Thursday Thirteen #490

Here are 13 famous U.S. female journalists (in no particular order).

Ida B. Wells

1. Ida B. Wells (1862–1931), black American journalist prominent in the civil rights and women's suffrage movements.

2. Barbara Walters (b. 1929), first woman to anchor an American evening news program on a major network.



Helen Thomas

3. Helen Thomas (1920–2013), 50-year member of White House Press Corps, first female officer of the National Press Club, first female member and president of the White House Correspondents' Association, and first female member of the Gridiron Club.

4. Diane Sawyer (b. 1945), first female correspondent on CBS' 60 Minutes. Sawyer is well known for reporting documentaries and investigative journalism. She is the anchor of ABC's evening newscast World News. Sawyer previously co-anchored ABC's Good Morning America.

5. Nellie Bly (1867–1922), an American journalist who led an exposé in which she faked insanity to study a mental institution from within.



Marion Carpenter

6. Marion Carpenter, first female National Press Photographer to cover the White House.

7. Katie Couric (b. 1957), first female anchor to host her own weekday network evening news broadcast, and an anchor and managing editor of CBS Evening News with Katie Couric. Prior to joining CBS, Couric co-anchored NBC's Today Show from 1991 to 2006.

8. Margaret Fuller (1810–1850), first full-time book reviewer in journalism and first female foreign correspondent.



Martha Gellhorn with Ernest Hemingway
in China

9. Martha Gellhorn (1908–1998), an American novelist, travel writer, and journalist, who is now considered one of the greatest war correspondents of the 20th century. The Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism is named after her.

10. Katharine Graham (1917–2001), publisher of The Washington Post through the Watergate era and the publication of the Pentagon Papers.


11. Rachel Maddow (b. 1973), host of MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show, first openly-gay anchor of a prime-time American news show in the United States.



Gloria Steinem

12. Gloria Steinem (b. 1934), American media spokeswoman for the women's liberation movement in the late 1960s and 1970s; columnist for New York magazine, co-founded Ms. magazine.

13. Ann Compton (b. 1947), is an American former news reporter and White House correspondent for ABC News Radio. She was the first woman reporting for WDBJ TV, a CBS affiliate in Roanoke. (She graduated from my alma mater and her career started here in my hometown. I have long admired her.)

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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 490th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.

International Women's Day

Today, the annual International Women's Day, is a global day that celebrates the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future. Some places like China, Russia, Vietnam and Bulgaria, make International Women's Day a national holiday.

It isn't a national holiday in the United States. We don't celebrate women here. We castigate them, grab 'em where it counts, take away their reproductive rights, call them names, offer wolf whistles at them, offer non-support to one another because one woman might get something another doesn't have, and otherwise do little to enhance and develop the one half of the population that the other half cannot do without.

That's one side of it, anyway. I went to an all-women's undergraduate college whose motto was "Women Who Are Going Places Start at Hollins." In that environment, I heard no castigation, no catcalls, had no one grab me, and found support from teachers and fellow students unlike any that I had experienced. It remains my go-to place when I feel a need for support and encouragement. The campus is not far from me and sometimes I simply drive there and sit in the parking lot, watching the young women stroll across the grounds, backpacks flung behind them. The world is wide open to them.

I'd love to think they would find a better world - a better place - than I have. A place where jobs are welcoming and open, not stifling and under paid. A place where men treat women as human beings, not as objects. A place where the "male gaze," so prominent in movies and TV, has been eliminated. (The male gaze is the way in which the visual arts and literature depict the world and women from a masculine point of view, presenting women as objects of male pleasure. As an example, Hardee's commercials are good at this. That company, whose CEO was thankfully not named head of the federal Department of labor, has ads where voluptuous women in skin-tight clothing sit on a car and chow down on a hamburger like they're giving a guy a blow job.)

U.S. women frequently point to women in Arabic countries as counterpoints to indicate that we have come a long way, baby, but have we?

Women's rights are still denied in many parts of the world, where women live as second class citizens. In the US, men and women have the same legal rights, but we still experience discrimination against women on a large scale. While women in the United states may have the right to vote, but females are still discriminated against in terms of educational and career opportunities.

The pay gap, in particular, remains a problem in the United States. Gender gaps in labor force participation are associated with lower growth rates the world over.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, a woman doing the same job as a man can expect to earn only 79% of what the male does if she works in the United States. In other words, for every $100 the man earns, the woman earns only $79. Over time, this adds up significantly, leaving the woman to have less Social Security income in her retirement years, as well as having fewer dollars to spend annually during her work life.

Fifty-seven percent of all women participate in the labor force. (Almost all women work at home, unpaid, doing laundry, taking care of sick children or parents, or simply being a mom. Staying at home ain't easy.) The most common jobs for women are secretaries/administrative assistants, teachers, and nurses. Among the top 25 most common jobs for women, being a CEO is not one of them.

Here's a little graphic of what has changed for U.S. women over the last 50 years:

One of those "helps," the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare), is in the process of being repealed and "replaced" by the current Republican Administration. The new proposal, unveiled yesterday, is not being met with much pomp and circumstance even from within the GOP, so it remains to be seen how that will affect women if and when it passes. Obviously, Republicans will continue their war on women's reproductive rights and their ability to manage their own health care. Apparently some of the good ol' boys still believe women shouldn't run when they menstruate, or sweat, or otherwise exert themselves, for fear of a fainting spell a la Scarlett O'Hara. "Don't worry your pretty little head about it," a phrase I heard frequently growing up, seems to be the political mantra when it comes to the so-called fairer sex.

But we have to worry about it, because no one is going to care of me but me, just as no one is going to take care of you but you. I am fortunate to have a loving and respectful husband, but not everyone woman is. Lots of women are married to assholes who do not deserve them.

Nor will my husband live forever. Even though I am not healthy, the odds still favor my outliving him. Women outlive men by about five to six years. By age 85 there are roughly six women to every four men. It is important that women prepare for this eventuality, but lower wages make that harder than it needs to be.

Today women went on strike all over the globe. On articles about a school system in Virginia that shut down completely because so many teachers requested the day off, I saw comments from women (and men) that were the verbal equivalent to being spat upon. Why should women "strike," when they supposedly have everything, these commenters said.

Because they don't have everything. Statistics everywhere back that up. Women who think they have equality are sadly mistaken and have been misled into believing that because they are not suffering hardship, others do not, either. But I assure you, that is not the case. In my work as a news reporter, I saw plenty of women who were mistreated, underrated, underappreciated, and unloved. I sat in the trailers of single women who had lost their husbands who had nowhere to turn, and I held the hands of other women who cried because they'd just lost their jobs at the sewing factory in New Castle and had no clue what they would do next (that was back in the mid-1990s; we don't have textile factories here anymore). Life isn't pretty, and it can be downright ugly even for the most beautiful female.

And while I'm speaking of ugly, I will leave you with these ugly facts from the CDC (which stands to lose funding under the new Republican Administration, by the way) to ponder (hit the first link for the .pdf if this is hard to read):

One last thing: if you're a guy, would you want to be a woman? Think about that, and if the answer is no - then think about why not. List those. That list of "why nots" are the things that need to change.

It's a Facebook World

Over on one of the memes I do, Sunday Stealing, the author who asks the questions I answer weekly has noted, on more than one occasion, that blogs are no longer the thing.

People have moved to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. Many I have never heard of nor do I particularly care to hear of them.

I am on Facebook, though. I like that I can subscribe to various publications and they offer up links to stories - some of which I can access, others not.

Occasionally it is nice to hear good news from friends, though mostly what I see is, "I have a hang nail, prayers please." For some it is more serious than that but for others it appears that every ache, pain, and negative thought requires acknowledgement from all parties who read their post.

I do not ask for prayers or thoughts on Facebook. I sometimes post something political, but not overtly so, and it is directed at my friends. I have 511 people on FB who have asked to be my friend.

They are not all my friends. Most of them I hardly know. Some are people from high school. Most of them post things I never see because I have put them in categories so I don't see them. I see the posts of people I care about - some family, close friends, a few folks who have interesting thoughts on the state of the world, artists, writers, and other people who are of like mind.

I do sometimes watch the funny video of a cat, child, dog, horse or whatever, and I sometimes take the little tests about what Star Wars character you would be, just for fun, of course.

It is related to Lord of the Rings I probably look at it. If it is related to writing, I probably look at it. If it is related to politics, I may or may not look at it.

I feel no need to post things on my "wall" that say "No one ever reads my page and if you want to stay my friend then post something now." I don't post to acknowledge cancer of any kind, or any other disease, for that matter, and I don't post to "show someone is always watching and you are not alone: here's the suicide hotline."

I do not type "amen" after religious posts. I do not follow links to sign online petitions because I do not believe anyone who can resolve an issue pays much attention to an online petition. I know I wouldn't if I were in a position to do something. I might make note of it. If I were, say, a local elected representative and it came to my attention that people were signing a petition because they oppose something, I might take a look at it. But over all I don't think these things are effective.

Besides, I have no way of knowing if these petitions are real or if they are simply "farms" that are picking up my name and email to use for some other reason. Maybe that high volume of spam I receive comes from something I stupidly did 15 years ago, I don't know. Whatever you do online tends to hang around forever.

I don't post things asking you to post one word about how we met. I know how we met. I don't need the whole world to know how we met.

Really, what does any of the above stuff accomplish? If you believe prayer is supposed to cure your hang nail then I guess that might accomplish that purpose, although a pair of clippers could do the same. If you're on your way to surgery and you're anxious about it and ask for prayers, I wish you well and hope for the best outcome. But really that's up to your surgeon and your overall health, I think

I see a lot of loneliness on the Facebook feed as people cry out for attention for anything, and illnesses and loss apparently are very good topics. It is good to know that someone's father died so I can send a sympathy card, and since fewer people are paying for obituaries sometimes this is the only way I know. So there is that. But I suspect if I'm not on your "call this person if a close relative dies" list, then you're not going to miss my presence or my sympathy card. I daresay I won't even cross your mind.

Yet even with all this stuff that I see and try not to pay attention to, I spend too much time on Facebook. (Pretty much any time on Facebook is too much, but I mean, I am on there far too much.) What am I doing if I am not posting?

I read the articles from the links to various newspapers and magazines. I watch live interviews with Sean Spicer (cough cough). I watch live interviews with various political figures, like my senators, and sometimes with celebrities, like Mayim Bialik. I read the things that Lynda Carter (the first Wonder Woman on TV) posts because we are of the same political persuasion. I read the nasty comments that public people receive on their posts and wonder who these filthy little people are who can't keep their fingers off the keyboards and who think they have the right to belittle someone simply because opinions differ.

I block a lot of people, people I do not know and do not care to know, because they post incredibly vile things on someone else's post. If someone on a TV station Facebook post decides to post terrible things and call people names, I block him or her. That person might be the smartest person in the entire world, but if the only thing the thing behind the keyboard can type is "typical libtard response, they think they know everything and they're stupid and Obama was a monkey, snowflake" (and yes, I have seen many of those types of posts), then I don't care what else the person has to say. So I block. I have a long list of unknown names blocked now.

Social media brings out the worst in people. I stay silent more than not because it easier for me, and less likely to cause me angst.

Instead, I come over here on my blog and write about whatever is on my mind. This isn't thrown in your face. If you're here, you're here because you want to read whatever I have to say, or look at my deer pictures, or whatever the reasons are people read my blog. I much prefer to have my say here, where you have the option to read it or not, your choice. I'm not throwing it in your face. You're reading this because either you like my writing or value my opinion or maybe you're just bored as hell and are hoping I'll write something funny and sarcastic, which I do manage to do from time to time.

I am finding the Facebook World to be a very trying and tiring place. I am especially tired of twitter even though I don't use it.

Twenty-five years ago my life had no internet. I wonder how much better my life - and maybe yours - would be, if that were the case again.

Sunday Stealing: Age

From Sunday Stealing
The Questions of Age

Cheers to all of us thieves!

Sunday Stealing editor's note: Today our questions have a different format. This is not a “fill-out-the-blank” exercise. Rather, we’d ask that you to “finish the paragraph”. As always, we are trying to learn more about you, our friend.

1. By a certain age, women should . . . know that many men do not have their best interests at heart. Some do, of course. Look for those. They are hard to find, like four-leaf clovers.

2. By a certain age men, should . . . have learned to treat their girlfriends/wives like they would like to see their mothers treated.

3. When I was young I thought by now I would . . . have grandchildren, but since I had no children that did not come to pass. If you'd like to read a blog entry I wrote about the son I never had, except in my imagination, you can find it at the link.

4. Now that I am older I wish . . . I had paid more attention to my physical health when I was younger. I wish I had known about yoga when I was 25. I wish I had *not* listened solely to western medicinal practitioners and instead had investigated other forms of healing. Being in a rural area meant much of that was not available to me, though. Sometimes I think I'd have been better off to have visited the wise old woman in the woods, wherever she was, than a doctor.

5. You know that you are too old to do an activity when . . . the very idea of it makes you hurt all over.

6. You know you are too young to do an activity when . . . you can't reach the basketball net because you're only three feet high.

7. When I was in high school I listened to the music of . . . the 1970s - including disco. I still listen to it. My favorites are The Eagles, Linda Rondstadt, Fleetwood Mac, Elton John, etc.

8. When I was in college (or the next four years after high school) I listened to the music of . . . Michael Jackson (Thriller!), Genesis, Men at Work, etc.

9. These days, at my age I find myself listening music of . . . Melissa Etheridge and Sheryl Crow.

10. For my last birthday I . . . did nothing special, I'm afraid. However, my brother sent me an erector set because I'd mentioned one in a blog post. That was fun. My husband and I built a little car on a rainy day.

11. On my next birthday I want to . . . be well enough to hike to McAfee's Knob. That's on the Appalachian Trail, which runs in behind us, sort of, across Tinker Mountain. McAfee's Knob looks out over the Catawba Valley and is one of the best-known views from the AT. I have never been up there. It's a six mile jaunt, one way, and I can last a whole 15 minutes on the treadmill before whatever is wrong with my abdomen bends me over double, so I don't think I will be able to make this trip, but it is the goal that keeps me exercising. (Here's a photo of McAfee's Knob. Click!)

12. The best birthday present I ever got was . . . a 50th surprise party from my husband. We had pizza, and he invited all kinds of people and they showed up. I was very humbled that so many people would come out in the middle of the day on a Saturday, of all things, to wish me happy birthday.

13. The first time I felt that I was an adult was when . . . I told me husband I would marry him. I had just turned 20 and we married four months later. That is very young to marry and I don't advise it. I was lucky.

14. The last time I felt like I was still a kid was when . . . I started coloring last spring. I enjoyed the feel of the crayons, the smell of the wax in them, and I was delighted that I could actually make a picture in a coloring book *look* like something.

My sweetie in his racing suit.

15. I would sum up 2016 by saying . . . it was overall a nice year. We did not have any major accidents and we had a good vacation in the Poconos. It was fun watching my husband race around the track at Pocono Speedway. He can mark that off his bucket list.

16. I hope I will sum up 2017 by saying in December . . . my health improved greatly, I found work to do, and we went on a great vacation to . . . someplace.

17. So far in terms of age, I feel my first big milestone was . . . in 1983, when I married, followed by my first publication in a newspaper in 1984.

18. As I look forward to the rest of my life’s journey, I feel my biggest milestone of my life will be . . . having a good marriage. We have been married for 33 years and while of course there have been a few ups and downs, for the most part we are comfortable and happy with one another. I'm not sure that's exactly a milestone, but it is the sum of the biggest accomplishment of my life.

19. By the time I was the age I am now I am surprised that I haven’t yet . . . published a book. That was my goal at one time, but then I became a newspaper reporter. Ten thousand articles later, I have lots of bylines, as well as 3,400+ entries in this blog, two half-finished novels in drawers, several unpublished short stories, lots of unpublished poems, and a big box full of handwritten journals. I have a few published stories and poems, and I've won a few contests, but still . . . no book.

20. By the time I am 65, I hope that I have . . . improved my health and written and published that damned book.
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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. (This is my 170th time to play Sunday Stealing!)

Saturday 9: Magic

Saturday 9: Magic (1980)

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

Ooo. I love Olivia Newton-John. Good choice!


1) This 1980 video depicts Olivia Newton-John as a performer in small club. For the past few years, she's been performing regularly at the Flamingo in Las Vegas. Have you ever been to Las Vegas?

A. I have been through Las Vegas. When I was 12 years old, my family, along with my two young uncles and my grandmother, took a big van across the U.S. from Virginia to California and back. The only thing I remember about Las Vegas was a lot of lights and my mother screaming at my father to stop the van so she could get out and get a quickie divorce, and me crying in the back.

2) Many tourists who want to get away from the glitz of Vegas travel less than 20 miles to visit Red Rock Canyon. This national park is known for its hiking trails, which provide a view of the desert flora and red rock peaks. Tell us about a time you were impressed by natural beauty.

A. I am impressed by it every day. Just a few moments ago I looked out the window and stood for a while watching seven deer graze in the little hidden field in front of my house. It is surrounded by woods and the deer seem to find it safe there: they lay down and sleep there. I love watching them. I do wish they wouldn't eat my roses, though.

3) One of the best-reviewed restaurants in Las Vegas is Andiamo Italian Steak House. When you order a steak, how do you request it be cooked: rare, medium rare, medium, medium well or well done?

A. Medium rare.

4) Olivia Newton-John's father was an officer in MI5, the UK's secret service. Sam's most recent encounter with the law didn't have much drama or intrigue: she asked a cop for directions to the highway. Tell us about the last time you spoke to an officer of the law.

A. The Sheriff and I had a long conversation not long ago about the appropriate time for someone to shoot a gun after I spent a Saturday afternoon listening to someone in behind me target shoot literally for hours. They were also setting off some kind of blasting powder that actually rattled the windows of my home. I don't mind people target practicing to sight in a gun, but hearing gun shots for hours on end gets very wearying and nerve-wracking, and when it shakes the house it is a bit much. It is also against the county noise ordinance.

5) ONJ was awarded the OBE -- Order of the British Empire -- by Queen Elizabeth in honor of her contributions to the arts. Here's your opportunity to boast. What is something you've done lately that you received praise for?

A. I made a good coffee cake.

6) A breast cancer survivor, Olivia helped found a cancer center in her hometown of Melbourne, Australia. When you think of Australia, what comes to mind?

A. Kangaroos.

7) "Magic" was one of the top-selling records of 1980. Also that year, Post-It notes debuted. Do you enjoy shopping for office supplies, or do you consider it a chore?

A. I love shopping for office supplies. I'd rather spend time in an office supply store than a clothing store. There is nothing like the smell of a new notebook.

8) In 1980, the NASA space probe returned the first photos of Saturn back to earth. Do you believe intelligent life forms from other planets are  trying to learn more about us?

A. I think intelligent life forms from other planets would take one look at us and move on. We're not advanced enough yet for them to worry about. When we can make it the 40 light years it would take to get to the nearest M class planet, then they will worry about us. But we will destroy ourselves long before we get to that point, so I'm not overly concerned that we will contaminate the rest of the universe.

9) Random question: Are you more confident in your looks or your intelligence?

A. Intelligence.

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I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.  (This is my 170th Saturday 9. That's over three years of playing.)

Resting

Thursday Thirteen

New things I've learned this week -

1. Temporal arteritis, also called giant cell arteritis (GCA), is a systemic inflammatory vasculitis of unknown etiology that occurs in older persons and can result in a wide variety of systemic, neurologic, and ophthalmologic complications. GCA is the most common form of systemic vasculitis in adults. (Mostly it means you have severe pain in your temple and eye. I don't have this but the doctor thought I might. I've had a bad headache in one eye for 10 days.)

2. Alexa on Kindle Fire HD cannot be turned off, apparently, and sometimes it just up and talks to you whether you think you have it on or not. I tried to remove the app but it keeps replacing itself. It's a little spooky.

3. February set records for weather all around the nation. Chicago broke a 146-year record for lack of snowfall. Our area had its hottest February on record. March came roaring in like a wild lion yesterday. Is this our new normal?

4. You can clean jewelry with toothpaste. I had no idea.

5. Persimmon tea is supposed to help with stomach issues. I am going to find some on the Internet and give it a go.

6. Lamps today are (a) ugly, (b) poorly made, and (c) expensive.

7. Bethesda, a video game group that makes The Elder Scrolls series (my favorite), allegedly is working on Elder Scrolls 6, but it's all hush-hush. I want to know more!

8. You can have shingles without a rash. (I don't have shingles, either, but that was also suspected for a little while.)

9. TMJ, or temporomandibular disorder,  causes the following: popping or grating sound when you open or close your mouth; headache or pain in your jaw, ear, neck, or face; pain or swelling of the jaw muscles; tingling or numbness in the jaw or face; trouble opening or closing your mouth, or your jaw locks. (This is what they decided I do have.)

10. The concept of individuality ultimately breaks down society. I didn't learn this: I am observing this and watching it happen all around me.

11. There is a chaos theory in sociology which actually has to do with order and not disorder. Nature, including some instances of social behavior and social systems, is highly complex, and the only prediction you can make is that it is unpredictable. Chaos theory looks at this unpredictability of nature and tries to make sense of it. You can read more about it here. Breakdowns in the social structure lead to disorder and chaos, and appears to be cyclic. What cycle do you think we are entering?

12. I started reading about chaos theory because of a video game I am playing. It is a city simulation, and if you don't keep things equal and correct, the little people in the city become unhappy, sick, starve, and die. This means resources must be allocated accordingly; too much on one side and the other side starts going downhill. It also resonates with our current economic climate.

13. This story in The Guardian indicates that Shell knew in 1991 that climate change was a danger to humanity. Like other corporations, though, the company took no stance and made no changes. Because, you know, money.


*Do we do stuff that makes us feel good, or stuff that actually does good? That's my question for the week.*

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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 489th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.

A Statement from the Authors' Guild

We Are Not the People’s Enemies

 First President Trump complained that “the media” was biased against him. “Dishonest.” Presidents have made such complaints before, in moments of weakness and self-pity.
Then he labeled the media as “the opposition party.”

Now he has declared journalists to be “the enemy of the American People.”

We at the Authors Guild hear that as a declaration of war. We know our history. Enemy of the People is a phrase long favored by authoritarians and tyrants. The “correct Russian term,” Gary Shteyngart points out, is врагнарода, vrag naroda. Long before Lenin and Stalin used it, Robespierre inaugurated the Reign of Terror by declaring that the Revolutionary Government “owes nothing to the Enemies of the People but death.”

An earlier president, John F. Kennedy—when he was taking a beating in the press after the Bay of Pigs fiasco—was asked if he resented the media. He said this:

“It is never pleasant to be reading things that are not agreeable news, but I would say that it is an invaluable arm of the presidency, as a check, really, on what is going on in the administration … I would think that Mr. Khrushchev operating a totalitarian system, which has many advantages as far as being able to move in secret, and all the rest—there is a terrific disadvantage in not having the abrasive quality of the press applied to you daily …Even though we never like it, and even though we wish they didn’t write it, and even though we disapprove, there isn’t any doubt that we could not do the job at all in a free society without a very, very active press.”

President Kennedy was a member of the Authors Guild. So are many of the journalists now covering the Trump presidency, the historians who will soon reflect upon it, and the novelists who challenge us with their imaginative—and, yes, subversive—visions.

The administration is now said to be preparing the elimination of the National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities under the false guise of budgetary necessity. We understand this, too, to be part of an attack on the free expression of diverse views.

The Authors Guild serves writers as a nonpartisan advocate. Our members represent a broad spectrum of social and political views. But blanket attacks on writers and journalists, as a class, are not a partisan issue; they are attacks on democracy itself. And, as advocates for authors and the first amendment rights of writers, we cannot let these attacks go unanswered.

We are not the people’s enemies. We are the eyes and ears of the people. And we are the people’s memory.

February Yellow

An overly warm February brought out daffodils and pansies. What will March bring? Will it come in like a lion, or a lamb?


"Then you should say what you mean," the March Hare went on.
"I do," Alice hastily replied; "at least - at least I mean what I say - that's the same thing, you know." - Lewis Carroll

Sunday Stealing: Questions

Sunday Stealing: My-New-Favorite-Author Questions

1. Where do you go to decompress from the world?

A. Inside a book. Nothing like a good read to take you away from the world. Video games also work for that.

2. If given $10,000, what would you do with it?

A. My friend and her husband are taking a trip to Alaska in late summer and I would love to go with them. That would just about cover the costs for my husband and me.

3. What is one major renovation you would love to make on your house?

A. I would like to replace the carpet with hardwood flooring.

4. What is one movie that you love and didn’t expect to love?

A. The Blind Side.

6. What is the oldest knick-knack you own and what is its sentimental value?



A. I have two coin banks that belonged to my grandmother, which I gave to her and my grandfather when I was about nine years old. I purchased them at the Mr. Peanut shop in downtown Roanoke during a Christmas shopping trip with my mother. The Mr. Peanut shop no longer exists, but the banks still do.

7. Do you own any books you keep out of obligation, but actually hate?

A. I may have a few signed books on my "signed books" that I don't particularly care for, but I don't hate them.

8. How many countries have you visited outside of the one you live in now?

A. Just this one, and the imaginary ones inside my head. There are millions of those. [Edit: I misread this question. I have been to Spain and France.]

9. Have you ever read only part of a book, but claimed you’ve read the whole thing?

A. Yes. Except I always skip to the last chapter and read that.


My little Taylor GS Mini

10. Have you ever spent a lot of money on something? What was it?

A. I guess my last big purchase was for a guitar.

11. If you could change your name, what would it be?

A. Susan.

12. What is a nickname a former (or present) lover gave you?

A. My husband calls me many different names from "baby" to "pookie."



Me

13. How do you style your hair? If you just would say "cut" what style is it?

A. It's layered with bangs and shoulder length. It is brown and "soft white."

14. How many colors are you wearing now?

A. White, gray, and three variations of pink.

15. What's one piece of fiction that changed your life?

A. Bambi, by Felix Salten.

16. Is there anything that has made you unhappy recently?

A. Yes.

17. Tell us about the job that you did before your current one or last one.

A. A very long time ago I spent some time in retail, working a cash register and stocking shelves. I was working for a friend and I learned a great deal about what makes people part with their cash and how foolishly people spend their money. She sold stuff I wouldn't have purchased ever.

18. What was the last song to get stuck in your head?

A. Ruins, by Melissa Etheridge.

19. What is your least favorite thing to do that you have to do everyday?

A. Cook.

20. Best time of your life?

A. Now I've had the time of my life, and I owe it all to you . . . Sunday Stealing.

21. What are you most looking forward to in the coming year?

A. I hope to get a writing project under way, if I can ever get my office cleaned up and some oomph in my oompha.

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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: I'll Be There

Saturday 9: I'll Be There (1992)

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

1) In this song, Mariah pledges to "have faith in all you do." Have you recently given someone support or a pep talk?

A. Last Sunday, I went to my father's baptism to support him.

2) Mariah was at the center of a controversy in Times Square on New Year's Eve when she had audio problems and claimed she could not perform. Times Square is at the busy intersection of Broadway and 7th Avenue. If we went to the busy intersection nearest your home, what would we find? (A store? A church? McDonald's?)

A. Exit 150 off Interstate 81 is currently under construction, so you would see a lot of orange cones and have a hard time finding your way around. You would also see a Hardee's, a Country Cookin', a Cracker Barrel, a few motels, and some other run-down old gas stations that need to be demolished.

3) Her nickname in high school was Mirage because she cut school so often. Did you ever play hookey?

A. Yes, I did. On more than one occasion, actually. Once several of my friends and I skipped out after lunch and went to the city and went to the movies. We saw The Rose, with Bette Midler.

4) Mariah doesn't apologize for spoiling her dogs, who have been known to travel by limo. Do you know anyone who treats his/her pets like people?

A. Yes. Not us - my husband says houses are for people, barns are for animals. Most of my friends have indoor pets, though. Because of my severe allergies and asthma, I don't visit them.

5) Mariah has something to fall back on. She studied cosmetology and worked as a hair sweeper in a salon. When you get your hair cut, do you socialize with the stylist?

A. I have been using the same stylist for 33 years. We don't talk politics, but we talk about everything else - her daughter and son-in-law, her husband, my husband, rental properties (we both are landlords), whether or not I can stand upright the day I see her.

6) When married to her first husband, Mariah went vegetarian. Tell us about last night's dinner. Would it qualify as a vegetarian meal?

A. Nope. I had a chicken salad sandwich.

7) This week's song was introduced by The Jackson 5. Think of your favorite Michael Jackson song. Did he record it solo or with his brothers?

A. I guess that would be Thriller, which he recorded solo. I like most of his songs, though. Thriller was unique for its time.

8) In 1992, when this song was popular, The Mall of America opened. Located in Minnesota, it's the biggest mall in the nation, with more than 400 stores. Think about the last thing you purchased. Were you shopping out of necessity, or for fun?

A. I was at the grocery store, so necessity. I had been informed there was nothing in the house to eat.

9) Have you ever shoplifted? (Don't worry. We won't tell.)

A. No comment.

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