Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing: The Eight/Ten Questions

TEN TO START:

1. Are you single? Yes

2. Are you happy? At times

 

3. Are you bored?  Seldom

4. Are you naked? At times

 5. Are you a blonde? No

6. Are you moody? At times

7. Are you a lover/hater? Depends

8. Are you hot/cold? Right now, I'm like Goldilocks: "Just right."

9. Are you Irish? Less than 10%.

10. Are you Asian? No.

TEN FACTS:

1. Name: The Gal Herself

2. Nickname: Gal

3. Birth mark: Right thigh

 

4. Hair color: Light brown with highlights

5. Natural hair color: Light brown

6. Eye color: Green

7. Height: 5'2

8. Facebook Mood: Happy all the time, because social media is such a fake place

9. Favorite color: Blue

 

10. One Place to Visit: For some reason, this is what popped into my mind. It's the darling little waterfall at the base of Ouachita Mountain in Hot Springs, AR. I long to go back. It's an intimate, sweet little town and it feels like my secret place. If I had the money, it would be my solo getaway this year. (But I don't have the money.)

 

TEN THINGS ABOUT YOUR LOVE LIFE.

1. Do you believe in love at first sight? "Yes, I'm certain that it happens all the time."

2. Do you believe in soul mates? Yes.

4. Have you ever been hurt emotionally? Of course.

5. Have you ever broken someone’s heart? Regretfully.

6. Have you ever been cheated on? Yes.

7. Have you ever liked someone and not told them? Yes.

8. Are you afraid of commitment? Yes.

9. Who was the last person you hugged? My friend, Barb.

10. Who was the last person you kissed? A man I had no business kissing.

TEN THIS OR THAT.

1. Love or lust? Ideally, both.

3. Cats or dogs? Cats. I like dogs, and would have one if I could, but I can't imagine a feline-free life.

4. A few best friends or many regular friends? Best friends.

5. Television or internet?  Internet, because I could watch YouTube.

6. Chinese Or Indian? Chinese.

7. Wild night out or romantic night in?  Romantic night in. If you see Mark Harmon, let him know.

8. Money or Happiness? Ideally, both.

9. Night or day? "Night or day, you are the one. Only you beneath the moon or under the sun." If you see Mark Harmon, let him know.

10. Skype or phone? Phone.

TEN HAVE YOU EVER.

1. Been caught sneaking out? Yes.

2. Been skinny dipping? No.

3. Stolen? No.

4. Bungee jumped? No.

5. Lied to someone you liked? Yes.

 

6. Finished an entire jaw breaker?  Yes.

7. Cheated on a lover (yes kissing counts...)? No.

8. Wanted an ex bf/gf back? Yes.

9. Cried because you lost a pet?  Yes.

10. Wanted to disappear? Yes.

TEN PREFERENCES IN A PARTNER.

    1.   Smile or eyes? A lover with no eyes would be creepy.

2. Light or dark hair? Dark.

3. Hugs or kisses? Ideally, both.

4. Shorter or taller? There is no one shorter than me.

5. Intelligence or attraction? Intelligence is attractive.

6. Romantic or spontaneous? Spontaneous.

7. Funny or serious? Funny.

8. Older or Younger? There is no one older than me.

9. Outgoing or quiet? Outgoing

10. Sweet or Bad Ass? Sweet. An old "bad ass" is just sad.

TEN HAVE YOU’S.

1. Ever performed in front of a large crowd? If presentations count as performance, yes.
 

2. Ever done drugs? Yes.

3. Ever been pregnant? No.

5. Ever been on a cheer leading team? No.

6. Ever Been on a dance team? No.

7. Ever been on a sports team? Volley ball in junior high. I was dreadful.

8. Ever been in a drama play/production? No.

9. Ever owned a BMW, Mercedes Benz, Escalade, Hummer or Bentley? No.

10. Ever been in a rap video? Why, yes. See if you can spot me. (Clue: I look terrific in uniform.)

 

 

TEN LASTS.

1. Last phone call you made: Walgreens Pharmacy

2. Last person you hung out with: Coworker
 
3. Last person you flirted with: Different coworker

4. Last time you worked: Friday afternoon
 

5. Last person you tackled: Jay Cutler

6. Last person you IM’d: Friend

8. Last person(s) you went to the movies with: This question makes me sad because I missed my movie meetup Saturday night

9. Last thing you missed: My movie meetup Saturday night

10. Last time you did the nasty: I've never considered it nasty

 

There's something about the spinach and cheese croissant

Friday just got away from me. I ate a ton of Girl Scout cookies at my desk, expecting them to hold me over until after my lunchtime workout. Then my boss came in and sat down and I ended up conversing about work instead of working out.

By the time I looked at the clock, it was 2:30. I wasn't really hungry (all those Do-Si-Dos) but I had to get away from my desk for a minute. So I went to the post office and on the way back, stopped at Au Bon Pain.

They didn't have much left to choose from. But I was drawn to the spinach-and-cheese croissant. Hot and gooey. And spinach gave it the patina of nutritious. I snarfed it down without really remembering it. When I got home Friday night, I still wasn't hungry, but had a bowl of cereal for dinner because I didn't want to wake up in the middle of the night, voracious and jonesing for ice cream.

Saturday morning I was soooooo sick. Smelly, voluminous, boy-this-hasn't-happened-in-a-long-time kinda sick. I went back to bed and didn't get up until 1:00. I got it together to go grocery shopping, but that was it. I even missed my classic movie meet-up (and I looooove my classic movie meet-up).

This gave me a lot of time to think. I recall having the ABP spinach and cheese croissant once before.  Guess what happened.

Lesson learned.

Saturday 9

Saturday 9: Fist City (1968)
 
Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

Sure, Reynaldo looks angelic

1) This song is about a wife warning another woman off her man. Who received the last warning, of any type, that you issued? I warned my cat, Reynaldo, not to knock that pencil cup onto the floor. He did it anyway.

2) Loretta sings that when her husband picks up trash, he puts it in a garbage can. She's being metaphorical, but we will be literal: If you spot litter on the sidewalk, do you pick it up or just walk on? I don't see trash on the sidewalk often, but there's always an empty potato chip bag or sweet tea bottle on the floor of the el. And I admit I leave it there. I worry about germs. I figure there's a reason why the maintenance workers wear gloves.

3) She taught herself to play guitar. If you could learn something new in 2017, what would it be? I should resume my attempt to learn Spanish. I think understanding and speaking another language would expand my understanding of the world around me.

4) She broke her shoulder in a fall and surgery was required to repair it. When were you last in a hospital? Were you a patient or a visitor? I spent a little time with my friend, Barb. Her husband was in the hospital.

5) In the 1970s, Loretta Lynn was the first country singer to appear on the cover of Newsweek. Who is your favorite country singer? Garth Brooks. And this is my favorite Garth Brooks song.

 

  

6) Rowan and Martin's Laugh In premiered in 1968, when this song was popular. What's the last TV show you watched? Did you watch it live, did you stream it, or catch it on DVR/Tivo? I just watched an interview Dick Cavett did with Richard Burton back in 1980. I had DVR'd it. Now I have to decide whether or not to delete it. I loooooove listening to Burton tell stories in that deep, honeyed voice, but I'm down to 6% of storage space.

7) In 1968, Jacqueline Kennedy shocked the world by marrying Greek billionaire Aristotle Onassis.What's the last thing you heard that surprised you? That one of my neighbors is resigning from the condo board. There's so much drama in this little, 24-unit condo building! (Remember Melrose Place? We're just like that, only we don't dress that well and we aren't that attractive.)

8) 1968's top-rated car was the Chevy Corvette. Could your car benefit from a trip to the car wash this morning? No car.

  
9) Random question: You're staying in a hotel and find you can faintly hear the couple in the next room. Would you ignore their voices, or try to hear them better? Depends on my mood. I might be tempted to listen in, but if I'm sleepy I'd probably just turn on my TV for white noise as I doze off to sleep.

 

Tears ... and the Angry Inch

Wednesday night we went to see the touring production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. It was a compelling night of theater and I liked the music, but it was such an angry story -- my favorite quote from Hedwig is, “It’s the direction of the aggression that defines the act” -- that I can't say I enjoyed it. I do know that I have been thinking about it a great deal.

But it wasn't the play that made the night memorable. It was my friend, Barb. As we had dinner before the show, she unexpectedly broke down. She and her husband are getting closer to putting their home here in Chicago on the market, their new home in Hilton Head is just about done  ... and John is still battling two forms of cancer. Every three weeks he goes to Northwestern Hospital for treatments.

What's more, she has two surgeries of her own scheduled before they move: an operation on her left eye and reconstructive surgery after her own battle with cancer. Additionally, her feet are bothering her, and it turns out she has arthritis which "could" require surgery in the future.

"I worry about what's going to happen to John," she said between tears. I didn't ask her to elaborate because I knew what she meant: he's dying. When he was diagnosed back in September, his first doctor told him he had six months. That was six months ago. His new medical team said they "don't look at cancer treatment that way," and that he's been "responding" to medication. But both she and John know he's never going to get better. He gets winded so easily that he cannot climb even a flight of stairs on his own. And yet they are going to pack up everything they own and drive 950 miles to South Carolina.

She did articulate that she's worried about their medical care. Northwestern is the #1 hospital in Chicago for cancer treatment, and it's been ranked in the top 10 nationwide. Not only is John's cancer team there, so is Barb's. The oncologist who oversaw her mastectomy less than a year ago is also at Northwestern. I told her that Hilton Head has a big retirement community and there must be good doctors nearby. She was skeptical and, frankly, I don't believe what I said, either. I know someone in Key West who has to drive (now, be driven) 150 miles to Miami for care. Major metropolitan areas have their advantages, and big hospitals are among them.

The poor woman has so much on her mind. Packing up her home. Selling her home. Overseeing the construction of her home in another state. Her vision. Her feet. Her cancer. His cancer. And, living in a new town when his health deteriorates.

I didn't tell her everything would be fine. I didn't want to insult her. Instead, I told her that, under the circumstances, feeling overwhelmed completely rational. I told her I'll always be here to listen and give her a hug. She smiled sadly and said she could foresee a time in the not so distant future when I'll be living her with her in her new big house. She imagined us as two retired ladies in Hilton Head, playing nine holes of golf and then having dinner at 4:30 in the afternoon.

A champion of the American art form

I believe movies matter. And so I loved Robert Osborne. Like Roger Ebert, he brought a passion and respect to the art form that has always captivated me.

Robert Osborne was dignified and elegant, as befitting an aficionado of Old Hollywood. I've missed him since he cut back on his TCM hosting duties due to illness. I've thought of him often and always hoped he'd be back. (In my fantasies, he would host one last Summer Under the Stars day this August for one of his favorites, Gene Tierney.)

But now he's gone. Rest in peace, dear man.

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing: The Questions of Age

1. By a certain age, a woman should just concentrate on being herself, not what people want her to be.

2. By a certain age, a man should just concentrate on being himself, not what people want him to be.

3. When I was young, I thought by now I would be dead. Really. I never thought I would live this long. I remember thinking when Elvis died, "What's the big deal? He had a life." Of course, the older I get, the older "older" becomes.

4. Now that I am older, I wish I had planned for the future.

5. You know that you are too old to do an activity when ... Saturday afternoon I saw a teenage boy running up the very stairs I took the elevator to avoid.

6. You know you are too young to do an activity when ... I'm old enough to do anything I want.

7. When I was in high school I listened to the music of Elton John. Not intentionally. I wasn't much of a fan. He was just ubiquitous.

8. When I was in college (or the next four years after high school) I listened to the music of The Four Seasons. They were way past their heyday, but that's when I got into them.



9. These days, at my age I find myself listening music of Frank Sinatra. Like with The Four Seasons, I discovered him in my own time. This one seems fitting for this Sunday Stealing.



10. For my last birthday I ran away. I like solo getaways and I wanted to treat myself to something. So I used my accumulated miles to go to Memphis and woke up on my birthday in Graceland. It was great!

11. On my next birthday I want to spend it with my oldest friend. It's a big birthday, and she's the one I share the most history with. So we're going to Las Vegas for a long -- and hopefully very silly and laughter-filled -- weekend.

12. The best birthday present I ever got was ... In 2015, my friend John got me tickets for the January 2016 Cubs Convention. I'd never been to it before, and the Cubs never won the World Series before. Coincidence?


13. The first time I felt that I was an adult was when I moved out of my parent's home. I was still in my teens and still had a lot of growing up to do, emotionally, but I was financially on my own forever more.

14. The last time I felt like I was still a kid was when my guys rewarded my lifetime of believing.

15. I would sum up 2016 by saying ...

I'll let Carrie speak for me one last time

16. I hope I will sum up 2017 by saying in December, "That was soooo much better than 2017."

17. So far in terms of age, I feel my first big milestone was 21

18. As I look forward to the rest of my life’s journey, I feel my biggest milestone of my life will be ... Sorry, I got nothing for this.

19. By the time I was the age I am now I am surprised that I haven’t yet figured out how to keep house. Really. I live in a sty. I just don't know how to pick up after myself!

20. By the time I am 65, I hope that I have a better handle on my finances. Pleasepleaseplease!

 

Saturday 9

Saturday 9: Magic (1980)

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

1) This 1980 video depicts Olivia Newton-John as a performer in small club. For the past few years, she's been performing regularly at the Flamingo in Las Vegas. Have you ever been to Las Vegas? Oh, many times. It's such a great value for booze and food and glitz and people watching.  I'm going back this November to celebrate my 60th birthday in this delightfully ridiculous building.

The New York, New York Hotel and Casino

 2) Many tourists who want to get away from the glitz of Vegas travel less than 20 miles to visit Red Rock Canyon. This national park is known for its hiking trails, which provide a view of the desert flora and red rock peaks. Tell us about a time you were impressed by natural beauty. Every time I look out onto Lake Michigan, I'm like the Grinch. I feel my heart grow just a wee bit. It's a great Great Lake.

3) One of the best-reviewed restaurants in Las Vegas is Andiamo Italian Steak House. When you order a steak, how do you request it be cooked: rare, medium rare, medium, medium well or well done? Medium well.

4) Olivia Newton-John's father was an officer in MI5, the UK's secret service. Sam's most recent encounter with the law didn't have much drama or intrigue: she asked a cop for directions to the highway. Tell us about the last time you spoke to an officer of the law. Thursday evening I was informally questioned by a police officer about the disappearance of my a neighbor with dementia. She's still missing, which makes me sad.

5) ONJ was awarded the OBE -- Order of the British Empire -- by Queen Elizabeth in honor of her contributions to the arts. Here's your opportunity to boast. What is something you've done lately that you received praise for? Being fun and funny. We had layoffs this past week, and a coworker who sat next to me all day/every day really misses me because I was fun to be around.

6) A breast cancer survivor, Olivia helped found a cancer center in her hometown of Melbourne, Australia. When you think of Australia, what comes to mind? Kangaroos.

7) "Magic" was one of the top-selling records of 1980. Also that year, Post-It notes debuted. Do you enjoy shopping for office supplies, or do you consider it a chore? Yes! I don't know why, but I love wandering those aisles, looking at pencil sharpeners and binder clips.

8) In 1980, the NASA space probe returned the first photos of Saturn back to earth. Do you believe intelligent life forms from other planets are  trying to learn more about us? I believe it. But I don't think of it much and don't really care. I like this planet.

9) Random question: Are you more confident in your looks or your intelligence? My smarts.