Saturday 9

Saturday 9: Rhythm of My Heart (1991)

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

1) Rod Stewart sings that the words "I love you" roll off his tongue. When did you most recently say, "I love you?" Last week, on the phone with my oldest friend.

 

2) In "Rhythm of My Heart," he recalls running down the alley with his lady love. Does your neighborhood have alleys? My neighborhood does, but not my block. We're mostly multi-unit buildings with parking lots behind the buildings, butting up against one another.

 

3) Rod is well known for his coif. Are you having a good hair day today? Yes.

 

4) Rod was the youngest of 5. He remembers that, as a family, they enjoyed singing with Al Jolson records. Did your family have singalongs? Nope.

5) He is proud of his luxury car collection, which includes a Rolls Royce, a Ferrari and the one rumored to be his favorite: a classic mid-70s Lamborghini Countach LP400 Periscopio. Looking back on years as a driver and a car owner, which vehicle is your all-time favorite? I don't drive and don't have a personal favorite car, but I fondly remember my uncle's 1963 Mustang convertible. I have wonderful memories of him taking little me places in that car.

 

My uncle's Mustang was blue w/a canvas roof

6) Rod turned 80 this year and he's still touring. Once known for his hard partying, he takes better care of himself now and rides a stationery bike every day. What steps do you take to keep fit? I stretch each morning, do yoga once a week, and try to drink more water.

7) In 1991, when this song was popular, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry died. Do you have a favorite Star Trek character? Nope. 

8) Also in 1991, Seinfeld was a big deal on network television. Today the entire series is available to stream and on DVD. When you binge a show, are you more likely to pop in a disc or turn to a streaming service? I'm most likely to watch a marathon on a cable channel.

 

9) Random question: Have you ever cared for a hamster or a gerbil? (Extra non-existent Saturday 9 points for its name.) Nope.

 

 

A tale of two conversations

 

I like talking on the phone. It lets me hear inflections, so I don't need emoticons. It helps me feel connected. I had two nice, long talks this week and they made all the difference to my peace of mind.

Violet likes hexagons. My niece and I facetimed as she gave her baby a bottle. I was thinking about my niece a lot because her maternity leave is up and I wondered how she was transitioning from stay-at-home mom to working mom. She shares a warm relationship with her in-laws and she is happy that Grandma and Grandpa are providing loving – and no-cost – in-home daycare. I got to see 6-week-old Violet and listen to her mewl. Her eyes are very big, round and brown. She's lost some of the hair she had at birth. One of my niece's cats kept photo bombing and he looked so confused when I called out to him. "Where's that noise coming from?" Both Violet's parents and grandparents read to her all the time and she likes the high contrast books best. My niece says that black-on-white and white-on-black hexagons seem to appeal to her most. She's completed 70 books and earned her first-ever award from the local library for the latest, which was in both English and Spanish. It's important Violet be comfortable with Spanish because of Grandpa Marco. He's the birth mother's father and the only one of her family interested in having a relationship with Violet. Grandpa Marco was born and raised in Mexico and my niece and her husband want Violet to feel that connection to him.

My oldest friend sounds good. I am concentrating on the vibe of the call, not the content. She was friendly and engaged, which is good to hear. But her cognition is wacky. For example, when we were talking about my upcoming Paul McCartney concert and the demand for tickets. She told me that when she saw Ringo play Ontario, CA, back in 2023, the hall was completely sold out. I recall that particular concert made national news because no one showed up. There were several things she said that were similarly untrue, but I let them go. It disturbs me, of course, but doesn't really matter, does it? The important thing is that she wasn't drowning in the blues.

There's no real substitute for conversation, is there? 

Get ready for Joy 2025

Every year I take the August Happiness Challenge. Here's a brief explanation of the Challenge: "Each day in August you are to post about something that makes *you* happy. Pretty simple. And, it doesn't even have to be every day if you don't want it to be. It's a great way to remind ourselves that there are positive things going on in our lives, our communities, and the world."

 You're invited to join me. Visit me with a link to your daily August happy, and I'll come read it. I've found that experiencing other peoples' everyday pleasures is a great mood lifter.

It helps if your August Happiness Challenge posts are marked with an icon. Just something that means "happy" to you. Here's a pair of my past happys.

THE HAPPY BEGINS AUGUST 1!