Saturday 9

Saturday 9: The Tide Is High (1980)
 
Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) This song was originally performed in 1966 by a Jamaican band called The

Paragons. Jamaica is the most popular vacation destination in the Caribbean. What's your ideal vacation? (Relaxing on the beach, sightseeing in a new city, skiing the slopes, spending time with family, etc.) I long for a vacation like my last one to Colonial Williamsburg. It was a solo trip, so everything I did I did at my own pace. I began each day doing geeky historical/educational things, or indulging in retail therapy. Then late in the day I went to the spa, swam and got pampered. Sigh.

Colonial Williamsburg: I want to go back!

2) In this song, Debbie Harry sings that she's not the kind of girl who gives up easily. How about you? Do you hang on stubbornly? Or do you know when to say "when?" I don't give up until absolutely forced to.
 
3) Blondie is a group that took it's name from the lead singer's most identifiable characteristic, her hair. If your band was named after your hair, what would it be called? The Highlights.

4) Before her career as a singer took off, Debbie supported herself as a waitress. She even served drinks while wearing bunny ears and tail at The Playboy Club. Have you ever worked in food service? Nope.

5) Debbie points to David Bowie as a major influence on her music and career. What's your favorite Bowie song? "Modern Love."

 

That top-selling 1980 RS cover

6) In 1980, when this song was popular, the best selling issue of Rolling Stone featured Robert Redford on the cover. Who is your all-time favorite actor? I'll go with Redford.

7) In 1980, Ted Turner revolutionized how we watch TV when he introduced CNN. Do you have any subscriptions services in addition to cable -- like Hulu, Amazon Prime or Netflix? Amazon Prime. Don't watch it very much, though.

8) John Lennon was murdered in 1980. Today there's a specially landscaped section of Central Park called Strawberry Fields in his honor. If you had a day to spend in New York, what would you want to see? A Broadway show actually ON BROADWAY, followed by dinner afterward at one of those restaurants I've only ever read about. 

9) We're going shopping! Which do you need to add to your wardrobe: underwear, shoes or a swimsuit? I need them all! 

The Friday 56

The Friday 56

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader
(If you have to improvise, that's ok.)
*Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it)
*Post it.
    

 

From On Borrowed Time, page 56. Our heroine, librarian Lindsey Norris, unexpectedly finds herself in a speedboat in the middle of the night, racing through the darkness.

"Isn't this dangerous?" she cried over the wind that tore at her hair and clothes.

"More so for them than for us," Sully shouted. "I know where the rocks are!"

What a little stinker!

Reynaldo is fine! The vet checked the roof of his mouth, his teeth, his gums, and the alignment of his jaw. Nothing is wrong.

(OK, his eyes have become a little cloudy, but considering his age, that's to be expected.)

The vet suspects Reynaldo got a piece of string between his teeth while playing with his toys and what I saw was just Rey trying to dislodge it.

Since my little feline roommate was very excited by the ride over and made fast friends with the vet tech, I think Rey was just bored and wanted a road trip.

Well, that was a first

Wednesday morning, in the elevator up to the 40th floor, I started to cry. And I don't cry. Certainly not in public.

But you can't blame me. I was provoked. Suzanne said, "Hi. How are you?"

I pulled it together by the time I got to my office (aka The Clown Car). Which is a good thing, because two people were in there already and I didn't want to share this display with a greater audience.

But I was so worried about Reynaldo. Tuesday night and Wednesday morning he actually seemed angry at his face. He was pacing anxiously, stopping to slap the left side of his jaw with his paw. Always up for a treat, he's been begging for and then abandoning extra kibble in his bowl.

He's 13, which is the equivalent of 68 in human years. He's in pain. It's my job, my duty, my responsibility to get to the bottom of this and get him comfort. And yet I couldn't, because there was a 9:30 meeting and I was the center of it.

My boss has made it abundantly clear that he can't/won't handle The Big Project without me. But at Rey's age, he could have anything from a broken tooth to a tumor in his mouth. If it's the latter, it's very serious. I recently discovered that this little beige demon likes to jump on the counter and lick my George Foreman grill, so maybe he burned the inside of his mouth. (Cats are notoriously not forthcoming when it comes to their health.)

After talking to Suzanne and my officemate, I was convinced that I had to get Reynaldo into the vet, and the office would just have to survive without me for a few hours. So Wednesday, I leave at 1:00.

It will probably require follow up appointments. I have tons of vacation time, so that's not the issue. It's The Big Project.

No wonder I have pimples on my chin.

In the meantime, Reynaldo can be as naughty he as wants to be. Knock any shit over you want to, Little Man. Tonight you have complete immunity!

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? On Borrowed Time by Jenn McKinlay. This is a one in a series of mysteries set in a small waterfront community in Connecticut. Our heroine, Lindsey, is the town librarian. Her apartment is in a big house, where her landlady lives downstairs, bakes delicious-smelling cookies and is happy to care for Lindsey's dog. Lindsey regularly meets her friends at the Blue Anchor, the kind of bar where everyone knows your name and they're always glad you came. If I sound like I'm poking fun, it's at myself for enjoying this series. It's depicts an idyllic small-town life I suspect doesn't exist but is fun and comforting to imagine. 

Anyway, in this installment (#5), Lindsey gets an unexpected visit from her brother, who mysteriously drifts into her life and complicates it. As one who never had, but always longed for a brother, I'm enjoying the interplay between them. And, speaking of brothers, I recently finished a book that couldn't be more different ...

2. What did you recently finish reading? In Love with Night by Ronald Steel. This book takes what Bobby Kennedy now stands for -- an end to poverty and a voice for the dispossessed -- and puts it in real-time context. The coalition he built in 1968 fascinates me because I believe it would have carried the day in 2016. Bobby was a hero to the young, minorities and blue collar whites. He was not the darling of "the elites," the  smear on Bernie Sanders, and he wasn't considered the "party establishment," the way Hillary Clinton is. In 1968, those roles were played by Eugene McCarthy and Hubert Humphrey, respectively. Bobby was in his own lane. The nearest thing to him we have today is Joe Biden.

But Joe Biden wasn't our martyred president's brother. As much affection as the Vice President has garnered, it's not the unbridled passion Bobby inspired. The way Kennedy's personal grief fused with the traumatized nation's was powerful ... and not entirely his doing. To quote the book's last line, "The Bobby Myth is our creation, not his."

An examination of how/why Bobby Kennedy remains an icon of liberal politics, In Love with Night is less a biography than a 240-page editorial. I'm glad it concentrates on Bobby's policies and behind-the-scenes maneuvers, not whether or not he shtupped Marilyn. It's on solid ground when it explores the tougher and often ugly side to RFK's emphasis on action and victory. I appreciate how it compares and contrasts emotional, angry RFK and cool, ironic JFK. But for all the attention it pays to Bobby's relationships with his mother, his father and the Catholic Church and how they shaped him, it makes scant mention of his marriage or his 11 children (Ethel was pregnant when he died). I assume his own brood had some impact on him, especially since the family of his genesis influenced him massively.

3.  What will you read next? I don't know.

Sunday Stealing

The Unknown Author Questions

1.   if someone wanted to really understand you, what would they read, watch, and listen to? Broadcast News. Holly Hunter's Jane reminds me of me in ways both good and not so good.

2.      have you ever found a blogger who thinks just like you? if so, who? It's not that she thinks just like me, but I feel a great kinship with Kwizgiver.

3.      list your fandoms and one character from each that you identify with. While I am a tremendous fangirl, my fandom doesn't work that way. I don't watch LOTR or GOT, I watch the Cubs, who won yesterday.

 And then there's him. Always him.

4.      do you like your name?  is there another name you think would fit you better? At this late date, I don't care. When people mispronounce my last name, I don't even correct them anymore.

5.      do you think of yourself as a human being or a human doing? do you identify yourself by the things you do? I guess I'm a "human doing," because I am very defined by my job. (See #1.)

6.      are you religious/spiritual? Yes.

7.      do you care about your ethnicity? Not really. 

8.      what musical artists have you most felt connected to over your lifetime? The B's: The Beatles, Bruce Springsteen, Barbra Streisand.

9.      are you an artist? I write. Does that count?

10.   do you have a creed? The Golden Rule has always worked for me.

11.   describe your ideal day. With me, the perfect day is set by how it starts. I love waking up with nothing I must do. No train to catch. No doctor's appointment or vet's appointment or hair appointment. 

12.   dog person or cat person? I have cats and always will, but I really don't believe in the premise of the question. If I lived in a home with a yard, and could afford a dogsitter or doggy daycare, I'd have a dog, too. Animals are just naturally my buds.

13.   inside or outdoors? Inside. Unless we're talking about The Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field.

14.   are you a musician? Hell, no. I'm tone deaf.

15.   five most influential books over your lifetime. I'm only mentioning one: Saving Graces by Elizabeth Edwards. She writes with breathtaking candor about loss and grief and she taught me by word and example that sharing your pain and fears doesn't make us weak, it strengthens us.

16.   if you’d grown up in a different environment, do you think you’d have turned out the same? Probably not. Within my family and my hometown, I was not really encouraged to be myself. I wonder how I would have fared in an environment where I received more support from an early age.

17.   would you say your tumblr is a fair representation of the “real you”? I don't have a Tumblr account.

18.   what’s your patron-us? I think this is from Harry Potter. I know nothing about Harry Potter.

19.   which Harry Potter house would you be in? or are you a muggle? See #18.

20.   would you rather be in Middle Earth, Narnia, Hogwarts, or somewhere else? See #18.

21.   do you love easily? I love carefully.

22.   list the top five things you spend the most time doing, in order.

•  Farting around on the internet

•  Working

•  Reading

•  Playing with the cats

•  Laundry. OK, that's not accurate. But I feel like I'm forever doing laundry. 

23.   how often would you want to see your family every year? It's not how often, it's how long. I prefer spending no more than three hours at a family gathering. At 3:01, someone reliably says something that annoys me, or I annoy everyone else.

24.   have you ever felt like you had a “mind-meld” with someone? Sure. The friends I'm like minded with my most comfortable, closest friends.

25.   could you live as a hermit? Yes.

26.   how would you describe your gender/sexuality? Straight. 

27.   do you feel like your outside appearance is a fair representation of the “real you”? Sure.

28.   on a scale from 1 to 10, how hard is it for someone to get under your skin? Some days: zero. At times I'm easily annoyable.

29.   three songs that you connect with right now. Again, I'm sharing just one. It's a little known Dusty Springfield gem about love and dreams.

30.   pick one of your favorite quotes. In the immortal words of Groucho Marx: East is east and west is west and if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce they taste much more like prunes than rhubarb does.

Saturday 9

Saturday 9: I Won't Last a Day without You (1972)

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

1) This song makes reference to rainbows. Have you seen one lately? I don't think I've seen one in forever. Which is too bad, because they make me happy when I spot them.

 

2) When Sam heard this song, it occurred to her that she wouldn't last a day without a game of online Yahtzee. What little commonplace pleasure reliably brightens your day? Singing with the shower radio as I lather up in the morning. Today it was, "I suppose I should collect my books and head on back to school. Or steal my daddy's cue and make a living out of playing pool ..." Yes, that's "Maggie May."

 
3) Richard Carpenter was emphatic that his group's name was "Carpenters," NO "the." Whenever he hears the group referred to as "The Carpenters," it gets on his nerves. What little commonplace annoyance reliably sets you off? Those selfish seat hogs who act as though their bags deserve a seat when their fellow human beings don't.

Did you pay a fare for your bags?

4) Karen Carpenter said she drank iced tea all day long. What beverage do you think you'll have with your next meal? Coke.

 
5) "I Won't Last a Day without You" was written by Oscar-winning composer Paul Williams. He also tried his hand at acting, most notably appearing with Burt Reynolds in Smokey and the Bandit. Back in the 1970s, the three movies in the Smokey series were very popular. Have you seen any of them? Yes. And, God help me, the first one can still make me laugh.

 
6) This song was recorded in 1973 by Diana Ross. Now in her 70s, Miss Ross is still going strong with a busy calendar of appearances in 2017. What's your favorite Diana Ross song? I think this is my favorite question this week. I wonder how many people will choose Supremes and how many will go with her solo work. Here's my favorite. If you're not a fan, you might not know it. But I can't resist singing along.  "Ooooh, yeah!"

7) In 1972, the year this song was popular, the United States and the United Kingdom joined forces and launched the Copernicus satellite. Today it's remembered for the discovery of long-period pulsars. Crazy Sam got bored writing this question. Do you enjoy reading about science? Not in the slightest.

 

8) Before Michael Phelps, Mark Spitz was American's premier Olympic swimmer. In 1972 he won seven Gold Medals. After making millions in endorsements and TV appearances, he settled into a career as a realtor in Los Angeles. Are you contemplating a change in residence any time soon? If you move, will you be consulting a realtor? No. I've decided to put my efforts into making my home more liveable, not more sellable.   

9) Random question: Which of these is completely, 100% UNTRUE of you -- boring, lazy or stupid? I'm sure I can be boring. I know I'm lazy. But I'm not stupid.

 

Where were his super powers?

Cubs ace Jake Arieta was so human tonight! Five runs in the first inning? Really, Jake?

Oh well, we were in it till the last. And tomorrow John Lackey takes the mound. He's off to a frustrating start, and as a former Red Sox, I bet he's eager to get out there and prove himself.

My friend Sandy

I had the most vivid dream last night! And my, it was weird.

I was supposed to be in our condo association meeting. I'm on the board now, and there are things about it that weigh on me and I guess my concerns bled into my slumber. Anyway, for some reason we were meeting in the community center that Will rents for our movie group.

The community center (both in real life and in my dream) has two big screening rooms. One is near the front entrance, the other is down a long hall. I thought our meeting was in the one in the front. I went in, and found it filled with strangers. So I headed for the one down the hall and found it locked. For some reason, I don't knock and I don't ask anyone for help. (It's a dream; logic doesn't always apply.) According to Dream Moods, being locked out suggests that I am feeling alienated and have trouble getting in touched with my feelings.

That could well be, because now I'm beyond sad because I should be in there. Fortunately, my friend Sandra Bullock is at the refreshment counter. We sit down with croissants and hot chocolate and I tell her all my woes.

Sandy is a very good listener, and I feel better. People come piling out of both screening rooms and Sandy and I disappear into the crowd and exit into the night.

Funny, but I always thought my celebrity gal pal was Jennifer Aniston. But my subconscious tells me otherwise.

The Friday 56

The Friday 56

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader
(If you have to improvise, that's ok.)
*Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it)
*Post it.
   
From Sisters, page 56  It's 1935. Olivia DeHavilland is filming the big-budget costume drama, Anthony Adverse.

A scene from the movie

She had several rows with [producer] Hal Wallis over her costumes. She insisted they be very low cut to be historically correct, and to show off her beautiful breasts. But Wallis knew the Breen Office, which controlled movie censorship, would make a fuss. He overruled Olivia, and she fretted and fumed.

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? Sisters: The Story of Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine by Charles Higham. I loved FX's Feud: Bette and Joan, and I'm not ready for it to be over. Catherine Zeta-Jones was featured in a supporting role in the mini-series as Olivia de Havilland, an actress I know little about.

I mean, she's Melly from Gone with the Wind. Of course. But she was also a major star in Hollywood in the Golden Age, winning two Oscars. She was an early feminist, too. (The de Havilland Law revolutionized California labor practices in the 1930s and is still observed today.) She recently turned 100 years old. But there. That's what I know about her. 

So while this Higham book is considered a superficial study of the lady, her career and her life, I'm good with that. I'm just looking for a primer. Besides, the Bobby book (below) was a little heavy. Superficial is right up my alley.

2. What did you recently finish reading? In Love with Night by Ronald Steel. This book takes what Bobby Kennedy now stands for -- an end to poverty and a voice for the dispossessed -- and puts it in real-time context. The coalition he built in 1968 fascinates me because I believe it would have carried the day in 2016. Bobby was a hero to the young, minorities and blue collar whites. He was not the darling of "the elites," the  smear on Bernie Sanders, and he wasn't considered the "party establishment," the way Hillary Clinton is. In 1968, those roles were played by Eugene McCarthy and Hubert Humphrey, respectively. Bobby was in his own lane. The nearest thing to him we have today is Joe Biden.

But Joe Biden wasn't our martyred president's brother. As much affection as the Vice President has garnered, it's not the unbridled passion Bobby inspired. The way Kennedy's personal grief fused with the traumatized nation's was powerful ... and not entirely his doing. To quote the book's last line, "The Bobby Myth is our creation, not his."

An examination of how/why Bobby Kennedy remains an icon of liberal politics, In Love with Night is less a biography than a 240-page editorial. I'm glad it concentrates on Bobby's policies and behind-the-scenes maneuvers, not whether or not he shtupped Marilyn. It's on solid ground when it explores the tougher and often ugly side to RFK's emphasis on action and victory. I appreciate how it compares and contrasts emotional, angry RFK and cool, ironic JFK. But for all the attention it pays to Bobby's relationships with his mother, his father and the Catholic Church and how they shaped him, it makes scant mention of his marriage of his 11 children (Ethel was pregnant when he died). I assume his own brood had some impact on him, especially since the family of his genesis influenced him so massively.

3.  What will you read next? I don't know.