Sunday Stealing.. BUGS!

Welcome back to Sunday Stealing which originated on WTIT: The Blog authored by Bud Weiser. 

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. You may have heard the expression, “honor among thieves”. In that age-old tradition, we try to credit the blog that we stole it from, if possible. We also provide a link to the victim's questions 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 recently asked questions from a previously post. Cheers to all of us thieves!

Absolutely adorable BUG!

Here are some questions about bugs and other things you might find interesting.  It's another of those memes I stole many years ago without copying down the location of the place where I stole it!

Remember: If you want to join in, or see other participant entries, go HERE

1. You are walking down the road and you look down. There is a bug. Do you step on it? 
Not ever if I can help it.  I wouldn't drop a baby to not step on it, but I'd try to avoid doing this.  It has it's little life to live to.  I rescue bugs.  Do I brake for them? Sometimes.. Goliath Beetle, absolutely.  I can see them really well.  

2. What is one fantasy that you want to come true more than any other?
An alien race actually cares enough about us to come and extract the bad juju from the minds of those who have it, and then sets our feet back on the path of world Peace.  And, we are actually GRATEFUL and bend our swords into plowshares!

3. Someone knocks on your door. Do you look out the window to see who it is before you open it? Do you open it regardless of who it is? 
I can see through my front door. So this is not a question that requires much thought on my part.  

4. Have you ever eaten Play Doh?
We didn't have Play Doh when I was a kid, so no, I've never eaten it.  I did MAKE a version of Play Doh for the kids, but mine was bakeable, too.  All mother's of my generation know how to do this. 
The one I linked I found on line at AllRecipes... lots of ads.  Also, this version can't be baked.  The kids made some cute little Christmas Ornaments of the  60's version.  You could paint them.

5. What was your favorite Saturday morning cartoon as a child and why?
For always and ever more, it will by "The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show".  It was so very cool.

6. Are you a “people watcher”? 
No, to be honest, I'd rather watch birds.  I'm a bird watcher.  
I think that people get nervous when you watch them too much.  I really kind of think that it's rude.  Here's an article I found about it, while I was poking around the internet to see if People Watching was what I remembered it to be.... a Slight snarkiness that women in the Midwest were participating in back in the 40's and 50's, etc etc.  Oh yes, I really can remember this.  Mother thought this behavior was rude.  She called it "Hens, pecking".  She didn't like it.  Maybe that's why I feel uncomfortable around it.  There is also a sort of harmless people watching.  So, it depends on why it's being done, I suppose. 

7. I have a bowl of fruit. There are apples, oranges, and pears. You help yourself to one - which one do you choose?
If it's a navel orange, I'd pick that.  Otherwise I'd pick the apple, unless the pears were Bosc pears.  Then I'd pick that.  And you thought that it was going to be a simple answer.  Buhahahaha!

8. What is your biggest pet peeve in the blogging world? 
Links that go to mega advert pages where you have to wade knee deep through banners and breaks in the narrative to get the story.  I don't normally stay at a monetized blog that has huge gaps of ads stuffed all around.  Polite ads are another thing.  I can tolerate them.

9. What is one religion that you could just never see yourself joining?
This is a loaded cannon if ever there was one.  
No, unless it's one I haven't studied yet, or read the Holy Book for.  
I believe that all paths lead to the truth that we are all one big family.  And that there are superior beings who love and care for us. It's our task to seek them out.  We also have to stop this warfare and stop giving them great big headaches.   Now I'll be quiet.  Quiet is where the Spirit Dwells.  That still, small voice that every belief system tells us is there.

I'm not sure exactly how to say this, but once our little nuclear family created it's own religion, and we called ourselves the Holy Hopjes.  It's a kind of candy.  And Saturday was our Sabbath, and on that day we ate some Hopjes and sometimes blew bubbles at the beach or a park as one of our tiny rituals.  Of course, we were all Quaker, too.  And, we prayed for world Peace.

10. What word do you use far too often? 
"Wish".  I must say that 50 times a day.

11. How long do you spend in the shower? 
Five minutes.  Ten if I'm washing my hair.  This is California, and we all have to do our part.

12. If you were to write a personal ad about yourself, what would it say?
IDK..."Grandmotherly woman in her mid 70's, who sews and knits and makes ceramics, seeks a House in Arkata(or surrounding area) in California, for the use of re-uniting her family in a city that knows how to reduce pollution.  Only really large houses with barns for our plow horses need apply."  

13. Your favorite flavor of soup is….? 
Soup has a flavor?  Minestrone.  I like that best, especially home made.

14. You are sitting on a bench in the park and a bug walks in front of your feet…. do you squash him?  (I am assuming this is a different bug from question #1)
Depends on the bug.   To be honest, I like bugs a whole lot better than most people do.  Most bugs are very likable.  They do a LOT of work for the Home Team, meaning self centered Humans.  So, no, I wouldn't squash him unless he was a very deadly one that could hurt children if they happened by.  Adults, well they can fend for themselves.

Saturday9: Bobby Sherman, "Little Woman" . Don't you be calling me that, Dude!

Welcome to Saturday Nine.  

We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love to answer the questions, however, and here is today's questions! 

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

1) This song contains many weather references (clouds, rainbows, sunshine, rain). How's the sky where you are today?  
Very Blue, and I'm very glad and thankful!  The new roof is not completely on, but almost done.  And the hot water tank is going back up on the roof!  Yay!  I can wash my hair in warm water! We heat water with Solar.

2) Bobby Sherman sings that when he's alone, he imagines his "Little Woman" is right there beside him. Do you often daydream?  I've always been a daydreamer.  

3) Bobby had a very bright smile. Do you ever use whiteners on your teeth?
No.  Or rather, not that I know of.  Some tooth pastes have them in them.  They make my throat sort of cloggy and a bit sore.

Gee, I don't think so........
Image is from THIS page

4) He was beloved for his shiny hair. If we were to peek in your bathroom, how many haircare products would we find? 
There is shampoo and conditioner.  That's it. Of course there are several bottles of these due to DH and I not using the same products.  Also, I had a shampoo caddy sort of like this one. 

When that puppy slipped down, which it regularly did, I usually had my back  turned to it, and I had a headful of suds!  Every single time, I did a high jump in the shower.  It was like the whole room was coming down on my head.  What a racket!  After the Umpteenth time, I threw it out of the shower!  Maybe it can come in handy as a flower pot hanger outside where it's not a danger.  


5) After high school, Bobby attended Pierce, a community college in the west San Fernando Valley. For culinary students, Pierce offers courses in canning -- specifically apples and peaches. If we were to peek into your pantry, would we find canned fruits?
No, but that didn't used to be the case.  I used to do much more canning of my grandmother's chow chow, grandma's bread and butter pickles, jams, fruit butters, and also did a lot of freezing of berries.  When I was a child, my mother and I canned a whole little urban farm's worth of every sort of vegetable and fruit, and we made several fruit butters.  I still occasionally make Lemon Marmalade, and will still make apple butter if I get my hands on apples, or bread and butter pickles from zucchini. Mother even had a recipe for green tomato chow chow from her mother.  I didn't make that but it's very good!

Chow Chow image and a recipe from HERE

6) As an actor, one of Bobby's earliest performances was on the TV show Honey West. That series revolved around a female "private eye" adept at martial arts. Do you have any self-defense moves (that don't involve a weapon)?
We have a few of Jackie Chan's movies.  He's amazing!  And he's funny, too!  Oh!  You said moves.. well, no, but I can really scream and really put my knee where it hurts a lot.  I can hit an assailant with my cane. 

From Tropes

7) In 1966, Bobby did this rather energetic commercial for milk. Do you often enjoy a glass of milk?  I used to love milk but now almost never drink it.  I can eat ice cream, cheeses and yogurt so it's just the milk for some reason.  Maybe because I haven't had an organic milk. idk

8) When his show business career waned, he became a paramedic. Have you ever called 911?
Twice for me, and a couple of times for other people.

9) Random Question: Which book do you think you could learn more from -- The Joy of Sex or The Joy of Cooking? Definitely The Joy of Cooking.  I have that set by the way.  Cooking is an Art.  As to the other, it's an instinct. To be honest, when a person thinks about it, that is what it is! Lol...

I'm tired kids.  And this is going up early because of it.  I'm going to go take a long nap.  I'm too tired to track down the original net poster of this kitty.  But, I had it saved from an online Puzzle site so that has to be good enough.   If it's not, I'll take it down.
Want to play along?  Go HERE.  

Thursday 13, As Promised: a collection of chickens.

For a time, I collected many things "Chicken".  I like chickens and, even today, I'd like to have the Five Laying hens my city has started letting us own as pets.  We can, famously, even have two mini goats, but alas, we will never have mini goats.  More's the pity, since as weed abatement crews, they are top drawer!

Remember: by "clickin" on the Chicken, you can get a bigger view...

So, with no further delay, The Flock:

1.  This is a 70's chicken basket.  I call this my Medicine Chicken because it used to hold all my medicines.  Most of these woven bamboo baskets came from China, which once exported all sorts of beautiful baskets.

2. A hen, this of the hen and chicks basket set.  They weren't actually a set, but I thought they looked like one.

3. The Chicks.  They are very well behaved, for twins. *winks*

This little family group dates from the 1970's

4. Now for one of the glass Sitting Hens.  There are more of these, some tiny and some this size.  I liked the yellow one for now.  No, I will not do this again but I could!

5. Here is another ceramic piece, only this time a handmade, stoneware penny bank.

6.  I have several of these sets of Hen and Rooster.  None are from any famous place and some are actually obviously seconds. lol  But I like them and can always put the "bad" side in, towards the wall.

7. More of the above....

8.  This is from a famous maker but it's a "second".  I got it during one of my strolls through many little Collectibles stores with my sister.

Chicken Vase

9.  Oooops another little basket chicken... This one is a very small one, and it has never been used as a basket.  But I just thought it was very cute.

The rest (10 through 13.5) are small, miniatures actually.  Some of them are old; you can tell, readily, which ones are.

10.  Post War Japan, when they were trying to rebuild their ceramics prowess.  I have a couple of sets from this era.

11.  Proud parents with a chick. Circa early 1980's

12. This little fella was a bachelor.

There was no hen in sight!

13.  I just had to add these as a pair.  Call them, "The Odd Balls."  The are neither woven nor ceramic.

A resin-cast Hen that I thought was super cute-ugly

A Rock Rooster, in more ways than one.
This came from a Gem and Mineral show-
a place that always has something for everyone.

Except from the last one, these have been gifts or ones I've gotten when my sister and I would wander the local collectible stores.  We would also have bi-weekly outings to Old Town and Seaport Village to have lunch and look around the shops there. Seaport Village may be gone now, for all I know, but it was always fun to go there with my sister.
I miss doing these things with my once lively Little Sister.  I know she misses them, too.

Wordless Wednesday: Yellow-headed Blackbirds in Arizona in the Mid-Nineties.

Yes it overlaps but it looks best at this size.
This is awfully wordy for a Wordless Wednesday.

Early Tuesday Tails... Sunday Stills at NatGeo UPDATED with a warning.

Just in case you missed this sort of Viral photo......

I'm not happy with this LINK TO SOURCE PAGE AT NATGEO 
and when you get there, you'll understand why. Adware.. sheesh

Sunday stealing with a rant in the middle. or towards the beginning, or both.. *sigh*

Today is a Fashion Show

Welcome back to Sunday Stealing which originated on  

WTIT: The Blog authored by Bud Weiser. 

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. You may have heard the expression, “honor among thieves”. In that age-old tradition, we try to credit the blog that we stole it from, if possible. We also provide a link to the victim's questions 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 recently asked questions from a previously post. Cheers to all of us thieves!

This is Marissa Seymour who wrote an entry called Today is a fashion show & the world is my runway from which these questions are taken. 

And, If you'd like to join in the fun or see the other participant's answers, go HERE.  It's fun!

The Questions.....

1. A way to win your heart
This is a tough one.  I'll go with these things.  Be kind.  Be loving and compassionate towards people and animals. Don't lie.

2. Something you feel strongly about
Healthcare truth.  The insurance industry, in case Senator McCain has forgotten, fought long and hard to keep in place everything THEY needed to make a profit on the backs of the American public. He should remember that and stop saying anyone rammed a bill through Congress.  It was a hard and awful fight, and his memory is not intact on that.  He should get his facts straight or just shut up.  And yes, I feel VERY STRONGLY ABOUT THIS because I lost a daughter because of one of the line items they rammed down Obama's throat. McCain, don't you DARE tell me I don't know what I'm talking about because OUR family LIVED it. 

3. A book you love
I love a book called, A Suitable Boy by Vikrum Seth  

4. Five pet peeves
Oh ho ho.. this could be fun but I'll play nice...
1. Aggressive, selfish people who lie.
2. Rudeness. 
3. Meanness
4. People who are so aggressively competitive that everything is a contest to them.
5. Narcissists. They are very hard to deal with.

5. What you ate today
Well this is Saturday.  So far I've had Builder's Bar and a Banana, and an Apple and a small handful of mixed nuts.  And two squares of dark chocolate. Pizza night is usually Friday, but it was too busy.  That means that tonight is Pizza night so we'll have that!

6. How important do you think education is?
A good education in paramount to being able to live a decent life in this modern world.  I'd like us to stop sending the children to war, and start using the money for their educations and making it possible for them to have their own houses instead living so many years on the Pentagon's Playgrounds of Death.

7. Five people you find attractive
1. Well, Mr. Z always looks cute or handsome to me,  No lie!
2. George Clooney... sorry Kwizz, you have to share him.
3. Will Smith. 
4. The Young Tommy Lee Jones
5. Dev Patel.  I can see him playing the lead in a movie based on the book, "A Suitable Boy". Wow would I ever buy that one. Oh wait, it's a drama already!  BBC is did it.  I missed that!  I need to get out more. 

8. What you wore today
Sweat pants and a vee neck T, and no shoes.  Perfect!

9. Something you always think “what if” about
Just listen to the song, "Imagine".  It says it a lot better than I ever could.  

10. Something you’re proud of
My daughters.  They are making their way in a very tough world. This is a world I never could have imagined was coming when I was a teen.  I didn't see this coming until I went to College and talked to women from all over the world.  The Hall I was in was Women only.  We got to talk a lot over our meals.

11. Something you lust after
I'd really like a used Canon Mark III with a 250mm and a 500 mm lens.  The camo blind I can make myself. lol  four sticks and a bit of wire, and six yards of camo fabric.

12. A word/phrase that makes you laugh
"The first Hundred Years are the Hardest."  My friend and unofficial big brother, Jerry, used to say that phrase whenever either of us was going through something.  I can still hear him say it.  And, to this day, it makes me smile.

13. A quote you try to live by
That would be the first  quote under my blog header.  "May you walk with Beauty all around you"

14. Something you like and dislike about yourself.
Physically?  I don't like that all my loss of height is in my torso,  as it's made me into a fire plug and I have this big bunch up of skin that will probably be with me until I die and will no longer have to haul it around.  

15. A problem that you have had 
People who thought I was fat, and that my girls were fat.  They were/are idiots and ruled our lives for far too long.  I look back at pictures of the girls and I when this was going on and I think, "What jackasses those so and so's are.  Mean people suck.

Saturday9: DA! An doo not Ron in da halls!

Da Doo Ron Ron

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

Saturday 9: Da Doo Ron Ron (1977)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it HERE

Want to see other posts or to play along with the gang?  go Here...

1) This song begins by stating that he met her on a Monday and his heart stood still. How did your past week start? It may be a lot to expect you to report that you met someone who made your heart stand still, but did anything noteworthy occur? 
We stayed home the whole day.  So, no.  It's nice not to have something going on all the time.  When I'm in the middle of a trauma, I look forward to just having peaceful days forEVER.  Anyway, it was a very Peaceful day.  I spent time reading the posts from Sunday Stealing.  And read more of my book.  We played a little of our online game.  Watched some Netflix.  By the way, there is supposed to be a new season of "Call the Midwife" in Netflix, but it might have been a hoax.  And, there's a movie called, "Lion" that is BEYOND wonderful.  I recommend it.  You all probably know all about this amazing film but now it's on Netflix so you can watch it again.  I'm going to in a few years.  How's that for optimism?

2) While making hit records, Shaun Cassidy also starred as Joe Hardy on the Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries. The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books have been popular with generations of American kids. Were you a fan?
No, but my mother had a few of these books in her collection.  Neither of my mini generational sets of kids read them nor did I.  Mother must have gotten them from her younger sibs, who did read them.

3) Shaun went to Beverly Hills High School. Over the decades, BHHS has had many good footballs teams. Do you remember what sports your school excelled at?
Other than the fact that we had a basketball team and a football team, I don't remember them being like Beverly Hills or anything.  We did have a stellar player who went on to have a career in ProFootball.

4) Shaun followed his older half-brother, David Cassidy, into TV/records/teen stardom. Do you have siblings? If yes, what career paths did they follow?
My brother became a carpenter, too.  But unlike me, he stayed in it and worked most of his life in the trades.  He should have gotten a degree in Mechanical drawing, because he won awards for that in High school.  But, like many in that generation, Vietnam got him.  He didn't go into that Holocaust, but he did have an injury that has plagued him his whole life, with numerous knee operations.  He spent his remaining enlistment time working in the APO and is now a retired vet. 
My sister worked her whole life in Orthodontics, getting an RDA license when she was 21.  She was stricken with her illness before she could properly retire.  

5) His middle name is Paul, after his maternal grandfather. Tell us something about one of your grandparents. 
My paternal grandmother, the gentlest little woman I ever met in my adult life, was Half  Three Quarters native American.  She had a small farm where she raised animals (small ones like my mom did) and grew all sorts of vegetables, and grew, dried and ground her own corn into meal.  She gave me the first instruction in curing olives.  She was a terrific little lady.  I knew her and stayed relatively close until moving to San Diego.  The last time I saw her, DH took me to her home in Colorado when she was 93, and she died two or three years after that.  She was this tiny doll of a woman, 4'9" , and shorter, even, than my diminutive maternal Gran who was 4"10". 

6) Shaun's mother, actress Shirley Jones, reports that he was more than 3 weeks late and born by Cesarean. Have you heard family legends about your arrival into the world?
Only that I was born during a hellacious blizzard, and the amazing family doctor came and stayed the whole night because I was born at 3 am.  Also, because I was born a few days before Christmas, the doctor gave mother an discount on his fee.  I know his name but won't put it here, and whenever I tell this, I think very kind thoughts for this wonderful doctor. He was my doctor off and on until I was five. My mother returned home for the births of my two brothers.  

7) "Da Doo Ron Ron" was originally recorded by The Crystals. Can you think of another song that has been a hit by more than one artist?
The Crystals are who I remember this from..  As to the rest, well, not just one but dozens.  I'll just mention two: "Hallelujah", and, "Landslide".  Both have had multiple covers and hits.

8) In 1977, when this version of "Da Doo Ron Ron" was popular, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak incorporated Apple. Are you Mac or Android?
I've got some of both. The Mac handles artware programs a lot more smoothly.  I'm certain I'd have one if I worked in the industry. 
  
9) Random Question: You're exhausted. You collapse into bed and are about to drift into slumber when you hear the drip-drip-drip of the bathroom faucet. Would you kick off the covers and go turn it off? Or would you stay in bed, letting it drip until morning?

Probably I would not be able to sleep through it, but then I've been exhausted enough to sleep through a couple of local fires, one of them a five alarm, 12 engine one at the apartments, a half block away.  Barring that sort of exhaustion, it's likely I would think of the wasted gallons and would get up and shut it off.  In California, it's almost a mortal sin to waste water.  I know many entitled wastrels here who could care less about this, but they don't count in the long view. 

Thanks, Gal, for turning out a fun Saturday meme every week for over a decade. Brava!  

Thursday 13: It's a wash... Thirteen reasons why I don't have a Chicken Thursday 13...

My short (aren't you glad it's not 20?) litany of "Be Causes"...

 I'm not doing chicken statuettes this week as planned because:

1.  The crew to remove the Solahart is coming tomorrow, (this is being written on Wednesday) and we will have no hot water for a week until it can be set up again.

2.  Because:  my brain hurts.  It's an eyeball headache.  You know the kind: Double vision sort of thing, urpy feelings.  maybe it was all that Gin?  NOT!

3.  Because: I'm stressed, as I think someone I know is losing her mind.

4. Because: I'm tired and not sleeping well enough.  Cat naps are great, for cats, who have basically nothing to do all day.

5.  Because: There aren't enough hours in the day to worry about HALF the things that need to be worried about, and I'm beginning to hate re-development with a passion that ascends to the Heavens!

6.  All the dust of ages is coming into the house through the minutest of cracks and just playing my allergies for fools.  I can feel my adenoids swelling as I type.

7.  Everything is dusty as Hellfire (Can Hellfire be dusty?) because of the Army Ants ripping the school yard to shreds.  They move dirt here; then they move it back; then they move it again!  They are completely crazed.  I am so glad that the developers didn't get a permit to change the zoning.  It's not condos and it's not another Apartment building!

(Thank you Jesus! *tap dances around the kitchen*)
8. The steady grind of Graders, Earth movers, Cats, and spraying trucks, ones that belong on freeway projects and not in neighborhoods, starts up at 7 am on the dot and does not stop until 5pm. It's got the feel of a threat, as in, "Eat Dirt and Die!"

9.  I'm embarrassed that San Diego City Schools, not the thriftiest of systems, saw fit to sell off this land (for nearly 60 mil that they can now waste) to an infill developer rather than creating a park on this hallowed ground, which is what the neighborhood needed and wanted.
Shame on you! The school shooting made it hallowed ground because two good men died there protecting our children.  Shame on you, Supervisors!  I feel like I'm breathing the dust of my friends' blood!

10.  Because: I went to my sister's house today and didn't get home in time to finish the thinga I had planned and had all written out... No pictures for it.  And the flash washed out all the ceramic and glass chickens. It's was too dark to not have the flash.  Catch 22 stuff.   No Joy. And everything had a thick coat of dust on it.  I'm allergic to dust.  Blimey!

11.Because I have to dust all the chickens first.  I'm just not going to do it.

12. I probably have to wash my hair again.  Just typing this out has made me feel itchy and gritty all over.

13.  Did I say that the dog ate my list?  It's so handy to have a pooch to blame.  Why didn't I lead with this line?

Don't ye be forgetting, Mateys! It be talk like a Pirate Day!

Many thanks be to that Pirate o mine.
He gave me a whack on the noggin to remind me! 

These two rogues say that they created the day.  Well, We be seeing about that!  No telling how many wood worms came out of the hold to say so.

 Harrrr.  Never take the word of a land lubber.  

Women more likely to....New Washington Post blurb.

The operative words here are, HATE speech.  This is something universally disliked across the globe.

And why wouldn't more women prefer to make it actionable in a legal sense, because that's basically how it's done in civil society.  Women have their honor and, in some cases, their children to protect. And, women generally care more for the niceties of the laws against hate speech, because there are some, and the more permanent solution of the law courts.

As to men not caring as much about hate speech, well, just think about it.  If you make enough men angry with you over your remarks, they have many means to shut you down, as history has amply shown.  One of these means is to form a mob, tar and feather your Behind, and send out of town on a rail.  Or they will do worse.  Don't think that pissed off men are a force to be toyed with.  Can you really trust the Strong Silent types to reveal how they really feel about it all?  Idon'tthinkso.

Sunday Stealing.... Never have I ever..... and some mini rants here and there.

Welcome back to Sunday Stealing which originated on  
WTIT: The Blog authored by Bud Weiser. 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. You may have heard the expression, “honor among thieves”. In that age-old tradition, we try to credit the blog that we stole it from, if possible. We also provide a link to the victim's questions 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 recently asked questions from a previously post. Cheers to all of us thieves!

I found this on Facebook and thought I'd take the usual Never Have I Ever format and make it into questions that are easier to understand!

Would you like to play along?  Go HERE to the Blog home and see the questions and other participants' entries.  

I'm doing this way ahead of time, but it will post around 9 pm. I'm trying to do these when my energy level is up! 

IMAGE SOURCE PAGE

1. Have you ever had chicken pox?
Yes.  I was about 10 when my little bro got them and then I did. So fun.. NOT!

2. Have you ever shopped in Home Depot?
Yes, but not anymore.  So, Adware, take me off your list. 

3. Have you ever spied on your neighbors?
No, but I once thought there was a very dire "something" going on next door, and i looked through the fence and called out to my neighbor because there was a lot of screaming. It was just his little boys all playing and screaming at each other in a darkened yard and late at night. He was there, resting, and they were very small with those little piping voices of the young.  They are dear to my heart.  So cute!

4. Have you ever ridden in a limo?
Na.  I'm just not young enough to have been able to rent one with friends because that just wasn't done back in the day.  

5. Have you ever had a pet fish?
Sure.  Doesn't everyone get one at some time in life?  Mother had betas, which I still love.  They are cute to watch.  I had fan-tailed goldfish.

6. Have you ever lied about your age?
I never had to.  The few times I had a date out with my few friends, we went to places that served us and didn't card us.  I did get carded when I was 28. lol  so funny.

7. Have you ever fired a gun?
Rifles, yes.  Handgun, never.  I just saw a stat about how many children get killed or maimed every week by handguns.  One baby shot himself in the head.  I know, Guns don't kill people, yadda yadda.  So what?  Try carrying a rifle around on the street.  You'll get arrested, but it seems like every Tom, Dick, and Harry has a handgun tucked up somewhere on their persons.  

8. Have you ever been ice skating?
No, I was about to learn when we moved here, and then someone reminded me, the realtor, that I was five months preggers.  You see, the House of Ice was relatively close and we drove by it one day while house hunting.  After "baby" was born, I needed a pair of roller skates!

9. Have you ever played golf?
I tried it but found it so blooming boring.  I do like pitch and putt and miniature golf.  I cringe when I think that the Secret Service will run out of money at the end of this month because a certain someone spends so much of the widow's and orphan's money on his damn golf games and other "entertainments".   

10. Have you ever hidden on Halloween because you had no candy for trick or treaters?
No.  We always have candy left over.  And not because we buy too much.  The kids are starting to go to school events early, maybe so their parents can go out to parties.  I think school events are a lot more fun for kids so it's not a bad thing.

11. Have you ever made a prank call?
No.  I've been prank-called though.  Someone, who could listen to my home phone calls, did it.  I asked Mr.Z who used to work the frame at the phone company about it.  He said that, yes, people could and did listen into phone calls there.  There is no longer a Frame, per se, so this is done a different way now.  Nothing is sacred in a lawless land.  I will not sleep with my cell phone nearby anymore either. I reckon I've been warned.  See?  Sometimes they are out to get you. *winks*

12. Have you ever gotten a tattoo?
that would also be a no.  Not even that little butterfly on my ankle that, long ago, I wanted.

13. Have you ever had a massage?
No. well I take that back.  In the hospital after the birth of our second child, my instant friend and I were the only two on the maternity ward, and one night the two LPNs (?) gave us both back rubs.  It was heavenly.  Wherever my friend is, I still miss you, crazy gal!
She was a lot of fun.

14. Have you ever locked your keys in the car?
I haven't but the twins once locked both doors on me once and my keys were in the car in my purse. I'd been putting groceries in the hatchback.   They were two.  It was embarrassing.  I got help from the box boy who used a coat hanger to unlock a door.  The little brats just giggled and laughed at me as i was frantically signalling to them to "please open the door for Mommy, please, pretty Please?!"  A sign of things to come? Lol!

15. Have you ever ridden a horse?
Oh ya... several nice ones and then one too many. lol

16. Have you ever been to the circus?
I had a dream that I went to the circus with my cousins back in Ohio when I was five, and it was a fun dream.  For real, no...  

17. Have you ever been to Europe?
Sadly, no.  When I could go I had no money.  Now that I can not travel that far in a plane,  I still can't go.

18. Have you ever built a fire?
Lots and lots of times.  Our family was a camping family.  Cheap vacations and the kids loved it. Well heck, I'm semi-nomadic and I loved it, too!

19. Have you ever been skydiving?
Nope. That was for daredevils of a different stripe.  I only like speeeeeeeeeed.

20. Have you ever bought something at a garage sale?
Absolutely.  That's practically how I decorated the whole house!  When you have four kids and one wage earner, you learn to be thrifty.

From the Saturday Morning Cartoons Page

21. Have you ever walked in on someone having sex?
No. Ewwww!

SOURCE

22. Have you ever faked an injury to get out of something?
No.  Not even now do I do that.  

23. Have you ever been to a nude beach?
No. Double Ewww!  Can we please have a time out here? lol

Bloody Pinterest. dammmm

24. Have you ever received a speeding ticket?
No.  But I probably deserved some. heehee

25. Have you ever run a marathon? 
No.  Marathons didn't exist when I was young enough to run them.  At least I don't think they did.  My running days were over after the first two girls were born in the sixties.  Then it was bike riding. Zoomie zoom!

Many thanks to Bev, who is doing an amazing  job with this meme!

Saturday 9: Don't talk to Strangers, Ever.... lol

Saturday 9: Don't Talk to Strangers (1982)

Want to play along?  Go HERE  It's fun!


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

1) When did you recently have a conversation with a complete stranger? What did you two discuss?  The roofing contractor came to chat, and all we talked about the roof.  Now, I'm anxiously watching the weather.

2) In the video for this song, a woman is having a "hot" conversation on a corded, rotary dial phone in her bedroom. Do you have a landline? If so, do you have an extension in your bedroom? 
We have a land line and probably always will.  We found it came in handy when there was an 18 hour power outage one of the nights the supernova was in the Northwestern sky.  Did you see it?  I did.  Thrilling!  Of course this has NOTHING to do with a landline, but I'm telling my stories when I can.

3) This week's artist, Rick Springfield, says he wrote this song when he was worried that his girlfriend (now his wife) would cheat on him when he was touring. Would you describe yourself as suspicious or trusting? 
I'm now trusting but not foolishly so.  I've written off some people as untrustworthy whom I once trusted.  Betray the trust I have in you once, shame on you.  Betray that twice, shame on me!

4) He became a daytime heartthrob as Dr. Noah Drake on General Hospital. Do you think it would be cool to have a really attractive doctor? Or would it make you uncomfortable?
I've had them, and they are fine with me if they also were good doctors.  That they were good doctors mattered, immensely, more. I tend to see people in a different way, as no one can help their looks, handsome or ugly.  

5) He's discussed how sad he was when, as a boy, he had to leave his dog Elvis behind when the family left Australia. While you were growing up, did your family often move? 
I have to say yes, but for a bad reason.  My drunken, Narcissistic Paternal Unit could not hold a job. Sadly, every time we moved it was because we were evicted or lost the property.  And my mother lost even more of her *Joie de Vivre.  

So, sometimes our housing situation lasted longer than others.  It broke my mother's heart to leave the farm she created. out of nothing.  She adored her expansive, beautiful gardens,  with Rose of Sharon trees, and all sorts of bulbs. as well as her fruit orchards of cherry trees, three kinds of peaches, two plums, and also a small English walnut tree.  Then there was a huge vegetable garden. We had a black walnut tree that was 40 feet tall!  With the little river curving around the gardens, it was like an Eden.

6) In 1982, when this song was popular, Italy won the World Cup. Do you ever watch soccer?
Yes, we went to see the World Cup finals when some were played here in San Diego.  It was fun.  I love Soccer and Basketball because the action is so fast!

7) "Smiley," the first emoticon, was introduced in 1982. Do you use emoticons in your communication? Or do you avoid them?
Oh, I love Emoji!  And I like exclamation points!  They're the most exuberance my tired old soul can muster right now.  *goes to try to take a nap*

8) The Vietnam Memorial was dedicated in Washington, DC, in 1982. Do you know any veterans of that conflict? If so, tell us about him or her.
I misread this question.  I didn't know anyone besides my classmates who were in line to get run over by this outrageous abuse of military power.  They were like sitting ducks.  Plenty of bodies!  But I've met plenty of veterans since.  We have lost whole segments of our young men to saber rattlers who run these scams to make  money on Modern Warfare.  

9) Random Question:  Your friends are throwing a birthday "roast" in your honor. Which one quality of yours are you sure will be singled out for laughs?  My deadly serious, laser-like, focus on Human and (other)Animal Rights.  I'm sure they could parody that one.  The rest of me wouldn't "roast" very well, I fear. haha  Very Dull!

*joyfulness, cheerfulness, cheeriness, lightheartedness, happiness, joy, gaiety, high spirits, elan, jollity, joviality, exuberance, ebullience, liveliness, vivacity, verve, effervescence, buoyancy, zest, zestfulness; 

Yep, that describes my mother before that time.

Thanks Sam!  Happy Weekend!

And, to conclude Rant week we have ......Opioid wars!

My BBF is in a lot of pain because of injuries she's incurred from falling because of her disabilities.   However, she can't get through to her doctors that she actually does need more pain pills to get through 24 hours.  I see her and know her very well, and this woman has never even smoked marijuana, or cigarettes, but they are afraid she'll become addicted to pain pills?  She's not going to get better, anytime soon if ever, and SO WHAT if she gets addicted to something that makes her life bearable?  She needs enough medication to have a little bit of a quality to her life!  Kaiser,  YOU SUCK!   It doesn't shock me that we have an "Epidemic".

And this clip from the article linked below is only tangentially applicable to my BFF's problems with bone headed HMOs but it is somewhat related to it.


From the Washington Post Article HERE:  Italics are mine.

"Policymakers often speak as if the epidemic* will be over as soon as we tackle both legal and illegal opioids. Better control of opioids is essential, but, even without opioid deaths, there would still be as many or more deaths from suicide and liver diseases. Opioids are like guns handed out in a suicide ward; they have certainly made the total epidemic much worse, but they are not the cause of the underlying depression. We suspect that deaths of despair among those without a university degree are primarily the result of a 40-year stagnation of median real wages and a long-term decline in the number of well-paying jobs for those without a bachelor’s degree. Falling labor force participation, sluggish wage growth, and associated dysfunctional marriage and child-rearing patterns have undermined the meaning of working people’s lives as well."

Real wages are stagnated at the level of those in 1972.   I know this to be true because I lived through the whole span of the war on the American Worker, and watched it happening.  Food and shelter became increasingly expensive in the ensuing years.  Except, of course, for fast food.  Clothing, due to the manufacturing job flight to other countries, became less.  But it wasn't enough to make up for the raise in other necessary expenditures.

*the epidemic spoken of here is the so called Opiate epidemic that is all over the Media.

You can fool a lot of people, a lot of the time, but you can't fool Moms....

Thursday Thirteen: Comings, Goings, and Doings.

1.  Reading Neal Degrasse Tyson's newest book, Astrophysics, for People in a Hurry.   Sadly, I'm not reading it in print but an ebook from the library

2. Struggling with the realization that my sister is not going to get any miracle cures, and I can't do anything about it.  Went to see her today.  I'll do wash for her and help her cope.

3.  We need a very expensive new roof.  The last one, by a licensed contractor, is only six and a half years old and failing miserably.  I went to Angie's list and we found someone who does top rated work.  Fingers are crossed here.

4. The tomatoes are doing well, but only one plant is really thriving.  No idea why but I think they must fight for nutrients or something.  The big tomatoes are doing very well.  The smaller zebras are not.

5.  I love FotoSketcher.  I have no link but it's out there.. Suzy put me on to it.  Thank you, Girl friend!

6.  I'm just not sleeping well.  I'm so trained to not nap that I literally have to be dead on my feet before it's possible to nod off.  It's reaching the "dreaming while awake" stages.

7.  The train wreck that is Washington is starting to pale in comparison to what's happening to the planet.  I'm beginning to believe that ALL the big industrial countries have to go down just to save it.

8.  I worry about there being an asteroid out there with our name on it.

9. Are we really only pixels?  Well, that would be a relatively painless way to end this grand Petri dish experiment.  Just a quick flash.  That would work.

10.  I've convinced myself to forgive sins against me, really do it, because I do not want another little kid to suffer, if karma is the way this all works.

11.  Instagram made me have camera envy for awhile.  But I'm over it.  I'll just take the time to draw birds again. Lol  There is no way to compete against pros with 10 grand, or even 5, invested in camera's or lenses.   That kind of money is going into the new roof!

12.  I want to knit but it's staying way too hot.  I need a new hobby, like licking ice cubes into weird shapes.  The face of St. Joeseph?

13.  The decluttering goes on, but slowly.  Making decisions about the smallest things is now very hard.  Books will be the hardest to part with.  And then there is the stashes.  Two of the kids just lost their rental house, of 17 years, as it's to be sold.  They can't have so much as an extra pillow.
This really rambled but I am really, really tired.  My sister cries every time we leave, though she ties to be brave.  I dont know how much longer I'll be blogging.  

A little public interest blurb for Libraries...

When we think of  libraries, we think immediately of printed books.  But the biggest revolution is happening in Access..  Access for the poor, and the other less connected citizens in a community.  Libraries have stepped into that gap and are succeeding in narrowing it for patrons.

Here's a link to a page from FireFox (Mozilla) that tells how it's helping to get the unconnected on the same page as the completely connected.  And, the greatest news is, as the article states, that 98% of all libraries are now offering free public WIFI.

This project is a very big deal for low income individuals and families.  Yay for Public Libraries!

HERE'S the link.  Go! Foxie!

Vets can meet up, here, and can do research in the special stack area of the library.
And they can also get help with their research.
This area is inside the new Downtown Main Library in San Diego.

This is just one of the connectivity projects at libraries.  This is really helping homeless vets to reconnect to the world and to buddies across the nation.  

Blue Monday blue no more.....

Sunday Stealing:

Welcome back to Sunday Stealing which originated on  
WTIT: The Blog authored by Bud Weiser.

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. You may have heard the expression, “honor among thieves”. In that age-old tradition, we try to credit the blog that we stole it from, if possible. We also provide a link to the victim's questions 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 recently asked questions from a previously post. Cheers to all of us thieves! 

This is from a blog called "Let's Pretend," which has not been active for 3 years, but I'm reviving it briefly!

Thank you Bev, for the lovely meme!
If any one reading would like to join in the fun, go HERE

Let's Pretend

1. What is your middle name?
I wasn't given a middle name.

2. What is your favorite color?
Oh no, the color dilemma again.  Let's see.  I'd pick blue to wear and green, over all, to see.  though I really love Orange, and all the other colors.  Even  what the Lakota called, "Baby Dung". AKA Yellow Ocher.

3. What’s your lucky number?
Sometimes it's 13, and sometimes it's 37.  Those are my favorite numbers, and I consider them lucky. 

4. Do you have any pets?
We have five California Desert Tortoises and one very cute and cuddly pound puppy who lights up our lives.  

5. Where are you from?
Gallactically speaking, that would be Planet Earth.....Planetarily, that would be California.  We are almost a country all on our own.  But we still like the rest of our sister States - Most of them.  It's the Washington crowd we dislike with a puce passion- and that would be most of them.

6. How tall are you?
I am only 5'1".  Shorter than my mother was.  I was a hair (1/8th inch) below 5'6" at the tallest time of life.  I don't get woebegone about this only when asked about it.  I must go have a lie down.  

7. What shoe size are you?
Nowadays, that would be an Eight wide.

8. How many pairs of shoes do you own?
I have a pair of hiking boots,  three pairs of crocs, two pairs of flat summer sandals, one pair of Tevas, a pair of gym shoes, and two pair of dressy, platform sandals. I really sort of hate shoes now, and they hate me.

9. What was your last dream about?
I can't remember it now.  I did when I woke up but dreams tend to vanish fast if not written down.

10. What talents do you have?
Have left?  I can still draw and paint pretty well.  I can barely sing, and playing guitar is gone, too.

11. Are you psychic in any way?
But, but.... that would be telling.  *shocked face*

12. Favorite song?
"Landslide" will always be my favorite song.

13. Favorite movie?
All time favorite, let's see..... "Milagro Beanfield War" with "Princess Bride" going head to head.  And, I also love "Dave", and "Big" and "Liar! Liar!"  .... and... and....  See the problem?  Movies are just in your blood if you were conceived in Hollywood, which I was.  It must have been something in the famous Hollywood water springs.  This was so long ago that little parts of other cities had not been swallowed up by the gorgon called Los Angeles.  They had their own water systems. 
Hollywood before it's Death.  This is a natgeo page and has the LEAST adverticrap on it.  I hope you will enjoying this site.

14. Are you religious?
I am Spiritual.  I see the Big potholes in most religious sacred texts, and someday I really think we will know, "The Whole Truth".  But until then we must proceed on faith, which is fine.  I'm not a saint nor an angel.  I'm just me.  And I have an opinion just like everyone else.  It's like a bellybutton, Everyone has one.  I respect your opinion and that's it.  I'm not an agnostic.  I know without a doubt that there is an Eternal Being!  I know this!

15. Have you ever been to the hospital?
Oh boy.  Yes I have but I don't want to enumerate my hospital stays.

16. Have you ever been in trouble with the law?
Oddly, no, even when protesting all and sundry, back in the day.  The protesters are really no different now than we were.  We just now have a completely different sort of police force we are dealing with.  I'm truly surprised that Vets wouldn't see this force as oppressive.  Why are they joining it with wild abandon?    

17. Have you ever met any celebrities?
Like have I ever shook hands?  That would be a no. I've been star struck by one in a Bus station in the early 60s, and I bowed across a city park square to another as he was walking from one building to another.  That was as delightful to me to have these experiences.

17. What color socks are you wearing?
I'm bare footed, which is the way it is in summertime in California.  It's too hot here for shoes!

18. Have you ever been famous?
Nope.  

20. Would you like to be a big celebrity?
No.  I don't operate well under the scrutiny of others.  I like a quiet life. Having said that, I'd like the CLOUT that celebrity brings.  Or is that Notoriety?  I get them confused. :)

21. What type of music do you like?
I like music of all kinds- the full range of it- except for Rap.  I just don't GET rap.  Hip hop, which, believe me is distinct, I do like. if you have the time, you can listen to this.
The Difference Between Hip Hop and Rap.  It seems that you can't download videos anymore in YouTube.  Is that right?  Dam Nation!

22. How many pillows do you sleep with?
Three, my little lavender butterfly for under my head, and two for the length of my body.  I will probably remodel the two into one soon.

23. What position do you usually sleep in?
I sleep on my side.  But I'm starting to think I'll have to start sitting up and sleeping.  I'm not sleeping very well at all.  

24. How big is your house?
It's a little under 1800 sq. ft. Before we remodeled, it was only 1050.  But then we weren't expecting twins, and thought that little tiny front bedroom would serve well for "the baby" who was on the way. Mr. Z and I both grew up in tiny houses so the space was pretty perfect at the time.  Before, that is,  "The Baby" made her, and her, appearances.

25. What do you typically have for breakfast?
Usually it's a piece of Fruit, a CLIF bar, tea and a couple squares of chocolate.  Sometimes it's Cheese Toast.  But this morning, since  this is being written Saturday afternoon, I had a fried egg sandwich with all the usual sides.  

Saturday 9: A Sign of the Times- Harry Styles

Sign of the times

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

*If you would like the play along on this meme, or read other participant's posts, just go HERE*

Saturday 9: Sign of the Times (2017)

... because Cat recommended Harry Styles  
Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here

Cat and Gal, I like this song.  I also like this singer. Two thumbs up!

1) In this song, Harry sings, "We don't talk enough, we should open up before it's all too much." When you have something serious on your mind, who do you share it with?
I share it with Mr.Z, or with my internal God-like presence.  Buddha?  who knows!  CIA? 😲

2) As a kid, Harry wanted to be a lawyer because he can see "both sides." Are you good at seeing both sides of an argument?
I used to be, and in some cases I still am.  However, now I can't see how it is that there is even an "other side" to some arguments, so I quickly label them specious, at best.  Acknowledging that racial bigotry has an "other side" for instance is not helpful, nor right, to anyone, even the person that raises that "other side".  They are victims of a someone who came before them somewhere in the family LINE.

3) He can't decide which is favorite color -- orange or blue. Help Harry out: which of those colors do you prefer?
I can't chose between Orange and Blue.  One is a secondary color and one is a primary.  This question makes me nervous. *bites nails*  I'm not good at choosing between Primary and secondary colors.  Why would anyone mix red and yellow if it didn't make something equal or even better appear?  It's a quandary.  

4) Harry says he prefers older women, but would never go out with someone older than his mother. Do you think age disparity matters in romance?
In matters of the heart, I don't think that it does.  Some people are quite happy being married to someone from another generation.  I think that they should ALWAYS insist on pre nups though.  You want to know that special cuddly someone is not out to take your little house and little bank account, leaving you in tears in a few years.  Is that poetry?  Probably not....

5) He admits to a big crush on Adele, who is six years older than he is. Who are you crushing on right now? (It doesn't have to be a celebrity.)
I know someone I would like to PUT the crush on, in fact, several.  But a romantic crush, that would be with my Yarn and Fabric Stashes.  Mr. Z is not a crush.  He's a keeper.  Love him to bits!

6) It makes Harry's skin crawl when he sees people use their teeth to open bottles. What creeps you out? 
Well, now that you mention it, that one up there *points* creeps me out!  I don't really like blood, either.  But I am more used to it now.  Just don't bleed on me. Because after I throw up on the floor, I will also then, most likely, faint across your lap.

7) When he's on the road, his go-to food is tacos. Do you like Mexican food?
 I really do love Mexican food - real Mexican food.  Tex Mex, I don't like it so much. So, tacos.  Hmmm... don't go frying up my taco shells, please unless you do it in Organic, non-GMO oils. heehee  

8) Harry has never smoked. Have you ever been a smoker? If you quit, how did you successfully kick the habit?
I had smoked for awhile, a year or so, before marriage.  But, smoking made me sick when I got preggers.  So there was that.  Afterward, I smoked for about another year, as I started back up after the two older girls were born.  But then I quit again and suffered through the cold turkey method.  Funny how when it makes you sick, 😳  you can quit right away and never miss it. 😁

9) Random Question: As she pulls out of her parking space, an elderly woman in an old car scrapes an expensive car. Then she drives away. You witness the whole thing. Do you make a note of her license plate and leave it for the owner of the expensive car? Or do you just mind your own business?
I would make a note it.  She may not have even known she hit anything  (believe me this does happen to drivers of ALL ages) but it doesn't mean she shouldn't be responsible for the damages.   If a snotty Witchy, Type A car owner came out of the store dragging her maid behind her, and barking orders at her, I'd have to reconsider.  😉