Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing

1. Are you living a meaningful life?

A. A meaningful life is individual, and what each person deems it to be. This is not something anyone can pass judgment on, probably not even the person living the life. While we like to think of ourselves as individuals, we touch the lives of others every day, and with books and words, sometimes for millenniums. Who is to say what impact an individual life may or may not have?

2. What’s the one thing you cannot live without?

A. Air.

3. When is it acceptable, if ever, to break the law?

A. When it is to save someone else. If the sign says, "Fine of $300 for walking on the grass" and someone is over on the grass yelling for help, I'm not going to not walk on the grass. I'm going to go help.

4. What do you want your final words to be?

A. I don't care what they are, really.

5. What do you think are the five most beautiful things in the world?

A. My husband's eyes, my brother's smile, music of any kind, green grass, and blue birds.

6. What makes you feel empowered?

A. Standing in the Wonder Woman stance. (Hands in fists, held at hips. <|> )

7. Which is more important–what you say, or how you say it?

A. They are both important. In our new world of texting, what you say has become more important than verbal inflexion, but they both matter.

8. Do you live to work, or work to live?

A. I work to do something that I enjoy.

9. How do you think the world will change in 10 years? 50? 100?

A. I'm not sure the US will be a democracy in 10 years. It will still be a superpower because we have so much armory, but democracy is about dead. In 100 years, I suspect we will have blown ourselves up and whatever is left of humanity will be picking up the pieces.

10. What is something you’re certain you’ll never experience?

A. What the world will be like in 100 years.

11. What one responsibility do you wish you didn’t have?

A. Cooking.

12. What is something you’re embarrassed that you’re so good at?

A. Video games.

13. What’s the one thing you most want to achieve before you die?

A. Secret dreams are best left unsaid.

14. What’s something that offends you?

A. Ted Cruz. Well, he's a someone, I suppose. Something that offends me is a KKK hood.

15. What makes you most angry about the country?

A. We've become a bunch of whiny little puffballs who are so wrapped up their individuality that they couldn't come together to build a snowman, much less save a country. I've never seen such emotionally immature and infantile behavior on display in recent years in my entire life. When I was in kindergarten, the kids behaved better than the adults do today. If we were nuked tomorrow, it would be no less than we deserve.

__________

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: Memories

Saturday 9: Memories (2019)

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

1) This song is a toast. Have you ever performed an official toast (at a wedding, a graduation, a retirement party, etc.)?

A. I gave a speech at my high school graduation, but it wasn't a toast.

2) According to Maroon 5 lead singer Adam Levine, this is a "toast to the ones here today." Tell us about someone in your life that you're especially grateful for.

A. I would say my husband, but everyone knows that, so I tell you about my brother instead. He's three years younger than I am, and he's a great brother. We talk on the phone at least once a week, and he is there if I need him. Hopefully, I am there if he needs me, too. He was very helpful when my husband was hurt in 2014 and he also helped me get him home in 2019 when hubby had his ankle fused together. My brother also gives the best Christmas presents. His name is Loren, but he has a family nickname that we use, although I tend to just call him "bro" and he calls me "sis." 

3) Levine is the song's composer. He said he was compelled to write it, to help him cope with the death of a friend. His lyrics acknowledge that "everybody hurts sometimes." What advice would you share with someone who is struggling?

A. Hold on for one more day. Change will come your way. (Bonus points if you know where that's from.)

4) Adam Levine was one of the original judges on The Voice. Are you a fan of the show?

A. We have watched it during the Covid quarantine. Prior to that, I didn't even know it existed.

5) Among his friends, Adam is known to be an excellent Scrabble player. Is there a game you're particularly good at (or you especially enjoy)?

A. I don't know if video games count, but my favorite video game is Skyrim. It's a first-person player open-world game. No guns. Swords, though, but you can play without killing the NPCs if you want, and just be a hunter and trader and grow rich.

I also like to play Rummy, if you want a more traditional game. That's a card game, in case someone doesn't know.

6) Though he's a multi-Grammy winner, Adam wasn't always successful. In fact, he was fired after just three hours at his first job as a waiter. Have you ever had a job that just wasn't a good fit?

A. Yes. I went to work for a bank and lasted about two months. I hated it. It was boring and lonely, and I didn't seem to get along well with the other people there, and I cried every night. I finally quit it and went back to college.

7) In 2019, when this song was released, Joaquin Phoenix gave his Oscar-winning performance in Joker. Heath Ledger also won an Oscar for is portrayal of the same character in a different film, and Cesar Romero was The Joker on TV. Today The Batman is doing great business at the box office. Do you have a favorite super hero, or arch villain?

A. At the moment, Wonder Woman as played in the newest movies would be my superhero. The scariest villain was The Borg in Star Trek.

8) Also in 2019, two familiar names had books on NY Times best seller list: John Grisham with The Guardians and Janet Evanovich with Twisted Twenty Six. Are either of these authors among your favorites?

A. I have read all of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum books, of which Twisted Twenty Six is one. I've read a few of John Grisham's novels. I wouldn't call either a favorite author. I'm honestly not sure I have a favorite author.

9) Random Question: What's something you wish you'd figured out earlier?

A. I wish I'd figured out that the publishing industry was going to change so dramatically from 1990 to now. I wish I'd known that newspapers were dying much sooner than I did (or I didn't deny it when I did realize it), and that the old way of publishing books was going to change so dramatically that it's practically a matter of luck and who you know to get a book deal. Maybe if I'd realized things were going to be so different, I would have taken a different route.

_______________

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.  

Blog4Peace - Ukraine

 

Book Review: Complete Confidence

Complete Confidence
By Sheenah Hankin

Copyright 2009

Kindle Edition

Approximately 250 pages

I'm fairly sure this was a free book. I found it in my Kindle library, at any rate, and I don't generally buy books for Kindle. The thing is full of books, but they are all the free kind. I read them at the doctors' offices.

At any rate, I am always looking to improve myself, so I pulled this up on my cellphone to read one day while I was out, seeing as how I'd finished The Lord of the Rings.

It's a right winger's self-help book. I could tell that almost immediately, because anyone who needed therapy this author pinned as a "loser" even though she never actually said that. It came through loud and clear in her writing - if you're reading this book, then you're a loser. You also need to pull yourself up by your bootstraps, and mental illness isn't a real thing, and only something like 10 people in a million really suffer from depression, and nobody ever needs to take an antidepressant.

Then she confirmed my suspicions by talking about being a guest on Fox News.

Her premise in the book isn't that self-esteem is the problem people have, it's lack of confidence. She doesn't address why people may have lack of confidence (or low self-esteem), really, except to occasionally allude to poor parenting. She also offers little help to anyone who really had a crappy childhood, you know, those who were physically and sexually abused, which is at least half the population if not more. 

There is also nothing here for anyone who suffers from chronic pain. Basically, she writes as if such things don't exist (which, I have discovered, is the thinking of many folks who lean right in their politics) and anyway, if you're struggling, it's your own fault.

This is a bit off-putting, but I read the entire book, nevertheless, to see what someone like this actually might offer.

The takeaways, other than the fact that I'm already a loser and have nowhere to go but up, were these:

Don't complain.

Don't whine.

Don't procrastinate.

Create a motto or a sentence that you can use to "calm yourself" if you're upset and acting "emotionally immature," which, according to this author, I am emotionally immature in multiple factors of 10 zillion times infinity.

It's basically Cognitive Behavorial Therapy without a pinch of reality. Because the reality is, lots of folks suffer all the things she considers to be "emotionally immature" behavior (think Ted Cruz yelling, "Don't you know who I am?" at the airport, or any of the Republican questions to the most recent Supreme Court candidate would likely qualify as emotionally immature examples) for a myriad of reasons.

She does not suffer these emotionally weak people (they are fools) and I honestly worried about the folks she might be seeing in actual practice, even though she proclaims time and again that she was once a loser too (but she got better).

I can't find much about this author online, which in itself is suspicious. She seems to have cleaned her Internet presence and I don't know why. If she really was a guest on Fox, shouldn't there be some bragging rights there? There are two reviews on health websites, both giving her 1 star. I found her on Facebook but she's not posted anything public since 2020, and then she was whining (ha, she said don't whine and she does!) about Covid and quarantines.

The four takeaways mentioned above I will keep in my brain, losing the rest of this overbearing book in the process. I think not whining, complaining, and procrastinating are good notions, even though she didn't really give any method of overcoming the latter (I'm a terrible procrastinator, but then, I'm also emotionally immature to the nth degree, according to this author, so there's that). I like the idea of calming yourself, if you can realize it in the moment and shut up and settle down. 

So far the only thing I've come up with as a motto for this is "Be Still" with the image of a pond in my head, but then the Eagles song, Learn to Be Still, started popping into my head and it says "you never will learn to be still" so I'm thinking this won't work as a motto.

I prefer not to use the words "Calm down" because that is what men frequently tell women, and my husband has been told numerous times not to say that to me, so I need something else.

So, motto suggestions welcome. 

But don't read the book.

Thursday Thirteen

1. At the start of the pandemic, when we were home always (as we are now, for the most part), I stopped wearing makeup. It seemed a waste to continue using it and my husband didn't mind.

2. When I returned to wearing makeup, which was Covergirl, I realized it made my eyes itch to use mascara (and using the other makeup made the rest of my face feel oddly, too). I bought new mascara, but the problem continued.

3. I asked others about hypoallergenic makeup, and most everyone said either Physician's Formula or Clinique.

4. Monday, I went to Walmart and found they had a small section of Physician's Formula makeup. I purchased only mascara (and it was expensive).

5. Yesterday, I wore the mascara. After several hours, my eyes began to itch.

6. This morning, my eyelids are so sore I can barely stand to wash my face. 

7. So that was a waste of money. I hate to waste money, but I don't know how else to find a product that I'm not reacting to.

8. Apparently, I need something beyond "hypoallergenic" since their idea of hypoallergenic and mine are different things. 

9. That leaves Clinique, which I know is quite expensive, and I'm not sure who carries it locally. It's probably near the perfume counter at Macy's or Belk (and I'm highly allergic to perfume), and I don't go in those stores often.

10. I don't look bad without makeup, but I look better with it. I don't look better with swollen eyelids, though.

11. The Covergirl mascara also claims to be hypoallergenic. It only makes my eyes itch; it doesn't make them hurt, so for now if I feel I need that little something extra, I will use the Covergirl.

12. I wonder how many other women are allergic to makeup? It must be many or there wouldn't be the "hypoallergenic" claims on products.

13. Any suggestions? Is it time to embrace my own self-beauty, and go without my face covered with products that may be harmful?

____________________

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 749th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

TV and Movie Thoughts

The HBO series My Brilliant Friend upsets me with every episode. Yet, I can't not watch it. I am breathless in my vigil to see what happens next, even though we're talking fairly routine life stuff here - marriage, having children, almost having an affair. And at the heart of it, a childhood friendship between two similar yet very different young women.

Today I am quite grumpy, as I didn't sleep well. We watched My Brilliant Friend last night and I think it carried over into my night and this day. The show reminds me, quite vividly and pointedly, of the relatively small shelf women and women's rights stand upon. Actually, it's more like we and those rights stand upon the head of pin, much like thousands of invisible and unreal angels.

Because the truth of the matter is, women are, every day, thrown around, mistreated, and married to be a man's sex partner, maid, cook, and baby carrier. All over the world. Even here. 

In the current climate, and with the Republicans doing their best to make the vetting of Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson look like a roadside circus while she, being a woman, can't burst into tears and sobs like her predecessor in the process, Bret Kavanaugh. That's because if she did, she'd be called out for it in multiple ways and a single tear would disqualify her, while Kavanaugh's whiny ass histrionics were simply a reflection of a poor man who'd been unfairly raked over the coals because of his purported abuse of women.

And My Brilliant Friend shows how poorly women have been and continue to be mistreated. It also shows how to kill a spirit in someone who needs only a wee bit of support to become outstanding. Elena wants to be a writer, but no one supports her efforts.

It makes me sad.

The Gilded Age ended its season Monday night. That show is no Downton Abby, in spite of being written by Julian Fellowes, who also wrote the latter. The Gilded Age is American greed and capitalism in full display, complete with backstabbing, bitterness, lies, deceit, and merciless racism and again, gender inequality. It was a train wreck from the get-go, but again, one I watched because looking away didn't seem to be an option.

I don't know if I was waiting for Mrs. Russell to find her place amongst the old guard in high society, a position she coveted to the point of insanity, or if I was waiting for the old guard in high society to fall on its face, or for the servants and lower-class labor workers to rise up and proclaim the world belonged to them.

The characters were not likeable, except for Marian, the poor relative who came to live with the rich aunts in New York, and Ms. Scott, the Black woman who went to work for Marian's aunt and who wanted badly to be a writer. She also has a much more complicated life than one may have thought from the first few episodes.

(I note both of these TV shows have women who want to write in them. Perhaps that is the draw for me . . . watching these women who love what I love try to overcome.)

And then there's Spielberg's West Side Story. I may have seen the original at some point, but if I have, I don't remember it.

I disliked this version. I disliked it a lot. There wasn't a character to feel anything for, or time to feel anything for one, anyway. The dancing was fun to watch, some of the songs familiar, and it was certainly well done and spiffy, but I did not like it.

The character I most liked was the girlfriend of the Bernado. Anita (yep, that is her name) is all common sense and she understands the world. She also was a great dancer. I liked her best of all and not simply because she had my name.

This has been nominated for 7 Oscars and a bunch of other awards. I follow a few screenwriters on Facebook and they loved it, although from the comments I could see that not all of their followers liked it. I thought it was an incredibly shallow movie, however skillful the dancing. I felt nothing for the lead characters.

I knew the movie was based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, so I had an idea of how it would end. It seemed more like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, if you ask me.

Even though this version did nothing for me, I would like to see the original in order to make a comparison. There must be something there I am missing, yes?

Break It To Me Gently

This is a cover of Break It to Me Gently, a song made famous before I was born by Brenda Lee, and later by Juice Newton when I was a teenager.

I am playing a Dean Vendetta electric guitar and using a Boss RC-3 Loop Station. I recorded first the rhythm, then some of the lead, and am adding rhythm and lead when I recorded this with my iPhone. The drums come from the Loop Station.

This is actually harder than it looks. :-)

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing

1. Do you like sushi?

A. I have never had it nor have I ever had the desire to try it.

2. What color is your car?

A. White.

3. What is your favorite thing about the place where you live?

A. It's lovely here, with the Blue Ridge Mountains ringing the Roanoke valley. The seasons are beautiful, with spring - almost here - dressing up the trees and shrubs with flowers, and summer settling into a comforting sea of green that stretches for as far as one can see. In Autumn, the trees put on their best finery, with colors ranging from dull browns to brilliant reds and flaunty yellows, and while winter can appear dull and dreary, a snowfall quickly changes the world to a wonderland spectacular. And even in the deep darkness of the winter days, there is always the promise of the spring to come. Additionally, most folks are decent - maybe not as kind as in my younger days, but humanity remains. History, too, calls to me, keening out my roots that go as far back as I can trace them, for here my ancestors from England and Scotland settled, seeing something of their homeland in these wonderous Blue Ridge Mountains. And then there is my husband, without whom I would be lost.

4. Are there brands of certain items that you will ONLY buy that brand (ie paper towels, ketchup, etc.)?

A. We have to have Heinz catsup, Baked Lays potato chips, and Lays lightly salted wavy potato chips. I also prefer Cheer Free for washing my private clothes, but it is hard to come by these days so I will be switching to All Free and Clear when I've used the last of my Cheer Free. Additionally, other items must be unscented and hypoallergenic because of my allergies.

5. Are you allergic to any food? Animals? Plants? Medicines?

A. I am allergic to shellfish, dogs, cats, (anything with fur), most trees and grasses, molds, dust and dander, and a few medications. Basically, most of the world.

6. Have you ever been stung or bitten by an animal?

A. I've been stung by bees and spiders. I had a spider bite me on my little finger one time and I couldn't feel it for over a year! I don't recall any serious animal bites.

7. Do you have a favorite bird? Do you feed the birds at your house or the park?

A. I do not have a favorite bird. We put out a bird feeder in the winter months. We were a little late getting it out this year and the birds either didn't need it or had a difficult time finding it.

8. What would you recommend binging on Netflix or similar?

A. I don't subscribe to anything but Amazon Prime and HBO Max (comes with my DirecTv). We enjoyed Downton Abby (that was on PBS), and watch The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The Gilded Age, My Brilliant Friend, Gentleman Jack (returning in April!), and a few other shows. In the past, we really liked Six Feet Under, Masters of Sex, Band of Brothers, and Game of Thrones.

9. What is your proudest achievement?

A. Remaining married for almost 39 years, if that counts. If it doesn't, then obtaining my masters degree.

10. Do you have or are you from a big family?

A. My immediate family had four people in it, but my mother had four brothers and a sister, and my father had a sister and three brothers. So, I had lots of aunts and uncles and cousins, although my father's family all moved to California when I was a baby so I never really knew them except as voices on the phone.

11. What do you do for exercise?

A. I walk.

12. What would be your favorite breakfast? (You didn’t have to cook it yourself.)

A. Eggs, bacon, grits, a piece of toast with Concord grape jelly, biscuits and gravy, and apple juice to drink. I haven't had a breakfast like that in years.

13. Is there an item that you really want but cannot afford?

A. I try not to lust after the things I cannot have.

14. What was the farthest distance you made for your holidays?

A. I don't understand this question.

15. Are you afraid of speaking in public?

A. I am not fond of it, but I have done 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: Get on Your Feet

Saturday 9: GET ON YOUR FEET (1989)

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

1) In this song, Gloria Estefan encourages us to stand up and make it happen. What's something you want to accomplish this fine Saturday?

A. Saturday is "change the bed" day, so hopefully that will happen. I would also like to take a drive. We'll see how it goes.

2) She sings that we've all been through some nasty weather. How has winter 2021/22 treated you thus far (weather wise)?

A. We've had a somewhat mild winter, just a few snows and days of cold temperatures. But winter always looks so bleak and dreary - I am glad to see the grass greening and the sheen of green on the tips of trees, if it that does mean my allergies are back.

3) Best known as a recording artist, Gloria is also a best-selling author of children's books. When you were a kid, were you a big reader?

A. Yes, and I still am.

 

4) In addition to music and writing, she's a linguist. As a college student, she supported herself as an English/French/Spanish translator at Miami International Airport. When were you most recently at an airport? Were you traveling yourself, or picking someone up/dropping them off?

A. I was last at an airport around 2017, when I picked my husband up from a business trip.

5) Gloria made her acting debut in 1999's Music of the Heart, a Meryl Streep movie about music teachers in Harlem. Did you have music classes in school? Have you ever taken private lessons?

A. We had music classes at my elementary school. Mrs. Tingler taught us many different songs and brought lots of instruments for us to try out. She taught us many songs, some of which I still sing. Later, I was in band, which began in the sixth grade. I played the flute. Mrs. Arrington came to the school and gave private piano lessons (during class time, I'm not sure how they managed that) and I took lessons from her at her home, too, during the summer. She found me frustrating because I didn't want to learn Bach, I wanted to learn The Eagles. I also took private guitar lessons when I was teenager and again when I was in my early 30s and working downtown. I took them on my lunch hour.

 

6) Today Gloria is one of the celebrity residents of Star Island, a man-made island in Biscayne Bay. Star Island is connected to the mainland by MacArthur Causeway, named for General Douglas MacArthur. Tell us about a street in your neighborhood, and who it's named for.

A. My street is called Blacksburg Road, and it's called that because it's the way people traveled from Fincastle to Blacksburg. It isn't named after anyone. I am not in favor of naming things after people anymore (you just never know what skeletons hide in closets). I think schools, streets, and other public spaces should be named after trees, birds, or geometrical shapes or nondescript nouns, like "Cloud Street" or "Blue Sky School."

7) 1989, the year "Get on Your Feet" was popular, was the year of the first HDTV broadcast. By 1998, high-def shows and TVs were dominant. How many TVs are in your home? Do you watch shows on your computer or phone?

A. We have two TVs, one in the main living area and one in the bedroom. We seldom use the one in the bedroom. I have never watched a show on my phone (tiny little screen) but I have watched shows that I couldn't get on the TV for whatever reason (storm knocked out the satellite dish or something) to catch up on a series.

8) Also in 1989, The Simpsons premiered. It's now the longest-running prime-time TV show ever. Are you a fan?

A. I have never watched an episode of it, although I am familiar with it. Dooh! It is rather hard not to be familiar with something like that.

9) Random question: Should husbands wear their wedding rings?

A. I don't know that they should, but it is nice when they do. Most men I know are in businesses that require the use of their hands - my husband was a fireman and is a farmer, and he does not wear his ring because when he was fighting fires, the ring could get hot and burn his finger, and as a farmer it can become caught in farm machinery. If a fellow at a computer all day, then I suppose he could wear his ring without worrying about losing his finger. I used to be diligent about wearing my wedding band, but I am not so much anymore. We're married whether we have the rings on or not.

 _______________

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.  

Abstract Art

I found this photo on my camera. I like it. I didn't take it intentionally; I must've hit the button when I was moving the camera.

Thursday Thirteen

I've been around for almost 60 years - so I thought I would see what all has been invented since I was born. Many of these things we take for granted now, but they're relatively new.

1. Unmanned aerial flight. These came into use during the Vietnam War, and we see them now being used as drones in the war in Ukraine. 

2. Coronary bypass surgery. We take it for granted today that if we have a heart attack, we'll get a quick stent and be out of the hospital the next day, but this life-saving procedure didn't become a reality until 1967.

3. The smoke detector. An annoying beep that's saved countless lives, this little lifesaver wasn't invented until 1969. Now it's a requirement in all new construction in most areas of the country.

4. MRI. The magnetic resonance imaging machine is widely used in medicine today and is a go-to for finding cancer tumors and other problems in the human body. But this product wasn't used until 1973!

5. The barcode. That "bleep, bleep" that's created when the product purchased goes over the scanner at the self-checkout wasn't invented until 1974. There is scarcely anything sold today that doesn't have one of these on it.

6. The first supercomputer was installed in Los Alamos National Laboratory in 1976. It was called that because it could deal with a lot of data at a time.

7. The PC was introduced to the public in 1977, when Apple II, Commodore Pet, and Radio Shack's TRS-80 all hit the market, four years before IBM introduced its first "PC." While I owned none of these, I did own a Commodore Vic 20 way back in the day.

8. The Sony Walkman, a small portable cassette player, was introduced in 1979. People could carry around their favorite music!

9. The first computer virus was created in 1982. Rich Skrenta, 15, created an application called Elk Cloner as a prank, and it became the first virus to spread outside its home network. Elk Cloner spread via floppy disk and attached to the Apple OS II operating system. When users booted from the disk, Elk Cloner transferred to the computer's memory; any additional disks inserted without rebooting were also infected. On every fiftieth boot, the computer displays text written by Skrenta:

Elk Cloner: The program with a personality / It will get on all your disks / It will infiltrate your chips / Yes it's Cloner! / It will stick to you like glue / It will modify ram too / Send in the Cloner!

What a legacy to leave, eh?

10. Microsoft Word, the program few of us can do without these days, saw the light of day in 1983. It became a household name with the introduction of Windows 3.0 in 1990.

11. In 1986, the first LISTSERV came into being - also known as the electronic mailing list. How many email newsletters do you get?

12. In 1992, IBM introduced a weird little thing called the Simon. It wasn't sold in the US until 1994, and it was a commercial failure. It was also the world's first smart phone.

13. In 1998, the first piece of what would become the International Space Station was launched into the atmosphere.

Of course, there are thousands of other things that have been invented in my lifetime, although most build upon previous inventions. What invention would you consider to be the best in the time you've been on this Earth?

____________________

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 748th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

Daffy for Daffodils

 

They are looking a bit worse for wear, but the daffodils appear to have survived the weekend's cold snap and light coating of snow. I love catching glimpses of yellow and knowing it's a daffodil reaching up toward the sky.

Doorway to Nowhere

This is my special secret door that takes me different lands. It is a door standing all by itself in my side yard.

It used to be the entrance to a fenced-in garden, but my husband decided we weren't gardening anymore (not exactly the time to be deciding that with the way food prices are), and he took down the fence last year and planted grass.

For unknown reasons, he left the door. Maybe he thinks we may garden there again sometime.

At any rate, it's now my magic door. I can enter from one side and come out as someone completely different.

Or I can walk through it and be on another planet.

This door will take me wherever my imagination leads.

I wonder if I should spray-paint it pink.

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing

1. What emotion do you experience the most?

A. Is anxiety an emotion?

2. What embarrasses you most in front of other people?

A. Falling down.

3. What do you love most about yourself?

A. I'm fairly creative and I'm not stupid about too many things.

4. Who has influenced you the most?

A. Many of my teachers and college professors; authors, my parents, my brother, my husband, my other family members - I can't really say who has influenced me the most.

5. What would you like to change about yourself?

A. I would like to be healthy.

6. If you could do one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?

A. Eat and never gain a pound.

7. If you had the option of adopting a baby fox of baby koala, which would it be?

A. The koala because we don't have those here.

8. If you had to be on a reality show, which would it be?

A. Either Survivor, where I would be the first one voted off and then I'd have a long vacation wherever they send the losers, or The Voice, although I'd never make it to the judges because I don't sing that well.

9. If you could live anywhere in the world for a year, where would it be?

A. Scotland.

10. How many bones have you broken?

A. Two for sure, not counting toes.

11. What do you fear about getting older?

A. Losing my mobility and capabilities.

12. How do you relieve stress?

A. I read, play guitar, or play video games.

13. Are your feet the same size?

A. I guess. I've never measured them.

14. 100 kittens or 3 baby sloths?

A. Neither. That's way too many kittens to care for and I have no idea how to deal with a sloth.

15. What do you want more than anything else in life?

A. To overcome.

__________

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: Beautiful Day

Saturday 9: Beautiful Day (2000)

Unfamiliar with this week’s song? Hear it here.

1) This song is about finding joy in an imperfect world. What brings you joy today?

A. I spent Friday with my husband on a beautiful semi-warm and sunny day. We took a long drive.

2) The lyrics mention being stuck in traffic. A poll of Boston commuters revealed that drivers have a variety of responses to be stuck in traffic — everything from bored to impatient to angry. How do you feel when you’re stuck in a traffic jam?

A. Mostly resigned. There isn't anything I can do about it.

3) This year Bono and his wife, Ali, celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary. Who is the longest-married couple you know?

A. Well, I'm sure it's not us, although we're hitting year 39. At the moment, though, I am hard-pressed to think of anyone else.

4) When Bono inducted Frank Sinatra into the Grammy Hall of Fame, he complimented Frank on his “swagger.” Do you think you have “swagger?”

A. No. I have fatigue. Tired people seldom swagger. They might sway, but I don't think they swagger.

5) When U2 guitarist The Edge did a charity concert at the Sistine Chapel, he became the first rocker to perform there. If you were to travel to Rome, what sites would you be certain to visit?

A. The Sistine Chapel sounds good. Also St. Peter's Square, the Coliseum ruins, and the Vatican, I suppose. 

6) This week’s song was chosen because St. Patrick’s Day is coming up, and U2 is one of Ireland’s most famous exports. What else is Ireland famous for?

A. They don't have snakes. They have a kissing stone. They have a great accent. They had druids and Celtic priests. They had a potato famine. They have civil wars over religion.

7) Corned beef and cabbage is a traditional St. Patrick’s Day dish. Is it a favorite of yours?

A. No, I can't say that it is.

8) St. Patrick is credited with driving snakes out of Ireland. Ophiophobia is the fear of snakes. Do you suffer from ophiophobia?

A. I am not fond of snakes, but if I am the only one around to remove one, then I will remove it (and have done so on occasion). The best way is to go after them with a hoe.

9) St. Patrick’s Day fantasy: A leprechaun will share his gold with you, but you must request a specific amount for a single item. How much would you ask for, and what would you buy?

A. I would ask for $2 million and I would buy land.

_______________

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.  

New Life

This little baby calf was born yesterday in the rain. Calves do not immediately get up and walk around - that's a myth. It takes them a little while. They stand up once and get a drink and then lay back down. Usually in a few hours they are up and about. They do run around in circles sometimes. This one has a good mamma. She was very attentive.

Thursday Thirteen

Since March is National Women's History Month, I thought I'd write 13 things about one of the women who had a big influence in my life, my maternal grandmother.

1. Grandma took care of loads of children. She had six of her own, and I think she kept almost every grandchild at some point.

2. Almost every day, Grandma talked to someone named "Mama Fore" around 2 p.m. They would talk for an hour. If we were staying at Grandma's, we were not to interrupt her during her talks with Mama Fore unless we were bleeding, and even then we'd better be gushing blood.

3. Grandma made macaroni and cheese that I cannot replicate. It was hard and crusty, for one thing. I have no idea what she used to make it, and I'm not even sure I liked it, but it seemed to be a staple for the evening meal.

4. On Fridays, Grandma would walk up to her sister's house to do her hair. Aunt Neva lived about three blocks from Grandma, but across a four-lane highway. Grandma usually made us walk when we went up there with her, but sometimes she let us ride our bicycles after we aged a bit.

5. Grandma had a big rag bag in the bottom of a closet in the hallway. We would pull sheets and things out of there to make capes or I'd wrap dolls in them. We were supposed to put them back. Generally, I think I did. I'm sure I forgot sometimes.

6. If you were sad or hurting, Grandma would scoop you up and hold you tightly and sit in her rocking chair. She'd sing, "Daisy, Daisy" to you, rocking fiercely, until you calmed down. I watched her do this with all of the children. It usually worked.

7. Grandma only went to school through the fourth grade. She worked at the Oscar Mayer factory before she married. She never learned to drive a car, though. After my grandfather passed away, this became problematic because she still had two young boys at home. My mother or my aunt or one of my older uncles would take her to the grocery store. I remember Mom tried to talk her into driving, but Grandma would have no part of it. Neither of her sisters ever learned to drive, either. I wonder why?

8. When I was 15, I went to the prom. I had my date drive all the way to Salem so I could show my grandmother my prom dress. She called my mother after I left and my mom said she cried because I thought to do that. (I was the oldest grandchild, by the way.)

9. As I aged, and after it was no longer long distance to call my grandmother, I would call her and it didn't seem to matter what time of day it was, she always had time to talk, even if she was watching my cousins. I miss those conversations, even if all we did was talk about mundane things.

10. Grandma looked for the first robin every year; she said it was the herald of spring. I don't think she liked winter much.

11. After we were a little older, when Grandma kept my brother and me during the summer when school was out, sometimes we'd walk up to Salem. It was about a mile and a half walk. We'd go to downtown and use whatever money we'd saved to buy balsam airplanes, paddle balls, or models, or whatever else we could find. Then, before we walked back home, Grandma would take us to Brooks Byrd Pharmacy and buy us all snow cones. I always had the blue one.

12. Grandma hung out the laundry on the line more than she used the dryer. She preferred the fresh smell of the air to the dryer.

13. She grew lovely peonies in the side yard. They were beautiful.

____________________

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 747th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

The Nephew's House

My nephew is getting closer to moving into his new home. Still some work to do, but construction is a long process and somewhat weather dependent.

The house is "across the way" from us. That's his house on the left.

This is a close up with the long lens of my camera. As you can see, on this day there were lots of workers there. Still yard work/landscaping to do and it looks like maybe the columns on the porch need to be installed. Not sure what's happening on the inside, but I know from when we built our house that the interior work seems to take forever.

It's a nice looking home. I like the white siding with the black shutters. Very classy.

I know he will be happy when he is moved in!

International Women's Day

Today is International Women's Day. Women make up more than half of the population, but in most countries are underrepresented and continue to be treated poorly due to domestic violence and abuse. The patriarchy is alive and well, and while women have made some advances in the last 100 years, it is good to remember that women couldn't have their own credit cards in the United States until the 1970s, they couldn't vote until the 1920s, and continue to have to fight the government, ignorance, and complacency simply for control over their own bodily functions.

We've come a long way, baby, but we've still got a long way to go, and many would like to see us go backwards. 

To celebrate the day, I thought I'd offer up some local history about women who have made great impact here. I'm using a book called Notable Women West of the Blue Ridge 1850-1950 for my source.

Lucy Breckinridge is celebrated locally because she kept a journal during the US Civil War. She began a diary on August 11, 1862. Her journals are one of the few documents we have about how women thought and were treated during that time. She was a wealthy upper-class woman, complete with servants, but she died at the age of 22 of typhoid fever, just after the Civil War ended. Her diary has been published and can be purchased on Amazon and other places.

Callie Wright of Troutdale, Virginia (which is not that close to me but is a rural community), is the first woman mayor in the Commonwealth. She served from 1930-1934. She was born in 1894 and died in 1986. She worked at the First National Bank. The town was facing bankruptcy and dissolution as a town when Wright took over as mayor. By the time her term ended, the town's debts had been paid and the community again took pride its town.

Martha Louisa Cocke grew up at Hollins Institute (later Hollins College and now Hollins University, my alma mater), and graduated from the college in 1874 with diplomas in English literature, French, history, Latin, mathematics, and natural science. She assisted in the administration of the college and taught English, French, German, and Mathematics there. She was named president of Hollins Institute in 1901.  She served for 32 years. During that time the school changed its name to Hollins College and built a theater and gymnasium and later erected another dozen new structures. She was the first woman college president in Virginia.

Georgia Meadows (1903-2001) was a Black woman in my county. She received education at Hughes Hill School, a one-room elementary school located here. She left the county to attend Virginia Normal and Industrial Institute (now Virginia State University) in Petersburg. She graduated with a BS in Education in 1922 and went on to earn a master's degree in Education from Columbia University in New York City. She also attended the University of Virginia, Northwestern University in Chicago, and worked on her Ph.D. in Education at Harvard. She returned to her home community where she taught school for 48 years. She was a consultant to the school administration with regards to education plans for the Black community. Additionally, she served as vice president of Total Action Against Poverty, served on the board of League of Older Americans, and organized the Fincastle Senior Citizens Club. In 1973, the US Federation of Colored Women's Clubs awarded her Clubwoman of the Year.

Viola Wick Painter (1904-1981) of this county was a music educator and choral director. She served as organist for the Fincastle Presbyterian Church for 32 years and for St. Mark's Episcopal Church for 27 years and directed the Fincastle Methodist Church Choir for 7 years. (I guess she didn't care about the differences in denominations!) She was President of the Botetourt County Red Cross for 10 years. (This woman would have been a distant cousin of mine. Unfortunately, I never met her. I know her grandchildren, though.)

Mary Johnston (1870-1936) was a novelist from my county. Her first book, Prisoner of Hope, was published in 1898. In 1899, her second novel, To Have and To Hold, was an overwhelming success - it was the best-selling book in 1900 - and the book was made into silent films in 1918 and 1921. She believed in equal rights for women and was a suffragette. She was the first woman to ever address the Virginia Legislature when it was in session, where she advocated for the right to vote. She wrote 23 novels and multiple short stories and articles. Some of her books can be found on Amazon.

Of course, to my mind (journalist that I was) every woman - every person - has a story and has contributed something to his or her community, even if it wasn't meant to benefit others! (I know some people like that.) Billions of people have lived on this planet, and at least half of them were female.

They - we - (and I) - have voices that deserve to be heard, acknowledged, and understood.

Sleeping Deer