Tag: Sunday Stealing

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

Nigel with Dory and Nemo

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.

Sunday Stealing — Stolen by Christina

eight teachers in four years

Welcome to Sunday Stealing

“This week we’re stealing from Christina at Call Me Patsy. Back in 2008, she admitted she stole these questions from a blogging buddy named Liz. Here we don’t judge. We celebrate such theft.”

Questions Christina Stole from Liz

1. What bill do you hate paying the most?

The cable/Internet/telephone bill keeps going up. We’ve considered  “cutting the cord,” but then I have to figure out how we’re going to get Internet and phone service. I’ve priced it out, and it seems like the savings are minimal.

2. Which restaurant would you recommend for a romantic dinner?

This past week, we went to Yono’s for our late anniversary meal.

3. Who was your first grade teacher?

At my elementary school, Daniel Dickinson in Binghamton NY, we used to have the semester starting either in September or in February. I was one of the February kids, the result of which we had eight different teachers between 1st and 4th grade. One of our first-grade teachers was Mrs. Goodrich. I think she and my other first-semester elementary teachers got pregnant, and so we had new teachers in September.

4. What should you be doing right now?

I’m doing exactly what I should be doing right now, getting this written before Sunday morning. What else would I be doing? Emptying the dishwasher? That does need to be done.

Peter Pan

5. What did you want to be when you were growing up?

I think most people thought that I would become a minister. That was probably what I assumed I was gonna do from the time I was about 10 to 16. Then I thought I might be a lawyer, but after taking a pre-law course in college, I performed poorly. That’s when my plans went adrift.

6. How did you choose the shirt you’re wearing right now?

I reached into the drawer, and that’s what came out.

7. Gas prices! What’s your first thought?

They’re going down in the United States, and that means more people are driving. This means that we’ll probably have more pollution.

8. Do you have a teddy bear?

No, I have at least half a dozen teddy bears. I have Minnie and Paula, who are named after the Twin Cities, because my father-in-law loved the Minnesota Twins. I have Blanca and Gunther. The largest is Mr. Applause, whom my sister Leslie (I think) gave me for Christmas in the 1990s. That doesn’t count the bears I got for my wife when Genny (for Genesis) got lost somewhere in North Carolina, and I bought her three different replacements.

9. Do you own the last book you read, or did you get it from the library?

I buy a lot of books, a lot more than I read. It has been a long time since I went to the library to read a book. It might have been 1963; I mean the book, not the year

10. Did you more recently send a text or write a Post It?

Text for sure

Thank you for playing! Please come back next week.

 

Sunday Stealing — 8 Things about YOU

possum

weight
http://www.weblogcartoons.com/2006/06/27/weight-of-the-world/

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. “These questions were inspired by a blogger named Becca. Back in 2007, Becca was asked to reveal eight interesting things about herself. We’re turning her answers into questions to learn a little more about YOU.”

8 Questions

1. What habit do you wish you could break?

Procrastination. I’m not talking about taking a break – for me, it might be playing pinochle or spades on my phone – but doing that in lieu of what I must do.

On Tuesday, a dead possum lay next to our back porch. It was the size of a large house cat, with a tail that reminded me a little of an armadillo. I called the state Department of Environmental Conservation to see if they would take it away for me; alas, no. I was told there were too many dead critters. So I played some cards.

Now, I MUST remove the animal before I take two buses to my dentist, and then go to the library for a book talk. I decided to put it in an empty box from a recent delivery. The spade shovel from the shed didn’t have enough surface area, so I had to retrieve a snow shovel. Getting the tail in was the most challenging part. Then  I put it in the trash, but I decided I didn’t want the box to open, freaking out the trash folks, so I put the box in a bag. 

I barely got to the dentist on time.

2. Where is your favorite vacation spot?

IDK, but I enjoyed going to Washington, DC with my family last year. 

I do need some education

3. How many years of formal education have you completed?

My Master’s degree is two years of schooling beyond my Bachelor of Arts.

4. Have you ever had a job that required you be certified or licensed?

I needed a Master’s of Library Science to work as a librarian for 26 years. 

5. Do you enjoy camping?

Categorically, no. Sleeping on the ground? Bugs?

6. Tell us about a time you got away with something.

Even though the statute of limitations has run out, I think not. 

7. Where have you lived the longest, and what do/did you like best about it?

The house I live in now has built-in bookcases. It’s close to four bus lines.

8. When you were a kid, were more of your playmates boys or girls?

I remember being on the playground at Daniel S. Dickinson School when I was in fifth grade and realizing that girls were more interesting people than boys. This had nothing to do with romance or the like. It’s only been since I’ve been attending my current church and joined the Bible Guys and a dad’s group that the number of my male friends is even half that of my female friends.  

Ramblin' with Roger
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