Saturday 9

Saturday 9: Cowboy Casanova
 

1) The singer tries to warn her friend against a neighborhood Lothario. Do you advise your friends when it comes to love? Or do you stay out of it? Usually I stay out of it, because the couple will inevitably patch things up, remember my brilliant advice, and hold it against me. But just this past June I spoke my mind and warned my oldest friend against the jerk that had her twitterpated. She's so lonely that I thought my advice was falling on deaf ears. I was shocked that she did the self-protective thing and passed on the relationship. The success of this single episode of intrusive behavior has not caused me to change my attitude toward unsolicited advice.

 

2) This song is about the hot guy "leaning up against the record machine." Does your favorite restaurant or bar still have a juke box? Yes. I enjoy it but never play it, because other patrons load it up.

3) Carrie is an American Idol winner. Have you ever gone online or picked up the phone and voted for a contestant on Dancing with the Stars, American Idol or any similar show? When Nancy Grace was on DWTS, my friend John and I voted for her every week. She was so deliciously bad, and her dance partner had such a cute Irish accent, that we enjoyed the spectacle. I haven't watched the show or voted since. But if ever anyone's campy badness captures John's and my attention again, you can bet we will back.

 
4) Carrie graduated magna cum laude and majored in journalism, yet instead of being a reporter, she's a country music superstar. How similar are your life/career today to the way you envisioned them when you were 21? I was going to be an award-winning, crusading journalist with a fabulous Old Town apartment and a string of lovesick men on speed dial. Today I write advertising copy, I live in a condo in the burbs and ... well, phones don't even have dials anymore, do they?

 
5) Carrie also competed in beauty pageants and was a runner up for Miss NSU (Northeastern State University). If you were a contestant in a pageant, what would you do for the talent competition? I am proud of my ability to wiggle my ears.

6) This December, Carrie is scheduled to star in a televised remake of The Sound of Music. Do you have any year-end plans? I'm going to Florida: probably my November birthday in Tampa with my cousin and definitely Christmas in Key West with dear friends.

7) She is married to NHL player Mike Fisher, center for the Nashville Predators. What's your favorite professional sports team? I love my Cubs. They beat the Cards last night, you know!

 
8) Hockey is a tough game! Do you currently have an owie or an ouchie or a boo-boo that requires a bandaid? Not at the moment. But I'm a klutz and expect to need one soon.


9) Summer brings a lot of power outages and brown outs. Do you have a flashlight? If so, have you checked the batteries? Yes, on the flashlight, I don't know on the battery. Which makes the flashlight kind of useless, huh? Guess I better do something about that.

 

2013 August Happiness Challenge -- Day 16

Today's happiness: Afternoons off. During the summer, our office closes at 12:30 on Fridays, and I treasure what feels like "stolen time." I did my grocery shopping on the way home and was on the sofa, taking a nap, restful in the knowledge that I'd already crossed off one of my least-favorite weekend tasks.

2013 August Happiness Challenge -- Day 15

Binge watching. It began when I was a little girl and would get up in the middle of the night to see if Jerry Lewis was really still on the Labor Day Telethon.* Then, around 2010, I started watching the Law and Order marathons on TNT. Ever since, I've been hooked. Psych, NCIS -- when I fell in love with my TV boyfriend, Mark Harmon -- Friends, L&O: SVU, The Golden Girls ... I've enjoyed watching them all, one episode after the other.

Tonight I watched back-to-back episodes of Magnum, PI, and I loved it!

*He never disappointed me. Jerry was always there, screeching like a monkey and putting an entire glass in his mouth before introducing a plate spinner.

"A void at the top"

So today is August 15, the mid-point of the third quarter. Six months since the last layoffs and, if the company I work for is to behave predictably, time for another round.

Only today there's no news to report.

I don't mean that the blade came down and I was spared. I mean nothing happened.

I asked my boss about this and, instead of telling me not to worry, he said, "Can't happen this week. There's a void at the top." Huh? He means that our new Big Boss is on vacation this week, and I guess it would be bad form to not be in the office when the quick and the dead receive their final judgement.

So maybe Monday. Or maybe not at all.

I wish I could stop worrying about this. But I don't know how.

2013 August Happiness Challenge -- Day 14

Today's happiness: "It's covered." The DVD drive on my MacBook had to be replaced. The charge for parts and service? $0, thank you very much. Even though it's years old, it's still under warranty! Oh, how I didn't feel like spending money on this right now. Oh, how I'm relieved I didn't have to.

2013 TCM Summer Under the Stars Blogathon: Splendor in the Grass

I had an "a ha" movie moment when I was in high school. I was watching Splendor in the Grass on TV while doing my homework. As the movie drew to a close, naturally I was sad for the young lovers. But for the first time ever, I really noticed the wardrobe. The white ensemble Natalie Wood wore in the final scenes as Deanie helped tell the story, helped reveal the evolution of her character, and I got it.

I've paid attention to wardrobe ever since. Not just because I enjoy the clothes, but because when they're done right, the clothes enhance the storytelling. I love how Nora Charles' backless evening dresses establish her as the most sophisticated woman in any Thin Man film, how Mary Poppins' layer upon organized layer (coat and hat and scarf and vest and blouse and skirt) immediately let us know that this buttoned-down nanny is in control, how at the end of The Country Girl, we know Georgie is finally feeling like a confident woman again because exchanges those dowdy duds for an LBD she can really rock. I recently did a Fashion in Film blogathon post about Valley of the Dolls, and how the clothes are the best thing in that truly wretched movie.

So as TCM honors the irreplaceable Natalie Wood with her own day on Summer Under the Stars, I want to memorialize her and the white ensemble that opened another dimension of film appreciation for me.

Deanie lived in the same small Kansas town her whole life. Always doing as expected and trying to live up to the ideal set for her very nearly destroyed her. It literally took a nervous breakdown to take her away and introduce her to a world of greater possibilities.

When she comes back home and prepares to see her high school sweetheart, Bud, one more time, Deanie changes into an all-white ensemble -- hat, pearls, dress, gloves, bag, bracelet (Nat's always wearing a bracelet) and shoes. She's letting the world know she was reborn when she was away, and now she is ready for her fresh start.

The dress has a womanly silhouette. The shoulders, neckline and waist are designed to flatter, not conceal. The color signals that she no longer believes that celebrating her sexuality means she's "spoiled" (her mother's word from earlier in the film). Deanie has learned that enjoying her body is natural and comfortable and as clean as her white ensemble.

As she walks with Bud through his farmhouse, listening about his life and telling him her plan to go to Cincinnati and marry someone else, her bright new outfit stands out in stark contrast. It helps put the end of their romance in perspective: Bud has finally found serenity (if not happiness) in the simple life, but Deanie doesn't belong here. So yes, their parting is sad but it's also inevitable.

Props to costume designer Anna Hill Johnstone for creating the perfect visual coda to this classic love story.

 

TCM will show Splendor in the Grass

at on August 18 at 3:45 PM (EST).

For more blogathon entries, visit  

Sittin’ On a Backyard Fence and Scribehard on Film. 

Eenie meenie miney moe, who will be the next to go?

In mid-July, my company lost our CEO. Then we were part of a major merger. Yesterday there was another resignation at the top of the totem pole.

I know this all means something. I just don't know what.

2013 August Happiness Challenge -- Day 13

Today's happiness: He worries. I got a couple phone calls from my friend in the Keys, worried because he sees that THE DAY is rapidly approaching. Yes, I've told people that if I'm going to be let go, it will be this week, most likely on August 15. And my friend is worried about me. I admit it: I like being fussed over. It was sweet of him to care, and I really appreciated it. He works on a newspaper and his hours are unpredictable, so I haven't called him. But I did thank him via email.

2013 August Happiness Challenge: Day 12

Today's happiness: Hotels. I woke up this morning for the third, and final, morning at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare. I loved the antiseptically clean bathroom, the fluffy fresh towels and the travel-sized shampoo and conditioners. The ones we didn't use, I'm sending off to the troops in Afghanistan, c/o Operation: Shoebox.

In praise of Chad and Jeremy

How I once loved these two British imports! They weren't the Beatles, of course. No one is that good. But these two were terrific, nevertheless. Not only did I enjoy their folk-tinged music, they were so funny. They memorably appeared on Batman (the dastardly Catwoman stole their voices!), The Patty Duke Show (as Nigel and Patrick, who rehearsed in the bedroom of that lucky Patty Lane!) and the Dick Van Dyke Show (as a fictional group, The Redcoats, who appeared on The Alan Brady Show).

But, like Peter and Gordon, Gerry and the Pacemakers and The Dave Clark Five, Chad and Jeremy hit the charts big in 1964 and disappeared by 1966. I have their greatest hits on vinyl packed away somewhere in a closet, but I haven't listened to, or even thought about, them for years.

Now 71, they have reunited and are doing a handful of concert appearances. Fortunately, I was able to catch them here in Chicago at The Fest for Beatle Fans. They are charming raconteurs, regaling us with their few and very humble encounters with John Lennon and Sir Paul, as well Batman and Robin and Rob and Laura Petrie. Then they sang and I was shocked and pleased by how gorgeous their harmonies still are.

Here they are, half a century ago, singing (or rather, lip synching) my fave rave on American Bandstand. I heard them perform it live Saturday afternoon and was not at all disappointed. Some notes are no longer held as long as when they appeared with Dick Clark, but the sound was pure and lovely and very original.

2013 August Happiness Challenge -- Days 10 and 11

The past two days' happiness: Excess. I did too much on Saturday and Sunday. With my oldest friend in town, I laughed too much ... ate too much ... spent too much ... slept too late ... and it was entirely enjoyable.

We were at The Fest for Beatle Fans/Chicago and a fine time was had by all. As lifelong Beatle fans, it was good be among our own kind. And with her unexpectedly losing her job, and me worrying about the axe blade at my neck, it was helpful to just concentrate on something that only makes us happy. And that would be the Lads.

Saturday 9

Saturday 9: Waking Up in Vegas

Thanks to Cat for recommending Katy Perry 

 
1) As she sings about her night in Las Vegas, Katy wonders if

she "got hitched last night dressed up like Elvis." Tell us about the last wedding you attended. My friend Barb and her true love, John. Though technically speaking, it wasn't the wedding. That was immediate- family-only. This was a small reception, and it was beautiful.

 
2) Whenever Crazy Sam visits Las Vegas, she stays at the Paris Hotel and Casino. Have you ever been to Las Vegas, Nevada? What about Paris, France? Yes, and yes. (This makes me sound far more glamorous than I am.)

 
3) Do you enjoy gambling? Have you had any success at it? Hell yes! I just won $2 in the Illinois State Lotto. Second time this year! (Let's not think about how much I spent to earn that $4.)

 
4) Las Vegas is served by the RTC Bus Service and the Vegas Monorail System connects many of casinos on The Strip. When was the last time you rode a bus or a train? Every workday I ride the train to and fro.

 

5) It's not unusual for the mercury to hit 100º in Vegas in August. Which are you more comfortable in -- extreme heat or bone-chilling cold? Cold. I simply don't do heat well. Actually, I wish we could have this summer's weather all year around. It's been gloriously mild. And, while we're at it, I'd prefer it if the rain may never fall till after sundown, by dawn the morning fog must disappear ...

 
6) As a little girl, Katy Perry sang nothing but gospel. Do you remember any church songs from your childhood? "Red and yellow, black and white, we're all precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world." 

 
7) She made her film debut as the voice of Smurfette in The

Smurfs (2011). Who is your all-time favorite cartoon character? Mr. Peabody. Bullwinkle is a close second.

 
8) Do you consider yourself a picky eater? No. As long as the food's not spicy, I'm good.
 

9) You receive an invitation to a party that starts at 7:00 PM. When will you arrive? 7:30. I hate to be the first one there.

 

 

2013 August Happiness Challenge -- Day 9

Today's happiness: Freedom. No, not the Thomas Jefferson/God Bless America variety, though that makes me happy, too. I'm talking about being the mistress of my own ship, being able to do pretty much do whatever I want, whenever I want.

My oldest friend is now in the air, winging her way here from LA. She sent m a text saying she was having the worst day ever -- her new boss fired her AND her bra fell apart at the airport. So, instead of meeting her at the hotel tomorrow, I'm on the phone right now, hiring a car to get me there tonight. I'll present her with the nicest bra one can buy at 8:00 on Friday night. (Yes, CVS does have everything!)

Sometimes I feel a little overwhelmed by the responsibility of being my own woman, of handling everything by myself all the time. Right now, I want to take a moment to enjoy the flipside. I can race out to the airport Hyatt without worrying about anything except a little extra kibble for the cats.

Food coma!

I was going to get so much done today. I really was! The day started promisingly when I took my laptop in for repair. Then, before heading on home, I decided to treat myself to lunch at Flat Top Grill -- a create your own stir-fry restaurant. A second helping was only $1, so, God help me, I had it. And a mojito, too.

Lunch ruined me for the day. I got home and took a 90-minute nap and then got very little else accomplished -- changed my shower curtain liner, vacuumed a little, did my laundry. Didn't set the world on fire, did I?

2013 August Happiness Challenge -- Day 8

Today's happiness: An afternoon nap. The office closed today at 12:30 for the company picnic. I slipped away and came home instead. I'm desperately in need of some alone time. My oldest friend will be in this weekend and we're going to be together 24/7 from Saturday through Monday.

So I got my alone time and I sprawled out on the sofa and napped. And I luxuriated in it.

Can't help it. I'm ANNOYED!

Four of us share a space, and I hate it, hate it, hate it. Because one of my coworkers seems to go out of her way to get on my nerves, and when we're sitting on top of each other it's impossible to ignore her.

The week started when we revisited a project we did six months ago, last February. Our client had approved a piece of creative and wanted the content -- just the content -- in a word file. She had the creative and so I asked her if she would make it a word doc.

Oh, my! You would have thought I'd asked her for an internal organ!

"But it started out as a manuscript. Why don't you just send them your manuscript?"

I explained that the manuscript went through internal changes from our account team, then changes from the client, then revisions from the client's legal department, and so it was no longer an accurate reflection of the final, approved creative.

"But can't you just update it?"

Mind you, in the time it's taken us to have this conversation, she could have just done as requested. It would have taken her less than 5 minutes to copy the creative file and convert it to a word doc.

"No," I said, trying to patient. I explained that when legal revisions and fine print are involved, it's better to not try to reproduce it. It's safer to convert it. She was still resistant.

"Just give me your creative file. I'll do it," I finally said. And I did.

Monday we had to retrieve the project and she said she had no recollection of it. I reminded her that it was the one where I made the word doc's because she wouldn't.

"Why wouldn't I? It would only take 5 minutes. That doesn't sound like me!" She actually insisted that she wasn't the lazy slug she was.

Then yesterday, I was fiddling around with LinkedIn, checking on a coworker's rumored promotion. I saw that my high school friend Judy tried to contact me through this networking site, and mentioned her sister's illness. I said, "Oh, no, I don't feel like dealing with this right now." It was more to myself than to anyone else but because we sit on top of one another ...

Annoying Coworker said, "So just call her."

"It's complicated," I said. "And just seeing her message leaves me feeling really sad and guilty." (Actually, "responsible" would have been a better word than "guilty.")

Annoying Coworkers snapped, "Well, that's your problem."

"She's telling me her sister had a massive heart attack and almost died. That kinda thing always bothers me," I snapped back. And haven't spoken to her since.

2013 August Happiness Challenge: Day 7

Today's happiness: my iPod. I've been carrying this old thing -- an old school iPod classic -- for so long that I take it for granted. But it really is a worthy companion. Lately I've been immersing myself in audiobooks I'd forgotten about. Elizabeth by J. Randy Taraborelli is the one that's currently got my interest. The book itself is not so great, but Taylor's life (6 marriages to 5 husbands, countless illnesses and surgeries, and a pair of Oscars) can't NOT be interesting.


Because I loaded up the iPod myself, any content I land on is going to make me happy. It truly is an awesome invention. Thank you, Steve Jobs.

Looking good!

I've seen Lana twice at the health club this week, and am pleased to report she looks wonderful.

Lana is a coworker of mine -- a woman I liked and respected -- who was let go last February. Her journey has been an interesting one. When she was first laid off, she was philosophical, even enthusiastic. She didn't take the company-sponsored outplacement counseling because she was sure she wouldn't need it. She had an interview set up right away and there were promises of more. Besides, she wanted to finish some redecorating projects she'd begun on her apartment.

Then her prospects dried up. She started freaking out and wanted to come back to us -- the agency that had laid her off -- as a freelancer. I did what I could, even though I was certain that was a dead end. After all, they didn't let her go, just to bring her back and pay her out of a different pot of money.

Just as she began to totally panic because the wolf was too close to the door, a freelance job at another agency -- as prestigious as ours, maybe even more so -- opened up. I found out by talking to her that the gigs been extended: "through the summer" now seems to be "through the end of the year." She's hoping that they will hire her for real, benefits and everything, after the holidays.

She's also begun working out at my health club but with great success because she has a personal trainer. I saw her on the rowing machine and she looked so happy.

So it looks like Lana is moving forward. After seeing her, I felt sorry for me, not her, because the guy we replaced her with is an annoying putz and I miss her.

2013 August Happiness Challenge -- Day 6

Today's happiness: Joey. How I love this cat! So much so that today his visage replaces Augie's.

We met in the mid-1990s. His previous owners had unceremoniously dumped him at the local animal shelter -- in a sealed box, on a cold December morning -- because they could no longer afford him. A dangerous, irresponsible act, but a desperate one, too. Because Joey's heart is so open and loving that it's obvious that he's never known anything but affection from humans. So the people who cared for him during his first three years clearly did care for him.

Joey is a cat's cat. He liked play fighting and chasing. I have enjoyed watching him build relationships with the other cats in the household. First he took the role of junior partner to my late Billy. Now, with Reynaldo, he's the elder statesman. The problem is Charlotte, our resident diva. She simply hates Joey. Always has. Hated him on first sight and sees no reason to change her assessment. Every day, Joey begins a new, approaching her in friendship. And every day she hits him on the head. It's been going on like this since the Clinton Administration. Considering the difference in their sizes -- Joey is enormous and Charlotte is petite -- he could annihilate her, but he never would. Joey is inexhaustibly gentle.

Joey is my purr box. It's a deep, low rumble. All I have to do is touch him and he turns it on. He loves to lay on his back, turning his tummy to the sun. (When my mom stayed with me for a few days, she noted that his soft, white, furry tummy looks like clouds.) He follows the sun from room to room. He loves hearing his name, and his favorite sentence is "Joey Joey Joey Joe." Except for thunder and going to the vet, he fears nothing. He views every person he encounters as a friend he hasn't met yet and a head-rub waiting to happen.

He's sitting with me as I compose this. He brings the happy, every day. His tender, trusting nature is a blessing.

Color me confused

As I have written many a time, I am worried about my job stability. Between reorganization at my client's offices, which will change their needs, and a merger between the agency network I work for and our arch rival, the ground beneath my feet feels anything but solid. We have gone months without enough work to really support the three creative teams we have assigned to the account.

I figured that if there were to be lay-offs, they would happen on or around August 15. Middle of the quarter, that's when the corporation likes to do it. For some reason it makes it easier for their bookkeeping.

Now, as August 15 approaches, we have been preparing for a major new project. Tuesday we devoted 90 days to a pre-meeting, discussing timing and resources. I suppose under other circumstances the scope might sound daunting, but I have been so eager to show how much I can do, and how well, that I am nothing but enthusiastic.

EXCEPT ... my friend Tom had meetings scheduled for that entire day back in February (middle of the quarter), when he was let go.

So I want to relax, but I'm afraid to.

2013 August Happiness Challenge -- Day 5

Today's happiness: My Aunt Jo. She's my Godmother, my dad's baby sister. She and my mother had a difficult relationship, and my father had a difficult relationship with everyone, so my household wasn't very close to her. When she moved to Florida, back in the 1980s, we all kinda lost track of her, except for the occasional Christmas card. Then, in the summer of 2010, she started reaching out to me. We correspond regularly on FB and at least once a week by email.

I appreciate this so much. she reminds me of when I was a little girl and so loved by my grandpa ("You were so the favorite in our house"). She is very supportive of the me I am today and thinks I'm bright and talented. When my mother died, she flew out and stood by me at the funeral, even though her relationship with my mother wasn't great.

And today I found a book from her in the mail. It's Patricia Cornwell's biography of Ruth Graham, the wife of Billy Graham. I've always meant to read it, but never got around to it. We're both Cornwell fans, and when Jo was done with her copy, she dropped it in the mail to me. How thoughtful!

There's a symmetry to this, too. There's a book on my bedroom floor, a mystery I finished recently, that I've been meaning to send her.

I blame it on Charleton Heston

I dearly do love TCM Summer Under the Stars, but tonight is Charleton Heston night (all Chuck, nothing but Chuck) and he really leaves me cold. So tonight after work, I laid down on the sofa for just a moment ... and woke up FIVE HOURS LATER.

God, I hate it when that happens!

The times, they are a-changing

I am blessed to live in a community that values public transportation. We have many bus lines and are bordered on two sides by three different train lines. Yet, due to my own laziness, the only part of town I frequent is the east side, where I live.

Well, Saturday I went to my southside vet's office, but without a cat. Since I didn't have an appointment and was only there to pick up prescription pet food, I was able to travel at a leisurely pace. When I was done at the vet, I stopped by an independently-owned grocery store to pick up some essentials (specifically paper towels, canned tuna and, for the food pantry, a box of pasta -- they always need pasta).

This store has been family owned for decades. Now that it's run by grandson, there's been some rumbling that the quality isn't there at the meat counter. I wasn't shopping for that, so I can't comment, but I did notice a distinctly different vibe than Trader Joe's, where I usually grocery shop.

First of all, there are wood shelves and the lighting isn't as blindingly bright. The shoppers I encountered don't peruse the aisles -- they know what they want and they grab it and go. Everyone seemed like me, there to just pick up a thing or two or three -- no full carts at the checkouts, no one even took one of the red plastic baskets by the door.

And on the way out, I was sad to see empty white wire shelves where the tabloids used to be. No People or Us or Vanity Fair. Also no Enquirer, Globe or Star. It made me sad because I could imagine Liz and Dick headlines screaming from those racks. I guess the Internet makes magazine displays like these obsolete.

2013 August Happiness Challenge -- Day 4

Going to the movies. I love everything about seeing a film on the big screen, and yet this summer, I've only been once before. Part of it is that my weekend afternoons have been so full -- with friends, with trips to the salon or the dentist, most of all, with Reynaldo at the vet. Part of it is that there haven't been any big blockbusters I've wanted to see. So many (Superman, Iron Man 3, The Lone Ranger) seemed aimed at teenaged boys.

That all changed this afternoon. I got my most pressing chores (laundry and grocery shopping) done early and there's been a Sundance hit at my local theater, just waiting for me.

The Way, Way Back is so charming! It's about a 14-year-old boy spending a troubled summer with his mother, her new boyfriend and that man's daughter at a lake house called The Riptide. He reminds me of me at that age (except I was a girl and the cabin was called Smokey Pines). The grownups all behave badly ("It's like spring break for parents") and there's plenty of tension inside the newly pasted together "family." Fortunately for our hero, he finds a surrogate family at Water Wizz, the rather rundown water park that's more popular with townies than the resort crowd. My favorite character was Owen, played by Sam Rockwell. He's very reminiscent of Bill Murray in Meatballs, but that's OK, but I ended up a little in love with Bill Murray in Meatballs, too. I wonder how different I'd be if instead of feeling like a hostage at Smokey Pines every summer, I had a "friend who drives" like Owen to look forward to.

Sunday Stealing

Massive Alphabet Meme, part two

The Letter N 
Do you have a nickname?  Yes
What is your favorite number? 7
Do you prefer night or day? Not really.

The Letter O
What is your one wish? Contentment
Are you an only child? No, but I often wish I was
Do you wish this year was over? No

The Letter P 
What is one fear that you are most paranoid about? I like this question; "most paranoid" implying that there are many things that haunt my neurotic imagination. I suppose I'm "most paranoid" about the powers that be at work discussing my fate.
What personality trait would you look for in someone you wanted to date? Independence

The Letter Q 
Are you quick to judge people? I try not to be, but I'm not sure I'm completely successful

The Letter R
Do you think you are always right? About some things
Do you watch reality T.V.? Not very often
What is a good reason to cry? Despair and helplessness

The Letter S 
Do you prefer sun or rain? Sun
Do you like snow? Yes! I much prefer it to rain
What is your favorite season? Autumn

The Letter T 
What time is it? 8:00 AM
What time did you wake up? 7:00 AM
When was the last time you slept in a tent? Oh, it was DECADES ago!

The Letter U
Are you wearing underwear? Yes
Do you open your eyes when under water?   Yes

The Letter V 
What is the worst veggie? Tomatoes. Their consistency gives me the willies.

Where do you want to go on vacation? Casa Del Mar in Santa Monica. Great spa, beautiful ocean views and an old friend nearby. Hope I can afford it next year!

What was your last family vacation together?  A cottage on a tiny lake in Wisconsin. It was hell. All we did was fight. I've never been back. Though my younger sister (only 9 at the time) was either oblivious or inured to all the hostility and remembers it all fondly, returning there every year with her own family.

The Letter W 
What is your worst habit?  Sloth

Where do you live?  Chicago, the greatest city ever!

The Letter X 
Have you ever had an X-ray?  Yes, and so should you.
Have you ever seen the X-Games?  No.
Do you own or have you ever played a xylophone?  As a child, I had one decorated with Mickey and Minnie Mouse.

The Letter Y
Do you like the color yellow?  Yes. After blue, it's my favorite color.
What year were you born in? 1957
What do you yearn for most? Contentment

The Letter Z
What is your Zodiac Sign? I'm on the cusp. Whether I'm Sag or Scorp depends on which astrological resource you're looking at.
Do you believe in the Zodiac? Not much.

What is your favorite zoo animal? The okapi. They are pretty rare, because man has decimated their natural habitat. Without zoos, these docile and graceful and shy animals might actually become extinct, which would be a tragedy.