Sunday Stealing

 MY FAVORITE THINGS

Your favorite songs: "All My Loving" by the Lads, "September" by Earth, Wind and Fire 

Your favorite bands: The Beatles. 


Your favorite actors or actresses: Katharine Hepburn and Robert Redford

Your favorite books: I recently reread The Princess Bride. I forgot how much I love it.


Your favorite movies: The Way We Were and Holiday.


Your favorite TV shows: Friends and right now I'm rewatching Sex and the City again.


Your favorite foods/drinks: Coke is my favorite beverage. Hamburgers are my favorite food.


Your favorite kitchen appliance: Microwave


Your favorite animal: Cats, especially my own -- Connie and Reynaldo


Your favorite scents: Cinnamon, apple


Your favorite things you do in your free time: Fart around on the internet, watch TV


Your pet peeves: Willful ignorance and alternate facts.
 (Say it with me: pandemic, not plandemic.)

Things you collect: Books, movies, magazines from the 1960s


Things you like to swap: Do I swap? I don't think I do.


Places you've been: One of my favorites is Colonial Williamsburg. I also like Las Vegas. I am eclectic.


Places you'd like to visit: Maybe I'd like to visit Mackinac Island. Or maybe I'd get bored. I'm not sure
.

Classes you liked in school: History and English
.

Crafts you would like to learn: Is cleaning a craft? I need to learn how to remove spots of black mold from shower caulk. I have a shower liner, so I must be careful what I use. I'm going to try a mix of Dawn and baking soda. (I should stop thinking about it and just do it already.)

A new career path?

  

Spending so much time on Friday with my nephew was interesting. Fun, of course. We're both rabid Cub fans, so a day at Wrigley Field is like a pilgrimage. He cracks me up, too. For example, leaving the park we spotted a couple wearing anti-choice shirts that read: STOP REGULATED CHILD MURDER. He said, "They're right. Let's make child murder open to everyone."

I learned something unexpected about him after the game. He intended to go into politics/public service/government after his graduation in 2022. Campaign operative, legislative aide, a paid administrative position in the national or local Democratic party ...

Now he's not so sure.

Politics and policy remain his passion, but he's not so sure about his career path. He worries about the transient nature of it. He would have to go where the candidates are, and he's not sure he likes the idea of (say) living two years in Iowa and then uprooting and moving to Los Angeles. Working for not-for-profits is steadier, but there is little money in that. Nor should there be, but at the start of his career while setting up his life on his own, salary is a consideration.

So now he's thinking about teaching. Since high school, he's loved exchanging ideas with his favorite teachers. He missed that one-on-one with his professors during remote learning. He also really doesn't want school to end and he admits that he could prolong his own days as a student a bit if he went on to take the necessary classes required for a teaching degree.

I have read that only 25% of K-12 teachers are men. I think my nephew -- with his gentle manner (really, it's almost as if his temper has been surgically removed) and sensitivity -- would be a good male role model for kids.

I hope if he chooses teaching, it's because he wants to do it and not because he's worried about leaving us (which I hear in his every sentence) or because he's afraid of the unknown.

It amuses me that he's so different from his sister. My niece was offered a grant from a prestigious culinary school in Chicago but she turned it down. She couldn't wait to get away us and go away to school and has made it clear to everyone that she lives in Michigan now, thankyouverymuch. 

School photo created by freepik - www.freepik.com

We saw this

My nephew and I spent a very hot, humid Friday at Wrigley Field ... and had a wonderful time. The looming trade deadline changed the atmosphere at the park somehow. It was the Cubs first home game after a long, unsuccessful road trip. We all know that our favorite players are on the trading block. Obviously the players know this, too. We all behaved accordingly.

On the train, I was one of three Anthony Rizzo shirts in my car alone. Two more passed me on the platform. By the time I met up with my nephew (and his Rizzo jersey) I lost count of how many Rizz's were in the park. It was in the air. We all independently, spontaneously decided to let management know he's important to us. 

A more organized show of support was given to Kris Bryant. 40 fans near the owners' seats behind the dugout all wore his jersey. When KB stood in the on deck circle, they all turned their backs so his name on their backs was visible.

Then, in the first inning, the players participated. First KB walked. Then Rizz got hit by a pitch. Javier Baez -- the third player of our much-loved Core -- got a home run and brought them home. Bryzzo waited for him at home plate and the three of them walked to the dugout together.

That was for us. And we loved it. Like the Grinch, I could feel my tiny heart growing three sizes.

Remember these names: Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo. If you hear either of them is traded, no I'm dying inside. (No offense, Javy Baez, but I just don't love you ... as much.)