Sunday Stealing

The $80,000 Meme

Premise: A philanthropist awards you $80,000 with the stipulation that you must spend half on yourself and half for the benefit of others. 

1. Of the $40,000 you must spend on yourself: 

a. First you throw yourself a lavish birthday party. Tell us about it. This is hard because it's not something I can imagine myself doing. Also, my friends tend to be in factions. For example, my friends Nancy and Paul have never met my friend Elaine. So I think what I would rather do is plan a getaway with just one friend and do New York right. Starting with first class airfare to and fro. We'll each have our own room at The Four Seasons, have spa treatments right there in the hotel, then go to a Broadway show. Dinner at Sardi's because that just sounds so glam. I'd love to see a game at Yankee Stadium, too.

b. Then you take off on a cruise. Where are you headed? I'm not really attracted to the idea of a cruise, either. But I know I'd enjoy the TCM Classic Cruise because it's all about the movies. Because money is no object, I'm booking a deluxe oceanview stateroom all to myself.

2. Of the $40,000 you must spend for the benefit of others: 

a. Who would be on your gift list? What would buy them? I'd love to help my oldest friend find a new living arrangement and get her healthcare ironed out. Her life is a mess, and it would be great if my money could help her find her way out.

b. Which charities would you support? Oh, wouldn't this be fun? I think what I would like to do is sponsor shelter animals. So many organizations have dogs and cats that have been there forever and are, let's face it, not going to be adopted. They're too old, they aren't cute, they have chronic medical issues ... I would find tremendous satisfaction in providing these animals with safety and comfort for life, and enabling the shelters to use their resources to helping more dogs and cats.

 

 

Saturday 9

Saturday 9: This Is A Very Special Day (1953)

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

1) In this song, Peggy sings that she feels good enough to climb a hill. Will you be doing anything athletic today? Just my morning stretches. I may go for a walk later, depending on the heat/humidity.

2) However she was also tempted to climb back in bed. Is a nap in your plans for today? Yes. I'm off to the vet first thing Saturday morning. Even though it's just a check up for my boy cat, it's stressful for both of us and we will likely both benefit from napping.

3) She tells us that she looked in the mirror and told herself it was time to "lose the blues." Do you ever speak outloud to yourself? Not to myself. But I speak to the TV all the time. Especially during Cub games.

4) Peggy wrote this song for the 1953 remake of The Jazz Singer. She performs it in the movie, too. In the 1950s, female singer-songwriters were unusual, but not so today. Can you think of another woman who not only sings but writes her own material? Carole King is the first one to pop into my head.

5) Her co-star in the film was Danny Thomas. Today he is best remembered as a philanthropist and founder of St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, but he was quite a star in his day. He appeared in nightclubs and movie musicals and, from 1954 to 1963, had his own sitcom. Do you know the show? Make Room for Daddy. I saw the daytime reruns when I was home sick or off for the summer. It was one of the few sitcoms where the family lived in an apartment, which seemed quite exotic to little me, who was used to the suburbs and ranch houses and lawns. Hans Conreid played Danny's Uncle Tonoose. He was from "the old country," ate goat cheese and bragged he was "strong, like bull." I was always happy when Uncle Tonoose showed up.

6) When Peggy Lee was trying to break into show business, she supported herself as a short order cook. She was required to turn orders around quickly. Are you fast and efficient in the kitchen? I don't believe I am fast and efficient anywhere.

7) Just when her career started to take off, Peggy had to take a break when she had her tonsils removed. Do you still have your tonsils? Yes.

8) In 1953, when this record was released, Matchbox Cars were introduced and they remain popular today. Did you ever play with Matchbox Cars? No. My parents were very traditional when it came to "girl's toys" and "boy's toys," and never the twain shall meet.

9) Random question: You're walking past a filthy puddle. Floating on top you see a dead bug, a cigarette butt, and a $1 bill. Would you bend over and rescue the dollar? I don't know. Maybe. I'll be honest, though, cigarette butts creep me out.

 

 

Sunday Stealing

4th of July Questions

 
1) If you could attend a 4th of July fireworks display anywhere in the United States, where would you choose? I hate to sound poopy, but I have no interest in watching the fireworks at a major event. I did that once, years and years ago. My friend Kathy and I went to Navy Pier to see the fireworks over Lake Michigan and they were pretty and all. But we had to get there really early – hours early – to be able to sit. On the cement. We were stuck there because if we got up we'd lose our place. On the cement. The show itself lasted 15 minutes. It was cool to see the colors reflected on the Lake. But it wasn't worth it. Where I live now, I can see the fireworks display from the suburb 3 miles southwest. All I have to do is look out my living room window. I know it's a mundane answer, but I'm good with this.

2) What book are you currently reading? Trail of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz. It's 5th in this series of entertaining cozy mysteries about a quirky family of private investigators. I'm enjoying it immensely.

3) What have you been listening to? Lots o' podcasts, Cubs-Cardinals.

 4) What shows or movies have you been watching? This weekend I'm going Presidential. I've found documentaries about FDR and JFK on Hulu. Then I'll watch Daniel Day Lewis as Lincoln. All these programs have two things in common: the participation of historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, who is my imaginary BFF, and they reassure me we can do better than the orange-hued convicted felon who tore down the East Wing and made a shit-ton on bitcoin.

 

Gratitude Challenge: Day 16

I first took this challenge in November 2014 and I think now is a good time to revisit it. Click here for a list of the Gratitude Challenge prompts.

Day 16: Something that makes me laugh Today I am grateful for the gang from Central Perk. I switched from the rather disappointing (Col 5 - Cubs 2) game to the Friends marathon on Nick at Nite and I was happy again. 

 

 

Gratitude Challenge: Day 15

I first took this challenge in November 2014 and I think now is a good time to revisit it. Click here for a list of the Gratitude Challenge prompts.

Day 15: Music "Go, Cubs, go! Go, Cubs, go! Hey, Chicago, what do you say? The Cubs are gonna win today." And they did win today. 30,000+ fans at the ballpark sang the song. I sang along at home. I am grateful that we have a song to sing when we win. It's ours and I love it.

 

 

Gratitude Challenge: Day 14

I first took this challenge in November 2014 and I think now is a good time to revisit it. Click here for a list of the Gratitude Challenge prompts.

Day 14: Color Today I'm grateful for all the rain we've had lately because everything is so green. I took advantage of the break in the heat and humidity to take a long walk. As I listened to the Cubs game, I was positively enchanted by the leaves, the lawns and the shrubs. Now if only the game had ended differently.

 

 

 

Gratitude Challenge – Day 10

I first took this challenge in November 2014 and I think now is a good time to revisit it. Click here for a list of the Gratitude Challenge prompts.

Day 10: Quiet I am defining this as "uneventful," and I'm grateful then for this quiet evening. The weather here has been humid and turbulent and I don't care for it. I had a productive shift at the store – we exceeded our sales goal and while that's a good thing, it means I was "on" for the whole time, which exhausts me. So I was happy to pick up an early dinner on the way home, lock the door, and stay put. Just me and the cats. Decompressing as we watch the weather, the Cub game (my heroes won!) and this week's classic film. 

Gratitude Challenge: Day 6

I first took this challenge in November 2014 and I think now is a good time to revisit it. Click here for a list of the Gratitude Challenge prompts.

Day 6: Hobbies Is baseball my hobby, or is it my passion? Today's Cub game was thrilling. Down 2-1 with two outs in the 9th, Pete Crow-Armstrong got the home run that sent it into extra innings. My heroes in Cubbie blue ended up prevailing 3-2. 

I am grateful that I have something so accessible that brings me so much joy.

Thursday Thirteen #464

 

 

 

Greetings from the dark side. I love Chicagoland. I'm its biggest cheerleader. We have a Great Lake, four seasons, the Cubs, reliable public transportation, broad front lawns, world class theater, museums and restaurants ... I don't know why anyone lives anywhere else.

 

But when things around here get dark, they go inky black. Here are 13 times the Chicagoland area garnered national attention for something other than Michael Jordan. 

 

1. H. H. Holmes. (1890s) America's first serial killer targeted women during Chicago World's Fair in 1893. He was the subject of the best-selling book Devil in the White City. I started to read that book but got too scared.

 

2. The Black Sox Scandal (1919).  Members of the Chicago White Sox threw the World Series. They were paid by bookies to let the Cincinnati Reds win. A national loss of innocence and baseball's original sin. Players can come back from a lot – including alcohol, drugs and domestic violence – but not gambling. The stain is so great that when my grandfather came over from Germany and landed in Chicago more than a decade later, he became our family's first Cubs fan. As Cub fans we've watched as much bad baseball as good, but we've all always trusted that the games were honest. 

 

3. Leopold and Loeb. (1924) Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb were two University of Chicago students who killed a 14-year-old boy just to prove they could. They believed they were so brilliant that a) they were entitled to do it and b) they could get away with it. While they were certainly depraved, they were not criminal masterminds. It took the Chicago Police less than 10 days to solve the crime, even with 1920s-era forensics. Legal genius Clarence Darrow famously saved them from the gallows. This case has inspired everyone from Alfred Hitchcock (Rope) to TV's Columbo to Sandra Bullock and Ryan Gosling (Murder by Numbers).

 

4. St. Valentine's Day Massacre. (1929) Seven mobsters were lined up in front of a garage wall and executed by rival gangsters, masquerading as Chicago cops. Now here is where Al Capone differs from Leopold and Loeb (see above). Though it's universally understood that Capone was responsible, no one – not even any low-level members of his gang – went to trial for the murders. They not only left no witnesses, there was no physical evidence to tie the crime back to Al (who was vacationing in Florida at the time). 

 

5. John Dillinger. (1934) John Dillinger became a national folk hero for robbing banks and eluding law enforcement. The FBI gunned him down in front of The Biograph Theater, burnishing J. Edgar Hoover's legend. (Though I find it more than a little disturbing that agents engaged him in a shootout on a city street.)

 

6. Richard Speck. (1966) Oh! The nightmares little me had about Richard Speck! He broke into a dormitory and killed 8 of the 9 student nurses living there. He used a gun to force them into a bedroom where bound and gagged them, taking them one by one to another room to strangle or stab them. He unwittingly left a witness. He was so high he lost track of how many he held captive and how many he killed. Corazon Amurao slid under the bed and stayed perfectly still and silent for hours. I didn't have to look up her name, since I'll never forget her. When morning came, she wriggled out from under the bed and screamed out the window until help arrived. She described Speck in detail to police, including his "Born to Raise Hell" tattoo. During the citywide manhunt, he attempted suicide and she was taken to the hospital to identify him, and that tattoo. She faced him again in court. A new immigrant from the Philippines, she endured terror I can't imagine and behaved courageously, impeccably, to bring him to justice. I know she went back home, where she became a nurse, a wife, and a local politician. I pray she found peace.

 

7. The Democratic National Convention. (1968) This is when the phrase "Daley Cop" was born. Mayor Richard J. Daley (aka "Da Mare" or "King Richard I") was completely freaked out by the notion of protesters disrupting the Convention. So what did he do? Deployed literally tens of thousands of cops and National Guardsmen. Anti-war protesters were roughed up. McCarthy delegates were roughed up. Even CBS correspondent Dan Rather was roughed up. Now I don't mean to imply that the all the protesters were "angels" – that was the phrase: "it's not like they were angels." A lot of what they did was really gross (I remember there was proud public peeing). But what the country saw on TV was police brutality, and it did happen. Way too often. The DNC didn't hold another convention here until 1996. 

 

8. John Wayne Gacy. (1970s) John Wayne Gacy was a contractor who killed at least 33 people. Twenty-nine of his victims were found decomposing in the crawlspace under his home. (Hence the local joke: How's the weather at Gacy's house? 29 below.) Gacy lured young men and some boys still in their teens to his home with whatever it took. Some were promised booze or drugs, others money in exchange for sex, some thought they interviewing for summer construction jobs. Then he raped and killed them. In real time, this case sensitized me to LGBTQ issues. Gacy was able to carry on like this for years because some of the boys were gay runaways disowned by parents who never reported them as missing. Some bodies were identified but never claimed. That's how appalling parents can be when it comes to a child's sexuality. Better dead than gay. Yes, Gacy is the one who killed them and he was a monster. But these parents! How very Christian to deny your child a Christian burial. 

 

9. Patty Columbo. (1976) Patty was a pretty 19-year-old with feathered Farrah hair who seduced an older man and got him to help her kill her parents and her 13-year-old brother so she could inherit all the money. Because she appeared so normal, and the crime took place in a lily white village where brutality just doesn't happen, the nation was riveted. Patty and I are approximately the same age, and my family had a connection to the case – my mother's high school classmate was her public defender. My mom had some very juicy gossip about it that I shant repeat here but Patty was not a nice girl, nor was she especially sorry when not in front of the jury. She is still serving her 200 year sentence. I don't believe in the death penalty, but I'm fine with her staying exactly where she is.

 

10. Helen Brach. (1977) The Brach fortune was built on candy corn, and Helen inherited a ton from her late husband, Frank Brach. When she was in her 60s, she went to The Mayo Clinic for her annual check up but never returned to her mansion. She never got on a plane. She didn't rent a car or take the train. She just POOF! Vanished. No body has ever been found. She had been seduced – sexually and financially – by an unsavory man who got her to invest heavily in race horses that weren't worth anything. After she dumped him, she was never seen again. It's presumed that he disposed of her before she could file charges, but this has never been proven. He did serve time for defrauding her, but no body has been found and no one has been held responsible for her murder. Law & Order corrected that, though. Jack McCoy get a conviction in an episode that tracked very closely with Helen's case. 

 

11. Tylenol. (1982) Every time you wrestle to open your OTC meds, think of Chicago. Somebody tampered with Tylenol capsules and put the bottles back on store shelves throughout the area. Seven people – including a little girl – died of cyanide poisoning. No motive was ever established, no one ever went to trial for these unsolved murders. But you feel the effect of it today. First of all, there are fewer powder-filled capsules and more solid tablets on store shelves. Then there's the packaging. Now boxes are sealed shut and foil has been added to the mouth of each bottle so it's evident if it's been tampered with.

 

12. Jon Burge. (1980s-1990s) A very bad cop. This police commander participated in or approved the torture of suspects that resulted in over 100 false confessions. Men in his custody were beaten, burned with cigarettes and shocked with a cattle prod. I have a personal connection to this case, too. My dear friend John served on a jury that sentenced a man to death for murdering four people one night in 1984. John was raised Catholic and imposing the death sentence weighed heavily on his conscience. Still, he reasoned, the law is the law and the defendant had confessed! Well, guess what: That confession came after hours of torture at the hands of Burge himself, who applied electric shocks to the balls. (Yes, you read that right.) Fortunately Burge was brought to justice and the ten (10!) men put on Death Row by Burge were pardoned. But that trial, and his role in it, really messed with my friend John. Imagine walking around knowing you could have helped put an innocent man to death. John was a victim of Burge's, too. There's such a ripple effect to these stories. PS The phrase "Daley Cop" resurfaced when Burge's bad deeds were revealed in the 1990s, for Richard M. Daley, aka King Richard II, was Mayor at the time.

 

13. Heather Mack. (2014) A teenage girl doesn’t want to wait to control her $1 million trust fund. So she brings her boyfriend, Tommy, along on a vacation with her widowed mother. Destination: Bali. Explanations for what happened next differ, but this is indisputable – Mom's bloody body was stuffed into a suitcase and left in Balinese taxi as Heather and Tommy tried to return to Chicago. The body was discovered before they could board their flight. To make matters juicier, Heather announces she's pregnant. Tommy thinks he's being a stand-up guy by saying he acted alone but no one believes him. Both were tried and sentenced to an Indonesian prison, where Heather's baby was born. This story is ongoing, and if you're interested, just plug her name into the Google Machine or ask the AI of your choice. I'm just so sick of Heather!

How about your town? Do you have a hall of shame?

Please join us for THURSDAY THIRTEEN. Click here to play along, and to see other interesting compilations of 13 things.

 

It wasn't all movies

I socialized quite a bit when I was in Hollywood for the TCM Film Festival. I enjoyed it, and I learned a lot from it.

Spending time at Mel's. This iconic diner, right off Hollywood Blvd., is very convenient to both the festival and my hotel. I had two rather important meals there. 

The first was dinner with my oldest friend's daughter. I held her as a baby and now she's a tall, willowy woman. She's got a good job she enjoys with an LA ophthalmologist and lives with Jose, the 30-something she brought along. I was glad he was there. Her mother is a mess and it was valuable to hear his take, which is more objective than her daughter's or mine. Some of what he told me was legit disturbing – maybe I'll post about it later, maybe I won't – but it was important for me to hear. This situation is bad and my ability to impact it is maddeningly limited. I have to accept that, and try not be sucked into my friend's crazy.

I was happy to see that my friend's daughter and Jose are committed to one another and are really working at their relationship. They have even taken a couples' vacation to Vegas with her dad! I admit I never liked her father, but that's not the point. It's completely natural for her to want to have a relationship with him, and I think it's great that Jose encourages her in this while also supporting efforts to help her troubled mother.

Then there was "the kick-off breakfast." A rather tight group of TCMFF regulars meets on the first morning of the festival to catch up on their lives and compare notes on what they're looking forward to in the festival line-up. Last year I happened upon it rather accidentally. It meant a lot to me that this year I was specifically included. That felt good. Especially because of Doug. He's the husband of Laura, a passionate baseball fan like me only she roots for the Dodgers. I respect her commitment as she does mine and we have a nice time together. Doug has always been another kettle of fish. First of all, he loves John Wayne, Clint Eastwood and all that toxic masculinity. Online, he almost shits a brick when Jane Fonda's name comes up (and it comes up rather often in classic film discussion groups). And, during the first year of the festival after covid, he mocked those of us who wore masks (as per the rules) "sheeple." 

The thing of it is, last year he got such a kick out of listening to his wife and I fan girl over baseball that he actually now looks forward to seeing me. He hugged me every time we ran into each other throughout the festival. He gave me a pin. It's some cowboy actor I couldn't identify but that's not the point, he wanted me to have it. We even had a fun time together in line later, waiting to see Modern Times.  

Do I agree with Doug on just about anything? No. But this turn of events makes me happy. It's better to have someone out there liking me than disliking me.

Gazing upon the fountains.  There's a restaurant called La Piazza at The Grove shopping center in Los Angeles. The Italian food is very good – I had carbonara – and it was nice to dine outdoors. 

My lunch partner was Tina. We worked together a million years ago, back during the Clinton administration. She now lives outside Los Angeles and is happy to see me and get a little dose of Chicago when I come out for TCM.

I'm always surprised and gratified that she enjoys spending time with me. It reminds me of the olden days, when I was the "go-to" girl at the center of every project at the advertising agency. That's how Tina still sees me. She always was and still is gorgeous – thick black hair down her back, great clothes, slim figure. In the looks arena, she always intimidated me. But her career never really took off and after she had her first baby, she left the workforce. She and her husband are still together after all these years – no mean feat – and their two kids are both embarking on careers, so I don't think she regrets her choice at all. Yet she told me that her daughter asked who mom was dining with today and she described me as "super talented" and said she admired me. Wow. And here I thought I was a fat spinster who sold candles at a card shop, while Tina is living the LA lifestyle! 

There's a lesson in there somewhere. 

 

Sunday Stealing

Thursday Thunks

1. Is there anyone whose home you enter without knocking? Does anyone (who doesn't live with you) have permission to enter your home without knocking? No, not since my mom died.

2. Tell us about a school trip you took. In February 1968, little 4th grade me and my classmates took a long bus ride from our suburban school parking lot to Chicago's Art Institute. It was thrilling. For me, it wasn't so much about the artwork as the beehive of activity that was downtown Chicago. I fell in love that day. Imagine my terror when I watched those same city streets on my family's living room TV, overcome with rioters and violence – first in April, after Dr. King's assassination, and then over the summer during the infamous 1968 Democratic convention. The televised upheaval of 1968 – assassinations, riots, Vietnam – marked me like my vaccination scar. I warn parents to be very careful how much news their little ones see, and to be sure to put it in some real context. My mom did the best the she could, but I don't think she comprehended how much I was taking in and how it scared me.

3. Name three things within arm's reach right now (but they can't relate to your phone, computer or laptop). My glasses, my cat Connie (who is demanding a snuggle), the TV remote.

4. Weather permitting, do you dry your clothes outdoors on a clothesline? No. I don't have a yard or a private porch.

5. If every flower in the world only bloomed in one color, what color would you like to see? Pantone 294. Wouldn't the world be beautiful if it was all Cubbie blue?

 

Saturday 9

 
Saturday 9: Good (1995)

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

1) This song begins with a guy realizing he's home alone. Do you enjoy being all by yourself? Yes. It rejuvenates me.

2) He watches the sun throwing shadows on the floor. Which room in your home lets in the most sun? The living room with its big, west-facing windows.

3) He sings that he may write a letter to his ex. If you were inspired to send someone a handwritten message, do you have stationery or notecards on hand? What about first-class postage stamps? Yes. I like writing letters and sending cards. BTW, one of the things I like best about Downton Abbey is how everyone is always getting important news via handwritten letter.

4) This week's band, Better Than Ezra, got their start in Baton Rouge. All the members attended LSU and played their first gig at Murphy's, a bar near campus. When you were in your early 20's, where did you and your friends go to socialize? Monk's Pub on Lake and Wells under the el tracks. I'm glad it's still there and just as divey as ever, giving a new generation a place to misspend their hours after work.

   

5) While the band refuses to disclose the origin of their name, many assume the "Ezra" they refer to is poet Ezra Pound. Do you often read poetry? Nope.

6) In 1995, when this song was popular, Michael Jordan "unretired" and returned to the Chicago Bulls. Tell us about a decision you wish you could undo. Nothing big. I just wish I'd taken better care of my teeth years ago. I'd be a healthier, wealthier woman today.

7) Also in 1995, Phoebe Buffay first performed "Smelly Cat." Do you recall what show she sang on? Friends.

8) Legendary New York Yankee Mickey Mantle died in 1995. How is your team doing so far this young baseball season? For the first two weeks of the season, I was resigned to mediocrity. Then BAM! Pitchers came off the injured list and the bats woke up. And will you just look at this! We're in first place and have won 10 in a row! I love the Cubs win or lose, but I gotta admit, winning is better.

 

9) Random question: What's in your garage, besides your car (lawn tools, holiday decorations, old paint cans, etc.)? I don't have a garage, which is probably a good thing because I'm sure I would fill it with crap. I seem destined to clutter.

 

The Podcast Post

I mentioned that I listened to many podcasts, and both Country Dew and Kwizgiver asked which ones. I've never listed them out like this before, and as I review them it looks like a lot. 

Here they are, listed by how I prioritize them. 

The Daily Beast. I love Joanna Coles, chief content officer for The Daily Beast. She's replaced Nora Ephron as the sister I believe the universe meant for me to have. She knows fashion (former editor of Marie Claire, and I love how she pairs graphic tees with blazers), pop culture (former editor of Cosmopolitan), politics and media (New York magazine). She's so smart and sophisticated and witty and I wish she would take me under her wing over happy hour at some chic water hole. These podcasts make me feel I'm getting the inside stuff about Trump's America from the most connected people.

The Lovable Reunion. My all-time favorite-most ballplayer and all-around 14K human begin, Anthony Rizzo,  is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Cubs World Series win by interviewing all this teammates, coaches and manager Joe Maddon (see below). Rizzo tells the story of how the Cubs went from "lovable losers" to world champions the way he does everything: with joy and good will. I'm surprised by how often Rizz says "fuck." I'm not judging, considering I toss f-bombs freely. It just always gives me pause.

The Book of Joe. Former Cubs manager and genuinely original thinker Joe Maddon and SI's Tom Verducci talk baseball ... and how analytics dominate all aspects of our lives ... and Seinfeld reruns ... and whatever pops into that funhouse that is Joe's head.  

The Rest Is Politics (US). The Rest Is Politics has been a popular podcast in the UK for a while, and Katty Kay and Anthony Scaramucci have launched it here. Katty Kay is well-informed and polished. Anthony Scaramucci cracks me up (though I don't know that he intends to). I believe I understand the world better after I listen to them.

Two Angry Men. Harvey Levin of TMZ and superlawyer Mark Geragos take on legal cases in the news. I am always surprised by how smart and sensitive Levin is and I appreciated his coverage of Nancy Guthrie and Rob Reiner.

Please note: I am not recommending these podcasts. While I find them entertaining and credible and quality, they reflect my passions, and I don't expect everyone to enjoy them.

 

The boys were back in town!

 

I spent two glorious days among the faithful. I wore my Grandma's vintage Ryne Sandberg jersey over my 2016 BRYZZO (Bryant/Rizzo) shirt and carried my Cubs purse. There are places where that would be too much. The official Cubs Convention at the Sheraton Grand was not one of them. 

•  Stood close enough to touch the newest Cub, superstar third baseman Alex Bregman. He's smaller than I expected. (His baseball card says he's 5'11, but I don't believe it.) But positive and friendly and nerdy-smart about hitting. I loved listening to him.

•  Checked out our middle infielders, Nico Hoerner and Dansby Swanson. Our Butch and Sundance. They are so cute, so funny, and so good. They're both Gold Glovers!

 

 • Excited by how excited Cubs fans are by PCA, the electric Pete Crow-Armstrong. That charming kid is our superstar, clearly the successor to Anthony Rizzo in the hearts of the faithful. He's clever, too. Though born and raised in Southern California, he wore his Bears cap all weekend.

•  Made peace with Clark, the Cubs mascot. Frankly, he's always annoyed me, but seeing him interact with very young fans changed my mind. 

•  Best of all, there was the 2016 Reunion! We celebrated our World Series Champs. I got to see former manager Joe Maddon, who I adore, in his first official Cubs appearance since he was let go in 2019. I was impressed – but not surprised – by how gracious he was. And of course, there was my all-time favorite-most player, Anthony Rizzo! I went to all four of his events, including his grand entrance holding the World Series trophy over his head. Like old Joe, he's retired now but happy and living his best life. My baseball heroes never stop teaching me by example.

 

 

Saturday 9

Saturday 9: Volare (1960)

 

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

1) The word "volare" is Italian for "to fly." Say something else in Italian. "Cantare" means "sing." It's in the next line of the song. Duh. (Since I'm the one who does the questions, I can make a smartass response with complete impunity.)

2) This week, Bobby Rydell invites us to take off with him up in the clouds and promises we'll find a rainbow. Countless lyricists have included rainbows in their songs. Can you name another song that mentions rainbows? I have loved this song since I first saw Ski Party on the after school movie when I was a little girl. I have spent much of my adult life on public transportation. I can attest that the movie misled me and this never, ever happens on buses in real life.

 

 

 

3) His happy heart is singing. What is making you happy this morning? I just learned that my beloved Joe Maddon is returning to Chicago for next weekend's Cubs Convention. He was manager of the magic 2016 World Series team but has not appeared at anything Cubs related since management fired his ass declined to renew his contract. I get such a kick out of old Joe and am looking forward to seeing him as part of the convention. (Rizzo will be there, too! My heart is not only singing. It's spinning around like Julie Andrews on a mountaintop.)

 

4) Bobby Rydell, like Frankie Avalon and Fabian, was a 1950s teen idol who hailed from Philadelphia. Home to the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, Philly is Pennsylvania's most populous city. Have you ever been there? Many times. I was once in a long-distance relationship and came dangerously close to moving to Bala Cynwyd, a suburb less than half an hour outside Philly.

 

5) Bobby was such a perfect example of a clean-cut American boy that when Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey sat down to write the play Grease, they named their fictional high school Rydell High after him. Do you have a favorite song from Grease? Wella wella wella uh! Summer Lovin'.

 

6) In addition to singing, Bobby also acted. His most famous film role was opposite Ann-Margret in Bye, Bye, Birdie (1963). Have you seen it? Yes, but I don't think of it a an Ann-Margret/Bobby Rydell movie. I remember it for this Dick Van Dyke musical number. (We sang it for our fathers at the annual Girl Scout Daddy/Daughter Dinner.)

 

 

 

7) In 1960, when this record was popular, so were hand-loomed, 100% virgin wool sweaters from Italy. You could order one from the Sears catalog for $12.60 (approx. $135 in today's dollars). That sweater was labeled "dry clean only." Do you have any garments waiting to be picked up from the cleaners? Nope. Since I retired from advertising, I seldom wear those grown up/suitable for big presentations/dry clean only jackets. I really should donate them to Goodwill before they go too far out of style.

 
8) Also in 1960, Princess Margaret married photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones. They met when he was commissioned to take her official portrait. Who took the most recent photo of you? My niece took a freaking adorable photo of me with her baby on Christmas morning. I told her that from now on, she does all my portraits.

 

9) Random question: Is your oldest friend also your best friend? Not anymore. This makes me sad because we met in kindergarten and, for more than 40 years, we were best friends. But she has changed and while my heart goes out to her and I work to understand the financial, physical and emotional challenges she has faced since moving to Los Angeles in 2011, I can't honestly even refer to us as friends anymore. That implies an equal partnership she is simply incapable of. I legitimately cannot recall the last time we talked about anything but her: her anxieties, her money troubles, her (completely one-sided) "love affair" with her landlord ... It's depressing and exhausting. Every time she reaches out, I respond because I love her and honor our history. But I'd by lying if I didn't admit I emit a heavy sigh and wonder, "Now, what?" when I see a message from her.

 

 

Thursday Thirteen #444

 

 My favorite books of 2025. I plowed through 41 books this year. These are the ones I liked best. I recommend them all, and have included links to Amazon, if you'd like to learn more.

1. Trial by Ambush: Injustice and the Truth about the Case of Barbara Graham by Marcia Clark. (2024) Non-fiction. Barbara Graham was one of the first – and still one of the few – women to be executed by the State of California. She may not have received justice. That's the problem with the death penalty: there's no mulligan. This book is continues to haunt me.

2. The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue. (2024) Fiction. Remember that magic time of your life, when you were in your 20s and out on your own for the first time and met the friends who would be with you forever? This book captures that time so well. There's sex and chaos and money trouble and heartache. And love. Lots of love.

3. JFK Jr.: An Intimate Oral Biography by RoseMarie Terenzio. (2024) Non fiction. Decades after his death, John's friends look back on his life and his continuing influence on their lives. What's it like to grow up with and hang out with The Sexiest Man Alive? There was an inherent imbalance of power in his  relationships that John learned to navigate with grace. He also died recklessly and caused his friends incalculable pain for no good reason. I took comfort reading how his survivors continue to deal with this. I was especially heartened by something a priest said to Ann Freeman, the mother who lost two of her daughters in that pointless plane crash: "God is big enough to handle our anger." I must remember that when I get mad because my friends – John and Henry – died and left me.

4. Competing with Idiots: Herman and Joe Mankiewicz, a Dual Portrait by Nick Davis. (2021) Biography. These two brothers made some of the greatest films of all time (Citizen Kane, All About Eve, and more) and won so many Oscars I lost count. But at heart this is a family story. The author is Herman's grandson/Joe's great-nephew. Genius, ambition and depression run deep in this clan, and on a less grand scale in many families.  

5. One Perfect Couple by Ruth Ware. (2024) Thriller. One Perfect Couple is the name of a prospective new reality show. Five couples are chosen to appear in the pilot and are whisked away to Ever After Island, where they will compete for fame and prizes and the title of One Perfect Couple. Only a storm knocks out power to the island and leaves the contestants cut off from civilization. Part Lord of the Flies, part ... And Then There Were None. Compulsively readable.

6. So, Anyway ... A Memoir by John Cleese. (2014) My favorite Python tells his story and I was completely charmed. Far sweeter than I expected. His career seems to have been a delightful accident, surprising him as he bounced from job to job and eventually became a star. I especially enjoyed his tales of being a teacher at the same boys' school he had attended. (Yes, there are men out there who had Basil Fawlty as their teacher!) 

7. Curse of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz. (2009) Mystery. I am rereading this mystery series before rehoming them, and Book 2 is even better than I remembered. The Spellmans are a family of private investigators in San Francisco and they are a hilarious mess. The characters are drawn with great humor and affection and the plot had a very interesting twist.

8. Dark City Dames by Eddie Muller. (2025) Non fiction. Hollywood has created many great stars. These aren't them. Eddie gives us actresses who worked regularly and appeared in some very good films noir and crime dramas in the 1940s and 1950s. The femme fatale roles dried up and then what? These women were survivors who had fascinating second acts: raising families, doing charity work, battling illness ... Ann Savage memorably took the bus every day to an LA law office where she did clerical work. Her coworkers had no idea they could see this quiet old lady lure men to their deaths on The Late Show. I loved the stories of their lives.

9. Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen. (2017) Memoir. As candid as it is intense, The Boss puts the story of his life out there for us to learn from. He is talented, hard-working, driven ... and bedeviled by depression that sapped him creatively, spiritually and sexually. A moving story of hard won success – in both his personal and professional lives. I know more about a hero than I dreamed I would, and he remains a hero. 

10. Richard Nixon: The Life by John A. Farrell. (2017) Biography. President Bill Clinton said in the eulogy of his predecessor, we must "remember Richard Nixon's life in totality." This book does that. As we all know from Watergate, Vietnam and his trashing of Helen Gahagan Douglas, Nixon was amoral, expedient, and when desperate, prone to reckless decision making. He did not have the temperament to be President. But he was brilliant and resilient and not without empathy. I was touched by how distraught he was by the killings at Kent State and how kind and sensitive he was to Jacqueline Onassis when she brought her children back to the White House for a private unveiling of their father's Presidential portrait. It's impossible to imagine such dimension in the current occupant of the 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. I am grateful that John Farrell introduced me to new facets of a man I thought I knew.

11. Leo Durocher: Baseball's Prodigal Son by Paul Dickson. (2017) Biography. God, Leo was a big personality! He was the manager of my beloved Cubs when I was a little girl and I thought he was terrifying. I still do. The man bullied Babe Ruth, swung with Sinatra, helped integrate baseball (thereby helping to integrate America) and could be completely charming and thoroughly despicable, sometimes on the same page. I didn't like him, but I missed him when the book was over. The man was a force of nature. 

12. Pete Rose: An American Dilemma by Kostya Kennedy. (2014) Biography. Baseball has given us many heroes, but for some reason this year I gravitated toward the bad boys. Written when Pete Rose was still alive and fighting to get into the Hall of Fame, this book is fair and even handed. It gives us a great ball player and an incredibly flawed human being. At a time when companies like Draft Kings sponsor sporting events, when Donald Trump has normalized vulgarity, Pete Rose and what he represented deserve closer examination. A well-written, quintessentially American story.

13. How I Helped OJ Get Away with Murder by Mike Gilbert. (2008) Non fiction. What if your friend did something terrible? Mike Gilbert tells his story, of how as OJ's sports agent he made the decision to stand by "The Juice" during The Trial of the Century. I found Gilbert unlikable, but the book is thought provoking. Regardless of how you feel about Gilbert individually, he presents his side in such a way that you'll wonder what you would do in his position. 

Happy New Year! 

I wish you a 2026 fill with good reads.

Please join us for THURSDAY THIRTEEN. Click here to play along, and to see other interesting compilations of 13 things.