Saturday, May 6, 2017

Saturday 9: The Tide Is High

The Saturday 9 ("Just a silly meme on a Saturday!") is hosted by Sam Winters. Nine questions posted every Saturday — sometimes random, sometimes with a theme. This week, the theme is...




Not familiar with the song? You can listen to it HERE.

1. This song was originally performed in 1966 by a Jamaican band called The Paragons. Jamaica is the most popular vacation destination in the Caribbean. What's your ideal vacation? (Relaxing on the beach, sightseeing in a new city, skiing the slopes, spending time with family, etc.)
Oooh, I've always wanted to go to the Caribbean. Well, I love sightseeing in a new city, but I think my ideal vacation definitely involves a beach. Last year we visited Hawaii for the first time. Stayed in Honolulu in a hotel right on Waikiki Beach. The ocean in one direction, high-end shopping in the other. Lots of gorgeous scenery all over the place. For me, that was pretty much as close to ideal as I'm likely to get.

2. In this song, Debbie Harry sings that she's not the kind of girl who gives up easily. How about you? Do you hang on stubbornly? Or do you know when to say "when?"
Well, I'm pretty stubborn about some things. And I really don't do well with change. (M and I are both like that — if we do something the same way twice, it becomes a tradition and must be continued.) So I'm not usually one to give up without a fight. But yeah, I do know when to say "when."

3. Blondie is a group that took its name from the lead singer's most identifiable characteristic, her hair. If your band was named after your hair, what would it be called?
Dishwater.

4. Before her career as a singer took off, Debbie supported herself as a waitress. She even served drinks while wearing bunny ears and tail at The Playboy Club. Have you ever worked in food service? 
No, fortunately (or maybe unfortunately) I learned to type and take shorthand in school. So I could always manage to support myself with an office job. That got both the hubby and me through college. The jobs were boring, but dependable.

5. Debbie points to David Bowie as a major influence on her music and career. What's your favorite Bowie song?
It would be a toss-up between Space Oddity and Changes.

6. In 1980, when this song was popular, the best selling issue of Rolling Stone featured Robert Redford on the cover. Who is your all-time favorite actor?
Movie actor? All-time favorite? That's tough. Probably Humphrey Bogart. Or maybe Steve McQueen. Talking about living actors? Hard to choose. Maybe Morgan Freeman — he's always great, even in throw-away roles. (Robert Redford would be a good choice, too.)

7. In 1980, Ted Turner revolutionized how we watch TV when he introduced CNN. Do you have any subscriptions services in addition to cable -- like Hulu, Amazon Prime or Netflix?
We have a Netflix subscription that we use a lot. And I guess my Amazon Prime account does give me access to movies, but I've never tried it out.

8. John Lennon was murdered in 1980. Today there's a specially landscaped section of Central Park called Strawberry Fields in his honor. If you had a day to spend in New York, what would you want to see?
I think it would depend on the time of year and the weather. I've been to NYC many times, but not very recently. If I had only one day, I'd probably spend it just walking around, taking it all in. Or maybe head for the Metropolitan Museum — it's been quite a while since I visited there, and I'd love to see the Temple of Dendur again. And a stroll through Central Park would be nice too, especially in the spring or fall. But my favorite time to visit New York was always around Christmas time, so I could look at all those amazing holiday window decorations.

9. We're going shopping! Which do you need to add to your wardrobe: underwear, shoes or a swimsuit?
Well, I bought several new swimsuits last year, and I'm pretty sure they still fit — so I don't really need to shop for any more. And underwear? Actually, I'm pretty well stocked in that area, too. Now shoes — I always need to shop for shoes. Even though my closet is already crowded with dozens of pairs I hardly ever wear. (I'm a bit of an addict when it comes to shoe shopping.) You know, now that you mention it, I should probably head on over to Zappos and order a couple of pairs right now!


Friday, May 5, 2017

Unconscious Mutterings: Week 743


Mutterings for the week of April 30th. Unconscious Mutterings is hosted by LunaNiƱa. And here we go....
  1. Wax :: candles, paper, ear (Eeewww! Sorry about that!)
  2. 50% :: half full / half empty
  3. Speaker :: ...of the House (watching the evening news while writing this)
  4. Robot :: Robbie the...
  5. Nail :: polish
  6. Contour :: plowing (but I'm a CITY girl — must be some sort of genetic memory)
  7. Pin :: Pinterest (I spend WAY too much time over there)
  8. Sex :: ...and the City (Why would I think of this? I never watched a single show. Hmmm.)
  9. Batteries :: ...not included
  10. Echo :: chamber 


Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Photo for Wednesday: Rock Squirrel

Doing his best Meerkat

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

Linking up with:



Monday, May 1, 2017

Sunday Stealing: The Unknown Author Questions

This is a new meme for me — Sunday Stealing. Just discovered it over the weekend. I'm not linking up because I'm very late getting it posted (maybe next week). But it looked like fun, so here we go....
  1. if someone wanted to really understand you, what would they read, watch, and listen to?
    Read... My blogs, naturally. But I've got several, and they go back years.
    Watch... Seinfeld
    Listen to... Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Townes Van Zandt, John Prine, Elvis, Rolling Stones, Beatles, Joni Mitchell, Sade, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, John Klemmer, George Benson, Frank Sinatra... I have pretty eclectic tastes in music
     
  2. have you ever found a blogger who thinks just like you? if so, who?
    Well, I'm pretty sure no one thinks just like me. Not even M, who's as close to me as it's possible to get. Wait, is this a trick question?
     
  3. list your fandoms and one character from each that you identify with.
    OK, I actually had to go google fandom to be sure I knew what we're talking about here. But I guess my primary "fandoms" and characters (at least the ones I can come up right now) would be...
    TV --
    Star Trek - Mr. Spock
    Star Trek Next Gen - Lwaxana Troi
    Doctor Who - I don't really identify with any of the characters, but my favorite Doctor was Tom Baker, and my favorite companion was Sarah Jane Smith
    Seinfeld - love all the characters
    The X-Files - love Mulder and Scully, but my real faves were the Lone Gunmen
    Big Bang Theory - Amy Farah Fowler
    Grace and Frankie - wanna-be Grace, but really more like Frankie
    Movies --
    The Back to the Future trilogy - favorite character is Doc Brown
    Books --
    The Mrs Malory novels by Hazel Holt - Sheila Malory
    Comics (never got into the Super Heroes, but once read lots of Disney, Looney Tunes, and other "funny" books) --
    Little Lulu - identified with Lulu, naturally
     
  4. do you like your name? is there another name you think would fit you better?
    Yeah, I'm OK with it. Now. Didn't like it much when I was much younger. It's a hard name for many Texans to pronounce, and sometimes ends up sounding like "Joey" or "Jaw-y." Or even more often, just Joyce. Used to drive me crazy. As a child, I always wanted to be called Laura or Brenda or Lorraine or Michelle. Which is a little weird, since I grew up to marry a boy named Michael whose mother was named Lorraine.
     
  5. do you think of yourself as a human being or a human doing? do you identify yourself by the things you do?
    Human being. But then, these days I don't really do much of anything.
     
  6. are you religious/spiritual?
    Not at all religious. Don't know about spiritual — I'm never actually entirely sure of what people mean when they say something/someone is spiritual.
     
  7. do you care about your ethnicity?
    Um. Dangerous question. I don't know that I really care about it, but it does interest me. I think most humans are interested in where/what they come from.
     
  8. what musical artists have you most felt connected to over your lifetime?
    Well, I've lived amongst musical artists most of my adult life, so I feel connected to quite a few. Most of them non-professionals, though. I guess the closest would be my hubby who is a very talented musician.
     
  9. are you an artist?
    From time to time.
     
  10. do you have a creed?
    Live and let live. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. And (as Ellen always says) be kind to one another.
     
  11. describe your ideal day.
    Spending time with M. Lots of sunshine, no rain. No doctor or dentist appointments. No emergencies. Hours and hours of doing not much of anything, with my favorite guy.
     
  12. dog person or cat person?
    Both. But I live with a cat-loving guy who really doesn't like dogs. So....
     
  13. inside or outdoors?
    I love the outdoors, but it doesn't love me. Asthma. Lots of allergies. So I don't spend a lot of time outside. But I can sit and watch it out the window for HOURS at a time.
     
  14. are you a musician?
    No. And I regret that.
     
  15. five most influential books over your lifetime.
    Hmmm. I could come up with favorites. But influential? That would be hard, and the list would probably be different if you asked me tomorrow. Maybe:
    • Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain
    • Be Here Now, by Ram Dass
    • An Actor Prepares, by Konstantin Stanislavski
    • 1984, by George Orwell
    • The Diary of Anne Frank
     
  16. if you’d grown up in a different environment, do you think you’d have turned out the same?
    No, not exactly the same.
     
  17. would you say your tumblr is a fair representation of the “real you”?
    I do have a tumblr account, but I've never done anything with it. So it doesn't really represent much of anything.
     
  18. what’s your patron-us?
    I have no idea what that is.
     
  19. which Harry Potter house would you be in? or are you a muggle?
    Another hard question. I've only read the first HP book, and have only seen a few of the movies. I have a feeling I'm a definite muggle.
     
  20. would you rather be in Middle Earth, Narnia, Hogwarts, or somewhere else?
    Wonderland.
     
  21. do you love easily?
    Easily? No. But I'm loyal.
     
  22. list the top five things you spend the most time doing, in order.
    • Playing with my computer, blogging, 'net surfing, etc.
    • Watching TV
    • Reading
    • Doing housekeeping-type stuff
    • Shopping
     
  23. how often would you want to see your family every year?
    Another trick question.
     
  24. have you ever felt like you had a “mind-meld” with someone?
    Yes.
     
  25. could you live as a hermit?
    No. Well, maybe if the internet connection was fast enough.
     
  26. how would you describe your gender/sexuality?
    I'm too old to even understand this question.
     
  27. do you feel like your outside appearance is a fair representation of the “real you”?
    Yes. Which is sort of disturbing.
     
  28. on a scale from 1 to 10, how hard is it for someone to get under your skin?
    I'm think I'm pretty even-tempered. But I dislike stupidity, and people who do bad things to other people or to animals. Cruelty and ignorance can piss me off very quickly. (I also don't like rating things.)
     
  29. three songs that you connect with right now.
    Not really "connecting" with anything at the moment. I've been humming "April in Paris" today because M has been playing it on the piano lately.
     
  30. pick one of your favorite quotes.
    "Don't look back. You're not going that way."