Saturday 9

Saturday 9: Someday We'll Be Together

1. Have you ever left a relationship but knew that eventually you'd get back together? Yes. I was wrong, of course. Not to leave, but to think the story could had had any other ending, or another chapter.

2. Are there things that you hate to buy? Items that you either hate to spend perfectly good money on or hate to spend the time it takes to buy them? Light bulbs! To the idiots out there who believe "freedom of choice" refers not to a woman's reproductive rights but to their home lights -- WHAT ARE YOU THINKING? Do you enjoy spending money on and then having to replace incandescent bulbs? Yeah, that's a courageous, worthwhile way to take a stand against The Man! (Ah, thank you. I feel better.)

3. What is your favorite cartoon show and why? Mr. Peabody. It was a segment on the absolutely brilliant Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. I loved that Mr. Peabody was the smartest one around, a dog who patiently explained everything to us. He even introduced himself each time we saw him ("Peabody here."). Then he and and his boy, Sherman, would get into the WABAC -- the coolest, safest time machine ever!

4. Are you anywhere close to doing what you wanted to do as a kid? Yes. When I was a kid, I used to trace pictures out of my Golden Books and write my own stories to accompany them. Now I write my little narratives and art directors must find pictures to accompany them from the world of stock photography.

5. Now that you're in the "real world," is your current job now really what you want to do for a living? If not, what would you ultimately like to do? Yes, I still like my job. But if I could start over -- or, even better, just appropriate someone else's career without doing the hard work -- I'd be historian Doris Kearns Goodwin.

6. A local university has asked you to teach a class about the one thing you know the most about. What would you be teaching and what would the name of the course be? "I Believe in Yesterday," a study of 1960s and that decade's continuing impact.

7. Commercials ... they can make us laugh or can annoy the heck out of us. Tell us about your favorite commercial and/or a commercial you simply loathe. I really don't like this Tums commercial. It's creepy and scary.



And I love the Mayhem/Allstate spots. Haven't seen one in a while. I hope Allstate hasn't dropped him!



8. Tell us about your favorite comedy movie of all time. "You fucked up. You trusted us!" Yes, Animal House. I have seen it dozens of times, can recite passages along with the screen, and still love it. You could say Tim Matheson had me at, "Eric Stratton, Pledge Chairman. Damn glad to meet you."

9. Tell us about your favorite black and white movie of all time. My Man Godfrey. It's a screwball comedy from 1936 and in addition to making me laugh (very hard at times -- Carole Lombard was a charmer) it also packs a timeless message about how we should treat one another. Quick! Go add it to your Netflix queue. You can always thank me later.