Saturday 9

Saturday 9: Calendar Girl (1960)
    

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

 

1) How will you keep track of your days/weeks in 2025? Do you have a desk planner? A wall calendar? A pocket planner? Do you use the app on your phone? I have an ASPCA wall calendar in the kitchen and pocket planner that's tucked in my address book (yes, I still have an old school address book).

Troy is the ASPCA's calendar boy

2) Consider your typical week. Which day tends to be your busiest? Either Monday or Tuesday. Monday, if I'm working, because I also have movie group that night. Tuesday is yoga and whatever doctor/dentist appointments I have planned. It's funny what passes for busy now that I've quit advertising. Since covid lockdown and retirement, I've become very, very comfortable with my days being wide open.

 

3) This week's artist, Neil Sedaka, is one of pop music's most prolific singer-songwriters, but his first love was classical music. He was so good that he trained at Julliard and won the accolade, "Best New York High School Pianist." Recall one of your passions from your high school years. I wrote a lot of fiction when I was a teenager. I brought my spiral notebook with me whenever I went babysitting and once the kids fell asleep, I became Louisa Mae Alcott.

4) Elton John has always enjoyed Sedaka's music and in the 1970s, when Elton was one of the world's top stars, he requested a meeting. If you had the power to contact and then meet anyone in the world, who would you choose? It changes. A month ago I would have said Doris Kearns Goodwin because she's a respected historian and we live in unprecedented times. Today I'd say Marcia Clark because I have questions about her book regarding the Barbara Graham case ... and of course I'd still like to ask her about OJ. Or maybe Justin Trudeau because he's yummy, newly single and soon to be out of the public eye for a while. I think I could learn to love Ottawa. (Yes, I am shallow.)

 
5) Sedaka appeared as the musical guest during the second season of Saturday Night Live. What's the most recent show you watched on TV? Was it live, from your dvr, or did you stream it? It was the news, so it was live.

6) His daughter Dara sings on TV and radio commercials. What advertising jingle sticks in your head? Anyone who has ever lived in Chicago knows the phone number for Empire.

 

7) In 1960, when "Calendar Girl" was popular, To Kill a Mockingbird was first published. Have you read it? Yes. It was assigned to us in high school and I loved it then -- much more than the book that followed it, Moby Dick, which I will not apologize for loathing -- and have revisited it as an adult. I think it's fascinating that the character of Dill was based on Truman Capote. Was there something in the water in little Monroeville, AL that created two of America's best writers?

8) Also in 1960, John F. Kennedy, Jr. was baptized in the Georgetown University Chapel. His godparents were Charles and Martha Bartlett, the couple who introduced his famous parents. Do you have any godchildren? Nope.

9) Random question -- Which did you enjoy more: the last week of 2024 or the first week of 2025? Christmas was a little hectic, but I had a tenacious cold and then a pinched nerve during the first week in January, so I'll go with the last week of 2024.

Introducing Katie

Photo by Siora Photography on Unsplash

I have a new boss at the card shop. Her name is Katie. I like her.

Right now she is juggling our store and the one in a la-de-dah suburb to the west. That store lost its lease -- the owner believes he can make more money with a restaurant in that location -- and so she's moving over to manage our store. She'll be with us exclusively as of February 1.

She's performed admirably, even with her hands very full. She is more adept at dealing with corporate than our previous manager, my beloved Ceecee, had been. Katie has already gotten us new equipment. I guess she's a more effective squeaky wheel.

Katie has told me she appreciates my way with customers and has been giving me as many hours as she can. I've actually been working more than I'd like, and my schedule changes from week to week, making it hard to make plans.

But I understand why Katie is doing this. She's been frank about her expectation that between Easter and Halloween, she'll only be able to give me 4 hours/week. To be honest, I like that lighter workload. But I'm not very confident right now about money.

I don't like Trump's tariffs nor the impact his election has had on the markets. The money in my retirement fund has to last me for the rest of my life, and that makes me nervous. I simply cannot afford to sniff at the opportunity to make a little more money right now.

I have a meeting set up with an advisor from Fidelity to develop a path forward. I'll be sitting down with an accountant in mid-February to discuss taxes. Maybe after those two consultations I'll feel a bit more sanguine. But for now, I'm grateful that Katie is eking out extra shifts for me.

Catching up on Christmas

I wanted to sketch out my memories of the 2024 holiday season before they fade. 

I saw Santa! For the third year in a row, my friend Elaine and I went to see It's a Wonderful Life on the big screen at The Music Box Theater. Before the movie, Santa himself came out and joined the organist, leading us in a singalong. 

As the kids say, IYKYK

As always, we dressed appropriately for the occasion. I wore my ugly Cubs Christmas sweater, always festive and especially fitting because The Music Box is in Wrigleyville. Elaine outdid herself. She got down to business at her sewing machine and recreated George's football jersey, right down to the stripes and a 3 on her chest. Naturally we both wore reindeer ears.

Afterward we exchanged gifts over hot chocolate. It's funny, but she and I just can't the gift thing right. Last year, she spent way more than I did. So this year I spent a little more and she spent less! Oh well, money is not the point of gift giving.

Thinking of gifts ... Mindy got it together this year. She and her husband got me this blanket and a book (We All Shine On). This is noteworthy because she just could never commit to a holiday date in 2023, and therefore last year was the first time in decades that Mindy and John and I didn't celebrate together. Naturally she couldn't have known that would be John's last Christmas, but she felt it keenly. We met at a bar and had a lovely, albeit bittersweet, time. 

It looks a little like me, too!

I spent a lot of time at O'Hare. There was a technical glitch first thing on Christmas Eve morning and while American Airlines corrected it quickly, flights were off schedule all day. So I was at the airport for four hours awaiting a flight that took 55 minutes. Was I happy about this? Of course not. But there was nothing to be done so I made the best of it. The airport had some lovely decorations.

The American Airlines terminal

I actually saw someone use The Pot Box! My friend Kathleen and I fascinated by the green "amnesty" mailbox just on the other side of the TSA checkpoint where travelers can dump their pot to avoid penalty for transporting weed across state lines. Neither of us has ever seen anyone take advantage of this ... until Christmas Eve. I saw a guy in a knit cap deposit a baggie. I wanted to ask him if he'd just forgotten it in his bag or if he was unaware it was illegal to fly with weed, but he looked so guilty and embarrassed I didn't have the heart.

I caught a bad cold. Merry Christmas, right? Oh well, my hotel was right there by the airport and was very comfy. I got to my room, took a hot shower, and wrapped my gifts with Elf on in the background. Fortunately I was able to sleep in on Christmas Day. The extra sleep and another shower left me feeling a little better. (It was just a cold, after all.)

My niece came out to the car. I took a rideshare to her home and she was so happy to see me she met me. That little gesture touched my heart. We had a lovely ham dinner with lots of starchy sides. She's a very good cook and a very proud homeowner. She showed me the room that has been designated as the nursery for the baby they're waiting to adopt. (My nephew was sleeping in there on an air mattress.) My sister was a little arch and brittle, but I guess that's just the way we're going to be with each other.

She has a pair of swans! They aren't hers, exactly. They live in the creek behind her home and I could watch them from her backdoor. I had no idea that mute swans don't migrate and stay in the cold midwest throughout the winter.

So there you have it, my first Christmas with neither Henry or John. I miss them and it was painful at times. I couldn't help recalling those Key West Christmas lunches with fresh seafood and long walks with Henry on the beach. But I was lucky to have known them at all, and luckier that I still have people to love in my life, because love is what Christmas is about.

Thursday Thirteen #393

The way we were. Maybe it's a sign of my advancing age, but 1925 doesn't sound that long ago to me. It surprises me to realize it's been 100 years.

So I've tooled around the internet to find what the average American household was like in 1925.

1. We read the newspaper. The daily paper was the chief source of information and entertainment. Papers were highly competitive and often published morning and afternoon editions. Chicago was known for the American, Daily News, Evening Post, Journal, and Tribune. There were also about a dozen foreign language papers published regularly for the immigrant community.

2. We listened to the radio ... when we could. Only half of American homes had electricity in 1925, so fewer than that had radios. Neighbors used to congregate at the homes of friends who had radios to listen to popular shows and sporting events.

3. Magazines were glossy and influential. Women turned to Vogue, Cosmopolitan and Good Housekeeping for fashions and domestic trends.

4. We wore tap pants. They were the best-selling lingerie item of the year. They were tight around your waist but loose around the hips and thighs and were often trimmed in lace at the hem to pretty them up a bit. They were considered more comfortable than slips and practical under any length skirt; important because hemlines were going up in the 20s.

5. We went to the movies every week. Many went more than once a week, what with Family Nights and Ladies Nights at the theater. It's not only that movies were affordable, exciting and entertaining. Movies were popular because theaters were the only place where air conditioning was commonplace.

6. Ice was delivered weekly. During the 1920s ice boxes were still the norm in American kitchens.

7. You cooked with coal or wood. Gas and electric stoves were available but far from common in 1925.

8. There was a cake safe on your counter. It was made of metal or glass, had a tight fitting lid, and protected your baked goods from dust and bugs.

9. But there was no storage under your sink. Sinks were mounted to the wall and usually stood on two or four legs. The area under the sink was left open to help prevent mildew.

10. Home phones were on the rise. While they certainly weren't standard issue yet, more homes had access to phones because major companies like Western Electric and Bell Telephone were investing in infrastructure.

11. Phone booths were everywhere. It was commonplace to find a booth in your local restaurant, drugstore and department store. While many homes didn't have phones in 1925, most businesses did, and you could go to a nearby phone booth to contact your doctor, grocery store or dairy. Which leads me to ...

12. Horse-drawn carts were still commonplace. Like ice (#6), milk and butter deliveries to your door were a regular occurrence, and it would be another decade before the milk and ice man began to use motor vehicles.

13. We talked a lot about cars. Soldiers returning from WWI aspired to buy cars, and car manufacturers became major employers. Still, not every home had a car yet. Roads had not caught up to the public's desire, and many prospective drivers were skeptical about a car with thin, wooden wheels navigating over mud and gravel. (However, by 1930 this would change radically.

Please join us for THURSDAY THIRTEEN. Click here to play along, and to see other interesting compilations of 13 things.

WWW.WEDNESDAY

 

 

WWW. WEDNESDAY asks three questions to prompt you to speak bookishly. To participate, and to see how other book lovers responded, click here. 

PS I no longer participate in WWW.WEDNESDAY via that link because her blog won't accept Blogger comments. I mention this only to save you the frustration I experienced trying to link up.

1. What are you currently reading? Trial by Ambush by Marcia Clark. This is the story of Barbara Graham, one of the first women to die in California's gas chamber. It intrigued me that Marcia Clark -- yes, the Marcia Clark of OJ Simpson fame -- chose this case to write about. I wanted to hear what a prosecutor thought of it.

Barbara Graham's case was known to me because of I Want to Live!, the Oscar-winning 1958 movie. The film depicts Barbara as an innocent but non-conformist party girl who was convicted and executed by the patriarchy. The truth is turning out to be more complicated but just as sad, unfair and ugly. While I am no longer convinced of her innocence -- I suspect she was there when the robbery was committed -- I still don't believe she committed the murder. I feel bad for the jurors, who might have chosen a different fate for her if they knew the facts.

 

My first book of 2025 introduces me to Marcia Clark, the author. This book is well constructed and written in an interesting voice. I will look for her fiction at my library.

 
2. What did you recently finish reading? A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens was my last book of the year. What a delight!

3. What will you read next? I don't know.

 

Saturday 9

Saturday 9: Something New (2017)

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

Welcome to the first Saturday 9 of 2025.

 

 
1) We're beginning the year with a song about new beginnings. What is something new you'd like to try in 2025? I'm not approaching it that way. Instead, I've given myself a goal this year. I'm going to winnow through my books and donate many of them.

2) The lyrics recall what was said "in the mist of the midnight hour." Where were you when the new year dawned? I was asleep. Don't judge me. I had a cold.

 

3) The Axwell of Axwell and Ingrosso is Axel Hedfors. He began as a drummer and moved on to experimenting musically on the computer, eventually mastering music sequencer software. Do you consider yourself more a technophile like Axwell, who loves technology and digital devices, or more a technophobe, anxious about learning new programs? Total phobe.

4) His musical partner is Sebastian Ingrosso. Sebastian became interested in dance music when he accompanied his father, a choreographer, to the studio. When you were young, did you ever go to work with either of your parents? Not in a "take your daughter to work" kinda way. But we stopped by my dad's work as a family on occasion.

5) Axwell & Ingrosso gave their premiere performance at the 2014 Governors Ball Music Festival in New York City and their last concert at the 2017 Ultra Music Fest in Miami. Looking back on 2024, did you attend any outdoor music or theater performances? Nope.

6) In 2017, when "Something New" was released, we lost the TV star who could "turn the world on with her smile." Without looking it up, do you know who that is? She could take a nothing day and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile.

7) Also in 2017, Today Show anchor Hoda Kotb announced she had adopted her first child. Do you know anyone who is adding to their family in 2025? Maybe. My niece and her hubs have been approved for adoption and are now waiting for their baby.

8) Have you made any New Year's resolutions for 2025? No.

 
9) What was the first thing to make you laugh in 2025? Probably my girlcat. She's very sweet but silly.

 

Thursday Thirteen #392

 

Everything old is new again. According to Parents, names that were popular 100 years ago are making a resurgence. Here are 13 names from the 1920s that are expected to trend in the 2020s.

1. Dorothy

2. Mary

3. Helen

4. Margaret

5. Ruth

6. Mildred

7. Charles

8. George

9. Edward

10. Cecil

11. Harold

12. Raymond

13. Arthur

Are there any babies expected to enter your life in 2025? Any idea what they'll be named?

Please join us for THURSDAY THIRTEEN. Click here to play along, and to see other interesting compilations of 13 things.

WWW.WEDNESDAY

 

WWW. WEDNESDAY asks three questions to prompt you to speak bookishly. To participate, and to see how other book lovers responded, click here. 

PS I no longer participate in WWW.WEDNESDAY via that link because her blog won't accept Blogger comments. I mention this only to save you the frustration I experienced trying to link up.

1. What are you currently reading? A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Do I really need to provide a synopsis for this one? Surprisingly short, it's a masterpiece and I'm glad I'm finally reading it. Now, to go from the sublime to the ridiculous ...

 
2. What did you recently finish reading? Wreck the Halls by Tessa Bailey. A  superstar band, Steel Birds, broke up suddenly and bitterly and left their legion of fans reeling. The duo's music is embraced by each subsequent generation and the Steel Birds legend continues to grow. The members -- Trina and Octavia -- steadfastly refuse to perform together ever again.

 

Trina and Octavia were both pregnant when they broke up and weren't speaking when Trina's daughter, Melody, and Octavia's son, Beat, were born. Still, the kids grew up together in a way, linked together by the paparazzi and on gossip sites. Beat was the charmed one, the one the camera loved, and he grew up to be one of People's Sexiest Men Alive. Melody's awkward teen years were chronicled cruelly, leaving her feeling awkward and never quite enough

 

Thirty years after the band's break-up, a producer tries to reunite Steel Birds at Rockefeller Center on Christmas Eve and offers Beat and Melody $1 million to bring their mothers together. Of course Melody and Beat are going to have a Christmas romance.

 

This book was silly. I'm not sorry I read it, because it got me thinking of second-generation celebrity and the onus it puts on people who never requested it. But it is not sexy, romantic, or Christmas-y. I do not recommend it. 

3. What will you read next? Trial by Ambush by Marcia Clark.

 

Saturday 9

 Saturday 9: Goodbye (1969)

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

This song was chosen because it's time to say goodbye to 2024.

Thanks for participating in Saturday 9 this year.

1) In this song, Mary Hopkin asks her lover not to let her sleep too late. Did you wake up this morning on your own, did someone wake you, or were you jangled awake by an alarm clock? I'm battling a bad cold and am letting myself sleep as much as my body wants to as I recover.

2) The lyrics reference "a lonely song." Can you name a song about loneliness? "Eleanor Rigby" by the Beatles. Paul asks, "All the lonely people, where do they all come from? All the lonely people, where do they all belong?"

3) "Goodbye" was written for Mary by Paul McCartney. He was the one who signed her to her first record contract and produced this and all her Apple Records, including her first big hit, "Those Were the Days." Looking back on 2024, who is someone who gave you a helping hand when you needed it? My former boss at the card shop, Ceecee, made me feel like she wanted me to succeed. Her support gave me confidence. She's a very good supervisor.

4) This video shows Mary performing on The Ed Sullivan Show while wearing a miniskirt. Minis were very popular in 1969. Did you embrace a fashion trend in 2024? If we expand this to makeup, yes. I began wearing light blue and violet eye shadow again, something I hadn't done since the 70s. But I like it.

5) Also in 1969, the Colts lost to the New York Jets in Super Bowl III. The game is famous because of all the hype leading up to it, including Joe Namath "guaranteeing" the underdog Jets would win. Do you have a special sports memory of 2024? In September, my favorite-most ball player returned to Wrigley Field for the first time since he was traded. It wasn't just the 41,000 fans in the park who celebrated him. There were signs all around town welcoming him home. I hope Anthony Rizzo realizes how much he is loved here.

6) What's the farthest from home you traveled in 2024? ORD to LAX is about 2,000 miles.

7) What was the biggest purchase that you made in 2024? I spent about (gulp) $4,000 on dental work this year.

8) What was your favorite book of 2024? Camera Girl is a biography of Jacqueline Bouvier, before she became Mrs. Kennedy or Mrs. Onassis. It concentrates on her life after high school and before marriage. It's about the choices women had (or didn't have) in the 1940s and 1950s and made me wish I knew more about my own mother's life after high school, before she left my grandparents' home for her husband's.

Read about it here

9) What are you looking forward to most in 2025? I'm going to Hollywood!

 

In memory of Henry

Today should be my dear friend Henry's birthday. He loved Frida Kahlo and often tried to convince me to appreciate her, as well. He was never successful, but I miss our conversations.

I wish I could give this to him. As a little boy, he never got a birthday party. He wasn't bitter about this, saying, "With all her children, with my day so close to Christmas, Mother did not have time." I knew better than to criticize his mother, whom he loved more than anything, but internally I always cried "bullshit." He had two brothers, not 12. His mother had time. So I pledged to him I would always fuss over his birthday.

You can order it here.

Before his accident, he would thank me and we would hang it on his tree together. After his TBI, he would criticize it -- "Is this supposed to be Frida? Why can no one get her eyebrows right?" -- but he would still thank me.

Happy birthday, Henry. I miss you.

Saturday 9

SATURDAY 9: HAPPY HOLIDAYS

 From the archives

1. As you can see, when Sam Winters was a little girl, she loved giving her annual wish list to Santa. If you could ask Santa for anything at all, right now, what would it be? A contract for Anthony Rizzo.

2. Are you currently on the Naughty or Nice list? How did you get there? I am on the Nice List because every day I try to be kind and do good. Or, in Gone with the Wind parlance, be more Melly than Scarlett.

3. Are you traveling this Christmas? If so, are you going by car, plane or train? I am flying to Grand Rapids to see my niece's new home.

4. Did you ship any gifts to friends and family this year? If yes, which one traveled the farthest? My cousin Rose lives near Tampa, loves her coffee, and enjoyed her trip to Italy so I sent her a mug decorated by a map of Italy. This make-up bag went farther, winging its way to my oldest friend in So Cal. I slipped a $25 Target gift card inside. I chose Target because even though she has mobility issues and lives in a rather rural are, Target delivers anywhere and has stuff everyone needs. (Her medical issues and living situation make her difficult to buy for.)

 
5. Did you buy yourself a gift this year? Yes! I got a Black & Decker cordless stick vac. It's a little noisier than I'd like -- I worry about my downstairs neighbor -- but the suction is good and it's so convenient.

6. Which do you prefer: candy canes or gingerbread? Gingerbread.

7. Close your eyes and tell us the first carol that comes to mind. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.

8. What's your favorite winter beverage? This weekend I'm doing a little socializing and have committed to trying my first-ever hot toddy. Maybe it will become my favorite winter beverage.

9. Share a memory from last Christmas. Last year was the 40th anniversary of the Christmas singalong with Santa preceding It's a Wonderful Life at Chicago's Music Box Theater. I've attended before, but it was especially sweet to be part of the anniversary celebration. I'm using my commemorative mug right now.

Thursday Thirteen #391

For Her. From 1974. I got my start as a writer for the Sears Catalog in 1981, but I began flipping through it as a little girl. I fantasized about what I wanted to wear, how I wanted my future home to look, and at Christmastime, what I wanted to find under the tree.

So for this week's TT, I wanted to see how we were celebrating Christmas fifty years ago and I looked to the Sears Wish Book. I was happy to see the headline written by one of my predecessors, "Gifts for Gals to Give or Get." Here's what I found on those pages:

1. "8 famous fragrances on an elegant boudoir tray." Tiny bottles (about .5 oz.) of Courant, Tigress, Ambush, Emeraude, Heaven Scent, Maja, Tweed and Chantilly a "dainty" filigreed tray. $8.98.

2. Nail care kit. Five shades of nail polish, four emery boards, a cuticle pusher and a pack of tissues in a zipper case with a tab handle. "Remove the contents and you have a handy little tote-purse." $4.98.

3. Bird cage music box. A yellow bird behind gold metal bars "dances to the tune of 'We've Only Just Begun.'" $7.98.

4. Roomy sewing basket. Brown wood basket with "attractive red bandana print cotton trim and lining." 9 in. tall, 7 in. high. $4.98.

5. Profile charms. Ready to hang on a bracelet (not included), choose from a boy's or girl's profile. First initial and birthdate engraved at no extra cost. $3.99.

6. Double-link charm bracelet. "Beautifully crafted of rhodium-plated sterling silver ... individually gift-boxed." 7.5 in. long. $5.99.

7. Ivory pendant. "Deeply petaled rose shape" on an 18 in. chain. Gift boxed. $5.99.

8. Treasure chest jewelry box. "Covered with charming multi-colored birds and flowers." Lined with pink rayon. $6.99.

9. Black and gold bead necklace. "Just the right accessory." 26 in. long. $7.00.

10. Beret and scarf set. The beret "sports a jaunty pom-pom" and the 6-ft. long scarf has a "dashing" knotted trim. In 6 colors. $7.00.

11. Knit gloves with vinyl palm and back. 2-button trim. Remember, "Gloves make great gifts." $3.97

12. Three speed hand mixer. Detachable chrome steel beaters are easy to clean. $6.99.

13. Chess set with a folding board. "Chess is a great game for thinkers." $8.95.

PLEASE NOTE: All of these gifts came in at under $10. Adjusted for inflation, a gift that cost $10 in 1974 would be about $60.75 today.

Can you see your earlier self giving or getting any of these 1974 Christmas gifts?

Please join us for THURSDAY THIRTEEN. Click here to play along, and to see other interesting compilations of 13 things.

Grateful that I can

My Christmas shopping is done, and in this post I'm focusing on gifts for people I don't even know.

Harriet. She's 9 years old and either lives in, or attends daycare at, the local children's home. The kids there share their Christmas wishes, which are printed on ornaments hung on the tree at our neighborhood Whole Foods. I chose to deliver on Harriet's wish because while other little girls longed for Barbie, she asked for STEM. Now I was a Barbie girl and would never throw shade, but I admire Harriet for marching to her own drummer. So I got her this rock kit and a $10 Target gift card (because it was noted she also needs a new sweater).

Anthony Rizzo Family Foundation. I read the story of a mom with a couple kids, one of whom was battling cancer. She explained that with between jobs and medical appointments, she and her husband were just spread too thin to provide a Merry Christmas for her family, and she was very grateful when my favorite ballplayer and his charity team stepped in and took over. Already wrapped gifts showed up for both her sick child and his sibling. Another parent reported that, even though they didn't have time to decorate their home, the Rizzo foundation contracted a local hardware store and outdoor lights were purchased and hung, enabling Santa to find their house on Christmas Eve. So when I saw their toy drive and this Nerf football was listed, it seemed quite literally like the least I could do to help. I am grateful that my favorite ballplayer has opened my eyes to the fact that when a child is battling cancer, his brothers and sisters are effected, too. If you're looking for a charity to support, you could do far worse than this one. 

Toys for Tots. Have you noticed that for the last few years, this venerable organization has been asking for books as well? I think that's awesome, and so I dropped a pair of books into the collection box at my local Walgreen's. (This is the only one I remember; the other one had stickers in the back.)

JFK said "God's work must be our own." That seems especially important this time of year. Giving is the best way to honor the spirit of the season, and I'm grateful I can do it.