Thursday Thirteen #394

 My Letterboxd list. Letterboxd is the online database that helps me keep track of my movie viewing. It's like Goodreads, but for movies. My 2024 stats have been compiled, and here they are.

1. Barbara Stanwyck is the actor/actress I spent the most time with in 2024. I saw 7 of her films. Three were with my movie group. She's the fave of our moderator, Will.

2. Elizabeth Taylor was second with six films. When I was a kid, I thought she was a gaudy, silly woman. Always on magazine covers, wearing big rocks and loud caftans and battling with Burton. In recent years I've come to admire her as an actress. This year I saw two of the six on the big screen -- National Velvet at the TCM Film Festival and Suddenly, Last Summer at Chicago's Music Box.

3. I saw five Jimmy Stewart films. Really the number is higher. I logged It's a Wonderful Life once but I saw at least parts of it three or four times over the holidays. On the other end of the spectrum is Rope. It's a very twisty Hitchcock movie loosely based on Leopold and Loeb. Shocking company to find George Bailey in!

4. Next up is Sinatra. His movie career was in three distinct parts. He got his start in formulaic MGM musicals and while he was a surprisingly good dancer, the movies were lightweight at best. Then he won an Oscar for a dramatic role in From Here to Eternity and it ushered in a decade of very good performances. Finally he became the leader of The Rat Pack and made a handful of yucky films with Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr. This year I saw four of his best movies, made during that "sweet spot" period, and enjoyed them all thoroughly.

5. Gloria Grahame is a new discovery for me. You may know her as Violet, the blonde bad girl of Bedford Falls, in It's a Wonderful Life. This year I saw her in four movies, two which were new to me. She's a very sympathetic presence even though her movies are rather dark.

6. I saw four Robert Redford movies. Ah, Bob. Loved him since high school. I am glad that TCM is giving him props as an actor. Like Liz Taylor, I think his physical beauty distracted critics from his performances in real time.

7. Alfred Hitchcock is the director whose work I saw the most. I especially enjoyed seeing him remake one of his own films. He first did The Man Who Knew Too Much in 1934 and then revisited it twenty years later. I was fascinated to see what he changed, and what he kept.

8. I saw five Frank Capra movies. He's much beloved for It's a Wonderful Life and Meet John Doe. Frankly sentimental, ultimately optimistic films about America. I saw some his earlier and lesser known pictures this past year and I'm sorry to say his oeuvre is not completely top drawer. I'm not throwing shade. No one's work is always 100% successful. I was just surprised by how barely memorable some of them were.

9. The cinematographer whose work I saw most was Joseph Walker. We film nerds keep track of everything! Mr. Walker a very long career, beginning as an electrician in silents and was considered a trailblazer in talkies.

10. I rewatched Jailhouse Rock three times. Once on the big screen at the TCM Film Festival. I maintain that Elvis in the old cellblock dancing to the "Jailhouse Rock" is as iconic an image as Julie Andrews spinning around at the beginning of Sound of Music.

11. I rewatched Laura twice. Once with my movie group. I enjoy Clifton Webb as Waldo Lydecker so very much.

12. I rewatched the 1949 version of Little Women twice. I know film buffs will say this is the weakest version of the Louisa Mae Alcott classic and I understand that. It's just that it's the first version I ever saw and so I have a very warm spot in my heart for it.

13. The 2024 movie that I liked the best was The Fall Guy. Yeah, it was a silly action flick. But Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt have such tremendous chemistry!

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

 

An appreciation of imperfection

Like most Americans, I've been thinking a lot about Jimmy Carter. He was my first Presidential vote, and it was a privilege. He was a serious, patriotic and deeply religious man. He lived that old Methodist maxim: Do all the good you can, in all the ways you can, all the times you can, for all the people you can, as long as you can.

He built homes, swinging the hammer himself, for Habitat for Humanity. He helped eliminate Guinea worm disease. He was born 100 years ago, but remained so relevant he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize early in 2002. He never shied away from speaking his mind. While he made himself available to every subsequent President -- including Trump -- they each felt the sting of his criticism. That didn't stop him from standing with Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton in condemning Trump's January 6 "Day of Love", calling it "a national tragedy."

Jimmy Carter was so inherently good and decent that his example could be intimidating. That's why I don't view what I am about to say here as a criticism.

He could be remarkably petty. Jimmy Carter couldn't stand Ted Kennedy. It was, on the President's side, immediate and personal. Like every President from Richard Nixon to George W. Bush, Carter initially grappled with how to "handle" the senior Senator from MA. But where the others found a way forward, even forging a legislative relationship with him, Carter did not. Would not. Could not. 

He insisted Ted Kennedy's opposition to him was personal. It was not. Kennedy thought Carter was both legislatively naive and too moderate, squandering an opportunity to move America to the left after Nixon and Watergate. Kennedy wasn't wrong about that, and it was a political -- not personal -- assessment.

Jimmy Carter just didn't like Ted Kennedy. He thought his achievements -- especially in the environment and education -- were dismissed by Kennedy, and it hurt. That's fair. He was resentful that Kennedy gave him no credit for breaking the mold of "Southern governor" set by George Wallace and Huey Long. That's also fair. Most of all, it galled him that Kennedy's destiny was "scripted," that the youngest brother's life was charmed and "easy." That is so incredibly unfair.

It's always shocked me that Jimmy Carter, the soul of empathy and charity, viewed Kennedy's life that way. Since the Kennedys were the original Kardashians, I refuse to believe Carter wasn't aware of this litany of tragedy and pain.

Age 9: His oldest sister, Rosemary, was incapacitated by a lobotomy and he never saw her again.* As an adult, he referred to it as when she was "disappeared" and poignantly recalled that as a little boy, he was afraid he'd be "disappeared," too.

Age 12: His oldest brother, Joe, was killed in WWII, blown apart in a mid-air explosion. No remains were recovered. Just one month later, his brother-in-law, Billy Cavendish, was killed by Nazi sniper.

Age 14: His sister, Kathleen (Billy's widow), died in plane crash.

Age 31: His brother was assassinated in Dallas.

Age 36: His brother was assassinated in Los Angeles. This left him patriarch and surrogate father to 13 children, in addition to his own 3.

Age 41: His 12-year-old son was diagnosed with cancer and lost a leg.

That brings us to 1973, when Carter and Kennedy were working together. How could a man as compassionate as Carter view such a life as "easy?" Yet Carter never backed away from his assessment. In fact, in 2010, a year after Kennedy's death, he mentioned on-camera to CBS' Lesley Stahl that Ted Kennedy had been expelled from college. Really? That is so beneath Jimmy Carter's dignity.

Yet I find it very comforting. I am far from perfect. I try to live a life that honors my faith, but I often fall short. So Jimmy Carter's life is an example to me yet again. Being imperfect is no excuse to not try to do better. Being imperfect does not mean I can't succeed.

Do all the good you can, in all the ways you can, all the times you can, for all the people you can, as long as you can.

That was you, Mr. President. Thank you for your example. May you rest in the peace you so richly deserved.

*To clarify, he never saw her again during his father's' lifetime. None of the family defied old Joe's edict, not even the President of the United States. While nothing was officially announced, photos reveal Ted Kennedy (as well as Eunice, Rose and John, Jr.) began visiting Rosemary often in the 1980s, 40 years after her lobotomy. Rosemary outlived him.

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 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? The Fall Girl by Marcia Clark. I was so impressed by Marcia Clark's true crime book (see below) that I decided to give her fiction a try. There's an awful lot going on here. Chicago DA Lauren Clayborne has to leave town in a hurry. She assumes a new identity and moves to a new city, Santa Cruz. There she crosses paths with Erika Lorman, the office superstar. Erika is prosecuting a high-profile murder case, with a popular celebrity chef as defendant. I'm not sure where this is going, but I'm going to stick with it. I like Clark's style, even if right now I'm not in love with her pacing.

 
2. What did you recently finish reading? Trial by Ambush by Marcia Clark. In the 1970s, when my feminism was awakening, Barbara Graham was important to me. In 1953 she was just the third woman ever put to death in California, and there were serious questions about her guilt and her treatment by the press and justice system. I remember thinking at the time, "She was executed for being a slut."

This book introduced me to all the nuances of the law and the trial, but yeah, Barbara Graham was executed for being a slut. 

I hadn't before realized that one of the people who helped bury Barbara -- figuratively and literally -- was another inmate. Donna Prow seduced Barbara into a sexual relationship and got her to incriminate herself. Barbara's love letters were read to the jury to inflame their anti-LGBTQ prejudice. What the jury never knew was that Donna had been enlisted by the State of California and was released early in exchange for her efforts. Kind of an "I was a lesbian for justice" situation. It was appalling. Especially when you consider that Donna was in prison for vehicular homicide, a crime she never denied. Donna, who undoubtedly killed someone, walked free while Barbara, who may not have, got the gas chamber. Have a nice day.

Barbara's story is told by Marcia Clark of OJ Simpson fame. She brings a prosecutor's sensibility to the case and even she was disgusted by the way the State of California behaved. One interesting aspect: Graham was prosecuted by J. Miller Levy. A long-time and highly successful DA in Southern California, he had been one of Clark's heroes ... until she researched the Graham trial. Hearing her come to grips with the clay feet of her idol was sad and compelling.

This one will stay with me for a while.

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

 

 

Saturday 9

Saturday 9: Calendar Girl (1960)
    

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

 

1) How will you keep track of your days/weeks in 2025? Do you have a desk planner? A wall calendar? A pocket planner? Do you use the app on your phone? I have an ASPCA wall calendar in the kitchen and pocket planner that's tucked in my address book (yes, I still have an old school address book).

Troy is the ASPCA's calendar boy

2) Consider your typical week. Which day tends to be your busiest? Either Monday or Tuesday. Monday, if I'm working, because I also have movie group that night. Tuesday is yoga and whatever doctor/dentist appointments I have planned. It's funny what passes for busy now that I've quit advertising. Since covid lockdown and retirement, I've become very, very comfortable with my days being wide open.

 

3) This week's artist, Neil Sedaka, is one of pop music's most prolific singer-songwriters, but his first love was classical music. He was so good that he trained at Julliard and won the accolade, "Best New York High School Pianist." Recall one of your passions from your high school years. I wrote a lot of fiction when I was a teenager. I brought my spiral notebook with me whenever I went babysitting and once the kids fell asleep, I became Louisa Mae Alcott.

4) Elton John has always enjoyed Sedaka's music and in the 1970s, when Elton was one of the world's top stars, he requested a meeting. If you had the power to contact and then meet anyone in the world, who would you choose? It changes. A month ago I would have said Doris Kearns Goodwin because she's a respected historian and we live in unprecedented times. Today I'd say Marcia Clark because I have questions about her book regarding the Barbara Graham case ... and of course I'd still like to ask her about OJ. Or maybe Justin Trudeau because he's yummy, newly single and soon to be out of the public eye for a while. I think I could learn to love Ottawa. (Yes, I am shallow.)

 
5) Sedaka appeared as the musical guest during the second season of Saturday Night Live. What's the most recent show you watched on TV? Was it live, from your dvr, or did you stream it? It was the news, so it was live.

6) His daughter Dara sings on TV and radio commercials. What advertising jingle sticks in your head? Anyone who has ever lived in Chicago knows the phone number for Empire.

 

7) In 1960, when "Calendar Girl" was popular, To Kill a Mockingbird was first published. Have you read it? Yes. It was assigned to us in high school and I loved it then -- much more than the book that followed it, Moby Dick, which I will not apologize for loathing -- and have revisited it as an adult. I think it's fascinating that the character of Dill was based on Truman Capote. Was there something in the water in little Monroeville, AL that created two of America's best writers?

8) Also in 1960, John F. Kennedy, Jr. was baptized in the Georgetown University Chapel. His godparents were Charles and Martha Bartlett, the couple who introduced his famous parents. Do you have any godchildren? Nope.

9) Random question -- Which did you enjoy more: the last week of 2024 or the first week of 2025? Christmas was a little hectic, but I had a tenacious cold and then a pinched nerve during the first week in January, so I'll go with the last week of 2024.

Introducing Katie

Photo by Siora Photography on Unsplash

I have a new boss at the card shop. Her name is Katie. I like her.

Right now she is juggling our store and the one in a la-de-dah suburb to the west. That store lost its lease -- the owner believes he can make more money with a restaurant in that location -- and so she's moving over to manage our store. She'll be with us exclusively as of February 1.

She's performed admirably, even with her hands very full. She is more adept at dealing with corporate than our previous manager, my beloved Ceecee, had been. Katie has already gotten us new equipment. I guess she's a more effective squeaky wheel.

Katie has told me she appreciates my way with customers and has been giving me as many hours as she can. I've actually been working more than I'd like, and my schedule changes from week to week, making it hard to make plans.

But I understand why Katie is doing this. She's been frank about her expectation that between Easter and Halloween, she'll only be able to give me 4 hours/week. To be honest, I like that lighter workload. But I'm not very confident right now about money.

I don't like Trump's tariffs nor the impact his election has had on the markets. The money in my retirement fund has to last me for the rest of my life, and that makes me nervous. I simply cannot afford to sniff at the opportunity to make a little more money right now.

I have a meeting set up with an advisor from Fidelity to develop a path forward. I'll be sitting down with an accountant in mid-February to discuss taxes. Maybe after those two consultations I'll feel a bit more sanguine. But for now, I'm grateful that Katie is eking out extra shifts for me.

Catching up on Christmas

I wanted to sketch out my memories of the 2024 holiday season before they fade. 

I saw Santa! For the third year in a row, my friend Elaine and I went to see It's a Wonderful Life on the big screen at The Music Box Theater. Before the movie, Santa himself came out and joined the organist, leading us in a singalong. 

As the kids say, IYKYK

As always, we dressed appropriately for the occasion. I wore my ugly Cubs Christmas sweater, always festive and especially fitting because The Music Box is in Wrigleyville. Elaine outdid herself. She got down to business at her sewing machine and recreated George's football jersey, right down to the stripes and a 3 on her chest. Naturally we both wore reindeer ears.

Afterward we exchanged gifts over hot chocolate. It's funny, but she and I just can't the gift thing right. Last year, she spent way more than I did. So this year I spent a little more and she spent less! Oh well, money is not the point of gift giving.

Thinking of gifts ... Mindy got it together this year. She and her husband got me this blanket and a book (We All Shine On). This is noteworthy because she just could never commit to a holiday date in 2023, and therefore last year was the first time in decades that Mindy and John and I didn't celebrate together. Naturally she couldn't have known that would be John's last Christmas, but she felt it keenly. We met at a bar and had a lovely, albeit bittersweet, time. 

It looks a little like me, too!

I spent a lot of time at O'Hare. There was a technical glitch first thing on Christmas Eve morning and while American Airlines corrected it quickly, flights were off schedule all day. So I was at the airport for four hours awaiting a flight that took 55 minutes. Was I happy about this? Of course not. But there was nothing to be done so I made the best of it. The airport had some lovely decorations.

The American Airlines terminal

I actually saw someone use The Pot Box! My friend Kathleen and I fascinated by the green "amnesty" mailbox just on the other side of the TSA checkpoint where travelers can dump their pot to avoid penalty for transporting weed across state lines. Neither of us has ever seen anyone take advantage of this ... until Christmas Eve. I saw a guy in a knit cap deposit a baggie. I wanted to ask him if he'd just forgotten it in his bag or if he was unaware it was illegal to fly with weed, but he looked so guilty and embarrassed I didn't have the heart.

I caught a bad cold. Merry Christmas, right? Oh well, my hotel was right there by the airport and was very comfy. I got to my room, took a hot shower, and wrapped my gifts with Elf on in the background. Fortunately I was able to sleep in on Christmas Day. The extra sleep and another shower left me feeling a little better. (It was just a cold, after all.)

My niece came out to the car. I took a rideshare to her home and she was so happy to see me she met me. That little gesture touched my heart. We had a lovely ham dinner with lots of starchy sides. She's a very good cook and a very proud homeowner. She showed me the room that has been designated as the nursery for the baby they're waiting to adopt. (My nephew was sleeping in there on an air mattress.) My sister was a little arch and brittle, but I guess that's just the way we're going to be with each other.

She has a pair of swans! They aren't hers, exactly. They live in the creek behind her home and I could watch them from her backdoor. I had no idea that mute swans don't migrate and stay in the cold midwest throughout the winter.

So there you have it, my first Christmas with neither Henry or John. I miss them and it was painful at times. I couldn't help recalling those Key West Christmas lunches with fresh seafood and long walks with Henry on the beach. But I was lucky to have known them at all, and luckier that I still have people to love in my life, because love is what Christmas is about.

Thursday Thirteen #393

The way we were. Maybe it's a sign of my advancing age, but 1925 doesn't sound that long ago to me. It surprises me to realize it's been 100 years.

So I've tooled around the internet to find what the average American household was like in 1925.

1. We read the newspaper. The daily paper was the chief source of information and entertainment. Papers were highly competitive and often published morning and afternoon editions. Chicago was known for the American, Daily News, Evening Post, Journal, and Tribune. There were also about a dozen foreign language papers published regularly for the immigrant community.

2. We listened to the radio ... when we could. Only half of American homes had electricity in 1925, so fewer than that had radios. Neighbors used to congregate at the homes of friends who had radios to listen to popular shows and sporting events.

3. Magazines were glossy and influential. Women turned to Vogue, Cosmopolitan and Good Housekeeping for fashions and domestic trends.

4. We wore tap pants. They were the best-selling lingerie item of the year. They were tight around your waist but loose around the hips and thighs and were often trimmed in lace at the hem to pretty them up a bit. They were considered more comfortable than slips and practical under any length skirt; important because hemlines were going up in the 20s.

5. We went to the movies every week. Many went more than once a week, what with Family Nights and Ladies Nights at the theater. It's not only that movies were affordable, exciting and entertaining. Movies were popular because theaters were the only place where air conditioning was commonplace.

6. Ice was delivered weekly. During the 1920s ice boxes were still the norm in American kitchens.

7. You cooked with coal or wood. Gas and electric stoves were available but far from common in 1925.

8. There was a cake safe on your counter. It was made of metal or glass, had a tight fitting lid, and protected your baked goods from dust and bugs.

9. But there was no storage under your sink. Sinks were mounted to the wall and usually stood on two or four legs. The area under the sink was left open to help prevent mildew.

10. Home phones were on the rise. While they certainly weren't standard issue yet, more homes had access to phones because major companies like Western Electric and Bell Telephone were investing in infrastructure.

11. Phone booths were everywhere. It was commonplace to find a booth in your local restaurant, drugstore and department store. While many homes didn't have phones in 1925, most businesses did, and you could go to a nearby phone booth to contact your doctor, grocery store or dairy. Which leads me to ...

12. Horse-drawn carts were still commonplace. Like ice (#6), milk and butter deliveries to your door were a regular occurrence, and it would be another decade before the milk and ice man began to use motor vehicles.

13. We talked a lot about cars. Soldiers returning from WWI aspired to buy cars, and car manufacturers became major employers. Still, not every home had a car yet. Roads had not caught up to the public's desire, and many prospective drivers were skeptical about a car with thin, wooden wheels navigating over mud and gravel. (However, by 1930 this would change radically.

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

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 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? Trial by Ambush by Marcia Clark. This is the story of Barbara Graham, one of the first women to die in California's gas chamber. It intrigued me that Marcia Clark -- yes, the Marcia Clark of OJ Simpson fame -- chose this case to write about. I wanted to hear what a prosecutor thought of it.

Barbara Graham's case was known to me because of I Want to Live!, the Oscar-winning 1958 movie. The film depicts Barbara as an innocent but non-conformist party girl who was convicted and executed by the patriarchy. The truth is turning out to be more complicated but just as sad, unfair and ugly. While I am no longer convinced of her innocence -- I suspect she was there when the robbery was committed -- I still don't believe she committed the murder. I feel bad for the jurors, who might have chosen a different fate for her if they knew the facts.

 

My first book of 2025 introduces me to Marcia Clark, the author. This book is well constructed and written in an interesting voice. I will look for her fiction at my library.

 
2. What did you recently finish reading? A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens was my last book of the year. What a delight!

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

 

Saturday 9

Saturday 9: Something New (2017)

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

Welcome to the first Saturday 9 of 2025.

 

 
1) We're beginning the year with a song about new beginnings. What is something new you'd like to try in 2025? I'm not approaching it that way. Instead, I've given myself a goal this year. I'm going to winnow through my books and donate many of them.

2) The lyrics recall what was said "in the mist of the midnight hour." Where were you when the new year dawned? I was asleep. Don't judge me. I had a cold.

 

3) The Axwell of Axwell and Ingrosso is Axel Hedfors. He began as a drummer and moved on to experimenting musically on the computer, eventually mastering music sequencer software. Do you consider yourself more a technophile like Axwell, who loves technology and digital devices, or more a technophobe, anxious about learning new programs? Total phobe.

4) His musical partner is Sebastian Ingrosso. Sebastian became interested in dance music when he accompanied his father, a choreographer, to the studio. When you were young, did you ever go to work with either of your parents? Not in a "take your daughter to work" kinda way. But we stopped by my dad's work as a family on occasion.

5) Axwell & Ingrosso gave their premiere performance at the 2014 Governors Ball Music Festival in New York City and their last concert at the 2017 Ultra Music Fest in Miami. Looking back on 2024, did you attend any outdoor music or theater performances? Nope.

6) In 2017, when "Something New" was released, we lost the TV star who could "turn the world on with her smile." Without looking it up, do you know who that is? She could take a nothing day and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile.

7) Also in 2017, Today Show anchor Hoda Kotb announced she had adopted her first child. Do you know anyone who is adding to their family in 2025? Maybe. My niece and her hubs have been approved for adoption and are now waiting for their baby.

8) Have you made any New Year's resolutions for 2025? No.

 
9) What was the first thing to make you laugh in 2025? Probably my girlcat. She's very sweet but silly.

 

Thursday Thirteen #392

 

Everything old is new again. According to Parents, names that were popular 100 years ago are making a resurgence. Here are 13 names from the 1920s that are expected to trend in the 2020s.

1. Dorothy

2. Mary

3. Helen

4. Margaret

5. Ruth

6. Mildred

7. Charles

8. George

9. Edward

10. Cecil

11. Harold

12. Raymond

13. Arthur

Are there any babies expected to enter your life in 2025? Any idea what they'll be named?

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

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 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? A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Do I really need to provide a synopsis for this one? Surprisingly short, it's a masterpiece and I'm glad I'm finally reading it. Now, to go from the sublime to the ridiculous ...

 
2. What did you recently finish reading? Wreck the Halls by Tessa Bailey. A  superstar band, Steel Birds, broke up suddenly and bitterly and left their legion of fans reeling. The duo's music is embraced by each subsequent generation and the Steel Birds legend continues to grow. The members -- Trina and Octavia -- steadfastly refuse to perform together ever again.

 

Trina and Octavia were both pregnant when they broke up and weren't speaking when Trina's daughter, Melody, and Octavia's son, Beat, were born. Still, the kids grew up together in a way, linked together by the paparazzi and on gossip sites. Beat was the charmed one, the one the camera loved, and he grew up to be one of People's Sexiest Men Alive. Melody's awkward teen years were chronicled cruelly, leaving her feeling awkward and never quite enough

 

Thirty years after the band's break-up, a producer tries to reunite Steel Birds at Rockefeller Center on Christmas Eve and offers Beat and Melody $1 million to bring their mothers together. Of course Melody and Beat are going to have a Christmas romance.

 

This book was silly. I'm not sorry I read it, because it got me thinking of second-generation celebrity and the onus it puts on people who never requested it. But it is not sexy, romantic, or Christmas-y. I do not recommend it. 

3. What will you read next? Trial by Ambush by Marcia Clark.

 

Saturday 9

 Saturday 9: Goodbye (1969)

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

This song was chosen because it's time to say goodbye to 2024.

Thanks for participating in Saturday 9 this year.

1) In this song, Mary Hopkin asks her lover not to let her sleep too late. Did you wake up this morning on your own, did someone wake you, or were you jangled awake by an alarm clock? I'm battling a bad cold and am letting myself sleep as much as my body wants to as I recover.

2) The lyrics reference "a lonely song." Can you name a song about loneliness? "Eleanor Rigby" by the Beatles. Paul asks, "All the lonely people, where do they all come from? All the lonely people, where do they all belong?"

3) "Goodbye" was written for Mary by Paul McCartney. He was the one who signed her to her first record contract and produced this and all her Apple Records, including her first big hit, "Those Were the Days." Looking back on 2024, who is someone who gave you a helping hand when you needed it? My former boss at the card shop, Ceecee, made me feel like she wanted me to succeed. Her support gave me confidence. She's a very good supervisor.

4) This video shows Mary performing on The Ed Sullivan Show while wearing a miniskirt. Minis were very popular in 1969. Did you embrace a fashion trend in 2024? If we expand this to makeup, yes. I began wearing light blue and violet eye shadow again, something I hadn't done since the 70s. But I like it.

5) Also in 1969, the Colts lost to the New York Jets in Super Bowl III. The game is famous because of all the hype leading up to it, including Joe Namath "guaranteeing" the underdog Jets would win. Do you have a special sports memory of 2024? In September, my favorite-most ball player returned to Wrigley Field for the first time since he was traded. It wasn't just the 41,000 fans in the park who celebrated him. There were signs all around town welcoming him home. I hope Anthony Rizzo realizes how much he is loved here.

6) What's the farthest from home you traveled in 2024? ORD to LAX is about 2,000 miles.

7) What was the biggest purchase that you made in 2024? I spent about (gulp) $4,000 on dental work this year.

8) What was your favorite book of 2024? Camera Girl is a biography of Jacqueline Bouvier, before she became Mrs. Kennedy or Mrs. Onassis. It concentrates on her life after high school and before marriage. It's about the choices women had (or didn't have) in the 1940s and 1950s and made me wish I knew more about my own mother's life after high school, before she left my grandparents' home for her husband's.

Read about it here

9) What are you looking forward to most in 2025? I'm going to Hollywood!