Do I care? Maybe, maybe not. Saturday9

Don't you care?

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

Come join us HERE

Saturday 9: Don't You Care? (1967)


If you're not familiar with today's song, you can hear it here.

1) What's something that seems to fascinate everyone else, but you just don't care about?
Celebrity.  I don't care much about Celebrity, though I'll admit to having a few favorites among them,  I think the tabloid obsession with celebrity has given too may young people the idea that living an ordinary life is just not worth it.  I really don't give a toss about it for that reason.  Every life has it's worth, it's unique beauty, and it's own sweet charm.  Well, unless it's steeped in Criminality, it does.

2) The lyrics refer to "the times we cried and laughed." Which did you do more recently, cry or laugh?
I've cried a river this week. I feel like my eyes are swollen.  I  just can't talk about it.

3) In the song, our hero seems surprised that his girlfriend doesn't believe him. Are you more believing and trusting, or suspicious and skeptical?
Sometimes I think I'm too trusting.  But that's OK.  I'd rather be hurt sometimes than to be suspicious and skeptical all the time.  I do think it is good to be cautious, however that's not what you asked about.

4) This song is just over two minutes long, which seems short for a song but awful long when Sam is waiting for her chicken soup to heat in the microwave. What's the last thing you heated in a microwave?
It was a cup of lemon/ginger tea.  That takes about 1 minute and 40 seconds. ;o)

5) This week's band, The Buckinghams, was one of the first acts to perform at Chicago's premiere summer festival, The Taste of Chicago.* Let's think ahead: Have you made any plans for Summer 2016?
There are no plans, not really.  

6) In 1967, when this song was popular, Rolling Stone magazine published its first issue. What magazines do you subscribe to? Do they arrive in the mail, or do you read them online?
I'm getting rid of magazines.  Want some?

SOURCE

7) Country star/American Idol judge Keith Urban was born in 1967. Are you watching the final season of American Idol?
Nope.  Actually, I never watched American Idol, and yes, I do know what I've missed- missed about 25 solid hours of commercials, I reckon.  

8) In 1967, the average cost of a movie ticket was $1.25. By 2015, it had risen $8.60. What's the last movie you saw in a theater?
Well, it was something before "Master and Commander", because that was up in a poster in the lobby as "coming soon". 

9) Random question: Sam's taking everyone out to dinner and she's buying. Would you prefer the steak or the lobster?
Are you really?  How kind!  But could I not just have a couple of desserts?  Maybe three?  


*Though back in 1970, it was called ChicagoFest.

Where are you going? Why are you laughing? friday5

Friday 5 for January 29: Sense

Hello, and welcome to this week’s Friday 5! Please copy these questions to your webspace. Answer the questions there; then leave a comment below so we’ll all know where to check out your responses. Please don’t forget to link us from your website!

1. How would you describe your sense of direction?
My sense of direction is pretty good really.  Geologists use a type of map that trains a sense of direction.  It's sort of a sea chart style but in greens and browns.   I have all the quadrangle (geological) maps for Southern California, or did.  I wonder where they all got to?  Perhaps they will surface soon.

2. Whose sense of humor is most like yours?
 I can't honestly say. "Wry to ironic" probably best describes my sense of humor, whomever in the celebrity category that may be.  My daughters and siblings share it as did my mother.

3. What film’s or novel’s sense of place really impressed you?
The Greenlanders, by Jane Smiley

4. When did you most recently and accurately sense danger?
Last week.  It was very clearly presented, and turned out to be absolutely dangerous.  

5. How would you describe the scent of your car’s interior?
Gently used.

Thanks for participating, and have a tremendous weekend!

Thankful Thursday-sort of a rambler: Poetry and Poets, and those who "mock" them...

I'm grateful for poetry...it lightens the burdens, or sometimes not.  From the Psalms to E.E. Cummings, and on to Sylvia Plath and the more modern, I love it all.

An Aside:  It is said  that Life is what's happening while we are busy making plans.  Well, I don't think I'll ever lose my temper for any reason ever again.  It's gone and frankly, it took a genetic sharpshooter to get rid of it.  There is an Ethereal calm that has taken over my mind, and it's here to stay.

So many things I thought were of top priority have fallen straight into oblivion.  But, this is not true for poetry, or beautiful art, whether in the form of song, rhyme, drawing, photography, or Mother Nature.

Ah, yes, back to Poetry:
While cleaning some dusty spaces,  I came across a little book of poetry from 11 grade English Lit class.  I thought the book lost, but it was just tucked up under some others from a hasty clearing out of a set of shelves several years ago.  In that long ago time, I'd circled a few lines from "Merlin and Vivien", and since they were one of my favorites in the book, I'm sharing them.  Of course, Tennyson put some very pretty words into the mouth of his villain, but enjoy them just the same.....

Alfred Lord Tennyson:  from "Merlin and Vivien"

Idylls of the Kings and Other Poems 

"In Love, if Love be Love, if Love be ours,
Faith and unfaith can ne'er be equal powers:
Unfaith in aught is want of faith at all.

It is the little rift within the lute,
That by and by will make the music mute,
And ever Widening slowly silence all.

The little rift within the lover's lute,
Or little pitted speck in garner'd fruit,
That rotting inward slowly moulder all.

It is not worth the keeping: let it go:
But shall it? Answer,  darling answer, no.
And trust me not at all or all in all"

Sadly, the speaker was lying....

Want to watch a campy, somewhat loopy little version of the whole thing?

This you tube was done by  a group (3) of female drama students, who actually did a pretty good job with next to nothing for props and staging.

I give you the The Powerpuff Girls.... they use mostly plain speech, all the more charming and funny.



I've watched this often, even though it's rather long.... 15 mins +

Advice, wanted or not:  Don't waste a minute of your life brooding. If nothing else, write a blistering, non-violent letter to someone in office whom you believe to be "Naughty", or an encouraging letter to someone you deem to be "Nice".  Be sure to then mail it, feel good about your public service .  Then take a little walk about to go look at flowers if there are any about, or check out web gardens, or birds, or maybe flickriver.

May you walk with Beauty all you.

Keep loving.  Remember, "Love is the closest thing we have to magic."  This quote is from the movie, "Aquamarine".  It's a kid's movie but really cheers a person up on a rainy day.

Wordless Wednesday...shhhhh

A bit over the hill and around the bend, to grandmother's house we go.....

SOURCE

Yesterday, which was Sunday, I realized that I'm definitely over the hill.  This means that a lot of stuff has to go out the door.  DeCluttering for a Crafter is an awesome task.

And, though the sharp young minds I've been bantering with are the best fun, they are nearly all the ages of my daughters.  Something was amiss in my brain.  Something was a mess in my house!  Something had to be done.  A Seventy something cannot ignore the tasks at hand!

It is said that nothing keeps you younger than trying to keep up with young people but  people saying these things don't know what the devil they are talking about.  When you listen to yourself, and are mostly saying that you "used to do" this, or "back in the day" you did that.. you know that your "sell by date" has passed, and that you are out of the loop.

 And, say, suddenly all the "once upon a times" add up in your head with a crashing of neurons (at one o'clock in the morning) while you are posting a wack-doodle comment on someone's blog that you meant as funny but in reality is just plain stupid.  You see a pattern, if not a clue.

You just know it's time to change directions.  Since I cannot reconcile this in my head, it's really time to move on.  I'll just go code tweak a little more on those side bar buttons.

And then, Clean house!

Who in their right mind would waste the space underneath?

One other thing before I go.  Remember that the sliding scale for Heaven or Hell is vertical.  The sliding scale for politics is left and right, horizontal, and has no bearing on whether a person is good enough to get to heaven or bad enough to have to go to hell.

  Just so we are clear on this.  You may quote me. Teehee


Be back soon.

Since Blogger has changed...rambling of a deranged blog owner....

Google removed it's own Codes that forced links, of all kinds, into a new page, and they did this for God only knows what reason.  Maybe too many people didn't like getting lost in a maze?  Well, they just created a worse one, in case they never noticed.  Did the devil really make them do it?

"Google, we need to talk"

I've only been able to fix the problem of NOT having a new window pop up, for in-text links - like THIS one for the San Diego Opera's performances of Tosca!

Anywho, that bit of code does seem to work.  I'm still looking for the bits and pieces for the side bar codes.  It will take a few more days, if I have the time.  I'll probably be doing my nails though...  And you all know the kind of time something like that takes.

The side bar buttons would still navigate away from my blog, which I find to be terribly irritating to say the least.  So I killed them- sucked the life right out of them.

Maybe, when I have the strength of mind to do it, I'll put up a link below each of the pictures that will, perhaps, behave like an in-text link (though I really doubt this) and that will solve the problem.

Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused any reader, though I doubt that anyone besides me really ever used any of those buttons anyway.

And to set the record straight, so you don't think I actually believe in Devils, I don't. Web shots of them just make the most incredible pictorial stand ins for rage!  It's only pixels, after all.  And I DO like the color red.  I didn't link the picture because I'm not sure where it really came from.

Sunday Stealing just about anything not nailed down. Oh wait, that isn't what we really do...

January 23, 2016

Feisty Twenty-five- this link takes you to Sunday Stealing, so You can play along, too!


Welcome back to Sunday Stealing which originated on WTIT: The Blog authored by Bud Weiser. Here we will steal all types of memes from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent memes. You may have heard the expression, “honor amongst thieves”. In that age-old tradition, we try to credit the blog that we stole it from. We also provide a link to the victim's meme in our "Previous Victims" widget. (It's our way of saying "Thanks!") Sometimes we edit the original meme, to make it more relevant to our global players, to challenge our players, to select the best questions, or simply to make it less repetitive from this new meme or recently asked questions from a previously featured meme.
Cheers to all of us thieves!!!

Feisty Twenty-five

Stolen from: Love me some surveys


1. Do you like to see it snowing outside?
Sure, if it's just a little flurry.  We live in a climate where any great amount of snow would freeze all the plants.

2. Do you tell your family you love them enough?
No.  You can never say that enough to people.  Well you can, but you know what I mean.

3. Do you like getting jewelry or do you not wear any?
I like to make jewelry in fact I love it.  
Now that I'm selling the two casters, I will likely still forge,  or maybe just buy blanks and embellish them, if I was really interested in doing it.  I have rather old hands...fingers... wrists which  I prefer to save for holding knitting needles and sewing darling little dollies for fun and to give to causes to raffle off for their fund raisers.  

4. Do you watch a lot of NFL football?
Not any more.

5. Have you ever used the word ‘lame’?
Of course.  Usually in reference to myself and the astounding ability my brain has to remember a word for decades that it will forget the moment it is to be "immortalized" in a sentence in this blog.  Grrrr.

6. Are you/Were you in a band? If so, what was your band name?
I was never in a band.  I'm sort of glad because I saw what that life did to some of my friends.  

7. When is the last time you went to the doctor?
Earlier this month.

8. Do you own any shirts with a peace symbol on it?
Of course.  I like that Peace Symbol.  I have a flag with it on it.  I can't fly it here but what the H.  It flies in my heart.

9. Would you ever go to Japan?
I won't go anywhere where the flight time exceeds 2 hours.  In a transporter, I'd love to go to Japan.  I would go EVERYWHERE in a transporter.  Well, on earth.  I'm not interested in interstellar space trips.  I'll save that for when I'm ethereal, if it happens.

11. What was the last thing you went to Walmart for?
I don't shop at Walmart.  I know people who have to because they are so poor, and my heart goes out to them.

12. Ever gotten in a car accident?
Yes, one was pretty terrible, and I got hurt.  I was 13.

13. Have you ever been in a choir?
Yes, I sang in a choir from grade school up until I graduated from high school.

14. Do you like the color of your eyes? If not, what color would you want them?
Yes, but maybe I'd like aqua colored eyes, just for the shock value.

15. When was the last time you went ice skating?
I never got to ice skate once I left Ohio.  I almost got to when the House of  Ice moved closer to where we were moving, but, alas.   Once the twins were born, I never got to put my feet up until I went to bed, and ice skating just wasn't an option anymore.

16. Do you like to brush your teeth?
Yes.  Happily, teeth are not something I lost in car accidents or from cavities.  I'm lucky and I know it.
17. Have you ever had a surgery?
Yes
18. Do you look older or younger than you actually are?
Younger.  Other people besides Mr.Z say so.  But, tbh, inside I'm creakingly old.  Sheesh!  I Sooooo need a long winter's nap I tell ya...  I could do the Bear thing.  My totem, which I've seen in visions, is a bear called a Spirit Bear, if my friend G is still reading here.  I told him about it once.  It's a strawberry blonde bear, and I finally saw it in a nature show a couple nights ago.  Lovely little, very rare bear.

19. When is the next time you’ll be up on stage?
There's never going to be a next time.

20. Where did you spend your last birthday?
Happily, I was at home, where I could do what I liked, which is watch Netflix!

21. What is the last show that you watched a full episode of?
We are watching a couple of thirty somethings in their quest to visit every national park in the United States.  This is something we both would love to do, too.

22. Do you know anyone who lives in Utah?
Gee, I don't think so.  We have been to a ski condo in Parks which was fun.  It was with a bunch of kids half our age who went for the skiing.  Mr.Z skis.  I do not.  I kept one of them company after she hurt her knee very badly on almost the first day.  We had fun chatting and watching the balloons almost land on the roof of the condo!  Later, we went to the tiny refirbed mining town and I bought some very plain dichroic glass earrings from Nancy Geddes who has come a long, long way since those first little squares.  

23. Is there anything you need to work on doing soon?
I have to get rid of a lot of stuff so that I can make dolls, small quilts, knit, make my glass jewelry and such again.  That's all the stuff I want to do.  Getting the energy to do it hasn't been easy.

24. Do your feelings get hurt easily?
Not anymore.  It's not worth losing a minute of precious time getting my feelings hurt.  I wan't to make things and love people.  The rest is a waste of time.  The people who cause all the misery in the world, creating situations that just ruin it for every other living thing and radicalizing whole nations of people they decide have something worth taking from them are just not going to change because I deplore them.  Are they?

25. Do you, or do you know someone who has taken karate lessons?
Yes

26. Were you ever a boy or girl scout?
I went all the way through scouting and was, for a short time, a co-leader of a Brownie troop.  I wouldn't have liked Boy Scouting but I certainly loved the Girl Scouts.  

Saturday9: Glenn Frey's, " The One You Love"

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

Come play along!  It's fun!  Click HERE


Saturday 9: The One You Love (1982)
Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.
In memory of Glenn Frey (1948-2016). 

1) In this song, Glenn explores one of the great romantic conundrums. This week, Saturday 9 is confronting it, too. If you had to choose, would you prefer to be loved, or to be in love? 
I'd choose to love, all told; it seems easier to handle emotionally.  It's sad that Glenn Frey has passed away.  He was a great song writer- musician.  Rest In Peace amazing person.

2) The song describes an awkward moment: an old boyfriend calls when a woman is on a date with someone new. To whom did you last say, "I can't talk now?" 
My daughter, Gee, then I called her back after dinner.

3) The lyrics talk about heart vs head. When you find yourself in that predicament, which usually wins -- heart or head?
Creature in need?  Heart.  The  head just has learned to shut the frak up and stay out of the way.  The head wins if  it's merely a matter of opinion. Then Mr.Z. has a chance to reason with me.  Lol

4) This song was from Glenn Frey's solo album, No Fun Aloud. What fun stuff are you looking forward to this weekend? 
We just got a tiny free box for music over the sound system for the TV and are setting it up to cycle all our favorites.  We'll be listening to that.

5) Glenn Frey was born in Royal Oak, a suburb of Detroit. The Motor City is known for car manufacturing. Is your car domestic or foreign?
One domestic, one foreign.  The ancient, wee truck still speaks Japanese.  He makes the Jeep, who has a crush on him, blush when he talks to her.

6) The popular 1990s sitcom Home Improvement was set in Royal Oak. Are you handy around the house?  
Between DH and myself, we can fix anything around the house.  We just now prefer to let someone else do the plumbing..speaking of which....

7) Glenn Frey co-founded The Eagles in 1970. What's your favorite Eagles song? 
"Smuggler's Blues" is my favorite Eagles song. But almost everything they recorded get's me all happy and feeling alive.

8) The Eagles helped define "California Rock," but in recent years Glenn and his wife lived in Tribeca. Have you ever been to New York? If so, did you like it? 
I've never been there, state or the city.  I'm sure I wouldn't be able to stand the noise level in any city neighborhood like Tribeca.  But otherwise I might really like it but not to live.

9) Glenn wrote "Smuggler's Blues" and "You Belong to the City" for the iconic 1980s TV show, Miami Vice. What else comes to mind when you think of the 80s?
 Most of the 80's were a blur to me.  I never want to see them again.

Thanks so much for joining us again at Saturday: 9. As always, feel free to come back, see who has participated and comment on their posts. In fact sometimes, if you want to read & comment on everyone's responses, you might want to check back again tomorrow. But it is not a rule. We haven’t any rules here. Join us on next Saturday for another version of Saturday: 9, "Just A Silly Meme on a Saturday!" Enjoy your weekend!

High Wire? Friday5: Balance

Friday 5 for January 22: Balance

Hello, and welcome to this week’s Friday 5.  The button in the side bar is the link back to this mind teasing meme.  Come on over and play!  It's fun, if you aren't a scold like me.

1. When opposing forces in your life pull you in different directions, how do you recenter yourself and find balance?  What can you do?  Whom do you trust?
Well in my life it was a nasty war, I suppose, and the threat it posed to my generation, many of whom did not come back or came back crippled in body, soul, or mind.  It took a big toll in Mr.Z's and my graduating classes.  It reached out and scooped up my mother's only son.  



Opposing Forces....  Truth and lies: These opposing forces in my life, a set of forces in history that I lived through that threatened to pull America apart. Nearly every man on both sides of my family had fought in the second World War, but this thing was fundamentally different.  It was something that you could tell in your gut was a war of aggression.

At the time, I re-centered myself in a series of steps.  Early on, there was a mother's group organizing as well as other groups, and this was pretty hard to do in an air force town.  That was step one, getting together with other mothers of like mind.

 I also bought and read,  The Making of a Quagmire.  That's when I knew we absolutely had to oppose this thing.  There were other materials but this book was enlightening, to say the least.  It increased the focus.

After the shock of discovering the true impetus of the war, I re-balanced myself and decided to FIGHT them and joined as many of the protests  as I could.  I fasted- something I'd never done before- I also prayed constantly, to be guided.  
This war was a Hell to which my only surviving brother was headed, as well as many of my cousins, uncles, and friends. Like many others I knew we had to stop the madness.  I trust Americans to hang together when they aren't being lied to.  

Whom do I trust?  I trust my People, the ones who have to do all the fighting and dying when Brigands run the country.  My people, Americans, they are the ones I trust.  

2. What are often the greatest threats to your overall balance?
All of it's still going on and it's even more hidden and illegal.  I think about this all day.  How to stop it, or, if it even can be stopped.  This Country has never been at peace since I was born!  

3. If you could add just a little more of one thing to your life and have a little less of another, what would they be?
 To add?  Absolute Silence of the Mind.  Less?  IDK ....Wishing?

4. What are pluses and minuses of hanging out with mercurial people, and what are pluses and minuses of hanging out with even-keeled people? Which tend to populate your social groups most?
Mine?  This seems like an impossible question to answer.  When the chips are down, people find their temperament hardening, and they gird their loins so to speak.  And when things ease up, so do they.  They can be the same people, these mercurial and even keeled ones.

5. What’s you greatest challenge in maintaining a balanced diet?
Being educated in what one's body needs, daily, to support itself.  There is so much yelling going on in the food "industry".  A deafening Din if there is one!

Thanks for participating, and have a lovely weekend!

Thankful Thursday? Boy, I don't know... sort of a rant...

I'm thankful and grateful no politico has said, "It could be worse...." At least I hope they haven't.

May God forgive us, for we have coveted someone else's oil, amongst all other things....

What I'm reading

Wordless Wednesday: Shhhhhhh!...they are.....everywhere shhhh.

Sort of a wimpy Tuesday Tails this week.

I'll slowly catch up today with all your nice comments and come visit, too.  PT Again today and it's almost ...well you've all had spates of it.  It's hard but it helps, and makes a person very tired.
Wolfie's is happy that he gets to go walk the canyon while I'm doing all the grimacing at the mirrors.

Am I cute or what?!?!
This is another "wolfie", Who loves to pose for snaps.
 This photo is from his owner's deviant art site
 Sorry, I am ssoooooo tired I can't find it again, having lost it TWICE!!

Hope all is well with you.  I must get some sleep now.  Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Music Monday: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Blue Danube Waltz

Enjoy!  May you feel all the blessings of Love coming to you through the Inner Ethereal Pathways.

Pina sent this which is a pictorial down the Blue Danube River...  Very Lovely!  Have an enjoyable trip down the Danube!



  Have a great week! 

Sunday stealing Part 4 of the Why do you want to know that meme..

January 16, 2016

Why Do You Want To Know That Meme, part four

Welcome back to Sunday Stealing which originated on WTIT: The Blog authored by Bud Weiser. Here we will steal all types of memes from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent memes. You may have heard the expression, “honor amongst thieves”. In that age-old tradition, we try to credit the blog that we stole it from. We also provide a link to the victim's meme in our "Previous Victims" widget. (It's our way of saying "Thanks!") Sometimes we edit the original meme, to make it more relevant to our global players, to challenge our players, to select the best questions, or simply to make it less repetitive from this new meme or recently asked questions from a previously featured meme.  

Cheers to all of us thieves!!!  


~♥~That last bit is a link back to Sunday Stealing so you can join in the fun!~♥~

Why Do You Want To Know That Meme, part four

Stolen from: Love me some surveys

 Nosy Parker alert!  Chatty Kathy alert!

76. What is the best advice you’ve ever been given? 
"This too shall pass".  Since it had gone on for 6 years of misery,  I didn't believe it at the time, but it did, indeed, pass in a couple more years.

77. Is it easier to forgive or forget? 
It's SO much easier to forgive than to forget.

78. First mobile phone? 
A  Nokia phone.  All talk and no text.  Sad to think of it.  I liked that little phone.

79. Strangest dream? 
Probably the circus dream I had when I was four.  It was gorgeous, with iridescent clothing on the horse back riders who actually didn't ride horses but deer who were also iridescent, and whose horns were twinkling in all the colors of the rainbow.  A long line of them walked past me as I awoke.
80. Best dream? 
I think it was about two little babies that were in a shallow hole in the ground.  I'd been told by someone to go look under the blanket and I would see two white kittens.  When I went there and lifted the blanket, there were actually two little human babies, and they were laughing up at me.  This was quite some time before the twins were born because I remember telling a psychologist about the dream during my pregnancy.  He was such a nice man.  I can still remember him.  He was a very kind person, and I hope he had a very nice life, too.  

81. Who is the smartest person you know? 
The smartest person I know OF is Noam Chomsky.  He ranks right up there with Einstein. 
Until you know someone who is a genius, you can't begin to understand how fast they think things through.  It's like Lightning!

82. Who is the prettiest person on you know? 
This is a question fraught with danger.  I know a lot of pretty people.  I'll take the 5th. ;o)

83. Do you miss anyone right now? 
I miss my mother.  She was one of the world's calmest souls.  She was very much a sage sort of mentality- quiet and muse like.  She was probably an old soul.

84. Who do you love? Why? 
Everyone.  Because it's the only way this tragic world can get any better. I just wish everyone could feel all the love that people send their way through the "inner most ether", and know that it's real.  It would make their lives infinitely better.

85. Do you like sharing? 
Sharing is what humans do the best.  When they do it.  Yes, I like it.  Every good thing that a person can think of involves some level of sharing.

86. What was the last picture you took with your phone? 
Earlier today: The last tomato of the season.  I thought it was ridiculously cute.

87. Is there a reason behind everything that happens? 
Yes, and we actually live in a holodeck and there are many separate realities -one of the reasons that Jesus could walk through a closed door.  It's not done with mirrors.

88. Favorite genre of music? 
Tuvan throat singing.  Hahaha  But, really, I DO like everything but rap, even like hip hop.

89. If you had one word to describe yourself, what would it be? 
Eccentric 
90. Describe your life in 5 words. 
Really, five words?  I feel like a survivor.  I feel blessed, that humbles me, two more would be Human, and grateful for everything.

91. Craziest thing you’ve ever done? 
One year, my Uni Roomie and her sister, who had the car, came to pick me up in my city which was about 70 miles inland from Venice.  Well, we ran out of gas in a very bad place on the way back to their house.  So, we thought for about five seconds, then jumped a freeway fence, ran screaming through a freeway underpass, and stuffed a phone booth with our bodies, jamming the door, and called the Operator to tell her we'd run out of gas in East L.A.  

She sent Angels of Mercy- the Highway Patrol- who got gas for us, and drove us back to the car, put it in the tank, and wished us well as we drove away, waving and blowing kisses to them.  Great Guys and fabulous Telephone Operator!  Our parents never knew I reckon.  I know mine never did!

92. First three songs in your favorite playlist? 
Ottmar Leibert: this whole album.  But this first song on it, well, it just puts me into a calm place, which I greatly need atm!  The second one finishes me off and by the time the third one rolls up if I'm not asleep, I go eat a piece of chocolate. ;o)  Sorry, the poster seems to have inserted an ad between each song.  What a jerky thing to do.  If I actually had the skills, I'd put my albums up there with NO ads whatsoever.  



93. Are you more creative or logical? 
Mr.Z would argue but I think I'm creatively logical.

94. Would you rather lie or hurt someone with the truth? 
Firstly, I'd be sure it wasn't just my opinion but actually the truth.  Then, I probably would lie to spare them hurt, if it was not dangerous to them to do so.

95. What are you most proud of? 
Being brutally honest?  heehee

96. What personality trait do you admire in other people? 
I admire Grit!  Meaning, I suppose, gentle bravery.  Or, the tough kind, to tell the truth.  

97. When you imagine yourself as really, really relaxed and happy, what are you doing? 
Do you mean without the aid of a couple of glasses of port?  Hmmm.. I am looking out across the vast ocean and seeing the sun set or rise, depending on the locale.  There are people around looking out at the sunset, and we all start to sing gently, the same magical tune, and it's not Kumbaya.

98. How do you usually start a conversation?  I usually say, "Hi, I'm XYZ, pleased to meet you", and hope it turns out to be true.  

Alternative openers are: "If you don't mind talking about it, what happened to your face?"  "I don't even know why I'm here... how about you?"  Or how about, "I couldn't help overhearing that you........". 

99. What is the best news you could hear right now?
That the kids possessed the winning ticket for the big lotto prize.

I could stop worrying so much about, well, all the bad news and everything.  The stock market, or some jerk trying to assassinate someone hugely important or something.  Sometimes I'm way out there trying to come in from the cold.

Edited: Goodbye David Bowie, hello Sponge Bob. What the frak? Saturday9

Let's Dance

Want to play along?  Go HERE.  You'll like this meme.. This one has no rules, but we like to stroll around the blogesphere, visiting fellow 9rs, and seeing their answers.

Saturday 9: Let's Dance (1983)
Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

In memory of David Bowie (1947-2016).  

1) In this song, David encourages his partner to "put on your red shoes and dance." When did you last dance?
I danced last night with the bears in a show we were watching.  Their tree rubbing had been set to music...too cute to resist.

2) Mr. Bowie recalled that he and choreographer Toni Basil developed a dance step now known as "the moonwalk" for his 1974 tour, nearly a decade before Michael Jackson performed "Billie Jean." Can you think of something you should have gotten credit for, but didn't?  

You'll likely hate this TMI answer but here goes:
A painting in Kindergarten.  It was mine but some Fair Haired Boy, astoundingly enough, claimed it. And the teacher was so stupid, or prejudiced, that she believed him.  It was only the beginning salvo. I learned very quickly that the truth meant nothing.  Dark, I know.  And I learned to sign paintings and any other thing I made.  Ouch!  I guess that spot is still sore!  

David Bowie shouldn't have been miffed. He didn't invent the moonwalk. African Americans did a lonnnng time ago. 

3) Similarly, the band Roxy Music was upset because Bowie copied their "catsuit look" for his own stage wardrobe and made it famous. What do you usually wear, Monday through Friday?
Let's see.  I wear (all seven days actually) some sort of Tee, dressed up ones with beaded edges, or traveler's souvenirs, plain or adorned, as well as comfortable pants. In summer, I wear dresses most days.  Gee, who is Roxy Music?

SOURCE

heh heh 

4) David Bowie was particular about the aftershave he wore, and one of his favorites was by Guerlain. Do you regularly apply cologne or aftershave?
No, many just give me a headache or sneezing fits.

5) In school, David's best subject was art. Think back to your own school days. In which class did you excel?
Edit:  This sounded so wrong, sorry. To be honest, I was very studious, and very good at many things but, of course, not everything- certainly not most maths.  Some maths were easy, some were pure "Greek".   

6) In addition to art and music, David Bowie displayed a keen head for business, leaving a fortune of more than $600,000,000. Would you describe yourself as "good with money?"
Not as good as that Bowie was!, But I had this amazing hunch, and begged Mr.Z to buy Qualcomm stocks.  He's still waiting to hear the end of that one, poor guy!

7) Bowie also appeared in a variety of movies from The Man Who Fell to Earth to Zoolander. Who is your all time favorite movie actor?
My favorites are just too numerous to mention. But I'm pretty sure what Kwizgiver's  going to say. lol 

8) One of Bowie's hits is "Life on Mars." If you had the opportunity to travel into space, would you take it?
Probably not.  Really, I'd rather climb a tree.  That's high enough for me.  Tree Sitting.. It's a wonderful view!  I'm so into fixing earth first. 

9) The creators of SpongeBob Square Pants are huge Bowie fans and were thrilled when, in 2007, he appeared in an episode. Sam suspects that she may be the only person who hasn't seen that cartoon show. What about you? Have you ever watched an episode of SpongeBob, start to finish?
I'm sorry to say that I'm just too old to watch sponge Bob, not that I'd pay any attention to him if I were younger.  I'm just sorry to be so old.  

The whole thing was, whatever else it may be, a great marketing Scheme. Someone really knew how to take an idea beyond reason- one might say, into outer space, and make little kids beg for more, more, more!  Ground breaking tactic, eh?

And now for some Fun Stuff! What if Hogwarts had been established in the USA?

http://www.knowable.com/a/15-ways-hogwarts-would-be-different-if-it-was-in-america

Fans of Harry Potter, Unite!  lol

Today was a PT Torture day, and I just needed a laugh...
Be backlater in the morning, it is just passed midnight, for Saturday9ers!
Thanks to Chris in Tassie!

friday5: A toy gun? Really? That ain't no toy.

Friday 5 for January 15: SW: TFA

Hello, and welcome to this week’s Friday 5. Please copy these questions to your webspace. Answer the questions there; then leave a comment below so we’ll all know where to check out your responses. Please don’t forget to link us from your website!
PS from the Z Blogger:  The link back to the "Mother ship"  is HERE.  *wink

(inspired by a certain movie I finally saw, with no spoilers)

When did you last wear a lei (or something similar)?
Thinking...tic toc, tic toc.. and the answer is... never.

What are your thoughts on organically grown produce?
My thoughts are that everyone, but especially the children, should ever eat anything else.  The reason is that it's best for them and for Mother Earth. 

Which Goldie Hawn movies have you seen?
"Overboard", "First Wive's Club","Death Becomes Her", and "Housesitter", "Shampoo",and, "The Out-of-Towners".

What’s something you’ve recently and reluctantly flown solo on?
Flown solo?  Well, I'm not a pilot so, the answer is, nothing.

What experience do you have with BB or pellet guns?
BB guns: I owned one as a child, and so did my brother.  

One like this new commemorative one.

My cousin was blinded in one eye by a friend's beebee gunshot when he was 11 or 12 years old. 

Also, the ignorant neighbors used to shoot birds out of the honeysuckle and off the telephone wires- in our urban neighborhood - with one, Grrrrrrr!

Pellet guns I've never had any contact with one,good or bad.  Personally, I don't like either one of them, because kids who have no training or any sort of instruction just don't understand that they both can be so dangerous.

Wow, I just googled this for an image, and it's all over the place...Wowzer!  

Thanks for participating, and I have a bad feeling about this!

At first it was unclear why you would have a bad feeling about this friday five.  Now I know!

Even though I liked my BB Gun, and the Savage .22 that replaced it, I really never would have let one of my kids haveeither weapon.  My poor cousin was reason enough, but a parent could end up losing the house in a lawsuit, I reckon.

Thankful Thursday:

I'm writing this on Wednesday, after wading through a literal ton of Wordless Wednesday meme posts offerings.  I'm a purist, and am trying to hook up with the ones that haven't turned into something else. I understand the temptation, I really do.

However, it is truly good to find a non-commercialized site which is run by a photographer- , professional or amateur;  a site where the blogger understands and enjoys the Day. Thank you for sharing all your amazing photos, and being quiet,

"Shhhh!".  ;-)

Now it's Thursday, *flips Calendar*

I was able to go see my sister, and she gave me some ideas about how to go about getting things sorted at my house.  She used to admire me for my neat and orderly spaces.  Now she needs to give me advice!

But, back to Thankful Thursday:

I'm thankful for my cameras, and if there were a Goddess of Cameras, I'd be laying big bouquets of flowers at her feet!
I've been busy looking for images to share, because Life as all these tiny,overlooked and hidden beauties that may not often show themselves, or that, perhaps, get overlooked just because we are so busy trying to make a living, or we are trying to keep up on the dreadful TV news, though most of the time those media sources are using the public airways to terrify, to cow, and then to sell you something at the commercial breaks.   I have a very dire mindset towards such modern-day "Bread and Circuses".

But this is a Thankful Thursday post; I must tell you that I'm thankful that PT has helped my leg so much that it can now hold my weight by itself.  Also, a well placed Cortisone shot helped my shoulder so greatly that I was stoked enough to drag all the stuff for the two unfinished sweaters out of their cozy corner - though they growled and snapped at me- and have them ready to knit upon tomorrow - for a limited time- when I'll have a couple of free hours.

I wish you all a very productive day.  No matter how small the project, give yourself credit for getting out of bed and starting on it.  Brush our hair, and smile at yourself in the mirror.

May you walk with Beauty all around you. May you feel the Blessing of it
And remember those immortal words of Killgore Trout:  "It's all life, until it's over!"

These Orchid trees are blooming again.
 I saw some of them yesterday on the way to PT

The Carolina Cherries can't be too far behind!  We have had an abundance of rain this fall and winter, another thing for thankfulness in California.

Wordless Wednesday

Our lands?

Says who?
 After the near genocide against the original, or First People, who held the land in common, we, Americans, now hold the public lands in common.
That means the BLM has to remember not to do with these lands, doling out drilling lands off, say, as they please.  It also means the individual States don't have the rights to them.  They had not ought to try that either.

We hold these lands in common, the entirety of Americans (also known as, "the People") own them. And, that is the way it should remain.  I'm sure we all have seen what happens when the public lands are not respected.  Destruction the size of Appalachia happens.  Water projects that are unsupportable come into being -  Etc,etc,etc.  So, whomsoever is doing these things, will you just " Stop it already, please?"

http://theguzzler.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-larger-but-quieter-than-bundy-push.html

Pt. Reyes

Earth: Love it or Lose it.  

Friday5 on Sunday, And Sunday Stealing, too!

Friday 5 for January 8: Slow

HERE'S a link to this fun Meme!  I missed picking it up on Friday because I was lazing about and reading.


Hello, and welcome to this week’s Friday 5! Please copy these questions to your webspace. Answer the questions there; then leave a comment below so we’ll all know where to check out your responses. Please don’t forget to link us from your website!

1. What’s something you make that takes a really long time to cook?
A pot roast.  I brown it, and then slow bake it, covered, with aromatic vegetables and herbs for hours and hours because then it's extremely tender and moist.  This is a heat the house in winter sort of thing.

2. Of books you’ve completed, which took you the most time to get from beginning to end?
And Ladies of the Club, and A Suitable Boy are probably tied for that honor.  Those books are long and they are both worth it.  If Jane Smiley's new trilogy were in one book, it would be longer, I reckon.

3. What’s a movie that seemed much longer than it was?
"Waiting for Godot".  It was a movie made from the stage play.  I thought it would never end.
All of it was filmed on a stoop in Brooklyn.  Oh my G__ what a snorer that was.  But, it was "Art" and we stuck it out.  

4. Who was your partner for your first slow dance?
Mr.Z.  I was 19, and we'd just met.  It was like something out of a movie (a good movie), and it didn't last long enough. But then we danced and danced and danced that night.  And he made it possible to "break away" from Psycho Dad who threw me out of the house in a drunken rage!   Talk about Drama Queens  Kings!  

5. What decision are you dragging your feet toward making?
Selling off my two centrifugal casters, and all the stuff that goes with them.  I'll be admitting that it's an era that's come to an end.  But, happily, I can still knit and run a sewing machine.  There is that.  And I have lots and LOTS of thread, too, and other small craft junk.  Totally rich feeling, this.....

Thanks for participating, and have a wonderful weekend!

And now for something completely different.

January 9, 2016

Why Do You Want To Know That Meme, part three

Welcome back to Sunday Stealing which originated on WTIT: The Blog authored by Bud Weiser. Here we will steal all types of memes from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent memes. You may have heard the expression, “honor amongst thieves”. In that age-old tradition, we try to credit the blog that we stole it from. We also provide a link to the victim's meme in our "Previous Victims" widget. (It's our way of saying "Thanks!") Sometimes we edit the original meme, to make it more relevant to our global players, to challenge our players, to select the best questions, or simply to make it less repetitive from this new meme or recently asked questions from a previously featured meme.  

Cheers to all of us thieves!!!  CLICK HERE to play

Why Do You Want To Know That Meme, part three

Stolen from: Love me some surveys


50. What do you spend most of your money on? 
Food, utilities, gasoline and upkeep on the vehicles, Doctor bills, and of course, our doggie.

51. Would you rather visit the past or the future? 
Can I visit them both at the same time?  Please?  It would be sort of, I don't know, Trippy?

SOURCE

52. Favorite clothing store? 
I like the Goodwill, to be honest.  Well, Ross and TJMax, and Marshall's are sort of (makes funny hand motions) in there together for second place.

53. What is the best advice you can give to those who are feeling down? 
I'd tell them to count their blessings, and if they don't think they have any, I'd be sympathetic, but I'd tell them to think, instead, about the refugees struggling to "get out of Dodge" before the bombs fall or disease kills their little kids.

54. How often do you think about your future? Does it scare you? 
My future is out there where it's always been, though, like every human, I know I have to die.  Only the possible terminal pain scares me.  I'm not afraid to die.  My sister once said, and I think she is right, that dying was the easy part.

55. What angers you the most? 
That the human race is still fighting to the death over religion, money, territory, and that greedy people use fear against every one else, and they do it all the time.

56. When was the last time you got majorly angry? 
I'm reading a book called, The Wrong Enemy.  It makes me mad that whoever is orchestrating this farce is still out there, doing it.  And who has paid the price?  The Afghanis.

57. When was the last time you got really sad? 
Read question 56.  

58. Are you good at lying? 
No.

59. What foreign language would you like to learn? 
Ok, I'll pick Pashtu this time.  I'd like to read what they have to say about all this crap that's going down in their country because no one had any brains in the European nations to see this thing coming!  See, that qualifies this sentence as the last time I was angry. (see answer 56) 

60. How many languages can you speak and what are they? 
I can't speak them anymore (French and Spanish). English is my native tongue.  I can understand a lot of the other two but can no longer speak them.  Read, yes. speak no.  I can sort of  muddle my way through a little Italian.  It's something in the dna -the bad stuff from PsychoDad who could read, speak and write five languages.  The guy was as mad as a hatter but a great linguist.

61. How often do you go to parties? If you don’t, what do you do instead? 
I go to two parties a year, and that's enough for me.  The rest of the time, I don't go to parties.

62. What books do you plan to read this year? 
The rest of Jane Smiley's books, there are about three, and whatever else I've bought but haven't finished because of time- or revulsion.  I only read revolting things that I've bought if they are non fiction.  Non-fiction is sort of like that.  Fiction you can just ignore, sell on ebay, or chuck into the library sales.

63. Do you have breakfast every morning? 
Yes.  I call it the meal that I get chocolate with.  Chocolate is a food like any other, and best eaten in the morning, unless you want to take a lot more things to help you sleep at night.  I don't.  Do you?

64. Tell us a secret. 
But that would be telling!  I should tell you one of my secrets?  Idon'tthinkso...

65. How many concerts have you been to? 
Maybe thirty all told, classical, jazz, Rock, etc.  Actually more probably.

66. Last hug? 
This morning.  Mr.Z came home from the gym.

67. Who knows you better than anyone else? 
Mr. Z.  He knows all my secrets.  I am not telling them to anyone else.  Don't beg.  Don't do it.

68. Baths or showers? 
I like to take showers but like baths, too.  Singing in the rain ain't that bad either.  If I lived where there was a monsoon season, it would be nice to wash everything in the rain, yes?

69. Do you think you’re ambitious? 
No.

70. What song is stuck in your head? 
My head is finally totally Silent!  Don't you dare whistle a happy tune, either!  I'll have to hunt you down and duct tape your mouth shut.  Do you understand me?  ;o)

71. Countries you’ve visited? 
Mexico.  It used to be nice there.  I miss it.

72. What do you most value in your friends? 
Honesty, and also a sense of humor;  there's that matchless ability to have courage to go on when live slaps them down thinga, too.  + Guilelessness.

73. What helps you to sleep better? 
Holding my dear Mr. Z's hand.  And some herbals and a pharmaceutical.  Lol! 

74. What is the most money you have ever held in your hand? 
Probably a hundred dollar bill.  I've never even SEEN anything bigger than that.


75. What makes you nervous?
Questions like those here... This totally FREAKS ME OUT!  Actually I don't like to hear growling in the dark when we are camping, either.

I just found out about Tsum Tsums....

Life will never be exactly the same again...

How can I ever catch up?

Trains, witches, Swartz piles, and Vogue. Saturday9

It's Saturday9!

The link is in the side bar or go HERE to join in the fun!  We have no rules because, in truth we don't like them.  But you can read and comment on the Linky that is on the Gal Herself 's Saturday9 blog.

Saturday 9: Five O'Clock World (1966)

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

1. Think back to Friday. Did it fly by? Or did you find yourself checking the clock and wishing it was 5:00?
Actually it was a very nice day.  I woke up thinking this Friday was one of the PT days, and it wasn't.  So the rest was ALL leisure time.  Loved it.  I can't begin to describe the exact level of giddy Euphoria that overtook me as I snuggled back down into bed with the kindle aglow in my hands.

 2. This song refers to the 5:00 whistle that signifies the end of the work day. What's the last whistle, alarm or buzzer you heard?
Nine AM everyday, set for Wolfie's eye med and my med.  There are two things set for that time, too.  One of them is my little plastic gym watch.  I can't figure out how to shut off it's alarm, so now there are two set- it and the phone.  

However, I'll tell you about the last whistle because it's lots more fun.  We have a train that goes just about daily, and sometimes at around 1:30 am, down the incline to the valley below us.  It always sounds it's whistle, actually a horn, I guess.  It's lovely to hear.  Reminds me of the freight train that went to Pennsylvania through my Grandpa's woods.  I love these trains, even when I hear one sounding it's horn/whistle after 1 AM.

3. In the 1960s, the Vogues often appeared on TV variety shows to promote their record albums. Do you have the TV on now, as you answer these questions?
Nope.

4. "Vogue" means "popular or fashionable." Tell us about something that you feel is in vogue today. 
It's becoming more popular with little kids these days, correct me if I'm wrong, to be aware of the environment.  I don't think it's a vogue, though.  I think it's completely real and lasting.  

5. Vogue magazine reported that the big Fall/Winter trend was brocade. Describe the latest addition to your Fall/Winter wardrobe. 
Ha!  Me?  A fashionista?  Well, once I was very fashion conscious but not anymore.

6. Vogue editor Anna Wintour is such a difficult boss that disgruntled employees nicknamed her "Nuclear Wintour." What qualities do you think make a good boss?
Bosses need to make sure that they  don't go power mad, or carry "home" into work with them.  Good bosses can, and do, communicate precisely what an employee's responsibilities are, kindly and firmly.  Wow, having said all this, I just looked at the next question!  Yep, that witchypoo, the one played so very well by Meryl Streep!  A Bad Baaa-aaad Boss!    

7. Ms. Wintour was rumored to be the inspiration for the character of Amanda in the book and movie, The Devil Wears Prada. Did you receive any books or movies for Christmas 2015? Did you receive any gift cards that you then used for books or movies?  I'm not surprised that prima donna was the model.  As the the question, the answer is no, not for Christmas but for my birthday.  I bought two books and will get more later.  Books, e or hard copy, are lovely!  

8. "Vogue" was also a dance, made famous by Madonna in her 1990 hit by the same name. Can you name another Madonna song?
"Don't cry for me Argentina".  It's a beautiful song.  Andrew Lloyd Webber and Time Rice wrote it, of course, but she sang it wonderfully well.  This video is of a live performance, in Argentina.  



9. Random question from a Sat9-er: How organized are your clean clothes? (Stacked in piles, folded neatly in drawers, still in the dryer....?)
All our clothes are folded and in drawers or hung in closets.  It's always been this way.   I hang them right out of the dryer, to save ironing them or looking anymore like an ancient Bat/Witch than I already do.  heehee   My Swartz piles (detritus) are in the craft room.

Me, on a good day...

SOURCE is a Hookah page.  Not going to link it.
Too frisky for tender folk.

If I were healthy this house would be spotless.  Cough cough.. And now Madame DeFarge will get back to her knitting....which she has recently taken back up.... our maybe she'll just keep reading and drinking herbal tea.

Google does the unthinkable- a rant

Pinterest grabbed this without attribution.

In an apparent attempt to completely jam our heads into its mold, Google has gone a bit far.  In mid January they are going to make it impossible to have a follower in friends connect who does not have a google account.
It's all Google or nothing which, to me, is a major pain.  Followers and following are a big thing in blogging, as they say in their blurb about the changes, but that doesn't mean they plan to make it easier.  I guess it all comes down to visible market share, and the price of stock.  I wish they'd just kept their hands off of Blogspot.com  in the first place.

Here's a partial blurb from Google:

"As part of this plan, starting the week of January 11, we’ll remove the ability for people with Twitter, Yahoo, Orkut or other OpenId providers to sign in to Google Friend Connect and follow blogs. At the same time, we’ll remove non-Google Account profiles so you may see a decrease in your blog follower count.

We encourage you to tell affected readers (perhaps via a blog post), that if they use a non-Google Account to follow your blog, they need to sign up for a Google Account, and re-follow your blog. With a Google Account, they’ll get blogs added to their Reading List, making it easier for them to see the latest posts and activity of the blogs they follow.

We know how important followers are to all bloggers, but we believe this change will improve the experience for both you and your readers."

Of course I'm angry.   I really wish we all could bite them on the leg. Or perhaps, in the case of Google, on a tentacle!

What if........

What if you could get off this planet forever.  Would you go?  Maybe not.

 Tonight, A friend, whose opinion I respect, told me that such an attitude seemed sort of selfish.
 I can see now, with a clarity I've never before seen, that if given the chance, I'd rather come back and help, if given the assurances needed that to help would be my destiny.  I'd do that in the twinkling of an eye.

Buddhist call such a being a Bodhisattva.

 http://www.wildmind.org/mantras/bodhisattvas   

Whatever it's called, it's certainly a chance to help.  To me that is the best existence.  

Guzzler article on the commercializations of sacred rock art.

http://theguzzler.blogspot.com/2016/01/how-ancient-native-american-rock-art-is.html

I'm putting this here because it's important to me.  If you would like to read it, please feel free.

The guzzler is a blog I follow, and the person who writes it reminds me of one of the best reporters that I've ever had the pleasure of following through the years.  That reporter would be Don Bauder.
Im really thankful for people who ask important questions.
I'll be back soon.

We must remember, we live in a desert even if it does bloom once a year.

This is the pass into Santee Valley