Sunday Stealing Archives - Page 4 of 33

Sunday Stealing — Spill It!

JEOPARDY!

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

This week is less a steal than a cheat. These are AI-generated responses to the request: “What should I ask to get a stranger to open up?”

Spill It!

1. If money wasn’t an issue, would you move to a new home?

I hate moving. I’ve moved north of 30 times in the last three scores and ten plus years. You know, I hate moving. I grew up in the first house I lived in for about 18 years. Now, I’ve been here in this house for a quarter of a century. I hate moving, going through, and getting rid of stuff. There will probably be a point in my life where I’ll have to move, and I will hate it. I suppose I should mention the fact that I hate moving.

2. Do you listen to different music when you’re happy than when you’re sad?

I have had some depressing music I would play when I was sad, but in general, I play what’s in the queue, tied to either some artists’ birthdays or Irish music around Saint Patrick’s Day, movie soundtracks the month of the Oscars, original soundtracks around the time of the Tonys in June, et al.

3. What’s your favorite way to unwind after a tough day?

Reading a book, a magazine, or a newspaper in a very comfortable chair, preferably with something to keep my legs up on.

4. What’s the first book you remember from childhood?

Play The Game, which I mentioned here.

Charisma

5. What made you smile today?

The picture above. This requires some context. I taped a couple of segments of JEOPARDY in Boston in mid-September 1998. Since it was relatively close by, WTEN-TV (Channel 10) in Albany, which airs the show, had sent a crew to the taping at the Wang Theater, much to my surprise.

From here: “When [WTEN’s] Bianca de la Garza had interviewed me before the show, I noted that just passing the test didn’t guarantee being on the show. So here’s the Bianca voiceover: ‘He had to have something else.’ Roger, talking: ‘It must be charisma, I don’t know.’ (I laugh.)

“Charisma. Apparently, enough people saw this [which aired in the days before the show aired on November 9] to make this the running joke in the office, not for a couple of days, or a few months, but for four or five YEARS, especially from Jinshui.”

So, somebody gave me this picture. It was buried with some other artwork in my house before my annual hearts game in March, but since then, it’s been sitting on my bookshelf in my office, not far from my desk.

Thank you for playing! Please come back next week.

Sunday Stealing — Just Another Manic Monday

Beethoven

World Almanac 2016 Welcome to Sunday Stealing. This week, we return to steal again from Manic Monday, a blog that is no more.

Just Another Manic Monday. Bangles

1. What is something you should throw away, but just can’t bring yourself to part with?

Old reference books. I have three different versions of The Complete Primetime Network and Cable TV Shows because the older versions have charts in the back that aren’t in the newer ones. I keep my Joel Whitburn’s Top Pop Singles book from 2008, even though I have the one that ends in 2022, because the older book fits on the shelf in front of me, while the newer one is taller, heavier, and thus more challenging to get to.

Of course, old reference books have a certain historical beauty. Atlases, in particular, are fascinating because they show the national borders after the two World Wars. Africa in 1958 and 1973 was radically different.

When I used to get the World Almanac, I used to hold onto the ones showing the results of the Presidential elections every four years, in 1973, 1977, 1981, et al. I would check out how specific lists would change: who are considered “celebrities,” what are the world’s largest cities?

2. When you make yourself a sandwich, do you cut it on the diagonal, straight up the middle, or not at all?

Diagonal, of course. One can never have too much hypotenuse.

Music!

3. What song or sound brings back memories of childhood?

Impossible! I’ve probably spent two decades writing about it in this blog. But okay, I’m looking at sounds that are sometimes part of the whole.

The first 15 seconds or so of the Huntley-Brinkley Report on NBC News was the beginning of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Second Movement.

The Captain Kangaroo opening.

The last minute of the end credits of West Side Story, especially at 4:30, which never fails to make me weep.

The vocal third progression of the Beatles’ version of Twist and Shout from about 1:24.

Holy, Holy, Holy – the first song in what a late friend of mine called the real Methodist Hymnal

4. Who is the first person you call when you have good news?

It depends on the news. Some people appreciate certain types of information more than others. It’s usually my wife, but not always.

5. Have you ever set out on a walk in the rain?

A light rain, sure.

Thank you for playing! Please come back next week.

Sunday Stealing — What Would You Say At This Moment?

some guy named Paul

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. “This week, we were inspired by Lucky Zoan. She suggested themes for letters to particular people. Let’s change it up a bit and imagine conversations rather than correspondence.”

What Would You Say At This Moment to:

1) Someone you have hurt?

It wasn’t intentional. I was just an idiot.

2) Someone who has hurt you?

What’s done is done. I may be baffled as to why you did that, when you hated it when you-know-who did the same to us. But whatever.

3) Your favorite teacher from grade school?

The late Paul Peca, my sixth-grade teacher, whom I wrote about here. I continue to use the lessons you taught us. Yes, we WERE your best class, as you said, even if you told everyone that.

4) Your most hated teacher from high school?

The gym teachers from 10th and 11th grade were sadistic twits, I thought, but I have nothing to say to them. I don’t even remember their names.

5) Your best friend from college?

Hey, effendi: glad you’re still doing that activist thing. Boston Taco Party, indeed.

6) Your favorite recording artist?

It’ll either be Paul McCartney or Paul Simon. Once I’d bored them with how much their music meant to me for many years, I’d asked if they had any pull in getting Estelle Axton into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

7) Your favorite author?

I might tell John Green (no relation) that I promise to buy Everything Is Tuberculosis very soon, and I LOVED when Desi Lydic interviewed him on The Daily Show.

Library

8) Your first boss?

That would be the late Beccye Fawcett, a woman who attended my church, Trinity A.M.E. Zion, in Binghamton, NY. I was a page at the Binghamton Public Library c 1969, where she worked. Only two decades later, I went to library school. She was the first black librarian in Broome County, and though I never asked her about it directly, I heard she had a difficult time early on. I want to ask her what that time was like. “In the Press & Sun-Bulletin’s 1974 profile piece at the time of her retirement, Beccye Fawcett explained the approach she had taken towards her life’s work: ‘lift as we climb.'”

9) Your first love?

I’m delighted that we are in a good place with each other. That wasn’t always meant to be.

10) Your true love?

As much as I complain about you saying, “Let’s go” as we’re leaving church or another event, only to get involved in another conversation, it doesn’t aggravate me anymore. It just is.

Thank you for playing! Please come back next week.

Sunday Stealing — Complete the Thought

McKinley Green

**“Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley recounts the crumbling legacy of a once-proud king.**

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. “A blogger named Elisha shared 10 things about herself. By turning her revelations into prompts, we hope to learn more about you.”

Complete the Thought

1. I wish someone would …

Stop being a purblind Nero, a Herod, a Heliogabalus, an Ozymandias.

2. When I order Chinese food …

I like to order a variety of different items so that I can enjoy them over several days. Hmm. It’s been a while.

3. I know it’s not everyone’s favorite activity, but I actually enjoy …

Handwashing dishes. I like the soapy water. It reminds me of my childhood when I used to wash the dishes. One thing they did at my elementary school was to check your fingernails to ensure they were clean. My fingernails were never clean because I was a kid who played in the dirt unless I had just recently washed dishes.

5. A major pet peeve of mine is …

This happened on Thursday: my wife was driving, stopped at a red light. The light turned green, so she started moving when a bicycle from the sidewalk coming from her left suddenly pulled right in front of her. If she hadn’t had rapid reflexes, she could have easily pancaked him. In general, bicycles and, especially, these motorized vehicles often show a lack of respect for the rules of the road. It’s scary for other people, but it’s, frankly, dangerous for them as well.

Pop

6. I remember when my grandfather …

McKinley Green took me hunting one time when I was about seven years old. I fired his rifle and I landed on my butt. Mostly, I remember watching Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom, boxing, and Wide World of Sports with him, as well as playing gin rummy.

7. I am not fazed at all by …

No, I am hard-pressed to answer this question. I engage in a variety of activities, including donating blood, speaking publicly, and writing this blog. Am I unfazed by doing these things? I don’t think so.

8. Long car rides …

Since I’m not driving, I’m usually the navigator. Between those times when we have to change roads, I read a lot of newspapers and magazines that have accumulated.

9. I don’t understand the fuss over …

Answering this question would involve me being aware of things that I don’t care about. If there’s a music, television program, or fashion trend that I’m not familiar with, and other people think it’s terrific, then good for them. It doesn’t have any real effect on me. This is a corollary to Arthur’s Law.

10. When I’m home alone …

I spent the first hour playing a CD and probably writing a blog post. With the second CD, I need to change positions, so I’ll empty the dishwasher, reload it, and maybe vacuum. With the third CD, I would sort my mail, pay my bills, and read the newspapers. The length of CDs can range anywhere from 35 to 75 minutes, so this is an approximate agenda.

Thank you for playing! Please come back next week!

Sunday Stealing: 10 Questions with Nigel

less world suck

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. “Back in 2010, blogger Nigel Vanstone from Away from a Bit asked his readers this series of questions. He said he was tagged by another, unnamed blogger. But I’m not tracing it back any further. Nigel Vanstone is a cool name, and that’s enough for me.”

10 Questions with Nigel

1. What’s your life’s motto?

Young Simba: Hakuna Matata?
Pumbaa: Yeah. It’s our motto.
Young Simba: What’s a motto?
Timon: Nothing. What’s a motto with you? [laughs]

Well, THAT’S not it! Create less world suck, I suppose, per the terms of the Vlogbrothers.

2. Where were you living 13 years ago?

Same place we are living now. The daughter was in elementary school, which made the commute from our house to her school really easy.

Green-eyed?

3. Is anyone jealous of you?

I have no idea. I’m working on the theory that there are people who perceive me as easygoing, casual, and engaging, among other things. However, the truth is that I’m only those things in spaces where I feel comfortable, such as at church or the library. In other places, I tend to be shy and cautious, so if people only see me in the gregarious space, I think they may perceive me differently than I perceive myself.

4. Where were you when you heard about the 9/11 terror attacks?

I wrote about this at length in 2008 and subsequently.

5. Do you consider yourself kind?

Most of the time.

6. Can you change your car’s oil?

I’ve done this in the distant past. Could I do it now? Doubtful.

7. What’s the last thing you heard about your first love?

I received an unexpected email from her in February 2025. She stumbled across my blog – probably this post – while trying to prove some Binghamton, NY-related television trivia. We’re both in long-term relationships.

8. Have you ever been burned by love?

Oh, heavens, yes.

9. What was the last thing you paid for with cash?

Indian food from the restaurant a block away, five days ago. He gives a 5% discount for cash.

10. Do you hug your friends?

It depends on the friend. When I was at my previous church, Trinity United Methodist, there was an older woman named Helen Knapp who referred to me as the Trinity hugger. Then she added, “Which is better than being the Trinity mugger!” She said that a lot, and, oddly, it never got old. I hug some folks at my current church, but especially a 95-year-old woman, who has become more of a hugger later in life.