Bellaire Market

I went looking for the Photo of the Day so I could talk about the Bellaire Market.  I wonder what people do who have thousands of photos on their hard drive,  I know you can copy them so you don't lose them, but how do you SORT them.  I spent an hour looking through just one file for the photo of the day.  I didn't find it, but I had such a good time looking at the pictures. So many photos I'd forgotten about, so many people now gone, so many events I cant remember.  It's a shame that we have photos that we can look at but that are difficult to share with anybody else!

After I finished looking through that file, tried to find a copy of a letter I knew I sent that included the photo.  I finally found it and when I went to save it, discovered it was in the file where I keep all the Funny the World photos.  Owell...I did have a good time looking at all those photos.

I've been thinking about the Bellaire Market. We lived on a hill and at the top of the hill was the market.  It was a small market owned by Angelo and Angelina.  There were fruits and vegetables outside the door, and when you entered, to the left was the counter where you paid for your groceries.  There were penny chocolates for sale there and I have to confess that I did steal a few of them over the years.  To the right was the butcher block, where Angelo would  cut the meat that you wanted.

Ahead were three aisles of groceries and the aisle on the right had a small room off of it where Angelina could cook.  I was often invited to come into the kitchen and have a snack.

There was a big basement and at some time the cat that lived in the grocery store had kittens and Karen and I each got to play with the kittens and choose which one was "ours."  Sadly, mine got caught in a machine and was killed. I don't know what happened the the rest of them.

The thing that was strange about this grocery store is that my father could give me money and send me to the store and Angelo would give me cigarettes or alcohol.  Certainly couldn't give cigarettes or alcohol to a grammar school kid today!

My very first experience with death happened at the Bellaire Market.  We were driving home from church one day and saw a black wreath on the door of the market. Angelina had died.

I don't remember much about the store after Angelina died.  I know when Angelo finally retired, his son took over.  It's no longer a market, but I don't know what it is now.

I have to admit that I have very warm feelings about the Bellaire Market and all the things that I remember about it (though I do feel somewhat guilty about all the chocolates I stole!)

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PHOTO OF THE DAY

8519

Crafty

 My new "thing" is crafting.  I'm having such a good time making "envelopes" out of 3x5 cards and trying to figure out how to decorate them.  

I'm also making collages on plain 3x5 cards

I am so not artistic, but somehow these 3x5 cards are calling to me.  

In thinking about projects to make, I started clearing off my desk (a full day job right there) and went through every piece of paper, picture, etc. on the desk.  Which was nice now that I know what's there, but I have nowhere to put all this stuff.  So it is now in 3 piles (which was pretty much what it was before I started) until I can get some boxes or bags so I can sort through it and have it organized, at least.

I have never done so much "crafty" stuff in my life but I'm excited about the things I'm finding and the ideas in my head for what to do with them!

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PHOTO OF THE DAY

Lester sleeping

8518

The 49ers

What a game it was yesterday.  I have to admit that if the Lions were playing anybody else but the 49ers, I would have been rooting for them.  But it was the 49ers and the winner would be going to the Superbowl.  Ned made clam dip for us to eat while watching the game.  It was such fun....the whole family was watching the game, us in Davis, Tom and family + Walt's sister and her husband in Santa Barbara, Walt's brother and his wife in Petaluma, and Jeri & Phil in Boston.  We spent the whole afternoon sending text messages, as first the 9ers had a terrible first half and ultimately won in the second half.  I decided to make a transcript of our text messages:

TOM:  (Before the game)

JERI:

BEV:    Harrumph

OLIVIA:  C'MON DEFENSE!!!  Have Faith!

BEV: (after the 9ers were down  2 touchdowns)  Still have faith?

OLIVIA:  Dwindling

BEV: (after the 9ers started bouncing back)  OK.  Your faith was rewarded.

OLIVIA:  Feeling better.

LACIE:  

OLIVIA:  WOO HOO!

ALICE NAN:  Still too close for me.  Can't relax

LACIE:  GOOO NINERS!!!!!!!

BEV:  This is like the last game

LACIE:  Yeah.

JERI:  

BEV:  You can't say 9er games are dull!

LACIE:  You sure can't.  WE'RE GOING TO THE SUPER BOWL!!!

JERI:  

OLIVIA: SUPERBOWL BABY!!!

LACIE:  

WOOOHOOO!!!

ALICE NAN:  Love these photos.  Vegas here we come.

( notice that none of the men participated in this exchange...they were too busy actually watching the GAME!)

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PHOTO OF THE DAY

8517 

Pathetic Grammar School kid

 In a recent entry, I talked about how I hated going out for recess, and wanted to just sit in a corner and read, but if the nuns made me put the book down, I would either try to play (I was the least popular game player), or go over to the wall of the church and clip pieces of the stone with a bobby pin.  I loved doing that.

And then there were bathroom breaks.  If I had a problem, I went to the bathroom.  There were six stalls in the girls' bathroom, 3 on each side.  "My" stall was the first one on the right as you entered and I gave a name to the toilet paper dispenser, and pretended it was "real" and I would tell all of my thoughts to it (I can't remember what I named it)

I think back, picturing me hiding in the bathroom stall, crying to the toilet paper dispenser, feeling that "he" could hear and understand me.

I'm so glad I was different by the time I got to high school!  I was completely comfortable, had friends, and was one of the "movers" of the school all four years.  I loved high school.

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PHOTO OF THE DAY

Finished the puzzle...

3 dog chewed pieces

(which seems appropriate for this puzzle!)

8516

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 Pinterest

1. What are your plans for February?
We'll have mac & cheese on the 4th, for David's birthday.  Walt will send chocolate to all the kids and their spouses for Valentine's day (and maybe Ned will pick up heart shaped pizzas for dinner).  I turn 81 on the 17th, Walt turns 84 on the 26th.  

2. Did you ever have or go to sleepovers as a kid?
Frequently!

3. Which books would you pick for a book binge?
Either the Outlander books, or the Myron Bolitar series by Harlan Coben.

4. What features do you love most about your home?
My office.  It's small and messy, but it's all mine.

5. How often do you try something new?
My first opinion is "not very often," but I've been watching YouTube videos this week about how to decorate 3x5 cards and having a great time making little envelopes out of them.

6. What type of sushi is your favorite?

I love anything with tuna.  We will be having sushi for dinner tomorrow and we always order something called "Lincoln Hills Roll," spicy tuna, shrimp tempura with avocado, topped with crab mix, tempura crunch, spicy mayo, terriyaki sauce.

7. Do you prefer to relax or go on adventures during vacation?
Definitely relax (Walt prefers to go on adventures)

8. Which colors look best on you?
Red--the bluish color, not the orange color.  I also wear a lot of blue.

9. Do you like brunch?

Love it!

10. Do you get stage fright?

Very definitely.

11. Which podcasts do you like at the moment?

I am enjoying Anderson Cooper's season 2 podcast about grief.  I also listen to reruns of "Says You" (the radio show), Kelly Ripa's "Let's Talk Off Camera," Inside Jeopardy, and "Naked Lunch."

12. One thing that immediately makes your day better
Waking up to the smell of brewing coffee.

13. Which family members are you closest to?
Walt and Ned, of course, who both live here.  Jeri and I also keep in close  touch, though she is in Boston, by text messages and phone calls.  I was very close to my mother and to two of my cousins, but they are all dead now.

14. Something you practice often

I can't think of anything I practice, unless writing this blog and lots and lots of letters can be called practicing writing.

15. Are you a light sleeper or a deep sleeper?
Oh lord...so very, very light!  If I get 3 hours of sleep in a row, that's a full night of sleep!

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PHOTO OF THE DAY

8515

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: Joanna (1983)

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

1) The subject of this week's song, Joanna, is described as someone who never lets you down and can always be counted upon. Who in your life is like that?
That would be my son, Ned, who (with his wife) lives with us and takes care of Walt and me.

2) Kool and the Gang vocalist James "J. T." Taylor sings that he will do his best to do what's right for her. Reflect on the last week. What did you devote special effort to?
I've been feeling crafty and have watched YouTube videos and working on my recent journal.  I also made this lovely postcard for a SwapBot swap

3) This video was filmed at the Colonial Diner in Lyndhurst, NJ. Still open 40 years later, the Colonial is known for their Boom Boom Shrimp, aka fried shrimp in sweet chili sauce. Think of your favorite local restaurant. What menu item would recommend?
Probably my favorite restaurant in Davis is Ding How, a Chinese restaurant and I love their prawns with honey walnut, though we recently had an eggplant with garlic dish there which was delicious.

4) Kool and the Gang's biggest hit was 1980's "Celebration," which is popular today with disc jockeys at wedding receptions. Are you likely to get up and dance at a wedding reception? Or would we find you enjoying the party from your seat?
I don't really like to dance.  Unless I have to, I will be enjoying the party from my seat.

5) Kool and the Gang are proud of their NJ roots. Group founder Robert Bell was given the nickname "Kool" by his Jersey City friends because he was so "laid back." Do you think your friends would describe you as "laid back?"
Definitely.

6) One of the Jersey City's biggest employers is Evergreen, a transportation and shipping company with offices in Evertrust Plaza, a high-rise near the waterfront. What is the tallest building you've ever been in? Were you there for business, or to enjoy the view?
I was at the top of the World Trade Center several years before it collapsed.  Definitely there for the view.

7) In 1983, when "Joanna" topped the charts, Vanessa Williams became the first African American to be crowned Miss America. Today, Miss America is still among the most popular televised pageants, along with Miss World and Miss Universe. Do you watch beauty pageants?
I did many years ago, but have not watched any beauty pageant in many, many years.  I remember watching a comedy movie about a beauty pageant where the "talent" of one contestant was packing a suitcase.

8) Also in 1983, superstars Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson joined forces for the #1 song, "Say, Say, Say." Each man began his career as part of a group but went on to have success on his own. Can you think of anyone else who started out in band or group but also scored as a solo artist?
Well, my son was the lead singer in a 10 piece band which was rather popular in California and in universities across the country.  When the band ended, in 1996, he went on to do solo performances doing monologues.  He was preparing his latest monologue when he died.

9) Random question: Have you more recently eaten bread sticks or carrot sticks? 
That would be bread sticks, but haven't had any in a very long time.

Recess

 I was very, very shy in grammar school.  Our school had essentially three playgrounds, one for the younger kids, one for the older girls (5th-8th grade) and one across the street for the 5th-8th grade boys.  We had nothing like swings or slides or hoops for basketball...just the ground. 

I always brought a book with me when it was time for recess and there was a box of some sort--probably covering some sort of machine, off in a corner, where I could sit and read while everyone else was playing.  Sometimes the nuns would make me get down and play.  

I was the kid they always chose last when picking a team and I was terrible at most of the games.

I was a year younger than everyone else, since I started kindergarten a year early (because my friend Stephen was starting kindergarten and the nuns agreed I could start with him, but would have to repeat kindergarten...and then I guess I was so good at coloring they let me move on to first grade after one year).  

When we started to mature, I remember being surrounded by girls at recess, each reaching under my blouse to see if I had breasts, which they all did, but I didn't because I was a year younger.  That still embarrasses me to think of it.

One of the things I loved doing -- and this is very weird.  Our playground backed up to the church and the bricks of the church were such that if I had a bobby pin I could pick at them and remove a small piece of the brick.  I did that a lot.  The nuns were happy I wasn't reading, and I was happy not having to play games with the other kids.

I was a weird kid in grammar school.  Fortunately, I was much better by the time I got to high school.

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PHOTO OF THE DAY

Church wall

8513

Sunday breakfast

We didn't have eggs very often when I was growing up.  We had cereal (cold or hot), pancakes, or French toast.  Eggs were "special" and we had a bacon and egg breakfast every Sunday after Mass.  (My friend's mother cooked sausage, which I loved, but my mother never made sausage, so I tried to spend nights with Madelyn so I could have sausages for breakfast!)

In addition to eggs (usually scrambled), we had English muffins, the only day we ever had English muffins.  They were cooked in the broiler and my job was to break them apart and butter them before putting in the broiler.  Now we have English muffins (and eggs!) more often, but the muffins are cooked in the toaster and buttered after they are toasted.

They never taste the same as the broiled English muffins of my childhood tasted.

My mother told me she loved biscuits and pork gravy when she was growing up and I had her make it for me.  I loved it...and she never made it for me again.

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PHOTO OF THE DAY

8512

Paying it Forward

Wendy Weetabix, who asks a lot of questions on Facebook, this morning asked, 'What’s a small act of kindness you were once shown that you’ll never forget?' I immediately thought of a time when Paul and I were in San Francisco, where he was rehearsing a show, and we were driving home and around 11 p.m., we got a flat tire. I'd never changed a tire before, but thought I knew how to do it, only when I got the car cranked up, it fell off the jack and there was nothing I could do...and the car was tilted, so we couldn't get in the car.

A car drove by and saw us trying to flag down help (there was NO highway patrol in the area at the time). The car got off at the next offramp and came back and picked us up. I was so incredibly nervous getting into a stranger's car, but didn't seem to have a choice.

The guy drove us to the next restaurant and asked if I had any money...I didn't...so he gave me money to buy Paul dinner and then drove off, refusing to leave me his name. His car didn't have a license so I couldn't check him out.

Every time I do something for a stranger I think about that guy and how he made our night.

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PHOTO OF THE DAY

8511

Memories

I got a letter from Jeri this week, sending me some stuff she had picked up for me when she was in New Orleans.  She was there for a jazz education conference.  "It was a tremendous honor because my friend is kind of famous in the jazz world and her band is phenomenal."  She then went on to talk about her jazz experiences in New Orleans,  and explained she never loved jazz as much as her grandfather did (it was his whole life!).  "I got to meet some people that grandpa had talked to me about, shared the stage with one of them.  He would be proud."

Her letter made me think of my father.  I don't often think kindly of my father, but the best part of my memories of him are of his music and how much he loved it.  He tried to drum jazz into me, but I never liked it either.  But I think of the things Jeri does in her life and her jazz experiences, and I think of the music Ned plays on his radio station and I wish he were here to experience it.  When the kids were growing up, he told me he could never bond with them because their music was so different from his and then on the last time we visited him he learned that Jeri could play piano with him, with Ned on guitar and Tom on drum and was amazed that they could actually share music.  I so wish he could see what they do now.  It would be something that I did (raising them) that he would be proud of.  He wasn't all that proud of me for much, but he'd definitely be proud of his grandkids.

At the same time, Facebook posted a picture of my mother the other day in one of those "X years ago" posts and I looked at her long and hard and realized how much I missed her.  I loved visiting with her and talking with her on the phone regularly.  I always called her on the anniversary of my sister's death, even after she no longer remember the date. But I loved just chatting with her about life.  I don't really have much opportunity to do that these days in a house where people are pretty quiet.

I'm nearly 81 years old and I'm missing my parents!

I rarely have any interaction with Tom and, of course, Ned lives here.  I love getting letters and phone calls (and visits) from Jeri.  I'm pretty sure I never told her about calling my mother on the anniversary of my sister's death, but she always calls on the anniversary of David's and Paul's deaths and she calls both Walt and me regularly.  She called me yesterday while she was cooking dinner and we had a nice facetime chat.  I love that phones have progressed to the point where you no longer have to pay for long distance and now your long distance calls can be with picture as well so it's the next best thing to being together in real life. 

I wonder what things will be like when Jeri is my age and having memories of communicating with me and with Walt.

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PHOTO OF THE DAY

Jeri and I having a phone chat.

8510

The 49ers

 

I've started watching football.

Oh I've watched football a lot, especially when I'm with Tom for a 49er game (wish I could find the photo of him and David, when they were still kids, sitting on the couch cheering for the game they were watching.  When the 9ers won the Superbowl that year, I bought 49er roses, which were red and gold, one for each kid...they are the only roses  we still have growing, thought they are just red now).

Then I started watching the end of games so I could send a congratulations or regret to Tom when the game ended, knowing how terrible things were going to be in Santa Barbara if the team had played a bad game.

As far as football goes, I always enjoy watching it with someone (especially Tom) but Walt usually watches the games upstairs and I just never think to turn it on because I'm busy doing something else.

But lately (at the end of the season, of course!) I've started turning the games on for me and watching the whole game.

This has been a very pleasant activity since every game I've seen they won, until last week, when they lost.  

So I watched yesterday's game against the Packers.  I actually had forgotten it was on until Ned came and turned it one for me.  It was still the first quarter, but Green Bay was leading 3-0.  I watched the two teams rack up points, back and forth and was depressed when it was coming to the end of the 4th quarter with the score Packers - 21, 49ers - 17.  I was visualizing what things were like in Santa Barbara.

It was 5 minutes left and there was no way the 9ers were going to win.  I was feeling terrible for Tom (and for the kids...Lacie made a shrine to bring them luck!)

Then it was 3 minutes and they were close to a touchdown and miraculously with 2 minutes left, they managed to get a touchdown.  It was one of the most exciting games I'd seen in a long time (at least the 4th quarter).

Now I'm NOT a big football fan, so I don't know all the ins and outs and what is going on but I think this means that the 9ers will play whoever wins today's game in the Super Bowl.

Go niners!

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PHOTO OF THE DAY

49er shrine Lacie made to bring the team good luck.

(it worked!)

8509

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 SwapBot

1. If you could have a remote control that could pause time, what would you do with it?
I'd watch the Lawsuit concert at UC Davis over and over again...watching Paul sing and David dance.

2. What's the silliest thing you believed as a child that you wish were true now?
The only thing I remember believing as a silly thing was that dragonflies could sew up your mouth.  Needless to say, I don't wish that were true now.

3. If your life had a theme song that played every time you entered a room, what song would it be?

"Thank God, You're Doing Fine"

4. If you were a vegetable, and someone accidentally ate you, what would you want them to say after the first bite?

Needs more flavor

5. If you were a flavor of ice cream, which one would you be, and why?
Vanilla.  'cause I'm just a plain person.

6. What's the strangest thing you've ever googled or searched for on the internet?

Oh lord.  I google so many things on the Internet.  I can't think of anything particularly strange, but I do watch lots of YouTube videos about making journals.  The thing that surprises me is how few people Google things.  People are always asking me about something that I'm able to find on Google in seconds.

7. If your pet could suddenly talk, what do you think it would say to you first?

Sit down.  I need a lap.

8. If you were a character in a video game, what would be your special move?

I don't play video games, so I can't think of anything.

9. What's the most bizarre item you've ever bought online?

I had a potato sent to a friend.  I also just recently had a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle made of photos I sent to Juxtapuzzle.  It was a great gift!

10. If you could replace the sound of one everyday activity with your own voice, which activity would you choose?

The ringing of our telephone, which I hate.  I would replace it with saying something soft like "you have a call coming in."  (We have a land line which we never answer because it's always sales calls)

11. If you were a punctuation mark, which one would you be, and how would you punctuate people's sentences?

It would be fun to be an exclamation point!  It would make everything everyone said so much more exciting! 

12. If you could have any celebrity be your personal assistant for a day, who would it be, and what tasks would you assign them?

Donald Trump.  I want him to write "vote for Biden" letters for me, scrub my floors, wash my clothes, feed the dog, and wash the windows.  And I won't pay him.  (Attorneys not allowed to join him)

13. What would be the worst "buy one, get one free" sale item ever?

Plastic Mancunian had a great answer:  a coffin.

14. If you could trade places with any fictional character from a book or movie, who would it be, and what would you do differently in their story?

If I were Dorothy, I would have found a different way home so Toto wouldn't chase the cat...but then the whole Wizard of Oz story would not happen.

15. If you had to live inside a TV show for a month, which show would you pick, and why?

I wouldn't mind being one of the Golden Girls, though they are all much younger than I am now.  It would also be fun to be in the Dick Van Dyke show.

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PHOTO OF THE DAY

8508

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: Young Girl (1968)

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

1) The song is about a girl who is too young for romance. How old were you when your parents allowed you to date?
I was 13.  Our next door neighbor had a nephew and she introduced us.  We started dating and dated exclusively for 3 years, until he became a Jesuit.

2) Lead singer Gary Puckett mentions the girl's perfume. What scent do you wear most often?
I wear no perfume.

3) "Young Girl" reached #2 on the charts and stayed there for three weeks, but it never hit #1. It was stuck behind Otis Redding's "(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay." Are you competitive by nature? Or would you be satisfied doing well, but not being #1?
Sure.

4) The Union Gap got together in San Diego, California's second most populated city. Have you ever visited California? If yes, where did you go?
LOL.  I visited California in 1943 and never left.

5) The Union Gap performed at a White House state dinner for special guests Prince Charles and Princess Anne. Some in attendance that night maintain that President Nixon seemed to be playing matchmaker that night between the Prince and his daughter, Tricia. Have you ever tried to fix people up? If yes, did romance result?
No.  Never did.

6) After six Top 20 hits in three years, the Union Gap disbanded. Today Gary Puckett tours as a solo artist on the "oldies circuit" with Peter Noone of the Herman's Hermits. Without looking it up, can you name any of the Herman's Hermits hits?
Until this Saturday 9, I don't think I've ever heard of Herman's Hermits before.

7) In 1968, when "Young Girl" was a hit, Jacqueline Kennedy married Aristotle Onassis. Think about the last wedding you attended. Were you closer to the bride or groom?
The last wedding I attended was my son's, in 2003.  

8) Also in 1968, the most popular movie in theaters was Funny Girl, starring Barbra Streisand. What's the last movie you watched?
I can't remember.  I haven't been to the theater since February and lately I've been watching series on TV rather than movies.  Any suggestions?

9) Random question -- Come clean: Right now are there more dishes in your sink or clothes in your hamper?
Neither.  Walt did the dishes last night and Ned did the laundry.  

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PHOTO OF THE DAY

Walt and I had shrimp

for dinner last night.

8507

Writing letters and other stuff

I wrote most of the day yesterday and wrote 3-1/2 letters and finished the half this morning, so there are 4 letters going out.  This leaves me with only two letters to answer (wrote two 2 days ago).  No mail coming today so that will give me plenty of time to write to the Compassion kids, since I have not written any Compassion letters in awhile.  It's time to write a letter that I can send to all the kids, in addition to answering specific letters I've received.

I've started two new journals, one a magpie journal, and one a "February Journal Swap," both of which will be pretty much the same junk journals.  I'll also be starting a February mini diary, which is just a list of 5 things each day with a (+) or (-) in front of them to indicate if they are good or bad things.  That diary will be pretty much effortless.

I actually slept last night, waking up at 8.  Walt tells me that the phone rang in the morning.  There is a phone right next to my recliner, essentially right next to my ear, and I didn't hear it, so I must have been sleeping soundly.  I was aware when Bubba jumped up and settled on my chest, but just barely.

Char says she's reading a book called "Horse," by Geraldine Brooks.  I had just finished "Saving Sadie," and discovered that I had "Horse" (how could I not get a book called "Horse"?) on my kindle, so I've started it.  She says she may have to read it twice to keep track of the people, so I'm thinking maybe I should take notes, since I'm only 3 chapters into it now.

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PHOTO OF THE DAY

Jeri & Phil's dog, Lester
(whom I raised from birth to 6 mos)

8506

Mail!!!

 Well, I complained the other day that I had so few letters to answer that I went and re=joined Postcrossing so I could at least send out some postcards.

Then the mail came yesterday.  Eight letters and a couple of cards.  And most of the letters are from pen pals who write long letters, which are fun to read, but it takes that much time to answer them.  I'm not complaining -- I'm loving having this stack in front of me.  

When I couldn't sleep at 4 a.m. this morning, I got up and wrote a long letter.

I've also started a 2024 Book report site.  I didn't read much toward the end of 2023 (and never wrote a report on the last book I read).  But I'm hoping to read more in 2024 and posted a report on the book I finished yesterday, "Saving Sadie: How a Dog that No One Wanted Inspired  the World."  (A dog book not on our dog puzzle)  It was so interesting, I ended up staying up thru half the night finishing it.  Now into something a big more "meaty."

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PHOTO OF THE DAY

8505

New puzzle

We finally decided we aren't going to find the one missing puzzle piece from the puzzle we just finished, so Ned finally took it apart and we've started a new puzzle.

This one came from Char and is a bunch of covers of dog books.  I thought I would have read more of them, but I've only read 14...but I can think of a lot more dog books that I've read.  This is kind of like the advent calendar puzzle, in that it's a bunch of smaller puzzles all connected, but you don't have to work just one a day.  It's fun to choose some pieces for one of the book covers and work that and then try to figure out where in the puzzle it actually goes.  I was pleased to get the book about Toto from The Wizard of Oz done, though we don't have any of the books it connects to done yet.

Char's having a difficult time with the puzzle she had made for herself, and I can understand why.  for one thing, she didn't have it done by Juxtapuzzle, which makes a collage out of the photos you send.  Instead it's like a page from a photo book, with all the pictures as she sent  them, posted side by side. She chose great photos, but not for making a puzzle.

Most of them are great photos of our Pinata group, but they are all the same people, in groups (at different ages), and I can see how as puzzle pieces it will be very difficult to put together, especially since the pieces are also much smaller than the Juxtapuzzle pieces.  She says she is lucky if she can find 5-10 pieces a day.  (BTW, that one lone guy, in black and white, toward the bottom of the puzzle is the priest who married Walt and me.)

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PHOTO OF THE DAY

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deleting

 David Gerrold wrote, "So today, I decided to prowl through my hard drive, cleaning up old files, deleting obsolete stuff, and looking for other unfinished stories. "

Must be something in the air. That's what I've been doing. It started because I was looking for a specific photograph and realized that I have several photo files on two different hard drives and I started looking for them. But in the process, I found I had ?hundreds of folders/files I hadn't looked at in years and I started going through them. Oh my the things I found!

For one thing, I found the file where I posted every Funny the World entry (which I don't do now that I'm on Blogspot, but I did for some 20 years or so. They are all there! Including the ones you can't find on line any more.

I also found the file I had for Dr. G for all of the photos for his vaginal reconstruction web site. You'd think it was a porn file, but truly it's not...I made sure that each photo had a "copyright, Dr. G" message on it.

I still haven't found the photos I was looking for, but I still have lots of files to look through. I'm deleting some of the files, but not all that many. It's an interesting "history."

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Send me some mail

 I did a lot of mail writing today.

I sent out (so far) two letters and ten post cards.  I had SwapBot cards that needed  to be written, and I've started sending cards for Postcrossing again.  I have so many post cards that it's nice to have a place to share them all.  Then I sent my weekly five letters to seniors in Letters Against Isolation.  

It's strange.  Letters Against Isolation go to seniors who are in nursing homes or living independently and getting Meals on Wheels.  The organization has a monthly newsletter showing photos people writing letters...they are usually school kids who write and decorate letters. Some groups send up to 200 letters a week. 

But the idea is to get as many seniors as possible some sort of contact with the world and I often wonder, as I write letters, how many of the people who will receive them are younger than I am!  Heck, I sure know how happy it makes me to receive a letter, so why not write to one of these seniors.

You aren't starting a pen pal situation. In fact, you don't even send your actual name and definitely not your address.  You are just writing something that you think a senior will be happy to receive.  I usually talk about either Bubba or about the squirrels, who are always a good topic for a short funny letter.

* * * * *

The final lost puzzle piece hasn't shown up and both Ned and I keep looking at the rug under the puzzle table hoping to find it.  I finally told him that we have to admit the piece is lost and probably Paul and/or David aren't going to "find" it for us and we should give up and start a new puzzle.

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Haunted Me

We finished our puzzle a couple of days ago.  There were 3 missing pieces.  One of them, which was an all white piece, we have been looking for for a couple of weeks.  We have looked everywhere, on the rug, under the rug, under chairs, in the laundry basket.  It had just disappeared.  Last night, as I was getting up to go to the bathroom, I happened to look down and there was the puzzle piece, on the rug, right where we had looked for days.  When Ned came downstairs to make coffee, I told him about my "miracle."  He has told me before that he has found lost pieces after looking for them forever, and then having them show up right under his feet.  He went upstairs and when he came back down he asked "did you find any more pieces?"  I said no and he said "well...here's another one."  Another of the "lost" pieces showed up right about where the first one had been found.  Now we only have one lost piece.

I have been convinced for awhile that Paul and/or David are still living in the house.  If not them, then somebody.  I hear strange noises pretty much every night when I'm alone in my recliner.  Yes, it could be the house settling, but the other night the noise was of something crashing.  I checked and there was nothing that had crashed anywhere.

I occasionally feel a hand on my arm and am often aware of "somebody" standing behind me against the recliner, so I can feel it.  

I have accepted all of these strange things because I tell myself that the kids are back visiting.  It may or may not be true, but it comforts me.

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Sunday Stealing - Pinterest

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 Pinterest

1. Your favorite part of the day
Lunch time, because I take a 1 hour+ nap after eating something.

2. Something you know a lot about.
Judy Garland, The Lamplighters Music Theater, grief

3. An important person in your life.
My son Ned, who takes care of Walt and me, the house, and cooking meals.  We'd be lost without him.

4. Your favorite recipe
Just having come through Christmas, I'll say my favorite recipe is something called "Goodness Sake Cookies," which is a recipe my mother brought home from a party when I was a kid.  I made them every year at Christmas, and I was an adult before I learned that they are really Mexican wedding cookies.

5. An event that turned out differently than planned
I expected a big crowd for Christmas, which included Walt's 2 siblings and their spouses, Tom's wife and her father.  But the siblings didn't come and Tom's father-in-law was feeling poorly after their Christmas celebration, so it was just the four of us, Jeri, Tom and the granddaughters, which was a fine group, just different than expected.  Also I expected to end the day with pumpkin pie, but forgot to add sugar to the pumpkin.  Yuck.

6. How you procrastinate
surf the Internet, watch TV, or work a puzzle.

7. The best type of surprise
Something pleasant that doesn't make me embarrassed.

8. Music that helps you relax
I don't usually listen to music to help me relax.

9. A thing your life has in excess
Stickers, washi and post cards.

10. A book you want to read.
I want to finish Barbra Streisand's autobiography

11. A person you’re always happy to see.
My BFF, Char, who lives ~100 miles away and as we age and have difficulty driving it's more difficult to see her.

12. What  time do you go to sleep?
That's assuming I GO to sleep.  Many nights I don't, but I always start trying somewhere between 10 and 11.

13. A word to describe the past year.
Calm

15. One thing you’d like to see
Wild animals, live, in Africa.

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PHOTO OF THE DAY

Visiting the decorated house of
movie critic Derrick Bang,
Christmas eve

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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: Hotel California (1977)

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

1) In this song, Don Henley called the hotel's front desk and asked, "Please bring me my wine." He was told they haven't had wine since 1969. When did you last have a glass of wine?
I can't remember.

2) The lyrics refer to wine as a "spirit." That is incorrect. Wines are fermented, not distilled, and have a lower alcohol content than spirits. When "Hotel California" was popular, listeners who were into wine called radio stations to let them know about the mistake. Are you a wine aficionado? Are any of your friends or family knowledgeable about wine?
Not an aficionado, but I do enjoy wine.  I just don't drink it most of the time, preferring water.  Walt has gone to many wine tasting events and we have toured many Napa Valley wineries over the years.

3) In the song, Henley sings about looking for the door that will take him "back to the place I was before." Don says that refers to a loss of innocence and a longing for a simpler time. When you think about "the good old days," where does your mind wander to?
Oh probably the 1950s, when I was in grammar school and didn't have a clue what was happening with the rest of the world.

 

4) With five #1 singles, six #1 albums, and six Grammy awards, it's generally agreed that the Eagles were one of the most popular groups of the 1970s. Which decade produced most of your favorite songs?
I was a big fan of my father's records from the 1930s and 40s.  Never got into rock, but I did enjoy a lot of music written in the 50s.  I loved John Denver's music from the 70s.  I'm very old fashioned.  (I also loved the music my kids' band played in the 80s)

 

5) The Eagles were formed in 1971 when four of them happened to find themselves hired to play back up for Linda Ronstadt. The men found they really hit off and wanted to keep working together when the gig with Linda was up. Tell us about how you met someone important in your life.

I  met Gilbert Russak, the performer and musical director of The Lamplighters, a Gilbert & Sullivan theater group in San Francisco, when I was helping to write the 25 year history of the company (It's now in its 72nd year).  After the book was published, I stuck around as a volunteer and Gilbert and I became great friends.  He changed my life in many ways.  We wrote several fund raising musicals and a newsletter together, we learned computers together and I was devastated when he died in 1986.  

 6) The Eagles are still on the road, filling big arenas for their Long Goodbye tour. One explanation for their enduring popularity is that their music spans genres. They scored hits on the rock, pop and country charts. Other popular categories of music include classical, gospel, jazz, Latin, reggae, New Age, and rap. Which do you listen to most often? Which did you listen to most recently?
I listen to classical or show tunes most often.  Most recently I listened to my son's weekly radio show, where he plays a lot of music by local bands and performers who have performed in Davis.

 

7) In 1976, when "Hotel California" was topping the charts, the trend in home decor was vibrant. Intense copper, bright pink and vivid avocado were among the popular colors for bath towels, mats and shower curtains that year. If we were to peek into your 2024 bathroom(s), what colors would we find?

pretty neutral colors.

 

8) Handbags were big in 1976. Not just in popularity but in size. Purses routinely had compartments on the inside and pockets on the outside. When you leave the house, do you travel light? Or do you prefer to carry a lot with you?
I travel very light.  I used to have a huge purse and carried everything in it.  Now I just need something to carry my wallet, my phone and perhaps some tissues.

9) Random question -- How different is your life today than it was a year ago: (a) a lot; (b) a little); (c) not at all?
Definitely not at all.

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PHOTO OF THE DAY

Visiting the decorated house of
movie critic Derrick Bang,
Christmas eve

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