Welcome to this week’s Sunday Stealing. The moderator doesn’t remember where she stole this, so I dubbed it as alphabetical.
A – Ambition: To be useful. I suppose that’s why I became a librarian. But it shows up in other ways. We had the First Friday concert at our church, and I helped people find the second-floor bathrooms. Someone asked if I were the pastor; I laughed.
B – Birthday: March 7. When I was working, I would take off the day. If my birthday were on Saturday, I’d take off the Friday before. And I’d take off Monday if my birthday was on Sunday.
C – Computer: A Microsoft Surface laptop I bought from a former SBDC colleague after my previous one fell from a table and became essentially unusable.
D – Dream: I dream a lot. I thought after MLK was killed in 1968, the progress that had started with the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act would have taken hold better. But after the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Right Act about a decade ago, attempts to disenfranchise people have grown.
E – Exercise: Primarily walking to the grocery store. My left knee is often in pain – including as I write this – so it’s limited.
Manga
F – Favorite Food: Grapes are great, especially for hydration. I like eggs, and usually, I prefer them when someone else makes them. And chicken. The chicken and the egg. There are lots of things I’d eat if I weren’t concerned about cholesterol and my weight. Bacon every day. There’s a packet of Golden Oreos on my kitchen counter I’m bringing to a meeting this week, but I’ve had none (so far).
G – Garden: Whatever gardening takes place is done by my wife, and she’s busy with work of late.
H – Hobby: Probably genealogy, though I haven’t had sufficient time to pursue it this autumn.
I – Idol: If I have one, it’s former Chief Justice Earl Warren or folksinger Pete Seeger.
J – Job: Retired business librarian for the New York Small Business Development Center; I was there for 26 years and eight months (1992-2019). The next longest job was working at FantaCo, a comic book/publisher/mail order/convention entity, for eight years and six months (1980-1988).
K – Kids: One, who I’ve written about in this blog every month on the 26th since May 2005.
L – Location: There was a question on a recent episode of Celebrity JEOPARDY in the category Demonyms, which are words that refer to a native or a resident of a specific place. “It’s how you might refer to a resident of Tirana, a capital city near the Adriatic coast–or to a resident of NY’s state capital.” I’m in the latter category.
M – Military: I received a Conscientious Objector status in 1972, and no one born in my year was drafted in 1973.
N – Name or Nickname: ROG
O – Optimist or Pessimist: Yes.
That darn cat
P – Pets: Two cats. One is demented. Midnight freaked out when he went to the vet nine years ago. The new vet was convinced that if we slipped him a sedative the night before and the morning of a visit, she could control him. Nope. She determined, “Your cat is crazy.” We knew this.
Q – Quote: From the comic book Saga of the Swamp Thing #22: “We left you the BEST part. We left you the HUMANITY. Try not to LOSE it.” (Alan Moore)
R – Reads: In the past few years, a bunch about race and racism. The New Jim Crow, The Color of Law, and How To Be An Antiracist.
S – School: Daniel S. Dickinson, Binghamton, NY, K-9. Binghamton Central High School, 10-12. SUNY New Paltz, B.A. in political science (1977). SUNY Albany: dropped out of a master’s in Public Administration program and went to work at the aforementioned comic book store (1980). Then SUNY Albany, Master’s in Library Science (1992).
Somewhere else
T – Travel: I’ve visited 32 US states, most recently Nevada. I’ve only been to Canada, Mexico, Barbados, and, this year, France.
U – Unfulfilled ambition: To visit the remaining 18 states and go at least to Ireland.
V – Vacation spot: Lake Placid, NY, which I went to for at least two work conferences
W – Wardrobe: Casual if at all possible.
X – X-tra facts about me: I can’t really write or clean house unless I’m listening to music. Presently on the CD player: the Jimi Hendrix Experience, a greatest hits collection. The song Manic Depression ALMOST led me to yesterday’s Wordle, which was MANIA.
Y – Years online: For work, it was probably 1994. I had AOL back when you needed those shiny discs to access email.
Z – Zodiac sign: Pisces, the best one.