Thursday Thirteen

It appears the United States is on the verge of collapse. Even the Democrats are acknowledging this on the talking head shows. Civil war won't be state against state, it will be more like gangs, as I understand it. These little militias that are popping up all over the south will take control and shoot anyone they please, I suppose.

At any rate, I have questions about what happens if the government fails. I am assuming if it does, we will become an authoritarian state, with a single ruler, like in Russia, China, or North Korea. We could be an oligarchy but we're pretty much already that, so I assume major changes imply authoritarianism. Here are some of my questions.

1. If the United States fails as a government, will its citizens be responsible for its trillions of debt? Other nations will want to be paid what we owe them. Will each citizen be asked to cough up the $56,715 per individual that it would take to pay this off? (That's assuming 300 million people; if many more die from Covid or are killed in the civil war, then the amount per person would be more. Of course, if you're a family with 4 kids, that means you have to pay $340,290 for a family of six.)

2. Would anyone be able to maintain private property, or would the supreme ruler declare that s/he owns everything, and we must pay rent on the things we've already bought and paid for?

3. Would such things like Medicare and Social Security continue? If they don't, how will the people who depend on these public programs receive health care and have enough money to live?

4. Would all of the prisoners who were sentenced under current US laws go free?

5. Who would be in charge of enforcing order? Would we become a police state? (Papers, please.)

6. What would happen to public schools? If we have no public schools, then someone is going to be home to take care of the children, most likely women. Who will fill their jobs? Or will those jobs even exist anymore?

7. Would we be required to take part in a state religion? What if we don't like that religion? What if you're a Baptist and the services are more like Episcopalian, and you don't like that? Would people be lined up and shot because they don't want to go to church?

8. Without regulations over various things, how would we be sure that any work performed, such as building a house, is performed in a safe and good manner, so that the house doesn't fall in during a high wind?

9. Without public-supported fire departments and emergency service providers, will blocks of cities simply burn down during the civil war portion of this? Back in the late 1880s, several blocks of the Town of Fincastle burned down. Will we see entire towns go up in flames?

10. What happens to health care? Do hospitals keep running, or do they shut down? Who pays these people to keep the hospital running? Do people die then of preventable or curable things, like heart attacks? Who takes care of the gunshot wounds from the civil war? Do we go back to having the neighbor next door take an axe to a limb to keep a person alive?

11. Does the US Dollar maintain any value if we lose the government? Or will the dollar be like US Confederate money, totally worthless? Would we all become penniless, with nothing in the bank? Will banks even be operational? How would we keep the lights on? Or pay the cellphone bill? Or buy food? How many people would starve?

12. What happens to media and information? We're already swamped with misinformation campaigns. Would all the media fold? Would we even have TV? If the money is no good, who is going to keep TV running? How will the Internet continue to work? Will anything work, actually? Would we ultimately end up with state-run TV, seeing only what the supreme one deems fit? What if he doesn't like Downton Abbey or Yellowstone or football?

13. How many people could we reasonably expect to die under these circumstances? I estimate at least 10% of the population, and that's probably a conservative figure. That would be 30 million people. Who are you prepared to lose in order to see the government fail?

These are valid questions to ask and think about. I'm under the impression that many people who want to see the government fail - and apparently that's about 30% of the population - haven't given the future much thought. Maybe these people think they will somehow be protected because they support the supreme one, whoever that may be. But, will these people like everything? And what if s/he simply says, "death squad" to anyone who disagrees with him/her about anything? What if he shoots your grandma, or she starves to death because she's lost social security?

Do these people simply not care?

____________________

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 744th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

Moonset

 

Poisoned!

In the 1950s, the United States government set up a poison control center. The toll-free number is for anyone to call if they suspect they've been poisoned.

Calling 1-800-222-1222 sends you to one of 55 poison control centers. One may also access a website (Contact Us (poison.org)) that allows one to input information and see if there is an issue.

Parents, teachers, and emergency service workers are probably keenly aware of this service. Since I have no children and am not a teacher, I was vaguely aware of it. My husband the former firefighter told me last night he once had the number memorized, but he'd forgotten it since he retired.

Anyway, I'd never needed the number.

Until last night.

Somehow, I managed to poison myself.

Around 8 p.m., I showered and put on body lotion. I use clotrimazole cream on an old surgical scar sometimes; it occasionally turns quite red and itches as if someone has thrown itching powder on it. This is something that started recently and why a 30-year-old surgical scar would suddenly act as if the surgeon took the knife to me three weeks ago is beyond me.

At any rate, the cream helps with the itch. It was itching a bit yesterday, so I applied the cream after I'd showered. I always wash my hands after I apply lotion and cream. I also rummaged around in the medicine cabinet behind the bathroom mirror, searching for a new case of dental floss.

Then I went into the living room to read and watch the Olympics.

I stopped biting my nails in 2020; it took a pandemic, but I did it. However, I keep them very short. If they are not short, then I tend to worry with them, running them over my teeth, until I find a pair of clippers and remove the offending nail growth. (One of the great things about wearing a mask outside of the house is that I don't put my fingers in my mouth or near my nose.)

Last night, I was worrying with a long nail on my index finger while I read. I didn't notice anything on my hands or fingers. But I did put my finger in my mouth. I mean, I'd just had a shower.

After a while, I noticed that the interior of my mouth was numb. My tongue felt numb, too. By the time we thought about going to bed, I felt the numbness down into my throat.

The only thing I could think I had done was perhaps gotten body lotion or the clotrimazole cream under my fingernail (or possibly anything in the medicine cabinet) and missed it when I washed my hands. I'd had a couple of glasses of water in the meantime, and also had brushed my teeth again to try to remove the sensation (neither helped).

My husband became concerned after I mentioned this to him, and we looked up the cream since it seemed the likely culprit. We filled in the information on the poison control center website and since I did not have the symptoms listed, it said to call.

So, we called.

A nice woman named Lisa talked to my husband. He told her what we thought I had accidentally put in my mouth. She talked to me, and I told her my symptoms. She said that the interior of the mouth is more sensitive than skin and the sensations should ease up over time. I hadn't consumed enough to be of much concern.

This relieved both of us. I was mostly worried about swallowing since the numbness was going down my throat, but I didn't have any trouble in the night.

This is a good government service. Government is not all bad. I imagine this poison prevention line relieves the minds of many a parent whose kid has swallowed a crayon or something.

Longing for a True Leader

Yesterday, my husband and I celebrated Valetine's Day by exchanging cards in the morning. Later, I had a haircut. I stopped at a Chinese carry-out we like and picked up sweet and sour chicken and egg rolls.

I brought them home, and we had the movie Independence Day on while we ate. So we had lunch and a movie for our Valentine's celebration.

The movie, in case there is someone on the planet who hasn't seen it. is about an alien invasion on July 2. Large, massive ships move in over every major city on the planet. Bill Pullman plays the president of the United States. It is soon apparent that these aliens aren't here to exchange daisies or chocolate chip cookie recipes. They annihilate the major cities with a big blast from their spaceships. The president and his young daughter barely escape, and they flee to Area 51. It seems there is a spaceship and a deceased alien there, under study.

A character played by Jeff Goldblum figures out how to upload a virus into the alien mothership. Will Smith's character, a fighter pilot, joins Jeff's and they fly up and insert the virus, which breaks down the alien ships impenetrable shields. The big alien ships are brought down. Earth is saved.

At one point near the end of the movie, Pullman as president makes a speech to bolster the scared young flyers who are going to attack the alien ships.

After we finished eating and the movie ended, my husband wondered when we had last had a president capable of such leadership.

Maybe JFK, I suggested. I was six months old when he died.

Perhaps Eisenhower, long before my time.

No one who has led the country in my lifetime could have stood up to an alien invasion. We can't even stand up to an invasive virus, a pandemic that has taken as many lives as one of these alien ships took when it blasted away a city. We have not had leadership since 1963, and who knows how Kennedy would have turned out if he hadn't been shot. He may have been a political puppet, too, in the end.

Having a bully for a president does not mean he is a good leader. The former guy showed us how he would deal with an alien invasion - he'd either hide in his bunker, or he would tell us not to worry about it and wouldn't care how many died. He'd call the alien leaders and offer them the world if they'd leave him alive.

Having a president who would walk out onto the White House lawn with his wife and dogs and offer the aliens a teddy bear is not the kind of person to lead the country during an alien invasion, either. He would be first among the dead. The current president tried for about 8 months to lead the country out of the pandemic, but he was not able to. He could not bring the country to heel.

The people resisted. Not for the good of society, but because, well, we're assholes. While resisting an actual alien invasion would be a good thing, resisting a viral invasion instead of nodding to science and stepping forward to take a vaccine and do the right things was beyond us. We are no Greatest Generation here, ready to stand up to moral ineptitude, capable of marching off to save the world. We are a bunch of whiny pansy butts who sit around and cry about our second amendment rights and things like CRT, about which we know nothing, and fume and fret because we aren't getting what we believe to be ours, whatever that is.

If we had a real alien invasion like in this movie, I know of no one in government who could step up to lead, to inspire, to literally talk us into saving the world. Even Obama, as well spoken as he is, could not do it because the white people wouldn't listen to him. The racism runs so deep many people don't even know it's there.

This was our Valentine's Day discussion. We talked about the loss of leadership, the demise of democracy, the changes in humanity that are not for the better. Capitalism may have made some people rich, but it also turned everyone into individualistic automatons, incapable of caring for their fellow man. It destroyed the social network that is, ultimately, vital for the survival of the human race.

We are lesser people than our forefathers. We are soft and stupid. We have all the knowledge of the world at our fingertips, and we look at pictures of cats.

What wimps we have become. What a shame. What a disaster. What a deformation of character we have suffered as we moved through the Industrial Age and into the Technological Age.

If the aliens arrived tomorrow, we'd all deserve to die.

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing

1. Given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would you want as a dinner guest?

A. Alive or dead? Alive - Hillary Clinton. Dead - Dorothy Parker

2. Would you like to be famous? In what way?

A. I have no desire to be "famous" in that I am recognizable. My name for a long time was recognizable to many people when I wrote more. Generally, fame seems to be a royal pain.

3. Before making a telephone call, do you ever rehearse what you are going to say? Why?

A. Sometimes, if I am making a call about something specific that requires finesse or care. I don't want to be crude in a delicate moment.

4. What would constitute a “perfect” day for you?

A. Sleeping until I wake up. Having a quiet breakfast and reading the newspaper while I eat (yes, I still read the print edition), then playing a little guitar. Reading for much of the day, and then writing in my journal. Good food in between.

5. When did you last sing to yourself? To someone else?

A. I am always singing to myself. I guess since my husband is home, I am singing to him all the time, too.

6. If you were able to live to the age of 90 and retain either the mind or body of a 30-year-old for the last 60 years of your life, which would you want?

A. The body. My mind is better with age, hopefully. The body, not so much.

7. Do you have a secret hunch about how you will die?

A. Yes.

8. Name three things you and your partner appear to have in common.

A. We both like to laugh, we are both nerds (Battle Bots, anyone?), and we are both not fans of Nazis.

9. For what in your life do you feel most grateful?

A. My husband.

10. If you could change anything about the way you were raised, what would it be?

A. I would not have been born.

11. Describe your life in one paragraph.

A. Maybe I'll get back to this one.

12. If you could wake up tomorrow having gained any one quality or ability, what would it be?

A. Time travel.

13. If a crystal ball could tell you the truth about yourself, your life, the future or anything else, what would you want to know?

A. I would like to know the future. Not when I'm going to die or anything, but how humanity turns out.

14. Is there something that you’ve dreamed of doing for a long time? Why haven’t you done it?

A. Yes, and because I'm a perfectionistic procrastinator.

15. What is the greatest accomplishment of your life?

A. I don't know. I have a good marriage. I have three college degrees. I've written thousands of articles. I'm a decent person, hopefully kind and caring. Those are all good accomplishments.

__________

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: Valentine

Saturday 9: Valentine (1997)

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

 

1) In this song, Martina McBride asks what would happen if the sun refused to shine. How are the skies today where you are?

A. They are a pale blue with an occasional cloud. It's also very warm for our area for this time of year; nearly 60 degrees. Yet, we are expecting snow on Sunday.

2) She sings of a dream she's had 1,000 times before. Have you ever had a recurring dream?

A. Yes. I have had several. I used to dream of a bathtub full of blood. I also had a reoccurring dream about a garden with crows in it. They were more like night terrors than dreams. Fortunately, I do not dream these dreams anymore.

3) Martina has published two cookbooks and appears on The Food Network. Two favorite recipes are for peanut butter desserts: peanut butter/chocolate cookies and peanut butter/butterscotch squares. Is there peanut butter in your kitchen right now?

A. Yes, two kinds. Natural Peter Pan and regular Peter Pan, both creamy.

4) Before she was famous, Martina sold t-shirts at Garth Brooks' concerts. Her husband worked on Garth's sound crew and she pitched in. Do you have any concert t-shirts?

A. I have a Melissa Etheridge concert t-shirt that I bought from her website during the pandemic. I was supposed to see her in March of 2020. The show was postponed several times and she finally came, but I had asked for a refund by then because I knew I would not go into such a crowd. She is coming to FloydFest in July, and that is outside. I haven't decided if I want to go or not. We have so much Covid around me that all I can see is virus, and it makes it hard to think.

5) Martina headlined a gala at Ford's Theater in Washington, DC. As our nation's capitol, Washington has many buildings of historic significance. If we were to visit your hometown, what landmarks would you direct us to?

A. I'd send you to Fincastle, which is the county seat. Established in 1772, the town is a miniature Williamsburg though it has never lived up to its tourism potential. I'd also send you to Roanoke to see the Mill Mountain Star.

Since this is the Saturday 9 before Valentine's Day, we've got some questions inspired by the holiday.

6) Hearts are the symbol of Valentine's Day, so here's a little heart trivia: whales have largest heart of any animal. When we say a person is "big hearted," it means we think of them as generous. Think about the people in your life. Who would you describe as big hearted?

A. My husband, my brother, most of my friends. Probably not myself. I am quite empathetic but that's not the same as generous. One can only be but so generous with a heart that is not whole.

7) It's estimated that 9 million people buy Valentine's Day presents for their dogs and cats. Have you ever purchased a holiday gift for a pet?

A. When we had a dog, I would pick her up a treat for holidays sometimes.

8) Valentines to teachers are also big sellers. Did you ever have a crush on one of your instructors?

A. Not crushes, really, but I generally adored most of my teachers. They were so smart, observant, and put together. I tended to be the teacher's pet, and that helped, I suppose.

9) With the popularity of e-cards, fewer Valentine messages are sent via the USPS. What's the most recent thing you dropped into a mailbox?

A. A Valentine's card to my great niece along with some bills. I pay most of my bills online but there are still a few for which I write checks.

_______________

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.  

 

Thursday Thirteen

1. Is anyone surprised to learn the former guy flushed documents down the toilet? Not me.

2. A book I read the other day was called As a Man Thinketh, by James Allen. I read it because Richard Marx mentioned it in his autobiography and said the book had a big influence on him. It was basically 90 pages of how many ways a person can say a person is his or her thoughts. If you are strong, you are thinking strong thoughts. If you're weak, you're thinking weak thoughts. There was absolutely not a single example of what a strong thought might be or what a weak thought might be, but there you go. The book was written in 1902. It reminded me of the self-help book, The Secret, which is the only book I have ever thrown in the garbage.

3. These types of books - bootstrap books, I call them - tend to exclude the extraordinary external conditions that people face. It doesn't deal with how an abused child might come up with low or no self-esteem thanks to constantly being told he or she is a piece of shit. It doesn't deal with rape, incest, murder, thievery, or other societal ills. It doesn't deal with the economics of society, the lack of jobs, gender or race issues, or how society itself works systemically to keep certain types of people "in their place," whatever society has allotted that place to be. If everyone could think themselves wealthy, wouldn't they?

4. I've been trying to get my paperwork ready to take to the accountant so she can tell me how much more money I need to pay the government. Like most people, I do not like to pay taxes. Unlike many people, I consider it a privilege that I get to pay taxes. That means we make enough money to need to pay taxes. And somebody has to pay for the upkeep of roads. Just because I honor the commitment doesn't mean I have to like it.

5. I have been crocheting a scarf for several months. Ok, maybe 5 months. It shouldn't take that long, but I am only doing a couple rows a night.

6. I have also been writing a song for about a month now. It isn't finished, so no one has heard it yet.

7. My poetry is allegedly going to be published in Artemis 2022. This will be the fourth year in a row I've had a poem published in this anthology. I need to write more poems as I am running out of them.

8. My next book is a massive tome called the Priory of the Orange Tree. It's about 1,000 pages long. I think this one may take a while to read.

9. I'm considering some life changes, but I don't know where I'm going with them. I need a plan.

10. I don't have a bucket list, either, but some things I wouldn't mind doing include travel. I would like to see Ireland and New Zealand. Too bad they are an entire world apart and not next door to one another. I'd also like to see Scotland. I do not foresee any of these trips taking place. Maybe a good goal would be to read up on them and learn all I can about those three countries. Create my own summer semester, as it were.

11. The ends of the tree branches are suddenly a bit thicker. They are starting to swell with buds. Just a little bit, but spring is on its way. The dreariness of winter is giving way and heading out the door.

12. Milky Way Midnight is my favorite candy bar, and I ate the first one I'd had in over a year yesterday. It tasted good and didn't cause too much problem with my stomach. But I can see that chocolate is something that is going to have to stay out of my diet, for the most part. I will have to make do with an occasional hit.

13. The Winter Olympics have underwhelmed me this year. I used to enjoy watching them and I wish all the athletes well, but the prime time showing seems rather poorly done. We watched the women's half pipe snowboarding thing last night. I have only managed to see figure skating in youtube videos. I don't know how I keep missing what I really want to watch.

_____________________

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 742nd time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

Memphis Dance

This is a guitar instrumental song that I wrote. The strumming is performed on an Epiphone Les Paul Special I electric guitar using an RC-3 loop station, which also supplies the drumbeat.

I am playing the lead on a Yamaha APXTZ, which is an electric travel guitar.

I was really just using this for practice but after recording it, I realized it was rather pretty. 

 

(There's a jump in the recording, I think something happened in the upload, but if you're just listening and not watching it's not noticeable. I have very bad Internet service and it took over two hours to upload this little video, so I am always surprised if they upload without issue.)

Knock Off Poem

I am the wine-man for the county

and I travel open roads.

Looking for a buyer before

the bottles explode.

I see people singing in the vineyards

I hear them cheering football teams

And the wine-man for the county

is still living out the dream.

I know I need a small vacation

But the main roads don't shut down

And when they do, I'm stuck in traffic

Or sleeping in some little town.

And I think about you daily

I still love you all the time.

But I'm only just a salesman

Trying to sell out my wine.

(Knocked off from The Wichita Lineman, a Glenn Campbell song that I am trying to exorcise from my head)

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing

1. The best sandwich

A. An egg sandwich with Miracle Whip

2.  Something you own that you really should throw out.

A. I can think of many things. Old make up. Old spices. Old books. Old tax records.

3.  The scariest animal

A. A snake.

4.  Apples or oranges

A. I'm allergic to citrus. I haven't been able to eat apples well since I had my gallbladder removed, but I'll go with those.

5.  Have you ever tried to get an autograph from someone?

A. Maybe when I was younger. But no one famous.

6.  What happens when you die?

A. You turn into dirt and the worms eat you.

7.  Favorite action movie

A. I'll go with Wonder Woman.

8.  Window or aisle?

A. I presume this is on a plane. I don't really care.

9.  Favorite smell.

A. My husband's chest after he's showered.

10.  Your most popular app on your phone.

A. The Libby app for downloading audio books from the library.

11.  Least favorite smell.

A. Septic system related.

12.  Cats or dogs?

A. Dogs.

13.  If you can only listen to one song over and over for the rest of your life, what would it be?

A. I don't know. Could I have the soundtrack from Forrest Gump?

14.  What number am I thinking of? (I will answer honestly.)

A. 8,932,111,222,333,444

15.  The rest of your life in 5 words.

A. Older than dirt, still rocking.

__________

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: Lady of Spain

Saturday 9: Lady of Spain (1952)

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

1) The lyrics refer to serenading "caballeros," which is Spanish for "gentlemen." Can you say anything to us in Spanish this morning?

A. El burro sabe mas que tu. Yo tu amo, mi amigas. El sol brilla en la playa. Mi espouso es guapo.

 

2) Eddie Fisher sings that he's loved this lady since he first saw her. Do you believe in love at first sight?

A. Sort of. I think sometimes you meet people, and you just know they're going to be in your life. I've had it happen several times.

  

3) He was drafted and served a year in Korea. Then he spent the rest of his active-duty period as vocalist for the Army Band, performing on military bases. (He was still technically PFC Edwin Fisher when he recorded this.) Did you ever play with a band? If so, what instrument?

A. I played flute, piccolo, and guitar in the high school band, and then I played guitar in a top 40 band in the 1970s and early 1980s. (I can also play the piano, the harmonica, the saxophone, and a few other instruments.)

4) From 1953 to 1957, Eddie hosted Coke Time, a TV variety show sponsored by Coca Cola. What's your soft drink of choice?

A. Water. I only drink water these days.

5) Though Coke Time is mostly forgotten today, Eddie was nominated for two Emmy Awards and won a Golden Globe for his work on the show. Have you ever taken home a trophy?

A. My Top 40 band won a trophy in a local band competition one year. I can't remember where we placed, though.

6) Today Eddie Fisher may be best known as the father of Carrie Fisher. She made more than 50 movies and wrote 8 books. Are you more familiar with her as an actress or author?

A. I am more familiar with her as an actress, though some of her books are on my books wish list.

7) In 1952, when this song was popular, hamburger meat sold for just 53¢/lb. Is there any beef in your refrigerator right now?

A. Actually, there is. My husband came home from the grocery store with some this morning. It was $3.59 a pound. Yikes.

8) Also in 1952, Mr. Potato Head became the first toy to be advertised on TV. What recent TV commercial comes to mind?

A. Um. Something for Toyota with 2.59% interest, I think.

9) Random question: If you could live within any TV show ever, which would you choose?

A. Star Trek: Voyager. I'd be lost in the Delta Quadrant following the orders of Captain Kathryn Janeway. Or maybe I'd be better off in the fantasy world of Xena: Warrior Princess. Or fighting vampires with Buffy, the Vampire Slayer. Or standing in the chocolate line with Lucy from I Love Lucy. Or walking the streets with Christine Cagney in Cagney & Lacey. Hard choices.

_______________

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.  

 

Did I Break It?

Wednesday night I smashed my foot against the bed. After several moments of horrific pain and gasping, I was finally able to blurt out to my husband, who was yelling from the other side of the room, "What is wrong? What is wrong?" that I had smashed my toe.

It immediately turned blue. I iced it. I iced it the next day, too.

Today, it's fairly painful. I am starting to think I may have broken it.

Geez, I had no idea my skin was so wrinkled. Got old all over, didn't I? Yikes.

Incidentally, I hate feet. I can't believe I'm posting this picture.

Thursday Thirteen

Songs from my favorites on Alexa:

1. Wichita Lineman, by Glenn Campbell

2. Best of My Love, by The Eagles

3. Black Velvet, by Alannah Myles

4. Miss You, by The Rolling Stones

5. Uptown Funk, by Mark Ronson with Bruno Mars

6. Southern Cross, by Crosby, Stills

7. Landslide, by Fleetwood Mac

8. Sultans of Swing, by Dire Straits

9. Classical Gas, by Mason Williams

10. Sailing, by Christopher Cross

11. Renegade, by Styx

12. Sail On, by Lionel Richie/Commodores

13. More Than a Feeling, by Boston

_____________________

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 742nd time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

My Morbid Mind

Thinking about dying is not something I sit around do. It does, however, cross my mind more frequently than I would like. This has been particularly true as I've seen the obituaries of people my age, and especially when my close friend of 20 years passed away in early December. That one still hurts.

I don't think about it so much in terms of when I may die - that could happen anytime - or even how (though I really don't want to die from Covid). It's more along the line of what will be lost when I leave.

No one will care that my grandfather gave me the Yamaha guitar. Or that my father gave me the old electric one I have in the closet. Nor will they know the thrill I experienced when I bought my first guitar, my very own choice, not one given to me or handed down. They will only be guitars.

Nor will my books mean anything to anyone, except perhaps by then books will be illegal while guns are the collectible item of the day. The books maybe will be burned, Fahrenheit 451 style, and no one will know that I think Phyllis Whitney wrote one of the best writing guides ever and it was totally underrated and dismissed by the "establishment" writers, or that I consulted the Chicago Manual of Style (15th edition and out of date somewhat now) hundreds of times.

The story of how we came by the bedroom furniture, which is a lovely, sweet memory for me, will vanish. Will anyone even know it's by Virginia House (which no longer exists), and one of the last sets of handmade furniture from the company before another larger furniture conglomerate gobbled it up and turned its products to a parody of the great items it used to produce? Will there be anyone to remember that we bought it at Da Longs, a furniture store in Roanoke that is now long gone?

No one will know that the scrap on the molding in the corner of hall came from the day we brought in a large piece of furniture. They won't know that my husband and I held hands every night while we watched TV, or that we built this house ourselves, for real, each of us nailing in boards, staining woodwork, working jobs and then spending long hours in the summer evenings to build ourselves a home. A small house by any standard, but big enough for us. And it's a home, not a house.

After we are gone, it will be just a house. Someone else will have to make it a home.

My material goods will be simply what they are, things that someone else may use, or rubbish that will end up in the trash.

My friend who passed away spent much time trying to rid her home of her stuff before she passed away. She had keepsakes from her family - a brother who died young. What to do with them? she asked me. Her son, she knew, had no connection to her sibling as he died long before her son was born. I wonder what happened to some of the things I gave her, things that meant something to the two of us, but would mean nothing to anyone else. I don't know.

I have similar items. Nothing much of value, junk jewelry that belonged to my mother and my great aunt, things my friends have given me that I treasure because I love that friend. A wise old owl sits atop my bookcase - my friend Leslie gave me that. In the end, it will be just another dust collector. A board with a collection of sayings also sits up there - my friend who passed away gave me that when I received my master's degree. She also gave me two of the clocks I have in my office.

No one will know I love clocks.

These are the things I think about sometimes in the quiet, when I walk through my house. I notice a nick in the wall, a scrape on the door. I know (mostly) how it got there, what happened to make it so. When I am gone - when we are gone, my husband and I - they will only be nicks and scratches, things to be repaired.

We are not our stuff, and we can't take it with us, but sometimes we are bound and connected to our stuff. The letting go can be cathartic, but it can also be sad.

This also reminds me that I am connected and somewhat in love with democracy, with the ideals of a world of equality, with the knowledge that the world is mean and cruel because it wants to be, not because it had to be. Those ideals mean as much to me - more to me - than the stuff I have around me. But just like my material things, these ideals simply sit and become nothing without someone to make them function. Where are those people?

The sun is shining and the icy snow from several weeks ago hopefully will disappear soon. In its place, we will have mud, but also growth. The daffodils will begin making their way from the bulbs to the top of the earth, their little leaves sticking out, specks of green among the brown grass. The forsythia will bloom.

Life will go on, regardless of the state of the nation, the state of my home, or the morass of my soul.

Signs of Spring?

My grandmother always said when the robins appear, spring is not far behind. Now I wonder what the groundhog will say on the morrow?

When I stepped outside to take these shots, the trees were wild with bird chatter. They were chirping like there may be no tomorrow. I stood and soaked it in, listening to the sounds of nature doing her thing. The birds were heralding a new day, a new season.

Today is also known as imbolc in the pagan tradition. It is celebrated on February 1 through sundown of February 2.

The day is symbolic of the halfway point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. It comes to us from the Celtic traditions in Ireland and Scotland.

The day dates back to pre-Christian era in the British Isles (which means, of course, it wasn't always called February 1, it was whatever calendar they used then). 

Imbolc celebrations took the form of a festival in honor of the pagan goddess Brigid, who was evoked in fertility rites and oversaw poetry, crafts and prophecy. Brigid was worshipped by the Filid, a class of poets and historians among the Celts of ancient Ireland and Britain.

As with most pagan rites, this celebration was absorbed by the Catholic Church. St. Bridget took the place of the pagan goddess.

For more information about imbolc, check out the information on history.com here.

Help Wanted

A very long time ago, back in the dark ages of the 1980s and 1990s, I knew how to find a job.

I opened the newspaper and I read the "help wanted" advertisements. There would be three or four pages of job listings. I'd circle the ones I was interested in. They were usually "blind box" advertisements, which meant I was sending in a resume without knowing what the company was. The newspaper rerouted the resumes through some service.

When it was time for me to change jobs, I'd perform this ritual, dropping the resumes in the mail. In about a week, the phone would start ringing. I'd go on a few interviews, and then I'd have a job.

Now the newspaper has very few advertisements for jobs (although I've noticed more lately). And I don't know how to find a job. I'm not really looking for one, especially not with Covid running rampant, but even if I was, I wouldn't know how to find one.

As best I can tell, today one goes to the place where one would like to work and fills out a job application. So, if I wanted to work for say, Bank of America, then I'd go their site and fill out the application and hope for the best. I'm guessing at this, since I've not done it.

The other way to find a job is to look at places like Indeed.com or jobs.roanoke.com.

I've thought about some kind of online work. I have DSL for my internet connection. This works for most things. Uploads are bad, though. It takes me over two hours to upload a three-minute music video to my youtube channel. I also don't know how to find online work that is legitimate. I've read so many stories about scammers using work ploys that I simply dread trying to figure out what is real and what isn't.

Freelancing remains an option, but the local markets don't pay that well, and to be perfectly honest, after doing it for so long, I'm tired of it. I don't want to have to listen to multiple editors or try to write words in a fake voice that suits some suit, something that isn't my own. I don't want to write about topics in which I have little interest. I also don't want to write 300 words for $5. My time is worth more than that.

So, while I don't know what I want to do, I would like to know how to find it when the time comes to go do something.

I miss the help wanted advertisements. That seemed much easier than the flux of today.

Sunday Stealing: Blabbermouth

Sunday Stealing

1. January usually has ample amounts of snowfall in parts of the world. Did you ever make snow cream as a kid?

A. I think we did a few times, but not often. My mother would never let us eat the snow from the first snowfall; she said it was full of pollution. So, we had to have a very deep snow and catch it at just the right moment.

2. January is one of the months with 31 days. What are you going to do with that extra day?

A. I don't consider it an extra day. Just another day. I'll probably try to finish up my tax records so I can hand things in the accountant, if I ever get the things I need from the bank.

3. In medieval times superstition dictated that the 1st day of January was significant for prosperity, or lack of it, in a person's life. Farmers put a flat cake on the horns of a cow and they danced and sang songs around the cow until the cake was thrown to the ground. If it fell in front of the cow that meant good luck; it if fell behind the cow that meant bad luck for the rest of the year. Do you have strange New Year customs in your household?

A. No. We simply go to bed like any other night, and we don't do anything different than we do on other days, except maybe take down the Christmas tree if we hadn't done that already.

4. On January 14, 1986, motorists were required for the first time to wear seat belts. Do you always buckle up? Why or why not?

A. I buckle up and I don't move the car until my passengers buckle up. This is because of safety concerns. People flung from vehicles don't often survive. Of the 22,215 passenger vehicle occupants killed in 2019, 47% were not wearing seat belts. Seat belts saved an estimated 14,955 lives and could have saved an additional 2,549 people if they had been wearing seat belts, in 2017 alone. So, I wear my seat belt.

5. Have you ever blabbermouthed something to a significant other that in hindsight you really should have kept to yourself?

A. Probably, although I can't think of anything specific at the moment. I can think of something I said to my brother that I shouldn't have said, but not to my significant other.

6. Have you ever written anything on your blog that you wish you could take back?

A. Since there are posts I sometimes go back and edit, yes. In fact, I edited one of my answers to Saturday 9 before it went live.

7. Are you the blabber or the blabbee? Tell us your most embarrassing blabbermouth moment.

A. I can't really think of one. I think my most embarrassing moment occurred at a funeral home, when I introduced my mother-in-law to XYZ and then XYZ said, "I am ABC!" and sashayed off. Oops.

8. Who is the biggest blabbermouth tattletale in your household?

A. It's just my husband and me. I shall assume it's 50-50.

9. You are the Blog Paparazzi! Which blogger's real photograph are you most interested in getting?

A. No one's, really. If someone is hiding their identity in a blog, it's not for me to try to figure out who they are in real life. I actually admire anyone who can do that.

10. If you could hire the loudest and most skilled blabbermouth in the universe to do your talking for you and advertise it well, what message would you like to spread to humanity?

A. That we are all brothers and sisters and should treat one another with respect, kindness, and dignity.

11. Are you always on time or just a tad late?

A. I am usually a little early.

12. Is there someone in your life that irritates you regularly about not being on time?

A. No.

13. Can you think of a time when you were late for something, and it was REALLY a big deal?

A. When I was a teenager and playing in a rock band, I overslept and missed band rehearsal. The others were angry with me, and it wasn't long after that that the band began to fall apart. I always thought it might have been my fault.

14. If you were on your way to work and had five minutes to get there, would you stop in the road to rescue a crossing turtle?

A. I have stopped in the road to rescue turtles, but I haven't seen any in the roads in ages. But yes, I would stop.

15. Have you ever had to actually punch a time clock?

A. I did a long time ago, in the job I had from the fall of 1981 to winter of 1983. At least I think I did. I could be misremembering. I've tried hard to forget that job.

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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: All of Me

Saturday 9: All of Me (1932)

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

1) In this song, Louis Armstrong calls his girl "baby." What's the last endearment someone used when speaking to you?

A. My husband calls me "sweetie pie" a lot. Or "baby." Sometimes I think he doesn't know my name.

 

2) He sings that losing his love made him cry. Do you cry easily?

A. Not really, no.

 

3) Louis was born in New Orleans, a city famous for music and cuisine. What's something you love about your hometown?

A. My county has a deep history, of which my family played a role . . . all the way back to the American Revolution. We're surrounded by the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains, and I love their rolling majesty.

 

4) At age 11, Louis unwisely fired a pistol during a New Year's Eve celebration and was sentenced to 18 months in a juvenile detention facility. It was there that he met music teacher Peter Davis, who believed in Louis and taught him to play cornet and bugle. Tell us about someone who believed in you and made your life better.

A. The editor of The Fincastle Herald believed I could be a good writer one day and hired me to be a stringer way back in 1984. If he hadn't done that, I'd probably have stayed in the legal profession, though I hated that work.

 

5) Louis would say that arrest changed his life for the better because it was at the detention center that "me and music got married." After his release, he began playing on street corners, or in honkytonks . . . any place he could hone his skills. What is something you have worked hard to be better at?

A. Crocheting, for one thing. Playing the guitar, for another. And writing.

6) In the late 1920s, Louis led a jazz band called The Hot Five. His wife, Lil, believed he was too talented not to receive star billing. He just didn't feel ready. She went behind his back and convinced the management at Chicago's Dreamland Cafe to advertise: "The Hot Five, featuring Louis Armstrong: The World's Greatest Trumpet Player." It worked! At the end of the gig, Okeh Records signed him to a recording contract. Can you think of a time when, like Lil, you were glad you asked for forgiveness rather than permission?

A. I took guitar lessons when I was a teenager without telling my parents.

7) In 1932, the year this record was popular, the son of aviator Charles Lindbergh was kidnapped and killed. This famous case inspired Agatha Christie to write Murder on the Orient Express. Have you read the book? Seen the movie, the remake or the miniseries?

A. I have not read the book or seen any kind of movie or television show about it. I've heard of it, of course.

8) Another aviator was in the news in 1932. Amelia Earhart flew 14 hours from Newfoundland to Londonderry. What is the longest flight you've ever taken?

A. I flew to Spain when I was a teenager.

9) Random question: You have the opportunity to travel safely in a time machine. Would you go back to the past, into the future, or say, "no thanks, I'll stay in 2022?"

A. I would go into the future. I want to see how we turn out. Of course, it would be my luck I'd land in the spot where they're dropping the final bomb of the world. But maybe all would be well, and I'd only be eaten by a zombie.

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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.