Sunday Stealing

Swapbot – 10 Years of Swaps

1) What is your favorite way to spend a lazy day? I like books, watching movies, and taking walks. In summer, of course, baseball!

2) What do you look forward to every week? Yoga class on Tuesdays. 

3) Name three pet peeves you currently have. a. Retail people who don't answer me. Like yesterday, when I put my canvas bag on the counter and said, "I'll use my own bag." The girl at checkout out said nothing. Did she hear me? How hard is it to say, "OK." Or just "K," if she's limited to the number of syllables she can utter in a day. b. Space hogs. If a train or bus is full, your purse or briefcase does not deserve the seat next to you. Covid is behind us. Scoot over! c. Conspiracy theorists. I know they deserve my pity, but still! Joe Biden was duly elected, Dr. Fauci didn't engineer covid policy for his own profit, the moon landing happened, Lindberg didn't kill his own baby ... Excuse me, but how gullible are you?

4) If you were to win an all expense paid vacation for two weeks to anywhere in the world, where would you choose to go? What are some of the things you would like to experience while you were there? New York. You got me on the "all expenses paid," because NYC is expensive! My home base would be The Plaza (two weeks at The Plaza is well over $10,000, and that's before I hit the spa or call room service). I'd see Broadway plays (there are six I'd like to see, so that's a week right there), go to a Yankees game to see my favorite-most ball player, Anthony Rizzo, and spend a day visiting all the haunts introduced to me during a lifetime of reading about JBKO, from Gristedes Supermarket to Grand Central Station. 

I want to be a part of it, New York, New York!

5) What was one of your favorite toys as a kid? Did you save any special things from your childhood that you still have today? I loved my Lassie dog so much. When her head got floppy, my mother did a little needle-and-thread surgery, filling it out with a sock filled with newspaper. 

Yes, I still have her. She's up on a shelf in my closet.

6) What is your favorite holiday? What is your least favorite holiday? I suppose my answer to both is Christmas. It's a wonderful time of year but it can be lonely and complicated, as well. I miss people so keenly at Christmas.

7) Have you ever met anyone famous? What concerts have you attended? Oh, no you don't! You're just trying to get me to tell the Bruce Springsteen-kissed-me story again from two weeks ago!

8) Are there any expressions that people use that really annoy you? If so, what are they? One of the best things about retirement is I no longer hear "office speak." You know, vacay instead of vacation, recco instead of recommendation, etc. 

9) Do you like your name? Are you named after anyone? Is there a story how you got your name? Would you change it if you could? If so, what name would you give yourself? My name is fine. My mother picked it. That was my parents' deal: she was in charge of girl's name, he'd choose boy names. 

10) It is said that it's the little things that make life worth living. Name five of those little things in your life. I love this question! Here are five things that reliably bring me joy:

• The sky, whether it's clear or cloudy

• When my girlcat, Connie, curls up next to me or boycat, Roy Hobbs, "talks" to me with that tiny, reedy meow

• Singing the oldies with the shower radio

• Baseball sounds: the crack of the bat, the ball landing in a glove

• Laundry day, with fresh sheets on the bed and fresh towels in the bathroom