Yum

 Ned is the caregiver for a building that is owned by the volunteer fire department.  We went there a month or so ago when they had a pancake breakfast.  Today was a flea market and Ned suggested Walt and I come out and have lunch, because his friend Jon (one of the volunteers) was selling bbq tri tip sandwiches.

It's a beautiful day and as we drove out, I took out my cell phone to continue to read the book I am almost finished with and then thought how silly it was to be reading when I almost never get a chance to see the area around Davis these days and I should just look at the scenery.  And it was beautiful.  I look at all the trees and am reminded that my mother often commented on how many shades of green there are.  It's true.  Look at a bunch of trees and see how many colors you can see.  

There were beautiful fields of what look like mustard--bright yellow.  And as we got near the fire department building, there were beautiful pink roses in a long line.  It was a gorgeous drive and I'm glad I enjoyed it instead of reading.

We went out in two cars, because Ned was going to have to stay and get things cleaned up.  He got me out of the car and to a table while Walt parked the car.  Ned went and got sandwiches for us to have.  They were delicious.  Mine came with lots of onions, Walt's did not have onions.

I  talked with a nice guy about the flea market (his first time there...he said he's been seeing the signs and finally decided to check it out).  I asked if he was from Davis and he said he was from Woodland and talked about problems with the city of Woodland.  I mentioned that I really only go there for the theater (the Woodland Opera House is wonderful).

He said he's often thought about going to a production at the opera house and I told him I had been a theater critic and recommended that he try out a production.  I hope he does.

We came home in time for me to take my nap (I slept 2 hours) and as I write this it is 6 p.m.  We agreed that we just wanted to snack for dinner.  Ned has warmed up the leftover quiche he made earlier this week and as I think of it, I realize that there is no way I want anything to eat.  I'm still full from lunch.

But it sure was a delicious lunch.

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PHOTO OF  THE DAY

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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 "How Far Will You Go?"

1.    What's the best thing to inherit other than money
I've only inherited money (3 times--my godmother and both parents), but I guess it would be good to inherit jewelry, even though I never wear any jewelry.  Or maybe someone's books?  Now THAT would be fun.

2.    What one  thing would you most like to happen tomorrow?
the former president would be convicted of something...anything!

3.    Who is the person with whom you've been most infatuated?
I have been a Judy Garland fan ever since I saw A Star Is Born in 1953.  I have been to several of her concerts, met her once, and have pretty much every book ever written about her.  I can remember vividly when my mother called me to tell me of her death.

4.    In what part of the day does time go slowest and fastest?
The morning probably goes the slowest, though that doesn't bother me.  It feels like lunchtime when it's only 11.  And I'm always surprised when it's dinner time because I think it's 3 in the afternoon (and it's 6), the hours have passed so quickly

5.    Whose thoughts would you most like to read?
Oh wouldn't it be fun to read our dog's thoughts.  He is so particular that I know his thoughts would be very interesting to read.

6.    Who is the person you'd least like to touch?
See #2.

7.    What is the best quality you inherited from your parents?
I think I inherited my father's humor.  I probably inherited my mother's ability to be calm in crises. 

8.    Who is the friend you most often disagree with?
There is a woman I used to live with when we were in college.  We were in each other's weddings, and are godparents to our children.  We are still friends, 60 years later, but we can't talk politics or religion because are diametrically opposed.

9.    What's the best ritual of your daily life?
I think I like best the morning writing -- which post cards I'm supposed to write, letters to answer, doing Saturday 9 and Sunday Stealing on the weekends.

10.    What is the most useful job you've ever had?
I worked as a medical transcriptionist for 12 years and loved it.  I'm sure it was "useful" in the things I learned and the friends I made.

11.    In which year of your life did you change the most?
4/26/66...the day our first child was born.

12.    What's the best thing you've ever gotten for free?
Does received as a gift count?  That would be my first digital camera.

13,    What is the thing you are best at?
Writing.

14.    What was the luckiest moment in your life?
The day I read a newsletter that asked for volunteers to help put together the history of a theater group in San Francisco.  It changed my life!

15.    What is the single most important thing you have ever learned?
You can survive grief but there is a reason why they call it grief WORK.  It takes a long time, but you do eventually survive.

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PHOTO OF  THE DAY

Jeri and her birthday gifts

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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 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: Stay (I Missed You) 1994

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

1) In this week's song, a woman is accused of only hearing what she wants to. "Selective listening" is when you choose to focus on what's important to you and ignore what isn't. Are you often, sometimes, or never guilty of selective listening?
Probably sometimes.

2) She turns the radio up when she hears her favorite song. What song have you recently sung along to?
I don't think I've sung any song in years.  For some reason, though I was in choirs my whole life, suddenly I can't sing any more.  I have a vocal range of about 5 notes, if that.  But I can sing in my head!

3) This week's featured artist, Lisa Loeb, has always been a big reader. Her band was called Nine Stories as a tribute to her favorite author, JD Salinger. If you were to name a band to honor your favorite author, what would you call it, and why?
Frozen Lettuce.  I'm a huge Steinbeck fan....Lettuce is a big plot twist in my favorite book, "East of Eden"

4) This week's song is her first and biggest hit. "Stay" was on the soundtrack of Reality Bites, a movie starring her friend and one-time neighbor Ethan Hawke. Ethan gave this song to the film's director, Ben Stiller, who agreed it was perfect for the film's closing credits. When you watch a movie, do you stick around for the closing credits?
On TV, no.  In the theater, yes.  Not sure why!  Walt loves the credits.

5) In the 1990s, Lisa was popular for her style and appeared on many magazine covers, causing People magazine to comment, "Though she rose to fame as a singer, she's probably just as well known for her glasses." Do you wear glasses? If yes, do you consider your eyewear purely functional, there to improve your sight, or are your glasses an extension of your personal style?
I've worn glasses since I was 10.  I have to put my glasses in the same place every night because I can't see well enough to find them if I put them somewhere different.  I wear trifocals and definitely wear them to improve my sight.

6) Today Lisa does a show on Sirius Radio, and she enjoys broadcasting while her favorite collaborator, her cat, sits on her shoulder. Is there a pet in the room with you as you answer these questions?
No.  Our dog is a lap dog and when I sit at my desk, I don't have a lap so he never comes in here when I'm working on my computer.

7) Lisa raises funds for SCOPE, a charity that helps children from low-income families attend summer camp. When you were a kid, did you go to camp?
No.  I desperately wanted to go to camp, but my parents couldn't afford it.

8) In 1994, when this song was popular, the nation's attention was riveted to a white Bronco driven by a man named Al Cowlings. Without looking it up, can you recall why this was newsworthy?
LOL. Not only can I recall why this was newsworthy, I watched that white Bronco until it finally stopped.  

9) Random question: Can you do a cartwheel?
I can't stand up without a walker and definitely can't do a cartwheel.  Even when I was normal weight, I was never able to do a cartwheel.

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PHOTO OF  THE DAY

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Strange day

Tomorrow is Jeri's birthday and we had a cake sent to her, which she got yesterday.  It came in a box filled with butterflies which flew out when she opened the box (Photo of the Day).  It was fun.

I spent most of the morning glued to the TV, listening to the arguments before the Supreme Court re presidential immunity.  They now have to decide what they are going to do.  I'm sure what they going to be aware of in making a decision is that not only will it affect all the court casts he is currently going through, but should he be elected, it will affect how he governs for the next 4 years. Imagine if they officially give him immunity...what he could do...

Not only was I "watching" the Supreme Court, but on my TV screen on the right in a column was reports coming from Trump's trial in New York, and then I got a headline about Trump losing his appeal for a new trial in the E, Jean Carroll case and that he must pay the $83 million. This is the man people want back in the White House???

In the late morning, I had a dental appointment. I used to really enjoy going to the dentist because I got to visit Cindy (my long time friend) and my hygienist and I had been together for many years. Now Cindy has retired, everybody in the office wears masks so I don't have a clue who is talking to me, there are no name tags so you can't even check to see who should be working on you. The exam is different. The new dentist spent lots of money installing TV sets for people to watch while they are working on them, but I've never seen any of them working--and the one time they tried for me, it can't go high enough so that I can actually see it. Now they want you to pay at the time of your visit, so I had to tell Walt to come into the office when he came to get me because Ned has my credit card.

The exam went well but they put fluoride on my teeth, which means nothing hot for 6 hours (so I couldn't go home and finish my coffee!) and hours later, the taste is still in my mouth.

I turned on the TV to watch so I could nap, but there was no sound...a problem we are having periodically. So I turned off the TV and read for awhile, then turned the TV on again and there was sound, so I was able to put on Criminal Minds and fall asleep. I slept for nearly 3 hours!

Ned has a meeting, but he is making quiche for us to have for dinner and while he's gone, I will watch the MSNBC report on the Supreme Court hearing today before watching Young Sheldon.

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PHOTO OF  THE DAY

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very sad

There are days when I feel very old...and very sad. Today is one of those days.  I just heard from the husband of a friend, who says that she is "living with some lost memory and time functionality due to strokes."  We are the same age and we worked on two big projects together for many years.  We used to stay in touch more often, but then her kids started giving her grandchildren and she became a care giver and didn't have as much time to stay in touch, so it's been awhile since I've heard from her.  I was surprised that she didn't mention that I sent her birthday greetings, which I always do.  Now I know why.  She probably never saw them.

I can't believe how sad this makes me.  She's an amazingly intelligent person and it hurts to think of her with memory loss. 

Then I heard on the news about someone famous who died.  He was 81.  I am feeling very old.

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PHOTO OF  THE DAY

Our new puzzle came
with a stand for the box

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"The Trial"

 It's 10:30 a.m. and this is the first time I've sat down at my computer.  I have been watching coverage of day #2 of the Trump trial.  The one thing you learn watching all the coverage is just what a terrible crook he is and how he never gets punished for all the terrible things he has done.  They keep finding ways to get him out of things that his "friends" have been spending years in jail for.  Good lord, please don't let the Supreme Court grant him presidential immunity!

I feel sorry for the reporters, who pretty much have to cover the trial 24/7 but who have nothing to say.  Jon Stewart had a great bit last night about the reports of the trial that is pretty funny.

As I was watching The Daily Show last night, seeing Stewart's interview with Salman Rushdie made me realize how much I've missed him and what a great interviewer he is.  I encourage people to watch it.  It's worthwhile.  Rushdie has written a book called "Knife," which is about the stabbing attack that nearly killed him.

Stewart isn't on "daily" any more, but just one night a week...but that's definitely worthwhile.  Monday night is my favorite... Rachel Maddow, followed by Jon Stewart!

Something I never thought I'd see...a New York Times article on what the Secret Service will do if Trump is put in prison.

Protecting Mr. Trump in a prison environment would involve keeping him separate from other inmates, as well as screening his food and other personal items, officials said. If he were to be imprisoned, a detail of agents would work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, rotating in and out of the facility, several officials said. While firearms are obviously strictly prohibited in prisons, the agents would nonetheless be armed.

I wonder how this would all change if he is put in prison AND re-elected.  Does he govern from prison? Does he pardon himself?  Boy....the founding fathers never thought of THIS.

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PHOTO OF  THE DAY

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Food

 Ned is such an amazing person.  He and Marta went out for dinner at a friend's house the other night, but he cooked dinner for Walt and me first.  I was so touched that he did that.

Saturday night we had sushi for dinner, as we always do on the anniversary of Paul's death.

Next month we'll be having Kraft dinner to commemorate David's death....then we are home free to eat whatever we want to.

I've been doing a ton of writing,  I have been fortunate to have received a lot of pen pal letters and am having such a good time answering them.  One of them, from England, was eighteen pages long!  By far the longest letter I have received.  This was a first letter from her.  I wonder if all her subsequent letters will be this long.

I also discovered that while I have a ton of forever stamps I am out of postcard stamps.  Many of the swaps I do on SwapBot and of course messages I send on Postcrossing are on postcards and I had no idea that I didn't have a backlog of postcard stamps.  I had to have my credit card replaced recently and so I have no credit card, so had to order post card stamps through our joint credit card.  Of course, I recently put $40,000 into that account, so I guess a $12 order of stamps isn't all that bad!

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PHOTO OF  THE DAY

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25 years

So the 20th was the 25th anniversary of Paul's death.  My lord...can it possibly be 25 years?  Next month it will be 28 years for David.  David has been dead longer than he was alive, Paul almost so.  

They have been gone so long that I almost forgot today was Paul's anniversary, but I eventually put on my smiley face earrings and we plan to have sushi for dinner.

Paul would be happy...sort of.  After David died, he explained that we never talked about my sister Karen (who died in 1971) and that he wanted to be sure that nobody forgets David, so he did a whole show about David and wrote a song about him.  Since both kids have been dead, we have discussed them all the time.  There will be a Paul picnic in a few weeks, hosted by his best friend.  Lawsuit music is frequently played on Ned's radio show. Both are on Facebook all the time and while the family is alive, there is little chance that either of them will be "forgotten" like Paul felt Karen was. 

(I used to call my mother every year on the anniversary of Karen's death and I forget how many years it was after her death when my mother forgot what the date was.)

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PHOTO OF  THE DAY

this is a display Lacie made
about different ingredients in cookies

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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 "How Far Will You Go?"

1.    What was the best toy you ever owned?
I can't remember any toys, other than dolls and I don't think I'd call one of my dolls "the best toy I ever owned."  When I was 10 I got a camera for Christmas and that became the best gift I ever received as a child, but it's not exactly a "toy."

2.    When in your life have you felt the loneliest?
The year after my good friend died.  Everybody missed him, but it was deeper for me.  I spent the year reading every book I could about death, dying, and grief.

3.    What is your strongest emotion?
Compassion

4.    When were you the most disappointed in yourself?
When I was fired from a typing company.

5.    Which law would you most like to change?
I'd like Roe v. Wade back...not necessarily for abortion but for women's health, which is in severe danger because of the rules about abortion.

6.    Who is the person you have hated the most in your lifetime?
Well.,. he's currently on trial in New York and also running for president.

7.    What has disappointed you the most?
Friendships I thought were special, that turned out to be hurtful.

8.    What's the best possible attitude toward death?
Acceptance.  Hoping to die in my sleep.  Hoping not to live to 100.

9.    What's been the longest day in your life?
The day David died (5/18/96).  We were in New York and had to fly home.  It was horrible.  Also, the day Paul died (4/20/99), when we got home from the ER and I couldn't sleep for a day or two.

10.  What is the biggest coincidence in your life?
Well, it's much too long to describe in detail, but in short, we were planning for the arrival of a girl from Brasil, to stay with us for a year and our neighbor was also expecting a girl from Brasil.  We felt the two girls could be friends...and then realized we were both expecting the same girl.

11.  What's the oldest you'd like to live?
Probably in my early 90s.  Definitely not 100.  (Kind of scary saying that at 81!)

12.    Who is the most amazing woman you know personally?
I always answered this question with a Davis woman, now dead.  So if I have to choose a new amazing woman it would be our former Mexican daughter, who now owns (and runs) a fabulous Mexican-Italian restaurant with her husband, and is learning to become a sommelier.  She has been amazing ever since she graduated from college.  I follow her amazing career on Facebook.

13.    What was your best experience in school?
I loved taking typing, becoming friends with my teacher, becoming her assistant for a year...and then having her remain my good friend for the rest of her life (our daughter is named for her)

14.    What's the most meaningful compliment you've ever received?
I've loved all the compliments on my theater reviews, especially now when I'm no longer doing them and people (including the former entertainment editor) tell me they miss my reviews and don't like the new critic as much.

15.    What is the most you've spent on something really stupid?
Oh good lord...I spend entirely too much on really stupid things.

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PHOTO OF  THE DAY

Relaxing squirrel

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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 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 is today's questions!

Saturday 9: Only Love Can Hurt Like This (2014)

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

1) In this week's song, Paloma Faith sings that she thought she wouldn't care if her lover left but now she's begging him to stay. Can you think of something you were surprised you missed when it was gone or over?
There are many things I miss when they are gone or over.  I'm never surprised.

2) Paloma obviously has a powerful, versatile voice. She's also a trained dancer. Tell us about two things you do well.

I'm a good writer.  I think I do a good job with Sunday Stealing.

3) She was a judge on two British TV shows: The Voice and The Voice Kids. Do you watch competition shows (The Voice, American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, etc.)? If so, are you any good at picking the winners?
I don't watch any of those any more.  I have watched American Idol and Dancing with the Stars, but not for years.

4) This week's song was written by Diane Warren. She's one of America's most successful song writers, having written more than thirty Top 10 hits. Think of your favorite song. Do you know who wrote it?

I think my current favorite may be "For Good" by Stephen Schwartz, from Wicked, the Musical.

6) In 2014, when "Only Love Can Hurt Like This" was popular, Joan Rivers died. Best known as a comedienne, she was also a successful businesswoman, promoting her jewelry line on QVC. Do you ever watch shopping networks?
Never

7) The Apple Watch was introduced in 2014. Are you wearing a watch as you answer these 9 questions?
I haven't worn a watch in years.

8) One of the best-selling books of 2014 was The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. It won awards for best YA (young adult) fiction. Is YA a genre you often read?
I have read the occasional YA book.  I read Green's book for example.

9) Random question: What's something on your to-do list that you just can't get around to doing?
Usually folding laundry.

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PHOTO OF  THE DAY

Lacie's last open house before she
moves to junior high.

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Sunday Stealing

 

Stolen from "How Far Will You Go"

1.    What have you been the most ignorant about in your life?
Always math.  I also don't know much history or politics.

2.    What in the world would you most like to see protected?
Endangered species (particularly elephants), the climate, and Democracy

3.    How do you waste  the biggest chunk of time each day or week?
It's a toss up between being on the computer and watching TV

4.    Who is the scariest person you've ever known?
He's running to be re-elected president.  (And I don't mean Biden)

5.    What was  the job you enjoyed the least?
The very first job I had in grammar school was washing test tubes in a medical laboratory.  I hated that job!

6.    What thing about your family are you the most proud of?
Our kids have grown up to be wonderful adults, we are friends with all of them, and they are friends to each other.

7.    What kind of power do you want most?
I'm too quiet and embarrassed to use "power."

8.    What's the best piece of advice you ever received?   
Someone suggested a home where I could have my mother, when it was not working out in the facility where she was living.  It was absolutely THE best suggestion I received and was a perfect home for her.

9.    What's the  thing you  know the most about?
I know a lot about Gilbert & Sullivan and The Lamplighters in San Francisco
I know a lot about breastfeeding
I know a lot about Judy Garland
I know a lot about TV shows like Monk and Criminal Minds

10.    When were you most moved by a ceremony?
Most recently, it was Rosalind Carter's funeral.  

11.    What is the best gift you ever gave to someone?
A friend had quit drinking and had lost his high paying job and was living in his brother's garage.  As the holidays approached, I knew that Christmas was going to be a hard time for him, so I made him an Advent box.  There was a gift and a letter for each day of the month of December, ending with a "good" Christmas present.  He told me years later that it was the thing that got him through the holiday.

12.    What is the cruelest thing you've ever suffered?
Being ghosted by someone I thought was a good friend.

13.    What's the single nastiest thing you've ever done to someone?
Don't ever piss off a writer.  An actor who worked for a theater company that I wrote a book about treated me terribly.  The book I wrote about the theater company was absolutely 100% true, but I printed bad reviews he had received and overlooked a lot of the good he had done. I printed the praise for the actor who shared a role with him (who was only in one show).

14.    What problem do you think is most common among friends your age?
Aches and pains, loneliness, concerns about dementia, inability to take care of ourselves.

15.    What is the strongest craving you get?
bready things (pastries, donuts, fresh bread, nut breads, etc.)
girl talk

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PHOTO OF  THE DAY

Cutting Bubba's nails.

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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 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: She'd Rather Be with Me (1967)

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

1) In this week's song we learn that this particular girl would rather be spending time with her lover. Instead of answering these 9 questions, what would you rather be doing?
Answering letters.

2) Lead singer Howard Kaylan was a very good student. First he won a Bank of America Fine Arts Award, then he was the valedictorian of his graduating class, and was awarded a scholarship to UCLA. Tell us about something that distinguished your high school career.
I was the yearbook editor and had one of the leads in the senior class play.

3) Howard Kaylan formed this week's group, The Turtles, with Mark Volman. They met while performing in their high school choir and continued working together for 55 years. Are you still in touch with old friends from high school?
I kept in touch with 3 friends, one of whom died two years ago.  The other two I still hear from at Christmas and one of them I had lunch with about 10 years ago.

4) First Daughter Tricia Nixon was a big Turtles fan and brought them to the White House to perform for a private party. They almost didn't go. When the engraved invitation came, tied with ribbon, the boys thought it was an elaborate practical joke. Have you ever successfully pulled off a practical joke?
I don't like practical joke, but the year I was learning cake decorating, Walt doesn't like cake, so I made him a pie and then decorated a cake pan.  When he tried to "cut the cake" he was surprised there was no actual cake there and was happy to have a pie.

5) The Turtles' bass player was Chip Douglas. He left the band in 1967 to produce The Monkees. It's Chip that Davy Jones refers to at the beginning of "Daydream Believer" ("What number is this Chip?" "7A!"). What's your favorite Monkees song?
Like most other bands, I am not familiar with the Monkees songs.

6) The Turtles broke up in 1970. Pressure from their record label to do more and do it cheaper was just too much of a hassle. But Howard and Mark continued to work together, renaming themselves Flo and Eddie. They sang backup on records by Frank Zappa, Alice Cooper and Bruce Springsteen and on children's TV shows like The Care Bears. Backup work provided less money but more fun. Given the choice, would you rather do a job that paid well that you didn't enjoy, or a job you liked that earned you a smaller paycheck?
Since my income was secondary to my husband's, when we were working, I much preferred a job that I liked that earned me a smaller paycheck.

7) In 1967, when this song was popular, the RMS Queen Mary was retired after 31 years of service. Now docked in Long Beach, the ship has been refurbished with state-of-the-art wifi, satellite hookups, and projection screens and is a popular choice for conventions and annual business meetings. When were you most recently on a boat or ship?
We have been on several cruises, the last of which was up the Mediterranean in 2015.

8) Also in 1967, Elvis married Priscilla. You don't need last names to know who we're talking about, do you? Can you think of another couple with whom the world is on a first-name basis?
William and Kate

9) Random question: If your phone were to ring right now, who do you think would be calling?
The only person who ever calls me is our daughter.

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PHOTO OF  THE DAY

Jeri and the band she's playing in for
The Drowsy Chaperone

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Postcrossing

 

This postcard was sent to me by a Postcrossing partner from San Francisco.  It's one of the most fun postcards I've received.  There is a wide variety of postcards you get from Postcrossing.  This one from Germany was definitely not "fun,:

I am enjoying Postcrossing now that I have sent more  than 24 cards and can have 8 cards in the mail at all times.  I love trying to find the perfect card for the person I'm supposed to be sending to, like this one...

...sent to a partner who loves steam trains.  I was able to write about how my father worked on this kind of train for 30 years, when he was a railway mail clerk. If nobody has a particular like that I can match with a postcard, I send this card, that I had made, to give them a feel for Davis.  I always wondered why UCD didn't have postcards made of the eggheads and I've thought that for so many decades that I finally discovered it would be cheap to have my own postcards made, so I did.  It's one of my favorite cards!

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PHOTO OF  THE DAY

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Amy Schneider

 Amy Schneider is the woman who has won the most games on Jeopardy.  During the recent weeks of invitational contests, she has been called back a couple of times and, except for the very last game she played, she always wins.  Watching her play is like watching Ken Jennings when he was winning his 70+ games.  I've always enjoyed watching her.

The other thing about Amy is that she is trans.  She speaks of her wife and she has mentioned, in passing, her transition.  Her sexual identity has been a huge bone of contention on Facebook discussion groups, with some people insisting she's not a woman; she's a man, and refusing to call her "Amy" but call her by the name she was given when she was born.

I saw recently that she has written a book. "In the Form of a Question: The Joys and Rewards of a Curious Life" and I was curious to read it.

I don't normally buy "full price" Kindle books on Amazon, but I was so interested in Amy and her life that I gave in and bought it and started reading it.

It is so very boring!  You'd think that someone so intelligent with such an interesting life would write an interesting book, but she hasn't.  I haven't finished it yet, but there are whole chapters I would have left out.  I did read her chapter on all of her favorite teachers, from grammar school to college.  Each teacher is given a very long description that I didn't care about.  And I skipped the long chapter on tarot.  Even her chapter on her first sexual encounter was boring.  She did get me to check out the animated TV show, Daria, which is her favorite show.  It's as boring as her book and her chapter goes into great detail about the show, the characters, and what happens in the show.

When I was midway through the book, I went to GoodReads to see what others had written about the book and most of the reviews agreed with me.  One woman said she didn't realize that a book about someone she liked could make her like that person less.  

*****

I finished the book and can't quite look at her the same way, having read about all the drugs she takes and her polyamory life, how she can't stand having sex with just one person (apparently her wife feels the same way).  While she talks about Jeopardy, it's a very small part of the book and I was disappointed by that too.

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PHOTO OF  THE DAY

Hard to believe she's 16

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Eclipse

What a great day...Ned is making cheesecake, so we can have strawberry cheesecake.  He's making a much fancier cheesecake than I ever make.

It was a great night too.  I couldn't stay awake longer than 10 p.m. and was uneasy going to sleep that early, figuring I'd only sleep an hour, but I slept until nearly 3, got up, did Wordle (5 today) and posted my 1.5 second video, then turned on Morning Joe and fell asleep, waking at 7, so I got nearly 8 hours of sleep.  Then I fell asleep during the news and woke up an hour into The Today Show. I hesitate to say that I'm sleeping better these days (which I am) because whenever I write that, I end up having insomnia at night.

It's been fun looking at all the eclipse reports.  We didn't get much of the eclipse here in California, of course, but we did get some.  Char posted this as her new profile picture.  She said she didn't see much but did see some.  Both Walt and Ned mentioned that they thought that the light outside dimmed a little bit.  But of course, I didn't see anything because I was in the MRI machine.

Char's daughter, Tavie, posted some great pictures from where she was in Texas.

I made a travel ATC for a Swap Bot swap this afternoon, while listening to Ned's show.  I'm really quite pleased with it.  I was going to make something with the Eiffel Tower and in the end didn't use that at all.

LATER:  Cheesecake was delicious!

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PHOTO OF  THE DAY

Walt's sister and her husband in Texas
waiting for the eclipse.

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Can't eat, can't drink, can't see, can't hear

 Today I had an MRI as a follow up to my gallbladder surgery last year and to see if I need another colonoscopy.  You have to fast for at least 5 hours beforehand, so I didn't have anything after about 10 p.m., when I had a mandarin orange.  It wasn't as difficult to skip coffee in the morning, but I sure wanted water badly.

We started for Kaiser around 10 and stopped first at the hall that Ned takes care of.  He wanted  to check and see if there were any mice in the traps that he set. He traps mice live and then takes them across the road to the field and releases them.  A few mice have died in the traps and he felt so bad about that he's been studying what mice eat and drink, so he can set the traps up so that they can live there for a few days if he doesn't check the traps every day.  I have to admit I was so pleased hearing him talk about the mice and how he doesn't want to kill them.  I thought "somewhere I did something right!"  

The drive out to Kaiser was beautiful.  Everything looked so green and the orchards were so impressive.  I know it's because I almost never go out into the country and it probably doesn't look any different from what I've always seen it, but it just looked so beautiful today--and the weather was perfect.  

You can't bring anything metal into the room with the MRI, so I left my hearing aids at home, which meant I couldn't hear anything people were saying to me and had to keep reminding them that they needed to speak louder.  I did keep my glasses, but took them off when they took me to the dressing room and put them in my purse, which I gave to Walt to keep for me.  So that meant I couldn't see and I couldn't hear.

I'm also too big for the MRI machine...or almost too big.  They did manage to get me set up and I was able to be slid into the tube, but it was very, very tight.  I am slightly claustrophobic, but I kept my eyes closed so I couldn't see how close I was to the top of the tube.  It was 20 minutes of banging and other sounds, with the table moving in and out.  Each time they started to move it out, I was afraid I would get caught and not be able to be pulled out. But it was finally over and then I had to figure out how to let the guy help me to sit up...my body was very sore.  I had to find my way out to the waiting room without glasses, which was interesting, since I couldn't read the signs.

It's done and we'll see what my doctor has to say and whether I need another colonoscopy or not.  When Ned picked me up he had a bottle of water in the car and I was thrilled to have water to drink

We drove home and stopped at the strawberry stand where they pick strawberries every day, which just recently opened for the season...their strawberries are so much better than what you get in the stores.  So we have strawberries and Marta might be making a strawberry cheesecake.  Ned also bought tomatoes, which taste like tomatoes, not like whatever those red things in the supermarket taste like.  One of my favorite sandwiches is a tomato sandwich -- soft white bread, mayonnaise and sliced tomatoes, so I had a tomato sandwich and a bowl of strawberries...and lots of water...for lunch.

Walt and I settled in and watched the news coverage of the eclipse, since we were at Kaiser and couldn't watch it live.  His sister and her husband went to Texas to see it, and Jeri said that there was 95% totality eclipse in Boston, which she was able to see.

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PHOTO OF  THE DAY

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Thinking of people

I saw these today and it made me very sad.

For so many years, my friend Ann MacNab (co-founder of The Lamplighters) and I had potatoes as a joke between us.  I found all sorts of potato things to send to her (including finding a site that would send her a real potato, with her address on it).  I sent her a potato radio once.  I can't remember the other things I found out about potatoes that I would send to her.

So here are these great things to send to Ann, but she has been dead for many years.

As my mother got older and especially as her dementia increased, finding things to give her as a gift was always difficult, but she always loved flowers and finding flowery things to give her was always good.  Suddenly now there are all sorts of great flower gifts that you can give...cards that fold out to become full floral arrangements that are so beautiful.  Every time I see one of those ads, it makes me sad because any one of them would have been a perfect gift for my mother.

And of course it always makes me sad to see perfect smiley face things that would have been good to give to Paul.

I'm thinking a lot about some people these days.  Every morning when I pour myself a bowl of cereal, I think of Gilbert because I took his silverware after he died and always use one of his spoons.

I think of Sister Anne, my typing teacher and lifelong friend, every time I get a letter ready to go into an envelope, remembering how she taught me how to fold an 8-1/2"x11" piece of paper in thirds.

I think of Peggy whenever I fold socks because she taught me a better way to fold socks.  (Fortunately I almost never fold socks any more)

I think of Paul whenever I open a can.  He bought me a can opener shortly before he died.  It's a terrible can opener and he apologized, after it was installed and he tried to use it, that it was such a bad can opener.  He's been dead over 20 years and it's still a terrible can opener, but I just can't bring myself to replace it because he gave it to me.  Instead we use a hand can opener.

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PHOTO OF  THE DAY

Saw  this on Facebook.
I just loved it!!!

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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 Tuesday 4.

1.  Name a TV series show or shows in which you have seen every episode at least twice:
Criminal Minds, NCIS, Monk, the Dick Van Dyke Show, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, MASH, Star Trek (TOS), and many more.

2.  Name a show or shows you can't or would not miss:
Jeopardy, Chicago MD, Survivor, Amazing Race, Finding Your Roots, and many more

3.  Name an actor or actors that would make you more inclined to watch a show:
Tony Shaloub, Carol Burnett, Jane Lynch, Eugene Levy

4.  Name an actor or actors who would make you less likely to watch a show:  
Roseanne

5. You're having a lovely dinner party for friends and family.  What will you serve for appetizers, main course and dessert?
I'll make a Chinese dinner, with won ton and eggs rolls for appetizers, chow mein, fried rice, lemon chicken and broccoli beef for main course and since there are really no Chinese recipes for dessert, I'll serve something like ice cream and cookies.

6. Snow storm!    You've got house guests and you're all stuck inside for the night. What do you prepare for dinner.  Will you watch a movie? Which?
Probably make a big batch of mac 'n' cheese with a salad.  It would be nice to watch a movie, but I'd have to take everyone's tastes into account.

7. We are going into New York City for the weekend. Where do you want to go?
We've been to NYC several times and have seen most of the tourist spots.  It's not one of my favorite cities.  I mostly want to go to a few Broadway shows.

8. You are going to night school.  They offer courses in writing short stories, painting, piano  or guitar lessons, simple home repairs, baking, and gardening. Which do you pick  (or make up one of your own)  and why?
When I went to night school I learned Chinese cooking (from Martin Yan) and cake decorating.  Best classes I ever took!

9.   Ever been to a Drive In Theater? Would you like to see Drive In Theaters make a come back? 
We used to go frequently when I was a kid and I think we took our kids once or twice.  Not eager to see them come back...now you can see so much on TV you don't need drive-ins

10.  Should towns provide community entertainment like bands in the park, fireworks on the 4th, community picnics or is the cost just too much?
Our town provides all of these things and I'm very pleased that it does.

11.  What would you change about your town if you had the power?
I would change the parking rules downtown (you can't park in the same BLOCK for more than 2 hours but must move your car to a new block)

12.   How often do you find yourself shopping for groceries?
Never.  My son took over doing all the shopping a couple of years ago and I am happy to let him do it, though I no longer have a clue what anything costs any more! (I was shocked when Walt told me yesterday that bread is now $6/loaf)

13. Do you have a favorite night time snack?
Mandarin oranges.

14,  Do you buy in bulk and what kinds of tips do you have to save money on grocery shopping?
When we were raising our kids, we always bought in bulk, but now we rarely buy anything in bulk (except canned pineapple!).  Since I no longer shop, I can't remember how to save money on grocery shopping.

15. Let's have a picnic in the park.  What foods are we packing and will we cook anything there or is it all prepared ahead of time?
Everything prepared ahead of time.  Stuffed eggs, fried chicken, potato salad, fresh fruit, and cookies for dessert.

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PHOTO OF  THE DAY

Letters I'm answering this week.

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