August Happiness Challenge -- Day 10

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Today's Happiness: I used my words

I spent about an hour today answering personal emails. 

•    The first was to my former art director. She started the day by sharing a message she received about how well she did Wednesday in a presentation. I was happy that she wanted to share her glory with me, and I reinforced her by telling her I was pleased, but not surprised, that she's doing so well in her new role.

•    The second was to my friend Joanna. I haven't heard from her in a while, but when she heard about Anthony Rizzo she reached out with a long and appropriately serious article about his concussion. It was thoughtful of her. I thanked her and let her know I miss her.

•    The last was to Rita. This one wasn't in response to anything. I was just following up because I know she was hoping to have her leg surgery this month. She's easy to get it behind her! Rita has a tumultuous relationship with her mother and has, in the past, slotted me in that spot. I wanted her to know she's not alone.

I can't sing or dance. But I can write. When you live alone like I do, it's easy to get too deep into my own head. I'm happy that I was looking outward today and used my words to be supportive.

 

Thursday Thirteen #321

The songs we enjoyed 50 years ago. According to Billboard, here are the 13 best-selling singles of 1973. I knew all but one (#6) instantly. How about you?

1. Tie A Yellow Ribbon. Tony Orlando and Dawn

2. Bad, Bad Leroy Brown. Jim Croce

3. Killing Me Softly. Roberta Flack

4. Let's Get It On. Marvin Gaye

5. My Love. Paul McCartney & Wings

6. Why Me? Kris Kristofferson

7. Crocodile Rock. Elton John

8. Will It Go Round in Circles? Billy Preston

9. You're So Vain. Carly Simon

10. Touch Me in the Morning. Diana Ross

11. The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia. Vicki Lawrence

12. Playground in My Mind. Clint Holmes

13. Brother Louie. Stories

Please join us for THURSDAY THIRTEEN. Click here to play along, and to see other interesting compilations of 13 things.

 

August Happiness Challenge -- Day 9

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Today's Happiness: Feathers on the end of a wand

It was bound to happen: today my happiness is reflected by my happiness icon.

Roy Hobbs was chunky when I adopted him. Almost 2 years and 2 lbs. later, he is fat. In addition to having an indefatigable appetite, he has no interest in moving. This is not a recipe for weight loss.

He doesn't care for the catnip mice, balls and pom-poms that so amuse Connie. So I went in a different direction and came home with a "bird." Really just feathers at the end of a wand. I loved watching Roy Hobbs chasing and leaping to get those feathers. His face was puffy, his eyes were bright, and he was engaged and happy. And so I was happy, too.

 

August Happiness Challenge -- Day 8

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Today's Happiness: 57%

That's how many Ohio voters rejected Issue One. I worked on this election, encouraging registered Ohio Democrats to vote no and directing them to a website so they could find their polling place.

That's all I said. My postcards were handwritten, and so less was more. I didn't get into how cynical and ugly it was for the Ohio GOP to set up a single issue special election in August, when most voters aren't paying attention. Just "Your Vote Matters!", please vote no, and here's where.

I paid for the cards. I paid for the postage. I grabbed the ballpoint. Doing something feels better than doing nothing.

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. 

PS I can no longer participate in WWW.WEDNESDAY via that link because her blog won't accept Blogger comments. I mention this only to save you the frustration I experienced trying to link up.

1. What are you currently reading? Eisenhower: The White House Years by Jim Newton. He was President when I was born and, to my knowledge, the only Republican President my mom ever liked. Yet I know so little about him. I know FDR led us through The Depression and WWII. Truman dropped The Bomb. JFK inspired us to public service. LBJ had Vietnam and Civil Rights. But hey, someone's not in that list! What about Eisenhower?

This biography is zipping a long. It promises to focus on his Presidency but it's also a straightforward telling of his life. So far I'm most moved by the death of his first son, Dowd, called "Ikky" by his parents. Ikky was 3 1/2 years old when he got sick just before Christmas. The toddler died of scarlet fever in his father's arms. As an old man, Eisenhower looked back on his life and said his son's death was, "the greatest disaster of my life." That's pretty amazing from a man who saw unimaginable suffering in Europe during WWII.  

2. What did you recently finish reading? Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardner by MC Beaton. Timing is everything. I met Agatha Raisin, a prickly London PR executive dealing with retirement, just as my Chicago advertising career was coming to an end. I find many of her experiences and cynical asides familiar and amusing. However, unlike me, she devotes her time in retirement to travel and solving murders.

This book -- #3 in the series -- opens with Aggie returning to the lazy village of Carsley after a long solo trip to France, Italy, Greece and Turkey. She hated hoped her extended holiday would remind her neighbor, James Lacey, how important she was to him. Instead, she came back to find James involved with a blonde divorcee named Mary Fortune. James and Mary share a passion for gardening so Agatha joins the horticulture society, just to keep an eye on them.

But Agatha hates gardening and she hates meetings. She admits to herself that what she'd really like is a juicy local murder to solve. And lo and behold! Someone conveniently gets dead! I had a good time with this quick read.

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

 

 

August Happiness Challenge -- Day 7

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Today's Happiness: Cannabis and community. 

• MedMen -- I have never smoked pot because the scent is obnoxious. That said, a birthday gift should be about the recipient, not my personal taste, and Tuesday we are celebrating Gregory's birthday. He partakes, so I went to the local dispensary. For the first time in my life I bought something cannabis related. I was amused by how incredibly legit, well-lit and respectable it was. I left with a cute little bag with their logo emblazoned on it and even got a senior discount!

• Movie Group -- This week we saw a charming a little film (This Happy Breed) and Monday was our lively Zoom discussion. It washed over me how much I enjoy our little group. Not just for the movies but for us. There's Bonnie, who is confused by the plot every damn week; Larry, who writes down his favorite bits of dialog and reads them to us; Peter the shrink who at length explains the psychological motivations of each of the characters and Audrey, who falls asleep on camera while he speaks; Wendy, who thinks I'm funny so we share snarky asides in a private chat ... We're a diverse, idiosyncratic little family, with Will is our moderator and indulgent dad. I was so happy when the meeting ended.

 

August Happiness Challenge -- Day 6

Today's Happiness: Roadway with Underpass (The Viaduct). That old saying, "I don't know art but I know what I like" applies to me. As my friend Elaine and I took in the 75 paintings and drawings in the special Van Gogh exhibit, this is the one that really grabbed me.

I don't know why exactly. Yes, I like the autumnal colors. But perhaps I appreciated how he found beauty in a scene that most people who saw it back in the 1880s wouldn't have stopped to look at, or if they did, might have found an industrial eyesore. I also wonder about that traveler. Where is he going? Is it safe?

So yeah, I got a little culture today. And it didn't hurt at all!

I was young once, too, you know!

For four days every August, literally hundreds of thousands* of young people descend upon Grant Park for Lollapalooza and live alternative rock, metal, punk, hip hop and dance music. Waylon Jennings even played it one year, so I guess I should include country in that list. Still, it's safe to say that at 65, I am not in the Lollapalooza demographic. 

Though I did attend once myself, in 2015, to see Sir Paul on the main stage, I generally try to avoid the Loop during Lolla. It's crowded. There's an influx of tourists who stand in the middle of the sidewalk (or worse, the street) trying to figure out where they're going when I'm in a hurry. Plus, August is always hot and I don't do heat, so things that would merely annoy me under normal circumstances really, REALLY grate!

But that was before. For the first August in 48 years, I'm not a working girl. So I'm really in no rush most of the time. And it was only in the 70s on this rainy Sunday, so it was certainly bearable. When my newly retired herself friend Elaine invited me to go to the Art Institute of Chicago with her to see the special Van Gogh exhibit, I said, "sure."

I rode the rails down and yes, the train was ridiculously crowded for 9:30 on Sunday morning. I was surrounded by festival goers wearing bandanas and Crocs and carrying clear backpacks. (So many young women still carrying Hello, Kitty keyrings and phone cases!) They were polite and quiet and very nice, making me realize it wouldn't fucking kill me to not be so judgemental and remember that I was young once and probably just as prone to annoy as these kids.

It was raining as I walked the half hour to Michigan Avenue and the Art Institute. On the way I tried to remember the last time I went in. I believe it was in 1992, right after Bill Clinton was elected and my niece was born. Considering we've had six Presidential elections since then, and my niece just moved into her first home with her husband, I think I was past due for a return visit. 

Elaine is a member so we were able to skip the line and just float into the exhibit. In addition to all the Van Goghs, we saw The Picture of Dorian Gray by Ivan Albright. Elaine liked it better than I did, but it gave us something to discuss over lunch. We speculated about how our "soul" portraits might look. I told her that since she handled the end of her working career with such dignity, hers probably looks just fine. That seemed to make her happy. I was happy to help. After all, it wasn't that long ago that I was struggling to adjust to retirement.

*It was 400,000 last year

August Happiness Challenge -- Day 5

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Today's Happiness: Bruce, baseball, brains and a burger. Before my hair cut I had lunch with my nephew. I had a burger, he had pizza. We talked about:

• Bruce Springsteen -- Next week my nephew is seeing The Boss for the first time ... and at Wrigley Field!

• Baseball -- We talked about our Cubs, how entertaining this season's roster is, and how cool it is that we're actually making a run for the wildcard spot.

• Brains -- I am not taking this Anthony Rizzo concussion news well. Not by the longest shot. Not just because Anthony Rizzo is a great guy -- though that would be enough -- but because it kicks up sad and disturbing feelings about my friend Henry's TBI. I confessed to my nephew that since I heard, I haven't been able to watch more than a few moments of baseball. Suddenly they don't seem like millionaire professional athletes anymore. Now all I see are 18 fragile boys, taking the field and risking injury for my entertainment. I know this will pass, but it's how I feel right now.

It makes me happy that we have so many shared interests and I can speak to him honestly. I told him that as cute as he was as a wee one, I enjoy him now, too.

Saturday 9

Linda (1946)

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

1) In this song, Buddy Clark sings that when he can't sleep he doesn't count sheep, he enumerates Linda's charms. Did you sleep well last night? It was fine. I got up in the middle of night for to go to the bathroom and have a glass of water, but I do that most nights.

2) In addition to singing with big bands, Buddy sang commercial jingles live on radio programs and was the voice of Carnation Milk. Can you think of a jingle that's stayed in your head? 1-877-Kars4Kids. K-A-R-S Kars4Kids. 1-877-Kars4Kids. Donate your car today.

3) For "Linda," Buddy Clark performed with bandleader Ray Noble. Ray was classically trained at London's Royal Academy of Music, but much preferred big band music to that of Mozart, Beethoven or Chopin. When did you last listen to classical music? I never intentionally listen to classical music. It may have been piped into a room I happened to be in. I don't recall.

 

4) Composer Jack Lawrence named this song after a particular little girl, the daughter of his lawyer, Lee Eastman. Without looking it up, do you know what became of Lee Eastman's daughter Linda?

 

5) According to the Social Security Administration Linda was long one of the most popular names for American baby girls. It was #2 in the 1940s and 1950s (second only to Mary). By the 1960s it slipped to #7 and by the 1970s it fell to #68. Are there many Lindas in your life? The only Linda is a former coworker who was born in 1947.

6) 1946, the year this record was released, is regarded as the first year of the Baby Boom, which lasted until 1964. Are you from The Silent Generation or are you Boomer, a Gen-Xer, a Gen-Yer, or a Millennial? Boomer.

7) In the summer of '46, hats were a standard part of any woman's outfit. Hats for day, hats for evening, hats for rainy days ... The 1946 Sears Spring-Summer catalog devoted nine pages to women's hats. Do you own many hats? If yes, for what occasions do you wear them? I don't do hats. I hate hat hair. In winter I wear ear muffs or a hood.

8) Also in 1946, the Mensa Society was created. The only qualification to join was an IQ in the top 98th percentile. Do you know your IQ? Nope.

9) Random question: Tell us something you admire about your best friend. Whomever owns the coveted title of The Gal's Best Friend changes with my mood, but it's usually John or my oldest friend. One thing they share is that they take me as I am. I treasure them for their inclusivity and acceptance.

August Happiness Challenge -- Day 4

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Today's Happiness: A lovely surprise. In today's mail I found a bill, a credit card balance transfer offer, and package! My friend Lisa Wechtenhiser (aka Snarkypants) sent me a copy of her book, Dive. 

It's a pretty book -- all tranquil blue and purple -- and it's filled with prompts to get me to think about myself and my life in a new way. There's space for me to write my reflections. It's going to be revealing for me in this new chapter of my life.

So of course it makes me happy!

August Happiness Challenge -- Day 3

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Today's Happiness: "Return to Sender." Today was a rough day. It began with an 8:30 dental appointment, a follow up to the crown lengthening procedure. Then a chiropractic appointment for my stiff and achy back. Followed by the condo association meeting, where we announced there would be an 11% increase in assessments in 2024. (No, I don't like it, either, but it has to be done.)

It's 90º, and heat makes me grumpy.

With the scary news about Rizz (see post below) I didn't feel like baseball tonight. So I turned to TCM. I had no idea what was going to be on and was thrilled to see I joined the broadcast at the perfect moment: The King climbed onto the stage and begin swiveling his hips. 

Suddenly I was happy.

Stop butchering my baby!

Today the Yankees announced my favorite most player, Anthony Rizzo, has been placed on the IL. He sustained a concussion on this play ... back on May 28.

Before this collision, he was hitting .304 with 11 home runs in 53 games. Since the collision, his average dropped to .172 and he has hit just one home run. Yankee management insisted he was fine. Yankee fans started booing him (a first in his career). Every day he went out there, did his best with his glove, but struck out over and over and over again.

Finally this week -- after two months -- a neurologist was consulted. Anthony Rizzo has been playing, day in and day out, with a concussion. This is inexcusable.

And it's not even the first time. 

Last year he was having back spasms. How did the New York Yankees respond? With chiropractic adjustments and massage?* No, with an invasive epidural. It went badly, and spinal fluid leaked into his brain, leaving Rizzo with crippling headaches. Read this harrowing tale here.

What the ever-loving fuck?

He's going to be 34 next week. That's old for a ballplayer but young for a man. How dare they be so cavalier with his well being? 

I was very proud of him for meeting the press today. Almost 20 minutes, taking every question tossed his way. Listen to him share what he's been through these past two months, blaming himself for all those bad at-bats.

But this shouldn't have happened to him. Not to any player, but especially not to him. Overshadowed by this collision and botched treatment plan is his Swing for the Fences Auction. In June he raised more than $1 million to help families battling pediatric cancer. In July he sponsored a luau for young patients at the Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital. And he took the field for almost every game while battling a concussion. He endured Yankee fans calling him lazy and demanding he be DFA'd (released). He went from being an elite player to, statistically, the worst in the league. Where's the fairness in all that?

Also, I'm suffering from deja Henry. I know from my dear friend's TBI that the brain is remarkably fragile, and difficult to treat. Although you'd think that the Yankees, a world-famous organization that's worth more than $7 billion, coulda gotten one of its employees decent neurological care in a timely manner.

I am angry.

*That's how his back was treated during his years as a Cub. I know because we shared the same doctor.

Thursday Thirteen #320

The Way We Were. 50 years ago, live broadcast TV was the primary way we got our entertainment. There were only three networks (CBS, NBC and ABC), maybe PBS and a local syndicated station if you were in a more populous area or you had a really good antenna on the roof. No cable channels and no way to video record. You watched your favorite show when it was shown and if you missed an episode, you waited months for the rerun. 

And you had a TV book. Either you kept the one that came free in your Sunday newspaper or you bought/subscribed to TV Guide. Here are 13 covers from 1973. I instantly recognized these people/shows. How many are familiar to you?

#1. Here's Mary Richards with her two best friends, Georgette and Rhoda.

#2. Now an Oscar winner, Goldie Hawn returns to TV with a variety special.

#3. A sitcom set in Chicago! Dr. Bob Hartley was a Cub fan, as Bob Newhart is in real life.

#4. The gang from the M*A*S*H 4077th.

#5. Sanford and Son. I never could stand Redd Foxx so I didn't watch this show. But I know the theme song. I'd hear the first bars as I raced across the room to change the channel. (No remotes in those days, either.)

#6. Lucille Ball and Desi, Jr. Lucy was the first woman to appear on TV visibly pregnant; 20 years later that baby co-starred with her on Here's Lucy.

#7. The Waltons. This multigenerational family drama was set in The Depression.

#8. Columbo. I didn't watch this when it was first broadcast but I've seen every episode on cable and am a fan.

#9. Kung Fu. I didn't watch this, either, but I knew about it because all the boys in my class loved it and my PE teacher would call us "Grasshopper."

10. Dick Cavett. Johnny Carson was the undisputed King of Late Night, but I had a crush on Cavett. 

11. Sonny & Cher. We all tuned in to see what Cher was wearing. 

12. Telly Savalas as Kojak. Who loves ya, baby?

13. Hee Haw. Never watched this and remain convinced I didn't miss much.

Please join us for THURSDAY THIRTEEN. Click here to play along, and to see other interesting compilations of 13 things.

August Happiness Challenge -- Day 2

 

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Today's happiness: A nap

Tuesday was a busy day: yoga, therapist appointment, monitoring social media non-stop about the baseball trade deadline,* listening to the Yankees, watching the Cubs, trying to be a grown up by following the latest DOJ revelation of Trump's blatant lawlessness ...

Thursday will be an even busier day: dentist, chiropractor, condo board meeting (about the 2024 budget, no less).

So I luxuriated in Wednesday being so uneventful I was able to take a nap. I need days like this.

Happy August Happiness Challenge!

 

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

*No, the Cubs didn't trade Bellinger or Stroman. YAY!

August Happiness Challenge: Day 1

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Today's happiness: Genevieve McGillicuddy

 

You're probably saying, "WHO?" But if you're a classic film nerd, you know Genevieve. Her title at TCM was Vice President of Enterprises and Partnerships, but we knew her as the goddess who ran the film festival, and she was unceremoniously axed at the end of June.

Well guess what she posted at about 9:30 CST yesterday (so yes, it was so August 1!): "I've been asked to return to produce the 2024 TCM Film Festival."

 

As soon as I learned about the firings, I emailed David Zaslav, head of Warner Bros./Discovery+, TCM's parent company. I tweeted relentlessly. I sent snail mail. I lobbied all my friends -- virtual and in real life (thank you, Kwizgiver) to beg that TCM not be gutted. Charles Tabesh, a Senior VP let go the same day as Genevieve, was rehired in early July. And our girl Genevieve McGillicuddy is back home where she belongs, too.

 

Is this because of activist rabid film fans like me? In part, yes. Spielberg and Scorcese pitching in to help undoubtedly had even more impact. And then there's Barbie. She's likely to make a $1 billion for Warner Bros., and that probably allowed Zaslav to be a bit more free with money.

 

Why am I thrilled? Because this proves that doing something is preferable to bitching and moaning. Because I'm going to Hollywood to see my classic film tribe this spring. Because I love TCM. 

Happy August Happiness Challenge!

 

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

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. 

PS I can no longer participate in WWW.WEDNESDAY via that link because her blog won't accept Blogger comments. I mention this only to save you the frustration I experienced trying to link up.

1. What are you currently reading? Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardner by MC Beaton. Agatha Raisin went away on a solo vacation, hoping that absence from her neighbor, James Lacey, would make his heart grow fonder. Instead she returns to find a new woman in town, a divorcee named Mary Fortune, has displaced her! Mary is not only blonde and slender, she's adept at gardening, one of Robert's passions. So Agatha -- devious, prickly, delightfully human Agatha -- decides to take up gardening, too. She joins the local horticultural society so she can keep an eye on James and Mary.

But she hates gardening. She hates Mary Fortune. She hates to admit it, but what Agatha is longing for is a nice juicy murder that will remind James how much fun they had together investigating. Fortunately one of the denizens of her small town cooperates and turns up dead. So far, this "cozy mystery" (#3 in the series) is keeping me entertained.

2. What did you recently finish reading? Teammate by David Ross. Timing is everything. Perhaps if I'd read this book in 2017, right after the Cubs won the Series, I'd have simply loved David's insider view of how my guys went from Lovable Losers to World Champions. Maybe I'd have felt nothing but delight when Rossy took me behind the scenes of Game 7 of the greatest baseball championship series ever. I could have just been happy for Ross, the back up catcher, who got a White House shout out from Barack Obama, appeared on Saturday Night Live and went on to Dancing with the Stars.

 

But now it's 2023. David Ross' paeans to his wife now sound like treacle because I know he left her in 2019 and went on to have a high-profile romance with an actress from Chicago Med, who says she dumped him because of his surreptitious use of dating apps. (Oh yeah, in the book he insists he doesn't even really know how what Instagram works. Glad to see you're more tech savvy now, David.)

So while the baseball stuff here is fascinating and his insights in sports and concussion protocol are fascinating, the tips on life and how to be a good teammate and better person were just annoying. I liked Joe Maddon's book better.

 

3. What will read next? A biography of President Eisenhower.