Saturday 9

Saturday 9: Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh (1963)

Unfamiliar with this song? Hear it here.

1) TV writer Allan Sherman based this song on his own son's letters of complaint from camp. Did you go away to summer camp? During the school year -- either late fall or early spring -- I went camping overnight with my Girl Scout troop. But it was only Friday night to Sunday afternoon.

2) Our camper is afraid of both bears and alligators. What animal scares you? I am afraid of squirrels. I know this is a silly fear and I bear squirrels no ill will. It's just that when I was a little girl, my dad told me about a kid who was liked to feed squirrels (which he caught me doing) and was bit by a rabid one. Dad went into graphic detail about the -- what was it? 111? -- shots the boy endured, and that has really stayed with me.

3) One of his fellow campers developed poison ivy rash. Have you ever experienced redness and itching caused by poison ivy or poison sumac? Nope.

4) Early in his career, Allan Sherman created the game show I've Got a Secret, which became a big hit. What's your all-time favorite TV game show? A few years ago I became obsessed with the original, 1950s episodes of What's My Line. A cable channel showed them every day as I was getting ready for work. I love the host, John Daly. He was so genial and friendly.

 

5) In 1959 he moved from New York to Hollywood, where he transitioned from writing to performing almost by accident. As a lark, he entertained at the parties of his next-door neighbor, Harpo Marx. A recording company executive heard him and offered him a contract. Tell us about the last party you attended. Wow. I don't even remember.

6) Allan Sherman got unexpected press attention and a boost in record sales when it was discovered that President John F. Kennedy was a fan. What's something you purchased because of a recommendation from someone else (friend, relative, celebrity endorsement ...)? Nothing comes to mind. I did recently recommend these pimple patches to a coworker.

 

7) In 1963, the year "Hello Mudduh, Hello Fadduh" was popular, Studebaker stopped producing cars in the United States. What was your family car when you were growing up? We had a Lincoln Continental convertible. My dad loved it. My mom hated it (hard on her hair, and my older sister got earaches).

8) Also in 1963, Vogue magazine did a cover story on how make wearing white "new and exciting." What color do you look best in? Is it the color you wear most often? I look best in green but I most often wear blue.

9) Random question: Have you ever gone on to have a platonic relationship with a former lover? Only once. We dated one summer when my "real" boyfriend had been behaving abominably. I knew in the back of my mind that I'd get back with my "real" boyfriend and, to my everlasting regret, I did. But the nice guy I dated that summer really liked me. He's stayed in touch all these years. I've been invited to the high school graduations of all four (4!) of his children. I still get a Christmas card. I'm very proud of how I handled that breakup. I must have done good.

 

 

The right words at the right time

Every month I have a project for a car client. It's difficult for me. I know/care nothing about cars. Writing to SEO interferes with the natural flow of my copy. Every month I feel like I could/should do this faster and more efficiently. Every month I feel like I'm failing.

I posted about it on Facebook and my old boss reached out. He'd been watching Mad Men again and said every time he saw Peggy, he thought of me. He told me he's sure I'm doing better than I think I am, that I've always been able "to do anything."  

When he sees her, he thinks me

It was very kind of him to do. His timing was perfect, too. I needed to hear it.

And maybe he was right. I received an email filled with stats from the car client. My blog posts have generated 48% more traffic, with people spending 2 minutes or more on the top-performing articles. They are reading what I write. I'm serving my client well. 

The process isn't pretty, but the results are effective.

I don't know why this annoyed me so, but it did

I've been consumed by the Recurring Project, which hits every month. I hate it because, while I have been successful at it, the work process is fucking painful. I posted about it on Facebook Monday afternoon, writing: "3:00 and I'm still in my PJs. Dirty hair and smeared mascara. But I just finished The Big Project. There are things about WFH I'll miss." It got 11 "likes" and 2 "ha ha's."

Kathy, 70+ and retired, commented, "I seriously had to look up WFH. Does not bode well for my aging brain." I clicked "like" because, well, what else could I do? I wish there was an "I just acknowledge" button.

Today -- more than 72 hours later -- she commented again: "Dang! I had to look it up again! Old and hopeless but still friggin sassy (ooops wonder what friggin is?) YAY it means used to emphasize or express annoyance with someone or something (cheers)."

Oh, for fuck's sake. Is she going to come back to this post and comment on it every 3 days until I die and the account is closed? 

She has been talking about her memory issues for three years now. She refuses to mention it to a doctor. Every few weeks she'll mention it in the past tense: "I used to have trouble with memory, but it fixed itself." Alternately, she brings it up like it's some kind of joke.

It's not a joke. It's making her life smaller. Our friends, John and Gregory, avoid her because talking to her is too depressing. I'm not there yet, but I get it. She's difficult. When I talk to her on the phone, she notes what I say. Literally. She'll say, "Slow down, I want to make a note of that." She has texted me photos of random things I've said during calls and she'll ask me for context. "Who is TIMOTHY NAFTALI? Why did you mention him?"

I know she's scared. I know she's suffering. I know I should be more patient. 

Right now I'm as pissed at myself as I am annoyed with her.

THIS JUST IN: She came back to my post a third fucking time to define WFH "because I forgot again. Y'all can thank me." No, Kathy. No one will thank you because everyone either already knew what WFH meant, figured it out from the context, looked it up or doesn't give a shit. GET HELP!

 

Photo by 8photo - www.freepik.com

Reflections on Rizzo

 
My favorite most Cub of all time, Anthony Rizzo, may be winding up his final season with the team. Nothing I do will have an impact on this.

It doesn't change how much I love his joie de vivre. I am trying to simply enjoy Anthony Rizzo (and his media posts about Kevin) while I still can.

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? Murder at Blackburn Hall by Sara Rosett. Olive Belgrave has a problem: money. So why she doesn't just get a job? She tried, but she comes from a titled family, and in 1920s London, she can't just be a barmaid. The book opens with her interviewing for a "suitable" position as a hat model. The milliner hoped Olive could attract her friends in the gentry to the shop. This is a suitable short-term fix, but Olive would prefer to have her own clients for her "high society lady detective service."

Olive discovered quite by accident that she has a talent for "discreet inquiries." Turns out that's something the aristocracy needs every now and then -- to check out a daughter's new beau, find a lost chihuahua, vet a nanny candidate, or, as is the case in this volume, look into the disappearance of a famous author on behalf of his publisher. Olive is so much more circumspect than those vulgar police!

This is the second book in the series and, while I'm not very far into it, I'm already enjoying it as much as I did the first, and for the same reason. The writer creates such a lively post-WWI London. I love the hair and the clothes (especially the hats; 100 years ago everyone wore hats) and the milieu: Olive bounces back and forth between two worlds, upstairs and downstairs. Here's hoping the mystery itself turns out to be as engaging as the setting.

2. What did you recently finish reading?  The Break by Marian Keyes. I am so MAD at this book! There is the kernel of a great story here. But Marian Keyes buries it in bloat. Too many irrelevant characters and scenarios that go nowhere. Consequently it takes 400 pages to tell a story that could comfortably have been told in 325.

 

Amy and Hugh have been married for 17 years. Amy thinks she has a happy home, but when a pair of deaths hit Hugh hard (first his dad, then a boyhood friend), she realizes her husband is really struggling. He tells her he wants six months off, "a break" from marriage. He wants to travel, to put himself first for a change, to get more out of life before it's too late.

 

I like the way Keyes uses flashbacks. It would be easy to dismiss Hugh as selfish and heedless, but slowly we see that he's a wonderful dad, just crippled by depression. Very effective dimensional story telling that makes you question what you think you know about your friends' marriages.

 

But then there's the ridiculous excess. Amy has four siblings. Each is given a backstory, yet only two really matter to the plot. Example: Her gay brother and his partner have an adorable baby via surrogate. I kept waiting for them to matter to Amy's tale. They never do. 

Amy works in PR and keeps flying back and forth between Dublin and London. Her job was interesting, but did we need to meet so many of her clients? One of her clients brings his brother -- a sour man who prefers to be called "Dan" and not "Dante" -- to meetings because ... well, hell, I either forgot why or stopped caring.

 

Amy loves vintage designer clothes, which shops for at estate sales. OK, I get it. She's giving new life to the clothes of dead people. It's a charming idiosyncrasy. But do I need to know what she wore every damn day for a year?

 

Really, I'm tempted to take my own damn blue pen to this thing and see how much I can excise without diminishing the center of the story: the homelife that Amy and Hugh built together for themselves and the three girls they're raising, and what Hugh's sabbatical does to it.

 

3. What will read next? A biography of Paul Newman (hence this week's photo).

 

Introduced to Rob and Andy

Sunday I finally got together with Joanna! We haven't been in the same room since September 2020. Ten months. Gulp. Damn covid!

I was surprised to see her. Because she looked a little different. She was in a stretchy white t-shirt that hugged her round tummy a bit too much. Her usually smooth and sleek hair was waving any which way it wished to and there's a lot of gray visible. Normally I don't comment this much on appearance but appearance is Joanna's barometer. She's the only woman I know who has both winter gloves and fashion gloves. She usually won't leave the house without coordinating. I remember the day we met for frozen yogurt and she showed up wearing black accented by red earrings, a red scarf, red (prescription) eye glass frames and even a red case for her phone. Yes, she changed cell phone cases just to meet me for yogurt! So I was surprised to see her looking as average/everyday/not-pulled-together as me or anyone else. (Though her new cat's eye glass frames were amazing!)

Joanna is self employed and she works when assignments come in. She told me it's been feast or famine, 9-5 be damned. I suspect that trips to the salon have not had a place in her schedule or her budget. 

We caught up on one another's lives. She's still mad for her "boyfriend," Sid. I used the quotes because Joanna is 66 and Sid is over 70, and somehow "boyfriend" seems a bit jeune fille. (Joanna is a francophile.) A retired real estate developer, he has lots of money and nothing to spend time on but her. He's also a stroke survivor dealing with short-term memory loss, so he can be difficult. He lashes out occasionally, accusing Joanna and his daughter of "ganging up" on him when it comes to his care ("and we are," she confirmed, laughing). When she's with Sid, everything is first class. But when she's on her own? Finances are a struggle. She doesn't want him or his daughter to think she's there for the money, though, so she won't ask for any help. 

The stress has caused her to have a sudden, severe headache, which she worries could have been a TIA. I'm happy to say, though, that she's getting care. She mentioned it first to her eye doctor (she was already going there to pick up those fabulous cat's eye frames) and her GP. Neither doctor thinks it's anything serious, but to be safe, she's scheduled for an MRI next month. This is such a relief after Kathy, Henry and John -- three close friends who simply will not get the medical care they need.

Because we're both classic movie fans, I told her about how much I enjoyed The Purple Diaries: Mary Astor and the Most Sensational Hollywood Scandal of the 1930s. I mentioned how relatable I found Astor, even after 90 years, because all she wanted was hot sex with a man she liked, and somehow that eluded her. 

That's when she told me about Rob and Andy. I knew she'd been twice divorced by 30, and very embarrassed by this. But beyond that, she didn't tell me much about her marriages.

Rob was her first great love. He was beginning his career as a dj and she was just out of college. This was 1975, and while she wasn't a virgin (not by a long shot, wink-wink) he was less experienced and she respected that. They never had intercourse until their wedding night where they were, she reports, completely incompatible in bed. At first she thought it was their conflicting schedules -- he was working overnights. Nope. That wasn't it. When he got the mid-morning shift they arrived home at the same time. 22 year old newlyweds and barely intimate! They were such good friends everywhere but between the sheets she thought perhaps he simply wasn't attracted to her. Rob -- who could talk to her about movies, music, tennis and birds -- refused to discuss their sex life. She wanted a baby with a lifetime partner and she knew Rob wasn't it. So after two years, she left.

That's when she met Andy. He was so passionate she was swept off her feet. The thing is, that passion translated to high drama in other areas of life, too. When he found it hard to express himself verbally, he hit her. Then, in self loathing, he'd injure himself. (Cutting, bashing his head into walls, etc.) Just when life outside the bedroom was becoming unendurable, she found she was pregnant. Idealistically, she was sure the baby would cure everything. In the spring of 1981, early in her pregnancy, she had a very painful miscarriage. It broke her heart, because she really wanted that baby (and still remembers his due date: August 1, 1981). But it caused her to reassess her life. She didn't want to bring a child into her tempestuous relationship with Andy. So after two years of marriage, she left. She was 28.

In her 20s and 30s, she never found a man who embodied Rob's sensitivity and lovability and Andy's passion. She never had that baby she always wanted.

There were no tears as she shared this. I think it was too long ago for that. She was just telling me how
well she, too, understood Mary Astor. But it reinforced a lesson that I keep relearning every time I read about President Kennedy -- no matter how good someone's life looks from the outside, you have no idea how it feels on the inside.

I didn't tell Joanna she reminds me of JFK -- attractive, charismatic, and filled with pain and sorrow no one would ever suspect. I think she might find that amusing.

But talking about Mary Astor, Rob and Andy was heavy enough on a sunny Sunday at an outdoor cafe over a root beer float.

Sunday Stealing

THURSDAY THUNKS

1. Did you eat paste and/or glue as a child? No. But I can report that Play Doh has a salty taste.

2. Look at the wall to your right, what is on it? A framed photo of the Water Tower, lit up at night. It was a gift from my favorite uncle.

3. Do you put butter and/or salt on your popcorn? Yes. Both.

4. What does your favorite coffee cup look like? It's a big beige mug. It says, "El gato" and is decorated with an illustration of a cat playing with a ball of yarn.

5. Would you rather have a pet hippo or a pet elephant? Neither. Exotic animals shouldn't be pets.

6. Toilet Paper: hard, soft, extra soft? I checked the package when I changed the roll just now. It said, "strong."

7. Have you ever rescued/taken in a stray animal? In 2004, Reynaldo was a stray kitten who was making a nuisance of himself in neighborhood backyards. Begging for food, making himself at home on porches, trying to sneak into houses ... He was turned in to the animal shelter. From there he came home with me, where I'm proud to say he has lived happily ever after.

17 years later, he's a very old boy. His vision is failing, he has arthritis in his back legs, he requires a special diet for his chronic kidney disease and medication for his thyroid condition, and the vet recently detected heart trouble. I'm not happy about any of this,of course, but it's nature. 17 to a cat is 84 to a human. Body parts wear out.

He plays less and sleeps more. But he's still affectionate and has really enjoyed the pandemic. Having me work from home means all deliveries come here, so he has boxes to check out and then claim as his own. There are also Zoom meetings to crash. He enjoys his life. I am committed to keeping him comfortable for whatever time he has left. He's a good boy and I love him.

8. If you realize your house is on fire while you are using the bathroom, do you wipe or just run for the door? Well, this is a question we've never had before.

9. Now, if you only had $10 to buy one thing, what would it be? Lunch at McDonald's.

10. What’s your favorite type of potato? Mashed.

 11. How long do you keep unmatched socks before you get rid of them... and how do you dispose of these socks? How did you know I have two mismatched socks (one blue, one white) in my laundry hamper right now? They have been there for maybe a year. I have no idea why I keep them, or how much longer I will allow them to linger there until I finally move them from hamper to trash.

12. What was the last thing you took a picture of? This is a poorly composed photo of a garage apartment in my neighborhood. I snapped it while on my way to the vet to pick up Reynaldo's special food (see Q7). My aunt and I both enjoyed Sue Grafton's alphabet mysteries, and our heroine lived in a garage apartment with a top floor sleeping loft. Isn't that what this looks like? 

I'm glad I texted this to her because sloppy though it is, it made her happy. My aunt has allowed her aggressive Trumpiness to isolate her from old friends and even her son and grandchildren. I don't care how tightly she clings to her MAGA misinformation. I insist on still loving her. We will just limit our conversations to books, our medical maladies (her knee, my tooth), my cats and her dog. And baseball. My grandma (her mom) loved Cubs great Ryne Sandberg as much as I love Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo, so my Cubbie passion/obsession amuses her and makes her happy.

13. Do you use a cookbook? I own a cookbook. It gets little to no use.

14. Bottled or tap water? We're lucky here in Chicagoland in that Lake Michigan water tastes good.

15. Do you like pumpkin pie? Do you cheat and buy a premade one or do you make it from scratch? Heck, do you even make pumpkin pie at all? I do like pumpkin pie. I have never baked a pie of any type.

 

Saturday 9

 Saturday 9: Purple People Eater (1958)

1) When actor Sheb Wooley brought this song to MGM Records, they initially rejected it, saying it just wasn't the kind of thing they wanted to be associated with. Then executives discovered how popular the audition recording was with the 20-somethings in the office. MGM released it after all and it became a #1 hit. Tell us about a time you were glad you changed your mind about something. Dollar Tree. It looks so blah that I never felt like going in. But it just so happens to be near the new pharmacy I use, so I gave it a shot. Oh my! Great for office supplies! On good days I found my favorite brand of toothpaste, too, for just $1! The people who work there are pleasant, which is a big plus.

2) This song has been so enduringly popular that in the 1970s, the Minnesota Vikings defensive line referred to themselves as the Purple People Eaters. What football team do you root for? I root against the Packers. OK, I don't really care about football one way or the other, but I clearly remember my father being desolate whenever the Bears lost or the Packers won (and in those days, they lost to the Packers every time they played). So, out of perhaps misplaced loyalty, I root against the Packers.

3) The song was initially inspired by Sputnik, the satellite launched by the Soviet Union in 1958. In the 21st century, do you think space exploration is a worthwhile public investment? Or would you prefer  governments spend that money here on earth? I suppose I'd rather see the money spent here, but I also don't accept that it's an either/or proposition. I believe we can do both.

4) The Purple People Eater is a visitor from another planet. When you imagine creatures from outer space, are they frightening or friendly? I don't think about this very often, but when do, they are friendly.

5) This record was the biggest hit Sheb Wooley ever had. He was better known as an actor, costarring with Clint Eastwood on the 1950s TV show, Rawhide. What's your favorite Clint Eastwood movie? I generally loathe Clint Eastwood. His cop movies and westerns are too ugly, angry and violent. So I was surprised by how much I adored Million Dollar Baby, which he also directed. I found it moving and memorable. "Mo cuishle."

 

 

6) Sheb and Clint remained buddies and appeared together decades later in The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976). Tell us about one of your longest-lasting friendships. I don't think I've ever told the story of how I met my dear friend Henry. It was 1992. We started working at the same agency on the same account at the same time. Both Henry and I, and the agency, had recently fallen on some hard times and were fighting our way back. The company I'd worked for had gone under. Henry had just lost his teaching job at a very prestigious Big 10 school (yes, that one!). The agency had lost several big accounts in a short period of time and had finally won one -- and hired us to work on it. There was a wonderful feeling of building something new, of fresh starts when we first met.

Henry can have a bit of an edge. Collaboration is not always his strong suit. Plus, it was his first job in advertising. He was preternaturally good on the Mac when desktop publishing was new and he handled his assignments well. It's just he had a hard time grasping exactly how low he was on the food chain. His job was to simply take the copywriter's words and flow them into a template.

 

He had suggestions for improving the copy. For streamlining the production process. For making everything better. People didn't understand him. They thought he was elite, showing them up or making a power grab. He was just trying to help. 

For some reason, he took an immediate liking to me. Even though I wasn't his supervisor, he decided I was. I became something of a "Henry whisperer," and since I could handle him -- which I did effortlessly, because he liked and trusted me -- my bosses gave me credit for tremendous people skills I don't actually possess.

That's the thing about Henry: he always, ALWAYS sees the best in me. He thinks I'm one of the kindest, wisest women he's ever met. Therefore, when he's around, I try to kinder and wiser. He loves me, and I will never take that for granted.

7) In 1958, when this song was popular, hula hoops were a national craze. Did you ever play with a hula hoop? If yes, were you good at it? The neighbor kids had two hula hoops (yellow and orange) and we played with them all the time, but not as hula hoops. We had relays where we competed as we rolled them (which we weren't good at, so this took a very long time) or we pretended to be horses/jockeys in harness races.

8) Also in 1958, Arnold Palmer won his first Masters Golf Tournament. When did you most recently play golf? I don't think I've ever golfed. Oh, I've miniature golfed, but I've never tried to hit the ball for distance.

9) Random question: Do you believe women gossip more than men? I suspect men and women are equal in this area. I think they just gossip differently. I don't know that conjecture about LeBron James is really any different than conjecture about Britney Spears, or that speculating about a coworker's salary is any more high-minded than speculating about how much a neighbor spent to get that luscious green lawn.

 

WWW.WEDNESDAY

Mary Astor

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? The Break by Marian Keyes. Amy and Hugh have been married for 17 years. Amy has been happy, but when a pair of deaths hit Hugh hard (first his dad, then a boyhood friend), she realizes Hugh is not. Still, she was gobsmacked when he tells her he wants six months off, "a break" from marriage. He wants to travel, to put himself first for a change, to get more out of life. 

Will he come back? What if he falls in love with someone else? What if, after six months, she changes and he no longer wants this different woman? How will she explain this to their daughters? Who will change the lightbulbs and empty the garbage?

So far this book is about the large and small ways Amy handles Hugh's midlife crisis. I'm enjoying it (Keyes always manages to wrest a smile from me, even in the sad bits) but I hope soon Amy stops just reacting and takes a deeper look at her life.

2. What did you recently finish reading? The Purple Diaries: Mary Astor and the Most Sensational Hollywood Scandal of the 1930s by Joseph Egan. Mary Astor was a major movie star who, on the rebound, married the wrong man. A doctor, he had no interest in her career or most of her friends. They didn't realize their incompatibility until they had a daughter. As was the custom within the moneyed set in the 30s, they began having affairs. They frequently talked of separation and divorce. They were no longer lovers or friends but they were not yet enemies.

Then he found her diary. YIKES!

In purple ink, Mary wrote candidly about how her new lover, an acclaimed playwright, satisfied her in bed ... implying her husband didn't. Compared to the playwright, he was uninterested and uninteresting. She also wrote about the doctor's drinking and how it exacerbated his temper. In short, she was not at all flattering. OK, she was brutal.

The doctor was hurt and angry. He retaliated by battling Mary for custody of their little girl and leaked diary pages (juicy stuff about her lover, not unflattering stuff about himself) to the press, hoping to blackmail Mary into submission.

The case dominated the front pages. False rumors about the rest of Mary's diary ran rampant (she purportedly kept a "box score" of every Hollywood stud she screwed) and studio heads actually pressured her to give up her daughter, just to make the case go away and stop embarrassing the movie industry.

Mary was tough, a mother with definite ideas of how her daughter should be raised, and she wasn't going anywhere. No matter how much pressure was brought to bear, she was going to see this through. She was also a good actress. No matter how upset she was, she remained unflappable in the courtroom by channeling the character she was playing. Regardless of the many different ways her husband's attorney called her a whore, Mary kept cool, under ladylike hats, with her hands folded in her lap.

 

I liked Mary. I also admired two other actresses of the day -- Ruth Chatterton and Florence Eldridge -- who risked the ire of the studio bosses (and therefore their careers) by sitting with Mary in court each day. GIRL POWER!

I highly recommend this true story.

 

3. What will read next? I don't know.

 

She looks like she had a rough night

Here's JBKO's second-to-last driver's license. Her eyes aren't quite focused on the camera and so she looks a little sleepy. Tee hee. Turns out my girl was human after all.

There are far, FAR more photos of her looking terrific. Effortlessly fabulous. I'm sure someone out there has a picture of a pre-teen me wearing roller skates, but I promise you I didn't look this good.

Ah, you say that it's easy to look good in a posed shot. OK, how about this? She was 40+ when this was snapped with a telephoto lens by a photographer she dragged to court to stop.  

And then there's this. Here is Jacqueline Bouvier's 1953 passport photo. I am in awe.

 

 

I suspect if she could speak to me, she'd tell me this part of her life came easily and didn't really matter so much. She took more pride in her mind and her love of learning and books, and as she once said herself, "I think my biggest achievement is that, after going through a rather difficult time, I consider myself comparatively sane."

 

That's two nights in a row

I woke up scared again this morning. My second nightmare in as many nights. I have a vague memory of it being about Icky Grandma. She was dreadful, but she's also been gone since I was in high school.

I had a good day Saturday. Work is going well. There are dark clouds in the skies above, of course. Aren't there always? I'm worried about the dentist (Wednesday), concerned about Reynaldo's ongoing health problems, aware that the next BIG PROJECT is due July 22 and I don't have any ideas ... But life is never perfect. I'm handling all this.

So what's up? The Cubs had another truly awful game, which brings us closer and closer to the team being disbanded. I am genuinely saddened by this. I've been watching the core players on this roster for six years. I don't want to say goodbye ... and what I want matters not one whit.

And then there was The Three Faces of Eve (1957). In the movie's climax, Eve finally remembers the childhood trauma that caused the fracture of her personality. At her grandmother's wake, six-year-old Eve was forced to kiss her grandmother's corpse goodbye, and it horrified her. Perhaps it upset me more than I thought it did.

I have to be more careful about the media I consume these days. What I watch and read has a bigger impact on me now than it normally would.

Photo by wayhomestudio - www.freepik.com

Sunday Stealing

 THAT'S MY ANSWER 

1. Do you ever feel completely rested and unrushed? Sunday morning usually finds me that way. I worry that when my congregation starts meeting in the church instead of on YouTube, I won't feel as unrushed.

2. If you had to wear all white for the entire day, how long before you spilled something on it? 90 seconds. The other day I somehow smeared makeup on my bra before I even got dressed.

3. What would you include inside of your emergency kit? Immodium, my migraine meds (naproxen), band-aids, kleenex, cough drops, alcohol, antibiotic ointment and hydrocortisone cream.

4. What’s more fun than a barrel full of monkeys? Two barrels full of monkeys.

5. Is it hard for you to let go of certain things, even if you have too many of them? Yes. Very hard.

6. When was the last time you were ready to throw in the proverbial towel? Did you end up letting go, or decided to fight on anyway? I'm close to throwing in the towel with the condo board. It's really fucked up. I'm trying my best to stick with it because I think I can make a difference. But I wonder if it's worth the effort.

7. What is the color of awesome? Cubbie blue! (Though these days, I must expand my definition of "awesome" to accommodate it.)

8. What is your favorite black and white movie? Laura (1944).

9. If you could describe your mood in a color today, what color would it be? Cream. Off white.

10.  If you could wish for anything and it would come true, you wish for? I would like a lot of money. Like $750,000. I could retire, and then I could help John, Henry and my oldest friend in ways that would lighten their loads.

11. What are some of the wacky things that you like to do? Depends on how you define "wacky."

12. If you could have any author –living or dead – write your biography, who would you choose? Carrie Fisher.

13. If you could be a “fly on the wall” anywhere and at any time in history, where and when would you choose? The White House, January 6, 2021. Then I'd know, once and for all, if the President of the United States was part of a plot to overthrow the nation he placed his hand on the Bible and swore to lead.

14.What is the last thing you made from scratch? Cookies. 

15. When we are able to travel again, where would you love to go? So many places! I have plans to go back to Key West for Christmas.

 

Frown turned upside down

I woke up today feeling kinda ... bleh. Joanna and I had long planned to get together today. A Francophile, she volunteered to help out at a local boutique's Bastille Day event. When it was over at about 3:00, we were going to meet for a late lunch/early dinner. Then, Wednesday she let me know she had to cancel. Self-employed, she had a project that demanded her attention and she just couldn't afford to choose volunteer work over a paying assignment. I certainly understood and would have done the same thing in her position. But I was sad nevertheless. I keep getting stymied as I try to take tentative steps back into the post-Covid world.

When I turned on my cell this morning, I saw a text from Nancy. She and her her husband were going to be in my neighborhood. They'd been cleaning out their closets and wanted to donate their used running shoes to Soles4Souls, and there's a drop-off location nearby. There's also Nancy's favorite bookseller. She asked if, she was going to be literally around the corner from me, I wanted to meet them for lunch.

YES! YES! YES! Suddenly I was smiling again.

I like Nancy. I like her husband. Their life isn't perfect, of course. 2020 saw the death of Nancy's son and she's still not over that. (May never be over that.) But they aren't as complicated as John, Henry, Kathy or my oldest friend. They're easier to talk to and laugh with.

It was good to enjoy brunch -- complete with a screwdriver -- with them. 

Joanna is going to try to make it out here next weekend, too. I feel like I'm emerging from my Covid cocoon. 

Photo created by drobotdean - www.freepik.com

Saturday 9

Saturday 9: Mairzy Doats (1944)
Unfamiliar with this song? Hear it here.



1) While today this is considered a children's song, "Mairzy Doats" was a #1 hit and a staple on radio stations in 1944. Do you know any of today's most popular songs? (Here's this week's Hot 100.) Nope. I recognize the artists (Dua Lipa, Lil Nas X, Ed Sheeran, Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber) but not the songs. This exercise made me feel most unhip.

2) One of the song's writers recalled that the song was inspired by an old English nursery rhyme. Tell us a rhyme you remember from childhood. "Jack be nimble, jack be quick, jack jumped over the candlestick and burned his pants off." That's exactly the way my mom taught it to me. I was very lively and mischievous as a child and she was terrified I'd actually try the candle thing, so she tried to make the rhyme a cautionary tale. I was so embarrassed when I recited it at school and my teacher called me a "smart aleck."

3) This week's group, The Merry Macs, was formed by three brothers -- Judd, Joe and Ted McMichael -- who learned to harmonize at home. Did you grow up in a musical household? Not at all. My dad liked to sing along with the radio in the car, and I always had music on in my room, but that's it.

4) When the McMichaels decided their new group needed a woman's voice, they asked Cheri McKay to join them. Realizing all their names began with Mc, they began calling themselves The Merry Macs. Have you ever performed with a singing group? (Yes, that garage band you played in after school counts.) If yes, what was your band called? I have nothing for this.

5) The Merry Macs' first gigs were playing high school dances. Do you have any memories of school dances you'd like to share this morning? For some reason, the first memory that popped into my head was from junior high. The first time I danced with a boy was to a song called "Things I'd Like to Say." I found him on LinkedIn and  he's now a "retired investor."

 
   

6) Once their recording career took off, The Merry Macs went to Hollywood. They appeared in a film with the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. Who last made you laugh? PJ, who works at the vet's office. I don't recall what she said, exactly, but she always makes me laugh.

7) In 1944, when "Mairzy Doats" topped the charts, sunscreen was invented. It was first developed to protect soldiers during WWII, and that original formula was sold to Coppertone. Do you regularly use sunscreen? It's been so hot, and I've been working so hard, that I've seldom been outside this summer. This makes me sad.

8) Also in 1944, a board game called Murder! was introduced in England. In 1949 it made its way to the United States and was renamed Clue. It's still popular today. Can you name any of the original 6 "characters" in the Clue game? (Extra credit: One was replaced in 2016; who was it?) Mr. Green, Professor Plum, Mrs. White, Miss Scarlett, Mrs. Peacock. That was from memory. I know Mrs. White was replaced by Dr. Orchid, but that's because I looked it up. The game my nephew and I often played included the original six.

9) Random question: The new house you just bought comes with a big mirror on the ceiling of the master bedroom. Would you take it down or leave it there? It would have to come down before I even slept there. I can't imagine waking up and having the first thing I see is  my reflection with smeared mascara and messy hair. YECH!

I chose red and blue intentionally

This roller coaster is Cardinal red and Cubbie blue, and it represents how I feel about baseball right now.

24-hours ago, I was miserable. Cubs President Jed Hoyer made it plain that trades would be made ... and soon. Met fans on Twitter were jubilant that Kris Bryant would be theirs before the end of the month. Since KB puts the BRY in BRYZZO, I was bereft.

Then Boston fans started gloating that my favorite most Cub, Anthony Rizzo, would soon be returning to the Red Sox, the team that signed him when he was still a teenager battling cancer. They are gleefully anticipating Rizz leading them to a World Series in an ending befitting a Hollywood movie. Losing Rizz would break my heart in more ways than I can count.

The end of Bryzzo. I want to cry,

Then my guys rallied today to beat the arch-rival Cardinals most decisively. The team on the field today didn't look like they'd just lost an epic 10 straight. Bryzzo each got a hit!

I am happy. I celebrated with a creamsickle float.*

*The latest offering at the local ice cream shop: Fanta orange soda and vanilla custard. I highly recommend it.

Photo by mrsiraphol @ www.freepik.com

Kindness, Compassion and Conservative Values

When the photos of 6'5 Barron Trump appeared yesterday, and memes comparing him to NBA players cropped up, Chelsea Clinton pleaded with the tweeters to just stop.

We can recall the bullying tweets posted by Barron's father. Candidate Trump made fun of Heidi Cruz' face. The President of the United States did not think it was beneath the dignity of the office to call people he didn't like "dopey," "low class slob," "dummy" and "clown."

We can all remember Barron's father honoring Rush Limbaugh with the Medal of Freedom. Rush famously called 13-year-old Chelsea "the White House dog."

We all know Barron's mother spread birther lies about Barack Obama without pausing a millisecond to consider how this would impact Sasha and Malia.

And yet noisy Christian Conservatives question the direction of the country with Democrats in charge, all the while holding the Trumps near their hearts.

I really, really want my faith back. 

In the meantime, I'm so grateful that we now have a gentleman (how's that for an old-school term?) who is a gentle man in the Oval Office. Take his trip to Miami after the condo crisis. He touched the arm of  Gov. Ron DeSantis and said, "Just tell me what you need." He did this even though DeSantis appears to be preparing to run against him. "We aren't going anywhere," he said, sitting across from Sen. Marco Rubio, showing solidarity with the Republican lawmaker when it comes to Federal response. Think about that. Biden was sharing the limelight with a member of the opposition party. Can you imagine Donald Trump (Mr. I Alone Can Fix It) doing that?

President Biden thanked the workers who are trying to recover bodies. It wasn't that long ago that elected Republicans refused to support the Capitol Hill police -- who protect them! -- with a formal investigation into the January 6 riot.

Somehow President Biden managed to not callously fling paper towels at anyone while in Florida.

Going back to what I was taught in Sunday School, this month Joe Biden and Chelsea Clinton have demonstrated Christian values.