Sunday Stealing Archives - Page 24 of 33

It’s Bev’s birthday Sunday Stealing

Where’s my secret treasure?

The Sunday Stealing proprietor was a year older yesterday. So in honor of Bev’s birthday – the big 8-0; and thinking of mine next month- though I’m a decade younger – some natal day questions.

1. What is the best thing about your birthday?

For years, when I was working, I’d take off the day. If my birthday were on a Saturday, I’d take off Friday; if it was on Sunday, then Monday.

I’ve had a hearts game at home, most years for a decade. It is held on the weekend before or after my natal day. Two years ago, we jerry-rigged something online. And last year, I didn’t hold it because of the resurgence of COVID. But this year, for sure. I let the players know six months ahead of time.

2. What is your favorite thing to do for your birthday?

On my birthday, I’ve gone to the movies, then out to eat.

3. What’s one thing you learned in the past year?

I hate ZOOM, mainly when it involves more than nine people. I knew that before, but it’s become codified irritation.

4. What do you wish for in the next year?

It’s already happened, which is that next year, I won’t be in charge of something I was ostensibly in charge of for at least the past dozen years. I am HAPPY.

5. What’s the best thing about turning a year older?

Mostly, at this point, it’s better than the alternative.

‘Til my daddy takes my Tbird away

6. What was the most fun thing you did in the last year?

I saw a lot of plays, musicals, and movies, which I did not attend nearly as often the previous year, if at all, because of COVID. I’ve already seen more films in cinemas during 2023 thus far than in all 2021 and 2022 combined.

7. If you could understand any animal, which would it be?

Cats. Specifically my cats.

8. What is something that used to be hard but is now easy?

I’m much better at expressing my opinion. The blog helps. Getting older and cantankerous is helpful too.

9. If you could only keep one thing in your room, what would it be?

It’s a metal box with a lot of genealogical material.

10. Which person makes you laugh the most? Why?

My daughter, because she’s very witty.

11. If you could go back in time, when and where would you go?

Nah. Every era has its problems.

12. If you were to bury a secret treasure, where would you bury it?

If I had a secret treasure and told you where it was, then that would be a very poor secret.

From Cats

13. What is your favorite memory?

OY! So many. I liked playing racquetball from 1983 to 2010 at the Albany YMCA two to five days a week with Don, Tom, Jennifer, Norm, Fred, Mike, Alan, Dan, Charlie, Tyrone, Ward (who cheated), and others.

14. How have you helped others lately?

I helped my collegiate daughter with a homework assignment.

Here’s something I’m doing today. My wife is serving communion today at church. This entails preparing the sacrament and cleaning up afterward. But she’s ALSO scheduled to count the money after church with another person. So I said I’d help with the communion cleanup with her communion partner.

Groundhog Day

15. If you had to repeat a day over and over, how you’d want it to go?

Breakfast of oatmeal and various fruits (banana, strawberries, blueberries, et al.) Work on Wordle and my blog. Snack on grapes. Get a massage. Lunch of eggs (prepared by someone else), toast, and cottage cheese. Read, eat an apple. Take a nap. Dinner, probably chicken, broccoli, mashed potatoes, and spinach. Attend choir rehearsal. Come home and eat apple pie a la mode while watching JEOPARDY and the news.

It doesn’t sound exciting, but playing Wordle, for instance, involves me posting my score on a Facebook page and having various online conversations with friends. Working on my blog involves reading what Kelly, Arthur, and fillyjonk are thinking and probably stealing their ideas. And naps are good!

Sunday Stealing: 7 Layer Meme

Not for me to say

The Sunday Stealing post this week is the 7 Layer Meme. I misread it as 7 Lager Meme because of the font.Except for the fact that I don’t drink beer, that could have been interesting.

LAYER 1: Tell us your…

* Eye color: Brown

* Hair color: What hair? Mostly gray.

* Height: 5’11 5/8″

* Righty or lefty: Righty

LAYER 2: What’s…

* Your heritage: I wrote about this last year here.

* The shoes you wore today: Brown

* Your weakness: Left knee from torn meniscus in 1994

* Your fears: Being late

* And your perfect pizza: Sausage and mushroom

* Goals you’d like to achieve: Writing this blog post

* Your first waking thoughts: What time is it?

* Your best physical feature: My eyes.

* And your most missed memory: Presently, my high school yearbook. It may turn up.

LAYER 3: Do you…

* Smoke: No.

* Cuss: Increasingly since 2015.

* Sing: Often.

* Do you think you’ve been in love: Sure.

* Did you go to college: Yes. Then to grad school, twice, one time to completition.

* Liked high school: Mostly.

* Believe in yourself: Occasionally.

* Think you’re attractive: Not for me to say.

* Think you’re a health freak: No.

* Like thunderstorms: If I’m home.

* Play an instrument: Not really.

FORE!

LAYER 4: In the past month have you…

* Drunk alcohol/Smoked: No (X2)

* Done a drug: Tylenol

* Made out: no

* Gone on a date: Yes, to dinner.

* Gone to the mall: No. I hate malls. Unless you count strip malls.

* Eaten an entire box of Oreos/Eaten sushi: No (X2)

* Been on stage: Define “stage” – I’ve been at a church lectern

* Been dumped/Gone skating/Gone skinny dipping: No (X3)

Fortunately, the conditional “in the last month” is there, or there would be a whole lot more to write here.

LAYER 5: Have you ever…

* Played a game that required removal of clothing: No.

* Been trashed or extremely intoxicated: Yes. The last time was almost 31 years ago when I was a pallnbearer for a dear friend and on my birthday.

* Been caught “doing something”: Probably. Likely more than once.

* And been called a tease: Possibly

* Gotten beaten up: I wouldn’t say “beaten up”, but punched, yes, I wrote about this here.

LAYER 6:

* Age you did get/hope to be married: 19

* How do you want to die: Saving someone or in my sleep

* What did you want to be when you grew up: Minister or lawyer

* What country would you most like to visit: France

Seven and Seven Is – Love

LAYER 7: Now tell…

* Name a person you could trust with your life: Uthaclena

* The name of a favorite CD that you own: Peter Gabriel’s third album, sometimes called Melt. I have it in German on LP and English. Gabriel’s birthday is this week!

* Number of piercings/Number of tattoos: zero (X2)

* Number of times my name has appeared in the newspaper: dozens. In Binghamton relating to community events. My picture was in the paper singing “O Come All Ye Faithful” when I was six, according to the caption. There was the story about the Green Family Singers and at least one tied to my 1972 car accident.

In Albany, NY when I worked for FantaCo, the comic book store (1980-1988), there were a handful of stories, plus one UPI piece that got picked up by papers in CA, IL, ME, OK, PA, UT and WA in April-June, 1982.

There was a story about me and the 1990 Census in the Schenectady Gazette.

After I was on JEOPARDY in 1998, I got a few mentions, once in the Boston Globe and several times in the Albany Times Union. I was a blogger for the TU’s community blog (2008-2021), and occasionally an excerpt would show up in the print newspaper. There is a picture of me singing at my present church at some point in the 2010s.

* Name a past experience that you regret: “Regrets, I’ve a few, But again, too few to mention.” It’s not that I don’t have things I wish I had done differently. It’s that there were things learned from the experiences.

Seven Nation Army-White Stripes

Sunday Stealing: Three things

Not Rome, NY

The Sunday Stealing involves three things, like the Trinity or the number of angles in a triangle, a numeric value greater than two but less than four. There are Three Bears, Three Little Pigs, and Three Dog Night, whose drummer, Floyd Sneed, died in January 2023.

Three names you go by other than your given name:

Some people say Rog, which is fine. I had a coworker who called me Raji, which sounded too much like the diminutive Rogey for my tastes.

My father sometimes used o call me Sport, which was neither here nor there.

The name I’m most often called incorrectly is George. It happened three days ago. I explained this phenomenon here.

Three things you like about yourself:

My passion for music; My analytical mind; My compulsion to post on this here blog daily.

Three things you don’t like about yourself:

My ability to brood; my weight, though I lost 25 pounds last year; my inability to get my cough drop wrappers into the garbage can.

Three parts of your heritage:

OK! Ireland, Nigeria, Cameroon

Three things you are wearing right now:

Long-sleeved T-shirt (it was below zero Fahrenheit wind chill outside when I wrote this); pants; slippers (I always need slippers indoors).

Three favorite bands/musical artists:

Too hard. OK, The Beatles; the Temptations; Johnny Cash.

Three favorite songs:

Oh, please. The first three that came to mind are God Only Knows by the Beach Boys; Baby, Now That I Found You by Alison Krauss; I Don’t Remember by Peter Gabriel. A silly exercise. What I’ve listened to recently has had a significant impact.

Doesn’t everyone?

Three things you want in a relationship:

Good conversation, intelligence, and patience.

Three of your favorite hobbies:

Genealogy; coin collecting, which I used to be more into when I was a kid before someone stole my half dollars, and I KNEW who it was, but I couldn’t prove it; reading.

Three things that scare you:

Racism, sexism, homophobia.

Three of your everyday essentials:

Wordle (I’m 334-2); putting my current blog post on Facebook (it’s SUPPOSED to do so automatically, but it rarely does); flossing my teeth.

Three places you want to go on vacation:

Hawaii; Alaska (before the glaciers all disappear); Rome (Italy, not New York – no offense to Rome, NY)

Three careers you have considered/are considering:

Minister; lawyer; bon vivant.

Three things you want to do before you die:

Figure out some genealogical puzzles; visit all of the states in the US (I’ve only been to 31); meet a few of these bloggers I’ve known online for years but never met in person (I’ve met one in Chicago).

Three things you want to do really badly right now:

Write five blog posts about movies I’ve seen recently; clear the floor in my office (it’s better now than it was yesterday); take a shower.

Sunday Stealing: Pinterest

Henri Nouwen

This week’s Sunday Stealing is called Pinterest. I don’t know why.

1. When did you last sing to yourself?

Five minutes ago. I often sing to myself.

2. If you’re male, would you ever rock black nail polish? If you’re female, would you ever rock really, really short hair?

It’s not my style. I have no specific problem with it, except that it would involve far more effort in getting ready than I’m willing to expend.

3. What is the greatest accomplishment of your life?

Writing a blog post every day since May 2, 2005.

4. What is the first happy memory that comes to mind, recent or otherwise?

Undoubtedly, it involved listening to music, or singing music. I’ll pick the last time I heard I Only Have Eyes For You by the Flamingos. I love that song so much I could weep. Or maybe I did.

5. If you knew that in one year you would die suddenly, would you change anything about the way you are now living?

Surely, I’d spend more time on the genealogy stuff for my sisters and daughter.

6. Do you have a bucket list? If so, what are the top three things?

I may have once had a bucket list, but I found it an albatross. So I abandoned it.

7. How do you feel about tattoos and piercings?

I’ve evolved on them. I used to find tattoos unappealing. But as I see more people wearing them, I’m more comfortable with most of them, though I’d never want one myself. BTW, you can’t give blood for some months if you get a tattoo. I’m fascinated by people with full-body tats; it’s like viewing a totally different culture.

Rolling Stones or Pharrell Williams

8. Do you feel you had a happy childhood?

More or less. I had good friends, some of whom I’m still in contact with.

8. When did you last cry in front of another person?

Probably in the past month, in front of my wife

9. Who in the world would you most like to receive a letter from, and what would you want it to say?

Maybe someone I wrote about in my blog that they liked what I wrote about them.

10. What is your nighttime routine?

Dinner, watch the recorded news, watch the recorded JEOPARDY, check my email, take my medicine, and brush my teeth.

11. When was your last 3 am conversation with someone, and who were they to you?

It was my daughter, who had just come home after seeing a midnight movie.

12. if you were about to die, and you could only say one more sentence to one person, what would you say and to whom?

A friend who has ghosted me to say, “I love you anyway.”

13. What is your opinion on brown eyes?

I have brown eyes. I’m in favor.

14. Pick a quote and describe what it means to you personally.

I have posted a section from theologian Henri Nouwen’s book Here and Now: Living in the Spirit several times on my birthday. Here it is. One section: On a birthday, we do not say: “Thanks for what you did, or said, or accomplished.” No, we say: “Thank you for being born and being among us.”

15. What would you title the autobiography of your life so far?

Information without the Bun, which was the title of my now-defunct Albany Times Union blog.

Sunday Stealing: High school, music

an eclectic mix

The Sunday Stealing for this week is nominally about high school. There are a lot more questions about music and recreation, thank goodness.

To that end, I have a great fondness for this song, High School by MC5.

1. You are back in high school… what are you doing after school lately?

Usually, walking my friends home, which involves a circuitous route before I get home. It usually was the friends I walked home with in junior high.

2. Do you do homework early or late? Do you really study?

I did the homework I liked (geometry, trigonometry, history) early. The rest was at the last moment.

3a. Do you go to the games? Football? Basketball.. what is your favorite to attend?

I went to an occasional football game because, because as president of the student government, I felt a vague obligation to go. But the field was across town, so it was more of a pain to get there. Basketball was at my school, and I knew a more significant percentage of the players, including the center, David, who I went to kindergarten with.

b. Do you go to dances? Prom? (what’d you wear?)

I went to a few dances. And I attended two proms, I believe.

prom

That’s me, left rear.

4. Lunch! What are we having today? What is your favorite lunch?

There is a yearbook picture of me on the General Organization (student government) page drinking one of those half-pint containers of chocolate milk with a straw. Beyond that, I have zero recollection of the cafeteria food.

Impossible to answer

5. What kind of music do you like the best?

I have over 2500 compact discs. It is an eclectic mix.

6. Does the radio play in your car, and if so, what station or kind of music plays? Does music play in your home often?

Occasionally there’s music in the car, often dictated by my daughter, who plays music from her phone.

Music plays in my house often. When I am writing – like at this very moment, listening to Volume 3 of The Buddah Box, or I’m cleaning the house, or doing almost everything except eating, watching television, or sleeping, there’s music on.

7. What do you think of the music played in restaurants or stores? Do you find it relaxing or annoying?

It depends on the store. Restaurant music usually puts me to sleep.

It IS my life

8. What part has music played in your life? What kind of music was played at your wedding or at parties you have been to?

I have written about 6500 blog posts. Approximately one-third of them have mentioned music. I sang I Love You Truly at more than one wedding when I was still a boy soprano. Music from Mrs. Joseph started with fourth grade. My failed piano lessons. The MAZET singers at church. The Green Family Singers. Sitting in the stairwell singing with Candid Yam. Church choir as an adult.

I’ve been to lots of concerts, especially before I got married.

Back in 2007, I wrote a post about the rules of playing music. This is to say that if you have north of 2500 CDs, you ought to play most of them at least annually. Now 2500/365 is 6.82, and I don’t always play seven albums a day. But absent meetings and other distractions, I come close on many days.

What kind of music at parties? Again, eclectic.

Green Acres: not the place to be

9. Is the farm for you? How about a ranch, a village or a city? Which is your choice and why?

I’m a city kid. Small cities are fine. I like to walk or bus to the store and to the movies.

10. A short auto trip for the weekend with friends or a long vacation? Where would you go?

I’ve taken weeklong vacations and weekend trips. My wife wants to go to all of the 252 towns in Vermont; they established a new town recently.

11. The quiet life at home with a cuppa and TV or a good book or a night out with friends? Which sounds good today?

I hardly go out much at night. My DVR is about 47% full, so I suppose I should watch or delete some programs.

12. You have a choice of dinner and a movie or a game of cards and snacks at the neighbors’. Where are you going tonight?

I have a hearts game almost every year. But if COVID would ever go away – high transmission in Albany County AGAIN this week – I’d opt for a movie OR dinner, but probably not both in the same evening.

Friendly neighborhood…

13. Is there a hero or character on TV, in a book or a movie .. or even in all three that you especially like? What do you find attractive about them?

I always related to Spider-Man. Or, more likely, Peter Parker, who felt misunderstood. I edited an issue of a magazine about Spider-Man.

14. Was there a book that was better in movie form? How about a movie you thought didn’t live up to the book?

Admitting I never got through the book, The Bridges of Madison County was a better movie. Catch-22 was the better book; there are lots more of those examples.

15. When you choose a book, program, or movie, which subject is it most likely to be: science fiction, mystery, romance, comedy, documentary, etc.? What draws you to a particular book or movie?

Books/movies: history, politics. Film: Documentary. A good review helps in any case because there are lots of books, many movies, and more new television programming each year than anyone could ever watch.