Saturday 9: Last Night a DJ Saved My Life!

The Saturday 9  is hosted by Sam Winters. Nine questions posted every Saturday — sometimes random, sometimes with a theme. This week, the theme is...

"Last Night a DJ Saved My Life!"
Indeep (1982)

Listen to it HERE.

I have to admit, I don't remember this song or the video. Which is odd, since I was a real MTV junkie back in the early '80s. But somehow this one got past me. I like it -- it's got a good beat and you can dance to it.

1. This song is about a girl who is heartbroken about a boy who won't take her calls. Do you screen your calls, deciding to let some go to voicemail? Or do you pick up whenever you possibly can? (We're referring to calls from people you know.)

In general, if someone I know (not a telemarketer) is calling, I pick up. We have a service on our phones now that blocks robo-callers, so we don't get that many unknowns anymore.

2. When she was feeling her lowest, she heard a song on the radio that lifted her spirits. What's the last thing you heard on the radio?

"Love For Sale" by Miles Davis.

3. This song includes the sound of squeaky wheels, indicating a sudden stop and perhaps a near-miss. Tell us about your most recent traffic mishap.

Well, driving around the Austin area, you can have a lot of near-misses. We haven't had an actual "mishap" lately, that goodness.

4. "Last Night a DJ Saved My Life!" is featured in the 2002 video game, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Do you spend much time on video games?

I spend exactly 0 time on video games. Never got into that.

5. This week's featured artist, Indeep, was a trio. We've had many groups, some duos and tons of solo artists on Saturday 9, but not many trios. Can you name another popular trio?

Music trio? The first that comes to mind is Crosby Stills & Nash. But also Peter, Paul & Mary, the Kingston Trio, the Supremes, the Bee Gees, ZZ Top.... Non-musical? The Three Stooges.

6. The last time Indeep performed together was in 1997, at a New Year's Eve show in Paris for French TV. Have you celebrated a holiday in another land?

Not really. We were once in England on the 4th of July, but we didn't exactly celebrate the day (not much of a holiday in England).

7. Britain's Royal Family is in the news this weekend, with attention centered on the nuptials. The Royals made news in 1982, as well. When this song was popular, Michael Fagan gained momentary fame by breaking into Buckingham Palace. He found The Royal Bedroom, where he came face-to-face with the Queen. He reports that Queen Elizabeth sleeps in a nightie that "reached down to her knees." What did you wear to bed last night?

A nightie that reached down to my knees. It was blue.

8. In 1982, you could buy a loaf of white bread for 50¢. Today, the national average price for that loaf of bread is more than $2.50. When you go grocery shopping, do you comparison shop and make purchases at more than one store? Or do you prefer one-stop shopping?

We usually shop at more than one place, just because we're very brand-loyal and different stores have different brands. We don't really comparison shop as much as we should.

9. Random question: What's the first famous quote that comes to your mind?

"To be or not to be: that is the question."

Happy Saturday, everyone!
And have a great weekend.

For more Saturday 9 Q&A, just click on this button:

Sunday Stealing: Mary's Questions

Time for a little Sunday Stealing (hosted by Bev Sykes)  -- questions stolen from all over the blogosphere. This week's list was stolen from Blue Haired Mary.

1. If you could, where would you max out a credit card?

Well, since I do most of my shopping online now, I suppose it would most likely be Amazon. 

2. Why do you like the music you listen to?

I mostly listen to jazz — it's interesting and relaxing. Sometimes I'll listen to classical music, too; same reasons.

3. What are your favorite colors?

Turquoise, aqua, yellow. Just about any shade of green.

4. Do you collect anything?

Yes. Too many things. Though I'm really not actively collecting anymore. But at one time or another I've collected books, comic books, stamps, cat figurines, dolls, paper dolls, greeting cards, postcards, old photographs, vintage patterns and sewing supplies, Hallmark Christmas ornaments, dishware, vintage Pyrex items, and probably several others things I could think of if I sat here long enough.

5. What's your dream job?

The one I've got right now. It's called retirement.

6. Favorite cosmetics brands:

I don't think I have a favorite at the moment. I have to be very careful about cosmetics because I have a lot of allergies and my skin tends to react to chemicals. 

7. Favorite scents:

If we're talking perfume — again, allergies and asthma mean I have to be careful about wearing scent. I used to love the perfume my aunt wore (Fleurs de Rocaille by Caron), but they've changed the formula over the years and it doesn't smell the same. (Never smelled as good on me as it did on her, either.) For years I wore Arpege by Lanvin, but it smells different now, too. All these new synthetic perfumes smell pretty awful on me. Lately I've been using a little amber oil instead.

8. Favorite flavors:

Again I'm not sure I really have a favorite flavor. But I'm addicted to coffee and chocolate. So....

9. Favorite magazines:

Most of the magazines that I always thought of as favorites have either shut down or changed so much I don't recognize them anymore. But I still read The New Yorker and Vanity Fair (I'm liking VF much more since they decided to go after the Trumpster.)

10. Favorite piece of jewelry:

Except for earrings, I don't wear much jewelry. The hubby gave me a pair of diamond studs a few years back (as an anniversary gift, I believe) and those are my favorites, even though I don't wear them very often.

11. Favorite Holiday:

Halloween. Costumes, candy, scary movies on TV, no cooking required. Definitely the best.

12. Favorite season:

Summer.

13. Coffee or tea?

It would be hard to give up either one, but I'm very addicted to coffee.

14. Where would you go on vacation if you could go anywhere?

I've still got a few places on my "must see" bucket list — the Grand Canyon, Italy, Wales. Also always wanted to visit the Bahamas. And Egypt, but I'm just not that brave.

15. What kind of geek are you?

A very old one.

😸

Saturday 9: Mother and Child Reunion

The Saturday 9  is hosted by Sam Winters. Nine questions posted every Saturday — sometimes random, sometimes with a theme. This week, the theme is...

"Mother and Child Reunion"
by Paul Simon (1972)

Listen to it HERE.

1. The title of this song, "Mother and Child Reunion," came from a dish Paul Simon had at a Chinese restaurant. "Mother and Child Reunion" was chicken and egg drop soup. When did you last eat chicken?

Yesterday — I had chicken noodle soup for lunch.

2. Paul Simon's mother, Belle, was an English teacher Monday through Friday and then gave piano lessons on the weekends. Have you ever worked more than one job?

Well, not officially. But I worked my way through college, which is just about the same thing as working two jobs. Come to think of it, I worked my husband's way through college too — and grad school!

3. Mother Winters taught Sam to always dispose of the dry cleaning bag, as storing clothes in the bag may discolor the fabric. Do you have any useful household hints to pass along?

I'm afraid housekeeping isn't really my strong suit, although I've certainly had a lot of experience with it over the years. My "household hint" would be hire a maid — not sure how useful that is.

4. Have you put away your winter clothes yet?

Not really. I've put covers over some of my sweaters and long-sleeved T-shirts. We have a big closet and I don't have that many clothes, so instead of "putting away" my off-season things, I usually just move them around.

5. Flowers and plants are popular on Mother's Day. How is your yard or garden? Is it green and/or blooming?

At the moment, the yard looks great and the garden is doing very well, too. The hubby gets all the credit for that. (And there's another helpful household hint: It's a good idea to marry a man who likes to do yard work.)

6. In the 1600's, the British began celebrating "Mothering Sunday." Children presented flowers to their mothers after Sunday service. When did you last place flowers in a vase? Were they store-bought, or picked from someone's garden?

It's been a while since I engaged in any sort of floral activity. I'm allergic to just about all flowers, so we don't generally have them in the house. 

7. The German word for "mother" is "mutter." What other German words do you know?

My father's family are German and my grandmother (his mother) lived with us when I was a child. She taught me lots of German words and phrases (I was her little fraulein). Then I took a year of German in college, many years ago. So, I do know a little German but not enough to hold a conversation. Traurig.

8. When Sam was a teen, her mother used to scold her for monopolizing the family landline. With the advent of cell phones, do you think parents and children still clash over telephone etiquette?

Not sure about that. But you probably don't want to get me started on telephone etiquette transgressions. We could be here all day.

9. To celebrate Mother's Day, Sam is giving away her mother's favorite, Hershey Bars! Would you prefer classic milk chocolate, dark chocolate or milk chocolate with almonds?

Those all sound perfectly yummy and perfectly acceptable. I never turn down chocolate, so just hand over the Hershey Bar and nobody gets hurt.

Happy Saturday, everyone!
And have a great weekend.

For more Saturday 9 Q&A, just click on this button:

Blue Monday: Blue Skies Smilin' at Me

Haven't done a Blue Monday post in quite a while (can it really be more than a year?), and I'm very happy to see the meme is still around. Many thanks to Magical Mystical Teacher for keeping it going!

We had quite a few cloudy, gloomy days in March and April, but not a whole lot of rain. So the drought in central Texas continues, although not as dire as it was a few years back. Lake Travis is no longer at 100% capacity, but it's full enough for boating and other aquatic activities. I kind of like it when the lake is down a little because it produces a nice beach-like area leading down to the water.

So far, late April and early May have brought mostly nice weather — a little cooler than I'd like, but lots of lovely sunshine and blue skies. The photo below was actually taken on our first "Ozone Alert" day of the year, right at the end of April. Asthma and allergy sufferers (yeah, me) were warned to stay indoors as much as possible. But out here in the hill country, the air was pretty nice. This shot is looking off towards Austin, and you can just barely make out a little bit of smog stuff on the horizon. Otherwise, though, just a lot of blue, blue sky. Which I love.

Happy Monday, everyone! Hope you have a lovely, blue sky (smog-free) week.

Blue Monday is now being hosted by Magical Mystical Teacher.

Click here to see more or add your link.

Sunday Stealing: Sleepy Rambles Survey

Time for a little Sunday Stealing (hosted by Bev Sykes)  -- questions stolen from all over the blogosphere. This week's list was stolen from Steph at Love Me Some Surveys.

1.   Would you ever try Fear Factor for one million dollars? Why or why not?

Fear Factor is a TV show, right? One of those contest/reality shows where people do crazy/stupid/dangerous things for money? I've never seen it, but I've seen commercials for it, I think. Not my thing. Not even for a million dollars. Why? Probably just too old.

2.   If you use hair spray, what brand do you use the most?

I try not to use a lot of hairspray. But when I do use it, I use Suave Max Hold (No. 8). It's inexpensive and doesn't make my hair sticky or brittle, and the scent doesn't make me gag. Also, I tend to develop eczema patches on my scalp if I use anything too harsh -- the Suave seems to be pretty gentle.

3.   Is "Catcher in the Rye" in your library by any chance?

Yes, it is. Both hard cover and paperback versions. 

5.  What is the best thing about a Barbie doll?

Most of them are relatively inexpensive, so you can have a LOT of them, if you're into collecting or playing with dolls. And some of them are actually very attractive. I just recently bought one of the new Amelia Earhart dolls for my collection.

No, she didn't come with the airplane. Bummer.

6.   Cherry or peanut ice cream?

Chocolate. 

7.   From one to ten, how big of a movie buff are you?

Probably about a six. We never go out to movies anymore, but I see quite a few on TV, either by streaming or on DVD. I used to be more of a movie buff than I am now, so I've seen pretty much all the classics. But I lost a lot of interest in movies when filmmakers started filling them full of CGI nonsense.

8.  Who is a celebrity you think will never get into trouble?

I wouldn't dare make that prediction. Not in today's world.

9.  What is a museum you would like to go to?

The Musée d'Orsay in Paris. I'd love to see all those impressionist and post-impressionist paintings. And it would give me an excuse to go back to one of my favorite cities. Also maybe the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago -- I worked there back in 1979-80, and I'd love to see how it's changed.

10.  Personally, do you look better with short hair or long hair?

I think I really look better with long-ish hair. But it's a pain to take care of long hair, so I keep it short.

11.  What is the first thing you think of when I say ‘Jack’?

Rabbit.

12.  What do (or did) you call your grandparents?

On my mother's side, they were "MawMaw" and "PawPaw" (but we spelled it MaMa and PaPa). On my father's side, I had a "Granny." My father's father died before I was born.

13.  What color do you usually paint your nails?

Lately I've been using a shade called "Shell We Dance?" by Sally Hansen. It's an almost-transparent very pale pinky eggshell color.

14.  What would be a cool earring design?

??? I'm probably not the best person to ask about earring design. I'm not very adventurous in that area, and I don't wear much jewelry anyway. I tend always to wear the same couple of pairs of earrings -- one pair is a small gold hoop and the other pair is a tiny round gold ball. I have a gorgeous pair of diamond studs that my husband gave me, but I don't wear them very often. 

15.  Besides nightmares, what is the scariest thing about sleeping?

Insects crawling on the wall over your bed. And of course, the possibility of not waking up. 

😸

Saturday 9: Standing On The Corner

The Saturday 9  is hosted by Sam Winters. Nine questions posted every Saturday — sometimes random, sometimes with a theme. This week, the theme is...

"Standing On The Corner"
by The Four Lads (1956)

Listen to it HERE.

I loved this song when I was a little kid. I heard it on the radio all the time and I thought it was very cool. Or whatever the 8-year-old, mid-1950s equivalent of "cool" might have been.

1. In this song, four friends congregate on Main Street to look longingly at pretty girls. In your town, where is the best place for people watching?

Well, I live in a sort of semi-rural area without a lot of places to congregate. To do any serious people-watching, we have to go into Austin or one of the other towns in this part of Texas. Which is always fun.

2. This song was written for the Broadway musical, The Most Happy Fella. Who is the happiest person you know?

One of our neighbors. She's absolutely irrepressible. Always in a fabulous mood. Always enthusiastic. Always ready to get out there and do something. (I'm exhausted, just thinking about it.)

3. The members of The Four Lads met at Toronto's St. Michael's Choir School. Growing up, did you attend parochial or public school?

Public. A lot of my cousins went to parochial schools, since all my father's family were Catholics. But my mother was relentlessly Protestant, and we lived just a few blocks from the nearest public school.

4. The Four Lads always wore jackets and ties when they performed. Do you enjoying dressing up? Or would you rather keep it casual?

I enjoy dressing up in the sense of wearing costumes -- for a play or a party. Otherwise, I prefer casual. At the moment, I don't think I own any clothing that could be called "dress up" clothing. Really need to do some shopping one of these days.

5. While this song was a hit for The Four Lads, they were completely overshadowed in 1956 by Elvis Presley and "Heartbreak Hotel." Who do you think dominates today's music scene?

No idea. I sort of lost interest in current music back around the turn of the century. 

6. The Wizard of Oz aired on TV for the first time in 1956. Sam was never crazy about those flying monkeys. Tell us about something that frightened you when you were a kid.

OK, I won't get into my father's heart disease or my frequent childhood asthma attacks. And I wasn't terribly fond of those monkeys either. One thing I always remember as really frightening is the 1959 movie On the Beach, about a global nuclear war that ends all life on earth. The last earthlings have to wait around for the unstoppable lethal cloud to waft their way, and it just really traumatized me as a kid.

7. What scares you now?

Well, Donald Trump, of course. But I guess mainly losing control, physically and/or mentally. And having something bad happen to the people I love. And being diagnosed with some deadly disease. Just like most everyone, I suppose.  

8. Since this week's song is about pretty girls: 1956's Miss America was Sharon Ritchie of Colorado. Today Colorado has the distinction of being the home of more microbreweries than any other state in the union. Which are you most particular about -- your beer, your wine, or your coffee?

Definitely the coffee. I don't drink much beer, and the hubby is the wine connoisseur in our household. But I'm pretty picky about my coffee, I'm afraid.  

9. Random question: We all have small, irritating habits, like soup slurping or not replacing the cap on the toothpaste. What's your nasty little habit?

Well, I don't know about any nasty habits. And I don't think I'd talk about them if I did. But I do have some irritating habits. The one that comes to mind right away is the way I go around humming all the time. I even irritate myself with that one. My grandmother and mother both did it too. I also talk to myself a lot, and ask myself questions. Drives my husband nuts. Says he never knows if he should be listening or not. (Well, shouldn't he always be listening to me?) But it's OK if he doesn't listen because I usually answer myself, too.

Happy Saturday, everyone!
And have a great weekend.

For more Saturday 9 Q&A, just click on this button: