Baby!

I saw little Napoleon TWICE in two days! At first I was ambivalent about it. After all, this lively little fluff ball brightens my day every time I see him. On the other hand, I'm really pulling for his humans to get consistent, full-time work before it gets too cold. Sleeping in a tent by the river is not healthy and not safe -- especially not with a Chicago winter on the way.

Thursday I saw him with his male human and got more of the story. Yes, Dad is doing an internship as a window washer in Indiana. And he has to put in a certain number of hours with a supervisor before he can legally make  the full hourly wage. But he has nowhere to live in Indiana, so he's dependent on a friend who travels back and forth to Chicago. I mean, they're homeless. They don't have a car and he can't afford a hotel room in Indiana. So he lives in his friend's car and is dependent on his friend for rides. When his friend returns to Chicago, so must he. His new boss is very understanding of Dad's unusual situation and is supportive, allowing him to spread his internship over the month (where, I guess, most employers would insist it done in a week). He hopes to soon have a marketable skill and begin making $15 to $20/hour. Then he can afford to send for his wife, and Napoleon, and live indoors at a shelter that allows animals until they have enough to get an apartment. His wife is trained as a beautician and once they're living indoors, where she can bathe regularly and keep her clothes clean, she will take the boards to be licensed in Indiana.

Then we started talking about my book, Helter Skelter. He is a fan of true crime books, and knows that Ann Rule is the author of the definitive book on Ted Bundy, The Stranger Beside Me. I found a free copy of an Ann Rule book at my local Free Little Library. I will carry it in my purse until I can get it to him.

All the while, Napoleon slept. Blissful in his dad's lap.

Then today I ran into Napoleon with his "mom." Dad's in Indiana for at least the next few days. She says she's afraid of heights, so she's not crazy about his new career, but he's so enthusiastic about being able to make steady money that she's happy for him. She told me that Napoleon was vaccinated this morning. A kind stranger prepaid it with her credit card and emailed the vet a photo of the kitten so he'd know who to expect. Isn't that great?

She also mentioned to me how much her husband likes talking to me. "The lady with the short hair," he calls me. I was touched. I certainly haven't spent $100+ on shots for them. I think that in the last month I've given them $20 in total, and a can of cat food -- the flavor that my Connie girlcat had rejected. Not a great investment. I think he just likes that I treat him like an equal. We talk cats. Now we talk books. He tells me about his career aspirations. I haven't asked him how he got here -- why a well-spoken young man is begging on a street corner and sleeping with his wife in a tent -- though I'm dying to know.

Today, when I've been so worried about Hurricane Irma and my friends in Key West, cat fur works as a tonic. I'm so grateful to see and play with Napoleon, and to come home to my own two cats.

No friend of mine!

The 2017 hurricanes have such benign names: Harvey and Irma have arrived and Jose is on the way. And I've come to fear and loathe those names.

My friends in Key West have chosen to ride out Irma. I believe this is very unwise and I'm sick with worry.

Their motivation is financial. Henry insists that they are still making their honeymoon trip to see his family in Puerto Rico on the 14th* and doesn't want to "waste" money on motels and dining out. When I pointed out at that it would only be for a night or two, he argued that's not the case -- once you leave the island during an evacuation, the authorities decide when you can return. He's afraid it could be weeks, and that would result in big bills.

I countered that insurance would reimburse him, but he argued that would take months. He really misses his mother and needs to see her. Between the hurricane causing damage to his hometown in Puerto Rico and her advanced age, he feels real urgency about being with her.

I mentioned to him that I he was being crappy, to me. After all, I'm worried about Barb, whose husband just died. I'm worried about my aunt and cousin, both of whom live in Tampa and have fled the storm. I am worried about my oldest friend. I am worried about my own finances. I don't need this additional patina of worry.

He apologized, but said his mind was made up. I could hear his husband Reg in the background, not especially amused or sanguine about riding out a Category 4 storm with a generator, Spam and wine. I figured if Reg can't convince him, I certainly can't.

And so now I worry and pray. These guys are closer to me than family, and I love them very much.

* I have no confidence that the airports in Miami and Puerto Rico will be operating on the 14th, but Henry believes.

I miss him

On Tuesday and Wednesday, I looked for him. I knew he wouldn't be there, but I imagined him there on the street corners where he spent his days. Curled up, sleeping like a tiny fur shrimp amid the hubbub of morning rush hour. Or alertly chasing shadows, wandering as far as his leash would allow. Or attacking one of the cat toys donated by one of his passerby fans. Or, best of all, sitting quietly and making love eyes at me as I scratched him between his ears.

I miss little Napoleon. I am so glad I got to have a nice long chat with his human last Thursday, before the Labor Day holiday. I know that Napoleon and his people left Chicago for a job opportunity in Indiana. If they had just disappeared, without explanation or the opportunity to say goodbye, I would have been tormented.

After all, Napoleon and his humans are homeless, living out of tent. So many things could have happened to the kitten, most of them cruel. And this little doll baby brought me a lot of joy, so I'm far happier imagining him with his people living indoors in Indiana.

And so I shall consider the weekend a success

I really haven't done anything all weekend. Four days of yawning nothingness. And I feel a little guilty about that ... Like I should have done more, or at least wanted to do more. But that's not the fact of it. If I could take Tuesday off to just hang out around the house, reading and watching bad TV and farting around on the internet, I would. Gladly.

But here are some highlights of my four days:

•  I am healthy. My doctor says so, and Transamerica Insurance thinks I'm a good bet to make it at least a few more years, as they approved my application for a 20-year level-term policy. So I got that going for me.

• I remembered to rotate my mattress. When you have a foam/pillow top, you're supposed to rotate it, not flip it, four times a year. This was my autumnal rotation.

• Four for $25! Sunglasses were on sale at Kohl's! I actually got four pairs for what I expected to pay for one! Must remember this for next Labor Day, as I was told they traditionally clear out their summer stock for the new fall looks this weekend. For I love sunglasses, but I'm very hard on them -- I either break them or scratch them or leave them on the el.

•  Pat Hughes. Listening to games is such a joy because the radio voice of the Chicago Cubs is so completely awesome.

•  Hot fudge sundae. There's a tiny seasonal ice cream shop on the other side of town. I realized that summer was over and I hadn't stopped by. And so I did.

Reposted in Tribute to Jerry Lewis: 1926-2017

Saturday, September 05, 2015

I miss the sumbitch

I used to love the Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon. The plate spinners, the ventriloquists, the lounge singers performing "Guantanamera" ... it was a smorgasbord of tacky and I adored it. Especially Jerry himself.

I was hypnotized by the greasy hair, the tux and pinky ring. Jerry mugged and wept and insulted people. (I remember the year I heard him call a cameraman a "fag" and wondered if anyone else caught it.) He laughed at his own gauche hilarity. And he sang "You'll Never Walk Alone" to kids who will never walk at all.

Oh, and the crazy bastard raised more than $2 billion. He deserves more credit for that than he gets. He's nearly 90 now and has suffered a litany of health problems himself. Wherever he is this weekend, God bless him.

Sunday Stealing

BACK TO SCHOOL

1.  What kind of school did you attend (Big? Small? Public? Private? Specialty? One-room schoolhouse?) Public grammar school, public high school, and then the local community college for a very short time.

2. What did you wear to school (uniform? dress code? Whatever you wanted?) In grammar school, I actually had to wear a dress or skirt every day. Once I got into high school, it was jeans and t-shirts, day in/day out.

3.  How did you get to school? Grade school: walked to and fro. High school: walked home/car pool in the morning. GAWD how I hated the car pool! It was an awkward collection of girls that my mother cobbled together, based on geography, not friendships. A fucking painful way to start the day.

4.  Who was your favorite teacher? Why? When I was in junior high, we had a PE teacher we all really liked. She wasn't that much older than we were and was so easy to talk to.

5.  What was your favorite subject? Why? English or history. Because.

6.  What was your least favorite subject? Why? Math or science. Because. (School brings out the surly in me.)

7.  Did you belong to any clubs? I was on the school paper for a while ...

8.  Were you a picky reader? Not at all. Read everything I could get my hands on. Especially about Presidents Lincoln and Kennedy.

9.  What did you do in your free time? Read. Listened to records. Watched TV. Rode my bike through the forest preserve. Hung out at the zoo or the mall. Went to the movies ... a lot.

10.  Did you get good grades? I did, except when I didn't. I either got A's or C's/D's.

11.  Did you like/participate in sports? Liked? Yes. Participated? No.

12.  Did you have a boyfriend/girlfriend in high school? 


 
13.  When did you get your driver’s license? 30

14.  What kind of kid were you?  (Popular? Class clown? Shy?  A nerd?  Teacher’s pet?) Nerd

15.  Who were your heroes? Streisand. It's not possible to calculate how important she was. A powerful and unconventional woman whose value was seen and celebrated. 
 
16. Were you ever bullied? Yes. I think, unfortunately, everyone is at one time or another.

17.  Did you learn how to touch type? Yes.

18.  Who was your best friend?  (Are you still friends today?) Her name was Judy. No, we are most certainly not friends today. If you want to read about it, here's our history. I warn you, it's complicated.

19.  What is one thing you regret about high school? I don't think I regret anything. I hated it and would never go back, but not because of anything I did.

20.  What were you most proud about? It made me a better aunt. I'm sensitive to my niece and nephew and how painful adolescence can be.

Bonus:  Did you like high school?  Hell to the no. My parents' marriage was unraveling. My older sister had a breakdown that no one acknowledged (not even to this day). My favorite grandpa died. A relative molested me. That was within my family. Outside, Vietnam dragged on and then there was Watergate. All this was swirling around me, and I was supposed to care about pep squads and candystripers? PUH-LEEZE! It was during those years I clung to something that has always kept me sane -- the movies. 

There were some really great movies released when I was in high school. The Godfather, The Sting, Cabaret, Serpico, Jaws, The Way We Were, The Exorcist ... If only I could have lived all four years in the dark with a package of Twizzlers in my hand.

Stuff

This afternoon I decided to part with 18 books, 3 sweaters, a sweatshirt and 2 t-shirts. That's a box of books and a plastic bag of clothes.

And yet my home is still overflowing. It's disheartening.

Direct from my raisin-sized heart

I know this is going to make my sound like a Grinch, but I encourage everyone to think very carefully before they give to the victims of Hurricane Harvey.

After 9/11, after Katrina, we learned two things about what happens when a tragedy gets intense national attention:

1) People forget about their local charities. It's only natural, really. We each have finite resources. If you're sending $20 or $50 to the American Red Cross or some other national charity, that's money that's not staying in your neighborhood. So smaller organizations suffer, and that's unfortunate because the need for their services doesn't lessen because of a national disaster.

2) Our attention spans are short. Once the news cameras leave Houston, the donations will dry up. And that, too, is unfortunate because the victims of Harvey will continue to need help well into 2018, and beyond.

So please, make sure that when you donate to a Harvey charity, it's not the only charity you support this month. And don't forget to keep donating, even after the leaves fall and the snow comes, and you may no longer be hearing about Houston every day.

Houston Food Bank

Houston Humane Society

Saturday 9

9 to 5 (1980) 

1) This song begins with the clacking of a typewriter. Did you ever learn to touch type -- beginning with your fingers on "the home row" -- or do you hunt and peck? I was a very good touch typist, and it comes in handy now on this MacBook. Part of why I find texting so frustrating is that I can't lay my fingers across "the home row."

2) Much of the video for this song revolves around the office coffee room. Are you enjoying a beverage as you answer these 9 questions? Ice water. I'm trying to drink more water. It's a painless way to live a little healthier.

3) This week's artist, Dolly Parton, loves telling the story of how she once lost a Dolly Parton lookalike contest. What contest or sweepstakes have you entered lately? I won $2 in the Illinois State Lottery this past week!

4) Dolly is one smart blonde. Early in her career she set up a company so she could retain the publishing rights for all her songs. Two alone -- "9 to 5" and "I Will Always Love You" -- made her a multi-millionaire because they have been recorded so many times. Do you have a good head for business? No. And as retirement approaches, I wish I did.

5) Dolly is a crusader for childhood literacy and her organization, Dolly's Imagination Library, has donated more than 10 million books all over the country. What's the last book you read? The last book I finished was Kennedy and Nixon by Chris Matthews. I wasted a ton of time on a mystery I really wasn't into, and I regret it. Both spending the time and abandoning it. For some reason I always feel bad when I give up on a book (unless it sucks, and this one didn't; it just didn't hit the spot for me at this time.)

6) This weekend may offer a golden opportunity for napping and sleeping in. Do you snore? Yes. Loudly, I'm told.

7) Labor Day was introduced to celebrate the achievements of the American worker. How many different employers have you had? Ten (I think).

8) Will you be attending a Labor Day picnic or barbecue? No. I'm cocooning, and thoroughly looking forward to it.

9) Labor Day traditionally marks the beginning of the new school year. When she was a kid, Samantha was crazy for her brand new box of 96 Crayola Crayons. It even had a sharpener in the back! What do you remember about preparing to go back to school? If you're a parent with school-age kids, are they ready? I remember that late-summer shopping trip. There were two independently-owned department stores where my mom loved buying our clothes. She enjoyed those excursions more than I did. She was always very particular about our hair cuts and our clothes.

I passed my blood test!

I just got word that my cholesterol (184) and my LDL/HDL ratio (1.75) are "desirable." My other lab tests came back within the "acceptable" range. I was approved for my $50,000 life insurance policy.

I happened to have a doctor's appointment this morning. My GP was very happy that the tests were so thorough -- saving her lab the task of drawing my blood and her the time of waiting for the results. And she thinks the results are "exciting." Apparently, after reviewing these tests and the results of my colonoscopy, she believes me to be healthy.

The death of my friend Barb's husband has been on my mind. He thought he was a healthy 67-year-old with a cough and then, 11 months later, he was dead. So I'm relieved to learn that all the indicators I can't see for myself point to my being OK.

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.
    

Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders by Vincent Bugliosi with Curt Gentry.

This true-crime classic is not a whodunnit, in that we all know who did it. And we're probably all very familiar with the gruesome nature of the IT at hand. The value of this book is the dignity it bestows upon the victims of those murdered by The Manson "Family" back in August 1969. Never maudlin but often sweet in choosing which details to include, Mr. Bugliosi makes the victims as real and memorable as the colorful perpetrators. 

Of Sharon Tate:

 

She was not a star, not yet. Her career seemed to hesitate on the edge of a breakthrough, but it could have easily remained stationary, or gone the other way.

But for the first time in her life, Sharon's ambition had slipped to second place. Her marriage and her pregnancy had become her whole life. According to those closest to her, she seemed oblivious to all else.

August Happiness Challenge -- Day 31

Rizz appreciates "lucky"

On Day 31, I was happy for a heads-up. Remember Napoleon? He's the wild-eyed little kitten who was rescued by a homeless couple. I may never see the little fella again, and today I was pleased and relieved to learn why.

His human got the offer of an apprenticeship! He can learn how to become a window washer in the Indianapolis area. He told me it takes 60 hours of training,* so he and his wife and the kitten are headed to Indiana to give that a try. He said his prospective employer understands that they are homeless and living out a tent, and has made allowances. His wife, however, is not as fortunate. A professional hairdresser licensed in Iowa, she can't very well show up to take her Illinois (or Indiana) state boards if she isn't cleaned and well groomed. So they understand the first step is for him to get this job, so they can afford a shelter that allows them to bathe thoroughly and on a regular basis.

As he related this tale, he said he couldn't believe how "lucky" he was that his prospective employer understood he was homeless. I told him, "You deserve this luck because you saved a life."

"No," he said, "Napoleon saved our lives." He told me the story of how he found the kitten in the bushes of Millennium Park, curled up beside his dead mother cat. No other littermates were in sight. The human told me how and his wife wiped the kitten's infected eyes clean with tissues and bottled water and decided to keep him. They love caring for him. This kitten has given their lives new meaning.

I know cats. Napoleon is -- right now, at least -- healthy. Friendly and fearless. When I kneel down to pet him, he climbs right up onto my lap and sometimes tries to get into my purse. I've seen him when dogs pass, and he doesn't care. This is an animal who has never known anything but affection. How can I not root for people who share their reservoir of affection with a helpless, abandoned kitten?

This month, I've become attached to this little family. I'll likely never see them again. I'm so happy that the reason is a positive turn in their fortunes, and not something horrible.

 

 *I believe he said 60 hours. A bus went by during this part of the story.


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 Cub. 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 AugustHappiness Challenge in the title to make it easy to find.

Proud of My Happiness Icon

That's Anthony Rizzo's happy face you've seen here every day during August. As the month comes to an end, it's time to celebrate him.

He's the Cubs All-Star first baseman, a hitting machine and a reliable performer with his glove. He made the last out in the 2016 World Series, ending our 108 year drought and delivering the championship. It makes me especially happy that he was the one to make history, because he's a stellar young man.

During the playoffs, Cub fans heard him -- when he didn't realize he was mic'd -- first apologize to an umpire and later confess to being nervous. How great for kids, especially boys, to see good manners and honest emotions embraced!

And he's a cancer survivor, who hasn't forgotten how his battle with disease affected his family.  Look what he did off the field  this week, and you'll see why he's my favorite Cub.

August Happiness Challenge -- Day 30

Rizz likes money

On Day 30, the gesture counted. My boss called my art director and me in to his office and closed the door. He told us that he spoke to our department head about getting us raises before year-end.

While I would desperately love to see a little more in each paycheck, I'm not counting on it happening. Instead, I'm going to concentrate on my boss extending himself and being supportive. He isn't always. It was nice to hear.

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 Cub. 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 AugustHappiness Challenge in the title to make it easy to find.

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? Helter Skelter, The True Story of the Manson Murders by Vincent Bugliosi. I don't recall learning about Charles Manson. He's just always been part of our collective consciousness. An ugly, evil part, but his presence has been ongoing for 48 years. People who weren't born in 1969 are familiar with what he did.

Yet there's a great deal about his crimes that I never knew. I trust Bugliosi's version of these events. First of all, he prosecuted Manson back in the day. If that doesn't give him cred, what does? And secondly, I really appreciated his book about the JFK assassination, Reclaiming History. I knew from that massive tome that this author could handle graphic material without sensationalizing it.

A prosecutor at heart, Bugliosi is all about justice for the victims. And so I've learned a great deal about those murdered back in the summer of 1969. For example, Abigail Folger, the coffee heiress whose body was left on sprawled on the front lawn, was so much more than a rich party girl. She worked with the underprivileged and battled depression, in no small part because she felt that society's ills were so big that she could never do enough to cure them. "The suffering gets under my skin," she said. In therapy to get control of her emotions and her life, she was seriously thinking of breaking up and breaking away from her boyfriend, Roman Polanski's friend, Wojciech Frykowski. If only she'd taken that decisive action a week, or even a day, earlier, perhaps she wouldn't have died with Frykowski at Sharon Tate's home. And Rosemary LaBianca, who was murdered the next night, was a woman of substance whose story is often lost. I've learned that after escaping a bad marriage, she started a dress shop that grew into a boutique. Women entrepreneurs were not that common in the late 1950s, but her independent business was successful enough to support her two children, and then she made savvy investments with the rest, growing her portfolio until she was a self-made millionaire. She married Leno LaBianca, a man who was very good to her and her children. Instead of being able to enjoy the happy ending she worked for, she was slaughtered in her own home.

Bugliosi doesn't let these two women remain footnotes in the "Sharon Tate murders." He doesn't allow them to be overshadowed by The Manson Family. And for that reason, I really applaud this book. 

2. What did you recently finish reading? Mrs. Jeffries Learns the Trade by Emily Brightwell. OK, I didn't finish this book. I merely put it down. I'm sad to report it didn't really engage me, and I always feel guilty when I abandon a book.
 

I don't know why it didn't hold me. The author creates a lovely Victorian atmosphere (imagine Jessica Fletcher at Downton Abbey) and the interplay between the two main characters -- Scotland Yard's Inspector Witherspoon and his housekeeper, Mrs. Jeffries -- is sweet. But the mystery at heart of the story just didn't grab me. Every time I picked up the book and put it in my bag, I inwardly groaned a little, thinking of my TBR pile and all the other books vying for my attention.

Oh well. This volume is a three-story anthology. Perhaps after time passes, I'll pick it up again and give mystery #2 a shot.

3.  What will you read next? Definitely something light! As completely as I'm drawn into Helter Skelter, I'm going to need a break from ugly reality when I'm done.
 

August Happiness Challenge -- Day 29

On Day 29, I was happy for the fountains. The office building where I toil Monday-Friday has a plaza out front and it's filled with fountains. Because of renovations to that entrance, I've been coming in and out through the side door. It's just more convenient that way.

Ah, but taking the easy route keeps me from seeing the fountains. Today I went out of my way to check them out for the first time in weeks. They really are lovely. I'm glad I got to see them before they're turned off for the year.

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 Cub. 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 AugustHappiness Challenge in the title to make it easy to find.

August Happiness Challenge: Day 28

Rizz looks forward to seeing me

On Day 28, I was happy because I was surprised.  I don't know how, but my friend Kathy got a pair of free tickets to the Cubs/Mets game on September 14. In her invitation text, she said nothing would make her happier than to share them with a true fan ... and that's me.

I'd been blue. Barb's husband's passing ... Hurricane Harvey ... the world felt like a sad place. I was happy that an old friend and a lifelong obsession came through to lift my spirits.

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 Cub. 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 AugustHappiness Challenge in the title to make it easy to find.

August Happiness Challenge -- Day 27

Rizz is proud of my $14

On Day 27, I was happy because there's cash in my wallet. I paid cash for my hair cut and color. I paid cash for the movie with my movie group. I paid cash for my prickly pear margarita and shrimp tapas with Joanna afterward. I paid cash for my groceries.

And yet I still have $14 left. I feel like a very good girl.

My finances on a macro level are still a mess. My property taxes have gone up and I'm still not saving enough for retirement.

But for the weekend of August 26-27, I'm under budget. And I insist on being happy about that.

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 Cub. 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 AugustHappiness Challenge in the title to make it easy to find.

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing

1. Do you look forward to the spring? Now? No. I'm looking forward to October and the MLB play offs. Go, Cubs, Go!

2. Which area of the sciences do you enjoy the most? Biology, I suppose. I like reading how different meds effect different parts of the body. But to be honest, I'm not very good at math/science.

3. If you could own a classical statue in the form of any figure from myth, religion, or even modern fiction, who would you choose? Jo March, cutting her hair to raise money. She did what needed to be done, with imagination and courage. 

4. Do you have a good relationship with your mother? My mom has been gone for years now.

5. What is your favorite mythological story? I don't have one. I do have a favorite joke, though, and I feel it's a metaphor for life. Here goes:


Imagine twin boys of five or six. Worried that the boys had developed extreme personalities – one was a total pessimist, the other a total optimist – their parents took them to a psychiatrist.

First the psychiatrist treated the pessimist. Trying to brighten his outlook, the psychiatrist took him to a room piled to the ceiling with brand-new toys. But instead of yelping with delight, the little boy burst into tears. 'What's the matter?' the psychiatrist asked, baffled. 'Don't you want to play with any of the toys?' 'Yes,' the little boy bawled, 'but if I did I'd only break them.'

Next the psychiatrist treated the optimist. Trying to dampen his outlook, the psychiatrist took him to a room piled to the ceiling with horse manure. But instead of wrinkling his nose in disgust, the optimist emitted just the yelp of delight the psychiatrist had been hoping to hear from his brother, the pessimist. Then he clambered to the top of the pile, dropped to his knees, and began gleefully digging out scoop after scoop with his bare hands. 'What do you think you're doing?' the psychiatrist asked, just as baffled by the optimist as he had been by the pessimist. 'With all this manure,' the little boy replied, beaming, 'there must be a pony in here somewhere!'
 
6. If you put on a big feast, what would you serve? What's the occasion? Unless it's Thanksgiving or Christmas, the main course would be manicotti with lots of garlic bread. The appetizer would be your choice of shrimp cocktail or garden salad (because not everyone likes shellfish). Dessert would be a tray of cookies, so you can choose what and how many you want. By the way, I don't know how to prepare any of these things.

7. How do you have fun? (What is your favorite 'Earthly Delight'?) I like movies and books.

8. Do you often look for hidden messages and meanings? In what?

9. Have you ever received an award or special position? Yes.

10. If a revolution was about to happen in your country, would you be part of it? Probably not. I'm a big fan of our Constitution. I believe we can resist the Trump Presidency using the systems our forefathers put in place. It's almost as if they saw DJT coming.

11. Have you ever planned an act of revenge? Yes.

12. What is the most dramatic thing you have ever done? I ended an argument by ending the relationship. I still regret what I did that night, and how I did it.

13. Do you care about your weight? Yes.

14. Is your life moving too slowly or too fast? Too fast.

15. Do you prefer to stay in the shade? Yes. I burn easily.

16. If you could have any mural on your ceiling, what would it look like? Chicago's skyline and Lake Michigan always take my breath.

17. Do you enjoy the countryside? Sure

18. Are you a romantic? Yes.

19. What is your favorite historic subject? The 60s (the 1860s and the 1960s).

20. Do you prefer landscape paintings? Not especially.

21. Are you interested in social issues? Yes.