WWW.WEDNESDAY

 

 

WWW. WEDNESDAY asks three questions to prompt you to speak bookishly. To participate, and to see how other book lovers responded, click here. 

PS I no longer participate in WWW.WEDNESDAY via that link because her blog won't accept Blogger comments. I mention this only to save you the frustration I experienced trying to link up.

1. What are you currently reading? Looking for Jane by Heather Marshall. This novel is about three women living in three different time decades: in the 1970s, a girl is sent to a home for "fallen" women where she awaits the birth of her baby; in the 1980s, a young woman finds herself pregnant with nowhere to turn; in 2017, a woman accidentally comes into possession of a letter with explosive information about a long-ago family scandal, and wrestles with what to do with it.

 

This book takes us back to those tragic days before abortion was safe and legal, and though it's sent in Toronto, it's a harrowing harbinger of what we may be returning to.*

It's important that at the center of each story, the woman are three-dimensional people. When I hear fucking nonsense about babies being born, killed and tossed aside by abortion doctors I want to scream. First, that seldom if ever happens. Second, doctors who perform abortions are not monsters, they are serious professionals who want to provide healthcare. Third, where is the compassion for the women who find themselves in overwhelming and often dangerous and always painful situations?

2. What did you recently finish reading? Living the Beatles Legend: The Untold Story of Mal Evans by Kenneth Womack.  Mal Evans was with the Beatles from their days at The Cavern all the way to their "Get Back/Let It Be" rooftop concert on Savile Row, and even beyond. He had a story to tell, and unfortunately died before he could share it with us fans. His son worked with rock historian Kenneth Womack to get it to us.

There was a lot in this book I found interesting. However, not 580 pages' worth. This tome could have used a good editor. Once the Beatles stopped touring, once they started Apple Corps., the book got way less interesting because I didn't find the intricacies of he music business skullduggery that interesting (particularly because it seldom had anything to do with John, Paul, George or Ringo). I'd say this book is for superfans, except I'm a superfan and I liked it but didn't love it.

 

3. What will you read next? Don't know.

 

*I am personally opposed to abortion. My faith should not be the law of the land, because legislating one religion over another is unpatriotic. I've spoken to friends who are Jewish and agnostic and 100% respect their points of view, and whoever you are reading this, I respect yours, too. Just as I'd never force a woman to have an abortion, I wouldn't presume to forbid her, either. Because as a proud American looking forward to July 4, I respect the separation between church and state.

 

 

Teaser Tuesday

 

Here's how to play.

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

Living the Beatles Legend: The Untold Story of Mal Evans by Kenneth Womack. This book was compiled using the diaries of the late Mal Evans, the Beatles confidante, bodyguard and roadie beginning with their early days at the Cavern Club.

By 1967, the Beatles had stopped touring so his job as "tour manager" had morphed into something else. Mal was an executive at Apple Corps, but he felt he was becoming marginalized by his beloved Beatles. He was drinking and drugging more, his marriage was in trouble, and he was self-reflective in his diary.

"Fear is knowing the right answer," he observed, "while hoping it's the wrong answer." But it also occurred to him that the concept of fear might be something even more problematic, that "fear is not even knowing the right answer." Had his moral compass become so broken that it was too late to reorder his misplaced priorities?

 

August Happiness Challenge -- Day 14

Today's happiness -- Indulging my passion for film

The highlight of my last  day of The Fest for Beatle Fans was hearing director Michael Lindsay-Hogg compare and contrast his Let It Be with Peter Jackson's Get Back.

I love the Beatles. I love the art of film. I believe they're both important. Hearing MLH talk helped illustrate the role of the editor and director for me, and the stark difference in technology between 1970 and 2021. 

I felt fortunate to hear him.

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.

August Happiness Challenge -- Day 13

 Today's happiness -- When my happies collide

Saturday was a lot of Lads at The Fest for Beatle Fans. We went to a Beatles trivia contest patterned on Jeopardy! but did not participate as contestants. We had too much fun being snarky in the stands. Then we listened to Peter Asher -- half of the British invasion duo Peter and Gordon, superstar producer of Linda Ronstandt, James Taylor and Diana Ross, and now host of a Beatles show on Sirius radio -- and were thoroughly entertained. Then we attended a very nerdy lecture on how academics are studying (and teaching) The Beatles at the university level. I enjoyed it. My oldest friend is not as geeky as I am, because she annoyed me by tap-tap-tapping away, texting on her phone, while the authors and professors spoke.

I didn't stay annoyed for long, though. First of all, she and I only had this weekend together. Secondly, it's kind of hard to be pissy when you're up to your hips in Beatles. And thirdly, look who I found on our ridiculously big hotel room TV.

Baseball and Beatles. What's not to love?

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.

 

August Happiness Challenge -- Day 12

 Today's happiness -- Adult beverages

Friday was the first day of The Fest for Beatle Fans. Attending it meant a great deal to my oldest friend. She means a great deal to me, so I made sure it happened.

We attended the opening ceremonies and then went to The Red Bar right there in the hotel for dinner and drinks. (Really, we never ventured outdoors or experienced fresh air the whole time she was in town.) 

We laughed a great deal. I had a beer and she had a margarita. Since she's diabetic and on all kinds of meds, and I have chronic gastrointestinal upset of some sort,* we limited ourselves to one round. But it was nice to be together. I haven't seen since our trip to Las Vegas in November, 2018!

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.

*I am keeping a daily diary of my unspeakable malady and will present it to my doctor next week when I see her. I don't want to be alarmist, but I know something is wrong.

August Happiness Challenge -- Day 11

Today's happiness -- Things come together nicely.

My oldest friend, who lives in Southern California, wanted to come to Chicago for The Fest for Beatle Fans. Since LAX-ORD is one of the most traveled flight plans in the country, and the Fest was held at a hotel right there at O'Hare, you'd think this would be easy to pull off. You would be wrong.

For reasons too complicated to go into, my friend ended flying Ontario to Midway, about 20 miles away from O'Hare. Instead of arriving Friday morning, as she had planned, she ended up with reservations for that would get her to Midway at about 6:00 PM on Thursday.

"So what?" I thought. Here's what: I'd forgotten our condo association meeting had been on the calendar for Thursday night @ 6:30 for weeks. I'm on the board so I couldn't get out of it. 

Because it took her an hour to retrieve her bag and travel the hour to the hotel by O'Hare, and because for once (!) my neighbors did not make the meeting go one minute longer than it needed to, my friend and I reached our hotel within 30 minutes of one another. Finally something about this excursion went according to plan.

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.

Why is today not a holiday?

Happy birthday, Sir Paul McCartney.

Happy Easter from Me and the Lads

In 2012, London hosted The Big Egg Hunt. Oversized fiberglass eggs were decorated and hidden throughout the city. According to the Guinness Book of Records, this was the biggest Easter Egg hunt ever held, with 12,000 participating.

On Easter, the eggs were brought together in Covent Garden and then auctioned off, raising more than $900,000 for charity.

First the good news

Ladies and gentlemen, I present Sir Richard Starkey (who prefers to be known as Sir Ringo Starr). He was knighted by The Duke of Cambridge (aka Prince William).

I love The Lads from Liverpool. I love Diana's Boys. I love this picture.

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing: The Eve Was Framed Meme

Cheers to all of us thieves!

1. Why is your favorite color your favorite? My favorite color is Pantone 294 because it's Cubbie blue.

 2. Do you prefer dogs or cats or do you just hate animals, and want to kill baby seals? I do not prefer cats or dogs, love them all, and think this question is just awful.

3. How much time do you spend on the computer? Too much.

4. Not including porn, what do you do on the computer? Email, FB, Pogo, and, of course, this here blog.

5. Are you a clock watcher? Yes.
  
6. What do you/did you look for in a partner? Shallow answer: nice, touchable hair.

7. What type of clothing do you prefer? Casual.

8. What is your favorite type of music? Beatles.

9. Do you believe in the paranormal, Ghosts, ESP, levitation, spoon bending? Not much. But I am open.

10. The most important question: Do you have a inie or outie belly button? Inie.

11. What kind of car do you drive? I don't drive.
 
12. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun or The Boys Are Back in Town?   "When the working day is done, girls just wanna have fun."

13. Camping or the Ritz? The Ritz

14. What food are you craving RIGHT NOW . . . did you eat it? Corn flakes. And yes, I ate them.

15. The most thrilling place you've ever visited. Why? When I was very young I went to Paris and seeing the Arc de Triomphe was a gas.

16. If you could slip into the skin of one public figure--celebrity, artist,--who would it be? I think it would be great to be Jennifer Aniston. She's not only funny and gorgeous, she knows what John Mayer and Vince Vaughn and Brad Pitt are really like.

17. Look up from your computer. What do you see first? My TV

18. Sum up your philosophy of life in one sentence. You can borrow it from someone else, if you'd like. "Life is not fair, but it's fairer than death." William Goldman, The Princess Bride

19. Name the one thing you just don't understand about kids today. Rap

20. If you could steal one work of art from a museum or gallery, which would it be? I wouldn't

www.Wednesday

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…
1. What are you currently reading?
2. What did you recently finish reading?
3. What do you think you’ll read next?

1. MWF Seeking BFF: My Yearlong Search for a Best Friend. It's just what it says it is -- a writer's chronicle of trying to make good girlfriends in a new city (Chicago). It's funny and sweet and, so far, feels very true to life about how hard it is to make deep, platonic connections with new people once we grow older and away from school. (Though to be honest, I've been very lucky in this regard.)

2. The Beatles: The Biography. Incredibly readable! I came away thinking again of two important supporting characters in the Beatles saga: Brian Epstein and Yoko Ono. Brian, the manager who helped catapult them to fame, was at heart a fan who served and loved the lads well, if not wisely. It was so sad to watch him rendered obsolete by their success. Yoko comes off as the other side of that coin. She didn't care about the Beatles except as her entree to fame and tool to advance her own career. Would they have eventually broken up without her? Probably. Would it have been as acrimonious? I doubt it. 

3. Star: How Warren Beatty Seduced America. Warren Beatty has made comparatively few films but some of my favorite movies. Yet, the author opines, he's unknown to anyone under 30 and a joke to moviegoers under 40. How did he achieve so much so fast, and why isn't he now respected as an elder statesman of cinema, like his contemporaries Eastwood and Redford? The answers are what this exhaustive (600+ pages) biography promises to deliver.


To play along yourself, click here.

It must be nice to a Beatle

Today at lunch I walked past a street musician who was playing "Here Comes the Sun" on the guitar. Two Asian businessmen in front of me were speaking animatedly in their native tongue until they picked up on the song. Then one said, in heavily accented English, "Here Comes the Sun." Together they sang a bit, "Little darling, it's been a long, cold, lonely winter ..." It was a lovely moment.

How satisfying it must be for Paul and Ringo to know how much joy they have brought generations, all around the world.


Yes, I know it's a George song, but I bet to these gentlemen it was simply, "The Beatles."

WWW.Wednesdays

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…
1. What are you currently reading?
2. What did you recently finish reading?
3. What do you think you’ll read next?

This week, my answers have a veddy British flavor.


1. The Beatles: The Biography by Bob Spitz. I got this book in 2005 when it first came out but I didn't really read it. I just flipped back and forth from the index to "the good parts." Now I'm reading it in a more conventional way and am struck by how quickly the Lads' saga blew by. I lived it in real time, and didn't realize the whirlwind I was witnessing. But they were really only the band we all know from 1962 to 1970. Not very long at all, when you consider the impact they had ... and continue to have. 

2. A Royal Duty by Paul Burrell. The memoirs of Princess Diana's butler, the man she called, "my rock." It was nice to revisit the Princess of Wales as she's been on my mind because of all the attention William and Kate are getting. It's hard to believe that "Wills" is now almost 30, and his mum was only 36 when she died. It was also a fun read because I'm watching Downton Abbey and it's always entertaining to peak "downstairs."

3. Oh, hell, I don't know. Last week I didn't expect to pick up the big (900+ page) Beatles bio and go through it. Whatever I choose, I think it's time to return home from Jolly Old and read something that takes place in the US of A.

Go here to play along and check out other answers.  

  

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing: The 99'er Meme: Part 1

Cheers to all of us thieves!

1) Put your iTunes on shuffle. Give me the first 6 songs that pop up.

"Baby, It's You" The Beatles

"Why Don't We Do It in the Road?" The Beatles

"Spirit in the Night" Bruce Springsteen

"Helen Wheels" Wings

"Goin' Back" Dusty Springfield
"End of the Innocence" Don Henley

2) If you could meet anyone on this earth, who would it be?

Bill Clinton

3) Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 23, give me line 17. 

"... her high pitched, shrill voice. The conversation was so loud, even I could hear."

4) What do you think about most?
According to my label cloud, my friends.

5) What does your latest text message from someone else say?

In the cab (In response to my text: Where are you?) You know, texts never are very interesting.

6) Do you sleep with or without clothes on?

Depends.

7) What's your strangest talent?

I'm fabulous at canasta. I don't know how strange it is, but it certainly is useless.

8) Women.... (finish the sentence); Men.... (finish the sentence)

Women respond. Men react.

9) Ever had a poem or song written about you?

Paul McCartney wrote "I Will" about me. He just doesn't know it.

10) When is the last time you played the air guitar?

Never

11) Do you have any strange phobias?
No. My phobias -- air travel, squirrels and clowns -- are all completely sensible.

12) Ever stuck a foreign object up your nose?

Nope. Everything that goes up there is strictly American.

13) What's your religion?

Unitarian Universalist because I believe strongly in our seven principles. Though I'm so sick of listening to the GOP candidates try to out-religion one another that I'm tempted to say, "None of your damn business." Remember the story of Jesus entering the temple and overturning the tables of the money-changers? He didn't care for the crass promotion of faith for personal gain, and neither do I.

14) If you are outside, what are you most likely doing?

Walking.

15) Do you prefer to be behind the camera or in front of it?

Behind it. I'm such a big, fat moo-cow these days that photos of myself make me sad.

16) Simple but extremely complex. Favorite band?

The most predicable answer I'll give: The Beatles

17) What was the last lie you told?

"I can't come over because I have too much to do."

18) Do you believe in karma?

Yes.

19) What does your URL mean?

"Universal resource locator," same as yours.

20) What is your greatest weakness; your greatest strength?

Bad temper ... the ability to think on my feet.

21) Who is your celebrity crush?

My TV boyfriend, Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs of NCIS.

22) Have you ever gone skinny dipping?

Nope.

23) How do you vent your anger?

Saying harsh things very loudly.

24) Do you have a collection of anything?

Stuff regarding the 1960s.

25) Do you prefer talking on the phone or video chatting online?

The phone!

Saturday 9

Saturday 9: Home

1. Do you live close to where you grew up? Why? I live about 20 miles/20 minutes from where I grew up. It's near enough to visit easily, but far enough way to maintain my independence.

2. Have you ever been so angry that you almost lost control? Yes. Often. I'm not proud of it, and I battle it, but I can have a nasty temper.

3. Are you a fan of a musical act that slightly embarrasses you? Why yes. The gentleman pictured here.

4. Is there a movie that always makes you cry? Brian's Song. "I love Brian Piccolo. And I'd like all of you to love him, too. Tonight, when you hit your knees, please ask God to love him." This is Billy Dee Williams as Gale Sayers in the movie, but it really happened this way, which makes it all the more moving.




5. Who is the most famous person that you've met? Bruce Springsteen kissed me.

6. Before you leave your home, what must you have? My keys so I can get back in.

7. What do you miss the most about being a kid? The Beatles, young and united.

8. Tell us about a passion of yours that your readers would not expect. Celebrity gossip. I am pathetically addicted. For example, I love this article. (Now don't you dare click on it and then judge me. You were warned in advance.)

9. At what age do you think you'd be to think, “I've had a great run”? That age keeps moving into the future.

Saturday 9

Saturday 9: The Remedy (I Won't Worry)

1. What's the remedy for you to stop worrying? According to my best friend, I "awfulize." Meaning I imagine a situation as bad, and then worse, and then as horrible as it can possibly be. Then I realize, "I can handle it," and it gives me the confidence to go on.

2. What is your favorite summertime beverage? Coke. It's also my favorite wintertime beverage.

3. Do you use any freeware on your computer? If yes, do tell. Nope. At least I don't think so.

4. What is one thing about your home that has to be just so or it drives you crazy when it comes to organization? My bath linens have to match, or Christmas will be cancelled.

5. Is there a specific subject you're especially curious about? A person? A region of the world? An animal? A field of study? The 1960s. Especially the Kennedy Administration, The Beatles and the British Invasion.

6. What do you consider your most interesting trait? I think very quickly.

7. What is something that really frightens you, and can you trace it back to an event in your life? I don't fly well. The impetus is when I was in a long distance relationship, flying between Chicago and Philly. The more I saw of airports and airlines, the less confidence I had in their attention to detail. Then 9/11 happened. Those visuals are something I can't awfulize my way through. My ultimate terror.

8. Who do you want to yell at to “get a grip!”? Most of the counter workers I have encountered at the US post office.

9. What do you wear to particularly look great for a party or event? I have a coral cashmere sweater I like myself in.