Friday 5

Friday 5 for January 29: Hoops

1. When did you last feel required to jump through meaningless hoops to get something you wanted? The song and dance I recently did on the phone with Fifth Third Bank. First collections, then customer service, then a customer service rep, before the situation was finally resolved. I'd relate the story in greater detail, but I'd just get pissed all over again. Just know that I in no way endorse Fifth Third Bank!

2. What kind of hula hoop memories do you have? The kids down the block and I didn't play with our hula hoops the way you were supposed to. Instead we played "horse and buggy race." The one inside the hula hoop was the horse, the one outside was the jockey, and we'd race across our yards.

3. How do you feel about basketball? I haven't given it a moment's thought since MJ left us for good in 1998.

4. What do you think of hoop earrings? I love them! When I wear them, I feel like a 1960s hippie chick. This reminds me I should dig a pair out for the weekend.

5. What's your favorite Whoopi Goldberg movie? I'm not a big fan, but Sister Act, I guess. (Love the "hoopi" question, though.)

Friday 5

Friday 5 for February 20: Souvenirs

1. Is there a certain kind of souvenir you always bring back for a particular someone? My 9-year old nephew loves those little plastic bracelets first made popular by Livestrong. If I can find one bearing the name of place he's never been, it makes him happy.
   
2. Of the souvenirs you’ve collected from your travels, what are some that have special meaning for you? I have a snowglobe from a quick jaunt to LA with my best friend. I don't know why, but it really touches me.
   
3. What’s the silliest souvenir you’ve brought back for yourself, or what’s the silliest souvenir someone has brought back for you? My friends in Key West got me my very own Robert the Haunted Doll. The original Robert is in a museum down there, and he's supposedly imbued with dark magic powers, and the tales completely cracks me up. I'm proud to have my own.
   
4. If you were going to send someone a souvenir from places you visited today, what might it be? A pencil with a worn out eraser. That kinda sums up my day so far … a lot of writing and a lot of rewriting.
   

The Friday 5

THE LUCKY ONES

1. Among people you know, who seems to be lucky in love? My friend Mindy. She met her future husband on a blind date, fixed up by someone she had just met in a photography class, and WHAM! That was it! They have been married for 25 years now. Like everyone, they have had trouble in their life together -- his career setbacks, her problems conceiving, parents getting older, etc -- but their marriage has always been rock solid.

2. Among people you know, who seems to be lucky with money? My friend Barb. She has good instincts, and an even better financial planner.

3. Among people you know, who’s lucky to be alive? My friend John. He used to at least dabble in just about every kind of high-risk behavior available. Now that he's over 50 his social life has become downright dull, and since I love him, I'm relieved.

4. Among people you know, who seems to have the worst luck? My former boss. He was diagnosed with cancer, mistreated horribly by the hospital, and was recently laid off! From where I sit, there isn’t a damn thing he could have done to prevent any of it.

5. What kinds of good-luck charms do you own or carry? I don’t carry any. Yet I have been known to insist that those I love carry them. Go figure.

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Friday 5

1. What’s a profession you believe to be overpaid? CEOs of US car companies. Private jets? In this economy? Puh-leeze!
2. Who’s a musician you believe to be overrated? Madonna. I'm not even sure she is a musician. I think of her as a traveling freak show.
   
3. What in your life could stand to be overhauled? My condo! I need to seriously start throwing things away. It could use a nice paint job. The kitchen and the bathroom are tragically old-fashioned. If I don't lose my job soon, I'm going to start saving/planning to do some of this through 2009.
4. What’s something interesting you recently overheard? That global warming has heated up the oceans, and that's why hurricanes now are so ferocious.
   
5. Who is the most overextended person you know? Kathleen springs to mind, because she is juggling a high-stress job, steering her kids through adolescence and shopping for colleges, a reading group, a marriage to a challenging (but lovable) man and yet remains a good, available friend to people like me.

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