Sunday Stealing

CAPS LOCK Meme

1. YOU HAVE 10 BUCKS AND NEED TO BUY SNACKS AT A GAS STATION. WHAT DO YOU GET? A Coke and chips. Or maybe Cheez-It Crackers.

2. IF YOU WERE REINCARNATED, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU WOULD BE? A cat. But only if I had a life like the ones I've given my cats. I hate thinking about the fear and hardship strays suffer.

3. WHO’S YOUR FAVORITE REDHEAD? Like all right thinking Americans, I love Lucy.

4. WHAT DO YOU ORDER WHEN YOU’RE AT AN I.H.O.P. OR BREAKFAST PLACE? On Saturday I went to the local coffee shop and had a 2x2x2 -- 2 scrambled eggs, 2 sausage links and 2 slices of french toast.

5. LAST BOOK YOU READ? Remember Me Like This. It's an intense novel about what happens to a family when their son, who had been kidnapped, is returned to them after four years.

6. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? True Story, starring James Franco and Jonah Hill. Also very intense.

7. DESCRIBE YOUR FAVORITE PAIR OF UNDERWEAR. White cotton. I believe they are commonly referred to as "granny panties."

8. DESCRIBE THE LAST TIME YOU WERE INJURED. I twisted my ankle. It hurt.

9. IF YOU COULD INVENT ONE THING, WHAT WOULD IT BE? A way to know if the washer/dryer are free without having to climb four flights of stairs to the laundry room.

10. ROCK CONCERT OR SYMPHONY? Rock concert

11. WHAT IS THE WALLPAPER ON YOUR CELLPHONE? Didn't set it.

12. FAVORITE SODA? Coke

13. FLAVOR OF PUDDING? Tapioca

14. WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE A PEDICURE OR A MANICURE? Pedi

15. ANY BUTTONS OR BLINKIES IN YOUR SIDEBAR? I believe you can check that out yourself.

16. HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE ON YOUR BLOGROLL? Ditto

17. WHAT’S THE LAST PIECE OF CLOTHING YOU BOUGHT? I just answered this for Saturday 9, so instead I'll share that I just hemmed the second-to-last piece of clothing I bought. Navy slacks.

This was SO great

Kris Bryant connects for first career HR, returns to empty dugout

Kris Bryant went deep for the first time Saturday and got the extreme silent treatment. (USATSI)

Our super fabulous rookie third baseman Kris Bryant got his first major league homerun tonight in Milwaukee. His teammates responded in true Cubbie fashion. Instead of congratulating him on what will be the first of hundreds and hundreds of round trippers, they gave him the silent treatment. En masse and in a big way. They all left the dugout.

 

Of course, they all returned in just a moment and hugged him.

 

God, I love baseball. 

So I took a nap

Oh, yes I did!

I'm going through one of those periods when it feels like my life has gotten away from me.

It's been crazy busy at work, as it will be in advertising. As Hyman Roth said in Godfather II, "This is the business we've chosen." If I can't handle the stress, I should do something else. But lately the stress isn't about the work, it's the drama.

The New Girl is back at work and really working -- hard, if not efficiently. She apologized for her meltdown and I'm trying to let bygones be bygones. But we are about two weeks off schedule, and September ineffably comes after August 31, regardless of her unscheduled four day weekend in May.

The tension is exacerbated by our "open work space." There are four of us in this tiny space. My most annoying coworker continues to be annoying. When I tried to take the lead -- because, let's face it, she's lazy -- she snapped at me that she knows her job and is thinking about it all the time. Yes, she knows her job but no, she's not thinking about it all the time. I have to prod her. And she gets pissed, and then there we are, stuck together in this tiny space. WALLS! I NEED WALLS!

My boss seems upset with me, too, though I don't know why. I think it may be because he needs me on this project. I don't know. I don't care, actually, except that again I feel so pitilessly exposed and am unable to get away from the agita.

So I haven't been working out at lunchtime and I haven't been getting home until 10:00 or 11:00 at night. This leaves me feeling depleted. I've been missing Sinatra. I'm reading this massive biography of him -- 800 pages and it only takes us through the mid-1950s -- and it's left me feeling immersed in his life and his music. (If you like biographies, I really recommend this one.)

My home is a mess. My finances are a mess. My skin is blotchy and my waist is non-existent.

And so today I haven't done anything I haven't wanted to do. I enjoyed a nice coffee shop breakfast with Francis Albert and then I took a long nap and watched a little baseball and a lot of Columbo. And now I feel better.

I may even take a gay, madcap stab at organizing the sea of paper on my dining room table.

Saturday 9

Saturday 9: Harper Valley PTA (1968)

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

1) This week's featured artist uses her middle initial (C. for Carolyn) all the time. Do you use your middle initial very often? Only when I write checks, and that's something I seem to do less and less each month as more of the world goes online.

2) In this song, a mother tells off the local PTA. What's the most recent school event you attended -- whether as a parent, a teacher or a student? I guess it was my nephew's 8th grade graduation, more than a year ago.

3) The lyrics reference the mom's miniskirts, which were trendy in the 1960s. The website Popsugar reports that gingham checks are trendy for 2015. Tell us about the most recent addition to your wardrobe. Navy wedge pumps at DSW. For when I need to look like a grownup.

4) Thinking of moms, Access Hollywood named Carol Brady of The Brady Bunch TV's #1 mom. Who is your favorite TV mom? She wasn't TV's most conventional mom, but I'll go with Lucy Riccardo. She loved and encouraged her little boy.

5) Mother Winters always gave Sam peppermint tea to calm her stomach. Do you have any tried-and-true home remedies to share? Ginger ale and saltines for tummy trouble. I got that tip from my own mom.

6) Sam's mother always tips 15% in restaurants. Sam has worked in food service and is more judgmental, tipping between 10% and 25%, depending on the quality of the service. What's your tipping policy? Are you more like Sam or her mother? I'm more like Mrs. Winters -- 15% to 18% almost all the time.

7) When the tip of her shoelace becomes frayed, Sam's mother snips off the end and then paints the tip with clear nail polish. Good as new! Sam thinks that's crazy because you can just buy new laces for less than $2. Are you more frugal like mother or spendthrift like daughter? Let's face it -- I'm terrible with money.

8) Mother Winters loves how french vanilla smells and burns her Yankee Candles all year around. Do you use scented candles or air fresheners? Always. Right now it's Lavender and Chamomile in my livingroom, bathroom, and walk-in closet (where the litter boxes reside).

9) Sam is celebrating Mother's Day with her mother's favorite, Hershey Bars. Would you prefer classic milk chocolate, dark chocolate or chocolate with almonds? Milk chocolate with almonds, please.