April Prompt -- Day 18

"How would you like to be described?" 

I would be honored to be described the way Wilbur remembered Charlotte, as "a true friend and a good writer."

For more about the April Challenge, click here.

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April Prompts -- Catch up

Day 14 -- "Describe kindness"

"Doing unto others as you would have them do unto you." It's old, but it still works.

Day 15 -- "10 things you should always have"

I'm viewing this this through the prism of my grocery list. Here are 10 food items in my home at all times.

1.  Coke
2.  Milk
3.  Cereal
4.  Fish sticks
5.  Ketchup
6.  Chicken noodle soup
7.  Ice cream
8.  Salad in a big
9.  Dressing (honey mustard or 1000 island)
10.  Raisins

Day 16 -- "A word you overuse"

"Fuck." According to my Cousin Rose, at least.

Day 17 -- "A pun"

Do you remember Captain Wrongway Peachfuzz from the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show? Watching him, I encountered my very first pun. The first word joke that I actually got. He drew a map of his journey that showed him sailing through the Isle of Loosey.

For more about the April Challenge, click here.

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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. 

 
1. What are you currently reading? 

I Am Not Ashamed by Barbara Payton. Gee, why not? Barbara Payton sure should be ashamed. She was a promising actress (early in her career, she shared the screen with James Cagney and Gary Cooper) who threw it all away. With both hands. When she began this book, she was a 35-year-old prostitute, sharing her home with cockroaches. In the afterward, we learn she died in her parents' home at age 39.  

Yes, she had a big problem with booze, but obviously her problems ran deeper than wine. That's what makes this a fascinating read. She's one of those people who excuses her own  selfish or cruel behavior by saying, "At least I'm honest." She hurts a lot of people along the way, but no one more than herself, which makes this memoir an unintentional testament to The Golden Rule.

This book is not likeable, but it's compulsively readable. She's willful, angry and self-destructive. Like Scarlett O'Hara or All My Children's Erica Kane, except this is real life with real world consequences.

2. What did you recently finish reading?  

Blood Feud by Mike Lupica. I thought that the saga of Boston PI Sunny Randall ended when her creator, Robert B. Parker, died. In 2018, Parker's estate hired Mike Lupica to write a new installment, and it's good to have Sunny back.

A former cop, and the daughter of a cop, Sunny believes in law and order. Her ex-husband Richie is son to Desmond Burke, head of a Boston Irish mob family. While Richie has always distanced himself from the family business, this caused some strife in their relationship. (Think Montagues and Capulets.) Sunny and Richie divorce, but they just can't stay away from one another. When Richie is shot in a parking lot, Sunny is determined to get to the bottom of this.

I liked this book well enough. It moves quickly and had a plot twist that I didn't see coming. All the clues were there, I just didn't connect the dots. Good for you, Lupica! And I enjoyed seeing so many characters from the Spenser books (Susan, Belson, Tony Marcus with Ty Bop and Junior).

But the on again/off again thing with Richie annoyed me. She understands and admires him. Their physical relationship is tops. So why exactly can't they be happy? It got whiny and tiresome after awhile.

3.  What will you read next?  

Maybe another biography? Or a mystery. My TBR pile is stacked dauntingly high with both.

April Prompt -- Day 13

"How do you make decisions?" 

I have powerful impulses and not much discipline. Consequently, I go with gut. Fortunately, I'm also pretty bright about many things, so for the most part it works out OK.

For more about the April Challenge, click here.

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April Prompt -- Day 12

"What is your perfect day?" 

I wake up on my own, not jangled by an alarm clock or disrupted by a skinny beige cat.

I take the #22 bus to Wrigley Field. It's a longer ride than the el, but it's scenic. Nice to see the neighborhoods roll by.

Get to the park and grab a hot dog and an adult beverage en route to my seat.

Enjoy sunshine and a lake breeze as I watch my heroes in Cubbie blue vanquish their opponents. I'll sing the stretch in the 7th and then, at the end of the game, join in "Go, Cubs, Go!"

Stop at my favorite Wrigleyville hole in the wall, Joe's on Broadway, and relive the game over a beer.

Ignore finance and forgo public transit, taking an uber all the way home.

BLISS!

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April Prompt -- Day 11

"How important is fame?" 

Ironically, when this is posted I'll be in Hollywood at the TCM Film Festival, which is a tribute to the enduring allure of classic film stars.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is being screened at the fest this year, so it's only fitting that I invoke Sundance himself, Robert Redford, as I answer this question.

He's said that after his breakout role as Sundance, he became "a cartoon character." That he has worried about the shadow his success has cast over his children. He maintains there's a dangerous side to celebrity.

So all things considered, I'd rather be rich but not famous.

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April Prompt -- Day 10

"A place you have never visited"

This is the TCL Chinese Theater. Formerly Graumann's Chinese.

It's famous for its forecourt, with the footprints/signatures of the stars in cement. (Lucy and Ethel stole John Wayne's, remember?)

Today it's best known as home to the Academy Awards broadcast. I've never been inside. But during the TCM Film Festival, I hope to see two of my favorites -- Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid and Gone with the Wind -- on its big, BIG screen.

For more about the April Challenge, click here.

This made me so happy

Monday was Opening Day. Always important in my heart. So full of both memory and promise. When I think of Cubs Opening Day, that Springsteen lyric keeps going through my head: "I'm ready to grow young again."

I put on my Cub necklace and my Cub jacket and headed to the office. Imagine my surprise when I saw this scarf draped over my desktop file holder! Brand new, with tags still attached.

Kelly, a worker who sits near me but works on another account, said she recently found it in her drawer,  never worn, and thought of me and Opening Day. How sweet was that!

I didn't wear it. I told Kelly we were keeping it draped over my files like Christmas lights to celebrate the holiday. I thanked her again and again.

The Cubs beat the Pirates 10-0 in the Home Opener. I told Kelly it was the scarf. Obviously.

April Prompt -- Day 9

"Your life story in five sentences"

Born at the stroke of midnight, on the cusp of days and astrological signs.

Confounding and confounded growing up.

Found and made my own way.

Loved and lost.

Ready for the next chapter.

For more about the April Challenge, click here.

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April Prompt -- Day 8

"Three Things You and Your Best Friend Have in Common"

The coveted role of my best friend changes from time to time, but for the sake of this conversation, let's say it's John.

1)  Fandom, going all the way back to 1964. My great love is Sir Paul. His is Miss Diana Ross. He appreciates Paul (as all the best people do) and I, of course, adore Miss Ross. We spend an embarrassing amount of time talking about these two.

2)  Anthony Rizzo. I love Rizz like the son I never had. John's feelings for him are more carnal, but never mind. We both adore #44.

3)  Independence. We each go our own way, and don't much care if anyone is traveling with us. It's cool that, so often, we find ourselves going the same way.

For more about the April Challenge, click here.

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Sunday Stealing

Love Me Some Surveys

1. If you could build a second house anywhere, where would it be? Do I have to build it? That seems like an awful lot of work. Instead, I'd like a nice little ranch house in Hesperia, CA. That's where my oldest friend is currently. She could stay in the house and take care of it for me in between visits. 

Right now, she's living with her cousin, collecting disability. She gets awfully blue sometimes. Maybe if we spent more time together and she had a bit more autonomy, she'd be happier.

2. What are your favorite articles of clothing? Jeans and t shirt.

3. The last CD you bought or downloaded? The Hamilton soundtrack

4. What time do you generally wake up in the morning? When Reynaldo decides I should. My skinny beige cat either rakes his claws through my hair or jumps up on my vanity and knocks everything over.

5. What is your favorite kitchen appliance? My George Foreman grill.

6. If you could play an instrument, what would it be? Guitar.

7. What is your Favorite color? Pantone 294, aka Cubbie blue.

 

8. Do you believe in the afterlife? Unquestioningly.

9. Your Favorite children’s book? Charlotte's Web.

10. Can you juggle? Not well. I am a klutz.

11. What’s your favorite day of the week? Tuesday. NCIS and This Is Us.

12. Which do you prefer, sushi or hamburger?

13. What is your favorite flower? Carnations. They are fragrant, colorful and hearty.

14. What is your favorite meal? I think Eggs Benedict would be good right about now.

15. Describe your ideal weather? Sunny, dry and 65º.

16. What is your favorite ice cream? Mint chocolate chip

17. What is your favorite breakfast? Damn! I knew I should have read these questions first! See #14.

18. Where did you meet your spouse or significant other? Ah, the very moment when I fell in love. When I saw Paul. The Beatles on Ed Sullivan, February 1964.

No, this isn't really me. Though when it turned up on FB, my friend Kathleen thought it was.

Bonus: something you’d like to do that you’ve never done before? Skydiving.

April Prompt -- Day 7

"How are you feeling today?"

Worried!

Have the Cubs really snapped that losing streak? Can they make it two in a row?

Will my work on the car financing project be well received? (I've never, ever bought a car, so I'm uniquely unqualified to work on this.)

Will I have a chance to get to the ATM for my vacation cash before Tuesday evening?

What will I forgot to pack for my trip?

When I get to LA, will I have an easy time checking into my Airbnb?

When I get to the TCM Film Festival, will I be able to find my way from theater to theater? Will I be able to find Betty and Will? (I have the worst sense of direction of anyone you'll ever meet.)

Will my gut, my spinal stenosis or my kidney stone act up when I'm traveling?

Will Reynaldo and Connie be okay on their own for four days?

And oh! Flying!

For more about the April Challenge, click here.

Image courtesy of Youngkeit at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Saturday 9

Saturday 9: If I Could Turn Back Time (1989)

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

1) The official video for this song was filmed on board the battleship USS Missouri. When is the last time you were on a boat or ship? Golly, I don't remember. Probably when I was in Tampa five years ago. My cousin Rose and I took a dolphin cruise.

2) This song was written by Diane Warren. Ms. Warren has written love songs recorded by Celine Dion, Toni Braxton, LeAnn Rimes and more, yet she's never married and has really only had one serious romantic relationship. She acknowledges this makes her an unusual spokeswoman for the glory and pain of love. When you have a relationship problem, who do you go to for advice? HA! I'm like Diane Warren. I've never had a successful romantic relationship, yet somehow people ask ME for advice.

3) In this song, Cher wishes she could turn back time and have a different conversation with a former lover, changing what she said to him. Here at Saturday 9, we're not so ambitious with our time travel. We're only going back to yesterday. Is there anything you'd do differently? I wouldn't have polished off that bag of Cheetohs.

4) In 1966, Cher and her then-husband Sonny sang at a private birthday party for Jacqueline Kennedy. At first, Cher didn't want to do it, thinking that performing to a small gathering would be awkward. But it turned out to be a wonderful opportunity for her. That night, she met Diana Vreeland, the editor of Vogue. Vreeland liked Cher's look so much she set up a photo shoot. Cher, who always loved experimenting with hair and makeup, enjoyed the shoot immensely. Tell us about a social gathering where you had an unexpectedly good time. My friend Joanna's New Year's Open House. I went mostly to support her, but found I enjoyed welcoming 2019 with new people.

Here's 20-year-old Cher from that 1966 Vogue shoot

5) At that same party, Cher said she was surprised by how big Jackie's hands were. Do you like your hands? Suddenly they have spouted age spots. I kinda like them. My hands remind me of my favorite grandmother's hands.

6) One night, before a performance in Detroit, Cher saw a little furry something under one of her tour buses. It was a kitten that that she named Mr. Big, hoping he would grow into the name. He did, and the tomcat was her constant companion for four years until he died of a congenital heart ailment. She has said that she will "never not miss him." Is there a furry companion who has a special place in your memories? My beloved Joey. My gentle giant. He's been gone for a while now, but I still miss him. He was a sweetheart with a sweet heart.

7) Cher recently appeared in Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again. It's the second movie based on the music of ABBA. What's your favorite ABBA song? I'm not really an ABBA fan. But now I have "Mamma Mia" running through my mind, so I'll say that one.

8) In 1989 -- the year this song was popular -- Mattel released a series of special "Scarlett O'Hara" Barbie doll to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Gone with the Wind. Did you enjoy the classic movie? Have you read the book? Read the book almost as many times as I've seen the movie, which is like a gazillion times. Looking forward to seeing it again, on IMAX, at this month's TCM Film Festival!


9) Random question -- Check your spam folder and tell us one of the subject lines. "Toe Fungus Destroyed My Life, Until I Found This."

April Prompt -- Day 6

"One Thing I Need to Start Doing"

Working out! Not only is the recumbent bike good for my heart, those stretches on the mat help my back and leg.

I have two gym memberships, one near the office and one here at home. If I amortized how much money I waste every day by not working out, I just might make myself sick.

For more about the April Challenge, click here.

Image courtesy of Youngkeit at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

April Prompt -- Day 5

"One Thing I Need to Stop Doing"

Napping after work. I close my eyes "for a minute," then it's 1:30 AM and I'm wide awake! I give the cats a snack, do a little social media or catch up on what I missed via DVR, and go back to bed for a few more hours.

Not very bright, Gal.

For more about the April Challenge, click here.

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April Prompt -- Day 4

"The Most Important Qualities in a Friend"

Availability. Today, we're all very busy. But we all also have lots of avenues to stay in touch: Facebook, email, text, phone and -- oh, yeah! -- face to face. I value a friend who values me enough to regularly reach out and reach back.

For more about the April Challenge, click here.

Image courtesy of Youngkeit at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Well, then!

Chicago has a new mayor. A black lesbian who has never held office before. When we mix it up around here, we really mix it up!

There's more to Lori Lightfoot than her color and her sexuality, of course. First, she's not remotely beholden to The Machine. Her opponent -- another black woman named Toni Preckwinkle -- is Cook County Board President and head of the local Democratic Party. Can't get much more Establishment than that. What's more Preckwinkle accepted fundraising help from Ed Burke. Alderman Burke is the poster boy for Cook County corruption.

Here's the thing: Toni Preckwinkle has been in city government for nearly 30 years. When she came up through the ranks, she simply had to play along with The Machine. There simply was no other way. Last week, those relationships weighed her down.

Meanwhile, Lori Lightfoot is seen as a reformer. She headed Rahm Emmanuel's Police Accountability Task Force, a civilian organization that explored the myriad problems with the Chicago Police Department. She worked with Rahm, but never seemed indebted to him. She played it smarter than Toni did.

After Laquan McDonald, this city wants someone new. Someone clean. Someone different. And we got her.

God bless her. Let's hope she doesn't let us down.

Don't they TALK?

I've never been married. I don't pretend to know what goes on in a marriage. For me, married people are like exotic creatures in nature specials. "Look! There are the spouses, behaving as they will in their natural habitat."

Which is why I'm so flummoxed by what is happening between Reg and Henry. The lack of communication between the two of them is astounding, and it isn't all rooted in the sad aftermath of Henry's accident.

Their dog, Lola, had been in declining health for a year or so. I clearly remember a conversation Henry and I had last summer. Before his accident. We were talking about my cat Reynaldo's 2017 dental work. Lola's breath was bad and she'd become a pickier eater, and I wondered if she didn't need her teeth checked. Henry said he understood why I had I had taken Rey in first for a check up and a tooth extraction, but he felt it was too expensive and too risky for his Lola. "I am convinced if they put her under, she will not wake up," he said. 

Even more telling, I recall the way Henry recounted the euthanizing their cat. He told me about this over Christmas 2017. She fought it, Henry insisted. She writhed and lifted her head and refused to die. I told him that she was already dead, really, that those were just involuntary reflexes. "Like a chicken with its head cut off." I told him he should be mad at the vet for not preparing him this possibility.

Henry dismissed me, saying the incident had taught him that putting an animal down is wrong and he would never do it again. That conversation took place more than 9 months before his accident.

Last week, Henry's husband Reg began posting about Lola's decline. He actually wrote that, "Henry and I have had many dogs and cats since we have been together over 20 years. Initially, we held on to them, regrettably, too long. But we learned, a few years back, to let them go when it was their time." 

That is simply not true. At least, not judging by what Henry told me after they put their cat down. 

Lola died Sunday night. At home. In Henry's arms. When Henry recounted her passing to me, he told me about how he carefully placed her on a purple pillow ("purple is the color of royalty") and said that when Reg woke up, Henry told him they needed to first find a box to put her in, and then decide who would cremate her. Reg was upset, naturally, but he went to the office. And Henry went about finding a box for her little body. It was decided that Tuesday afternoon, she would be cremated by the local humane society. That made sense to Henry. Symmetrical. After all, they adopted her from the humane society.

Reg's version could not have been more different. On Sunday, he recounted how Henry awakened him as soon as Lola died pre-dawn. He posted, "Cremation? Backyard burial? I am going to talk to humane society. Why do I have to do everything? Oh! I know! Because, within my marriage, I am the only one of two with rationality. That's a scary thought. We will get through this."

I believe each man believes he's telling the truth. And I have no idea what actually happened in their house on Sunday.

But I do know this: Even if Henry hadn't suffered a brain injury in his accident, he would have resisted putting Lola down. This is a sincere disagreement between two men, not a case of "only one of two with rationality."

What's worse, I feel like I'm watching a car crash happen in slow motion. Right now, Henry avoids social media. He says it "infuriates" him. But one of these days, he's going to go online and read what his husband has posted. He will not be happy. I worry that he will regard it as an unforgivable breach of his privacy.

Sometimes I'm very happy to be a barren spinster.

Image courtesy of Danilo Rizzuti at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

April Prompt -- Day 3

"What are you most grateful for?" 

Another day. Another chance. Every morning, when I wake up, I have opportunities, and for that I'm grateful.

For more about the April Challenge, click here.

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April Prompt -- Day 2

"What place do you consider your home?" 

I feel I'm home in my neighborhood. I first visited here on a shopping trip when I was in high school and just fell in love with the diversity and the architecture. We have good restaurants and a great art deco movie theater. There's a thriving independent bookstore and three library branches! My GP and dentist are here, too, and so's the vet. I can get to the Loop by el or commuter train, and I can get around town by local bus.

When I think of moving, I like to think of staying here.

For more about the April Challenge, click here.

Image courtesy of Youngkeit at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

So what if we're 1-2?

The Chicago Cubs may not (yet) be baseball's winningest team, but oh! They are the most adorable! Enjoy their April Fool's Day fragrance spoof.

April Prompt -- Day 1

"Your Biggest Dream." 

To be peaceful. Satisfied. I'm usually happy. But this is different. I long for a contentment I just never feel. Maybe no one does.

For more about the April Challenge, click here.

Image courtesy of Youngkeit at FreeDigitalPhotos.net