Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing

1. What are your current obsessions? I've discovered vintage, black and white gameshows from the 1950s and early 1960s and I'm transfixed. They reveal America on the cusp of a seismic shift that no one saw coming. On the one hand, I love how courtly everyone was, how elegant in jackets and ties and white gloves and jewelry. On the other hand, the racial and gender lines were drawn with a heavy marker. Women referred to themselves as "Mrs. John Smith" instead of "Mary Smith." Hispanics and Asians were invisible, and blacks were domestics or in the military. I feel like warning them that the times, they will soon be a-changing. (They haven't heard of Bob Dylan yet.)



2. What are you listening to? A documentary about DB Cooper.

3. Which item from your wardrobe do you wear most often? Jeans.

4. What are you reading? Wanton's Web. It's a murder mystery set in Chicagoland and I love how careful the author is about the time/place.

5. What’s for dinner? I don't know for sure, but there is a pork chop thawing in the refrigerator.

6. What was the last thing you bought? Dinner to celebrate my friend John's birthday. We had a very nice time.

7. Guilty pleasure? Vodka. (I had too much to drink at dinner and I'm rethinking my choice.)

8. What training did you get and how do you make a living? 13 years of public schooling. And I'm an advertising writer.

9. If you could go back in time, knowing what you know now, and choose a different career path, what would you train to do? I'd like to work with animals in some capacity. Maybe I'd train to be vet tech. 

10. What’s your best time of day? Late morning or late, late at night.

11. Do you like being on a team or are you a solo player? I'm comfortable in both role, but I prefer playing solo.

12. What’s your favorite way to create art? Words.

13. Name three items in your refrigerator: Aforementioned pork chop, 2% milk and Coke.

14. Tell us about your first crush: I only have vague recollections, but my mother used to tell me that, when I was a toddler, I was desperately in love with Little Joe Cartwright on Bonanza. She said if anyone punched or shot him, I was inconsolable, to the point that she had a hard time getting me to bed. At first she blamed my tears on the show being one of the only ones in color and that the action was too vivid for my tender sensibilities. Then she realized I didn't react when anyone else got hurt. Just Little Joe.

15. The first time that I became a boyfriend/girlfriend was with who, when? The summer after I graduated from high school I had my first ongoing relationship with the same boy (as opposed to just dates here and there). His name was David. 

16. Do you remember what you did on your first date? We went to a school dance. 

17. How did you meet your current (or most recent) girlfriend/boyfriend/husband/wife? At work. It's the only place I go!

18. How did your first romantic relationship end? Badly. It was the David from question #15. I feel sorry for him in retrospect. We were so young and of course he wanted to see (and sleep with) other girls before he "settled down." Yet he really liked me and I see now how hard ending it was for him. He tried to be gentle and considerate but I was shattered nevertheless.

19. Do you remember your first kiss? Yes. I was very worried that my braces would spoil everything.

20. What do we still not know about you? I spend a lot of time on my skin care every morning. I accept that I have to age, but I'm trying hard to do it slowly.