Saturday 9

 Saturday 9: Stay (I Missed You) 1994

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

1) In this week's song, a woman is accused of only hearing what she wants to. "Selective listening" is when you choose to focus on what's important to you and ignore what isn't. Are you often, sometimes, or never guilty of selective listening? The lyrics begin with, "You say I only hear what I want to/You say I talk all the time, so ..." I'm guilty on both counts.

2) She turns the radio up when she hears her favorite song. What song have you recently sung along to? This morning I inexplicably heard myself singing along with "Deep Purple" on my shower radio. I was surprised because I wasn't aware I knew the lyrics. "In the mist of a memory you wander on back to me, breathing my name with a sigh ..." I can't remember where I left my phone, but I can recall the lyrics to a song I don't even like. Go figure.

3) This week's featured artist, Lisa Loeb, has always been a big reader. Her band was called Nine Stories as a tribute to her favorite author, JD Salinger. If you were to name a band to honor your favorite author, what would you call it, and why? The Six-Fingered Sword. If you've read (or seen) The Princess Bride, you know why.

4) This week's song is her first and biggest hit. "Stay" was on the soundtrack of Reality Bites, a movie starring her friend and one-time neighbor Ethan Hawke. Ethan gave this song to the film's director, Ben Stiller, who agreed it was perfect for the film's closing credits. When you watch a movie, do you stick around for the closing credits? Most of them, but not all.

5) In the 1990s, Lisa was popular for her style and appeared on many magazine covers, causing People magazine to comment, "Though she rose to fame as a singer, she's probably just as well known for her glasses." Do you wear glasses? If yes, do you consider your eyewear purely functional, there to improve your sight, or are your glasses an extension of your personal style? I'm very near-sighted, and during covid I discovered I like how I look better in glasses than in contacts. So I pay more attention to my frames as an accessory than I used to.

My current frames

6) Today Lisa does a show on Sirius Radio, and she enjoys broadcasting while her favorite collaborator, her cat, sits on her shoulder. Is there a pet in the room with you as you answer these questions? Yes. My Connie Cat is right beside me.

7) Lisa raises funds for SCOPE, a charity that helps children from low-income families attend summer camp. When you were a kid, did you go to camp? Girl Scout daycamp every day for a week each summer. I really kinda hated it.

8) In 1994, when this song was popular, the nation's attention was riveted to a white Bronco driven by a man named Al Cowlings. Without looking it up, can you recall why this was newsworthy? OJ Simpson's infamous slow-speed chase.

9) Random question: Can you do a cartwheel? HA! Thursday I had to get down on the floor to pick up a tomato that had fallen out of a customer's lunch bag and rolled under one of the display cases at the card shop. I had such a hard time getting up that I thought I might die there. It was very humbling. If I can't easily rise up from the floor, no way am I gonna turn a cartwheel!