Thursday, March 28, 2024

Saturday 9

 

Welcome to Saturday: 9. What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme!


Saturday 9: Two Easter Sunday Sweethearts (1954)

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

1) This song is about a couple dressed in their "Sunday Best." Will you be getting dressed up this weekend?
Nope.  Nowhere to go!

2) The happy couple is walking up the street arm-in-arm. Have you recently seen a couple holding hands or walking arm-in-arm in public
Haven't been out in public, so no.

3) This week's featured artist, Vera Lynn, was a beloved English singer who is affectionately remembered for her tireless work entertaining the troops during WWII. She famously sang "There'll Always Be an England" during outdoor concerts in Egypt, India, and Burma, even as battles raged nearby. What is your favorite patriotic song?
"Stars and Stripes Forever"

 4) Though she became a celebrity at 19, Vera continued to live with her parents until she married at age 21. How old were you when you left home for good?
I was 18, when I moved from San Francisco to Berkeley to start UC.  Never moved back home again. 

 Now, here are some questions in honor of this weekend's holiday ...

5) More than 1.5 million Cadbury Creme Eggs are produced every day. Do you enjoy Cadbury Eggs all year around, only at Easter, or not at all?
I love Cadbury eggs and if I ate them, would eat them all year around, but I don't eat candy much any more, so haven't had any in years.

 6) Pretzels are considered a delicious Easter snack in Germany. Do you more often crave salty treats or sweet ones?
These days, my cravings are for salty things (nuts, chips, crackers), but not pretzels, which I don't really like.  I like sweets, but when I let myself have some, I find they are too sweet

7) We've been talking a lot about sweets this morning. The only holiday that generates more candy sales is Halloween. When do you eat more candy: Easter or Halloween?
Halloween because we don't buy candy for Easter and so buy for trick or treat, and usually have a lot left over.

8) Easter is considered the season of rebirth. What makes you feel refreshed or rejuvenated?
More than 2 hours of sleep!

9)  This year, April Fool's Day happens to follow Easter Sunday. Do you expect to fall victim to any pranks?
No, because other than Walt (who doesn't prank) I won't see anybody on April 1 (Ned and Marta are away for the weekend)

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PHOTO OF  THE DAY



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Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Palm Royale

 I'm down to just a couple of letters I need to answer, and I've been procrastinating, reading a lot of Facebook, getting ideas to make ATCs, and watching Palm Royale.

I've seen Carol Burnett interviewed a few times about her role in Palm Royale.  Fortunately I was prepared for her being in a coma for the first three episodes.  She hasn't awakened yet (where I am in the series), but I understand she's a real mean person.

So far I'm feeling so-so about the series.  It's really just a soap opera about people I so far don't like much.  Anything is worth watching if Carol Burnett is involved, so we'll see how much she is actually a part of the plot once she wakes up.

I loved her on Colbert telling him about being in a coma for 3 episodes and how she'd wake up in the morning, rush to the studio, put on make up, and  then get back into bed!

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PHOTO OF  THE DAY

Girls in Hawaii

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Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Let's Brag

 My latest SwapBot project is to brag about at least 10 things in your life.  I sat down to write a list and decided to share it here.  The rules say "Do not mention what you are bragging about then turn it into a negative comment."

1. Proud of being married for 58 years (59 in June)

2. Gave birth to 5 children naturally...no drugs...and breastfed all 5 until at least a year and a couple for longer.

3. Was a La Leche League leader for about 7 years.  Wrote and published the state newsletter.

4. Learned cake decorating and started a cake decorating business, working from home, when there was no real “bakery” in town other than Safeway.  Made some cakes I am very proud of!

5.  Co-author of 2 books about The Lamplighters, a Gilbert & Sullivan theater in San Francisco.  I am proud of being in the Library of Congress twice.

6. Proud of my friendship with the musical director of The Lamplighters.  When he died, I was responsible for cleaning out his house.  

7. Proud of learning medical transcription and working as a medical transcriptionist for 20 years.

8. Proud of being a theater critic for 12 years, and writing other columns thru the years.

9. Proud that I have a close friendship with my adult children. 

10. Proud of hosting some 70 foreigners from 14 different countries, visiting this country to learn English (and proud of picking up conversational Portuguese from all the Brasilians living here)

11. Proud of my daily on-line journal, now in its 24th year (more than 8,500 entries)

12. Proud of sponsoring more than 10 kids around the world through Compassion, Int’l.

13. Proud of fostering some 100 dogs for the SPCA (and adopting 3 of them)

14. Proud of writing to more than 50 pen pals.

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PHOTO OF  THE DAY



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Monday, March 25, 2024

A new hobby

 It appears that I have become part of the ATC (Artist Trading Card) community.  I've posted pictures of a few cards I've made and have received comments from people who want to trade for them.  I guess I'm getting better at it.

I find I'm looking at everything with an eye for how it could be used on an ATC.  I got a letter from someone with a nice design on it and turned it into an ATC which was traded almost instantly.


This is another one made from a post card that someone sent me.  I love it and someone asked if I would be willing to trade, but so far I like it too much to send it to someone else.



So I now have fancy tags to put on the back of my ATCs saying who made them, and I've collected small cards and envelopes to mail them in (rather than the business size envelopes I mail letters in), and I ordered something called "premium card sleeves," which are plastic sleeves designed for people to save their baseball cards, but which are perfect for ATCs.

Now I just have to make more ATCs so I have enough to actually trade with someone.  At the moment I only have about a dozen, or less, available to trade.

I'm also having fun printing address labels for pen pals.  One pen pal who read that I had made a Biden return address label for myself asked if I would make her two sheets of Biden labels, so I did.  Then I made myself a new label with this design.


I love it, but I have to be careful when I use it.  I know very little about most pen pals' political views, so for most of them I use ordinary return address labels, but if I know how they feel about politics, I will love to use these.

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PHOTO OF  THE DAY

This is the most popular ATC, so far.

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Sunday, March 24, 2024

Criminal Minds

 I've reached a bad place.  Every day after lunch, I settle in, turn on a rerun of Criminal Minds, and fall asleep for an hour to 2 hours.  I've been doing this for months, and have been working through the 15 seasons of the show.

But two days ago, I watched the last episode of the series.  Now what am I going to do?  Watch the whole thing over again? ("watch" is kind of an improper word since I usually only watch a few minutes of the beginning of an episode and the final few minutes of the end of the next episode).

Out of curiosity, I did a search and discovered that the 15 seasons of NCIS are on Netflix -- like Criminal Minds it is without commercials.  I watched Episode 1 of Season 1 today.  I've seen it before several times, but it's nice to start the whole 15 seasons again.  I knew that this episode took place on Air Force One, but I was surprised at how many references to the movie Air Force One are made throughout the hour.  We've watched the movie so many times that when it was time to set up our internet connection, Ned named it "Air Force One."

So I guess I'm OK for naps now for the next 15 seasons of NCIS.

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PHOTO OF  THE DAY



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Saturday, March 23, 2024

Sunday Stealing

 

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. This feature originated and published on WTIT: The Blog. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves.


Stolen from Swap Bot

         


1. If you could witness any event from history, what would it be?
It would be nice to be at the birth of Jesus.

2. What do you think about conspiracy theories?
They are mostly interesting, but have most been proven false...though it would be nice to know what really happened on November 22, 1963.

3. Do you like cartoons? Do you have /had a favorite one?
I don't generally read cartoons, but I enjoy Peanuts.

4. What did you most dislike in school times?
In grammar school, math classes and recess.

5. What sounds are in your opinion relaxing? The sound of the sea? Traffic? Vacuum cleaner? Combine harvester on the field? Some kind of music? Birds singing? ...
I love the sound of the ocean.

6. What was the last thing you read?
A book called "Saving Sadie" by Joal Derse Dauer

7. What is one thing that has stumped you so hard you won't ever forget it?
Trump cultists.

8. What are you interested in that most people aren’t?
Gilbert & Sullivan

9. What’s something you really resent paying for?
postage stamps!  (I don't mind buying stamps but it seems like the cost goes up every few months and I send SO MUCH mail!)

10. If you could choose a different time period and place to be born, when and where would it be?
I don't know...I've always been happy to have been raised in the 1950s.

11. What's one question you would ask Superman?
Now that phone booths are being removed, where do you change into your costume?

12. What's your favorite smell? What's your least favorite smell?
I love the smell of puppy breath and brewing coffee.  I smelled Durian once and that was enough!

13. How do you feel about cars becoming fully autonomous and having no steering wheel, breaks, or accelerators?
I would be very uncomfortable riding in one.

14. What are your favorite books and authors?
John Steinbeck is my favorite author and "East of Eden" his favorite of mine.
I also love all of Harlan Coben's books, Diana Gabaldon's "Outlander" series, and anything Bill Bryson writes is fun to read.
David Gerrold is my favorite sci fi author.

15. Have you had a reading or palm reading done?
No, never, but it's interesting that I learned my mother's mother read palms at fairs when her kids were young.

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PHOTO OF  THE DAY

I love my new shirt

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Friday, March 22, 2024

Saturday 9

 

Welcome to Saturday: 9. What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love to answer the questions, however, and here are today's questions!


Saturday 9: If You've Got the Money (1950)


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


1) In this week's song, Lefty Frizzell is eager to go out on the town and hit all the night spots. What are your plans for the weekend?
No plans for the weekend.

2) He tells his girl he'd rather ride in her Cadillac than his old car. Back in the 1950s, Caddys were quite the status symbol. Lefty bought a white one with the profits from this record. Elvis also had a fondness for Cadillacs and preferred pink. Have you ever owned a Cadillac?
Nope.

3) Lefty was a big deal in Big Spring, TX. He was a popular attraction at local bars, a favorite among oil workers who liked to unwind by listening to live music. How do you relax after a tough day?
I rarely have a "tough day," but I relax in my recliner and frequently fall asleep watching TV.

4) This was Lefty's first hit. He wrote "If You've Got the Money" and recorded a demo for producer Jim Beck to play for established singers. When no one else wanted to record it, Beck decided to give Lefty a shot. The result was a million seller that spent 22 weeks on the country charts. Tell us about someone who took a chance on you.
The entertainment editor of the newspaper knew me from my doing publicity for community theaters and when he needed a new theater critic, he decided to offer me the job.  I had no training and really only knew musical theater, but I decided I'd give it a try.  Must have worked out because I reviewed for 12 years until COVID ended theater for a year or so.  They I retired.

5) After this record became a hit, success came quickly to Lefty, perhaps too fast. He signed conflicting contracts with promoters and managers which resulted in lawsuits. Have you recently consulted a lawyer or had a document notarized?
Nope.

6) This song hit number one on the country charts twice: first this version and then in 1976 by Willie Nelson. Do you have a favorite Willie Nelson song?
I'm not a big Willie Nelson fan, but I do enjoy "On the Road Again."

7) In 1950, when this song was popular, Americans began using credit cards. Do you pay with a credit card to get rewards? If yes, what rewards are you accumulating (cash back, airline miles, etc.)
I use my rewards for cash back to pay the credit card bill.

8) Also in 1950, Sears Roebuck and Co. acknowledged a major spike in catalog sales and took the unusual move of devoting the cover of their Spring/Summer catalog to their "satisfaction guarantee." This was meant to allay the fear of customers uncomfortable with ordering by mail instead of buying in person. 74 years later, Amazon delivers more than 3 million packages every day. Would you rather check out a product yourself in a store, or do you prefer the convenience of ordering from home?
Since I no longer drive so can't get to stores to "shop" without a driver, I order everything from home.

9) Random question -- You're singing along with the car radio to your favorite song when you reach your destination. Do you wait until your song is over to get out of the car?
Definitely wait until the song is over.  

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PHOTO OF  THE DAY


what the curls in the back of my head
look like after washing.


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Saturday 9

  Welcome to Saturday: 9. What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will h...