Saturday 9

Saturday 9: When Love Goes Wrong (Nothing Goes Right) 1953

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





1) This is from the movie Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Have you seen it? A million times. Here's my favorite (and the most famous) scene.



2) The lyrics tell us that, when love goes wrong, "a match won't light." When did you most recently light a match? Probably some birthday candles, but I don't remember. I don't think I even have matches anymore.

3) The duet is performed at a French sidewalk cafe, where Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe are (literally) sharing a cup of coffee. With whom did you most recently have coffee? I never drink coffee, but to be less literal, the last time I went on a coffee break was back in mid-March, when I still working at the office. I remember standing in the coffee room with Carla from production, as she sipped her coffee and I waited for my tea to brew.

4) The tune was written by prolific composer Hoagy Carmichael. He was influenced by his mother, who earned extra money for the family playing piano during silent movies. Who in your life influenced your career choices? When I was a secretary (back in the days when we were still called "secretaries"), I worked for an officious, rather silly man. One of the company's few women VPs had the office next to his, and she took a liking to me. "Doesn't it bother you that you're smarter than your boss?" she'd ask me. She gave me pep talks all the time, and when the opportunity arose to take the test to become a copywriter, she literally placed it in my hands (and into the hands of her own secretary). Her name was Celeste. I'm eternally gratefully to her. She really paid it forward.

5) Jane and Marilyn shared something beyond movie stardom. They were both married to Hall of Famers. Marilyn Monroe was married to Joe DiMaggio, who was inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame in 1955. Jane was married to quarterback Bob Waterfield, inducted into the football Hall of Fame in 1965. Which sport would you rather watch: baseball or football? Cubs baseball.

I miss my guys

 6) Jane and Bob Waterfield were high school sweethearts at Van Nuys High. The Southern California school was used as a set for the 1982 movie, Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Tell us something about your high school. Here's a cheer: We are the bulldogs, the mighty, mighty bulldogs. Everywhere we go, people wanna know, who we are. So we tell 'em: We are the bulldogs, the mighty, mighty bulldogs ...


7) Marilyn and Joe DiMaggio met on a blind date at a Hollywood restaurant called Villa Nova. Have you ever arranged a blind date? If so, did the couple hit it off and end up dating? Nope. I've never set anyone up.

8) In 1953, when Gentlemen Prefer Blondes was released, a tornado did severe damage to Waco, TX. Tell us about a major weather event that you endured (tornado, hurricane, flood, blizzard, heat wave, etc.). In 2011, we had the storm known as the SNOtorious BIG. More than 21" inches of snow fell. It was quite exciting. Of course, I'm on the fourth floor and don't have to shovel.

9) Random question: You see a filthy puddle. Floating on top are cigarette butts, a leaf, and a $1 bill. Would you bend over and rescue the dollar? Ew. Ick. No.

And I'm on the fourth floor

Here's the Super Bowl Sunday view from my living room. That's 13" of snow on my windowsill. We got 18" on the ground. I thought it was quite thrilling.

Of course, I don't have to shovel it or drive in it. That might account for my fondness for the white stuff.

And say what you will about Mayor Rahm (and people sure do), he keeps the streets plowed and the sidewalks salted.

3 days

That's how long it's been snowing off and on. I don't know how much has fallen, but it's a lot. Yet it's not an epic storm, like 2011's SNOtoriousBIG. No schools have closed, no drivers have been stranded on Lake Shore Drive. Just lots and lots of the white stuff. Enough snow and cold to make me grateful for the city's network of pedways and my own stocked larder.*

In short, it's winter in Chicagoland.

At least it's gotten people off of Obamacare and that ignorant douchebag from Duck Dynasty. Sometimes I think Mother Nature just does stuff to make us recalibrate when we get too far away from what really matters.

*So I don't need to venture out into the elements for the essentials (Coke, cat litter and Bailey's Irish Cream).

Close to home

I was at my local food pantry Saturday, dropping off a bag of canned goods and mac and cheese and condiments, etc. It's the first time I had been there in a month. I was struck by how busy they were, according to the staff it's the continuing aftermath of February's Big Snow.

Yes, it's melted and gone. But the snow is still making itself felt by families who live paycheck to paycheck -- and missed three days' wages because of the storm. Apparently the more kids a family has, the bigger the impact on the food budget, because these families depend on school lunches and with school closed for three days, they had to pay for three meals/kid themselves.

I know ... I know ... compared to the devastation you see on TV from Japan, this is nothing. At least these folks still have solid ground beneath their feet and roofs over their heads and they know their kids are warm and dry. But these are our neighbors. They still need our help. And we still have kids who need somewhere safe to go after school, veterans who need our support, diseases like diabetes and Parkinson's that require research, and animal shelters that are considered unimportant as budgets -- both governmental and personal -- are slashed. Now, when an earthquake/tsunami is devastating Japan, it's easy to forget about the relentless, day-to-day need here at home.

So I just hope that as you open your hearts and wallets to those in Japan (here's a link for Save the Children and their Earthquake Tsunami Children in Emergency Fund), you don't forget the problems closer to home. I mean, I bet you could toss an extra can of beans or soup into your shopping cart every time you shop without noticing its impact on your bill. Soon you'll have a heavy bag to take to your local food pantry.

On my mind

The national news is full of updates about Egypt. But I'm too preoccupied with news closer to home to even contemplate international unrest. For the snow storm of Tuesday night left most of the businesses around here closed on Wednesday, and the schools remained closed on Thursday, too. And this has caused incremental economic hardship to those who can afford it least.

The people who work in fast food restaurants, retail stores, gas stations, etc., most likely didn't get vacation pay for their unexpected day off. When they went back to work on Thursday, they probably had to find daycare for the young kids who weren't in school.

This time of year is historically hard on food pantries. After Thanksgiving and Christmas, helping the hungry slips people's minds. Plus, when those holiday credit card bills come in, giving anywhere, to any good cause, can feel like an unmanageable budget pinch right now.

Which is why I'm fixating on those right here in town. I took a bag of groceries over to our local food pantry and it was buzzing with activity. I particularly noticed breakfast cereal going out the door at a fast rate.

After I dropped off this month's bag of groceries, I stopped off at the store and did some shopping for myself and began a new bag with a box of Post Alpha Bits (on sale for just $1).

If you have the time, inclination and wherewithal, maybe you can start a bag to help those in your neighborhood.

I Want Wednesday

I want Richard M. Daley to stay Mayor forever!

Last night, when crazy drivers insisted on navigating Lake Shore Drive -- even though we were in the midst of one of the worst blizzards in history and the street is called Lake Shore Drive because it runs along a turbulent GREAT LAKE -- and fender benders stopped traffic, the Chicago Fire Dept. was ready.

It took them about five hours, but firefighters ON SNOWMOBILES rescued literally thousands of people who were stranded in their vehicles on LSD. More than 100 cars and a pair of accordion CTA buses were eventually evacuated and there were no serious injuries.

Today, Lake Shore Drive is closed as the municipal workers try to get all those vehicles to a city college parking lot. But last night, every one was safe.

Take that, New York City!

And Mr. Mayor, I have no doubt (no matter what you say) that this all rebounds to your credit. Please don't leave us!

Reynaldo is confused

He's never seen this much snow accumulate on our 4th floor window sill before.

Uh-oh

Here's something you don't see every day: the roof of Wrigley Field sitting in the snow. That square-ish thing on the left, on the ground beneath the streetlamp, is being referred to as "roofing materials." 55 mph winds will indeed do damage. The reason you only see a squad car and a firetruck is that Addison is now closed.

Twitter is calling this storm SNOtoriousBIG, and now so shall I.

And so it begins

The blizzard they have been warning us about for days has arrived. I left work just before 3:00 and this is how it looked. Now that I'm safe and warm at home, all I can see out my window is white. It coming down so fast and so hard that I can barely see the sky. It's quite exciting!

They say it's snowing at a rate of 2" per hour, which makes it impossible for municipal workers to keep up with. We shouldn't be surprised if we have 2 feet of snow by morning, and with the wind, the drifts will be truly awe inspiring.

Trains are overcrowded. Highways are gridlocked. O'Hare and Midway are virtually closed until Thursday.

Mayor Daley -- God bless him -- says that all we need is common sense and patience. And, may I add, the wisdom to be grateful for TOMORROW'S SNOW DAY!

I'm so tired of being broke

With all the dire predictions of a major snowstorm heading our way, I find myself not worrying about warmth or food. I am sweating how much I'll owe for snow removal over at my mom's house.

"How much I'll owe" ... it's a familiar theme here. I haven't had a raise in more than three years. Yet everything -- insurance, taxes, assessments -- has gone up. Plus I have been spending too much money.

And I simply must stop.

I have a cushion in that my mortgage is paid through August. I've done that intentionally in case I lose my job. I may find myself skipping my next payment and using that money to pay down my credit cards. Gulp.

I am so sick of worrying about money.