Tag: Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing: WTIT

“That’s part of your problem.”

This week’s Sunday Stealing is from WTIT: The Blog. Cheers to all of us thieves.

1. What are the 3 most important things everyone should know about you?

I’m pretty easygoing. So if you ticked me off, it was likely something egregious and/or repeated. I think in numbers; I might remember your phone number before I recall your name. I think in music, so I often quote or modify a musical phrase.

For example, my cat Midnight is a greedy eater, butting Stormy away. So I sing to him, “Midnight, don’t be a dipwad” to the tune of Billy, Don’t Be A Hero. My wife thinks this is funny because she knows I HATE Billy, Don’t Be A Hero.

2. What is the strangest thing you believed as a child?

I don’t think it’s that strange, but based on my dreams, I figured I’d figure out how to fly. No plane, just me. Sometimes, I still do.

3. Thinking of school classes, which were your favorite and least favorite?

I was very good at spelling. Math, up to trigonometry, was great. History, especially American history, I liked.

I was terrible at art. And I sucked at shop class; see question 8.

4. What is your favorite fast food?

A Friendly’s Strawberry Fribble. It’s like a milkshake.

5. What song comes closest to how you feel about your life right now?

It’s Too Darn Hot. This is Ella Fitzgerald because it’s Ella.

6. Have you ever taken martial arts classes?

Once or twice, I think, but never seriously.

Getting Better

7. Does your life tend to get better or worse, or does it just stay the same?

This is a complex question. In the main, I was probably getting better emotionally on a personal basis. Still, I fret about global warming, economic inequality, political insanity, et al., in the world my teenage daughter will inherit. Also, myopic news reporting describes triple-digit temps F in the southern and western US, often without mentioning similar European conditions (above 40 C).

8. What arts and crafts have you tried and decided you were bad at?

Any and all. I was terrible at making anything in Cub Scouts. Creating a bookcase or pottery in shop class in junior high school was disastrous. My father was incredulous that I got a B in art in 7th grade, but the teacher said I did my best. In the 1990s, the people in my book group were doing origami; I sucked at origami. You do NOT want me on your Pictionary team.

Quid est veritas? 

9. What is the truest thing that you know?

Sometimes BOTH things are true.

10. Are you more of a giver or a taker?

I try VERY hard to be a giver. One has to be intentional about these things.

11. Do you make your decisions with an open heart/mind?

Ditto. I try extremely hard to make decisions with an open mind. But I’m convinced when I’ve seen so much evidence, real evidence, not just conjecture or rumor, that a path is wrong.

12. What is the most physically painful thing that has ever happened to you?

The first root canal. Oddly, the second one wasn’t so bad.

13. What is the most emotionally painful thing that has ever happened to you?

Undoubtedly, something involving affairs of the heart, fortunately not in this century.

14. What is your favorite line from a movie?

“That’s part of your problem: you haven’t seen enough movies. All of life’s riddles are answered in the movies.” It is SO self-referential. From Grand Canyon (1991)

15. Can you eat with chopsticks?

Not well.

Sunday Stealing: Swap-Bot redux

Am I mellow?

This Sunday Stealing is Swap-Bot redux.
1. Do you trust people at restaurants who handle your food that they aren’t doing anything gross to it while you can’t see them?
What a weirdly paranoid question. Of course, because if they were to do so over time, it would likely be discovered. Incidentally, my wife, my daughter, her friend, and I went to an Italian restaurant called Tesoro in June on its last day before the owners would retire. Usually, when I have leftovers, the server will bring the empty containers to us. But this place put the food in the containers and bagged them up. That was the way it used to be, and I think it’s classy.
No hair day
2. How do you wear your hair each day?
If you’ve ever seen my hairline, you wouldn’t ask that question. The picture of the duck on my page, drawn by the late Raoul Vezina is a caricature of me  that he did when I was 30 or younger It is so good that my old buddy Dan, the fuirst time he saw me on the street in 1985, after having previously seen the cartoon, KNEW it was me.
3. Have you ever worn:
A gas mask? Not to my recollection.
A blindfold? Undoubtedly, for the purpose of some game.
Is this a fashion question?
5. What is the difference between a man’s button down shirt and a woman’s button down shirt?
They’re buttoned on the opposite sides? IDK, and I don’t care. OK, I care enough to look it up afterward. Yup.
No, non, nein, nyet

Tthe answers to

4. Would you be willing to go hang gliding?
6. Have you ever taken a lock of someone else’s hair?
7. Have you ever given anyone a lock of your hair?
8. If you had a locket what would you put inside?
16. Do you have any tattoos or piercings?
are no, don’t think so, I doubt it, I’m not a locket kind of guy, and no, respectively
9. Have you ever written something on a bathroom wall?
It’s possible, though i don’t remember specifically. but it would have been one that had been severely graffitied previously.
10. When was the last time you fell down in public?
I don’t recall. I remember doing so on my way to church pre-COVID whe it was icy out.
Have I ever been mellow?
11. Are you more aggressive or mellow?
I wouldn’t use either of those terms. There are times when I will exhibit a flash of anger, usually when I, or someone else, has been wronged.  I can be mellow about things that just don’t matter much to me. If a group is going out to a restaurant, and they want my preference, generally, I don’t care.
Conversely, if something is important to me  – and I had made it quite clear that it was, and yet I’m not heard – I can be quite vociferous. This happened at least twice at my last job.
What is life?
12. What have you done with your self to keep your life worth living?
Being useful, broadly speaking. That was the great thing about being a librarian; I could answer questions that some wanted to know the answer to. there are things I know – CDTA bus routes, certain music trivia, news – that can be helpful.
13. What is the most incredible thing you can do?
Incredible? IDK. I do know all of the US Presidents in order, by year inaugurated. Indeed, muy brain is so full of ephemera that I can’t even remember what I remember.
So I asked my wife. She mentioned two separate things: my ability to remember the dates of many events in my life; and recalling music ties to lyrics, when I got the album or first heard the song. I see them as part of the same brain process. For instance, I first heard The Beatles white album in the basement of the Unitarian Church in Binghamton, NY shortly after Thanksgiving 1968 when friend Steve used his LRY (Liberal Religious Youth) credentials to be able to use the building.
14. Do you bury your pets, flush them, or throw them away?
I haven’t had fish since I was kid. Probably flushed them.
15. What’s your favorite thing that is yellow?
An electrical banana. Nah, probably a T-shirt.
(Thanks to Gus for the graphic.)

Sunday Stealing: The Pen Company

The Good Book

Here’s the new Sunday Stealing, The Pen Company. But before I get to that, a couple of Independence Day announcements in Albany, NY.

 

First, the July 4 oration will take place at the Stephen and Harriet Myers residence, 194 Livingston Avenue in Albany, NY, sponsored by the Underground Railroad Education Center (UREC). Music by Magpie, who will be joined by Kim Harris.

 

Second, Sheila E. will be performing at 8 pm at the Empire State Plaza. One of her singers cannot make it, so subbing will be Rebecca Jade, who is my niece. Rebecca was backing Sheila when my wife, daughter, and I saw them at the New York State Fair in Syracuse back in September 2019.
Onto the show
1. If your house was on fire, which three items would you save?

A metal box in my office that has my birth certificate, my father’s death certificate plus other important documents. A box of photos. My laptop.

 

2. What is the strangest or most awkward date you’ve ever been on?

Oddly, it wasn’t my date. My ex-girlfriend was going to the Washington (NY) County Fair with her new boyfriend c 1996/97. She invited a friend of ours and me to attend as well, because we were all “mature” people. It was…weird. Interestingly, they broke up, I got back together with my gf, and we’ve been married 24 years.

 

3. What are your biggest fears?

The loss of freedom and justice in the United States, based on the actions of several governors and state legislatures, the rhetoric of several candidates for the 2024 Presidency, and recent Supreme Court decisions.

 

4. How do you spend your time when you are procrastinating?

Usually playing double deck pinochle or backgammon on my phone.

 

5. What has been your most memorable birthday so far, and why?

Probably my 50th because I had a big party at my church. I made a mixed CD that I gave out.

 

6. What is your favorite snack?

Fig Newtons with milk.

 

7. What was your first pet?
Peter the cat. He was very smart. When he wanted to come in, he’d jump onto a piece of furniture and rattle the door knob.
I am where I am
8. What’s your favorite city in your country?

It might be Albany, NY because that’s where I decided to live. My favorite place to visit might be Galveston, TX; I’d go out to he pier at 5 a.m., watching the tide from the Gulf of Mexico come in.

 

9. Do you have a garden?

We have a garden. But I have little or nothing to do with it.

 

10. What is your favorite thing about your home town?

My hometown was Binghamton, NY. It was small enough – and my school was tiny enough – that I can to this day name most of the kids in my 9th grade class. And I’m still friends with three of them. Oh, and went to kindergarten with them too.

 

11. What was the last book you read?

A Century of Pop Music bt Joel Whitburn.

 

12. What is the best book you have ever read?

Quite possibly, The Good Book: Discovering the Bible’s Place in Our Lives by Peter J. Gomes. Here’s a reader recommendation from Thrift Books:

“Gomes takes the Bible off its pedestal and presents it to us as a tool for Christian living. This book is a must read for any Christian struggling to read and understand the Bible in modern terms. He explores many of the controversial topics of the Bible, including race, homosexuality, women’s roles, anti-Semitism, wealth, and more. [This is definitely true.]

 

“He challenges the reader to accept the Bible as an interpretation of fantastic religious events with historical and sociological significance. He teaches the reader to deal with contradictions within the Bible, even within individual books of the Bible… This book challenged my beliefs in positive ways and taught me to never ‘idolize’ the Bible again.”
Roger that
13. Who is your favorite author?

It might be Roger Ebert, whose movie essays I enjoyed greatly. His autobio, Life Itself, is the book I would liked to have written, if I had the skills.

 

14. Is there a food that you hate?

Olives. Black olives, green olives.

 

15. Do you get along with your neighbors?
The neighbor to one side, Al, is great. Now, the property on the other side is owned by an absentee landlord, so the quality of the tenants has varied. I’ve written about not great ones here and elsewhere, and the best ones here. But by far, the WORST thing that happened from that house was created by the landlord himself. What a schmuck.

I wrote about terrible neighbors across the street, but thankfully, they’re gone.

 

16. Do you have any tattoos or piercings?
Nope. And I was never seriously interested in doing so.

Sunday Stealing: Je ne comprends pas

“common sense”

The new Sunday Stealing.

1) What is your favorite way to spend a lazy day?

Je ne comprends pas. Qu’est-ce qu’une journée paresseuse ? I’m not feeling “a lazy day” of late. If I did have one, I would watch the Tonys and the National Spelling Bee Finals, in that order, which I have recorded.

2) What do you look forward to every week?

I like seeing folks at church and attending the Tuesday noon book reviews.

3) Name three pet peeves you currently have

Certain people think their way is the only way.

Some people are “all hat, no cattle”; a recent example is  Antonio Brown, the braggadocious owner of the Albany Empire Arena Football team, who got his team booted from the league for non-payment. He reminds me of a particular politician whom he said he admired.

Bad drivers, bike riders, and pedestrians. 

4) Where would you choose to go if you were to win an all-expense paid vacation for two weeks to anywhere in the world? What are some of the things you would like to experience while you were there?

I need to go to either Asia, Africa, or South America. I suppose I’d go to Nigeria to be on the grounds of my ancestors. I’m 20% Nigerian, almost entirely on my father’s side. Maybe there are some resources there that would help with my genealogical search. And if not, it’d be worth it anyway. 

One Man Army

5) What was one of your favorite toys as a kid? Did you save any special things from your childhood that you still have today?

The only toy I can remember is a Johnny Seven OMA (One Man Army), a multi-function toy weapon produced by Deluxe Reading under their Topper Toys toyline and released in 1964.” It was the best-selling boys’ toy that year. I’m fairly sure I used it in antiwar film my friends made five years later. Featured on Law and Order: Criminal Intent. “Detective Robert Goren finds one in a toy store and demonstrates all seven firing modes” (Episode: Collective) June 2006. Because I’ve dealt with collectibles, I remember seeing that scene and howling with laughter.

The things I have from my childhood tend to be books. One in my line of vision is Play the Game: the Book of Sport, edited by Mitchell V. Charnley (1931). This was an anthology of sports stories from American Boy magazine from 1923 to 1931, which I read repeatedly. 

6) What is your favorite holiday? What is your least favorite holiday?

My favorite is Thanksgiving, though I’ve had some terrible ones. My least favorite is Memorial Day because too many people don’t know what it’s supposed to mean. 

7) Have you ever met anyone famous? What concerts have you attended?

I’ve answered the famous question recently.  Here are some concerts I’ve attended. It does NOT include several classical concerts, mostly the Albany Symphony Orchestra. The one that stands out featured Evelyn Glennie, the percussionist.

Not so common

8) Are there any expressions that people use that really annoy you? If so, what are they?

There are several, but I’ve blocked most of them out. “Common-sense” reforms or gun laws or whatever bugs me because it presupposes some agreed-upon definition of “common sense.”

9) Do you like your name? Are you named after anyone? Is there a story how you got your name? Would you change it if you could? If so, what name would you give yourself?

I’ve told this story before, but I can’t find it. My father named me. At some point after I was born, he was over at his cousin’s house furiously writing…something. He was coming up with a name for which the initials spelled out something but nothing offensive or complicated for me to live with. So Roger Owen Green spelled out ROG. It was brilliant. I love the name, and I wouldn’t change it.

I was not named for anyone. Curiously, my sister Leslie was named after my father. I can’t begin to understand that logic.

10) It is said that it’s the little things that make life worth living. Name five of those little things in your life

Music. And not listening to it but math: 4/4, 6/8, 3/2 et al. The inverted pedal point. Modulations. 

Math. 0 squared + 0 +1= 1 squared. 1 squared+1+2=2 squared. 2 squared+2+3=3 squared. Figuring out if a number is divisible by 3 or by 9. License plate algebra. 

History. Being a keeper of the history of FantaCo, the comic book store where I worked from May 1980 to November 1988. Doing genealogy and having some luck; see tomorrow’s post. 

White noise. It helps me sleep.

Electricity.