Saturday 9

Saturday 9: All Right (1983)

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

1) This song has an optimistic message about love: "It gets tough sometimes, but you can give it one more try ..." Do you tend to take an optimistic look at life? I do, but I have to go through my process. My best friend called it "awfulizing." First I examine the situation, picturing the worst. Then I realize that the worst really isn't that bad, and I can go forward with positivity.

2) In this song, Christopher Cross sings, "Time and time again I see people so unsure like me ..." Tell us about a recent time when your confidence could have used a boost. Now. I'm less worried about the virus than I am the stock market. I'm going to need the money in my 401(k) soon -- within the next year or two, probably -- and oh, how my balances have taken a hit! I keep reminding myself to be grateful that at least I have a 401(k).

3) The Doobie Bros.' Michael McDonald plays on this record. Do you have a favorite Doobie Bros. song?



4) Though no longer making hits, Christopher Cross still has loyal fans who attend his concerts. Time permitting, he spends time after each show signing autographs. Have you ever asked a celebrity for his/her autograph? When I was in high school, I tried to get the signatures of both Cubs and Blackhawks players. It seemed terribly important at the time.

5) Christopher Cross' dad was an Army doctor stationed at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, DC. With all the museums and monuments, our nation's capital could be a great place for a kid to grow up ... except sometimes we take the advantages of our hometown for granted. Tell us about a nearby museum, park, theater, etc., you'll visit again when this period of crisis is over and it's agreed that it's safe to do so. I want to go to the movies. I want to sit in the dark, eat candy, and be transported to another world.

6) In 1983, when "All Right" was popular, Flashdance was a hit in movie theaters and on the radio. What's the most recent movie you watched? Most recent song you heard on the radio? I watched The Untouchables with Kevin Costner and Sean Connery. I heard "Draggin' the Line" by Tommy James. ("I feel fine. I'm talking about peace of mind ...")
 
7) Also in 1983, America West Airlines took off, flying between Las Vegas and Phoenix. They went nationwide in 2005 after they merged with US Airways. In 2013, they merged again, this time with American Airlines. Do you collect miles in an airline loyalty program? I'm a whore for American's AAdvantage miles.

8) Super Mario Bros. debuted in 1983. Can you name gaming's most famous siblings? Luigi and Mario. My nephew was soooooo into them for a while.

9) Random question -- Under hypnosis, you discover you lived three past lives. In the first, you were wealthy beyond your wildest imaginings, thanks to a loveless marriage. In the second, you were a star on the roller derby circuit who had earned the nickname "Smasher." In the third, you were a brilliant mathematician who worked your way through school as an exotic dancer. Which of these would you find most shocking? I kinda wish the last two could be true. I'd have great stories to tell! Plus, I'm very uncoordinated and would like to think that in past lives, I gracefully skated and danced and shimmied. So the first one would be the most shocking because it's so sad and disappointing. As someone once said, "If you marry for money, you end up paying for it."

Farewell to an American original

Peter Beard is dead. He was 82. After a recent stroke he developed dementia and wandered away from his Montauk home. His body was found in the nearby woods.

Those three sentences don't convey how gorgeous, gifted and talented he was. He positively glowed. As Vanity Fair remembered him, he was "part Byron and part Tarzan."

From the Vanity Fair obit

The photo above is how he looks in my mind's eye: In a faraway place with an exotic woman.

In terms of his work, I love these two shots.

He captioned this self portrait of creativity: "I'll write whenever I can."

He had nothing to do with this book, but Edward Klein's publisher bought the rights to this photo as cover art for the biography of Peter's good friend and early supporter, Jackie. When Peter took this, she was newly Mrs. Onassis, living on Skorpios. Minimal makeup, sunburned nose, no sunglasses. He captured her contentment without artifice.

I toast you, Peter Beard!

With Little Edie Beale

Who's a HAPPY girl?

Yesterday was one of the best days of my cat's little life. A big box arrived -- cause for celebration right there -- containing her favorite litter, a new scratching post and all this SPECTACULAR brown paper.

I post more about Reynaldo because he demands more of my attention. But Connie is such a sweet-natured little girl. It makes me happy to see her so happy.

American values

An anti-vaxer in Idaho took her kids along to closed playground.* She and her friends removed the yellow police caution tape and refused to leave when asked by authorities. She was placed in cuffs, which is clearly what she wanted all along, and has become a viral sensation. Right wingers are applauding her for "standing up to tyranny."

So she knowingly broke the law and put police at risk because they had to come within 6' of her to take her into custody, and we're supposed to applaud. After all, she stood up to unfair policing!

Colin Kaepernick broke no laws and put no one at risk when he took a knee during the National Anthem. He, too, was protesting unfair policing. He was vilified and it cost him his career.

Time for us to look at ourselves.

*I won't use her name here because it is, unfortunately, the same as a successful gun control advocate who turned her personal tragedy into life-saving legislation. Talk about your irony ...