But it was beautiful, like always!

Every year my nephew and I spend a summer day together. I give him a selection of activities and he chooses. In years gone by, we've done things like The Taste of Chicago, Lollapalooza and The Chicago History Museum. This year, we went to The Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field to watch the Cubs and the Pirates.

The weather was perfect: clear and the mid-70s. Instead of taking the el to the game, which is fastest, we took the #22 Clark Street bus. It makes regular stops in The Loop, Lincoln Park and Wrigleyville, so for $2.25 he got a nice little tour of Chicago on a lovely day.

Then we ate pizza and watched the game. Jake Arrieta was on the mound, who was a pleasure to watch until he wasn't. He hit 95 pitches rather early on and, had Joe Maddon asked me, I would have pulled him them. (Joe didn't ask me.) We saw Kyle Schwarber get two hits -- one a dinger! We watched the sun set and the full moon rise over the most beautiful cathedral baseball has ever seen.

I bought two new t-shirts (because no, I cannot have enough Cub t-shirts) and wandered through Wrigleyville for a while, waiting for the crowds to thin. We stopped for grilled cheese sandwiches at an all-night diner* and I got him home by 1:00 AM.

I enjoyed showing him the parts of the city that draw young people in to party. He'll soon be a high school senior, so I know he's heard about the lure of the North Side. I also enjoyed talking to him. He just watched All the President's Men for the first time and was very impressed. He's thinking about colleges, and right now he's looking at majoring in political science at Western Illinois University.

I wish I knew more about his internal life. I worry that he's not happy or content. I shared the struggles I had within our family, resurrecting ancient history. I did it because I wanted him to know that I don't expect teen years in our family to happy. I also used his fondness for All the President's Men (produced by Redford) as a segue to Ordinary People (directed by Redford).

Which is not to say we didn't laugh a lot. We did. It's impossible to not have fun at Wrigley Field.

*Pizza and grilled cheese, all in a matter of hours, is too much dairy for this old gut.

Saturday 9

Saturday 9: The Joker (1973)
because Stacy recommended it.
 

1) In this song, Steve Miller claims he's a picker, grinner, sinner, lover, smoker and joker. Do any of those six words describe you? I'll go with sinner and grinner.

2) He maintains he's still a midnight toker. When's the last time you got high? I've never smoked pot. I haven't had a beer buzz in weeks.

3) The lyrics include a reference to peaches. Name your favorite fruit. Lately I've been eating a lot of those easy-to-peel mandarin oranges.

4) This song had a big impact on the character of Joey on Friends, who had an imaginary friend named Maurice with the occupation of space cowboy. Did you ever have an imaginary friend? I didn't, though my Barbie Doll did. After every one of her dates, she would call Ann Marie (That Girl) to discuss it.

 

 

 
5) Steve Miller is the pride of Milwaukee, WI. What else is Milwaukee famous for? Beer

6) Steve Miller considers himself a serious blues guitarist. When did you last feel like singing the blues? Whenever I think of my finances.

 

7) In 1973, when this song was popular, you could buy a portable 8-track tape player for $44.50. On what device do you listen to music most often? My shower radio. Or my little Nano.

8) A Curious George book packaged with a Curious George plush toy was a big seller at Christmas 1973. Tell us about a toy -- either given or received -- that brightened a holiday or birthday for you. My niece was seriously into the American Girl books, so it was always great fun to give her the dolls. She would curl up beside me with the doll and tell me Josefina's or Addie's or Kit's story.

  
9) M*A*S*H was one of TV's top-rated shows in 1973. Who is your favorite M*A*S*H character? Hawkeye. I was always a little in love with him.

 

 

I think it's the sunglasses

I've written before of how much Donald Trump reminds me of Richard Nixon. When I was a girl, Nixon was my #1 bogey man, but with time I've softened toward him, become more compassionate about his personal struggles. Or maybe Donald Trump is just so egregious that Nixon has improved by comparison. I appreciate that Nixon served in the military, even though as a Quaker he could have avoided it, and spent his adult life in government when he could have made more money in the private sector. I suspect that those decisions would cause our current POTUS to label Nixon "a loser."

The chief way that two seem alike to me is that their need for public adulation drives them to behave badly. And they seem obsessed by the predecessors who continue to haunt them, cool men who earned the public's fascination without begging for it.

In Poland, Trump took off on Obama again. Obama was weak. Obama didn't do enough to penalize Russia for hacking our election -- though Trump blaming Obama for not reacting to something while insisting that something never happened is pure Trump. Obama was weak on Syria. And the amazing thing (other than the spectacle of one President trashing another by name and on foreign soil) was that no one asked him about Obama. It's like Trump has Obama-specific Tourette Syndrome. He just blurts about Obama, the words pouring forth like projectile vomit.

Nixon, of course, refused to let go of JFK. They knew each other well and were friendly enough when they both arrived in Congress. As Senators, their paths began to diverge. When 1960 happened, Nixon bitterly resented losing The Presidency to a man whose glamor he couldn't match. Then JFK became a martyr, and there's no winning against the dead. Yet Nixon couldn't end the rivalry. At one point, JBKO pointed out to him that he would do things her late husband never would, like grow old with his wife and give his daughters away at their weddings. But Nixon couldn't see it that way. He let envy eat him alive. In Being Nixon, Evan Thomas writes of President Nixon ordering a low-level bureaucrat fired simply because she kept a portrait of JFK framed on her desk. (His aides secretly refused to do it.)  In The Final Days, Woodward and Bernstein give us a Watergate-era Nixon drunkenly arguing with Kennedy's White House portrait.

So what is it about Obama and Kennedy that their successors can't escape? Is it the easy elegance? Their Ivy League educations? The natural wit? Their acceptance among the media elites?

Or is it the sunglasses?

I'd love to hear someone like Tim Naftali weigh in on this. Prof. Naftali knows the Cold War and Nixon so well, and he's a recognized expert on Watergate, which has landed him on CNN a time or two since the Trump/Russia investigations began. (Prof. Naftali, if you read my blog ...)

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? Exposed by Lisa Scottoline. The book sets up an interesting premise: what if what's fair isn't what's right? It's the latest in the popular Rosato and DiNunzio series, and it pits the two partners and two friends against each other. The case is heartbreaking and timely, regarding employers and insurance coverage and the cost of healthcare in this country. I'm enjoying it so far, though I find Mary's Italian Philly family a bit too cartoonish. Still, I like how Scottoline writes and I like the characters she's created. I just wish she'd give "Mare" a rest and revisit Anne Murphy. Anne is the firm's youngest lawyer with an interesting backstory and she deserves a turn in the spotlight. (I'm reading an ARC of Exposed from Amazon.)

2. What did you recently finish reading? Little White Lies, by Ace Atkins. I enjoyed this latest addition to the Spenser saga ... until I didn't. It has a lot going for it. Ace Atkins brings back some beloved old characters and uses them well. There's good food and good booze and witty banter, and of course a mystery. Connie Kelly hires Spenser to find her lover. He bilked her of tens of thousands of dollars, and left her a mess, emotionally as well as financially. Spenser takes her case and gets to the bottom of it all, encountering danger and intrigue along the way. So far, so good. But here's where it lost me. About 3/4 of the way through, there's a Clark Kent plot twist. Remember how no one at The Daily Planet realized that Clark Kent was Superman simply because he wore glasses? Here one of the bad guys completely changes identity, simply by dying his hair. I mean, really!

3.  What will you read next? It's time for another biography. Nixon is top of mind these days. Maybe Dolley Madison? 

 

What a day!

Today was a weird day. A sad day. A quiet day.

First I learned that my friend Nancy's father died. She's very philosophical about it. He had been very ill for a long time and, Nancy said, "ready to go." She also readily admits that the loss hasn't sunken in yet. I told her I'm ready to be there for her -- whether she wanted to talk or just wanted to be distracted. I reminded her I've lost both my parents, so this is a path I've walked. She said she would remember to call on me. I'm going to send a note this week, reiterating this. Sometimes it's nice to hold a card.

Then my friend Henry called. In tears, and I've never heard him cry before. His friend Ted died this morning. Like Nancy's father, Ted had been in ill health for years. At these final stages, there were no facilities in Key West that could provide him the care he required and he's been in Miami since May. Henry spent last night in Miami and is simply exhausted after driving hour after hour to get back to home, only to learn that Ted died while he was on the road. Henry knows I liked Ted and wanted to talk. Henry's partner Reg never really got on with Ted, so I feel like I was important to him today.

I barely remembered that it was the Fourth of July! I'm going to watch Yankee Doodle Dandy in honor of the day.

I Miss It!

I thought it was a good thing that we didn't have a classic movie Meet Up scheduled for July. I was going to use the extra free time to commit myself to housework.

Yeah, right.

I've taken two bags of clothes to Goodwill, but it's like spitting in the ocean. I'm still drowning in stuff.

And I miss Will and Joanna. No, that's not quite true. I miss watching old movies with Will and Joanna. It's cool to share your passion with others who really get it. On Facebook, Will posted his flower boxes with the caption, "The calla lilies are in bloom again."

I immediately answered, "Such a strange flower."

"I knew you'd finish the quote! :)"

(The quote is classic Hepburn from Stage Door.)

45 years is really a drop in the bucket

There's a feverish progressive theory floating around social media: Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan are supporting Donald Trump's clown Presidency because it enables them to push their "evil" vision of healthcare through. And once they succeed, once their wealthy donors are satisfied at the expense of the most vulnerable among us, McConnell and Ryan will "allow" Trump to be removed.

Oh, good goobies! There's so much wrong with this! First of all, healthcare isn't going anywhere because of Republican legislators. The GOP-controlled Senate won't accept the House bill. The Senate can't come up with a bill of their own that their own membership agrees on. At this point, McConnell and Ryan seem unable to mastermind a light out of socket.

Secondly, if they "allowed" Trump's impeachment, they would get to deal with Mike Pence. Safe, sober, dependable, ideologically consistent Mike Pence. No one -- not even his most passionate supporters -- has ever described Trump as safe, sober, dependable or ideologically consistent.

Oh yeah, and it's never good to assign tags like "evil" on political adversaries. It's toxic and it makes you part of the problem. Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan are, in my opinion, patriotic men who are simply wrong. They are acolytes of the Ronald Reagan/Margaret Thatcher theories of the free market being able to save us all. As a lifelong Kennedy girl who believes government should be there to do for the individual what the individual can't do for himself, this is anathema. To paraphrase, you can't raise yourself up by your bootstraps if you don't have boots. That said, I don't think McConnell or Ryan are "evil." I don't think they'd drown a puppy or leave a baby in a locked car on a summer day. I believe if I was on fire, they would indeed pee on me.

An Illinois man recently relocated to DC, picked up a gun and shot at GOP lawmakers while they practiced for an intramural baseball game. Rep. Steve Scalise -- a man I agree with on almost nothing -- is fighting to recover as I post this. It behooves all of us to watch our labeling. It dehumanizes and turns those we disagree with into targets.

Instead it's easier to explain what's going on today by looking back at our own recent history. Donald Trump is Richard Nixon's id, without the leavening superego. As the Russia investigation comes closer and closer to his inner circle, Trump becomes more outrageous.

Instead of talking about healthcare, or infrastructure* or even his dispatch of ATF agents to Chicago, Trump tweets about Mika Brzezinski's "bloody face" and body slams CNN. All this coincides with WSJ reporting that Trump's bromantic partner, Mike Flynn, was personally involved with Russian hacking ... as were Steve Bannon, Kellyanne Conway and Sam Clovis.

Don't look at what I did then! Look at what I'm saying now!

Our President doesn't seem to give a flying fuck about us. He cares about saving himself from prosecution. I don't think he's "evil," either. I think Donald Trump is behaving like he's desperate and cornered, and his responses are as predictable as they are sad.

Ryan and McConnell certainly don't want him as President. Just as the Republicans in Congress weren't wild about having Nixon in the White House. But they are stuck with Trump. Not because of their wealthy donors, because of passionate Trump voters in gerrymandered districts. This does not make them "evil." It makes them lacking in political courage. There is a difference.

When the news media finally breaks through and most of the country gets what happened, then they will press their lawmakers to remove Trump. Or, just as likely, old-timers of conscience like McCain and Graham will get fed up and do what they can to remove the President of their party. Just as Goldwater and Dole did in the 1970s. (Yes, I'm admitting Republicans did the right thing.)

I know this because I lived through Watergate. I know this because I read about Watergate. I know how levers of government work because I paid attention in 5th grade.

*Which I would have applauded. Yes, even though he is (gasp!) a Republican President! Because, Traitor to the Resistance that I am, I want people to drive across safe bridges.

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing: Last The 40 Questions from Bud

1. My uncle once : found and cared for a snapping turtle he named "Dog." His reptilian buddy got to be so big that my uncle could no longer care for him, and Dog was rehomed at The Morton Arboretum. We lost my uncle years ago, but it's possible that Dog is still thriving. I hope so.

2. Never in my life : have I smoked a cigarette, or a joint, or nuthin'.

3. When I was seventeen : it was a very good year

4. High School was : sucked

5. I will never forget : how much high school sucked

6. I once met : a boy called Frank Mills, on September 12th right here in front of the Waverly, but unfortunately, I forgot his address.

7. There’s this girl I know who : is so helpful and so sweet. She went back to her home in India for 10 days and the office just isn't the same without her. She's a joy to work with.

8. Once, at a bar : I ordered a kir royale because I liked the color. I quit drinking them because champagne and wine now give me a headache. :(

9. By noon, I’m usually : hungry

10. Last night : is the night I will remember you by. When I think of things we did, it makes me want to cry.





11. If only I had : a brain I'd unravel any riddle for any individdle, in trouble or in pain.

12. Next time I go to gym/church : will be next week for both.

13. Susan Boyle : is, I'm sure, a very nice woman but not especially relevant to me.

14. What worries me most : being helpless. I prize my independence.

15. When I turn my head left, I see : the sofa.

16. When I turn my head right, I see : a framed print of the Beatles Anthology by Klaus Voorman.

17. You know I’m lying when : you ask me how I'm doing and I say "fine." I'm seldom just "fine." Happy, very happy, sad, worried, miserable, filled with anticipation ... yes. Fine? Not really.

18. What I miss most about the eighties : Ryne Sandberg at second base

19. If I was a character in Shakespeare, I’d be : Katherine of Padua. Like me, she was hardly ever just "fine."

20. By this time next year : I hope Bud will have a permanent new author for Sunday Stealing.
 
21. A better name for me would be : Julie. I don't know why, but I like the name Julie.

22. I have a hard time understanding : People who aren't furious that Russia interfered with our election process.

23. If I ever go back to school, I’ll : have a better attitude.

24. You know I like you if : I extend myself for you. (And no, I don't mean like yoga or pilates. No one wants to see that.)

25. If I ever won an award, the first person I’d thank would be : Depends on what the award is.

26. When I compare 80’s rock to 90’s rock : I liked the 80s better.

27. Take my advice, never : eat the hot dogs spinning by the counter at the convenience store or the movie theater.

28. My ideal breakfast is : a big, hearty one prepared by someone else.

29. A song I love, but do not own is : "Dance, Dance, Dance" by the Beach Boys.



30. If you visit my hometown, I suggest : you visit Wrigley Field. It's the most beautiful venue in professional sports.

31. My favorite Beatle is : 

32. Why won’t people : wake up about the Russian hacking? This is exactly what everyone was so worried about with Hillary's server. It happened, and now half the country seems to be view it as a yawn.

33. If you spend the night at my house : I must be bound and gagged and hidden in the closet. I don't like having overnight guests. I hate how my bathroom looks, and until the remodel is finished (target 2018, sigh) I don't want you here.

34. I’d stop my wedding for : for the groom. Who is the lucky bastard?

35. The world could do without : religious intolerance.

36. I’d rather lick the belly of a cockroach than : hmmmm .... I imagine that at least the belly of a cockroach would be smooth. So I'll go with "chew gum I found under the table in a diner."

37. My favorite blonde is :

38: Paper clips are more useful than : kumquats

39. If I do anything well, it’s : take care of dogs and cats

40. And by the way : Good luck with Stealing, Bev Sykes!

A summertime reminder

In warm weather, I often have Janis running through my head, singing "Summertime, and the living is easy ...". Only it's not easy for everyone. Not for the tens of millions of school children who received free or reduced-price lunches at school.

That's why it felt especially good to drop off a little bag of  food pantry donations on my way to the post office Saturday. The local visitor's center has a wicker basket by the front door designated for that purpose. This makes me happy, because tourists in our town know that we support our own. And it's a reminder to every local who walks by we look out for one another in this neighborhood.

Sliced pineapple, mandarin oranges, tuna, rice, mustard,* green beans and tomato soup. That's what I dropped off today. It cost me less than $8 to buy that food. And somebody who needs help -- a kid, a retiree, a person between jobs who is spending everything on COBRA -- will get it. That's really a pretty cheap way to make myself happy.

To find a food pantry near you, click here.

*People forget to donate catsup and mustard! But hot dogs, burgers and sandwiches are cheap summer eats that can always use some livening up.

Saturday 9

Saturday 9: I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)

I looooove Cagney in this movie.

1) This week's song was performed by James Cagney in the famous movie of the same name. Do you plan on going to the movies this holiday weekend? I hope to get Baby Driver in. I've heard only good things about it.

2) Though known for his larger-than-life screen presence, Cagney was only 5'5". How tall are you? Nearly 5'2 (measured horizontally and vertically).

3) During the Revolutionary War, General Washington celebrated the 4th of July by giving his troops a double ration of rum. Will you imbibe any spirits this holiday weekend? Probably.

4) American history was one of Crazy Sam's best subjects in school. Science was her worst. In which class did you earn your worst grades? Math.

5) The Fourth of July means we're in the middle of summer. Are you careful about applying sunscreen? I haven't been outside that much yet this year. I slathered it on when I went to Wrigley Field last month. There's a sunscreen included in the tinted moisturizer I wear every day.

6) Mosquito bites can be a major summer annoyance. Are you scratching any itches right now? No, thank God! Bug bites really vex me.

7) Emergency rooms report an increase in wrist injuries in summer, with people falling off bikes and skateboards and jamming their wrists catching hard-hit softballs. Have you recently been to the ER or Urgent Care? No, she said, knocking wood.

8) New York is home to Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest every year on the 4th. Will hot dogs be consumed in your household this weekend? Very likely.

9) Atlanta hosts a 10K Peachtree Road Race every 4th of July. Are you a runner? No. I'm afraid it would be too much of a strain on these old joints.

I'm now her

Back in the mid-1980s, I worked as an in-house creative for a major hair care manufacturer. That job was the most fun I ever had at work. I got to hang out with the guys in the lab who tested new products and I learned a great deal about hair chemistry. I learned how to read ingredient statements and write the corresponding claims that appear on the bottles, cans and boxes.

As a result, I know how to shop. I know that price and packaging are not a dependable indicator of quality or results. And I'm a smart consumer ... except for hairspray.

Because back in the mid-1980s, I saw the demographics for Aqua Net. They weren't scientific, they were anecdotal reports from distributors. But they were brutal. Aqua Net was the brand of choice of blue-haired old ladies who favored helmet hair. The ones who like to get lacquered up after sitting under the bonnet hair dryer.

For me, buying Aqua Net has always meant I've given up. Never mind that, with its price point, it's a better deal than just about anything else on the store shelf. This isn't about product performance. It's about self respect.

As of last weekend, I lost all self respect. Nothing else at Walgreens was on sale. Not even Suave or White Rain! So, for the first time, Aqua Net made its way into my shopping bag.

I'm now her. I'm now the blue-haired old lady.

Here's further proof: After my client presentation Monday, I had hours to kill before my train. I was stressed. I was exhausted. I deserved a treat, so I took myself to a local salon and got a 30-minute massage.

It was not until this morning, when I disrobed for my Tuesday shower, that I took note of the undies I had worn on the massage table. Not only were they my big old cotton granny panties, the elastic was frayed.

I'm now her.

Self portrait. See? My hair's not blue!

"That's why we love you, Gal"

Very happy to report that Monday's client presentation went well. The work was well received. I presented it old-school, with a deck and going over it page-by-page. Sitting at the conference table, surrounded by my clients. Low-tech, I know, but highly personal -- important because this account is all about the relationship. And, when I present on paper that way, I don't have to worry about computer compatibility or playing "who's got the dongle," or any of the other higher-tech that always go wrong.

I know this my client's business cold. I'm a major geek and my enthusiasm carried the day. At one point, when I was talking about my passion for getting around the client's compliance department in my quest to collect customer email addresses, I blurted, "If I could go door-to-door and ask for addresses, I would." Then, worried I went too far, I added, "I'm sorry, but I'm more than a little passionate about this."

"And that's why we love you, Gal," said my client. I was very happy my boss was in the room to hear that. Our styles are very different and I think he views my enthusiasm as frivolous. I'm glad he got to see that the client responds to my authenticity.

Sunday Stealing -- The Final Entry

Mememaster Bud is hanging up his Sunday Stealing Spurs. If you would like to see this meme continue and are willing to take over the stealing of other memes each week, please contact him here.


Sunday Stealing: The Greenish Questions

1. What is your current obsession? The Chicago Cubs. Specifically Anthony Rizzo. He sat out Saturday's game. Is he happy? Will he make the All Star squad this year? How long will he continue as our lead-off man? He's such a great guy -- a joy to watch on the field and philanthropic off of it. I want only good things for him.
 

A cancer survivor himself, Rizz works w/kids battling the disease

2. What’s your go-to coffee place? I don't drink coffee, but I've been known to stop at Starbucks for a tall hot chocolate, skim, no whip, and with a little cinnamon added to it.

3. Who was the last person that you hugged? A coworker. Last week was a rough week for my little team.

4. Do you nap a lot? More than I used to.

5. Tonight, what’s for dinner? Have not yet decided. I have a lot of leftovers to choose from.

6. What was the last thing that you bought? I got a pedi refresh onSaturday afternoon. Revlon Optimistic Pink.

7. What is your favorite weather? This weekend has been nice. A little over 70º and sunny.

8. Tell us something about one blogger who you think will play this week? Kwizgiver is a voracious reader and a Daddy's Girl.

9. If you were given a free house that was fully furnished, where in the world would you like it to be? Lately I've been daydreaming about Hot Springs, AR. I wouldn't want to live there -- too hot in summer -- but it's a very pretty, lazy and friendly town. If I had a fully-furnished home, after I retire I'd stay there several weeks at a time throughout the year. Walking around Ouachita Mountain, taking the waters.

10. Name three things that you could not live without. Books. Cats. Internet.

11. What would you like in your hands right now? Tee hee

12. What’s one of your guilty pleasures? Bad movies. My enduring favorite guilty pleasure is Valley of the Dolls. It's a terrible script, dreadfully acted with the utmost seriousness. Camp of the highest order.

Patty Duke as Neely, a big talent w/a weakness for booze and dope

13. What would you change or eliminate about yourself? I would eliminate all the excess fat.

14. As a child, what type of career did you want? I was going to be a singer (except I can't sing). And a teacher. And a crusading journalist.

15. What are you missing right now? My waist. (See Question 13)

16. What are you currently reading? Little White Lies, a Spenser mystery.

17. What do you fear the most? Being vulnerable (old, poor, and unable to care for myself)

18. What’s the best movie that you’ve seen recently? I just rewatched watched an oldie, Kramer vs. Kramer (1979). It holds up very, very well. I wonder whatever happened to that Meryl Streep girl.
 
19. What’s your favorite book from the past year? I loved the massive, two-volume Sinatra biography -- The Voice and The Chairman. He was a great singer, a talented but lazy actor, an unrepentant womanizer, a Mafia groupie, a generous friend, a complete asshole and a wonderful father ... sometimes all within a few paragraphs. Next to Francis, everyone else in the world is dullsville, chickie baby.

20. Is there a comfort food from your childhood that you still enjoy? Fish sticks. Preferably with a side of mac and cheese.

Saturday 9

Saturday 9: Listen to the Music (1972)

Because Zippi requested it.

1) The lyrics say, "What the people need is a way to make them smile." What song lifts your spirits and makes you smile every time you hear it? "September" by Earth, Wind and Fire. In November 2004, I was as blue as I've been in my life. Crying in the shower, crying behind my sunglasses (and I'm not a crier). I just couldn't shake it. The first time I smiled in days was when I was crossing the street en route to the drug store and this came through my headphones. "Ba de ah, something you remember/ba de ah, dancing in September..." It's an aural tonic.

 

--> 2) Lead vocalist/composer Tom Johnston reports that he's made a lot in royalties because so many radio stations use this as a jingle. Tell us a jingle that sticks in your head. "American Mattress! Where dreams come true." It seems there's an American Mattress on every other block these days, so that little ditty runs through my mind all the time, every time I see the sign.

3) The Doobie Brothers got their start in San Jose, California. San Jose is the largest city in Northern California, thanks to all the tech companies that have headquarters there. Let's talk about the device you're on right now: are all your applications up to date? No. Not on my laptop and not on my phone. Bad Gal!

4) When they were still a local band, the Doobie Brothers had a strong following among bikers. Are you attracted to biker culture? No. Though when I was working on the John Kerry Presidential campaign in 2004, a Vietnam vet/biker came to my aid. It was at a rally downtown. I was supposed to be inside with the other volunteers, but I got lost in the crowd. I did my best to push through, but I'm not very tall, so I wasn't having much success. I found my face literally pressed into the leather jacket of this biker dude (smelled like booze and cigarette smoke). He looked down and regarded me like a bug. 
He was a fearsome looking guy -- beard, sunglasses, all the stereotypical accoutrement. "What makes you special?" he growled at me.

"I'm a campaign worker! A volunteer! I'm supposed to be in there!" 

I guess I looked sincere and desperate, because he gave me an odd smile and then went into action. He spread his big arms through the crowd as if he was making angels in the snow, and warned everyone to get out of my way. Now.

I got to the front door, showed my credentials and literally trotted in to the auditorium. He really was my gallant prince. And I felt like a heroine -- like Cher in Mask.

5) This week's song is from Toulouse Street, which is considered their "breakthrough" album. Tell us about a moment in your own life that you consider a "breakthrough." It's personal so I'm not going into much detail. But I'd been in a very long, very toxic relationship and when I finally got out, I was more than a little apprehensive by the thought of being with another man. When I finally screwed up the courage, I was surprised by how natural, healthy, and happy it was. The Breakthrough was that love can feel safe.

6) In 1987, the Doobie Brothers did a benefit performance for Vietnam Veterans at the Hollywood Bowl. Next to the Beatles, it was the fastest-selling ticket in Hollywood Bowl history. Which group do you listen to more often -- the Doobies or the Beatles? Oh, I love those Lads from Liverpool.

7) In 1972, when this song was popular, Wranglers were America's best-selling jeans. Are you brand-loyal to one jeans manufacturer? Gloria Vanderbilt.

8) Grocery stores saw seafood prices fluctuate wildly in 1972 because of a series of confrontations between the United Kingdom and Iceland regarding fishing rights in the North Atlantic. (Iceland won.) What was the most recent seafood dish that you enjoyed? Thursday night, I grilled a salmon filet.

9) Random question: Which of these "top ten" lists would you prefer to be on -- the sexiest, the smartest or the richest? Five or ten years ago I would have said, "sexiest." But now, no question, RICHEST!

That was the week that was

A year ago at this time, I was one of 7 on this creative team. Now there are three.

Our account is growing. But they have been adding to management staff and to the creative group that does television. Our team has been cut ... radically.

Our workload has not been cut ... at all.

In reality, there were too many of us when we had 7 bodies. But I think we need another person. But it is what it is, and so I've been drowning over the last two weeks.

And there's been a lot of change in the management staff. New faces, and promotions among the rank and file. Some of those promoted are a little young and very green and don't wear the new power well. I am proud to report that I have restrained myself and there was no bruising or loss of blood over the past five days.

So I've had a lot of late nights, and a lot of stress.

There's a Big Presentation on Monday. I'm very confident of the work and my presentation skills. I'm not confident of my ability to be on the Amtrak train at 7:00 AM. I have to leave my house, dressed for all eyes on me, before 6:00 AM. Gulp. I have three alarm clocks and have set a wake up call.

Pray for me.