Saturday 9

Saturday 9: Baby's in Black

1) Black is this week's signature color because Friday, November 25, was "Black Friday," when retailers cut their prices and consumers flock to the stores. Did you score any "Black Friday" bargains? I did, but I didn't go to the mall. Better World Books had a coupon for 30% off 5 or more books, and I took advantage of that.

2) Feasting and football are also popular Thanksgiving weekend pastimes. Do your Thursday-Sunday plans include pigging out or watching a game? Pigging out, definitely.

3) At Thanksgiving dinners, Crazy Sam's homemade gravy is always a hit. (Probably because she's so generous with the cognac, which gives the gravy a nutty taste.) What was particularly delicious at your Thanksgiving table? Dessert was hitsville. The pumpkin pie was particularly cinnamony (which I love) and a nutty glaze was drizzled across it.

 
4) Among the biggest the Black Friday advertisers are Target, Kohl's, Macy's and Best Buy. If you could have a $100 gift card to any one of those stores, which would you choose? Best Buy. I suspect that the TV in my bedroom is going to crap out soon. When it does, I'll move the set in the living room to the bedroom and buy a new one for the living room. That $100 would come in awfully handy.

5) This week's song, "Baby's in Black," is about a girl who wears black because she's in mourning. Do you find that the color you're wearing reflects your mood? I admit I love wearing Cubbie blue (Pantone 294). Especially this World Series winning year!

6) The woman who inspired this song, Astrid Kirchherr, has been friends with Paul McCartney since he and his bandmates (John Lennon, George Harrison, Stu Sutcliffe and Pete Best) met her in Hamburg back in 1960. Tell us what you believe are the components of a strong, lasting friendship. As life gets busier, I value availability more and more. There's always something to fill up our days and evenings. Friends make time for one another.

7) In the early days of the Beatles, Paul McCartney and John Lennon began writing a play but abandoned it. Do you have a novel, painting, play, song or poem that you're going to finish "someday?" Dozens! Every year I take a crack at Nanowrimo and write for fun, not profit. I never finish my great novel, though. Oh well, there's always next November.

8) When he was 16, George Harrison dreamed of moving to Canada, Australia or Malta. In just a few years, he would visit all those places with Beatles and eventually decided there was no place like home and stayed in England. Have you ever thought about moving to another country? If so, where? I never think about leaving the country, not even on vacation. I do sometimes fantasize about living in Boston, Philadelphia or Washington, DC. But I'd never leave Chicago.

9)  Random question: Finish this sentence -- If you want me to give you "yes" for an answer, the best time to approach me is _____________________. while I'm eating pizza.