Saturday 9

It came on Halloween and I still haven't touched it

Saturday 9: Son of a Preacher Man (1968)

1) This song was originally offered to Aretha Franklin, who turned it down. What's the most recent thing that you said "no" to? Renewing my subscription to People magazine. I just don't keep up with it and have back issues waiting for me on my bed. If there's a story I really want to read, in 2018 I'll pick up the issue at the newsstand.

 

2) Two years later, Aretha recorded "Son of a Preacher Man." What's something you changed your mind about? Salad. I used to hate feeling like a rabbit, nibbling on lettuce. Now I enjoy making salad and like adding stuff to the greens, like slivered almonds, or raisins, or croutons, or cheese ...

3) This song tells the tale of Billy Ray, a young man who could be very persuasive. If we wanted to change your mind about something, would you be more easily swayed by an emotional argument, or with verifiable facts? Emotional
 

4) If you ordered a "Son of a Preacher Man" in a bar, you'd get a cocktail made with

peppermint schnapps, gin and lemonade. When did you last have lemonade? Was it just lemonade, or was it spiked with alcohol? It was last summer. On the way home from church, I happened upon two little girls and their lemonade stand. Obviously it was "just lemonade."

5) Dusty had a thing for maps. She admired them artistically and enjoyed using them to take long car trips. Do you use printed maps? Or do you rely on technology, like GPS or Google Maps? I do not own a printed map.

6) As a girl, she attended convent school. There, one of the nuns discouraged Dusty from performing, telling her that if she would do better to be a mother or a librarian. When you were growing up, did the adults in your world encourage your dreams? My cousin Rose was always very encouraging. Also, she was a powerful role model. When I was growing up she was a junior high school geography teacher so she had summers off and traveled. I lived in a family of women who married young, didn't go to college, and didn't go anywhere farther than Wisconsin. Here was Rose, getting a degree, getting a job, spending her summers going everywhere from Los Angeles to Guatemala.
   
7) That nun inspired Dusty's first major act of rebellion. In an attempt to make herself look less like a future librarian or housewife, she bleached her hair platinum blonde. In school, were you much of a rebel? Or did you conform to the expectations adults had of you? Among my high school classmates, I was considered geeky and aloof. Schizoid, I guess. Within my family, I was considered a non-conformist because I didn't join clubs or go to dances or do any of the things my older sister did, the things that my mother maintained would make me look back at high school as the best years of my life.
 
8) Early in her career, Dusty provided the entertainment at a family summer camp. She appeared on the bill with a clown, a fire-eater and a hypnotist. Have you ever been hypnotized? No.

9) Random question: Have you ever played matchmaker to your friends? If yes, did your efforts lead to romance? No. I'll be interested to read everyone's answers and see if anyone had any luck in this area.