Saturday 9: Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head

Saturday 9: Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head

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

1) In this week's song, BJ Thomas sings that he knows it won't be long until he finds happiness. What are you looking forward to today? What's going to make you smile?

A. I need to pick out my next read. That's always fun. Also, Saturday is "change the linens" day and I love falling asleep with fresh sheets.

2) BJ Thomas met his wife Gloria at a bar. She was there with his drummer, but BJ let his friend know he felt a connection to Gloria and was going to drive her home. BJ and Gloria were married for 50 years, until his death. Have you and a friend ever found yourselves attracted to the same person? If yes, how did you handle it?

A. That has never happened to me.

 

3) This song is from Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid, which has been called "the most entertaining Western ever made." Do you enjoy Westerns?

A. Not particularly.

4) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is one of the most popular movies Paul Newman made, but he liked to say his "favorite role is philanthropist." He raised an amazing $500 million for children's charities through his Newman's Own brand. The most popular Newman's Own product is salad dressing. What flavor of salad dressing would we find in your kitchen right now?

A. Kraft Thousand Island.

 

5) Burt Bacharach won the first of his three Oscars for this song. Yet 20th Century Fox originally wanted to cut the song from the movie, maintaining that that song and the famous "bicycle sequence" between Paul Newman and Katharine Ross were anachronistic and made the movie too long. Burt and the movie's director George Roy Hill fought for it, insisting that it helped define the optimistic character of Butch. Tell us about a time you were glad you stood your ground.

A. I'm not sure that any of the times I stood my ground were ultimately beneficial to me.

6) Edith Head also won an Oscar for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. She said that Robert Redford, who played Sundance, presented a wardrobe problem. His jawline is too strong so she had to create special wider-brimmed hats to balance it. If you could magically change one of your physical features, which would you choose? And which feature would you never change?

A. I would be thinner. My skin seems to be my best feature, as it's one thing I frequently receive compliments on, so that. And my eyes, even though they give away my feelings.

7) In 1969, when this song was a hit, The Beatles played their last concert on the roof of Abbey Road Studios. When did you last climb onto the roof?

A. A very long time ago.

8) Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys mysteries sold at a brisk pace at Christmastime 1969. They're still popular today. Were you a fan?

A. I actually read a Nancy Drew Book earlier this year. I was and still am a fan.

9) Random question: Do you consider yourself old fashioned?

A. Yes.

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

Thursday Thirteen #800

Today I am celebrating my 800th edition of Thursday 13. I have gone for 15 years and a few weeks writing a Thursday 13, without missing a week that I am aware of. When we went on vacations, I pre-wrote them and set them to post on Thursdays so I wouldn't miss.

I went back and looked at my long list of 800 Thursday 13s and I picked out the ones that had the most hits. I have written so many that I do not have a favorite. Some had hits of well over 1,000 views, others, not so much.

1. My very first Thursday 13 was on January 25, 2007. I wrote about the word "cold." It did not have many hits at all, but since it was the first one, it gets a place of honor in this list. My blog started in August 2006, so I hadn't been blogging long when I stumbled upon Thursday 13.

2. Several of my highest-rated posts were when the Blog Blast for Peace also hit on Thursday. This one on November 6, 2008, which is really a poem about peace, was among the highest rated.

3. In November 2012, the county had a big to-do about becoming part of the Lewis and Clark trail. My photos of that commemoration, which I posted on November 5, 2012, ranked high in my hit list.

4. A blog about Virginia suffragists also received a lot of notice. I posted it on February 28, 2013, and noted that Virginia did not ratify the 19th amendment (the right of women to vote) until 1952. (Just in case you think that's not something else they can take away. They can. And probably will.)

5. A post about our bathroom renovation and indoor clutter also received a lot of hits. I posted it on August 29, 2013. 

6. This Thursday 13, posted on January 9, 2014, about local legends, UFOs, ghosts, etc., was also a big hit.

7. Apparently in February 2015, we had a lot of snow, and I and my readers all were wanting to go the beach. A list of beaches also had a lot of hits. I posted this on February 26, 2015.

8. This post on August 4, 2016, about Botetourt County's place in history for tomato canning, was one of the highest-ranked posts in my Thursday 13 list.

9. The Insurrection Edition of Thursday (January 7, 2021) also had a lot of hits. I think a lot of folks were trying to process the events of January 6, 2021.

10. A photo essay about 13 old tractors at the Keystone Tractor Museum in Petersburg, VA, also received a lot of attention when I posted in on July 27, 2017.

11. This Thursday 13 posted on January 21, 2016, about local history and the preservation of historic structures at Greenfield, also struck a nerve with some folks.

12. This list of old songs, posted on June 28, 2012, was popular.

13. And last in the list, we have another photo essay, this time pictures of spring posted on April 8, 2010.

I want to thank Colleen at Looseleaf notes for currently hosting the newthursday13.blogspot.com website. We took over hosting TT after it sort of died out, and I managed it for about 5 years before turning it over to Colleen. I also want to thank my readers, whoever you are, for sticking by me with my lists and memes, assorted photos, and odd thoughts. Writing a blog is an interesting exercise, and I appreciate your time and attention. I hope I have not disappointed you with my opinions, notes, and attempts at music videos from time to time. Thank you for being there!

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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 800th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

This Is Not What I Asked For

 

This is a smiley face I asked the new Bing chatbot to compose for me in HTML. As you can see, it didn't come out quite right. AI is not yet fool proof.

Feel Like Making Love

This song, Feel Like Making Love, originally released in 1975 by Bad Company, is a song I had difficulty with.

For one thing, I couldn't sing it in the key it was originally recorded in, so I had to move it up from D to E.

For another, this song, if you listen to the released version, doesn't know whether it's a folk-rock song or a hard rock song. At the beginning, it sounds like folk rock, or soft rock (whatever you want to call it), but at the end, it's like the guy with the guitar just couldn't hold it back anymore so he rocks it on out.

However, VH1 once labeled this the 78th best hard rock song, so I guess it's a hard rock song, even if I have my doubts.

I struggled with this for a good month. I lack the vocals, and I lack the lead guitar skill. Finally, after some prompting from a friend, I decided to do it "my way" and hope it worked.

This uses my RC-3 Loop Station for the drums. I recorded a background rhythm first, then if you listen closely you can hear where I attempted to use the guitar to enhance the vocal parts where there should have been more people singing. I'm not sure that worked, but it doesn't sound awful. I did the lead guitar differently than the released song, and I also end the song earlier.

My voice has two ranges, the one that sounds a lot like I talk (which is what you hear in this video), and the one that sounds more alto-soprano and is higher pitched. What I can't do, likely because I never had vocal training, is switch from one voice to the other or hit the notes in between. I do know my limitations.

Anyway, here goes.

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing

1. Name one song that describes your life.

A. Unwritten, by Natasha Bedingfield

2. Name two things you wish you had more of in your life.

A. Willpower and time.

3. List three ways you relax.

A. Watch TV, play video games, play guitar

4. List four of your best accomplishments.

A. I chose a good mate, I obtained my degrees, I wrote thousands of articles, and I love to the best of my ability.

5. List five things you are looking forward to.

A. Getting a new driver's license, obtaining the audiobook I want to listen to, purchasing new clothes, learning a new song, and seeing friends.

6. List six things you are grateful for.

A. My husband, my home, my brother and other family members, my brain, my computer, my guitar.

7. List seven facts about yourself.

A. I am 5' 2" tall (with my sneakers on). I am overweight. My hair is brown and white. My eyes are hazel. I no longer chew on my fingernails. I wear a 7W in shoe size, and I have a lot of scars.

8. Name eight things you can see from where you are sitting.

A. My camera, my cellphone, my water glass, index cards, my Amazon Fire tablet, my computer screen, a bottle of Elmer's glue, lots of books.

9. List nine words you would use to describe yourself.

A. Intelligent, "woke" (whatever that means), tired, old, creative, short, fat, loved, careful. 

10. List ten little things that make you happy.

A. A good meal (preferably cooked by someone else), a clean house, taking a great picture, writing a good article/poem/blog post/etc., learning a new song, eating sweets, a drink of water, my husband (though he's not so little), watching the wild animals out the window, phone calls from friends/family

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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: The Rocky Road

Saturday 9: The Rocky Road to Dublin (2008)

 

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

1) This song is about a young man who leaves home to seek his fortune. How old were you when you first moved out on your own?

A. I was 20 years old. I lived at home until I married.

2) He leaps onto a ship, but the captain makes him sleep in the hold with pigs. Have you ever taken a cruise? (If so, we hope you had better accommodations.)

A. I have never been on a cruise. I can't remember the last time I was on a boat of any kind.

 

3) This recording of the song is by The High Kings. Well established in Ireland, their career reached new heights in March 2012. Right after playing for the Lord Mayor of London's St. Patrick's Day celebration, they flew to Washington to perform for President Obama at the White House St. Patrick's Day concert. Tell us about a time when you were so happy, you had to pinch yourself to make sure you weren't dreaming.

A. I'm not sure I've ever been that happy. Maybe when I received my master's degree?

 

4) This song was chosen because Friday was St. Patrick's Day. Do you celebrate this holiday?

A. Not really, no.

 

5) Leprechauns are a symbol of St. Patrick's Day. These small Irish fairies are said to live in the forest, guarding their gold. Do you often wear gold?

A. I wear white gold when I wear gold, although my watch is a mix of gold and silver (not real) and I wear it every day.

6) McDonald's has made Shamrock Shakes a St. Patrick's Day tradition. McDonald's began adding the drive-thru window to their restaurants in the 1970s. Would you rather order from the restaurant counter or the drive-thru?

A. Drive-thru.

7) A four-leaf clover is considered good luck. Do you have a lucky charm?

A. No.

 

8) Thinking of Lucky Charms, they are magically delicious. What breakfast cereal is in your kitchen right now?

A. Honey Nut Cheerios.

  

9) Random question: Think of your upcoming week. Which day will be the busiest?

A. Wednesday.

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

Sunshine Week

This is the week that news media, or what's left of it, anyway, celebrates and attempts to help the public understand why we need the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

This law that gives us the right to access information from the federal government or other public authorities. It allows us to stay informed about our government’s actions and decisions.

It is how we can hold politicians accountable for wrongdoing. FOIA also promotes transparency and democracy by allowing us to participate more effectively in public affairs.

As a journalist, I used FOIA requests infrequently, but there were times when I did need them. Because of FOIA, I am sent a notice for every local Board meeting. Any citizen can ask to be advised of any meetings if they so desire, but I don't think many people bother.

Even though I am no longer attending meetings, I still listen to them on the phone when the county offers that option. (They don't do that for every meeting, unfortunately.)

When the members of a government perform things in secret, the public has no chance to express its opinion. Long ago, some local elected officials took it to heart that they represented everyone, Republican and Democrat alike, but that has long gone out the window. And even people in parties have different ideas about how things should operate, or where monies should be spent.

Learn about your state's Freedom of Information Act, as well as the federal government's. It's a tool that every citizen has access to (although sometimes localities and the feds charge way too much and that can be a hindrance). Used well, it can clear up inequities and force change.

Thursday Thirteen

Generally speaking, I am a pacifist. I do not believe there is ever a need for a fight to the death. I think disagreements can and should be worked out diplomatically. War is an outdated concept, one that humanity should have outgrown, although obviously we have not.

Unfortunately, not everyone agrees, and it feels like World War III is coming, doesn't it? Scary times. 

Here are 13 reasons why I object to "war" for the sake of "war."

1. War increases the power and control of governments over their citizens. It restricts freedom of speech, assembly, and movement.

2. War disrupts trade and commerce and harms economic prosperity. It drains resources that could be used to better the plight of the human condition.

3. Unintended consequences often result from military interventions.

4. War involves innocent people getting hurt and families being separated.

5.  It does not address root causes of conflicts, such as hunger, inequality, oppression, etc.

6. It violates humanitarian (and Christian) ethics of peace and love. War is about power, greed, and domination, not justice.

7. War is costly in terms of lives, resources, environment and reputation.

8. It can escalate into larger and more dangerous conflicts involving nuclear weapons or terrorism.

9.  It generally creates more enemies and resentment than it eliminates.

10.  War threatens our environment, meaning it causes pollution, deforestation, climate change and biodiversity loss. War can undermine democracy and human rights at home and abroad.

11.  War can erode moral values and principles in society. 

12. It traumatizes soldiers and civilians with physical and psychological wounds.

13. It hinders social progress and development by diverting resources from education, health care, etc.

These are some reasons why there should not be war. However, some people may disagree or have different perspectives on this issue. I know some people believe that war is sometimes necessary or justified under certain conditions. And of course, when one is attacked, generally one fights back.

*I used the new Bing AI to help write this. Some of it seems repetitive, but there you go.*

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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 799th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

Worm Moon

This is a picture of the March 7 full moon, the Worm Moon (or Snow Crust Moon). I was trying to make it look like it was sitting on a tree limb, but I wasn't successful. It's close, but I didn't quite get it. 

So far, I have not yet managed to get a photo like that, where it looks like something very far away is hanging from something close up.

I will keep trying.

Making Biscuits

We seldom spent a weekend at home when I was growing up. My father played music in a band, and they had gigs on Fridays or Saturdays or sometimes both nights.

My mother seldom stayed home with us. She was like Lucy Ricardo, always wanting to be near my father and eventually edging her way up on the stage where she sang backup vocals on a few songs and beat on a tambourine.

Our maternal grandparents usually kept us on the weekends. We spent either one or both nights with them. I later found out my mother paid them to keep us, but I didn't know that at the time. I just knew we spent a lot of time at Grandma's house. Grandpa was not around us much; he worked and on the weekends, he repaired television sets in his workshop in the basement.

But occasionally my grandparents could not have us over, for whatever reason. The teenager up the road, Melinda, kept us sometimes. While it was fine for me to keep my brother for a few hours after school, it was not ok for us to be alone from 6 p.m. until 2 a.m., at least not until after I turned 12.

One night Melinda kept us and she was still there the next morning. My parents apparently arrived home very late, and she slept on the couch. When I got up, she suggested we fix breakfast for everyone.

As we all know, I don't like to cook.

At any rate, we set about preparing breakfast of eggs, bacon, biscuits, etc. Melinda handed me the biscuit batter and told me to mix it. (I have no idea if this was something she mixed up or if it was Bisquick. Probably Bisquick, if it was around back then.)

Now I had helped my mother and grandmother make cakes, brownies, and cookies. Batter is supposed to be smooth, right? So I beat on that biscuit batter until I had every lump out.

Upon removing them from the oven, Melinda discovered that we had not biscuits, but something more akin to hard tack. By this time, my mother was up and I remember everyone laughing at my hard, flat biscuits.

My mother said I beat the rise out of them.

She threw them in the trash.

I buy frozen biscuits now, or a can of Pillsbury biscuits. I can heat the oven and cook them.

I don't have to worry about anything but burning them.

Latch Key Kids

When I was 9 years old, my mother decided I was old enough to keep myself and my brother for two hours after school.

She worked a full-time job in a nearby city, and did not come home until 6 p.m. My father's hours varied so much we never knew when he would be home.

For a time, we stayed with an older woman. Her name was Dorathea and she lived in a little white house not far from us. I got along with her. I did whatever chores she asked of me, then did my homework if I hadn't finished it on the bus, then read whatever books she had in her bookcase. It was there I first read Victoria Holt, books not exactly suited for my age group. 

My brother, however, was a bit of a troublemaker, and I think Dorathea didn't want us to return. Up the street a ways were the Stewarts. Two of them were teenagers, and one was a year younger than I. We stayed with them sometimes, but after it was obvious I could take care of us, we just exited the bus at our house.

I'm not sure when the term "latch key" kids came into being, but that is what we were. I was the big sister in charge. We each had chores. My father raised a variety of birds - chickens, quail, and other things. My brother's job was to feed them and water them. I was in charge of keeping the stove going, That meant fetching kindling and wood.

We had a pile of boards that came from somewhere, and since I wasn't supposed to use the axe, I would place the boards at an angle against a log and jump in the middle of them to snap them so I could get them into the stove. I couldn't handle the big logs one needs to bank a fire, but we heated with a wood stove and an oil furnace, so it was necessary to keep the fire going. We weren't supposed to turn the oil furnace up.

We arrived home from school about 3:50 p.m. It was a long bus ride as school let out at 3 p.m. My first chore was to make a collect call to my mother's office. I would ask for her, and she would say there was no one there by that name and reject the call. But she heard my voice on the other end and knew we were ok. Sometimes, though, what she heard was something like, "Mom, she's not letting me watch TV and I've done my homework," to which she would respond, "Behave yourselves" before rejecting the call. You could do that back then, back in 1972. At least you could around here.

At some point, the phone company changed it so that calls to the city were no longer long distance, so we didn't have to do that. I just came home and called and let her know everything was ok. We had worked out a code so I could tell her something was wrong. She worried about someone breaking into the house and being there when we arrived. I was supposed to tell this person that if I didn't call my mother right away, she would call the police, and then I was to call and tell her something like, "My brother Jack missed the bus," so she would know something was wrong (since I don't have a brother Jack). That's not the secret sentence, I've forgotten it, but it was something like that.

After we gathered kindling, fed the birds, fed the fire, and picked up around the house - I think I was washing clothes by this time so I would start a load of laundry, too - we were supposed to do our homework. Generally, though, I did my homework on the bus, so I didn't have that much to do. Instead, I would read or watch TV.

I remember one afternoon I decided I would make dinner. I was younger than 12. I don't remember what I fixed, but I set the table, made the meal, etc., so that when my mother came home, everything was done. She said nothing to me about it. No thank you, no good job. She just came in and ate and told me to clean up.

Later I asked her if she even noticed what I'd done. She said of course she had, but no one ever thanked her, so why should I expect to be thanked?

After that, I despised cooking and have ever since. Since I could do it, it became expected, and while I didn't cook on nights I had piles of homework, I frequently threw casseroles or whatever my mother left in the refrigerator in the oven. These were the days of frozen TV dinners and ready made meals. But I got out of cooking as much as I could, and since homework came first, I stopped doing my homework on the bus so I'd have to do it at home. Lots of times we just ate a sandwich and I was fine with that. If my father was home, he expected a nice meal, and my mother usually fixed that when she came home from work, so the days he was home I did not cook. I made no secret of my dislike for cooking.

There we were, me with my brother who was three years younger than I, staying by ourselves in a house with a woodstove when I was 9 years old. I don't know that it hurt us. We had chores we had to do, and if we didn't do them, we were punished, so we did them. I don't recall too many bad things happening - seems like I jumped on one of those pieces of wood one time and had it fly up and hit me in the face - and there were splinters and such to deal with, but we just did it. And we learned to deal with whatever came along, whether that was the chickens getting out or learning how to rebuild the fire in the woodstove.

I don't know if there are still latchkey kids - I assume so - but I also know helicopter parenting seems to have taken over. Maybe latchkey kids are called "free range" kids now. 

It didn't do us any harm, really. I was grown up when I was born, or so it seems, so this was just a part of it.

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing

1. Do you make new friends easily?

A. No. I'm quite introverted. Most people think I'm stuck up, but I'm really just shy.

2. Which podcasts do you like at the moment?

A. I listen to Artemis Journal, which is a local podcast featuring local writers. Nikki Giovanni was on the last one I listened to. I also listen to Ted Talks, although I don't know if that is considered a podcast.

3. Name one thing that immediately makes your day better.

A. A hot shower.

4. What app do you use most?

A. The text app on the phone, or maybe the Libby app. I listen to a lot of books on tape, usually while I am also reading a book (just not at the same time).

5. Who are the friends who would have your back no matter what?

A. My friends T&L, I suppose. My brother for sure.

 
6. What is something you’ll never do again?

A. Ride a horse.

7. Name something you practice often.

A. My guitar.

8. What gives you an adrenaline rush?

A. Working on a good article used to do it. I miss that.

9. How well do you do in social situations?

A. I do ok. Not great. I try not to put myself in those situations. That was one great thing about being a news reporter. I could be in any situation and stand back and watch because that was what I was supposed to do.

10. Are you a light sleeper or a deep sleeper?

A. I am a very light sleeper.

11. Do you get stage fright?

A. Yes.

12. Which family members are you closest to?

A. My brother.

13. How was your February?

A. Short. I don't recall much about it, so I assume not much happened.

14. What is your favorite candle scent?

A. Unscented. I am allergic to almost all scents.

15. One book that you would recommend as a "must read'?

A. The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood. 

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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: Pass Me By

Saturday 9: Pass Me By (1965)

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

 

1) In this song, Peggy Lee tells us she wiggles her toes in the sand. Have you been to the beach yet in 2023? Do you expect to wiggle your toes in the sand when you're on vacation this year?

A. No to both questions.

 

2) She also sings that contemplating nature can be fascinating. What flora and fauna can you see from your window as you answer these questions?

A. Greening grass, brown sage, wintered oak trees, green cedar trees, bull pines, and other deciduous trees that have not yet leafed out.

3) With this song, she's telling everyone to take her as she is or leave her be. Does that reflect your attitude? Or are you a "people pleaser" who worries what others think of you?

A. I'm afraid I have always been a people pleaser.

4) These lyrics were written by Carolyn Leigh. She began her career as an advertising copywriter but, since she showed a flair for poetry and rhymes, she was urged by a music publisher to write lyrics. Have you ever tried your hand at poetry?

A. Yes, and I have had some published.

5) This song was composed for the 1964 movie Father Goose, starring Cary Grant. Are you a fan? Do you just vaguely know the name? Or are you wondering what a Cary Grant is?

A. I know the name but I couldn't tell you anything about him.

6) This was a top-20 hit for Peggy Lee. As a girl in North Dakota during the 1930s, Peggy lived above the train station where her father was depot agent. Today that depot is home to a museum which features a Peggy Lee Exhibit. Have you recently visited a museum?

A. Back in the fall I visited the Botetourt County Historical Museum.

 

7) Designer Bonnie Erickson was also grew up in North Dakota and used her girlhood idol as the inspiration for her most famous creation: Miss Piggy. A diva with flowing blonde hair and jewelry, the puppet was originally called Miss Piggy Lee. As the character gained in fame with The Muppets, the name was shortened to Miss Piggy because Bonnie didn't want to offend Peggy Lee, whom she genuinely admired. Tell us something you have done recently to spare someone's feelings.

A. I kept my mouth shut and didn't say a word.

8) While Peggy Lee often changed her hairstyle with the times, she was always a blonde. She considered those lustrous locks her trademark. Are you having a good hair day today?

A. Actually, yes, which is amazing because I badly need a haircut.

9) Random question: What's the perfect way to spend a lazy afternoon?

A. Reading a book, playing guitar, visiting with somebody. Anything but chores.

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

From Janis Ian's Facebook Page

I yanked these suggestions/questions off of Janis Ian's Facebook page. Janis Ian is a singer/songwriter and is most famous for the song At Seventeen. I am not sure why I started following her Facebook page - maybe it come up as a suggestion. At any rate, she offered up these questions, so I thought I'd answer them here.

- Lightest movie you’ve ever seen - anything on Hallmark.

- Darkest movie you’ve ever seen - The Exorcist

- Movie you wish you’d never seen - Something that had Adam Sandler in it, Zohan the Magnificent or something like that. 

- Favorite book by an author dead more than 100 years - Black Beauty, by Anna Sewell

- Favorite book by an author dead more than 1,000 years - Oedipus Rex, by Sophocles

- Favorite book to fall asleep by - Whatever I happen to be reading at the time.

- Clothing choice you wish you’d never made (post photo if possible) - I can't think of anything as an adult, but when I was younger my mother certainly picked out some rather odd-looking clothing for me.

- First person you ever fell in love with after watching them in a movie - Legolas in Lord of the Rings, played by Orlando Bloom. Oddly, I haven't liked him in anything else.

- Choice of occupation if you didn’t have to earn money doing it - Video game player.

- Last time you insulted someone (and made sure they knew it) - Gosh, it was years ago. I'd been accused by this crazy woman in town of ignoring her at another town (I never even saw her), and she made a big deal out of it in front of a lot of people at a meeting. So the next time I saw her in town, I looked straight at her, made sure she saw me, then turned my nose up to the sky and walked right past her. Then I turned around and yelled, "And that's how I ignore somebody!"

- Last time you wished you’d insulted someone (ditto) - The other day in the grocery store. I didn't, of course.

- Your idea of absolute contentment - Reading a good book in a clean house, with supper already prepared or eaten, and no chores pressing, with a nice glass of water and no one to bother me.

- Your idea of the worst vacation ever - Well, the one we had in 1989 was pretty bad. The hotel had no electricity and was running off a generator, so there was no air conditioning. It was hot as hell. The hotel across the street had electricity. So we asked for a refund so we could go across the street. When we asked for a refund, I threatened to sue, and the guy gave us back our deposit.

- Museum experience you most disliked - I can't say that I've ever disliked a museum. The only time I have problems in museums is if they smell musty or moldy.

- Least favorite painter - I don't know that I have one.

- Least favorite composer - I don't know the answer to this one, either. I am not a fan of certain types of music, so I suppose whoever is making that.

- Questionnaire you wish you'd never begun - Well, not this one. This was pretty easy. But I have done long self-tests for things like Myers-Briggs that went on and on. Some of those I wish I hadn't started.

Thursday Thirteen

About a year ago, my husband stopped chewing tobacco. His doctor would not perform his hip replacement surgery unless he gave up his nicotine. He was also told that returning to chewing would impede his hip replacement.

So, 13 good things about the end of my husband's habit in celebration of his year of going without the nasty stuff:

1. He isn't spending thousands of dollars on something he spits in a cup.

2. His teeth are much whiter.

3. There aren't bottles with tobacco spit sitting in my kitchen.

4. The trash can no longer smells like someone threw up a bag of Wintergreen Lifesavers.

5. There are no longer little flecks of black stuff all over the kitchen floor.

6. There are also no longer little flakes of black stuff all over the bathroom sink. (That's the tobacco he'd spill when he was putting it in his mouth; he can't see it anymore and won't wear his glasses.)

7. I don't have to worry about accidentally picking up a bottle and taking a swig of tobacco spit. (This only happened once, thank goodness.)

8. The probability of him developing mouth cancer has decreased significantly.

9. His muscles should be in better shape, as it is my understanding that the nicotine weakens muscles and keeps healing from happening. (That's what his doctor said, anyway.)

10. His breath smells better.

11. I don't know if the tobacco was a factor, but his blood sugar issues have decreased significantly.

12. His risk for heart disease was lessened when he stopped chewing tobacco.

13. My car (and I assume his truck) is cleaner because there aren't little specks of chewing tobacco or a stinking bottle of chewing tobacco spit in the vehicle.

__________________

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 798th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

White Blooms Everywhere

Sunday afternoon on a quick trip to the home improvement store, I couldn't help but stare at the multitude of white-blooming trees all along the highway.

If they are all Bradford pears, then this tree is definitely out of control. But some may be wild cherry, as we are a good month ahead of ourselves with Spring so far this year.

I snapped these out the car window with my cell as we drove by.

Yesterday when I went out to the grocery store, I noticed many of the Bradford pear trees are already leafing out, the blooms going away.

On My Mind

Hospital Liability

A story I read in Sunday's paper disturbed me. A 51-year-old man, who had been in the hospital for 9 days being treated for pneumonia, checked himself out of the hospital. No one made sure he had a ride, or someone waiting to pick him up.

Hospital personnel just let him go.

They found him dead just below the grounds of the hospital. Apparently, he tried to walk out. Maybe he was still ill, maybe he had dementia, maybe he was still drugged up and not thinking clearly.

I don't know the whole story, and as a journalist I learned long ago not to judge, but on its face, it seems the hospital potentially has liability here. Shouldn't they ensure their patients have a ride - at least a cab or Uber - before they let them waltz out the door?

Or are we so callous as a society that it doesn't matter if someone walks out of the hospital and dies a few steps from its grounds?

Searching For Bad Guys

Last night, instead of contacting media, the local sheriff posted a video on Facebook that his deputies were searching an area of our community known as Timber Ridge for a fellow who'd been seen with a rifle. He counted off a list of charges the man was wanted for - having a weapon after being convicted as a felon, assault, etc. - and proceeded to say the problem was domestic violence and the person they were pursuing was of no danger to the public.

If there was no danger to the public, then why was half of the county's police force out looking for this fellow?

Why just post this on Facebook, and let the media find out about it that way? Or is Facebook the new media? I don't know. I don't get my news from there. I still read a newspaper.

And where's the promised update? This is not that far from me as the crow flies, nor is it far from people I know and care about. So there's a guy with a gun running around but he isn't a threat but the sheriff is searching for him. As far as I know, he's still at large almost 24 hours later.

Does that make any sense?

Banana Republic

From Georgia (the southern states are so messed up) comes this little ditty: a submitted bill that would allow the party in power to remove prosecutors they don't like.

What is going on in Georgia? The former guy and/or some of his friends is looking at an indictment for possibly illegally involving himself in the 2020 Georgia election.

When we remove officials on party-line whims, when the goals of a new law are strictly to satisfy something so one person or set of persons can benefit at the expense of others, then we've lost the rule of law. 

I believe strongly in the rule of law. I believe in the justice system. I also know it is a human construct, and that on its face makes it corruptible. Having come to the conclusion in recent years that we have no better angels, that most people, in fact, want their devils to come out and play, because it's actually more difficult to be a nice person than it is to be an asshole, I conclude that we, the USA, are doomed.

We've been a banana Republic run by yellow-belly sapsuckers since 2000. I was never an Obama fan, as he didn't live up to his potential. The president who won in 2000 won in what I considered an illegal election, and was given the seat by the Supreme Court, so if one wants to tout election issues, it needs to go back twenty years, not two. The former guy is just Hitler in a blue suit and a red tie. Some of the crap he spewed at this weekend's CPAC meeting was despicable. Does he think he is Jesus Christ? Sheesh. Biden is trying, but he's not what we need right now, and frankly, all politicians at the moment seem corrupt and bedraggled. None of them are shining examples of good government. They all have baggage, though I know everybody does.

Mind Your Own Business

I acknowledge it's everyone's right to do what they want about masks and vaccines, though I think it is irresponsible not to be vaccinated. I'm not talking about just Covid, I'm talking about other things, too, like chicken pox, measles, tetanus, hepatitis, polio., etc.

Vaccines have saved many, many lives.

Today I was the only person in the grocery store with a mask on. And you know what? I don't care. I don't care if people think I may be sick, I don't care if they want to make fun of me, I don't care what they think in the least. Because you know what I think? It doesn't matter what I think.

I don't go up to people and tell them what I think of them. I mind my own business, and I expect others to do the same.

By the way, I have a note I carry with me at all times from my doctor. Do you know what it says? It says I have been instructed to wear a mask when I am out in public at all times. Do you know why? Because I have health issues. I've been a walking illness since I was born. Modern medicine may have saved my life, but some days I don't know what for.