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? Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York by Andrew Lownie. My friend Joanna spent a month in England and reports that the Epstein scandal is on everyone's mind there, too. Only in the UK, they're not especially interested in why Donald Trump is "in the files." It's about Lord Mandelson, the career politician who was first appointed Ambassador to the US and then fired from the post for the same reason: his relationship with Epstein and Trump. It's about the head of one of the UK's most powerful and prestigious banks who was forced out because of his relationship with Epstein. Most of all, it's about Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, the Prince formerly known as Prince, and his high-spirited ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, who are now titleless and (technically) homeless because of their relationship with Epstein.

 

This book is England's juiciest read on the scandal, and since I don't want my view of it to be totally US-centric, I picked it up.

 

2. What did you recently finish reading? The Curse of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz. In Book #2 of the series, Isabel gets everything wrong.

Isabel is the middle child and eldest daughter of the Spellmans, a family of detectives (except the oldest, David; the black sheep of the family, he became a wealthy, successful attorney). It's not that Isabel is a bad detective. Technically she seems to have many skills – planting bugs and GPS devices, doing background checks, tailing subjects. etc. It's just that she makes faulty assumptions and draws erroneous conclusions. This gets her arrested four times in three months.

She also loses her apartment(s) and needs to find a date to her last boyfriend's wedding. To an Olympian. It doesn't do a lot for a girl's ego to be down on her luck at the precise moment her ex is marrying a world class specimen.

These books are very funny but even more than that, they have a lot of heart. Time spent with the Spellmans is time well spent.

3. What will you read next? Miami, It's Murder by Edna Buchanan.

 

  

Sunday Stealing

The Desert Island Meme

You're stranded alone on a desert island ...

1) Which three BOOKS could you read over and over again?

William Goldman's Princess Bride is a no-brainer. I love that book. It's funny and, as he moves between old Florin and modern day Los Angeles, poignant. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell would be good, too, because it entertains me, infuriates me, and makes me think about America in the 1860s, 1930s and today. JFK: Reckless Youth by Nigel Hamilton would be my third. It takes the future President from birth to his early 30s. While to outsiders he seemed to have everything – money, charm, privilege – he overcame tremendous challenges, only to die at 46. This book reminds me not to be so damn judgey. 

 

2) Which three MOVIES could you watch over and over again?

 

My favorite love story

As beautiful & ugly & engrossing as it gets

Also written by William Goldman

3) Which three SONGS could you listen to over and over again? All B's. Babs singing "My Man." Bruce singing "No Surrender." The Beatles singing "All My Loving."

 

Saturday 9

Saturday 9: That Funny Feeling (1965)

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

 

1) In this song, Bobby Darin admits he cares more for the girl than he should. What's something you have recently overdone (eaten too many potato chips, stayed up too late, etc.)?

I just discovered these pretzel bites. I love them. I really love them.
 

2) Bobby wrote this as the theme song for a movie he starred in with his wife, Sandra Dee. That Funny Feeling (the movie) turned a profit at the box office and "That Funny Feeling" (the record) made the Billboard Top 40. Can you think of another movie and song that were both popular? "So it's the laughter we will remember whenever we remember ..."

 

 

3) While Bobby had a successful movie career and earned an Oscar nomination, he didn't get the part he wanted most: Tony in West Side Story. While he could sing and dance very well, producers didn't think Bobby looked like a romantic leading man. What actor or actress makes your heart skip a beat? 

Josh Duhamel. He appeared in 5 seasons of NBC's Las Vegas and recently starred in the Netflix miniseries Ransom Canyon. I'm eagerly awaiting Season 2 because I like his face.

 

 

4) Elvis enjoyed watching Bobby perform, but understood that if he sat in the audience he would be a distraction. So Elvis always watched Bobby from the wings. Think about the last thing you saw in a theater (concert, movie, play). Were you distracted by another audience member? Was anyone crinkling paper, checking their phone, whispering, etc.? My movie theater has these fabulous recliners. If I'm there for an action movie, like One Battle After Another, I don't notice my fellow theatergoers adjusting their seats. But for something quieter, like the Downton Abbey movie, I could hear the footrests extending all around me.

 

5) When the editor of a teen magazine asked if he could cook, Bobby not only said yes, he offered up his manicotti recipe. What's your favorite pasta dish? (To eat, not necessarily to whip up in your kitchen.) I used to love the manicotti at La Cantina, a tiny restaurant tucked away in the basement of the larger, more famous Italian Village. It closed during covid and never reopened. Now the space is a hipster bar. I fear I will never have fabulous manicotti so cheesy and divine again.

 

6) In addition to cooking, Bobby's friends recall he loved talking about classic cars and baseball. Which of those three would you be most comfortable discussing? Baseball. I don't cook and I can't drive, but I love the Chicago Cubs.

 

7) In 1965, when Americans were listening to "That Funny Feeling," aspirin was the top over-the-counter pain reliever. You could get a bottle of 200 tablets for just $1. Is there aspirin in your medicine chest right now? Nope. I don't keep meds in the medicine chest. But I don't have any aspirin in the basket on my kitchen counter, either, and that's where I do keep my meds.

 
8) Also in 1965, I Dream of Jeannie premiered. The sitcom about a beautiful genie living in the suburbs was developed to compete with Bewitched, about a beautiful witch living in the suburbs. Which show do like better?

 

9) Random question: After a friend leaves your home, you spot a small, bound book on the floor next to your sofa. You flip through it and see that her journal fell out of her purse. It's mostly shopping lists and appointments but also includes personal observations, Once you realize what it is, do you close it and keep it closed until you can return it to her? Or do you continue reading? I hate to admit this, but I'd continue reading. 

 

 

Thursday Thirteen #437

Remembering the Ladies. Our First Ladies matter. In real time, they are a lightening rod. Looking back, they are a reflection of the way we were. Of course they contributed to their husbands' administrations through their personal relationship, but they served this country publicly. 

The complete destruction of The East Wing, where every First Lady since Eleanor Roosevelt worked, is an indication of how much President Pussy Grabber values their contribution.

This week I'm listing 13 accomplishments/events that had their start where there is now rubble. While no means exhaustive, I hope this list is inspiring.

1. Eleanor Roosevelt – the first Press Conference by a First Lady. She did it from the East Wing. Radio was the most immediate news source, and it was important for Americans to hear her voice. For this groundbreaking event, Mrs. Roosevelt insisted that all 30 reporters were women.

2. Bess Truman – the restoration of the White House social season. After WWII, she issued her social schedule far in advance, and she did it from the East Wing. This may sound frivolous, but Bess was not a party girl. She believed this was a comforting indication to a war-weary nation that life was returning to normal. 

3. Mamie Eisenhower – decorating the White House for the holidays. Mamie was the First Lady who made Christmas trees and the Easter Egg Roll a priority, and she did this from the East Wing where she raised private funds to pay for it.

4. Jacqueline Kennedy – the restoration of the White House itself. She was committed to making the White House a living museum of American history. You can see her historic televised tour here. She initially walks through the East Wing corridor toward the camera.

Graphic created by the JFK Library

5. Lady Bird Johnson – environmental/beautification projects. She improved the view of America we see from the road, banning "billboard forests" and turning highways into a landscape of green and wildflowers. Like Jackie, she approached this with care and scholarship, meeting often in the East Wing with nurserymen and environmentalists to make sure the wildflowers were native plants that were more than pretty but would co-exist with wildlife and the natural ecosystem. (This may sound like a yawn in 2025 but was radical in 1965.)

6. Pat Nixon – "The Peoples' House." She told her East Wing staff that it "irritated" her to hear the White House referred to as "the mansion," and instructed them never to do so. She believed that the White House was not for the rich and privileged but for all of us. At Christmastime, she opened it for evening tours so local Washington DC families could enjoy the decorations after work. She also introduced White House tours for the vision and hearing impaired. Yes, she did this work from the East Wing.

7. Betty Ford – dancing at dinner. Though she wasn't First Lady for even a full term, she played hostess to an impressive 33 state dinners. That took a lot of work and she did her planning from her office in the East Wing. Betty made sure there was always live music and dancing, which had been absent during the Nixon administration. With echoes of Bess Truman, she wanted to reassure the country that Watergate was behind us and let us know the White House was bright and happy, and the invitation world leaders coveted.

8. Rosalynn Carter – making it official. While every First Lady from ER on used the East Wing as her base, they didn't each have an office there. For example, Jackie and Pat Nixon each set space aside in the private residence and Mamie worked out of her bedroom. As a result of the White House Personnel Authorization Act of 1978, Rosalynn and every subsequent First Lady received an official budget and space allocation in the East Wing* for her staff. In 1979, she became the first First Lady to testify before Congress, working to remove the stigma attached to mental illness.

9. Nancy Reagan – replacing the cracked plaster. She found the Oval Office and adjacent spaces had been neglected and set out to get rid of "cracked plaster, chipped paint and beat up floors." She, too, did her homework from the East Wing. She was inspired by the way Presidents in the early 1900s decorated the Oval Office and brought back White House antiques that had been in storage.

10. Barbara Bush – hugging an AIDS patient. Barbara Bush's sons are certainly famous and accomplished, but her little girl left a legacy, too. Robin Bush died of leukemia before her 4th birthday. Her daughter's brief life and health challenges gave Barbara Bush an understanding of blood diseases, which is how she viewed AIDS. Though it was controversial back in 1989, and the White House didn't publicize it, she made news by being photographed hugging an AIDS patient. She kept that photo on display in her East Wing office.

11. Hillary Clinton – Congressional liaison. Because she went on to be New York's Senator, Secretary of State and the first woman to win a major party's nomination for President, it's easy to forget that she was once a controversial and highly influential First Lady. Her East Wing staff was big and busy and included a Congressional liaison. From the East Wing she helped craft legislation like the Foster Care Independence Act, which helps kids "aging out" of foster care get help and job skills so they can become self-sufficient adults.

12. Laura Bush – not a stranger. Laura Bush did much for literacy as First Lady, but in today's incredibly hostile, partisan climate, I most appreciate her reaching out warmly and consistently to two women who followed her into the East Wing, Michelle Obama and Jill Biden. 

13. Jill Biden – showcasing military families. In 2023 she unveiled The Military Children's Corner in the East Wing. The artwork you see created by the kids of active duty service members. She said these children "don't wear a uniform, but they serve our country, too." This is all gone now. Bulldozed.

 

 

 

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

 *Since the East Wing has been bulldozed it's unknown where the next First Lady will have an office.

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 Curse of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz. Oh, those wacky Spellmans! They run a family firm and they're all detectives (except the oldest son, David; the black sheep of the family, he became a wealthy, successful attorney). They're also all more than a little loopy. 

 

This is book #2 in the series. I'm rereading them all before I part with the books. I find I remember little about the actual mystery in this mystery, but I recall the interplay among the women in the family – Mom Olivia, sisters Isabel and Rae, David's wife, Petra – affectionate and idiosyncratic.

 

Why hasn't Netflix made this a mini-series? 

2. What did you recently finish reading? Muzzled by David Rosenfelt. I just finished another case with the Pride of Paterson, Andy Carpenter. If you're unfamiliar with this series, Andy is a once hard-working defense attorney who came into considerable money. He no longer has to work and no wishes to, preferring to drink beer, watch sports and (his real passion) rescue dogs. Andy loves dogs, and I love that about Andy. 

In Muzzled, Andy is lured back to the courtroom by a man and his dog. The man was first thought to be one of three men killed in a boating accident, then became the focus of law enforcement as a murderer. Andy not only admires how much the man loves his dog, he believes in his new client's innocence (always a plus).

Andy delivered a few laughs and even more smirks because he is such an adorable smart ass. I liked the plot – it was just complicated enough, but not byzantine. I wish there was more about Lucy, the defendant's dog, as well as Andy's own Tara and Sebastian, but that's a tiny complaint.

3. What will you read next? Non-fiction.

 

  

Dona Nobis Pacem

This year, Mimi challenges us to "Speak Love." To embrace and enhance and nurture love with "your families, yourselves, your communities, OUR WORLD."

So I'm taking this opportunity to give a shout out to Letters Against Isolation. This organization is all about the positive power of the handwritten word and how it can help alleviate loneliness. Every week I create little cards that will be tucked into a Meals on Wheels delivery or handed to a resident in a senior facility. I am sending a handwritten connection to a lonely person. 

Loneliness is a thief. According to the Cleveland Clinic, it can rob you of your health – increasing your risk of cardiovascular disease and high blood pressure. According to Mental Health America, it can rob you of your happiness – often sparking anxiety, depression and substance abuse.

So I'm using the written word to Speak Love. LAI is not a pen pal program. I'm corresponding with people who will never know my full name or address. It's just a simple moment we share, beginning with me at my dining room table writing and culminating with an isolated senior opening and reading my card, hopefully when they need to know they are not forgotten.

 
Find other peace bloggers here.

 

Sunday Stealing

Monday Morning Meme

1. What was the last thing you laughed at? My niece's baby. Violet is not quite 5 months old. She sleeps very soundly but wakes up (snap!) instantly. She was asleep in her mother's arms when I arrived to meet her Saturday morning. Violet awoke on her own, caught sight of me sitting beside her and had this wide eyed look of, "What the fuck?" Her big brown eyes telegraphed her thoughts so clearly, she was like a cartoon character, and it made me laugh. She also literally rubbed her eyes when she got sleepy. Aside from the fact that she's cute, her face is animated and expressive. For someone who has no words, she makes herself understood quite clearly. I found her endlessly amusing.

2. Who among your friends/family "gets" your sense of humor? This is why I miss my friend John so much. He always got me. My oldest friend used to, but her cognitive/mental challenges get in the way. On the plus side, my nephew usually gets me.

3. What jewelry are you wearing at this moment? Little faux pearl studs.

4. If you could offer one bit of etiquette that everyone should follow while dining out, what would it be? Before you go to the restaurant, stop at the ATM so you can leave your tip in cash. If you put the tip on your credit card, your server likely won't see it until they receive their next paycheck. 

5. What's the first thing a guest would notice when they walked through your front door?

Saturday 9

Saturday 9: Angie Baby (1974)

 

1) This week's song is a spooky one about a young man who breaks into the bedroom of a troubled girl named Angie. Their encounter doesn't go well and he's never seen again. Though there's been gossip, no one knows for sure what happened to him. Does your town have any scary legends that have been passed down through the decades? Every kid in Chicagoland knows about Resurrection Mary. There are many versions of the story, but this is the one I always heard. It's late at night. You're driving past Resurrection Cemetery. A teenage girl appears by the side of the road. Even though it's dark, you can't miss her because she has white blonde hair and she's wearing a white party dress. It can't be safe for her out here alone so you stop, roll down your window and offer her a ride. She wordlessly shakes her head. You roll up the window and pull away but somehow she suddenly appears in front of your car! You can't stop in time and are sickened by the awful thud when you hit her. You jump out of the car to see if you can help her but ... there's no one there! Yes, you just (literally) ran into Resurrection Mary. The "real Mary" (if there was one) attended her high school prom in the 1930s. Her boyfriend "got fresh" and she ran out of the ballroom to hitch a ride home. She was killed by a hit-and-run driver and buried at Resurrection, where she haunts drivers to this day. BOO!

 

2) Songwriter Alan O'Day said he drew upon aspects of his own childhood to come up with "Angie Baby." He was an only child who often stayed home sick from school, with only Top 40 radio for company. What do you recall about when you think about sick days as a kid? My mom was big on checking my tissues to see the color of my snots. I thought it was gross, but I get it now. Green, yellow, clear, bloody ... the residue on my Kleenex were clues as to how I was doing. Poor moms. They check toilet bowls and examine tissues and do all kinds of other icky things as they care for us.

 

3) Helen Reddy said she enjoyed hearing what her fans thought happened in "Angie Baby." Can you think of another song that is open to interpretation? Exactly what was thrown into the muddy waters off the Tallahatchie Bridge?

 

 

 

4) When Helen and her husband/manager Jeff Wald heard "Angie Baby" the first time, they immediately agreed she should record it. She went into the studio that afternoon and in less than 10 days, disc jockeys were playing it and "Angie Baby" became an international hit. When were you glad you acted on impulse? I'm going to see Sir Paul next month. As soon as I heard he was going to end his international tour here in Chicago right around my birthday, I just acted on emotion and decided I was going. He's 83 now. He's not going to keep doing this forever. The fact that it's the last stop of his world tour and two days after my birthday ... well if that's not a sign from the universe I was meant to go, I don't what is. It took me forever, watching the website and waiting for Ticketmaster to give me a chance to buy a seat. I didn't know what it was going to cost and I didn't care because I would find the money somewhere (OK, so now my kitchen remodel will be a new faucet) and I am so glad I did it.

 

Questions inspired by Halloween .... 

5) Though best known as a recording artist, Helen Reddy also acted on occasion and appeared as a singing nun in Airport 1975. A nun's habit is a popular Halloween costume. Will you/did you dress up this year? Nope.

6) In 2024, more Americans than ever dressed their dogs up for Halloween. Have you ever taken your pup with you trick-or-treating? Nope.

7) According to the Guinness Book of Records, the award for highest number of jack-o-lanterns in one place went to Keene, NH, where in 2013 there were 30,581. Did you carve a pumpkin for Halloween this year? Nope.

 

8) In years gone by, the Irish celebrated Halloween not with pumpkins but by carving turnips, potatoes and beets. Are any of those foods in your kitchen right now? Nope. (Sorry my answers are so boring.)
 

9) Some Elvis fans insist his ghost hovers in the trees over Graceland. Have you ever seen a ghost? Nope. I don't believe in ghosts. But if I'm wrong, I hope my girl JBKO haunts a certain ballroom.

 

Graphic from the JFK Library

 

Thursday Thirteen #436

Celebrating Halloween. Halloween is a massive big deal at the card shop where I work. This is a comparatively new phenomenon. When I was a kid back in the 1960s, we carved pumpkins and left them on the front porch. My mom let me tape a cardboard cutout of a ghost or black cat on my bedroom window. My sisters and I put on costumes and went trick-or-treating. That was it. We were happy.

But now there are parties, for children and adults alike. Decorations are intricate and imaginative. Halloween is a multi-billion (with a "b") dollar business, and I see that reflected by what we sell at our little store. 

1. Greeting cards

2. Wrapping paper 

3. Wreaths. We offer some pre-made, some DIY.

4. Washi tape

5. Stickers

6. Squishies shaped like black cats, pumpkins, and Frankenstein

7. Black cat sunglasses (Please buy these! It's not that they aren't popular, it's that we were sent enough to outfit every man, woman and child in the tri-state area.)

8. Shot glasses shaped like skulls

9. Paper plates and napkins

10. Pumpkin and/or ghost pens

11. Dog- or cat-in-costume ornaments

12. Candles (so many pumpkin candles – I think these would also be appropriate for Thanksgiving)

13. Trick-or-treat bags

How are you preparing for/celebrating Halloween? 

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

Get Ready!

On November 4, I'm joining in Mimi's Blogblast for Peace. Why don't you do the same? It would be lovely if we filled the blogosphere with peace signs and gentle good wishes for a better future.

Happy Birthday, Ms. Kwiz!

 

Here's to a new decade of joy and opportunity. 

Do you read my blog buddy, Kwizgiver? If you don't, you should. Find her here. And while you're there, you can wish her a happy birthday.

 

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? Muzzled by David Rosenfelt. A boating accident in the usually lazy waters off New Jersey was ruled a triple homicide. It got extensive press coverage and Andy Carpenter was aware of the case. Which is why he was startled when one of the victims shows up at his animal rescue, looking for his dog. Andy's not used to reuniting pets and dead people.

 

I enjoy these books because Andy is sports loving smartass with a heart of gold. He may have an imaginative and talented legal mind but he displays what I feel is an admirable lack of physical courage. Most of all, he loves dogs.

 

I just hope this book is a bit more straightforward than others in the series have been. Lately Andy has been sucked into complex cases revolving around drug cartels and international assassination plots. While I'm sure these things do happen, I'm aware that most crimes (murder, included) are much more mundane affairs, more domestic in nature. I'd be so happy if this case ends up being about about garden variety lust and greed. 

2. What did you recently finish reading? The Mysterious Mrs. Nixon: The Life and Times of Washington's Most Private First Lady by Heath Hardage Lee. Oh, this book! I am glad I read it because I learned a great deal about Pat Nixon, but I would be reluctant to recommend it. Heath Hardage Lee is a good storyteller, but she is not careful about letting us know which are her opinions and which are Mrs. Nixon's.

Throughout the book there are comparisons of how Pat and Jackie Kennedy performed their roles as Senate wife and First Lady. Pat always comes out better. The author ignores that Jackie was pregnant five times during her 10-year marriage. As a Senate wife, she suffered first a miscarriage and then a still birth, she was pregnant during the Presidential campaign with JFK Jr., who was born five weeks prematurely via emergency C-section, and she gave birth to a baby boy as First Lady. You may not have heard much about John and Caroline's baby brother because he lived only two days. As a historian, Ms. Hardage Lee knew all this. She just glossed over all that blood and pain and heartache to present Pat Nixon as the better political wife who kept a busier schedule yet never enjoyed Jackie's fawning, glowing press.

Now I wonder, was Pat Nixon consumed with Jackie jealousy, or was this rivalry something created by Hardage Lee? And don't you think Jackie would have preferred Pat's easier pregnancies and healthy babies to positive press clippings?

Similarly, Hardage Lee downplays Nixon's role in Watergate. The President is portrayed as a swell guy who trusted the wrong people. That is simply not true. I wonder, did Pat Nixon feel that way, or did she come to the uncomfortable conclusion the rest of the nation and historians have? 

Pat Nixon suffered her first stroke after the world watched her leave the White House in disgrace. She was 64 years old and had been a heavy smoker for nearly 50 years. Yet Hardage Lee blames the stroke on Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein for portraying her as a recluse who liked her bourbon in their book The Final Days. Apparently a skit on SNL based on the book disturbed her, too. After all she'd been through, I find it hard to believe this was all that shocking to her. Over the next 20 years she would go on to battle oral cancer, emphysema and lung cancer. I'm sorry The Final Days upset her, but I think we can assume tobacco and the stress of being the only First Lady to lose her home to looming impeachment were more detrimental to her health.

So while the book is filled with a lot of wonderful and new-to-me information that gave me a more dimensional portrait of a First Lady I grew up with, the context is screwy and I'm not sure I would recommend it to someone who doesn't understand our history between 1950 and 1980. 

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

 

  

Sunday Stealing

Four 5's

FIVE things on my to-do list:

1. Book a ride to/from the airport for my upcoming trip

2. Wrap a pair of birthday presents

3. It wouldn't kill me to vacuum

4. Write to my cousin

5. Pick up a prescription at Walgreen's

 

FIVE snacks I enjoy:

1. Potato chips

2. Cookies

3. Cold cereal (I go through periods where I love it, and then I forget about it)

4. String cheese

5. Apple sauce in little cups for kids' lunchboxes

I eat like a child, don't I? 

FIVE places I have lived:

1. My parents' house

2. My apartment

3. My condo

4. 

5.

 

FIVE jobs I have held:

1. Receptionist

2. Administrative Assistant

3. Copywriter

4. Creative Director

5. Shopgirl