As I said on 10/09/07 ....

"You say it's your birthday. It's my birthday, too, yeah."

No, it's not my birthday. But it would be his, were he still with us. Happy birthday, John.

He was a giant, and his career cast a long shadow over music, over his generation, and over me personally. John was never one of those artists who was afraid to let his world view inform his art. He was aware that there were those out there who just wanted him to stay a "mop top" forever, to do fun music that didn't make them think. But he understood that the role of the artist always has been to challenge the status quo. I loved him for his uncompromising courage in this area.

Just because he knew how to articulate what he saw around him and set it to music doesn't mean that's all he did. Not by a long shot. Now that I've given him his props for his message music, I want to shine a spotlight on one of my favorite (and lesser known) Lennon CDs, Rock'n Roll. If this CD has a message, it's simply that early rock can fill us all with joy. I still miss the old boy, but I'm grateful I can still hear these 13 songs through my iPod headphones whenever I feel like celebrating his life.

1. Be-Bop-A-Lula
2. Stand by Me
3. Medley: Rip it up/Ready Teddy
4. You Can't Catch Me
5. Ain't That a Shame
6. Do You Want to Dance?
7. Sweet Little Sixteen
8. Slippin' and Slidin'
9. Peggy Sue
10. Medley: Bring It on Home to Me/Send Me Some Lovin'
11. Bony Maronie
12. Ya Ya
13. Just Because

October Challenge -- Day 9

Today's October Daily Prompt: Sweater Weather

I bought this Eileen Fisher sweater about a decade ago. (Mine is lilac.) It's beautifully made and timelessly styled and, alas, now way-way too small for me. Since I paid nearly $100 for it -- even on sale back in 200X -- I can't stand the idea of it going to Goodwill and selling for $5.

That's why I'm so happy I can ship it off to my niece. She looooves thrift shop/second hand shopping and so wearing a hand-me-down won't bother her. And since I love this soft and pretty sweater so much, I'm glad it will stay in the family.

Off to Michigan with you!

Sunday Stealing

Wish List Meme, part one

1.) What are 3 things on your Wish list and why?  a. A World Series appearance by my beloved Cubs, because it would make me happy  b. To get good news from my friend Barb, who owns two homes in Hilton Head, because she deserves some good news  c. To learn that the lottery ticket in my wallet is worth $8 million, because duh.

2.) Do you miss your childhood? No. I try to concentrate on the good things, but it really wasn't a great childhood.

3.) What do you do on your spare time on the weekends? This. Movies. Laundry/errands. Recharging.

4.) What do you appreciate most in your life? I've got books and cats.

5.) Would you rather be rich or healthy? Yes, please.

6.) If you could go back in time would you and why? I would love to go back in time because I fantasize that cowboys were hot. I'd love to be able to come back in case they weren't.

7.) Favorite game as a child? I liked playing on the swings. As far as board games go, I enjoyed Sorry!

8.) What is your dream career? Retiring wealthy.

9.) What do you do in your free time? Watch movies, read, fart around on the internet.

10.) Favorite clothing stores? Carson's (maybe it's Bergner's in your part of the country) or Macy's.

11.) What TV shows can't you live without? Morning Joe, NCIS, and the new This is Us


12.) 3 things you need in your life are: The Cubs, the Beatles, my cats

13.) What can't you sleep without? Nothing. I can sleep easily on buses and trains.

14.) Who do you have a celebrity crush on? Mark Harmon.

15.) What is your Favorite Season and why? Autumn. The MLB playoffs and my birthday. What's not to love?

16.) What is your Favorite Wild Animal? Okapis.

We're awesome! Learn about us here.

17.) Name 3 of your Favorite Childhood shows: Batman, Bewitched, That Girl

18.) If you could live as a character in a movie who would it be? Jo March from Little Women. Then I could share an umbrella with Professor Bhaer.


19.) Favorite vegetables? Peas, corn, squash.

20.) Favorite Fruit? Peaches, bananas, strawberries.

21.) If you had a dragon what would you name it? Richard, after Richard Burton. For if I had a dragon, he would speak to me in a deep, mellifluous voice.

22.) What do you put on hotdogs? Ketchup and relish. Or barbecue sauce. (Yes, you can live in Chicago and put ketchup on your hotdog.)


23.) Do you play online games? Farmville 2

24.) Whats your favorite way to get inspired? I'm good after a shower or a nap.

25.) Do you have a middle name? Why, yes, I do.

The Cubs Are Giant Killers!

Unfortunately there's no game Sunday and we have to wait till Monday to clinch it and go on to the next round. But my, oh, my! My heroes in Cubbie blue looked terrific tonight!

Saturday 9

Saturday 9: My Life Would Suck Without You (2009)

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

1) This video begins with Ms. Clarkson on a swing. When you were young, did you prefer the swings or the slide? Oh, definitely, the swings!

2) The first words are, "Guess this means you're sorry." Who is the last person to apologize to you? The person who accidentally shmushed me on the el yesterday.

3) One of Kelly's earliest show business jobs was as an extra on Sabrina, The Teenage Witch. Do you believe in witches and warlocks? I certainly believe in this one.

4) Mentioning witches and seeing Kelly with a lollipop reminds Sam ... She needs to pick up a 1 lb. bag of Dum Dums for Trick or Treaters. Have you done anything in preparation for Halloween? Nope.

5) Ms. Clarkson's advice to aspiring young singers is not to listen to advice. "Everyone gives you their 2¢ worth, but you have to follow your gut." Are you good at soliciting and following advice? Or do you tend to follow your gut? I imagine I am annoying to my friends because I solicit advice and then follow my gut.

6) The year this song was popular, 2009, saw two major newspapers go out of business. Both the Seattle Post Intelligencer and Rocky Mountain News published their last editions. Do you still read a paper copy of your local newspaper? I read the Chicago Tribune every morning as I ride the el. I'm amused by how furious everyone was last week when the editorial board endorsed Libertarian Johnson for President. Maybe I'm alone in this, but I like reading opinions that don't mirror my own. I like learning.

7) In 2009, Mark Zuckerberg confirmed that Facebook tried to buy Twitter, but was rebuffed. Which social media site do you spend the most time on? Facebook. 

8) In 2009, the Balmain Collection included a pair of jeans that retailed for $2,165. What's the most you would pay for denim pants? Here are my favorite Gloria Vanderbilt jeans. I can usually find them for $30 or less at Kohl's or Carson's.

9) Random question: You buy a charity raffle ticket and tuck it into a friend's birthday card. Before you can give the card to her, the numbers are drawn and you realize the ticket is worth $500. Do you keep the ticket or give it to your friend, as planned? This one is hard. But I'd keep it. $500 is simply too much to spend on a birthday gift. I can't afford it. I would, however, take the birthday girl to an epic celebratory dinner.

 

October Challenge -- Day 8

Today's October Daily Prompt: Witchcraft

I loved this so much that, after I finally had to return it to the school library (there was a limit to how many times we could renew a book) that my parents actually ordered it for me from the local bookstore. That was a big deal! My dad hated driving me anywhere, and yet we all piled into the car and, before dinner at The Gourmet Restaurant (that's what it was called), we stopped at the bookstore across the street. A copy was waiting for me behind the counter. My name was held to the book with a rubberband. I felt terribly special and grown up.

The book is about a witch whose broom breaks on a smalltown, human street and she ends up being adopted by a smalltown, human family who has a daughter her age and a cat named Itchabody. I especially remember Itchabody (not Ichabod).

I'm happy to report it's still in print. If there's a first or second grade girl in your life, you may want to pick up a copy.

Cubs 1 - Giants 0

Game One is in the record books. It was a classic pitchers duel -- Jon Lester vs. Johnny Cueto. A real nail biter until the 8th inning when Javier Baez sent one over the wall.

Now, if you'll excuse me, this happy but exhausted little Cub fan has to collapse into her bed.

No, no, they can't take that away from me

Tonight's the night! After 161 games over 5 months, here we are. My heroes in Cubbie blue take on the Giants in the first round of the NLDS.

I'm watching the game at home tonight. Yes, Wrigleyville will be party central, but I won't be there. This game is simply too important -- and I'm too short -- to try to follow it closely in a bar. I know my friend John would be up for watching it with me, but nah. This is between me and my guys.

Of course I've got Hurricane Matthew on my mind these days. Poor Barb and her hubby are not only battling his/her cancer, they're looking at destruction of their retirement property in Hilton Head; I have family in/around Tampa and friends closer than family in Key West.

But I refuse to let it ruin this for me. Someone who knows me very well observed, "You're always happiest when you have baseball." And it's true.


My Cousin Rose traipsed all over Poland, looking for her heritage. Mine is no further away than Clark and Addison. I'm a third generation Cub fan on both sides of my family. My blood is Cubbie blue.

• My favorite grandpa taught me how to watch the Cubs. It's about the moments. "Did you see a good play in the outfield?" he'd ask. "Was your beer cold? Did you feel the sun? Then it was a good game." And so I notice the moments. KB's sweet swing. Rizzo's stretch with one foot on the bag. Jake's follow through. Lester's elbow! I love you guys.

• My favorite grandma loved these guys, too. Ryne Sandberg were her favorite. She looked so cute in her official #23 jersey. I promise that if this is the year, I will proudly wear her jersey to the parade. It'll be like having her with me.

• Throughout his life, my favorite uncle subscribed to two magazines: Mad and Vine Line.

The Cubs were my dad's passion. They didn't make him happy but then nothing did. Still, so many of my memories of my father include the Cubs. (Ex: Every family picnic, he'd have his radio next to his lawn chair, listening intently as he ate potato salad from the paper plate balanced on his knee.)

So yes, a hurricane is bearing down on the SE. I'll be monitoring it on my phone and texting my loved ones.

But I'll be glued to the game. Oh, yes I will. With all apologies to George and Ira Gershwin: Hurricane Matthew and Mother Nature can't take that away from me.

October Challenge -- Day 7

Today's October Daily Prompt: Something Orange

Over the past year or so, I've immersed myself in all things Sinatra. One of the factoids I uncovered is that orange was his favorite color, and that he believed wearing it improved his mood. For a mercurial artist who fought epic battles with the blues, that's saying something.

"Compare and despair"

That rather facile little rhyme is a favorite of my oldest friend's shrink. I never quite got it until recently.

I've long envied my friend Barb's lifestyle. She's sophisticated and wealthy. She always knows what wine to order, and which is the new, hot restaurant. She and her husband now own three homes -- a house with a full basement and garage in Chicago, a 2 BR condo in Hilton Head, and a new house that's under construction, also in Hilton Head. I have a two BR condo with a hole in the living room wall, an outdated kitchen and a half complete bathroom because I can't afford to fix/finish anything.

Yet this year, Barb has dealt with a double mastectomy and a botched reconstruction. Her husband is facing lung cancer. And Hurricane Matthew is headed toward their places in Hilton Head.

In all, I'm feeling kinda lucky to be a sedate old cat lady, looking forward to the Cubs/Giants in the playoffs.

This profound revelation came to me while watching a really rather dreadful musical from 1941, Ziegfeld Girl. I am a big Judy Garland fan, yet this one has somehow always escaped me. Now that I've seen it, I realize I hadn't missed much.

Three girls make the Ziegfeld Follies. A wise old theater veteran tells them they have to choose their path. Do they want to take full advantage of the opportunity they have been offered and become stars? Will they ignore their careers and fall victim to temptation? Or will they decide that glamour is not for them, that they want home and hearth?

Judy becomes a star. Lana becomes a drunk slut. Hedy forsakes glamour to become a housewife. Yawn.

As I was watching this predictable soap opera, my mind wandered. Hedy was quite dull, but Judy and Lana were both better than the material. As they sang and suffered in glorious black and white, I thought -- these MGM girls never had to worry about bedbugs, or broken elevators, or outdated kitchens and bathrooms. I felt like quite the victim.

Then I remembered that in real life, Judy died in the bathroom of a drug overdose at age 47 and Lana's daughter stabbed a mafioso outside her bedroom door.

Suddenly I once again felt lucky to be average. Dull. The Cubs are literally the most exciting thing in my life right now.

Good for me! Go, Cubs, go!

Shit just got real

My beloved Wrigley Field is being prepared for THE PLAYOFFS! Game One (against someone or another) is Friday at 8:15 PM.

October Challenge -- Day 5

Today's October Daily Prompt: Favorite Fall Snack

The first since Spring 2015

After Rose left this morning at 6:30 AM, I stayed in bed and slept fitfully. I misread the symptoms and took Tylenol, when I should have reached for my prescription migraine medicine. By the time I realized I was in the throes of a migraine, it was too late to treat it. I just had to wince, vomit and try to sleep it off -- staying in bed until 10:30.

I got home before 1:00 PM, but I really haven't accomplished anything today. The damn headache really drained me.

I thought these suckers were a thing of the past. Unfortunately, I was wrong.

Good, good news

Surprisingly good news!

Last night was my "sleepover" with my cousin Rosemary. She was in Chicago for less than 12 hours, between flights. We stayed at the O'Hare Radisson,* which got her out of the airport and into a bed, saved her the expense/hassle of renting a car (the hotel has a complimentary shuttle), and best of all, for me, kept her out of my apartment.

We actually had fun! I wasn't expecting this turn of events, but there it is. She was buoyed by her trip to Poland, where she dug around in her family history -- visiting churches and cemeteries and farmlands. Her trip was personally guided by a ancestral expert named Ava. She learned a great deal, and it was her dream come true.

She was full of tales about her hotels, about watching NCIS in Polish (they're still on Season 3!), about security in European airports, about shopping for citrine (I got a pair of earrings).

I'd been dreading this overnighter. Rose is very set in her ways and in the recent past has been nothing but critical of me. I don't think she means to be annoying. We are 12 years apart, and from the time I was a tiny gal, she was my mentor and protector. But 58 and 70 are different than 5 and 17. She's not the senior partner anymore. I no longer care about impressing her, and I find it tiresome to absorb the constant carping.

But she was fun and affectionate last night. She even indulged me bringing her up to date on my Cubs. I couldn't stop myself, and as I was halfway through bragging about the standings I remembered her snark from three years ago -- "I don't live and die over baseball, Gal." But yesterday she was positive, saying that she has "high hopes that this will be the year."

It occurs to me that maybe she finally found something that made her happy. Her life has been a little low on joy. I love her, and was happy to see her happy. I know she loves me, and as time goes on and my family gets smaller, I appreciate and honor that bond.

*We ended up at the Radisson because other hotels were booked by a convention. Don't stay there. Near O'Hare, there are many better choices.

October Challenge -- Day 4

 

 

 

Today's October Daily Prompt: The Autumn Weather

October Challenge -- Day 3

Fall haul. To me, this means putting together a bag of clothes and tchotkes for Goodwill. And I've got to get on that!

Playing Catch Up

Days one and two in the October Daily Prompts.

1) Favorite fall activity. I look forward to getting my winter clothes out. I feel an attachment to my sweaters -- they feel like friends -- that isn't there with my shorts and t-shirts.

2) Favorite Halloween/fall movie. Oh, that's easy! Hitchcock's almost-perfect Psycho is still the scariest thing I've ever seen.

A month of prompts

I stole this from Kwizgiver.

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing: The Musical Perceptions Meme

1. Where did you grow up? In a small suburb about a half hour -- and a complete lifestyle -- away from Chicago.

2. Where do you live now? In a far more diverse village closer to my beloved Chicago.

3. What do you think about religion? A) That it's enriched my life tremendously; B) That my relationship with Christ is personal; C) Politicians who pimp their faith for power and gain should reread the Constitution ("no religious test should ever be required to any office ...") and the story of the moneychangers in the New Testament. Little offends me more than showy piety. Live your faith but don't try to legislate it. That's unAmerican.
 

4. When did you start using online social media? Well, I've been blogging for a decade. I can't recall when I joined Facebook and Twitter.

5. What did you study to be? I didn't study to be anything. I was the laziest and most unfocused student ever.

6. How are you at this point of your career? Tired.

7. Do you use your real name on a blog? NO!

8. Do people you work with read your blog? Hell no!

9. Are you on the job market? Why? What have you heard?

10. If you could go back in time to meet someone famous but now deceased, who would it be? My all-time idol, JBKO. But I wouldn't want to go back in time -- I'd like to somehow converse with her today. I want to ask her about this most unusual political season. And there are two big film bios about to come out -- a miniseries and a movie. I wonder how this most private of women would feel about still being such a source of fascination, long after her death.

Finally!

It took four exams, two doctors and more than a month, but I finally have my new glasses! We had to cure my dry eye and rule out thyroid/diabetes for the change in my vision before we could settle on a prescription.

I am thrilled by how big the frames are. My eyes are bad and with my older, smaller frames, the radical change in peripheral vision freaked me out.

Hopefully, next week my contact lenses will be ready. YEA! Must be careful not to overwear them again, which is what caused the damaging dry eye.

Saturday 9

The Last Time I Saw Him

1) In this song, Miss Ross sings of a tender farewell at the bus station. When did you last say goodbye to someone at an airport, dock, train or bus station? The last time I said "goodbye" at the airport, I was waving to my niece before entering Muskegon County Airport. Only two commercial flights take off, and two flights arrive, each day from this tiny airport. All go to O'Hare. I'm told that charters often fly from Muskegon to Vegas, too.

MKG-ORD or ORD-MKG. That's it.

2) Continuing with the theme of "lasts," who received the last gift you gave? I gave an expectant coworker a swaddle blanket and a little t-shirt that says, "Ciao!"

3) Who last did you a favor? I'm sooooo not tech savvy, and one of my coworkers helped me out with a file.

4) What's the last thing you dropped or broke? I lost the TV remote control under my bed this morning. Does that count?

5) What's the last thing you borrowed or lent? I can't think of anything.

6) When is the last time you danced? I do clumsy little dance steps all the time as I sing with the radio or TV.

7) When were you last nervous? Waiting for my friend Barb. We were at the hospital, where her husband's condition was being diagnosed. I knew she would be upset, and I was afraid I wouldn't be up to the task of comforting her. I held her and let her cry and offered to stay with her. Beyond that, I'm not sure there's anything else I could do.

8) What was your last DIY project? I put my cell back together with Scotch tape.

9) When did you last check your horoscope? Was it accurate? Years and years ago. It probably wasn't accurate or I would have continued reading it.

Thanks, Guys!

Months ago, when I found out when we would be seeing Hamilton, I was worried. The last week of September is typically crunch time for teams in play off contention. I planned on insisting I take the seat on the aisle so I could run out and check my phone during the performance.

HA!

Behold the best record in the major league baseball, Ladies and Gentlemen. I can be forgiven for not expecting this. It's also the best record the Cubs have earned in more than 100 years.

With my guys MORE THAN 18 GAMES AHEAD of the Cardinals, my fat ass stayed in the seat for the entire performance.