Saturday 9

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

Saturday 9: These Boots Were Made for Walkin' (1966)

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

1) In this song/video, Ms. Sinatra's boots make a serious fashion statement. Do you choose footwear for comfort or fashion?
Good lord....definitely comfort.  I gave up "fashion" back in the 1960s after I killed myself on what were then spike heels (which would now be considered low heels!)  Most of the time I wear Berkinstocks.

2) This is by far the biggest hit of Nancy Sinatra's career, which includes 6 top ten hits. Can you name another?
The only other one I can remember is "Something Stupid," which she recorded with her father.

3) Nancy recorded it on Reprise Records, which was founded by her father, Frank. Did your parents give you a leg up in your chosen career?
Well, first of all, I never had what people would call a "career."  I worked in secretarial positions for most of my life, never had a retirement plan, never had what most people have associated with a career.  My mother worked for Bank of America and my father for the postal service, so they were never in a position to give me a "leg up" in any way.  My father did insist that I go to college and become a teacher, though.  He said it was a cushy job where you were off every day at 3 pm. and had 3 months of vacation in the summertime.  Too bad he never learned how very, very wrong he was...and I knew I hated teaching.  I was very happy being a secretary.

4) Professionally Nancy has been involved in espionage, singing the theme to a James Bond movie and appearing in an episode of The Man from UNCLE. Do you enjoy spy/secret agent stories?
I love all that stuff.  I am a big NCIS fan and my very favorite episode there is a line where the agents ask Gibbs (Mark Harmon) what the medical examiner "Ducky" (David McCallum) looked like when he was younger.  Gibbs gives it some thought and then says "Illya Kuryakin," the character McCallum played on Man from UNCLE.

5) Nancy maintains the official Sinatra family website, which includes a link to the site of Mia Farrow. Ms. Farrow was, briefly, Nancy's stepmother, and obviously they are still on good terms. Do you have a big, extended family?
Yes and no.  My father was an only child and his parents were never on good terms with their siblings, so I know nobody on that side of the family--not even how many there are.  My mother is from a family of 10, which was very close growing up, and I have 32 cousins, but I don't know most of them.  My father hated my mother's family (called them "hicks from the sticks") and so we rarely saw any of them, except three of my aunts.  I was really only close to two of my cousins, both of whom died in the last five years.

6) Nancy's music -- and posters -- were very popular with the troops during the Vietnam War. Nancy continues to return their loyalty and affection with her efforts on behalf of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. Here's your chance to promote a cause that's near and dear to your heart. What charity gets your support?
I'll promote two.  The first is Compassion, International, a child-advocacy ministry that pairs compassionate people with those who are suffering from poverty. The ministry releases children from spiritual, economic, social, and physical poverty. The goal is for each child to become a responsible and fulfilled adult.  There is a big religious component to it, but as I am not religious, I ignore that.  I either sponsor or write to some 30 children in 13 different countries.  I have been doing it since 2009 and feel close to many of the children.

The other cause is the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, which rescues orphaned elephants whose mothers have died, mostly from illegal poaching.  They try to raise them to be returned to the wild when they are old enough.  I feel very strongly about the possible extermination of elephants for their ivory in my lifetime and am very pleased to be associated with this organization (check out the web site just to see the cute pictures of baby elephants!)

7) Nancy hosts a Sirius radio show devoted to her father's music. Do you have a subscription to a satellite radio or podcast network?
No.  But my son was a passionate fan of Sinatra and I'm sure he would have one if he were still alive.

8) Nancy has said that she and her sister Tina had a more comfortable relationship with their famous father than their late brother, Frank, Jr., did. Do you think it's easier for mothers to get along with their sons, while fathers have an easier time with their daughters?
That has not been my experience.  We had one daughter and four sons and I think we are as close to each of them equally.  Sometimes one of us is closer to one or the other for a specific reason, but overall, I think it is pretty even.

9) Random question: Tonight's dinner is on us. Would you prefer to eat at a casual restaurant with exceptional food, or an exclusive restaurant with so-so food but a celebrity clientele?
Definitely one with exceptional food.  These days I don't recognize celebrities, so going to a place with a celebrity clientele would be lost on me.  But actually any restaurant where I don't have to cook would be just wonderful.

Today at Logos

It was a slow day at Logos.  I only made 2-1/2 of my normal 4 pages of notes.

Sandy and I had a nice, long chat before she left.  We discussed our respective mothers days, Alzheimers, and cDiff, an infection of the colon, which can be not only painful, but in the extreme life-threatening.  However, she was telling me that, much like you can try a bone marrow transplant for leukemia, replacing the bad bone marrow with good bone marrow, some scientists who study cDiff are trying what amounts to a "poop transplant," introducing a donor's good feces into the patent's infected colon and hope that the good cells will take over.  I was unaware that there is a "poop bank" in Sacramento.  You learn something every day!

My first customer was an Asian man who brought 4 books from the Literature section to buy.  When I rang up the total, he decided to put two of them back.  He had not realized he could find out the price by checking the first page of the book.

Then the first of two guys carrying skateboards came in.  He left his board and backpack at the desk while he wandered around and eventually bought two heavy tomes on business...and a 25 cent bag to carry them in.

The next customer wanted to find our Chicano section and I had to tell him we didn't have one.

A woman came in with a delightful dog named Bib.  He may have been a cockapoo, all black with a white bib around his neck.  He was very friendly and came up for lots of petting whenever his owner got near the desk.  At one point he was in the stacks not really paying attention to me, when I took a bite of an energy bar I had brought with me.  Bib's ears went straight up and his tail started wagging furiously.  I finished the bite without offering any to him and he went back to sitting with his owner until I took another bite and then he came to life again.  It was really kid of funny.

A stout Latino man in a suit and tie (very strange on a day when the temps were going to get into the low 90s) bought a copy of "True Grit."

A group of 4 came in, including one very tall middle aged man in shorts and a Panama hat, flip flops and sunglasses.  All four wandered around for a long time, but only the hatted one bought 2 bargain books before they left.

A woman bought a book I recognized as one I donated last week ("Stones from the River") and a book on bicycle repair.

My friend arrived at 4:15 and bought a book on Kabuki, but he ran into a friend, so they stood and talked for awhile before he left.  His friend was a grizzle-faced man with a baseball acp wearing wrinkled long tan-colored cargo pants that had been patched in front with a large blue denim patch.  He didn't buy anything.

A woman with rough, leathery dark tan skin, like someone who spends most of her time outdoors came in carrying a tall glass of what looked like ice water.  She checked cookbooks, but didn't buy anything.

The Antiquarian popped in.  He was in and out so quickly, I barely had time to say hello.  He just checked the old book section, saw nothing interesting, and left.

A guy came in thinking we were more than just a used book store.  He wanted to buy a package of envelopes.  I sent him elsewhere.

A guy bought 3 old-time sci fiction books.  Their covers reminded me of early David Gerrold books, though I didn't recognize the name of the author.

A couple came in.  The woman was wearing a raiders t-shirt.  She bought a book on Indian basket weaving.

The last customer of the day was a large women with a gorgeous salmon-colored lace skirt who commented that it was "nice and cool" in the store.  She bought four kids books, 3 of which were Wimpy Kid books.

Walt arrived at 6 and we headed on home.  We did not go dancing.

That's what my mother asks almost every time I visit her--if Walt and I are going out dancing.  I'm not sure where she gets that, except that she loved to dance and her husband (not my father) was a wonderful dancer and I guess they did go out dancing.  The idea of Walt and I going out to dance is laughable, but she can't seem to understand that.

I had lunch with her before I went to Logos.  She was in great spirits and very giddy, though she couldn't remember anything or comprehend most things.  I like it when she's happy like that, but it can be embarrassing to be out in public with her because she has complaints about everybody.  

That woman shouldn't be sitting where she is sitting because it's my mother's usual chair--and her butt is too big anyway.

That woman is talking too loudly and what is she talking about?

Another woman has a very nice looking blouse, but an ugly husband.

She pointed out her "boyfriend" who ignored her, which isn't surprising because he's 98, profoundly deaf and has macular degeneration, so he neither saw her nor heard her.  But I watch her when he sits at the table with us and she fusses over him like she used to fuss over her husband (whom she doesn't talk about much any more).  She simply needs a man to fuss over.  When we went for our mothers day dinner, it was Ned she fussed over, so the age of the man doesn't seem to matter.  Just any good looking man who strikes her fancy.

But despite her observations of the world around her, it was nice that she was in giddy spirits.  She's more fun that way.

Season Finale

This is an unsettling time for a TV addict.

I record ever program that I watch regularly, for different reasons.  Mostly so that if I fall asleep during the program, I can go back and see what I missed.  But also in case something happens that we aren't home when a show is on, or that we get a phone call or something else.  All the shows are neatly recorded and as soon as I've watched them, whether live or on DVR, I erase them.

One of the things I do first thing in the morning, when I'm awake and the dogs aren't, and I don't want to get up yet, is to check the scheduled shows to be recorded that day.  It reminds me of what is coming up that evening and what I have to look forward to.

But at this time of year, reading the capsule summaries of favorite shows is frustrating, since each one seems to start with "Season finale..."

 

I checked the upcoming recordings for a day recently and there were NONE.  Not one single favorite program was going to be broadcast that day.  What in the world would I do with myself?

Also, with the TV seasons being so short these days, sometimes you just start to get into a series and it's over.  Better Call Saul finished its season weeks ago.  It wasn't a favorite, but I looked forward to the quirky program each week, though Ned gets more out of it because it's the prequel to Breaking Bad and Ned is much more familiar with that show than I am.

TV addiction is one thing Ned and I share and it's fun that we both watch so many of the same shows because we have lively conversations about our favorites.

Tonight is the season finale of Scandal and Big Bang Theory and the first of a 2-part season finale of The Blacklist.  Tomorrow the racers of Amazing Race run their last leg and there will be no more of that show for awhile.  Next week on Monday is the day when there are no shows to be recorded.

Tuesday will see the season finale for both NCIS and NCIS-New Orleans.  For NCIS fans, it will be a sad day as Michael Weatherly, "Very Special Agent Tony DiNozo" leaves the show after 13 seasons.  (Presumably this also means the end of the show for his father. Robert Wagner.)

I will miss Tony.  I like Tony, but it's a good time to retire--on top of his game and before his shtick gets old.  Tony's juvenile pranks and sexual proclivities were cute 13 seasons ago, but he's nearly 50 now and they have become just formulaic.  Also, the character has nowhere to go with this story.  He's already the #2 man, by his choice, so there is no place for advancement, no way, really for his character to grow, as the other members of the team are still growing.

I'm going to miss him a lot, but since there are NCIS marathons on twice a week, I can always get my "Tony" fix if need be. 

It's also just about season finale for The Blacklist and the big questions are (a) will there be a next season, and (b) can the show move forward without FBI agent Elizabeth Keen (Megan Boone), who has been the reluctant partner of Reddington (James Spader) all this time.  Her death a few episodes back was a big shocker, but like Weatherly's departure, probably a necessity.  She was pregnant and it's hard to go racing around the country killing bad guys when you have a nursing child at home.

I wondered how they were going to move forward without her, but then have realized that Reddington is the show and if they choose to go forward, the show will do very well.

Scandal's tone has changed significantly since Olivia's (Kerry Washington) long affair with the president (Tony Goldwyn) ended.  Not sure I like the tone of the "new" Scandal.  I miss the softness, but it was interesting seeing how totally unfit to be first lady Olivia was and how it shows why the whole affair was impossible from the get go.

Of course, the saddest season finales are those where the season finale is also the series finale.  Walt doesn't watch nearly as much television as I do, but he was addicted to The Good Wife, which has no ended it's 9 season run. They left things up in the air...what is really next for Alicia (Julianna Marguiles)?  We'll never know now.

Surely The Americans is headed for a series finale.  There's not really any place for the show to go, now that the Russian spies' identities are starting to be known.

The only good thing about all these season finales is that the summer replacement shows are back, but those, too, predict sadness for the loyal viewer.

Royal Pains, the story of a concierge doctor in the Hamptons (Mark Feuerstein), will start it's 8th and final season.

This is another of those "where can they go from here" decisions, and better to leave it all while it's still popular, but I've followed it for 8 seasons and will miss it

So many shows shutting down for the season and for good and it's always difficult to find a new show to latch onto.  But the salvation for a TV addict are reruns, and there are plenty of them to fill in the gap for a departing...or just vacationing show.  There is always September to look forward to, when they start coming back again.

Hurriedier

What's that old saying?  "The hurriedier I go, the behinder I get" ?  I was so proud of the albeit small progress I had made on The Cleanup until Ned came today.  Ned, bless his heart, worked like a demon all afternoon and he moved everything else except the things I use every day (my desk, computer, printer and the accoutrements that are piled on top of them) to the living room.

Now, bear in mind that my office is 12 x 15 feet and the living room is 15 x 22 feet.  This is how the living room looks now.

Ned kept the recliner (Lizzie's bed), the couch (my bed) and the straight
backed chair (Polly's bed) free.  

The only 3 pieces of furniture without something piled on it!

These pictures don't begin to do justice to how stuffed with stuff it all is.  There are two obvious questions to ask:  how did I fit all of this in my office to begin with, and how am I going to get it all back in again when it's time!

Ned has removed and dusted every book and scrapbook -- definitely no mean feat! -- and all I need to do is sort through it all.  All I need to do.

I was so proud of the progress I'd made this past week and the bit of plan I was beginning to imagine for how to arrange the office when it gets painted (yes, paint is included in the plans) and now it all looks overwhelming again.

When this project is finished, I'm going to have to send Ned on a cruise or something to thank him!

In the late afternoon, I went over to my mother's, mainly to make sure she didn't accidentally go to the dining room for dinner, when we planned to take her out for Chinese food.  Also to prepare her for going out.

She was in good spirits, unable to remember anything, of course (we went over at least 20 times or more what we were going to do and who was going to be there).  But despite the endless repeating, we had a good 2 hour visit.  At one point, when frustrated about something she complained that it's hard to be old and when I told her about a 102 year old man I heard recently who said he keeps from feeling old by staying active, she said "I don't complain about feeling old, do I?"  Then said she doesn't feel old.  And then a couple of minutes later she was complaining about how hard it was to be old again

But I had to laugh as she looked around her neat, orderly apartment and sighed that she just had to do something about all this stuff.  "You don't have clutter like this, do you?"  I just laughed.

Ned and Walt didn't make it over to Atria, as was the original plan so we met them at the restaurant, Ding How, a very small Chinese restaurant about 4 blocks from Atria.  She probably ate more tonight than I have seen her eat at Atria in three years.  She had crab wontons, chow mein, black mushrooms and broccoli, honey walnut shrimp, snow peas with water chestnuts, and pork fried rice.  She went back for seconds...and, amazingly, thirds on the rice, and seconds on the won ton.  I couldn't believe this was the woman who only wants a tiny bowl of fruit salad for lunch and when served vegetable soup never eats the vegetables because it's just too much for her to handle.

 When we drove her back to Atria, this time she didn't seem disoriented and unsure where to go when she entered the building.  That varies from time to time -- last time she seemed totally lost -- but today she just strode in confidently, turned and waved, and disappeared as she headed off to her apartment.

The Happiest Place on Earth

We do not have a good history with Disneyland.  Disneyland was where Paul, Ned, Jeri, Marta and the rest of Lawsuit learned that David had been in an auto accident and was going to die.

Disneyland was where I spent the most horrible day with one of our worst foreign students, who made it so unpleasant that I ended up driving home, the 8 hours or so because I didn't want to spend a penny on a motel for that ungrateful guy (years later he wrote to me and asked if I remembered how I had "ruined" his trip to Los Angeles).

Today in the continuing clean up (which involves looking at thousands of old photos), I came across photos from a high school jazz choir trip to Disneyland.

Kag (Paul Kagiwada) and Paul at the
Disneyland Hotel

Now you can't spend a day in Disneyland and not have happy memories, but my feelings, both years we went was colored by watching the thousands of folks paying exorbitant entry fees to go and spend the day there.  Our group was going in by the back door (but told not to look at any of the "magic" being created in the big barns), where they would then sit around for half the day, i.e., no playing in the park, until time to perform, and PAY THE FULL ADMISSION PRICE!  What they got for missing half an entire day in the park, though paying full admission price, was a coupon for a free hamburger and drink at the Carnation cafe.

Can you imagine how much Disney makes in one day from admission?  They couldn't even give a reduced price to people who were coming in to perform?

Kag and Paul performing in the park itself

We do have good Disneyland memories.  It's where we took each one of the kids between their 4th and 5th birthdays, a chance to have one on one time with each child away from all the siblings.  Those experiences were golden.

But when I think about Disneyland today, been there, done that.  Don't need to do that again.  And I'm sorry that Disneyland had some part in "helping" me to develop that feeling.

The more I "clean up" the more memories like this surface, as I go through these old photos.  I'm wondering how these happened to be put into the boxes that they were.  Today I found photos of my grandparents when they were dating, pictures of newborn me, school pictures of all of our kids, various Pinata gathering throughout the years, and countless other things that were jumbled together in no order, with no rhyme or reason.  To truly "clean up" I would have to spend a month "organizing" photos.  At least separate the black and white from the colors, throw away duplicates (and there are SO MANY duplicates as a result of taking all of my father's stuff, Walt's mother's stuff and my mother's stuff.  But that is not going to be a part of THIS clean up.  I'll worry about that later, when the office is "organized" or whatever it's going to be after this clean up is finished.

My Proudest Moment

Walt and I (and the dogs) listened to "Says You" again this afternoon and while listening to the radio I managed to get through two boxes of "stuff" and throw away a lot of it.  I actually have the garbage can almost filled again. Ned will be so proud.

Most of the stuff was photographs, though lots of negatives, which I threw away, and some oddball things like...why in the world do I have Gilbert's musicians union membership card from about 1980 or currency from Hong Kong and Brasil which has been replaced in those countries by new currency. 

But, as with an awful lot of these boxes, most of the things were photographs and, of course, I had to go through them before deciding to throw any away.

Some of the photos reminded me of when I was creative.

Take this quilt for example.  The woman who had been in charge of La Leche League was moving on and I decided that we should give her a quilt to thank her for her years of work.  I had taken a quilt making class during the year so I thought a lot in terms of quilts.

I solicited squares from every leader in California.  They all sent me their squares and I put them together into one gigantic quilt.

I was so proud of that thing.

It was so big the only way I could get a picture of it was to have Ned and Paul stand at the top of our gym set and hold it.

I wish I could remember the actual ceremony where we presented it to her, or her name, or anything else about this.  But all I can remember is the quilt and I was pleased to find this photo buried among the rest of the photos.

But that wasn't my proudest moment.  My proudest moment was with the Lamplighters.  After we finished writing the first Lamplighters history, I stuck around and worked as a volunteer for about five years, until Gilbert died in 1986, commuting one or two days a week from Davis to San Francisco.  I did a lot with the Lamplighters.  I learned how to work a computer.  Gilbert and I started a newsletter that is still going today (though now it's an on-line letter).  We wrote several shows together.  A lot of stuff.

But my proudest moment concerned the great contralto, June Wilkins.  June had been the leading contralto (all those full figured characters W.S. Gilbert made fun of in the operettas).  She had a tremendous voice and was wonderful on stage.  I was surprised when I interviewed her for the book how shy she was and how lacking in self esteem.

While I was working for the company, June finally decided it was time for her to retire.  I was shocked to realize that there was to be no big goodbye for her at all.  That just wasn't right.  I browbeat the Lamplighters general manager and he agreed to honor June at the conclusion of the current production.  It was during the time when I was doing cake decorations, so I decided to make 3 sheet cakes to serve to the audience.  Each was decorated with a picture of June in one of the costumes she was so famous for wearing.

The cake at the top left is Katisha from The Mikado.  The one at the top right is Lady Jane in Patience, and the cake at the bottom is the Fairy Queen from Iolanthe.

So at the conclusion of the show, they brought June up on stage for some nice words and tumultuous applause from the audience.  I stood in the wings with tears in my eyes, watching her realize how special she had been to the company all those years.

Then we went downstairs and she cut her cakes and we served it to the people from the audience who joined us for refreshments.

There were lots of accolades here too, and she was very definitely the center of attention.  

To my knowledge, she never knew I made the cakes.  I'm sure she thought they came from a bakery.  But I didn't mind.  It still stands out in my mind as one of my favorite days in all the years I worked with The Lamplighters.

Sadly, June died many years ago, as have many of the friends I made during those years, but it was a golden time for me...and I'm so glad that I took photos of some of the events, though I don't have a lot of Lamplighters photos, because I was too shy to take a lot of pictures.  But finding these two pictures today was a real treat.

Sunday Stealing

Do you usually sleep with your closet door open or closed?
I sleep on a couch in the living room.  There is no closet there.  But if I were in a bedroom with a closet, it would probably be closed, but not out of fear of boogie men or anything else.

Do you take the shampoos and conditioner bottles from hotels?
Of course.  Isn't that what they're there for?

Have you ever ‘done it’ in a hotel room? Yes.

Where is your next vacation?
None planned this year...or in the future.  We don't even have a trip to Santa Barbara to visit the grandchildren planned at the moment.

Have you ever stolen a street sign before?
I want to say no, but somehow I think that in my youth I may have done that.  I don't really remember, tho.

Who do you think reads these?
Other Sunday Stealers...or at least a couple of them (judging from reaction I get in comments, just a couple of people)

Do you have a calendar in your room?
"My room" is my office.  I have a desk calendar on my desk.

Where are you?
In my office.

What’s your plan for the day?
My plan for the actual Sunday is to take flowers and candy to my 97 year old mother, who will be delighted, but won't have a clue that it is Mother's day.  Then come home and make dinner for myself.  (We're going out to dinner with our son and his wife on Tuesday to celebrate)

Are you reading any books right now?
I am almost finished with two:  "The Blackbird Papers" by Ian Smith and "The Geography of Bliss" by Eric Weiner.  Weiner is trying to see if there is a best place in the world to be happy.  So far Bhutan (where "Shangri La" was set) comes close...and you don't ever want to visit Moldova, which is the saddest place on earth, according to some survey...though perhaps Somalia may have replaced it by now)

Do you ever count your steps when you walk?  No

Have you ever peed in the woods?
I don't think I have in the woods, though I did in the bushes of a nearby park when I was a kid.  Times were desperate, I was alone and there was no bathroom.  No crime goes unpunished.  I tore the seat of my pants and had to walk home with my underwear hanging out (I was in grammar school at the time).  Still my most embarrassing moment.

Do you ever dance even if there’s no music playing?
I don't dance if there IS music playing!

Do you chew your pens and pencils?  No

What is your “Song of the Week”?  I don't have one.

Is it okay for guys to wear pink?
Of course. I know a lot of guys who wear pink.  The whole pink/blue thing is ridiculous.

Do you still watch cartoons?
I don't go out of my way to watch them, but I do enjoy them when I see them.  Like The Simpsons and some of the full length animated movies.

What's your favorite love movie?
Oh lots.  Off the top of my head:  Love in the Afternoon, Notting Hill, The Clock, Roman Holiday, Brokeback Mountain, Affair to Remember

What do you drink with dinner?
Water.  Usually about 2 pints.

What do you dip Chicken Nuggets in?
In the days before I found out about the pink slime that is used to make chicken nuggets (a rumor now debunked by McDonald's...but I still find them difficult to think about eating), my favorite dip was honey mustard.

What is your favorite food/cuisine?
Probably Chinese, with Mexican a close second. Oh.;..and crab.  I can't forget crab.

What movies could you watch over and over and still love?
Movies I have and do:  A Star is Born, Air Force One, Dave, and most MGM musicals.

Last person you hugged/kissed?  Walt

Were you ever a boy/girl scout?  Yes.

Would you ever strip or pose nude in a magazine?
Good lord, no!!!