I love music. I play a little guitar and sing (to myself), and a very long time ago had aspirations to a music career. Had I applied myself and not married instead, who knows? Maybe I'd have been the next Sheryl Crow or something. But that was not my path.
Anyway, here are 13 women musicians that I enjoy, in no particular order. The links will take you to youtube videos of the songs.
1. Aretha Franklin. Born in 1942, this 73-year-old Queen of Soul is still touring and belting out her top hits. My favorite song of hers is RESPECT, but I love hearing her sing regardless of the title.
2. Stevie Nicks. Another older singer, Nicks in her Fleetwood Mac days had (and has) a distinct voice that had me turning up the radio every time I heard her. I still love the sound of her voice, that quavering sound of solitary despair that only she can offer. It is hard for me to pick a favorite Nicks song, but I will go with Landslide, a song that always sticks in my throat when I hear it.
3. Janis Joplin. I don't suppose one can list female musicians without listing Joplin, the greatest white female blues singer ever. I learned to love Janis late in life, particularly after having read a biography. Her life was cut too short by drugs, unfortunately. I wonder what would have happened had she lived? Favorite song: Bobbie McGee.
4. Heart. This band gets me two women - Ann and Nancy Wilson. Ann has vocal chords that are unmatched in range, while Nancy kicks butt on guitar. Favorite song: The Dog and the Butterfly, though I confess that's a hard choice.
5. Melissa Etheridge. MLE captured my heart with her video Come to My Window, but it is her song You Can Sleep While I Drive that brings me to tears when I hear it. I have more of her albums than any single musician and can play many of her tunes on the guitar myself.
6. Sheryl Crow. Crow's early work in particular grabbed me because of its soulful mix of country and pop. She's turned a little country of late but I still listen to her earlier records. My favorite song is one that was not a hit, but the one that touches me most. It's called Weather Channel.
7. Chrissie Hynde is the lead singer of The Pretenders. She's been a rock and roll girl for 40 years and I've always loved the sound of her voice. My favorite song is I'll Stand By You.
8. Linda Ronstadt. While her early songs made her career, it was one of her later albums, the 1989 Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind, that made me love her more than ever. That album was a mix of rock, pop, and blues with soulful tunes on it that at that particular time in my life were particularly poignant and meaningful to me. I loved every song on that album, but my favorite was probably Shattered.
9. Carole King. This prolific song writer scored with the album Tapestry and most of her songs resonate still. Some of our best-loved older songs were created by King's prolific pen (You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman, Pleasant Valley Sunday, to name two). My favorite? You've Got A Friend.
10. Pat Benatar. She hit it big as I was finishing high school, and thus her impact upon my final teenage years was huge. Hit Me With Your Best Shot, her megahit, summed how many of us felt about that time, kind of like we were all beaten up but still standing. She also lived in Virginia when she was starting out.
11. Celine Dion. I know, there will be many who will mock this choice, but I truly like her voice. She has a great range and while her style is not one I listen to all the time, occasionally I like to hear her powerful vocals. Her songs are classical love ballads, and you know, sometimes a girl wants to hear something like that. Because You Loved Me is probably my favorite of her songs.
12. Cyndi Lauper. I became a Lauper fan in her later years, not so much for her songs, really, but for her political work and guest appearances on various shows where she supported women's rights, though she is listed as a LGBT activist and not as a feminist on Wikipedia (I see equality issues as human issues - everybody should be equal regardless of gender or sex preferences. But I acknowledge that equality is something certain segments of the population have to constantly fight for). Girls Just Wanna Have Fun is a song (and video) that won many awards.
13. Karen Carpenter. She was another singer who died too young. The Carpenters soft pop songs were part of my tween years and beyond. I imagine We've Only Just Begun has been played at many weddings over the years. Carpenter was also a drummer and I've read that she hated having to move from behind the drums to the forefront to sing. Her voice was another so distinctive that it could not be denied. Rainy Days and Mondays is my favorite Carpenter song.
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 398th time to do a list of 13 on a
Thursday.
Thursday, June 04, 2015
Wednesday, June 03, 2015
Woods Brothers Racing Museum
Yesterday, for my husband's birthday, we went to Stuart, VA. It's about a two-hour drive. We went to see the Woods Brothers Racing Museum.
It's a very nice museum with a lot of things to see. I will post more photos on Friday. They let me take all the photos I wanted.
We had a great time.
It's a very nice museum with a lot of things to see. I will post more photos on Friday. They let me take all the photos I wanted.
We had a great time.
Tuesday, June 02, 2015
Monday, June 01, 2015
No Going Back
The other day I was listening to some young people talk about concerts and music. I was struck by two things: (a) I didn't know what they were talking about half the time, and (b) I knew exactly what they were talking about the other half.
Young people do not seem to have groups that tour and attract large crowds like I did when I was growing up. I remember going to see many different musicians at both the Roanoke and Salem Civic Centers. Lakeside also had a summer concert series for many years and I attended a fair number of those events as well.
We all knew the music, too. Local night club bands played cover songs, doing their own rendition of The Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, or Alabama.
I don't think there are very many cover bands any more, because the music industry came down on places that allowed cover bands. So garage bands had to write their own songs. And who wanted to hear that, really?
In those old days, we listened to the same sounds. We also watched the same shows on TV (because there were, at most, four channels), and we listened to the American Top 40 every weekend.
When somebody said, "How'd you feel about Who Shot J.R.?" everyone knew what was going on.
We all went to see Star Wars and gaped at the visuals.
Today, though, people watch different shows. Oh, there are hits that millions enjoy - Game of Thrones comes to mind - but even then, with DVDs and Tivo, you have to be careful. I have a friend who is into the show but she's been watching it on DVD and is only up to Season 4. I have to mind what I say because she doesn't want anyone to tell her what happens next.
Sometimes, with my eyes twinkling, I drop inane and innocuous little tidbits, just for fun.
But there are so many show and so many different things out there, each catering to a different niche that sometimes I think we will have nothing to talk about but the weather in a few years. And maybe not even that, because, well, half of us believe in climate change and half of us do not. It's not even safe to talk about sunshine or snow.
Is it any wonder, then, that stations like METV have a notable following? Watching those old shows is like slipping on an old robe and throwing yourself across the bed, the day done, and the night not yet unfolded. It's almost a relief to feel the familiar.
I'm not a fan of the personal bubble we've all created amongst ourselves. We share our entire lives on Facebook or other social media, but we don't actually share our selves, or our truest, most special being. That we keep tightly bound, buried so deep I'm not even sure most of us can find it.
We are divided now because nothing unites us, not even TV shows or rock stars. As a nation (I'm talking U.S. here), we can't even agree on what constitutes a crime. We have sets of rules that depend on variables, such as gender or skin color. We don't have laws, we have, oh, I don't know - guidelines?
In my system of justice, the law is the law, and it is equal regardless of race, creed, sex, etc. Of course not all is black and white and that is what we have judges for, but it seems like now everything is all muddled, and nobody can figure out which end is up, or where anything belongs.
Sometimes it feels to me like our society has been swooped up, placed in a box, shaken around, and dumped out. What fell out was kind of like all of the bad stuff that flew out of Pandora's box. What little good there is creeps in the back doors and valiantly peers out, sometimes putting a toe through the insanity, before somebody slams the door shut again.
So hail hail rock and roll. I rejoice when I hear the young people listening to The Rolling Stones and watching METV. Those people will be able to bridge generation gaps, and relate to the world in a much better way than the ones who have separated themselves and relegated the world to "other."
There's way too much "other" out here, and not enough "brother." I want to be an advocate for kindness, I want to start a new trend.
I want to see a world where good comes out of the closet, and all of this bad shit crawls back under the bed.
Young people do not seem to have groups that tour and attract large crowds like I did when I was growing up. I remember going to see many different musicians at both the Roanoke and Salem Civic Centers. Lakeside also had a summer concert series for many years and I attended a fair number of those events as well.
We all knew the music, too. Local night club bands played cover songs, doing their own rendition of The Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, or Alabama.
I don't think there are very many cover bands any more, because the music industry came down on places that allowed cover bands. So garage bands had to write their own songs. And who wanted to hear that, really?
In those old days, we listened to the same sounds. We also watched the same shows on TV (because there were, at most, four channels), and we listened to the American Top 40 every weekend.
When somebody said, "How'd you feel about Who Shot J.R.?" everyone knew what was going on.
We all went to see Star Wars and gaped at the visuals.
Today, though, people watch different shows. Oh, there are hits that millions enjoy - Game of Thrones comes to mind - but even then, with DVDs and Tivo, you have to be careful. I have a friend who is into the show but she's been watching it on DVD and is only up to Season 4. I have to mind what I say because she doesn't want anyone to tell her what happens next.
Sometimes, with my eyes twinkling, I drop inane and innocuous little tidbits, just for fun.
But there are so many show and so many different things out there, each catering to a different niche that sometimes I think we will have nothing to talk about but the weather in a few years. And maybe not even that, because, well, half of us believe in climate change and half of us do not. It's not even safe to talk about sunshine or snow.
Is it any wonder, then, that stations like METV have a notable following? Watching those old shows is like slipping on an old robe and throwing yourself across the bed, the day done, and the night not yet unfolded. It's almost a relief to feel the familiar.
I'm not a fan of the personal bubble we've all created amongst ourselves. We share our entire lives on Facebook or other social media, but we don't actually share our selves, or our truest, most special being. That we keep tightly bound, buried so deep I'm not even sure most of us can find it.
We are divided now because nothing unites us, not even TV shows or rock stars. As a nation (I'm talking U.S. here), we can't even agree on what constitutes a crime. We have sets of rules that depend on variables, such as gender or skin color. We don't have laws, we have, oh, I don't know - guidelines?
In my system of justice, the law is the law, and it is equal regardless of race, creed, sex, etc. Of course not all is black and white and that is what we have judges for, but it seems like now everything is all muddled, and nobody can figure out which end is up, or where anything belongs.
Sometimes it feels to me like our society has been swooped up, placed in a box, shaken around, and dumped out. What fell out was kind of like all of the bad stuff that flew out of Pandora's box. What little good there is creeps in the back doors and valiantly peers out, sometimes putting a toe through the insanity, before somebody slams the door shut again.
So hail hail rock and roll. I rejoice when I hear the young people listening to The Rolling Stones and watching METV. Those people will be able to bridge generation gaps, and relate to the world in a much better way than the ones who have separated themselves and relegated the world to "other."
There's way too much "other" out here, and not enough "brother." I want to be an advocate for kindness, I want to start a new trend.
I want to see a world where good comes out of the closet, and all of this bad shit crawls back under the bed.
Sunday, May 31, 2015
Sunday Stealing: Swiped!
From Sunday Stealing
Swiped Meme
1. Do you need to write down things to remember them?
A. I do now more than I used to. My brain cells are full after living for over a half century.
2. Do you keep a diary/journal?
A. I blog. I have kept a diary or journal of some kind since I was about eight years old. I have boxes of them in a closet.
3. Are you scared of thunderstorms?
A. I love storms. I like to watch the lightning and feel the thunder shake the ground.
4. Do you have any unusual fears or phobias?
A. Dumasaphobia. I'm afraid of stupid people. If that means I am also afraid of myself, I suppose I am really in trouble.
5. What's your favorite Disney movie?
A. I don't have one.
6. Have you ever painted a house?
A. Yes.
7. What's the tallest tree you've ever climbed?
A. I have no idea. I have those old brain cells and I cannot remember that far back.
8. Do you always wear identical socks?
A. Yes.
9. Do you live by any motto or philosophy?
A. Do no harm.
10. Do you lick the yogurt or dessert lid?
A. Yes, especially if it is chocolate pudding.
11. Do you lick the spoon clean after making something sweet?
A. Yes. I also eat raw cookie dough, and it hasn't killed me yet.
12. Have you ever played the bongos?
A. Yes. We tried out many instruments in elementary school, back when they taught music and arts and things that make a person have a life.
13. Have you ever handled a snake?
A. I've killed one or two. Does that count?
14. Have you ever assembled furniture by yourself?
A. Yes. I put together a pantry cabinet.
15. When did you last go to the beach?
A. October 2012.
16. When, if ever, did you last go to London?
A. I stopped in the London airport on my way to Spain in 1979.
17. What do you do to cool down when it's hot?
A. Go inside where the house has air conditioning.
18. What's the most unusual thing you've ever eaten?
A. I don't know. Probably around here, it would be escargot. This is the south, land of deep fried chicken and mashed potatoes. I know I don't know of too many people who have had escargot in my social circle. Not that I've asked.
19. Do you have a favorite mug?
A. I have one that says "You Rock" that a friend gave me for my 50th birthday, and another that has Hollins (my alma mater) on it. I like them both.
20. Do you know any self-defense or martial arts?
A. I took a self-defense course about 25 years ago. I practice Tai Chi when I am feeling up to it. I don't think you could really hurt anyone with Tai Chi, though.
21. Who's your favorite movie action hero?
A. I'm not sure what this means. I like Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. I don't know if they are action heroes, though.
22. Have you ever ridden a motorcycle?
A. Yes. I wrecked the last time I was on one and put the kick stand through my leg. Hurt like hell.
23. Do you collect anything?
A. Apparently unread books and magazines, judging by the piles in my office.
24. Is there anything you wish would come back into fashion?
A. I am not into fashion. I don't even know what is in fashion, as far as clothes. However, I do wish that PRIVACY would come back into fashion.
25. Do you stick to conventional fashions or like to try and be original?
A. I must be original since I don't know what is fashionable.
26. Have you ever given someone a handmade present?
A. Yes. I went through a counted-cross stitch phase and gave away some of those works.
27. If you could have any feature from an animal what would you want?
A. I would like to be a big giant T-Rex, so I could go around and chew up things and scare people and for once not be a timid little mouse.
Swiped Meme
1. Do you need to write down things to remember them?
A. I do now more than I used to. My brain cells are full after living for over a half century.
2. Do you keep a diary/journal?
A. I blog. I have kept a diary or journal of some kind since I was about eight years old. I have boxes of them in a closet.
3. Are you scared of thunderstorms?
A. I love storms. I like to watch the lightning and feel the thunder shake the ground.
4. Do you have any unusual fears or phobias?
A. Dumasaphobia. I'm afraid of stupid people. If that means I am also afraid of myself, I suppose I am really in trouble.
5. What's your favorite Disney movie?
A. I don't have one.
6. Have you ever painted a house?
A. Yes.
7. What's the tallest tree you've ever climbed?
A. I have no idea. I have those old brain cells and I cannot remember that far back.
8. Do you always wear identical socks?
A. Yes.
9. Do you live by any motto or philosophy?
A. Do no harm.
10. Do you lick the yogurt or dessert lid?
A. Yes, especially if it is chocolate pudding.
11. Do you lick the spoon clean after making something sweet?
A. Yes. I also eat raw cookie dough, and it hasn't killed me yet.
12. Have you ever played the bongos?
A. Yes. We tried out many instruments in elementary school, back when they taught music and arts and things that make a person have a life.
13. Have you ever handled a snake?
A. I've killed one or two. Does that count?
14. Have you ever assembled furniture by yourself?
A. Yes. I put together a pantry cabinet.
15. When did you last go to the beach?
A. October 2012.
 |
| My hubby on our last beach outing. I don't know that we will ever get there again. |
16. When, if ever, did you last go to London?
A. I stopped in the London airport on my way to Spain in 1979.
17. What do you do to cool down when it's hot?
A. Go inside where the house has air conditioning.
18. What's the most unusual thing you've ever eaten?
A. I don't know. Probably around here, it would be escargot. This is the south, land of deep fried chicken and mashed potatoes. I know I don't know of too many people who have had escargot in my social circle. Not that I've asked.
19. Do you have a favorite mug?
A. I have one that says "You Rock" that a friend gave me for my 50th birthday, and another that has Hollins (my alma mater) on it. I like them both.
20. Do you know any self-defense or martial arts?
A. I took a self-defense course about 25 years ago. I practice Tai Chi when I am feeling up to it. I don't think you could really hurt anyone with Tai Chi, though.
21. Who's your favorite movie action hero?
A. I'm not sure what this means. I like Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. I don't know if they are action heroes, though.
22. Have you ever ridden a motorcycle?
A. Yes. I wrecked the last time I was on one and put the kick stand through my leg. Hurt like hell.
23. Do you collect anything?
A. Apparently unread books and magazines, judging by the piles in my office.
24. Is there anything you wish would come back into fashion?
A. I am not into fashion. I don't even know what is in fashion, as far as clothes. However, I do wish that PRIVACY would come back into fashion.
25. Do you stick to conventional fashions or like to try and be original?
A. I must be original since I don't know what is fashionable.
26. Have you ever given someone a handmade present?
A. Yes. I went through a counted-cross stitch phase and gave away some of those works.
27. If you could have any feature from an animal what would you want?
A. I would like to be a big giant T-Rex, so I could go around and chew up things and scare people and for once not be a timid little mouse.
Saturday, May 30, 2015
Saturday 9: California Nights
Saturday 9: California Nights (1967)
Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.
1) Lesley Gore premiered this song on an episode of Batman. She played Pussycat, the protegee of Catwoman. (That explains her outfit in the video.) How many of Batman's nemeses can you name?
A. The Riddler, The Joker, The Penguin, Catwoman, Mr. Freeze.
2) At least five actors have played The Caped Crusader already (Adam West, Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney, Christian Bale) and Ben Affleck will play him in 2016's Batman vs. Superman. Who is your favorite Batman? (If any Batmen were inadvertently omitted, Sam apologizes.)
A. I am partial to the original, Adam West.
3) Unlike most superheroes, Batman doesn't have any superpowers. This Saturday, you're more fortunate. We're bestowing any superpower on you that you want. Which would you like?
A. I'd like to be able to travel back and forth through time.
4) Though she's singing of warm California nights, Lesley Gore was a New Yorker, born in Brooklyn and, in February of this year, dying in Manhattan. Which coast have you spent more time on, the West Coast or the East Coast?
A. I'm on the east coast. I've only been to the west coast once.
5) Not many people know that while she was making records, Lesley was also a student at Sarah Lawrence and graduated with her BA in 1968. What's something we would be surprised to know about you?
A. I am addicted to video games.
6) In 1967, when this song was popular, the best selling new camera in the United States was the new Polaroid Swinger. Think about the most recent photo you took. Did you use a camera, a tablet, or a phone?
A. I used a camera. I haven't figured out how to take photos with my tablet. My phone, an old flip phone, will take pictures in an emergency. I own several point-and-shoot cameras and two DSLRs. I'm partial to Nikons, though I think Canons are easier to use. I prefer the saturation level of a Nikon lens.
7) The big fashion trend of 1967 was bright tights, in shades like Hot Pink, Shock Orange and Grass Green. Tell us about something you wore when it was trendy but now you look back and think, "Oh, God, that was awful!"
A. I have never been trendy and probably never will be. However, I did once have my hair permed and I look really tragic in photos of that era. Kind of like I ran around with my hand perpetually trapped in a light socket.
8) In 1967, drivers complained about "gas wars." The price was unpredictable and would rise and fall, day by day, as much as 30¢ per gallon. How much does it cost you to fill up your tank today?
A. I paid $2.37 cents per gallon today. I remember a time when it was 25 cents. When I began to drive, I think it was about $1 per gallon.
9) Random question: Are there dishes in your kitchen sink right now?
A. No. There was when I originally started to answer this, but I have since rectified the situation.
Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.
1) Lesley Gore premiered this song on an episode of Batman. She played Pussycat, the protegee of Catwoman. (That explains her outfit in the video.) How many of Batman's nemeses can you name?
A. The Riddler, The Joker, The Penguin, Catwoman, Mr. Freeze.
2) At least five actors have played The Caped Crusader already (Adam West, Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney, Christian Bale) and Ben Affleck will play him in 2016's Batman vs. Superman. Who is your favorite Batman? (If any Batmen were inadvertently omitted, Sam apologizes.)
A. I am partial to the original, Adam West.
3) Unlike most superheroes, Batman doesn't have any superpowers. This Saturday, you're more fortunate. We're bestowing any superpower on you that you want. Which would you like?
A. I'd like to be able to travel back and forth through time.
4) Though she's singing of warm California nights, Lesley Gore was a New Yorker, born in Brooklyn and, in February of this year, dying in Manhattan. Which coast have you spent more time on, the West Coast or the East Coast?
A. I'm on the east coast. I've only been to the west coast once.
5) Not many people know that while she was making records, Lesley was also a student at Sarah Lawrence and graduated with her BA in 1968. What's something we would be surprised to know about you?
A. I am addicted to video games.
6) In 1967, when this song was popular, the best selling new camera in the United States was the new Polaroid Swinger. Think about the most recent photo you took. Did you use a camera, a tablet, or a phone?
A. I used a camera. I haven't figured out how to take photos with my tablet. My phone, an old flip phone, will take pictures in an emergency. I own several point-and-shoot cameras and two DSLRs. I'm partial to Nikons, though I think Canons are easier to use. I prefer the saturation level of a Nikon lens.
7) The big fashion trend of 1967 was bright tights, in shades like Hot Pink, Shock Orange and Grass Green. Tell us about something you wore when it was trendy but now you look back and think, "Oh, God, that was awful!"
A. I have never been trendy and probably never will be. However, I did once have my hair permed and I look really tragic in photos of that era. Kind of like I ran around with my hand perpetually trapped in a light socket.
8) In 1967, drivers complained about "gas wars." The price was unpredictable and would rise and fall, day by day, as much as 30¢ per gallon. How much does it cost you to fill up your tank today?
A. I paid $2.37 cents per gallon today. I remember a time when it was 25 cents. When I began to drive, I think it was about $1 per gallon.
9) Random question: Are there dishes in your kitchen sink right now?
A. No. There was when I originally started to answer this, but I have since rectified the situation.
Friday, May 29, 2015
Thursday, May 28, 2015
Thursday Thirteen
1. Recipe discussion on root vegetables:
Friend: So you could roast those beets or . . .
Me: I can't do that. I don't have live beets. I have dead beets.
Friend: . . .
2. Two separate headline stories seen on AOL on May 23: Nine brains found on NY Street. Hot dog man gets fired.
3.
4.
5. I am currently listening to The Gold Finch, by Donna Tart, and reading The Paying Guest, by Sarah Waters, and while the two books are drastically different, they have the same feel about them - heavy and literary. One has a male protagonist and the other is female, and I find I am confusing the books even though they are nothing alike.
6. According to this story, in Virginia a person needs to make $21 an hour to afford a two-bedroom apartment. I don't know too many people who make that much an hour in this state.
7. I confess I have to wonder if the statistics above aren't skewed because Virginia is essentially split into northern and southern Virginia. Most of the money lies to the north, near D.C. Virginia has a split personality. I wonder if it is Gemini.
8. Have you heard? One of our spacecraft, New Horizons, is scheduled to intersect with Pluto on July 14. The spacecraft is already sending back interesting photos of the planet (non-planet?). You can see them here.
9.
10.
This is the article that ran in the newspaper about my high school graduation on Friday, June 5, 1981. I was a student speaker at the event. I graduated 5th in my class of 210. Not bad. Everything and nothing has changed in the ensuing years. Congratulations to all of the graduates this year. Move forward.
11. Music makes your brain dance, according to this. I just know it makes the rest of me dance, and sometimes it makes me smile. Sometimes it makes me cry.
12. “People say that what we’re all seeking is a meaning for life. I don’t think that’s what we’re really seeking. I think what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive, so that the life experiences that we have on the purely physical plane will have resonances within that are those of our own innermost being and reality. And so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive, that’s what it’s all finally about, and that’s what these clues help us to find within ourselves.” - Joseph Campbell
13. Another day to cut the hay. All hail the grass, and the growing season.
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 397th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
Monday, May 25, 2015
A Happy Man
Here is my beloved, doing what he loves to do best.
Play in the grass and make hay bales.
This is how we spend Memorial Day weekends around here.
Making more and more haybales.
Big suckers, aren't they?
Sunday, May 24, 2015
Sunday Stealing: Very Much
From Sunday Stealing
Very Much Questions Meme
1. What was the last clothing item that you bought?
A. A pair of shoes.
2. If you could stay one age forever, what age would you choose?
A. Sometime in my early 40s. Old enough to be wise but still not falling apart physically.
3. When you say “lol”, are you really laughing?
A. Depends on what I am responding to.
4. What is the most interesting thing you’ve done in the past year?
A. I don't do interesting things. I am about as boring as a person can be.
5. If you started a business, what would it be?
A. I always wanted to run a bookstore.
6. Do your friends/family/coworkers know about your blog?
A. Yes. Well, some of them, anyway. I don't keep it a secret.
7. How long does it take you to write an average blog post?
A. Sometimes 10 minutes, sometimes an hour. Depends on the day and whether or not I am feeling long-winded.
8. How do you keep up with the blogs you follow?
A. With great difficulty.
9. What is your bedtime?
A. I'm usually in bed by 10 p.m.
10. Introvert or extrovert?
A. Introvert.
11. What is your biggest wish?
A. To be healthy.
12. What is the best job you ever had?
A. Freelance writer.
13. Dog person/cat person/both/neither?
A. I like dogs but I am highly allergic, so I suppose neither.
14. If you had $1,000 to spend any way you wanted, what would you do with it?
A. If I had to spend it on myself, I'd buy new clothes. If I could give it away, I would give it to the local food shelter.
15. How do you “dress” your toast?
A. Um. I put butter on it and eat it. Sometimes I might put a little apple butter on it. This is a weird question.
16. How do you feel about snow?
A. It is fine when it falls and then goes away the next day.
17. What was the worst job you ever had?
A. When I was a file clerk as a teenager.
18. What song can you not stop listening to?
A. I listen to a lot of songs. My "sticks" change frequently, though.
19. Love your name or hate it?
A. I am fine with my name, thank you.
20. How did you choose your blog/twitter handle?
A. CountryDew has been with me for more than 20 years, and I don't remember how I came up with it. The blog title, Blue Country Magic, is because I live in the country in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and I think life is a magical experiment.
Very Much Questions Meme
1. What was the last clothing item that you bought?
A. A pair of shoes.
2. If you could stay one age forever, what age would you choose?
A. Sometime in my early 40s. Old enough to be wise but still not falling apart physically.
3. When you say “lol”, are you really laughing?
A. Depends on what I am responding to.
4. What is the most interesting thing you’ve done in the past year?
A. I don't do interesting things. I am about as boring as a person can be.
5. If you started a business, what would it be?
A. I always wanted to run a bookstore.
6. Do your friends/family/coworkers know about your blog?
A. Yes. Well, some of them, anyway. I don't keep it a secret.
7. How long does it take you to write an average blog post?
A. Sometimes 10 minutes, sometimes an hour. Depends on the day and whether or not I am feeling long-winded.
8. How do you keep up with the blogs you follow?
A. With great difficulty.
9. What is your bedtime?
A. I'm usually in bed by 10 p.m.
10. Introvert or extrovert?
A. Introvert.
11. What is your biggest wish?
A. To be healthy.
12. What is the best job you ever had?
A. Freelance writer.
13. Dog person/cat person/both/neither?
A. I like dogs but I am highly allergic, so I suppose neither.
14. If you had $1,000 to spend any way you wanted, what would you do with it?
A. If I had to spend it on myself, I'd buy new clothes. If I could give it away, I would give it to the local food shelter.
15. How do you “dress” your toast?
A. Um. I put butter on it and eat it. Sometimes I might put a little apple butter on it. This is a weird question.
16. How do you feel about snow?
A. It is fine when it falls and then goes away the next day.
17. What was the worst job you ever had?
A. When I was a file clerk as a teenager.
18. What song can you not stop listening to?
A. I listen to a lot of songs. My "sticks" change frequently, though.
19. Love your name or hate it?
A. I am fine with my name, thank you.
20. How did you choose your blog/twitter handle?
A. CountryDew has been with me for more than 20 years, and I don't remember how I came up with it. The blog title, Blue Country Magic, is because I live in the country in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and I think life is a magical experiment.
Saturday, May 23, 2015
Saturday 9: Battle Hymn
Saturday 9: Battle Hymn of the Republic
Memorial Day was introduced to honor the men and women who died while serving the in the United States Armed Forces. We want to make sure that message is not forgotten this weekend.
2) Memorial Day also kicks off the summer season. What's your favorite picnic food?
3) Name a scent that reminds you of someone special in your life.
4) When was the last time you had your hair cut or trimmed?
5) Crazy Sam runs on Dunkin'. Are you loyal to a particular brand of coffee?
6) If money was no object, what home improvement would you like to make this summer?
7) What was the last thing you bought purely for your own enjoyment?
8) When was the last time you rode a bike?
A. About 20 years ago.
9) Sam worries that many of her song selections reflect her decidedly Baby Boomer sensibilities. Is there a song or a performer that you'd like to see featured in a Saturday 9 this summer?
A. I'm very happy with Sam's picks. But if you want a tune, how about American Pie by Don McLean?
Memorial Day was introduced to honor the men and women who died while serving the in the United States Armed Forces. We want to make sure that message is not forgotten this weekend.
1) This recording was made live at St. Patrick's Cathedral, during Sen. Robert Kennedy's funeral. (Hear it here.) While both of Bobby's older brothers were decorated war heroes, he served too -- enlisting in the Navy in 1943. Are you a veteran? Are there veterans in your family? (We are grateful and want to hear about it.)
A. My father served and so did his brothers and his father. On my mother's side, two of her brothers served.
2) Memorial Day also kicks off the summer season. What's your favorite picnic food?
A. Watermelon.
3) Name a scent that reminds you of someone special in your life.
A. Clean soap.
4) When was the last time you had your hair cut or trimmed?
A. I had my hair issues taken care of earlier this week.
5) Crazy Sam runs on Dunkin'. Are you loyal to a particular brand of coffee?
A. I don't drink coffee.
6) If money was no object, what home improvement would you like to make this summer?
A. I'd like to tear up the deck and install a concrete patio, and while I was at it, I would concrete the entire driveway (which is about 1/4 mile long) so I would not have a dirt road to travel on.
7) What was the last thing you bought purely for your own enjoyment?
A. That's actually a hard question. Books, I suppose.
A. About 20 years ago.
9) Sam worries that many of her song selections reflect her decidedly Baby Boomer sensibilities. Is there a song or a performer that you'd like to see featured in a Saturday 9 this summer?
A. I'm very happy with Sam's picks. But if you want a tune, how about American Pie by Don McLean?
Friday, May 22, 2015
Thursday, May 21, 2015
Thursday Thirteen
1. Friend: Have you ever had borsht?
Me: Isn't that the group on Star Trek that forces you to assimilate? (Borsht, apparently, is some kind of Polish or Russian soup. I'd never heard of it. Borgs, on the other hand, turn you into something you weren't before. Resistance is futile.)
2. My new acupuncturist told me yesterday that I am a black hole. I take everything in and hold it, never letting it back out, she said. Black holes in space pull things in but never let them out; it's a gravitational thing. Black holes are so full of stuff that they become invisible. Black holes cannot be observed; they are known because the things that should be where they are, aren't. Or something like that.
3. She also tells me I think too much. I never know how to respond to that - she's not the first person to say it. How can you think too much? Apparently a lot of people do. Here's a WikiHow that tells you how to stop thinking. Now I have to think about thinking too much.
4. Owning rental property is like that movie The Money Pit. The place is a black hole of its own, constantly creating a sucking sound in my checkbook.
5. My last tenant destroyed a door, left three huge holes in the wall, removed several other doors, shower heads, and the inside of toilet parts, and then made obscure threats to me when I wouldn't refund his deposit (I visited the sheriff about that, in case Mr. Jerk happens to read my blog.) He called his destruction "normal wear and tear." What is wrong with people? I've lived in my house for 28 years and not once put a hole in the wall.
6. Yesterday I saw two coyotes trotting along around 2:15 p.m., too quickly for me to get a photo of them. They went into the woods in front of the house. My husband was cutting hay in the next field, and he saw one of the coyotes stroll in front of him. He said it was a female, heavy with milk. So we probably have baby coyotes around here close by. Cue howling.
7. Officials say that vultures will not harm livestock. Tell that to this mother cow with her newborn:
My cousin came and stood guard over the baby until the vultures grew tired and went elsewhere for their fun. They've been known to kill calves and/or peck their eyes out.
8. I keep a calendar of exercises and pain for my physical therapist. Somehow I got off a week, and didn't realize it until Tuesday. For a moment I panicked, not knowing if it was May 12 or May 19. It was a quick glimpse into how I think a person with dementia must feel. I imagine it is a scary place.
9. I had to learn how to play Soft Kitty on the guitar because no one would sing it to me. Now I want to turn it into a full-fledged guitar song, but will need to sit down and write it out in tab form. I can hear it in my head but can't make my fingers find the sounds.
10. I spied this goose in the marsh. She's nesting. I hope the coyotes don't get her!
11. My beloved came home yesterday with a severe case of gout. I couldn't make him 'fess up as to what he had been eating. Gout is caused by too much uric acid, which gathers in the joint of the big toe. It's a type of arthritis. I know his triggers are red meat, seafood, asparagus, spinach, and mushrooms, among other things. We don't eat those much in my house (kind of ironic since we raise beef cattle, isn't it?). But I have no control over what he eats at the fire station.
12. Bing, the search engine, offers rewards for using it. I've received $10 in Amazon gift cards since I signed up. I use the gift cards for video game play on my Kindle Fire. Other types of rewards are available, like gift cards to Macy's and restaurants. You can even make donations to a couple of worthy causes. I switched to Bing because Google seems to return nothing but paid information anymore. (Nobody paid me to mention Bing, but I thought people might like the idea of free stuff.)
13. I like bacon. That's just a random fact because I couldn't think of anything else to say.
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 396th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.
Me: Isn't that the group on Star Trek that forces you to assimilate? (Borsht, apparently, is some kind of Polish or Russian soup. I'd never heard of it. Borgs, on the other hand, turn you into something you weren't before. Resistance is futile.)
2. My new acupuncturist told me yesterday that I am a black hole. I take everything in and hold it, never letting it back out, she said. Black holes in space pull things in but never let them out; it's a gravitational thing. Black holes are so full of stuff that they become invisible. Black holes cannot be observed; they are known because the things that should be where they are, aren't. Or something like that.
3. She also tells me I think too much. I never know how to respond to that - she's not the first person to say it. How can you think too much? Apparently a lot of people do. Here's a WikiHow that tells you how to stop thinking. Now I have to think about thinking too much.
4. Owning rental property is like that movie The Money Pit. The place is a black hole of its own, constantly creating a sucking sound in my checkbook.
5. My last tenant destroyed a door, left three huge holes in the wall, removed several other doors, shower heads, and the inside of toilet parts, and then made obscure threats to me when I wouldn't refund his deposit (I visited the sheriff about that, in case Mr. Jerk happens to read my blog.) He called his destruction "normal wear and tear." What is wrong with people? I've lived in my house for 28 years and not once put a hole in the wall.
6. Yesterday I saw two coyotes trotting along around 2:15 p.m., too quickly for me to get a photo of them. They went into the woods in front of the house. My husband was cutting hay in the next field, and he saw one of the coyotes stroll in front of him. He said it was a female, heavy with milk. So we probably have baby coyotes around here close by. Cue howling.
7. Officials say that vultures will not harm livestock. Tell that to this mother cow with her newborn:
My cousin came and stood guard over the baby until the vultures grew tired and went elsewhere for their fun. They've been known to kill calves and/or peck their eyes out.
8. I keep a calendar of exercises and pain for my physical therapist. Somehow I got off a week, and didn't realize it until Tuesday. For a moment I panicked, not knowing if it was May 12 or May 19. It was a quick glimpse into how I think a person with dementia must feel. I imagine it is a scary place.
9. I had to learn how to play Soft Kitty on the guitar because no one would sing it to me. Now I want to turn it into a full-fledged guitar song, but will need to sit down and write it out in tab form. I can hear it in my head but can't make my fingers find the sounds.
10. I spied this goose in the marsh. She's nesting. I hope the coyotes don't get her!
11. My beloved came home yesterday with a severe case of gout. I couldn't make him 'fess up as to what he had been eating. Gout is caused by too much uric acid, which gathers in the joint of the big toe. It's a type of arthritis. I know his triggers are red meat, seafood, asparagus, spinach, and mushrooms, among other things. We don't eat those much in my house (kind of ironic since we raise beef cattle, isn't it?). But I have no control over what he eats at the fire station.
12. Bing, the search engine, offers rewards for using it. I've received $10 in Amazon gift cards since I signed up. I use the gift cards for video game play on my Kindle Fire. Other types of rewards are available, like gift cards to Macy's and restaurants. You can even make donations to a couple of worthy causes. I switched to Bing because Google seems to return nothing but paid information anymore. (Nobody paid me to mention Bing, but I thought people might like the idea of free stuff.)
13. I like bacon. That's just a random fact because I couldn't think of anything else to say.
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 396th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
Bubbles in the Grass
I was trying to bolster a little creativity the other day and decided to blow some bubbles. I discovered I could not blow bubbles and photograph them in the air at the same time. However, they stayed together in the grass long enough for me to take some shots.
The last one is my favorite, because you can see the tree and horizon in the left part of the bubble.
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