Saturday 9: Daddy's Little Man

Saturday 9: Daddy's Little Man (1969)

... because it's Father's Day weekend

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

1) This song is about an afternoon visit between a father and son. What are your plans for Saturday afternoon?

A.  Don't have any. Plan to rest up and maybe if I'm lucky my husband will take me out to dinner. If not, I will fix us a salad.

2) The lyrics talks about enjoying an ice cream cone. Do you have any ice cream in your freezer right now?

A. I have frozen yogurt. Does that count?

3) Sam's father hates it when she swears. When is the last time you cursed?

A. This morning. I stepped down on my foot that the day before had received a steroid shot and said a few choice words at the pain. Takes those shots a few days to settle in.

4) In a recent ranking of movie dads, Mufasa (Lion King) and Atticus (To Kill a Mockingbird) got very high marks. Who is your favorite movie or TV father?

A. Obi Wan Kenobi, although he was a mentor, not a father. Gandalf the Grey also was not a father but he was a great mentor. I don't believe you actually have to shoot out the sperm to be a dad.

5) Sam's own father often traveled for business, and always remembered to bring her the little complimentary soaps, shampoos or body lotion he got from the hotel. When you take a trip, do you bring back souvenirs?

A.  I like to buy postcards of places we've visited, but generally hotel soaps are smelly and I only use unscented products. So I leave them for someone else.

6) Back when Sam was in high school, it was her father who gave her driving lessons. Who taught you how to drive?

A. A groping coach at the high school. We had "driver's ed" as a course way back then, and we all rotated through it when we hit 15. The coach was well-known for putting his hands on girls legs whilst they were driving, the ol' leech.

7) Sam's own father is easy to buy for: every year he wants a new pair of loafers, so every year for Father's Day she gives him a DSW gift card. Would you rather receive a gift that someone chose, even though it might not be just right, or do you prefer a gift card or cash so you can get exactly what you want?

A. I don't really care, so long as somebody remembers me. Although in these days of having too much stuff, I suppose cash might be the preferable thing. I could use it toward a vacation or something.

8) For family barbecues, Sam's dad dons his "Kiss the Chef" apron and mans the Weber. What's the last thing you cooked on the grill?

A. Hot dogs.

9) Sam's father satisfies his afternoon sugar craving with an almost endless stream of Butter Rum Lifesavers. When you crave a snack, do you usually want something sweet or salty?

A. I always want chocolate. But sometimes chips or pretzels do the deed.

______________________________________________

Today is my mother's birthday. She would have been 71 years old, but she died 15 years ago at the age of 56 - just four years older than I am now. Time does make it easier and changes the way we look at things, especially in retrospect, but a woman wonders what might have been.

Another Shooting, But Move Along. Nothing to See Here

I was saddened yesterday to read about yet another mass shooting in my native country.

How many more people must be gunned down by before somebody stands up and says, "Enough?" How many more young people of all colors and ages must die on our streets before somebody says, "Enough?"

Must we swim in blood before our elected officials get their heads out of their collective asses?

Why is it okay to be the nation that leads the world in violence?

Even the U.S. President, exasperated and frustrated, said yesterday that he didn't know how to stop this endless parade of stupid and irresponsible deaths. Wrong political climate. Too much power in the wrong places.

"At some point, we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries," Barack Obama said in response to the killings in Charleston - his 14th such address to the nation in the last six year. "It doesn't happen in other places with this kind of frequency."

And of course people dismissed this fact; I saw it happen several times on Facebook yesterday, but it is true. Among wealthy, first-world nations, we have three times as many homicides as other nationalities. We have more than Turkey, Germany, Switzerland, Greece, Spain, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, Italy - more than 30 other countries that are considered wealthy and civilized.

Does that make us the least civilized of the 30? I think so. In fact, I think we have become a nation of lunatics, apparently bred from wrong-thinking stock sent over long ago, with the fruitcakiness now oozing its way out of our brains and becoming mainstream, mistaken for some semblance of sanity.

I mean, why is your right to kill me greater than my right to live? Because basically that is what gun advocates think. They think their right to carry a piece outweighs my right to live a peaceful, tranquil life. They think it outweighs my right to breath and continue living.

Well let me tell you, buddy, it doesn't. You can take your gun and shove it where the sun don't shine, up there with the heads of those idiotic politicians. We need gun regulations and we need them now.

And guess what? If you already believe that mentally ill people and convicted felons should not have guns, you believe in gun control, too.

So what do we do, us citizens who "want to take our country back" but not in the way that the people who usually say that mean? Those of us who still have some sanity left and want to see a land of the free that is peaceful, with well-maintained infrastructure, and happiness for most instead of just a measly one percent? What do we do?

Here are a few ideas:

• Get money out of politics (bye bye Citizens United)
• Make voting mandatory
• Reinstate the draft
• Elect people with common sense instead of idiots
• Do away with the electoral college
• Dismantle corporate monopolies
• Stop watching Faux News & listening to hate-talk radio
• Bring back the space program so that people have something in which to have national pride
• Change the educational system so that it is focused on individuals and not lemmings. Add back art, music, philosophy, and civics courses.
• Institute a jobs program to upgrade the public infrastructure
• Tax the churches since they have become political
• Write letters to your elected representatives
• Write letters to media suggesting that hate-filled TV shows be replaced with things that teach morality (think Andy Griffith)
• Write letters to sponsors of TV shows that advocate for violence and extremism
• Don't watch that kind of stuff on TV
• Stop advocating foreign policies that do more harm than good (i.e., military intervention)
• Upgrade and improve our mental health system and stop using the penitentiary to warehouse people who are mentally ill.

And guess what, I've disabled comments so you can't fuss at me, because unless you agree with me, I don't care what you think. And guess what again, I own guns. I can shoot guns and have shot guns. I live on a farm and I think guns are necessary at various times and places.

But I also think you should have to pass a stringent background check before you own one.

Let me repeat this one point so that it goes deep inside your brain:

If you already believe that mentally ill people and convicted felons should not have guns, you believe in gun control, too.

For a similar point of view, and interesting comments about how much guns are actually used in self-defense, check out Dan's Smith's commentary here.

Thursday Thirteen #400

I'm celebrating a big day in my world of Thursday Thirteen. Four hundred posts. Almost eight years of not missing a single Thursday in making a list of 13 things.

And I thought I couldn't stick with anything. Guess I was wrong, huh?

What kind of wondrous post could I make for such an occasion? I thought about listing my favorite older posts, but I like them all (even the dull ones).

So, since I am officially older than dirt at the age of 52, at least according to my brother, I thought I'd offer up some life lessons. I've learned many things in that long period of time.

There are more than 13, though. Forgive my impertinence at taking this leeway today.

In no particular order:


1. Fulfilling needs is one thing, fulfilling wants and desires is something else again.

2. Happiness is a full belly, a decent environment, not having to pee, well-spent leisure time, not being too dirty, not being in pain, and spending time with friends and family. Material comfort is important, but once basic needs are met, great wealth has no relevance to a good life.

3. Once one of your needs go unmet, it is difficult to regain your balance. It can take a long time to find your equilibrium. An acronym I have found helpful is HALT - don't get too Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired.

4. If you are an adult, you really don't have to do anything you don't want to. You think you do, but you don't. You always have a choice. Even if someone locks you in a cell with your hands tied behind you, you have a choice in how you respond. You don't have to go to work today. You might lose your job, but you don't have to go if you are willing to pay the consequences.

5. Death by flies should be avoided at all costs.

6. No one is perfect. Everyone has people who dislike them for reasons known and unknown.

7. At the moment you are born, no one is any better or worse a person than you are. But the things that follow after that first breath can make you or break you. Regardless of your life experience, though, all lives matter.

8. There are no new stories.

9. Sometimes you need to get out of your own way. You cannot control everything.

10. Exercising makes you sweat.

11. Get a life that looks out on a beautiful view.

12. A good bed makes a big difference in how you sleep.

13. Don't scrimp on your education, and don't waste time on skills you don't need.

Extras:

The people you love will always disappoint you.

Dreams without action are fatal to the heart.

You can make your own family.

Time is our most precious commodity.

Live in the gray areas of life. Black and white are too contrasting and only bring about turmoil and conflict.

______

Thank you for reading and being a part of my life, Thursday Thirteeners! Many blessings to you all.


Thursday Thirteen is played by many people; you can learn more about it here. This is number 400 for me.

Take That, Amazon

About five years ago, Google/Blogger joined with Amazon and created a way for you to link easily in your blog posts.

I used it for book reviews. I liked having pictures of the book covers on the reviews. Then it went away and if I wanted the picture I had to do some convoluted hunting around on the Amazon Associates site to find what I needed. Sometimes I did that if I really liked a book.

While I have been an Amazon Associate for six years or so, I have not once received any money from this endeavor. It's a good thing I wasn't counting on it to eat or anything.

Every month I receive an email from Amazon Associates telling me that while lots of people received money this month, I was not one of them, and any money in my account under a certain sum would be retained until such time as I implemented appropriate strategies to bring in more revenue.

I have ignored this email for years.

Recently I received a note from Amazon Associates demanding that I upgrade all of my links to a different code. If I didn't, I'd have loads of broken links in my blog that went nowhere. They were no longer servicing older Amazon Associate ads.

So I spent over two hours today going through my blog(s) and removing Amazon ads. I had no desire to implement the changes on every page and it was easier to do away with it.

The good thing is I noted my blog pages loaded faster with each ad removal. The little pictures are gone, but I don't suppose anyone but me cared about that, anyway.

I have no plans to do anything else with my Amazon Associates account. I wasn't using it as a revenue enhancer, anyway.

But I did want to go Phttt to Amazon for making me spend my precious time ridding my blog of their code.

So Phttt to Amazon.

First Fawn Seen 2015

A Skin Too Few

The other day one of my email pals told me that I have "a skin too few," which is the British way of telling me I'm thin-skinned.

That's not a compliment in today's world. People with thin skin are thought to be overly sensitive to insult and criticism. Apparently, being appalled by bad manners, crude comments, misogynistic and masochistic behaviors and immorality makes you a silly person who should develop a thick skin and get over it.

Why, though, should I develop a rind of callousness when it is so easy to be nice? What is really going on is that people want to be able to say and do what they will without worrying if they are offending anyone. And if they offend someone, they want to put it back on the person offended, not take responsibility for their own behavior.

It is easy to be nice, moral, and kind. I don't understand why people aren't. Instead they have chosen to be mean, cruel and vicious.

This has long been a problem for me, this thin skin I wear. My father in particular was always telling me to buck up, to grin and bear it, to grow a thicker hide. As if being sensitive is some crime, some aspect of my personality of which I should be ashamed.

It is the thick-skinned people who should be ashamed. They should be ashamed of their callousness, their immorality, their cruelty. But our society applauds them and denigrates those like me.

Commentators use the term "thin-skinned" to denigrate people they don't like. Conservatives use it toward progressives with great enthusiasm. Bill Maher calls Bill Clinton thin-skinned; Bill O'Reilly calls President Obama thin-skinned.

I guarantee they weren't calling those leaders "thin skinned" to be nice. Neither Maher or O'Reilly are very nice people.

However, the thin-skinned people of the world make society a better place. Because the thin-skinned people eventually say, stop making me bleed. Stop scraping away at my scabs and wounds. Eventually, someone finds the strength to say, ENOUGH, DAMN IT. And then they set about creating change so that those wounds can heal.

That's part of the social network that many people find so abhorrent these days. Social Security was put in place so that thin-skinned people could see that the elderly survived and did not live in poor houses. Unions came into being so that workers could be employed with dignity and fair wages. Thin-skinned people brought about the 40-hour work week and gave people a life outside of working for meager wages.

Thin skinned people don't accept the status quo because they know, in their hearts, that society and the world could be a better place if the thick-skinned numbskulls who want to be able to defecate in the park without offending anyone would only mind their manners and be more human and humane.

Thin skinned people are thought to be the half of the world that has trouble fitting in. A simple search will bring up lots of comments on thin-skinned people and their need for political correctness.

There's even a psychology about it. Thin-skinned folks suffer more from depression and chronic illnesses. They react more strongly to sensory stimuli (bright lights, smells). They remember more and were greatly affected by the things that happened in their childhood. They have low immune systems and allergies. (This comes from this website called Your Emotional Type. There's an online test you can take at the link that tells you how thin or thick your skin is, and this article at psychcentral.com also talks about the book and being thin-skinned.)

I think the thick-skinned people are the problem, though. Thick-skinned people need to have more empathy and sympathy for their fellow human beings. They need to be less self-absorbed and consider the world around them. They need to realize it isn't all about them and what goes on in their watermelon rinds.

They're loud mouths who want the freedom to ridicule and rub people the wrong way. But you know what? Free speech doesn't mean you have to be cruel. You think I'm P.C.? Yeah. I'm P.C. I don't think you have to be mean to be kind. I think you have to be kind to be kind. I think the world would be a better place if you over there with the thick skin would stop and think before you open your mouth. Thank goodness not everybody has thick skin. Because without us thin-skinned folks to jerk you back from the precipices, you would destroy the world.

Fortune Cookie Sayings

Life to you is a dashing and bold adventure.

Wisdom is only found in truth.

Every friend joys in your success.


(Found these on my desk whilst doing a little cleaning.)

Sunday Stealing: Would You Rather, II

From Sunday Stealing

Would You Rather Meme, part two

1. Would you rather go to a movie or to dinner alone?

A. It doesn't matter.

2. Would you rather always say everything on your mind or never speak again?

A. Can I vote for this as weirdest question in a while?

3. Would you rather make a phone call or send a text?

A. Make a phone call. I don't text.

4. Would you rather read an awesome book or watch a good movie?

A. Read the book, then see the movie.

5. Would you rather be the most popular person at work or school or the smartest?

A. The smartest. Popularity is highly overrated.

6. Would you rather put a stop to war or end world hunger?

A. If we had no wars and put that money toward helping people, as we should, we would probably manage both goals.

7. Would you rather spend the night in a luxury hotel room or camping surrounded by beautiful scenery?

A. I live in beautiful scenery but I am not pampered much, so I think I'll go with the luxury hotel.

8. Would you rather explore space or the ocean?

A. Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages . . . Speaking of which, if you're not keeping up with the New Horizons and Pluto, you are missing out. You can read more about it at the NASA website at this link. This is super cool stuff and we should all be excited about it. I mean, Pluto! Dang.

9. Would you rather go deep sea diving or bungee jumping?

A. How about neither.

10.Would you rather be a kid your whole life or an adult your whole life?

A. Okay, maybe this gets the nomination for next weirdest question. But if I had to be stuck at a certain age, as I have said before, I'd like it to be my late 30s or early 40s. Still young but wiser.

11. Would you rather go on a cruise with friends or with your spouse?

A. With my spouse. However, he is a landlubber so I don't see it happening.

12. Would you rather lose your keys or your cell phone?

A. Neither. But I can do without the cell phone, the aged ol' thing.

13. Would you rather eat a meal of cow tongue or octopus?

A. Oh good grief. I'll go you one better and tell you to go eat mountain oysters.

14. Would you rather have x-ray vision or magnified hearing?

A. I already have too many super senses. I mean, I can smell snakes, for heaven's sake. And I hear frequencies others don't. My eyes are poor, though, so how about just normal eyesight?

15. Would you rather work in a group or work alone?

A. Alone. Good thing I chose writing as my occupation, huh.


I had a nice birthday. My husband took me out for baked spaghetti, the first I'd had in a year (thanks to ulcers). It was delicious. I bought myself the sneakers I wanted, and had cards and calls from friends and family. One of my friends visited and gave me an interesting Tarot reading.

Later in the week, I had breakfast with one friend and lunch with another.

So a good birthday week for me. Thanks for all the good wishes.

Saturday 9: American Pie

Saturday 9: American Pie (1971)

 ... because Country Dew suggested it
Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

One of my favorite songs! (I even know most of the words, and it's a long song.)

Thank you, Sam, for using my song!


1) In the lyrics, Don McLean refers to having once been a paper boy. When you were a kid, what job or household chores did you do for spending money?

A. I lived on a farm, so I had many chores, and I did not necessarily get an allowance as such for them. I looked after my brother, who was three years younger than I, I fed chickens, I bottle-fed calves, I carried in firewood, I started dinner, washed dishes  . . . but my favorite memory of making money has nothing to do with the farm. It was the summer we stayed my grandmother's house in Salem every day. One day I looked down the street and saw that they were getting ready to asphalt the road on a hot summer's day. I talked my grandmother into letting me, my brother, and my young uncle set up a lemonade stand, because I knew those men would spend money on something cold to drink. When the fellows got close, I held up a sign that said "ICE COLD LEMONADE" and the dimes flowed into our pockets. They drank all we could carry out to them.

2) Them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye. What's the last drink you ordered?

A. A root beer. I don't drink alcohol, so I only have a boring answer for that one. 
 
3) He drove to the levee but it was dry. When is the last time it rained where you are?

A. Apparently it rained yesterday (Friday) while I was out, which only made things hot and muggy. We are a little low on moisture for the year and have concerns about our hay-making program.

4) When McLean was working on the song, he wrote the lyrics out in long hand. It took him 16 pages of lined notebook paper. Today it's a laptop/smartphone/tablet world, and Sam can't remember the last time she hand wrote anything longer than a sign on her front door that read, "Bell broken. Plz knock." What about you? What's the last thing you wrote with pen or pencil?

A. I keep a journal that I write in long hand. I also still take notes for newspaper articles in long hand, depending on the story. And I love to work on poetry in pencil.

But the very last thing I wrote was a telephone message for my husband.

5) McLean's most recent CD is called "Addicted to Black," in reference to Olivia in The Twelfth Night. Quick! Without looking it up, name another character from Shakespeare.

A. Othello. Macbeth. Hamlet.

6) Don was born in New Rochelle, New York, which was named one of The Best Walking Cities in America by the American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA). What about your neighborhood? Is it easily walkable?

A. Nope. We are rural and have no sidewalks. We don't even have a neighborhood, really. Uneven fields make for difficult walking. Plus there are cow pies.

7) In 1971, the year this song was popular, Walt Disney World officially opened. Have you ever been to DisneyLand or Disney World?

A. In 1993, to celebrate my graduation from college, my husband and I went to Disney in Orlando, Florida. Epcot had not been open long. We went in early June and it was incredibly hot.

8) Also in 1971, Mattel introduced Malibu Barbie. This doll was a "sun-loving California girl" and had a distinct tan. Have you ever used a tanning bed?

A. I tried it one time, and became so claustrophobic that I had to get out of there. I felt like a vampire in her coffin. 

9) American Pie is also the name of a 1999 movie. Have you seen it?

A. I have seen parts of it when my husband has had it on. But I've not watched the whole thing.
 

Books: The Paying Guests, by Sarah Waters

The Paying Guests
by Sarah Waters
Copyright 2014
Kindle Edition Version 1
(560 pages)

Looking at the nearly 1,500 reviews on Amazon, I see a mix of reviews about this book.

If I must give it stars, I give it three stars. This is not a five star book. It was on the New York Times bestseller list and it has received rave reviews, but I am not quite sure why.

To be sure, it's well written. At the end the author lists a pile of resources she checked for historical accuracy. The book is set after the War (although to be honest, I don't know if it was WWI or WWII, because ultimately it didn't really seem to matter that much). If the research is in this book, I am not sure where it is.

I felt manipulated almost from the beginning as I read. The author wanted me to think and feel a certain way, I'm sure, but using third-person limited omniscient to do that seems deceitful on the part of the author. The narrator was not the most reliable and I have never been one to like unreliable narrator books. I could not relate to the main character much, though I think the author wanted us to really like and feel sorry for Frances.

Generally, though, I found her tiresome, and when the book ended with a dull thud, I wished the woman had jumped off the bridge upon which she sat at the end.

Frances and her mother must take in borders because her father frittered away their money, something they learn after his passing. She also lost several brothers to the war, and has forgone a relationship to care for her mother.

The new borders, Lillian and Leonard (note to author - names really should not be so alike, unless you really want readers to mix them up. Couldn't one of them been called something that didn't start with an "L"?), are carefree and different. They are the "clerk class" and as such a lower breed than the upper crust from which Frances and her mother have fallen.

I found it difficult to like any of these characters from the start, and never really warmed up to them. Had my book club not been reading this book, I am not sure I would have finished it. I like internal monologue as much as the next person, but there was too much of it in this long book. I would have like to have seen more of London in the time period, but what little was there was not drawn well and I really had no sense of place as I read. I might have well have been reading about a Martian family after some war on the Red Planet, so little sense of place did I feel after I read this.

Waters is a new author to me, and she is much acclaimed. I must have missed something or perhaps this story came to me at a bad time and I am not able to appreciate its depth and quality. I am sure if that is the case, my book club members will set me straight in a few weeks.

Thursday Thirteen

My desk is a horror badly in need of cleaning. I have things piled everywhere.

Here are some of them:

1. Eight Pilot G-2 .05 pens, the only pens I write with.

2. A copy of The Roanoke Times.

3. A copy of The Fincastle Herald (the local paper for which I sometimes write).

4. An Ethernet cable.

5. A pair of 1/2 pound dumbbells.

6. A New Balance box with a pair of new sneakers in it.

7. A light box that is supposed to help with mood.

8. A pair of nail clippers.

9. Four Dove chocolate wrappers that I was saving because they have little sayings in them. I was keeping them to see if I could get 13 different ones for another TT.

10. Earphones.

11. An 18-inch stack of magazines consisting of Taste of Home, Oprah, and Writer's Digest.

12. A pair of binoculars.

13. Birthday cards from Monday's birthday celebration.



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 399th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.

Live Bait

I saw this sign at one of the convenience stores in Botetourt.

It reminded me that I used to enjoy fishing. However, I don't think I've dipped a pole in the pond in over 20 years.

Fairy Stone State Park

While we were out driving around last week, we stopped in at Fairy Stone State Park. It is located in Patrick County, VA, not far from Stuart, VA.

I have always wanted a Fairy Stone. The little stones, which are cross-shaped, are also called staurolite.

Unfortunately, I took most of these photos out of the car window, so they aren't very good.

Park entrance

Gift shop.

Picnic and recreational area

Lovely little bridge

One of the newer cabins, I think.

They have a lot of cabins.

A nice creek.

Another cabin.

The best view of the big lake I could
get from the car.

One of the earliest cabins.

The Fairy Stones

The park was lovely. We drove through, though, and did not take advantage of anything but the gift shop, where I purchased a couple of little fairy stones.

This park is the largest of one of the six original state parks in Virginia. It opened in 1936. There is a lake with a beach, cabins, and opportunities for hiking, fishing, and camping. The park has 4,868 acres of land.

The park official told us that the park, the lack and many of the cabins that are available for rent were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

They Say It's My Birthday

So yep, another year's gone by. I've spent nine of them writing almost daily on this blog.

I spent the first 20 living at home with my parents, the last 32 living my husband. I took eight years to obtain a BA, and another eight to obtain a masters degree.

I have been writing for The Fincastle Herald is some capacity or another for 31 years. I've written and published literally thousands of articles and photographs. I've managed to be published in about a dozen different venues, but I've yet to write a book.

Twelve years of my life were taken up working at various lawyers' offices.

I've had more than a dozen different surgeries.

My journals take up boxes of space in one of the closets.

My hobbies still include writing, music, and reading. And video games. Mustn't forget that big time-waster. I like to garden, too, but that has become too physical for me in the last two years.

I enjoy fantasy, science fiction, mysteries, mainstream literature, and weird stuff. I am not a "prepper" but I keep a lot of toilet paper around in case there is an apocalypse. Can't have the world coming to end with nothing around to wipe your bum.

My friends on Facebook number about 500, and I am blessed with a number of folks that are true-life in-the-flesh friends.

My husband loves me.

So not bad for 52 years, I suppose.

I guess if one looks hard enough, you can see that young girl in the old woman pictures at the top.

Sunday Stealing: Would You Rather?

From Sunday Stealing

Would You Rather Meme, part one

1. Would you rather go into the past and meet your ancestors or go into the future and meet your great-great grandchildren?

A. I have no children, and thus there will be no great-great-grandchildren. However, I do have a freaky obsession with the fate of humanity, so I'll go with going forward. I can always check up on the great-great-grand nieces and nephews, I suppose.

2. Would you rather have more time or more money?

A. I'd prefer both, but if I must chose, then I would chose time. The older I become, the less I have of it.

3. Would you rather have a rewind button or a pause button on your life?

A. A pause button would have been nice when I was about 44 years old. Now, I'd like a rewind, at least for a few years. I'd go back and never have that gallbladder surgery, that's for sure.

4. Would you rather be able to talk with the animals or speak all foreign languages?

A. Wouldn't being able to talk to animals also be speaking a foreign language? So wouldn't you be able to do both? Wouldn't you be a regular babbling Dr. Doolittle?

5. Would you rather win the lottery or live twice as long?

A. If I could be healthy, I would live twice as long. But if I am going to be an invalid, then I may as well take the lottery and live it up.

6. Would you feel worse if no one showed up to your wedding or to your funeral?

A. I had 350 people at my wedding. I daresay, given my husband's standing in the community, that there will be many people there to support him. So long as he has his needs met, I am good with however the end for me turns out. If nobody comes to my funeral and he doesn't need anybody there, I am okay with that. I'll be dead anyway.

7. Would you rather be without internet for a week, or without your phone?

A.  Without my cellphone would be fine, because I also have a landline. Hence, I would not miss anything, especially since I keep my cellphone in the car because it doesn't work in the house.

8. Would you rather meet George Washington, or the current president?

A. I want to meet the first female president, if that's okay with you. 

9. Would you rather lose your vision or your hearing?

A. How about I keep them both?

10. Would you rather work more hours per day, but fewer days or work fewer hours per day, but more days?

A. That question made my head go around in circles. Mostly, I would like to feel well enough to work. I don't particularly care how many days or hours in the day.

11. Would you rather listen to music from the 70’s or music from today?

A. I confess I am a 70s gal, and I listen to that music more often than not.

12. Would you rather become someone else or just stay you?

A. I suppose it would depend on who I was becoming. Do super powers come with the new me? Will I be able to fly, deflect bullets with my magic bracelets, or travel at the speed of light? Would I be able to keep my brains and lose the old body?

13. Would you rather be Batman or Spiderman?

A. What a sexist question. I would rather be Xena: Warrior Princess. She'd kick both of their asses from here to ancient Greece and back again.

14. Would you rather be stuck on a broken ski lift or in a broken elevator?

A. How about we not get stuck anywhere? I'm not fond of heights and I already have an elevator phobia. You should have seen how white I was every time I got off the elevator at the hospital last year when my husband was hurt. The nurses thought I looked worse than he did.

15. For your birthday, would you rather receive cash or gifts?

A. Another birthday question! My birthday is tomorrow - send amazon gift cards, please. I bought myself the sneakers yesterday.

Saturday 9: You're No Good

Saturday 9: You're No Good (1974)

... because Harriet suggested Linda Ronstadt

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.
This is a great song!

1) This week's featured artist, Linda Ronstadt, turns 69 next month. Will you be celebrating any family/friend birthdays this summer?

A. Actually, my birthday is Monday. I will be 52. My husband's birthday was earlier in the week, and my brother's was yesterday. June is a big birthday month for us.

2) Linda sings that she's learned her lesson and it's left a scar. Tell us how you got one of your scars. 

A. I have so many. But one of the more interesting ones is a thin scar just below my thumb joint on the backside of my hand. I hit my hand on a filing cabinet corner at the county courthouse while I was doing some research, and before I realized I had cut myself, I bled all over some public records. So my DNA will forever be ensconced at the courthouse.

3) This song is about a lover who is, obviously, no good. Let's be more positive. Who is the nicest person you know?

A. Most people I know are nice, so I can't really pick out the nicest. However, my physical therapist, Audrey, has been incredibly kind to me over the last year and has gone above and beyond her job to help me feel better, so I will give kudos to her today. I am pretty sure I wouldn't be standing on my own two feet right now if she hadn't helped me make it through the winter.

4) Linda says that she grew up on Mexican music, which was sung by her entire family. Do you speak any Spanish?

A. Yo hablo muy poco español. Yo tome español durante tres años en la escuela secundaria. But I have forgotten most of it and had to look up the words for that second sentence.

5) She toured often throughout her career and is quoted as saying, "they haven't invented a word for that loneliness that everybody goes through on the road." Are you missing someone right now?

A. I spend a great amount of time by myself. My husband works three jobs so he isn't here as much as I might like.

6) Ms. Ronstadt was once involved with George Lucas of Star Wars fame. Who is your favorite Star Wars character?

A. Princess Leia.

7) In 1974, when this song was a hit, The Magic 8 Ball was still a top-seller at toy stores. It retailed for just $1.99, and promised that all you had to do was gaze at it, concentrate, and wait to learn your fate ... "if you dare!" If you could get an answer to one question about the future, what would you ask?

A. How long will it be before humanity destroys itself?

8)1974 is the year when Mikhail Baryshnikov defected to the United States. Have you ever been to the ballet? 

A. I have been to dance recitals for my niece where they performed ballet. Does that count?

9) Random question: What's your shoe size?

A. I wear a 7D in New Balance sneakers, preferably the 928 model, if anybody wants to go to Zappos and send me an expensive birthday present. ;-) (Updated 6/6/15 at 8:25 a.m., I just ordered myself a pair!)