Sunday Stealing

WHAT? 

1. What are you currently excited about? Nothing. That's not as negative as it sounds. There's next to nothing on my calendar this week and I'm looking forward to a lot of reading, naps, and marking things off my to-do list.

2. What do you wish you had more time for? Reading, naps, and marking things off my to-do list. Like finishing my handwritten GOTV postcards. I committed to 230, and it's taking longer than I thought it would. (I know, I know. Writer's cramp is not a high price to pay for citizenship. I just get angry at my own sloth sometimes.)

3. What would like to do less? Clean the litter box. I love my cats beyond measure, but sometimes it feels like I'm forever wrinkling my nose and then grabbing the scoop.

4. What do you spend too much money on? Everything! Though it must be my imagination, since my President keeps telling me "affordability is a Democrat hoax."

5. What childhood wish never came true? I am not Lady McCartney.

6. What did you do to celebrate your last birthday? Joanna planned a wonderful day for me. We saw a theater production based on Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, then we had a late lunch at legendary Walnut Room. She is so sweet to fuss over me like this.

7. What drives you nuts? That so many people don't see what's happening. We're sliding into authoritarianism. Our President is in Dear Leader mode, slapping his name on everything and building monuments to himself. His Truth Social posts are unhinged, vulgar and cruel and we're all pretending we don't notice. Just like we have moved on from the January 6 riot and our own citizens being shot by ICE in the streets. We are at odds with Canada – Canada, for fuck's sake! – and we act like this is normal. We have a Secretary of Defense who insists on calling it War and is glorifying testosterone while decrying inclusion. We've become so LGTBQ-phobic that somehow this is OK. So many who stubbornly continue to embrace Donald Trump and his self-dealing, self-aggrandizing and bullying loudly, loudly proclaim themselves as Christians. So much for the old Golden Rule. If the November 3rd Blue Wave does help us right our ship of state, it makes me sad that it will be because voters don't like the cost of diesel, not because they are unhappy with any of the above.(Hey, you asked.)

8. What keeps you sane? Humor. I laugh a lot. Often at myself.

9. What historic date is etched in your memory? My sixth birthday. 

10. What one thing would make your life immeasurably better? That Donald Trump allows us to speak truth to power on Tuesday, November 3, without casting doubts on the results ... or worse. BTW, that one thing would make your life immeasurably better, no matter where you are in the world.

 

 

Saturday 9

Eastbound and Down (1977)

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

1) This week's song was featured in the movie Smokey and the Bandit, the surprise box office hit of 1977. Have you seen it? Yes. I seem to catch it on cable every couple years and am embarrassed by how much I enjoy it. I mean, it has plot holes Jerry Reed could drive that Kenworth through and so many car crashes become mind numbing. And yet, God help me, I laugh. Burt Reynolds and Jackie Gleason are so funny.

2) Though not well received by critics, Smokey and the Bandit had one very famous fan: Alfred Hitchcock. The classic film director enjoyed re-watching the movie on video at home, often while having dinner. Do you ever watch TV with your meal? Usually I've got the news on.

3) Jerry Reed not only wrote and performed the movie's theme, he appeared in the movie as truck driver Cledus "Snowman" Snow. Have you ever driven, or ridden in, a big rig? Nope. The biggest vehicle I ever rode in was the tow truck that hauled my Cousin Rose's car (and us) after it crapped out on the highway.

4) He sings, "We've got a long way to go and a short time to get there." Have you recently felt rushed? Not since I retired. I worked in advertising, which is very deadline driven. I'm happy to have left that behind.

5) Director Hal Needham asked Jerry Reed for a song that explained the plot of the movie. He wrote this overnight and always considered it a happy accident. Can you think of a time when something turned out better than you expected? Often. Just about every time I go out. I kinda dread social engagements. I mean, I've got to get dressed in real clothes and wear makeup and for what? But then, when I get home, I think, "That was fun."

6) Reed was born in Atlanta and, coincidentally, he mentions Atlanta in the lyrics. Has your hometown been immortalized in song? Sinatra just couldn't stop singing about us. Because we are so awesome.

 

 

 

7) Jerry met Priscilla Mitchell at Capitol Records, where Jerry was a session musician and Priscilla was backup singer. Though she was only 18 when they wed, it seems their union was a happy one and they were together until his death almost 50 years later. If a newly engaged 18-year-old asked you for advice, what would you say? I would say, "Talk to someone else." I am abysmal at romance.

8) In 1977, when "Eastbound and Down" was on the radio, nostalgia for the 1950s topped the TV ratings. The two most popular shows that year were Laverne & Shirley and Happy Days. If you magically transported back to the 1950s, what do you think you'd like about it? What do you think you'd miss about your life in 2026? I think I would like all the physical media: glossy magazines, thick catalogs, heavy hardbound books and small paperbacks I could carry in my purse, and vinyl LPs. I would miss air conditioning. A lot.

9) Random question: Were you ever afraid of monsters in your closet or under your bed? No. At least not technically. I was often convinced I saw scary faces in my bedroom drapes, and I suppose those demons must have either come from the closet or under the bed.