postsecret

 

PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a postcard. I like to post one that speaks to me each week.

sunday stealing

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Sunday Stealing is Yummy

 

National Oreo Cookie Day

1. Are you able to pass by a plate of cookies and not take one or are you a bit of a "Cookie Monster?" as I get older, I am more selective and only eat my favorites

2. Tell us about your favorite cookie. Have your tastes changed since you were a kid? my taste has not changed and I still love a soft chocolate chip cookie the best

3. Enquiring minds want to know if you are a dunker and, if so, do you dunk in milk, coffee, or tea? no, I am not a dunker

4. It is that time of year and they are selling them on every corner and in front of every store!  Do you buy Girl Scout cookies and if you do, which is your favorite? they don't make my favorites anymore: the Thank You cookie was a shortbread dipped in chocolate on one side

5. Raw cookie dough.  Yay or Nay? it depends on the type of cookie--but chocolate chip?  Yay!  I'll risk it

saturday 9

Linger

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

1) In this song, Dolores O'Riordan of the Cranberries sings that her lover has her wrapped around his finger. Do you feel that anyone has you wrapped around their finger? my nieces & nephews do

2) This was one of the first songs Delores and Noel Hogan wrote together. They performed it often live and perfected it before going into the studio to record it approximately two years later. Because they had polished the performance and arrangement, it's not a surprise that it was the biggest hit off their debut album. Tell us about a time when your preparation paid off.  the most recent time was after winter break in February--walking back in to the classroom knowing everything was prepped, photocopied, organized, and planned was the best feeling!

3) The Cranberries believed the moody black-and-white video (linked above) playing on MTV contributed to the song's popularity. MTV and VH1 were highly influential when they showed music videos and interviews 24/7 during the 1980s and 1990s. Do you recall watching music videos on MTV and/or VH1? my favorite time on VH1 was after midnight when lesser-known artists would be featured

4) The Cranberries were founded by brothers Noel and Mike Hogan in their hometown in Limerick, Ireland. The River Shannon runs through Limerick. Do you live near a river? yes

5) Fergal Lawler soon joined the brothers and became the Cranberries drummer. Today he says he enjoys listening to his early work with the group because, "Songs are like a snapshot in time." Do you often flip through photo albums and look at snapshots? unfortunately, I have misplaced my photo albums.

6) Dolores O'Riordan showed up for her Cranberries audition dressed casually in a black tracksuit with her own Casio electronic keyboard tucked under her arm. The Hogans were impressed not only by her vocals but her no-nonsense, "let's get to work" attitude. Share a memory from one of your job interviews.  I typically blank out at interviews and can recall nothing from them

7) In 1993, when "Linger" was released, The Nanny premiered on CBS. It's remembered today for its catchy theme song, which tells the story of "the nanny named Fran." Can you recall the lyrics to theme of one of your favorite shows? recently, I heard the Greatest American Hero theme song and could recall all the lyrics (Believe it or not, I'm walking on air...)

8) In 1993, gas was $1.11/gallon. Could your vehicle use a fill-up right now? not a fill-up, but a top off because I'm going to Central Maine tomorrow

9) Random question: How many pairs of shoes do you own? I can't count them all because only my winter shoes and boots are out right now

three on thursday

Thing one: this morning, I was contacted by the local university to gauge my interest in becoming an adjunct faculty member.  However, since I do not have a Master's, I am unable to.

Thing two: this morning was my annual liver ultrasound.  I have non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and have no signs other than it shows up in my bloodwork, thus the annual liver scans.

Thing three:  this morning was my annual mammogram.  It was a busy morning.

wordless wednesday

 

Parent-teacher conferences.

currently

I am...

Reading:  Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo

Listening to: Dave Matthews Band station on Spotify

Thinking:  I think I'll go to bed early tonight

Feeling:  sleepy

Celebrating: today was a good day

Grateful for: I don't have to answer to anyone

Enjoying: independence

Weather:  6° and clear

A quote I want to share:

 

sunday stealing

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Survey asks...

1. Did you/will you have coffee or some other form of caffeine today? yes, a half-caf iced coffee frmo Dunkin

2. Who did you last have a text conversation with and what was it about? with my retired teacher friends (group chat) about books

3. Are there regular trains in and out of your town/city? not anymore

4. Have you ever been hospitalized due to dehydration? no

5. Someone texts/IMs you just as you’re about to go to sleep. Do you reply? no

6. Do you grind your teeth?  no, but I clench them

7. When you listen to music with headphones, do you keep the volume low enough to hear surrounding noise, or do you blast it? I don't listen with headphones anymore... I used to blast it

8. Are you wearing nail polish? yes

9. Do you have an ice maker in your refrigerator door? no

10. Do you have a friend named James? a colleague

finished reading

I was excited to get my hands on this book--Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez is one of my favorite crime-solving characters. There's something about his empathy that draws me in.  And now that he is settling with a family of his own, with his partner Chief Inspector Willow Reeve and their son and step-daughter, it's good to see him in action again.

There were a few suspects, and I did not see the final results coming.  Always the sign of a good, compelling mystery.

From the publisher:

It's been several years since Detective Jimmy Perez left Shetland. He has settled into his new home in Orkney, the group of islands, off the northern coast of Scotland, with his partner Willow Reeve and their growing family. One stormy winter night, his oldest and closest friend, Archie Stout, goes missing. Ever the detective, Perez catches a boat to the island of Westray, where Archie worked as a farmer and lived with his wife and children.

But when he arrives he finds a shocking Archie's body, on an archaeological dig site and an ancient Westray story stone with precise spirals carved into it beside him, the clear murder weapon. The artifact, taken from a nearby museum, seems to suggest a premediated murder.

But Perez is so close to the case that he struggles to maintain an objective distance from the potential suspects. He finds it difficult to question Archie's wife, whom he's known for years. Rumors swirl about the dead man's relationship with a young woman new to the island, an artist. With each new lead, the case becomes more twisted and Perez wonders if he will ever find out what happened in his friend's final days.

postsecret

PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a postcard. I like to post one that speaks to me each week.

saturday 9

Farewell, Amanda

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

 

1) The record begins with a long instrumental interlude, and when the lyrics kick in at about the 1:00 mark, they bid Amanda "farewell, adios, addio, adieu." Of course you recognize "farewell" as English. Without looking it up, can you identify the other languages? Spanish, Italian, and French

 

2) Can you say "goodbye" in a language not represented in question #1? do widzenia (not sure of the spelling on that one), Auf Wiedersehen, and gubood-bubye

3) The lyrics reference a night full of stars. When did you last take a moment to check out the night sky? during the last full moon

 

4) This song was written for Adam's Rib, a comedy starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. The movie is about husband-and-wife lawyers who square off against one another in court. Have you ever served on a jury? yes!

 

5) "Farewell, Amanda" was composed by Noel Coward. Though best known as a playwright, he also wrote more than a thousand songs and was a director and an actor. His epitaph reads, "A talent to amuse." How would you like to be remembered? a beloved teacher

 

6) There's even a book of Noel Coward paintings. It was published after his death, in part because Coward considered himself only an amateur painter. When did you last pick up a paintbrush? oh man, I can't even remember!

 

7) In 1949, when audiences first heard "Farewell, Amanda," Americans began playing Clue. What's the last board game you played? Really Loud Librarians

 

8) The best-selling novel of 1949 was Point of No Return by John P. Marquand. Tell us about the last book you finished. yesterday, I finished a novella called Foster by Claire Keegan that was absolutely magnificent

 

9) Random question: Growing up, did you share a bedroom? yes--I finally had the room to myself when my sister went to college, although we shared again when she was home on breaks

finished reading

Claire Keegan is an incredible storyteller.  This novella will stick with me for a long time.  It's poignant and spare and lovely.  The story centers on an unnamed young Irish girl whose large family is about to expand once again, so she is sent to unknown-to-her relatives in the country.  The attention and affection she receives from John and Edna Kinsella are unlike anything she's experienced.  In one tender moment, John takes the girl's hand, and she realizes her own father has never done the same.

From the publisher:

It is a hot summer in rural Ireland. A child is taken by her father to live with relatives on a farm, not knowing when or if she will be brought home again. In the Kinsellas' house, she finds an affection and warmth she has not known and slowly, in their care, begins to blossom. But there is something unspoken in this new household--where everything is so well tended to--and this summer must soon come to an end.Claire Keegan's piercing contemporary classic Foster is a heartbreaking story of childhood, loss, and love; now released as a standalone book for the first time ever in the US

It is a hot summer in rural Ireland. A child is taken by her father to live with relatives on a farm, not knowing when or if she will be brought home again. In the Kinsellas' house, she finds an affection and warmth she has not known and slowly, in their care, begins to blossom. But there is something unspoken in this new household--where everything is so well tended to--and this summer must soon come to an end.

A story of astonishing emotional depth now expanded and newly revised in a standalone edition, Foster showcases Claire Keegan's great talent and cements her reputation as one of our most important and prodigious storytellers.

finished reading

I don't think I've ever read a rom-com that tackled deep topics like this one did--both grief and an elective double mastectomy due to BRCA 1 were not stilted.  My only complaint is that Alison's fixation on hiking, even though she hates it, was overdone.  I liked the sunshine/grump trope, and Adam was a well-developed male main character.  I liked the references to trivia nights--I didn't realize that it's still popular. 

From the publisher:

A tender, laugh-out-loud debut romance about a woman who ends up in over her head after a little white lie . . .

When thirty-year-old post-double-mastectomy BRCA 1 carrier and reluctant thrill-seeker Alison Mullally arrives at her ex-boyfriend Sam’s funeral to find that no one knows he dumped her, she agrees to play the grieving girlfriend for the sake of the family and pack up Sam’s apartment with his prickly best friend, Adam Berg. After all, it’ll only take four weekends . . .

But Adam doesn’t want Alison anywhere near him. Forced to spend long hours with the grump, and his monosyllabic demeanor, Alison decides she must put her people-pleasing abilities to the test. She will make him like her. And after awkward family affairs and packing up dilemmas, the two form a tenuous friendship . . . if “friendship” means incredible chemistry and tension between them. Can Alison come clean and finally embrace the life and love she's always wanted? Or will her little white lie get in the way of her new, unexpected romance?