Thursday Thirteen

1. "Line on the mirror, lines on her face. She pretended not to notice; she was caught up in the race." Those lines from the Eagles song, Life in the Fast Lane, haunt me when I look in the mirror now. My face is starting to show my age. There are lines. I never snorted lines, though.

2. My husband said the lines on his face remind him of this: "Every time that I look in the mirror, all these lines on my face getting clearer," which are the opening lines from Dream On, by Aerosmith.

3. My voice is finally starting to come back, though it still sounds a little croaky. It has more volume now. My doctor diagnosed this as tracheal bronchitis, which is something I used to get a lot when I was a child. It means that my last sinus infection tied in with my asthma, I think.

4. A younger person yesterday was asking me, "What happened?" She was talking about the rise of the former guy, which she rightly called a cult, and all of the fear exhibited by people who support him. I explained that it started under Reagan and coalesced after 9/11 (she would have been about 3 years old then), which is when I first felt the fear and anger radiating off of people in the grocery store. It would rise and ebb, but it never went completely away. Now people think rude and crude are acceptable behaviors, and manners belong only to the "woke" (whatever that is), and meanness is their creed. The cruelty is the point for them. I apologized to her for not leaving her a better world.

5. She also fears the loss of her rights. Women's rights. I think it's a very real concern. It has been in my lifetime that women could have credit cards in their own names. Or inherit property in their own names without having to split it with their children, in this state, anyway. The recent ruling in Alabama about embryos being "humans" chilled her. The loss of abortion rights was a blow to women who want autonomy over their own bodies. These are scary times, but all times are scary, and every generation seems to think they're the ones who are going to get live through the Second Coming. I've read old newspapers and books. Nothing much has changed for centuries.

6. Speaking of women's rights, I'm having an issue with a banking institution that thinks they need more ID than the State of Virginia or the US government. And I've been a customer for years and years. They're about to lose my business. I have a Real ID. That should be enough. I've been angry about this for days.

7. What do you do with your coins? Banks no longer take them in rolls. You have to drop them in some machine and then they take a percentage of the total. That doesn't seem right. A roll of 50 pennies is 50 cents. The bank should give me 50 cents for 50 cents, not 48 cents for 50 cents.

8. I am supposed to be eating for heart health, digestive health, lung health, and nail and skin health, and for fat loss health. I cannot figure out how to do this. Or maybe I just don't want to.

9. A new medication that I was given says on the directions not to take it within 4 hours of any other medicine. I am on medication that I take every 4 hours, so I haven't started the new medication because I can't figure out when I am supposed to take it.

10. When I was at college, I found the atmosphere invigorating, enlightening, and occasionally frightening. But the experience, which lasted 8 years because I was going part-time, was the best thing I ever did for myself. I met wonderful, strong, encouraging women who think like I do, and I made a few friends. I grew into myself. I was happy in classes; I love to learn. I missed out on the bonding because I was an older student and didn't live in the dorms, but I was still young enough to fit in. I remember one evening when we were taking a break during a 3-hour class and some of the young women were talking to me. One of them noticed my wedding ring. "Oh my God, you're married!" she cried, and they all wanted to know what it was like, being married. This was back before cell phones, when people really talked to one another.

11. Another friend tells me she has determined that social media/the Internet is evil. She says it is harming young people, who can't tell the difference anymore between real life and life online, and in general adding to the fascist line of populist thinking that has brought such a twist into the political realm. I can't disagree. I liked the Internet better when it was monitored bulletin boards and email. I liked the closed nature of AOL when it first went live, because if you had a problem, you could report it. Now if someone chases after you or is inappropriate, there isn't much to be done about it.

12. I haven't chewed my nails in three years, but they still are thin and brittle. There are lines and ridges from where I damaged them by chewing on them. I will never have pretty nails. But they look better than they did.

13. It's been two years since my husband gave up chewing tobacco. He eats a lot of sugar free candy instead, which probably isn't good for him, but I don't miss the chewing tobacco. That stuff smelled bad, and it made a mess everywhere he went. It trailed after him like the dust on Pig Pen in the Peanuts comics. No, I don't miss having to sweep up particles of tobacco around the trash can every morning.

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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 848th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

Going Backwards

When I was 5, my father had me and my brother in a vehicle when he stopped at a convenience store on Apperson Drive.

I don't recall what kind of car we had in 1968, but I want to say it was a Dodge Charger. At any rate, he left us both in the car while he went in to fetch whatever he was after.

In 1968 I suppose there were car seats, but we didn't use them. I don't think we used seat belts either, for that matter. Yes, I am of the generation that rode in the bed of the pickup truck, drank from water hoses, and lived to tell about it.

After my father hopped out of the car, my brother climbed into the driver's seat so he could pretend to be driving. I don't remember if the car was running, but I'm guessing my father left it in neutral and put on the parking brake. I think the parking brake was located where today most people would find a cup holder and a console.

Somehow my brother disengaged something, and the car started rolling backwards.

As in, out of a small parking lot and into a busy highway.

My brother seemed oblivious to what he'd done, but as soon as I realized the car was moving, I started to scream. That made him cry. I remember feeling terrified because while I didn't know how to stop the car, I knew we were in trouble and that if the car went into traffic, we would be hurt. I was screaming and crying and trying to get my brother out of the driver's seat while at the same time looking at the store where my father was. 

"Daddy, Daddy!" I screamed, all the while trying to tug my sobbing brother away from the steering wheel. Somehow, I managed to hit the car horn.

I don't know if he heard me, but I saw Dad look up and realize what was happening. He dropped whatever he had in his hands on the store counter and ran toward the car. I was still screaming when my father wrenched the door open and stuck his foot inside and on the brake. I was able to grab my brother then and pull him over to me in the front side passenger's seat.

It was a close call.

My father yelled at me for not stopping the car (like a 5-year-old is going to be anything other than scared to death in this scenario) as he got in the driver's seat, pulled the car back up, put it in park, and went back in to pay for his stuff. I imagine it shook him up a little, we were so close to rolling out into the road.

I'm also pretty sure he told us not to tell our mother what happened. I don't remember if I ever did.

Mostly I remember feeling so angry that he blamed me for something my brother did that the fear went away, to be replaced with a seething darkness. I couldn't tell him how unfair he was being - I did not have those kinds of words yet, or that kind of courage - nor could I take it out on anybody (except maybe my brother, but I was a good girl). Maybe I went home and beat up a Barbie doll. I don't recall. But this incident has always stood out in my mind as a fine example of unfairness tinged with total terror, and it comes back to me when I have the feeling that I'm going backwards in life instead of moving ahead.

I'm not really going backwards. Being sick for a month has set me back. I was doing more physically before I caught this respiratory thing, and now I'm going to have to work to build up my stamina again. I went to Food Lion today and it wiped me out. 

For some reason, though, my life does feel like I'm trapped in an uncontrolled vehicle slowing heading into traffic, with no idea how to hit the gas or the brake pedal because my legs aren't long enough.

Sunday Stealing

 

Name a song that . . .

1. You enjoy, in another language.

A. There isn't one.

2. Recently introduced you to a new singer.

A. How about a show instead? We watch The Voice to see new singers.

3. You listen to in order to feel energized.

A. Anything from the 1970s, but especially disco. Yes, I like disco.

4. Is your favorite song from a musical.

A. It's a tie between "Do Re Me" and "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious."

5. Reminds you of an old love.

A. I don't have an old love, I have the same old love from 40 years ago. But how about "How Deep Is Your Love?" by the Bee Gees.

6. Make you think of one of your children.

A. I don't have children. I guess I could say "Old McDonald Had a Farm" for the cows.

7. Makes you smile when you hear it.

A. "Band on the Run," by Paul McCartney & Wings

8. You love but is quite unknown.

A. "Shattered" by Linda Ronstadt.

9. That annoys you.

A. "Don't Go Chasin' Waterfalls," by TLC. I like the song but when I hear it, it becomes an earworm.

10. That your parents used to listen to.

A. Anything by Merle Haggard. 

11. From your early years of childhood.

A. "Daddy Don't You Walk So Fast," by Wayne Newton.

12. That has a color in the title.

A. "Blue Suede Shoes," by Elvis Presley

13. That needs to be played loud.

A. "Start Me Up," by the Rolling Stones

14. That is perfect for a road trip.

A. "Stairway to Heaven," by Led Zepplin or "Innagodavida" by Iron Butterfly, depending on what you're smoking on said road trip. 

15. That reminds you of yourself.

A. "Hell Is for Children," by Pat Benetar.

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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: Paper Doll

Saturday 9: Paper Doll (1943)

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

1) The song is about a fellow who is exasperated by men flirting with his girl. Do you have a jealous streak?

A. Not really, no. I don't think I've ever been jealous over a person, but I have envied the work of others (as in a good book that I wish I'd written).

2) He's blue after a quarrel with Sue. Did you exchange harsh words with anyone recently?

A. My husband and I occasionally snap at one another, but we don't fight.

3) "Paper Doll" was #1 for 12 weeks in 1943-44, sold 11 million copies and remains one of the best-selling singles of all time. Had you heard it before today?

A. I don't recall ever hearing this song before. But I wasn't even a twinkle in my father's eye in the 1940s. Or my grandfather's eye, for that matter.

4) As kids, the Mills Brothers worked on their harmonies in front of their father's Piqua, OH, barbershop, much to the delight of passersby. Do you often encounter street musicians in your neighborhood?

A. I live in a rural area. We do not have street musicians here. However, there's a rooftop restaurant in Fincastle, and I once thought about taking an amp and my guitar and setting up and playing on the corner until someone paid me to go away.

5) The Mills Brothers were a long way from that street corner when, in 1936, they became the first African Americans to perform for the British Royal Family. It's about 4,000 miles from Piqua to London. What's the farthest you've ever been from home?

A. France, which is 4,015 miles away, according to Alexa.

6) In the early 1930s, the Mills Brothers not only performed songs on radio, they sang jingles for Standard Oil and Crisco. What commercial can you recall having seen (or heard) lately?

A. The new Kia commercial that premiered during the Super Bowl. It was the only one I really felt tugged at the heart strings (the Budweiser commercial was a bust). I saw it last while we were watching Big Bang reruns. The commercial shows a young girl ice skating, and she's disappointed when she sees an empty chair beside her father. Then she goes to an outside homemade rink and skates for her disabled grandfather.

7) In 1943, when "Paper Doll" was popular, WWII was raging and the US Mint began producing steel pennies because copper was needed for ammunition. Do you have any pennies in your pocket or wallet right now?

A. I have pennies in the tray in my car. Does that count? That's a cool factoid about the pennies; I didn't know that.

 

8) Also in 1943, a bottle of Coke was a nickel. When did you most recently have a soft drink? What was it?

A. I haven't had a soft drink since October 2020, and it was a ginger ale.

9) Random question: Have you learned more from your successes, or your failures?

A. My successes gave me some confidence, which I have always lacked. Failures show me what I need to change, though, so I have learned from them as well. I think it's a toss-up.

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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

1. It's another free-for-all Thirteen, and a late one at that. What if I'd gone 846 Thursday Thirteen in a row and then missed one!? My goodness.

2. The chronic laryngitis/sinus issue from hell continues. It's been over a month now since I've been able to sing or carry on a conversation without sounding like Jeramiah the Bullfrog. I do try to be a good friend . . .

3. The other day I thought a cow was calving in front of the house, but when I looked again she was gone so I thought maybe I was wrong. A bit later, though, my husband looked out and the vultures were around the area where I'd seen the cow. He went out to check on things and sure enough, she'd had a calf and quickly moved it under the trees where the evil vultures couldn't get to it. They enjoyed the afterbirth, though.

4. We received our tax assessments for real estate taxes in the mail this week, and my Facebook feed looks like a bunch of people who have no clue how things actually work are posting inane comments and baseless conspiracy theories. Oh, wait, that's exactly who is posting. People who have no clue how things actually work.

5. It isn't hard to understand how government works, but (a) you have to want to understand and (b) you have to be open to how it actually works. If someone has already decided the politicians are crooked, on the take, and out to do bad things, then they're never going to understand what is going on.

6. I'm looking around my office to see if there's something here that catches my eye so I can write about it. I have a book on a shelf called The Writer's I-Ching. I've never opened it and I'm not sure where it came from. But it reminds me that one time, a very long time ago, I wrote an article about a guy who lived in an abandoned church who had created a deck of new age cards, sort of like Tarot but not. He planned to sell them and become famous. I wonder what happened to him and his cards.

7. The I-Ching book is squeezed in between a book that identifies trees and another that is my favorite book on writing, Phyllis Whitney's Guide to Fiction Writing. This book was published in 1982 and is no longer in print. I'd buy another copy if it was. I'd even buy a Kindle copy.

8. The other books on the shelf include a guide to local mammals, several different thesauruses, a couple of dictionaries, an out-of-date AP Stylebook, the Chicago Manual of Style (also out of date), and books about writing memoir.

9. I need to dust.

10. Earlier, I saw a deer eating alongside the cows. They don't usually socialize.

11. Two of my three clocks in my office are not running. They need new batteries. Batteries are expensive now, and I only need one clock. So it's always 10:55 on one clock and 5:25 on another, now.

12. I wonder what time it is in Thailand. I ask Alexa, she says it is 2:25 a.m. there. It's 2:25 p.m. here. A 12-hour time difference. I learned something!

13. The other things on my desk include Chloraseptic sore throat lozenges, Halls cough drops, and nasal spray.  Which takes me back to the beginning, I suppose, in a roundabout way.

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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 847th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

La Brea (The TV Show)

Natalie Zea in La Brea

Last night was the final episode of La Brea, a science fiction family affair that ran for thirty episodes. The last six of those episodes just finished up.

Spoilers ahead, if you care.

The show features the Harris family, and in the beginning centered on Eve Harris, played by Natalie Zea. She is a tough mom who drops herself into a big hole that opens up near the La Brea Tar Pits in California because it swallowed her son, Josh. She left behind her husband, Gavin, and daughter, Izzy.

It was a big hole, so Eve finds her son and she and at least 30 other people set up a camp of sorts using automobiles and parts of buildings that the hole also swallowed up. 

They have landed in 10,000 BC.

The early shows indicated some kind of weird time warp overlap, as one of the survivors found a cache of coins from the War Between the States. In later episodes, there were tribes of ancient people who looked more like modern-day Native Americans, and strange men who kidnapped people who fell from the sky to work in mines.

This was never fully explored, and frankly the show lost the entire plot of the time travel thing somewhere along the way. The audience was supposed to accept that there was weird time travel stuff going on even though in theory it shouldn't have worked that way.

The show focused mostly on relationships that grew out of the survivors. Along the way, we learned about Eve's relationship with her husband and a lover, Levi, who was also her husband's closest friend.

I watched the show because I initially liked the premise, but as it progressed, I liked it less. I didn't mind the focus on emotions and character growth - that's necessary - but the plot around the time travel switched around from unbelievable to simply outlandish and back again.

Initially the time holes were being made by Gavin's father, who was from the future where time travel was developed. He brought Gavin and his family down with him to this upside-down earth and built a dome where he could work on his time experiments. His wife, though, left to live in another time (1988 or something), taking Gavin with her, and she gave him away to a foster family so she could focus on stopping her husband.

Gavin and family eventually found their way to his mother's time, and Levi chose to stay there instead of going back to 10,000 BC to try to stop the father from making more time portals or holes. Then Levi turned back up in 10,000 BC, older now, having lost his wife and a child to something to do with the Army.

Then suddenly, in these last few episodes, we learn that Gavin has been secretly flying in time ships for over a year before the hole opened up and took his wife, and a rogue army/government/something woman was working to sell time travel to the highest bidder. This also had something to do with 1965, although that was never explained to my satisfaction.

None of the last six episodes have Eve in them, as she'd been taken to a different time at the end of Season 2 and no one knew where she'd gone. So we only saw her in the final episode when there was a family reunion in 2021 (which was the present day) as she found her way back to them. Since she was the character I was most interested in, the last "season" didn't do much for me.

Because I have read so much science fiction and have a vague and tortured understanding of time travel, the inconsistencies in the time anomalies in this show frustrated me. The whole Gavin-is-from-the-future and his-dad-invented-time-travel thing that zig-zagged into it being a secret government plot that he was involved in before the hole opened up was completely chaotic as far as plotting goes. 

While some of the effects were cool and the idea of falling into a hole to end up in another world is certainly not new, I liked the initial premise of this show. I liked the characters, mostly. I just wish it hadn't gone so far off the rails in its efforts to contort the plot to meet someone's agenda, or whatever it was.

Here's a director's response to questions about the show. He seems happy with it.

Madison & Monroe

When I die, I expect whoever ends up clearing out my stuff to simply chuck it, which would be a shame because I have a lot of photos and documentation that historians would kill for.

Take these photos that I ran across today while I was looking for something else. I had forgotten I had these. While not the best shots - obviously wherever I was there was a glare - these are historic documents with the signatures of James Madison and James Monroe. They were owned by a resident of the town of Fincastle when I took these photos. I have no clue where the originals might be now. Somewhere there's an article that accompanied these - 

Sunday Stealing

1. What is a big dream you have for the future?

A. I would like to be healthy and not in pain. That doesn't seem like a very big dream, but for me it's huge.

2. What are your favorite hobbies?

A. Writing, reading, playing guitar, video games.

3. If you could change the world, what would you do?

A. I think that depends upon the extent of my power. In my local world, I would make newspapers relevant again and bring back humility, manners, and empathy. I would also rid the world of the scourge of social media.

4. What places have you traveled to?  What was your favorite?

A. I have been to Spain and France, and to states as far north as New York, as far south as Florida, and as far west as California. But my favorite place was Williamsburg, Virginia, which is about a 4-hour drive from me, followed by our trip to the Biltmore.

5. What is the weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten?

A. I don't know. Escargo, I guess.

6. What are your favorite places to eat?

A. Apparently home, now. We don't eat out much anymore. Many of the places we used to enjoy have either closed or changed their menu.

7. What kind of music do you like?  Talk about a favorite artist or songs.

A. I like adult pop music, like Adele, Pink, or Kelly Clarkson (to be current). Mostly, though I listen to 1970s music with Melissa Etheridge and Sheryl Crow from the 1990s thrown in for good measure.

8. What was the last book you read?

A. Walk Two Moons, by Sharon Creech. It is a Newberry Medal winner and about a young girl whose mother is no longer around.

9. If you could meet a character from a book, who would it be?

A. Nancy Drew, of course.

10. Do you prefer books or movies?  Why?

A. Books, although I like movies too. Sometimes movies are better than books, and sometimes movies are all I know of a story because I've not read the book.

11. What is something you used to be scared of, but aren’t any more?

A. I used to be scared that the constant pain in my gut was some kind of cancer, but after 10 years of living with it, and lots of tests, I know it's scar tissue.

12. What is something you were never afraid of, but are now?

A. People in my community. Some of them have formed a militia and they practice shooting at other people because they want a civil war. These are scary people.

13. What item is your most cherished possession?  Why?

A. My wedding ring.

14. What awards or contests have you won?

A. I've won more than a dozen Virginia Press Association awards for my news writing, the Sherwood Anderson Writing Contest (I don't know if they still do that one), and few other things like that.

15. Do you like working jigsaw puzzles?

A. I do, but the last one I had was so full of paper dust that I couldn't work it. It made my asthma flair. 

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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: At Last

Saturday 9: At Last (1960)

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

 

1) Etta James sings that "life is like a song." What song reflects how you feel about life these days?

A. What Was I Made For? by Billie Ellish.

2) She is delighted to have found the love she has always dreamed of. Have you found true love to be the way you imagined it would be? Or has it surprised you?

A. I never gave much thought to true love. I found a good man whom I love as best I can love, and he loves me back. We take care of one another and put up with each other, and we will walk off hand in hand, or something like that. Love has so many twists and turns, I don't think anyone can prepare for it, however it ends up. People change, and love takes work, whether you're simply friends or lovers. None of this has surprised me, really, though I could not predict all the changes. I am glad he's still with me.

 

3) Etta's mother encouraged her to not just sing but perform a song, telling her daughter, "Even if a song has been done a thousand times, you can still bring something of your own to it." Is there a singer whose performances often touch your heart?

A. I used to cry every time I heard Don McLean sing "Vincent (Starry Starry Night)."

 

4) As a teen, she was considered a gospel prodigy and churches all around Los Angeles requested she "guest" at their services. Do you have a favorite religious song?

A. No.

5) "At Last" is one of the most often requested songs for the newlywed's first dance at the reception. What song reminds you of a sweetheart?

A. "Longer," by Dan Fogelberg. It was played at our wedding. My brother sang it.

This is the last Saturday 9 before Valentine's Day and so this morning we shall focus on the upcoming holiday.

 

6) It's been reported that millions of roses are grown specifically for Valentine's Day each year. What's your favorite flower?

A. I have always been partial to irises.

 

7) The earliest recorded celebration of Valentine's Day was in Paris in the year 1400. Obviously, you weren't around for that one. What do you remember from one of your earliest, childhood Valentine's Day celebrations?

A. I remember those packages of Valentines we bought and then we were supposed to give one to every kid in the room. I was often left off of people's list, apparently, as I never received the same number back as I gave out. I gave one to everyone, but not all kids did.

 

8) About 20% of pet owners say they give their dogs, cats, birds or bunnies a Valentine. Is your pet getting something special on February 14?

A. The cows will get their usual bale of hay.

9) Of all the professions, teachers are #1 when it comes to receiving Valentine cards. Did you ever have a crush on a teacher?

A. I kind of crushed on many of teachers, but they were more like, "please save me and take me home with you" crushes. Not swooning "oh he's so cute" crushes.

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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

1. Today we get a free-for all. Who knows what will appear here? In any event, a quick health update - I still sound croaky but I think I'm getting better. This infection has been hanging on a long time, though.

2. I picked up a little freelance work, but I am not keen to do it. It feels like a step backwards, the pay is not the best, and so far, the people involved are uncooperative. I don't need the stress for something that isn't going to make or break me.

3. I am almost done with the bookkeeping necessary to send my taxes to the accountant. In fact, I hope to wind it up today and have it ready to go tomorrow. I try to get it to the accountant no later than the 15th, but in this instance, with legislation concerning the tax payments in flux in Congress, waiting might be the best option, if it passes.

4. Many people I know are ill. My father is ill, my friend Teresa is ill, I have been ill, and I know some of my fellow bloggers and readers have been ill. Stupid germs.

5. Have you noticed the price of batteries? Wow, they are out of sight. I bought cheap ones but they don't last very long. It's better to spend the extra to get a Duracell, although I've had trouble with batteries corroding more since the pandemic. I think we have people making things who don't know how to make things. 

6. Clorox products are also pricey. Bleach, toilet bowl drop-ins - anything with the Clorox name on it is quite costly. What's with that, Clorox?

7. In spite of all humanity does (and we do a lot), the sun still comes up, the moon waxes and wanes, and the stars twinkle whether they're hidden by light pollution or not. In the larger scheme of things, we're not much, and many folks need to step outside on a dark night and look up at the vastness of the sky and stars to understand that our lives are not relevant in the grand scheme of things.

8. Most of us will die poor, or barely eeking by. Why people think they're somehow going to turn into billionaires at the end is beyond me. And the money doesn't matter, anyway. Death is a journey we all take alone.

9. One of my friends told me she was having laser hair removal under her arms. The thought of that makes me shiver. It has to hurt. She is half my age and said she was tired of shaving. I said I'd been shaving for longer than she'd been alive.

10. On our farm, you will find cows, a pond, tractors, old buildings that one may or may not call barns, tools, pasture fields, and hay fields. You'll also find us, the people, the caretakers of this small little piece of earth. 

11. It's hard for me to feel poetic and write something flowery before 9 a.m. in the morning, so this is why this Thursday 13 is all over the place. I am not totally awake, although I am awake and have been up for three hours.

12. I do more things that are not good for me than I do things that are good for me. I think. I need to move more, sit less. And eat better. Not necessarily less, just better. Ah, the shoulds. They do follow me around, don't they? I should I should I should. What if I just accepted myself as I am and said, ok, you're a lazy butt. It is what it is, as my brother likes to say.

13. This would have been better if I'd given it some thought, but I have had trouble keeping up with what day it is, and suddenly here it is, Thursday. How'd that happen?

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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 846th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

Legislative Update

On January 12, I wrote about a bill before the Virginia Legislature that would require physicians who recommended hysterectomies to refer their patients to a (partisan) website that is anti-hysterectomy prior to performing surgery.

I looked the issue up today and found that saner heads sort of prevailed. The bill was changed to read:

HOUSE BILL NO. 217

AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE

(Proposed by the House Committee on Health and Human Services

on January 23, 2024)

(Patron Prior to Substitute--Delegate Orrock)

A BILL to direct the Department of Health Professions to review and make recommendations regarding informed consent requirements for hysterectomies and oophorectomies.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. § 1. That the Department of Health Professions shall, in consultation with the Board of Medicine, review the informed consent requirements surrounding a physician who recommends or performs a hysterectomy or an oophorectomy and determine if any regulations are needed regarding the educational information that is provided to a patient, as part of the informed consent process, in advance of undergoing such surgeries. The Department of Health Professions shall report its findings and recommendations to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Health and Human Services and the Senate Committee on Education and Health by November 1, 2024.

So, this is a recommendation for review of what is going on, and not a directive. For the moment, anyway.

The motion to review this went before the Virginia House on January 30, and it passed 51-49. 

You know what surprises me? That something this inane goes before the legislature. Of course, physicians must abide by rules and regulations and every industry, even healthcare, needs oversight because people are, well, basically stupid and some are even evil, but honestly, did this have to go before the Virginia Legislature? And where's the similar vote to review what physicians tell men who want vasectomies or need to have their prostrate removed or whatever the case may be?

I guess reviewing it is alright, only I don't know who makes up the House and Senate Committees on Health and Human Services. I do know the guy who initially sponsored this legislation is on the HHS committee, so that's not good. If they are sane people (and the guy who filed this bill initially would not be counted among the sane), it shouldn't be a problem. But these days, we have so many inmates running the asylums, it is hard to tell who is going to determine what.

Monday Monday

You really can't trust Mondays. One never knows what a Monday will bring.

Today brought me more of the same viral thing that I've had since mid-January, along with a new source of work.

Short term freelancing is always good. Fortunately, it's mostly internet research and I won't have to talk on the phone.

Good thing, because my laryngitis is bad. My half-deaf husband hasn't heard a word I've said for 3 weeks.

He's probably good with that.

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing

1. What three words best describe you?

A. Smart, kind, and caring, according to my husband.

2. What makes you unique?

A. My personality and my abilities, according to my husband.

3. Who is someone important in your life?

A. According to my husband, him.

4. What is something that always makes you laugh?

A. According to my husband, him.

5. Who is someone who can always cheer you up?

A. According to my husband, him. Also, people doing stupid things in stupid videos.

(OK, husband has left the room.)

6. When was a time you were really proud of yourself?

A. When I received my masters degree in 2012.

7. What is something that is difficult for you?

A. Moving out of my comfort zone.

8. What three places would you love to travel to?

A. Ireland, New Zealand, and Machu Picchu.

9. What is a fun memory you have with your best friend?

A. We saw Barbie together.

10. If you could have dessert for breakfast, what would you eat?

A. Chocolate cake.

11. If you published a book or wrote a movie, what would it be about?

A. Some kind of fantasy with a strong female lead.

12. Which is easier, math or English?

A. English.

13. What three things make you the happiest?

A. Writing something well, playing music, and my husband (not necessarily in that order). (And he's still out of the room.)

14. What is an event in your life that has shaped who you are today?

A. I married.

15. Which is more important, being kind or being honest?

A. Being kind. There is no need to tell someone they look hideous just because it's the honest thing to say.

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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: Poor Little Fool

Saturday 9: Poor Little Fool (1958)

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

1) Ricky Nelson sings of a girl with "carefree devil eyes." Are your eyes your best feature? If not, what is?

A. My skin is my best feature, or it used to be, anyway. It was very clear when I was younger, free of moles and skin tags, etc. Some of those have arrived as I have aged. My eyes are hazel and look like cracked ice if you look in them closely. They also are expressive; my husband looks at me and knows if I am having a good day or not simply by glancing at my eyes.

2) "Poor Little Fool" literally arrived at Ricky's doorstep. A pretty girl knocked on his front door, and played and sang her original composition for him. Who has most recently knocked on your front door (or rung the bell)?

A. My husband! He locked himself out of the house and rang the doorbell so I'd let him in to get his keys.

3) That girl was Sharon Sheeley. A teen model in Los Angeles during the 1950s, she met many of the early rock stars at promotional events. Elvis encouraged her to follow her heart and start writing songs, so she did. Who have you advised recently? Did they take your advice?

A. That would be my husband again, and no, I don't think he did.

4) With the success of "Poor Little Fool," Sharon gave up modeling and concentrated on music. Her songs were recorded by singers such as Richie Valens, Glen Campbell and Johnny Rivers. How many different occupations have you tried? Which was your favorite?

A. News reporting was my favorite. Besides news reporting, in my lifetime I've been a photographer, a musician, a parts counter manager selling automotive parts, a secretary, a legal secretary, and a teacher. I also held a number of jobs working for temp services at various times, most of which I did not like. 

5) Ricky Nelson was the son of Ozzie and Harriet and brother of David Nelson. They began performing together as a family with their radio program The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. They took the show to television in 1952, where they were referred to as "The Most Famous Family in America." What TV family would you like to hang around with?

A. I'm not sure being a member of a crew stranded in the Delta Quadrant on the USS Voyager counts as family, but that's what I'm going with. If that doesn't work, then I'd like to be Diana Prince's younger sister.

6) While Ricky eventually became the audience favorite, he wasn't initially a likely candidate for stardom. A producer described him as "an odd little kid," shy and small for his age. In those early days, big brother David was more outgoing and considered a natural actor. Thinking back to your preteen years, were you more like David or Rick?

A. More like Rick.

7) Ricky never got over his shyness. He often closed his eyes as he sang on camera or before an audience because it helped him battle his nerves and concentrate on the music. Fan magazine oohed and aahed over his beautiful long lashes and young girls fantasized about Ricky closing his eyes before leaning in for a kiss. Who was your big pre-teen crush?

A. David Cassidy.

8) In 1958, when "Poor Little Fool" was #1, American women were shopping for Italian-inspired footwear. Heels were lower, and the leather was textured and less shiny that the popular patent leather of years gone by. If you were to go shoe shopping today, what would you be looking for?

A. Sneakers. That's all I wear although I could use a pair of dress shoes if I could find something that wouldn't kill my feet.

9) Random question -- Which of these parties sounds like the most fun: a) one you host yourself; b) one at a friend's home; c) a surprise party in your honor?

A. (b) One at a friend's home.

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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.