherwood, who played Mother Superior, recognized my depression and how difficult this was for me and she recognized why, and she took me to the Actor's Studio. I didn't know that's where I needed to be, and it came a huge turning point in my life.
9. Being a mom is everything. It's mentorship, it's inspirational, its our hope for the future.
10. The industry has always, but certainly now to a huge degree, played to young men, and made a self-fulfilling prophecy about films that aren't directed toward young men by saying there's no audience for it. So they put no money in it, they don't promote it, and then when it doesn't make as much money as the films for young boys, they say, "You see?"
11. Having a long-term career is really about how to ride it and not be rigid. Keep asking yourself "What really blows my skirts up?" To me, it's finding the work.
12. I believe if you have the money, couples should have separate bedrooms. There's something unnatural about sleeping in the same bed, dressing in the same closet, sharing everything.
13. I think I'm much darker than people suspect.
----------------------------
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 598th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.
Wednesday, April 03, 2019
Hair of the Dog
My hair is a problem.
No, that is not true. My hair is doing what hair does - grow and turn gray.
The problem is I don't have a regular place to go for a haircut.
This began back in November when my hairdresser of 30+ years retired. She gave little warning of her decision and I was left with a few names and a prayer.
When I became a little shaggy in December, I went to a walk-in place and the girl did an okay job. In early January, I went to a woman I have known all of my life and she did a nice job, but I thought she overcharged me by about $10. She also only works three days a week and is hard to get in to see.
I ended up back at the walk-in place in early February. I saw a different person who gave me the second-worst haircut I have ever had in my life. (The worst haircut occurred when I was 20 and getting ready to be married. I mean literally just two weeks from my wedding day.)
In early March, I went to a different walk-in place and that was a good haircut and a decent price. But it is a 30-minute drive away.
Today I returned to the place where I'd went for 30 years, only to see a different stylist. I was hunting for a familiarity in this effort, thinking the familiar surroundings would offer comfort.
I don't think I will go back.
It is easy to do things out of habit and complacency. For some time, when I was seeing my old beautician (let's call her Barb for fun - that is not her name), I'd noticed that when I left the salon I stunk. Not as in sweaty stink but as in perm or hair solution or something stink. For a good two or three years, maybe longer, after Barb cut my hair once a month, I then came home and took a second shower.
If I didn't my asthma kicked in and that is no fun.
I'd forgotten that problem in my hopes of easing the unease I feel wandering into strange places in hunting a hair dresser. I remembered it today while I was sitting in the chair having my hair trimmed. I guess a place that has been a hair salon for 30 years is going to smell like perms and hair solution, and that stuff is going to get on your clothes so badly that you have to come home, shower, and wash even your light jacket because it picks up the scent.
Mostly, though, I won't go back because the stylist today told me that Barb had returned to work part-time, and was working three days a week. But Barb hadn't let me know. I was stung and hurt when I learned of this. Thirty years of loyalty and this was my reward?
This is now my choice, to roam about hunting for a hair stylist. I hope I never tie myself to one person for beauty treatments again.
Maybe it is better to look a little different every month (even if it is with the Second Worst Haircut of Your Life).
Perhaps it builds character.
Life is a little more complicated every day, and it shouldn't be so difficult. But I'm not going to let it bother me, because it is only hair.
No, that is not true. My hair is doing what hair does - grow and turn gray.
The problem is I don't have a regular place to go for a haircut.
This began back in November when my hairdresser of 30+ years retired. She gave little warning of her decision and I was left with a few names and a prayer.
When I became a little shaggy in December, I went to a walk-in place and the girl did an okay job. In early January, I went to a woman I have known all of my life and she did a nice job, but I thought she overcharged me by about $10. She also only works three days a week and is hard to get in to see.
I ended up back at the walk-in place in early February. I saw a different person who gave me the second-worst haircut I have ever had in my life. (The worst haircut occurred when I was 20 and getting ready to be married. I mean literally just two weeks from my wedding day.)
In early March, I went to a different walk-in place and that was a good haircut and a decent price. But it is a 30-minute drive away.
Today I returned to the place where I'd went for 30 years, only to see a different stylist. I was hunting for a familiarity in this effort, thinking the familiar surroundings would offer comfort.
I don't think I will go back.
It is easy to do things out of habit and complacency. For some time, when I was seeing my old beautician (let's call her Barb for fun - that is not her name), I'd noticed that when I left the salon I stunk. Not as in sweaty stink but as in perm or hair solution or something stink. For a good two or three years, maybe longer, after Barb cut my hair once a month, I then came home and took a second shower.
If I didn't my asthma kicked in and that is no fun.
I'd forgotten that problem in my hopes of easing the unease I feel wandering into strange places in hunting a hair dresser. I remembered it today while I was sitting in the chair having my hair trimmed. I guess a place that has been a hair salon for 30 years is going to smell like perms and hair solution, and that stuff is going to get on your clothes so badly that you have to come home, shower, and wash even your light jacket because it picks up the scent.
Mostly, though, I won't go back because the stylist today told me that Barb had returned to work part-time, and was working three days a week. But Barb hadn't let me know. I was stung and hurt when I learned of this. Thirty years of loyalty and this was my reward?
This is now my choice, to roam about hunting for a hair stylist. I hope I never tie myself to one person for beauty treatments again.
Maybe it is better to look a little different every month (even if it is with the Second Worst Haircut of Your Life).
Perhaps it builds character.
Life is a little more complicated every day, and it shouldn't be so difficult. But I'm not going to let it bother me, because it is only hair.
Tuesday, April 02, 2019
No April Fool
Yesterday was April Fool's Day.
Not my favorite day of the year by any stretch of the imagination.
My sense of humor is not bad, though it's a little out of the ordinary. But I find April Fool's jokes, unless they are incredibly exceptional, to mostly be in poor taste.
So much information on my Facebook page yesterday appeared to be false that I simply gave up looking at it. Someone reposted NPR's story from 2015 about Hillary Clinton's announcement that she was running for president, and that set off a firestorm from the schmucks who only read the headline and didn't look at the article to see the date.
Not funny. Not even remotely amusing. That loss still stings and rankles and I expect if I live to be over 100 (which I won't), it will sting and rankle.
In school, April Fool's jokes consisted of, "You've got a bug in your hair! Ha ha, April Fool's" or similar nonsense. It is rather like being pinched on March 17 if you are not wearing green. Who comes up with this dumb shit?
Apparently nobody knows, or at least not the Wikipedia writers. They guess it started way back in the Middle Ages (about 475 a.d. to 1500 (a very long time for stupidity to reign)), tracing it by some accounts back to Chaucer (1392).
At any rate, it goes back hundreds of years, this foolishness.
So what makes a good April Fool's joke? Some of the local ones are more hoaxes than jokes. I seem to recall a radio station saying that the city was going to rename Mill Mountain, or some such, one year. I listened to indignant callers for a while, some who were obviously smirking and in on the joke and some who had been taken in totally and really though this was happening. Funny? Maybe. But I think hoaxes are ultimately mean, even if meant in fun or jest. Who wants to feel the fool, anyway? Doesn't that happen often enough in day-to-day living without creating special circumstances for it?
--------------------
Lastly, I have to note that yesterday was the day my aunt, Carolyn, and my uncles, Jerry and Junior, along with their wives and perhaps a cousin or two, went to Kansas to finish the burial of my uncle who perished in a fire back in the winter. There is nothing funny about that, but my aunt and I both thought (me, at least, with a touch of melancholy and slightly wry amusement,) that it was an appropriate and fitting day to bury Uncle Butch. Not that he was a joker or a fool; I know he was a loved brother, husband, father, friend, etc. Still, for some reason it seems fitting that he was finally laid to rest on All Fool's Day.
Not my favorite day of the year by any stretch of the imagination.
My sense of humor is not bad, though it's a little out of the ordinary. But I find April Fool's jokes, unless they are incredibly exceptional, to mostly be in poor taste.
So much information on my Facebook page yesterday appeared to be false that I simply gave up looking at it. Someone reposted NPR's story from 2015 about Hillary Clinton's announcement that she was running for president, and that set off a firestorm from the schmucks who only read the headline and didn't look at the article to see the date.
Not funny. Not even remotely amusing. That loss still stings and rankles and I expect if I live to be over 100 (which I won't), it will sting and rankle.
In school, April Fool's jokes consisted of, "You've got a bug in your hair! Ha ha, April Fool's" or similar nonsense. It is rather like being pinched on March 17 if you are not wearing green. Who comes up with this dumb shit?
Apparently nobody knows, or at least not the Wikipedia writers. They guess it started way back in the Middle Ages (about 475 a.d. to 1500 (a very long time for stupidity to reign)), tracing it by some accounts back to Chaucer (1392).
At any rate, it goes back hundreds of years, this foolishness.
So what makes a good April Fool's joke? Some of the local ones are more hoaxes than jokes. I seem to recall a radio station saying that the city was going to rename Mill Mountain, or some such, one year. I listened to indignant callers for a while, some who were obviously smirking and in on the joke and some who had been taken in totally and really though this was happening. Funny? Maybe. But I think hoaxes are ultimately mean, even if meant in fun or jest. Who wants to feel the fool, anyway? Doesn't that happen often enough in day-to-day living without creating special circumstances for it?
--------------------
Lastly, I have to note that yesterday was the day my aunt, Carolyn, and my uncles, Jerry and Junior, along with their wives and perhaps a cousin or two, went to Kansas to finish the burial of my uncle who perished in a fire back in the winter. There is nothing funny about that, but my aunt and I both thought (me, at least, with a touch of melancholy and slightly wry amusement,) that it was an appropriate and fitting day to bury Uncle Butch. Not that he was a joker or a fool; I know he was a loved brother, husband, father, friend, etc. Still, for some reason it seems fitting that he was finally laid to rest on All Fool's Day.
Monday, April 01, 2019
The Curtains Came Down
For as long as I can remember, I have seen things in designs. My grandmother's tile in her bathroom was particularly colorful, but unremarkable. The design was little multi-colored squares, strewn about in no discernable pattern.
And yet, when I visited her bathroom, I would find people and objects in the linoleum. I even talked to them.
Along the bus route, I found a dinosaur in a tree stump and visited with it every day as we passed by. How sad I was when the following year I realized the stump had been removed by the landowner, and the dinosaur was no more.
It is like finding shapes in clouds, something most of us do as children, only I tend to see them in places where they do not exist - or are not supposed to exist. I see lines that, if I could draw, would magically become art. A unicorn here, a sobbing woman there, a guitar elsewhere.
Nothing with a design is safe from my imagination. As a child I feared electric sockets not because they shocked me, but because they had a face - two eyes and a mouth. When we built our house, my father, who was helping us wire it (you could do that 32 years ago), asked if we wanted the receptacles "monkey face up or monkey face down." I immediately responded "monkey face up" because when the receptacles are upside down I don't see the face. At the time most things were two-pronged plug-in items anyway. How was I to know that in the not-so-distant future most everything would have three prongs, and sometimes the monkey-face-up thing can be a pain?
Anyway, this ability, if one wants to call it that, has followed me into my middle age (Is 55 middle-aged?). The new tile we put down in the kitchen has no obvious designs in it, yet I see a woman. A dolphin shows itself in the tile in the bathroom. Even the new hardwood floors has little critters in them. Fortunately, I only seem them in passing, fleeting images as I walk over. If asked, I could not find it again.
And so it is we come to the curtains. I bought them about two years ago at Lowes to replace some aged ones that had faded. They were a solid dark blue and I thought it made the room look dark, too. The new curtains had a huge initial problem: they were supposed to be 84" long but were only about 78" long, so that my sheers were too long. (Yes, I use sheers. I see my reflection in the windows at night and it scares me. So, sheers.)
The new curtains were a nice shade of dark blue in design on a whitish background. But they weren't up long before I realized there were faces in the things. Everywhere. And not nice faces, either. Evil faces.
I ignored the faces as best I could, but finally I decided I couldn't deal with it anymore, and the curtains yesterday came down. They've been replaced with an aqua blue solid (and they are 84" long), and I told my husband that there would be no more curtains or bedspreads or anything else with designs in them in the bedroom.
He thinks I am silly, but I am glad to be rid of those curtains.
And yet, when I visited her bathroom, I would find people and objects in the linoleum. I even talked to them.
Along the bus route, I found a dinosaur in a tree stump and visited with it every day as we passed by. How sad I was when the following year I realized the stump had been removed by the landowner, and the dinosaur was no more.
It is like finding shapes in clouds, something most of us do as children, only I tend to see them in places where they do not exist - or are not supposed to exist. I see lines that, if I could draw, would magically become art. A unicorn here, a sobbing woman there, a guitar elsewhere.
Nothing with a design is safe from my imagination. As a child I feared electric sockets not because they shocked me, but because they had a face - two eyes and a mouth. When we built our house, my father, who was helping us wire it (you could do that 32 years ago), asked if we wanted the receptacles "monkey face up or monkey face down." I immediately responded "monkey face up" because when the receptacles are upside down I don't see the face. At the time most things were two-pronged plug-in items anyway. How was I to know that in the not-so-distant future most everything would have three prongs, and sometimes the monkey-face-up thing can be a pain?
Anyway, this ability, if one wants to call it that, has followed me into my middle age (Is 55 middle-aged?). The new tile we put down in the kitchen has no obvious designs in it, yet I see a woman. A dolphin shows itself in the tile in the bathroom. Even the new hardwood floors has little critters in them. Fortunately, I only seem them in passing, fleeting images as I walk over. If asked, I could not find it again.
 |
| Do you see the woman in this tile? Or maybe it looks more like a bird. |
The new curtains were a nice shade of dark blue in design on a whitish background. But they weren't up long before I realized there were faces in the things. Everywhere. And not nice faces, either. Evil faces.
 |
| Do you see the multiple tribe of people in this design? |
He thinks I am silly, but I am glad to be rid of those curtains.
Sunday, March 31, 2019
Sunday Stealing
Sunday Stealing
1. If you had to teach something, what would you teach?
A. Creative writing.
2. What would you regret not fully doing, being or having in your life?
A. I regret not being able to have children and have for a long time, but I've learned to live with the fact.
3. Are you holding onto something that you need to let go of?
A. Who isn't?
4. When you are 80 years old, what will matter to you the most?
A. Whether or not my husband is beside me.
5. When is it time to stop calculating risk and rewards and just do what you know is right?
A. When someone stops writing these weird kind of questions.
6. How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?
A. I'd be about 35 mentally and apparently 212 physically.
7. Would you break the law to save a loved one?
A. Yes.
8. What makes you smile?
A. My husband.
9. When it’s all said and done, will you have said more than you’ve done?
A. No.
10. If you had the opportunity to get a message across to a large group of people, what would your message be?
A. That we are all joined together; no man is an island unto himself.
11. If the average human lifespan was 40 years, how would you live your life differently?
A. That depends. Is it a healthy 40 years and then you drop dead on your birthday? Do you start aging and deteriorating at 20?
12. What do we all have in common besides our genes that makes us human?
A. Thumbs.
13. If you could choose one book as a mandatory read for all high school students, which book would you choose?
A. 1984, by George Orwell
14. Would you rather have less work or more work you actually enjoy doing?
A. More work that I actually enjoy doing.
15. What is important enough to go to war over?
A. Absolutely nothing.
16. Which is worse, failing or never trying?
A. Never trying. Although by never trying you avoid the failing part, so it's kind of a duel-edged sword. It's also part of my conundrum.
17. When was the last time you listened to the sound of your own breathing?
A. I do breathing exercises at night when I have a hard time falling asleep, so not too long ago.
18. What’s something you know you do differently than most people?
A. Think.
19. What does ‘The American Dream’ mean to you?
A. It used to mean marriage, two kids, a house, a yard, a white picket fence, and enough. We don't have that anymore. I don't believe in the American Dream now.
20. Would you rather be a worried genius or a joyful simpleton?
A. I'm already a worried genius. I guess I'll stick with what I 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.
1. If you had to teach something, what would you teach?
A. Creative writing.
2. What would you regret not fully doing, being or having in your life?
A. I regret not being able to have children and have for a long time, but I've learned to live with the fact.
3. Are you holding onto something that you need to let go of?
A. Who isn't?
4. When you are 80 years old, what will matter to you the most?
A. Whether or not my husband is beside me.
5. When is it time to stop calculating risk and rewards and just do what you know is right?
A. When someone stops writing these weird kind of questions.
6. How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?
A. I'd be about 35 mentally and apparently 212 physically.
7. Would you break the law to save a loved one?
A. Yes.
8. What makes you smile?
A. My husband.
9. When it’s all said and done, will you have said more than you’ve done?
A. No.
10. If you had the opportunity to get a message across to a large group of people, what would your message be?
A. That we are all joined together; no man is an island unto himself.
11. If the average human lifespan was 40 years, how would you live your life differently?
A. That depends. Is it a healthy 40 years and then you drop dead on your birthday? Do you start aging and deteriorating at 20?
12. What do we all have in common besides our genes that makes us human?
A. Thumbs.
13. If you could choose one book as a mandatory read for all high school students, which book would you choose?
A. 1984, by George Orwell
14. Would you rather have less work or more work you actually enjoy doing?
A. More work that I actually enjoy doing.
15. What is important enough to go to war over?
A. Absolutely nothing.
16. Which is worse, failing or never trying?
A. Never trying. Although by never trying you avoid the failing part, so it's kind of a duel-edged sword. It's also part of my conundrum.
17. When was the last time you listened to the sound of your own breathing?
A. I do breathing exercises at night when I have a hard time falling asleep, so not too long ago.
18. What’s something you know you do differently than most people?
A. Think.
19. What does ‘The American Dream’ mean to you?
A. It used to mean marriage, two kids, a house, a yard, a white picket fence, and enough. We don't have that anymore. I don't believe in the American Dream now.
20. Would you rather be a worried genius or a joyful simpleton?
A. I'm already a worried genius. I guess I'll stick with what I 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.
Saturday, March 30, 2019
Saturday 9: Fool on the Hill
Saturday 9: The Fool on the Hill (1968)
Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.
Chosen because Monday is April Fool's Day.
1) As an April Fool's prank, Taco Bell once announced they had purchased The Liberty Bell and renamed it The Taco Liberty Bell. Describe your perfect taco.
A. I don't eat tacos. Actually, I'm not sure I've ever had a taco.
2) Similarly, as an April Fool's prank, the Ford Motor Co. was supposed to wipe out the national deficit by purchasing the naming rites to a beloved monument, renaming it the Ford Lincoln Mercury Memorial. What model car do you drive?
A. I drive a Toyota Camry.
3) In 1998, Burger King got in on the April Fool's Day fun by promoting a special "Left-Handed Whopper," designed to be easier for a leftie to hold. Describe your perfect burger.
A. Two all beef patties special sauce lettuce cheese pickles onion on a sesame seed bun. Have it your way! Not really. My perfect burger would be a regular ol' white bun, a beef patty, ketchup, mustard, pickles, lettuce, and bacon.
4) In 1962, when color TV was still new, a Swedish station pranked viewers by telling them they could convert their black/white sets tocolor by cutting up a nylon stocking and stretching it across the screen. Of course, in 1962, more women wore nylons and screens were smaller. How big is your TV? Are there any nylon stockings in your home?
A. My TV is 50" or something like that. There may be some nylons in my drawer but I think I recently threw them all out. I may have kept a few to use as tomato dusters.
5) In 1957, the BBC ran an April Fool's story about how the Swiss were enjoying a "bumper spaghetti crop," with spaghetti literally growing on trees. Viewers who called the station, asking how to grow a spaghetti tree of their own, were told to place a sprig of spaghetti in a can of tomato sauce and hope for the best. Have you ever fallen for an April Fool's prank?
A. Not that I recall. Maybe when I was young I did.
6) When Crazy Sam was growing up, her mother would surprise her on April Fool's Day by slipping a rubber worm or plastic spider in her lunch box. When you were in school, did you more frequently brown bag it or buy your lunch in the cafeteria line?
A. About half and half.
7) This week's song was an international hit for Sergio Mendes and Brasil 66. Because of the song's bossa nova arrangement, everyone assumed the lead singer, Lani Hall, was Brazilian. She was a folk singer from Chicago. Sergio Mendes discovered her at a charity benefit. Can you think of a time when doing good really paid off for you?
A. I have volunteered and done a lot of community activities, but I can't say I've ever had it pay off for me. I don't do it for a pay off anyway. (Good thing, huh.)
8) In 1968, when this record was popular, Pierre Trudeau became Prime Minister of Canada. Today his son holds that office. When did you most recently visit our neighbor to the north?
A. I have never been to Canada.
9) Random question: Name three websites you visit every day.
A. Facebook, AOL, Google (gmail), New York Times, YouTube, Amazon. That's more than three but there you go.
___________
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.
Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.
Chosen because Monday is April Fool's Day.
1) As an April Fool's prank, Taco Bell once announced they had purchased The Liberty Bell and renamed it The Taco Liberty Bell. Describe your perfect taco.
A. I don't eat tacos. Actually, I'm not sure I've ever had a taco.
2) Similarly, as an April Fool's prank, the Ford Motor Co. was supposed to wipe out the national deficit by purchasing the naming rites to a beloved monument, renaming it the Ford Lincoln Mercury Memorial. What model car do you drive?
A. I drive a Toyota Camry.
3) In 1998, Burger King got in on the April Fool's Day fun by promoting a special "Left-Handed Whopper," designed to be easier for a leftie to hold. Describe your perfect burger.
A. Two all beef patties special sauce lettuce cheese pickles onion on a sesame seed bun. Have it your way! Not really. My perfect burger would be a regular ol' white bun, a beef patty, ketchup, mustard, pickles, lettuce, and bacon.
4) In 1962, when color TV was still new, a Swedish station pranked viewers by telling them they could convert their black/white sets tocolor by cutting up a nylon stocking and stretching it across the screen. Of course, in 1962, more women wore nylons and screens were smaller. How big is your TV? Are there any nylon stockings in your home?
A. My TV is 50" or something like that. There may be some nylons in my drawer but I think I recently threw them all out. I may have kept a few to use as tomato dusters.
5) In 1957, the BBC ran an April Fool's story about how the Swiss were enjoying a "bumper spaghetti crop," with spaghetti literally growing on trees. Viewers who called the station, asking how to grow a spaghetti tree of their own, were told to place a sprig of spaghetti in a can of tomato sauce and hope for the best. Have you ever fallen for an April Fool's prank?
A. Not that I recall. Maybe when I was young I did.
6) When Crazy Sam was growing up, her mother would surprise her on April Fool's Day by slipping a rubber worm or plastic spider in her lunch box. When you were in school, did you more frequently brown bag it or buy your lunch in the cafeteria line?
A. About half and half.
7) This week's song was an international hit for Sergio Mendes and Brasil 66. Because of the song's bossa nova arrangement, everyone assumed the lead singer, Lani Hall, was Brazilian. She was a folk singer from Chicago. Sergio Mendes discovered her at a charity benefit. Can you think of a time when doing good really paid off for you?
A. I have volunteered and done a lot of community activities, but I can't say I've ever had it pay off for me. I don't do it for a pay off anyway. (Good thing, huh.)
8) In 1968, when this record was popular, Pierre Trudeau became Prime Minister of Canada. Today his son holds that office. When did you most recently visit our neighbor to the north?
A. I have never been to Canada.
9) Random question: Name three websites you visit every day.
A. Facebook, AOL, Google (gmail), New York Times, YouTube, Amazon. That's more than three but there you go.
___________
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.
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