The Queen's Meme

I'm staying sharp by answering meme questions I had nothing whatsoever to do with! I got this one here.

Not the best choice, but currently the only choice.

1. Who should run for United States President in 2016?

Oh, shut up. It's now a binary choice. Him or her. Hillary or The Donald. I'm so sick of hearing about how voting third party doesn't help Trump. It does. Just like Nader helped Bush and Wallace helped Nixon. Math is math, boys and girls.

So grow up. Bernie lost. It happens in a democracy. To borrow from my aunt, you're not going to be the bride at every wedding, and your candidate is not going to win every primary. Suck it up. Vote Clinton this time, and work harder for your candidate next time.

2. Have you ever gone to a party and snooped in the medicine cabinet?

No. Lest you think I'm virtuous, let me share this story. My boyfriend and I were staying with his kid sister at her house. Looking for floss in her bathroom, I found KY lubricant. Lots of KY lubricant. In both a tube and suppositories! I've never seen so much KY in my life. 

So I ran out and found my boyfriend and dragged him by the elbow into the bathroom. "Look at all this KY! What do you suppose she's into that she needs all this lube?"

He was appalled, and rightly so. "She's my sister, Gal!"

I'm a terrible person.

3. Why are Happy Meals Happy?

Because McDonald's is the nation's second largest employer, right after Walmart. Well over one million people are supported by the Golden Arches. We can complain about how both McDonald's and Walmart are run -- and we should, because they can improve the way they treat both employees and customers alike. But McDonald's is important to the economic engine that runs this country, and wishing it would just go away and be replaced by Freshii is naive and terribly short sighted.

4. Have you ever done the Hokey Pokey?

Between Girl Scouts and weddings, yes. I have turned myself around many a time. 

5. What song sticks in your head and drives you crazy?

Because of this question, it's now "She Drives Me Crazy." And I can't help myself!

6. Do you dance like a  lunatic around the house when no one is looking?

Yes. But I suspect I dance like a lunatic when people are watching, too, because I am tragically uncoordinated.

August Happiness Challenge -- Day 15

Look at my happy kitty

Monday's happiness: Breakfast with a book. My friend returned to Los Angeles very early Monday and I had the hotel room till noon.

Before I checked out, I took my time and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast at the hotel buffet. Oatmeal, scrambled eggs, bacon, and a muffin. Orange juice and hot tea.*

And my book. It was bliss!

*Why are big hotels always so cold?

Each day in August you are to post about something that makes *you* happy. Pretty simple. And, it doesn't even have to be every day if you don't want it to be. It's a great way to remind ourselves that there are positive things going on in our lives, our communities, and the world.

If you want to play along, just come back here (meaning to this blog, not this individual post) each day in August, looking for the happy cat. Every day I will try to have a post with the headline: August Happiness Challenge: Day [X]. Leave a comment and then post your own daily happiness, with August Happiness Challenge in the title to make it easy to find. 

August Happiness Challenge -- Day 14

Look at my happy kitty

Sunday's happiness: Terri Hemmert. She's a Chicago radio legend. We Beatle fans know her as "Auntie Terri" from her Sunday morning show, Breakfast with the Beatles. In addition to her gig on WXRT, she has emcee'd the Fest for Beatle Fans since it's inception ... in 1974!

I wasn't sure she'd be at this year's fest. In January she had cancer surgery. Last month she had back surgery. She has to be knocking on 70, and being carved up like this has to take its toll.

But she was there. Sometimes in a motorized wheel chair, sometimes with a cane. But she was there. It was great to listen to her interview Klaus Voorman, the musician and artist who became a member of the Beatles' inner circle back in Hamburg. He won a Grammy for his design of the Revolver album 50 years ago and he's known for his bass playing. (That's him strumming those first chords you know from "You're So Vain.") Because Terri is a fan, she brought enthusiasm to the conversation. Because she's a pro, she drew Klaus out and we learned a lot.

Stay well, Auntie Terri!

Each day in August you are to post about something that makes *you* happy. Pretty simple. And, it doesn't even have to be every day if you don't want it to be. It's a great way to remind ourselves that there are positive things going on in our lives, our communities, and the world.

If you want to play along, just come back here (meaning to this blog, not this individual post) each day in August, looking for the happy cat. Every day I will try to have a post with the headline: August Happiness Challenge: Day [X]. Leave a comment and then post your own daily happiness, with August Happiness Challenge in the title to make it easy to find. 

August Happiness Challenge -- Day 13

Look at my happy kitty

Saturday's happiness: The Beatles. My oldest friend and I celebrated her 60th birthday at The Fest for Beatle Fans. It's what she wanted. 

I offered her three things -- I'd go out there for a long weekend of book loving at the Los Angeles Festival of Books; she could come here for the three-day Fest for Beatle Fans; I could go out there and we'd tour movie locations with TCM. 

She chose the Beatles. Even though I didn't have to fly out there, it was the most expensive option because I comped her airfare, hotel and tickets. Otherwise she wouldn't have been able to come. (Trouble with the IRS, an increase in her rent, her car literally caught on fire and was  a total loss ... ) She really needed to get away, to be happy, especially as she approaches one of those landmark birthdays that makes you evaluate your life. So while I suppose I couldn't afford to do this for her, I'm glad I did it anyway.

I needed it, too. For I love the Lads from Liverpool so much. We listened to Beatle lectures, shopped the Beatles marketplace, and watched Beatle videos. Hearing them play their own music, seeing their charm and joie de vivre, just lifted my heart. 

Here's a favorite. This was from 1965 and it was terrific to see it on the big screen. How I laughed at it when I was a little Gal. Now that I know it's from A Midsummer Night's Dream, I enjoy it even more.

Each day in August you are to post about something that makes *you* happy. Pretty simple. And, it doesn't even have to be every day if you don't want it to be. It's a great way to remind ourselves that there are positive things going on in our lives, our communities, and the world.

If you want to play along, just come back here (meaning to this blog, not this individual post) each day in August, looking for the happy cat. Every day I will try to have a post with the headline: August Happiness Challenge: Day [X]. Leave a comment and then post your own daily happiness, with August Happiness Challenge in the title to make it easy to find. 

August Happiness Challenge -- Day 12

Look at my happy kitty

Friday's happiness: laughter. My oldest friend arrived Thursday at about midnight and we stayed up till 3:00 AM, catching up and laughing.

We picked up where we left off Friday, laughing even more. My friend since Kindergarten, there's almost no one left on earth who has known me longer. She knows my history and many of my secrets. And oh, how she can make me laugh!

Each day in August you are to post about something that makes *you* happy. Pretty simple. And, it doesn't even have to be every day if you don't want it to be. It's a great way to remind ourselves that there are positive things going on in our lives, our communities, and the world.

If you want to play along, just come back here (meaning to this blog, not this individual post) each day in August, looking for the happy cat. Every day I will try to have a post with the headline: August Happiness Challenge: Day [X]. Leave a comment and then post your own daily happiness, with August Happiness Challenge in the title to make it easy to find. 

August Happiness Challenge -- Day 11

Look at my happy kitty

Today's happiness is bittersweet. Whenever I leave the house in the morning, Reynaldo calls after me. I can hear him as I go all the way down the hall to the elevator. The vet has told me that my cat is "unusually attached" to me. So while I am happy to be loved, I am sad about this weekend. When I leave this afternoon, I won't be back until Monday. 

 

Oh, I know he'll be safe. He'll have plenty of food and water, and I'll leave the AC on. He'll have Connie for company, but I know he'll miss me. 

 

Here's a Thursday Thirteen I wrote in tribute to my little old beige demon.

Each day in August you are to post about something that makes *you* happy. Pretty simple. And, it doesn't even have to be every day if you don't want it to be. It's a great way to remind ourselves that there are positive things going on in our lives, our communities, and the world.

If you want to play along, just come back here (meaning to this blog, not this individual post) each day in August, looking for the happy cat. Every day I will try to have a post with the headline: August Happiness Challenge: Day [X]. Leave a comment and then post your own daily happiness, with August Happiness Challenge in the title to make it easy to find. 

The saddest thing about this election

I wrote this back in May, and it's more true today:

"As I watch Hillary Clinton defend herself on two fronts -- from Bernie Sanders supporters and Donald Trump -- I find myself admiring her more than I ever thought possible. I mean, I don't like the woman, and I see her flaws rather clearly."

So far this week, I have heard that "maybe" HRC:

•  could be handled by "Second Amendment" folks
•  founded ISIS
•  is battling Parkinson's Disease

How ugly and lowest-common-denominator is this shit? Every time I hear crap like this, I get my wallet out and contribute more money to the DNC.

There ARE things to hit her on. Lots of them. For starters, she's too hawkish. She's never met a buck she didn't like. These things worry me.

But this isn't what we're debating. We're talking about whether or not Trump called for her assassination. or whether she's "celebrated" by our worst enemies, or if her body man always has a dopamine injector at the ready to shoot her up and prevent yet another stroke.

I believe that's the real tragedy of Donald Trump's candidacy. During the GOP debates, issues weren't discussed as prominently as his fingers vs. "Little Marco's," or Jeb Bush's "low energy." On the campaign trail, the emphasis was on the role a belt buckle may or may not have really played in Ben Carson's biography, and if Ted Cruz' father was implicated in the Kennedy assassination.

•  Marco Rubio sits on the Senate Committees on Intelligence and Foreign Relations. He could compare/contrast his views on national security and international policy without calling her Isis' poster girl.

•  Jeb Bush was governor of a densely populated and widely diverse state of nearly a decade. He's certainly qualified to go toe-to-toe with Hillary about ethics and domestic policy. Because of the Bush family's personal relationship with the Clintons, and taking the elegant way George W. and Laura have treated the Obamas, I am confident we wouldn't hear any him trade in the trashy gossip about "seizures."

Our country would be better for watching a Rubio/Clinton or Bush/Clinton race.

Instead we get this.

By the way, if you want to see how a patriot and a gentleman handles ugly campaign rumors ...

August Happiness Challenge -- Day 10

Look at my happy kitty

Today's happiness: an old joke. Somehow we got onto the subject of Paul Lynde, an actor/comedian all three of us grew up on. My art director contributed this joke, attributed to Lynde from his days as center square on The Hollywood Squares:

Q: How many balls on a regulation billiard table?
A: Depends on how many men are sitting on it.

OK, so it's not Noel Coward. Still, it made me laugh. And laughing is good for the soul.

Each day in August you are to post about something that makes *you* happy. Pretty simple. And, it doesn't even have to be every day if you don't want it to be. It's a great way to remind ourselves that there are positive things going on in our lives, our communities, and the world.

If you want to play along, just come back here (meaning to this blog, not this individual post) each day in August, looking for the happy cat. Every day I will try to have a post with the headline: August Happiness Challenge: Day [X]. Leave a comment and then post your own daily happiness, with August Happiness Challenge in the title to make it easy to find. 

The LaStella Saga

Things are going well for my Cubs this year. Very well. Right now, my heroes in blue are 30 games over .500. What a delightful but stunning turn of events for this ol' Gal, who has cheered them through seasons when merely reaching .500 seemed a worthy goal.

There is, however, something very weird going on that I want to read into the bloggy record, since I think in a few years it may be an interesting footnote in team history.

As in, "Whatever happened to Tommy La Stella?"

Tommy hasn't often started during this magical season, but he has contributed to the team's success. He's a dependable left hander, a good utility player and pinch hitter who was hitting .295.

But in late July, the Cubs had to send him down to the minors. It was merely a roster move, it happens all the time. The Cubs feel La Stella has enough talent and value to keep him in the organization, but for a variety of reasons just don't have room for him on their standard 25-player roster. But in September, when the play-offs start, the roster expands to 40 players. Obviously the Cubs want La Stella sharp and ready to join the team for the race to The World Series.

Tommy is 27 years old. Not a star, but someone who enjoys the cheers of more than 40,000 Wrigley Field faithful every time he steps to the plate. And he is a fan favorite because when he gets off the bench, he produces. He is on the cusp of being on the team when they make history. All he has to do is show up and play for a few weeks with the Cubs minor league team in Iowa.

So what does Tommy do? He goes home to New Jersey!

He's not injured. He has no sick relative to tend to. His house in New Jersey didn't burn down or anything. He just doesn't want to play in the minors ever again.

He's not talking to the Chicago press, but when ESPN reached him, he said he might retire.

This sounds batty to me, and I'm not alone. The Cubs have made the team psychiatrist available to him. The manager, wonderful Joe Maddon, has been remarkably measured in his public statements on the matter. Obviously the Cubs hold all the cards in this situation. La Stella is clearly in violation of his contract. We have so many good, young players in the minors we could just trade for a tried and tested major league leftie when the time comes to expand the roster.

I admire the Cubs' restraint and compassion in this matter. However it's resolved, La Stella will know his bosses gave him the time and space to decide what he wants to do with his life and career.

August Happiness Challenge -- Day 9

Look at my happy kitty

Today's happiness: sunshine on my face. I had a tough day at work today. Because my boss is a dick. (More on that some other time.) 

I had to get away from my desk. When I slipped my book into my purse, I thought I was just going downstairs to the cafeteria. Then I thought, no, I'll go to the Italian cafe at the other end of the building. Then I thought, no, I want (deserve) a beer, so I went to the Billy Goat Tavern.

It's just a few blocks from my office. Less than 10 minutes on foot. But the walk to and fro did the world for me. Sun on my face. Sun shining off the bus shelters. The sidewalks filled with rubbernecking tourists. It all made me happy. (The cheeseburger and beer helped, too.)
 
Each day in August you are to post about something that makes *you* happy. Pretty simple. And, it doesn't even have to be every day if you don't want it to be. It's a great way to remind ourselves that there are positive things going on in our lives, our communities, and the world.

If you want to play along, just come back here (meaning to this blog, not this individual post) each day in August, looking for the happy cat. Every day I will try to have a post with the headline: August Happiness Challenge: Day [X]. Leave a comment and then post your own daily happiness, with August Happiness Challenge in the title to make it easy to find. 

The power of "thumbs up"

I decided last month that I needed to add more people into my life. Specifically, good girl friends. I believe I have two good candidates, Joanna and Nancy.

Truth to tell, I think I like Joanna better. But she has definite drawbacks, like I think she will soon be moving back to New Orleans. Then she'll be like Barb and the guys in Key West and my oldest friend: long distance.

Nancy is right here in my neighborhood. Nancy is smart and we're like minded. And Nancy almost always "likes" my Facebook posts. I don't have a lot of FB "friends" (just over 50), and with a small pool I don't expect everything I post to get a "like." Yet I notice that Nancy and I are so on the same page that she "likes" my stuff.

That matters to me.

Before the month ends, I've got to call Nancy and set up a playdate.

August Happiness Challenge -- Day 8

Look at my happy kitty

I fit into my Levis! I haven't been "dieting," per se. But I have been eating smarter and better. Last week, my friend John insisted I'd lost weight but I paid him no mind. This morning I was looking for a pair of jeans with a darker wash and slipped these on. They fit! Snug, to be sure, but still, I got 'em on.
 
Each day in August you are to post about something that makes *you* happy. Pretty simple. And, it doesn't even have to be every day if you don't want it to be. It's a great way to remind ourselves that there are positive things going on in our lives, our communities, and the world.

If you want to play along, just come back here (meaning to this blog, not this individual post) each day in August, looking for the happy cat. Every day I will try to have a post with the headline: August Happiness Challenge: Day [X]. Leave a comment and then post your own daily happiness, with August Happiness Challenge in the title to make it easy to find.