Saturday, December 11, 2021

Saturday 9

Saturday 9: Drivers License (2021)

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

1) This song is about a girl who just got her drivers license. Who taught you to drive? My dad at home, Coach Brown at school, and I am no credit to either of them. I was a terrible driver.

2) Do you like your drivers license/state ID photo? It's OK. I've endured worse.

3) Think back to the first ticket you received. How old were you, and what was it for? Since I've never been a driver, I've never gotten a ticket.

4) In this week's song, Olivia Rodrigo is brokenhearted, driving through her boyfriend's neighborhood, certain that he has taken up with the sophisticated blonde girl. When it comes to romance, do you have a jealous streak? Oh, yes! It's wide and unattractive.

5) Olivia grew up in Temucula, California. Temecula is home to 40 wineries and dozens of tasting rooms. Have you ever attended a wine tasting? I've been to two. The first was a formal fundraiser for The Field Museum. It was so funny to see all these people (me included) among the dinosaurs, dressed to the nines, spitting into buckets. The second was a far more casual affair at a spa right outside Atlanta. I enjoyed the sweet port wines. Alas, now that even a sip of the grape gives me migraines, my tasting days are over.

The main hall, prepped for an event.

6) Her first on-screen appearance was in a commercial for Old Navy stores. Old Navy is owned by the same company as Banana Republic, Gap and Athletica. Have you done any of your holiday shopping at one of those stores? (Yes, their websites count.) Kinda sorta. I got Henry a Banana Republic gift card for his birthday (12/22). Last time I was in Key West (2019) we had a nice time shopping their pre-Christmas sale. If I know Henry, he hasn't bought anything for his husband Reg yet. Even if he's on it, I know he likes their chinos for himself. I predict one of our first Christmas Eve stops will be to the Banana Republic on Duval.

7) She went on to star in projects for Disney studios. That's also how pop stars Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Miley Cyrus, and Christina Aguilera got started. Arguably the first teen star created by Disney studios was Annette Funicello. Do you remember her? "Ask the birds and ask the bees and ask the stars above who's their favorite sweet brunette. You know each one confesses: Annette, Annette, Annette." When I was a little girl, my mom's dad lived alone in a pair of rooms he rented in this lady's house. He had his own bedroom and bathroom at the top of the stairs, but no kitchen! I found his living arrangement fascinating. Anyway, he kept a record player and some children's records for me to play when I'd come visit. "Annette" was a thick yellow plastic disc with a Disney logo, a paean to the most popular Mouseketeer. I played it all the time, but since Mickey Mouse Club wasn't on anymore, I didn't really know who Annette Funicello was until I was older and saw her Beach Party movies on TV.

Singer Jimmie Dodd and his Mouskamuse
 

8) "Drivers License" was one of this year's most popular songs. One of this year's most popular books is John Grisham's The Judge's List. Do you expect to do much reading between now and the end of the year? If so, what's on your TBR (to be read) list? I've been doing something new for me: reading Christmas chick-lit. I'm hoping it will help me get into the swing of things. Next up is The Matzah Ball (Kwizgiver turned me on to it). Then I'm going back to my "regularly scheduled" reading. There's a biography of Lady Bird Johnson I'm eagerly looking forward to. She was the First Lady I remember most clearly from my girlhood, but I know so little about her. Let's fix that! (I love reading about First Ladies.)


9) Random Question: What is the longest line you ever stood in, and was it worth it? I don't know that it's longest line I've ever stood in, but in December 2019 I waited forever in the State of Illinois building to get my new, TSA compliant Real ID. The memory is vivid because it was the last time I was in a crowd, surrounded by strangers (remember, everything shut down in March 2020) until my nephew and I went to Wrigley Field last summer. December 2019 to August 2021. Nearly 20 months. Wow. Covid.

The tree I stared at for hours in line

 




11 comments:

  1. Not that I was included, but your museum tasting brought to mind a black tie event my parents attended at the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh when I was little. They, too, got to wander among the bones...but I don't think spitting was involved. lol

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  2. These posts are fun. My dad taught me to drive. I never took driver's ed. When I went for my first drivers test, the tester told me I was "too cautious." Cautious or not, I got my driver's license. My driver's license picture is tolerable but not great. I like my passport picture better. I have never been to a wine tasting. We used to live literally down the road from Temecula in Corona, California. I really, really hate long lines! I have shopped at GAP and Old Navy and Christmas gifts to a couple of my kids included Old Navy gift cards. I hope to finish 2-3 more books before the end of the year. You inspired me to read a Christmas "chick-lit" book so I put my crime novel aside and am now deep into Counting on Christmas by Trenton Hughes - Christian Christmas Chick-Lit. Oh boy! Have a good weekend - see you again soon!

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  3. I hope you enjoy Matzah Ball--it's a quick read.

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  4. I had to jump through SO many hoops to get a real ID, because a) I've been married three times, and b) I informally changed my name from first, middle on my birth certificate, last to first, maiden last name, last. It ended up on a lot of my documentation, but without all the perfect provenance real ID demanded. Torture.

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  5. #9 When I went to get my "Real ID" I walked right up to the counter and they told me that I needed another document so I drove home and got my passport. Drove back and walked right up to the counter and gave them all my paperwork, in less than 15 minutes. There was zero people in line at the AAA office, Connecticut lets private businesses renew driver licenses. No lines, no muss, no fuss.

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  6. P.S.
    #5 I went to a function like at the homestead of Mark Twain. The only problem was where do you put your drink down? On the antique furniture? I stayed out on the wrap around porch afraid of spilling my wine or food inside.

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  7. I think it would have been exciting to be in a museum full of dinos!

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  8. That Real ID is a mess and has been problematic for a lot of women. My mother-in-law couldn't get one because there was some issue between the information on her wedding license and her birth certificate. She received a regular license and said she wouldn't be flying, anyway, but one never knows with out-of-town relatives.

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  9. I read Christmas Chick Lit last year...did I tell you about this? I thought it sounds like fun...Kwiz always has such fun books. So I read one and the whole time I was trying to predict, and my thoughts went to thriller endings....which of course did not happen. It was humorous. I had my eye on a certain book for Christmas lit this year, but I couldn't get my hands on it, so I am just going to read my thrillers and be happy about it. Loved your answers! Have a nice weekend.

    https://lorisbusylife.blogspot.com/

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  10. Migraines from wine? Definitely not worth it

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