songbird's crazy world

And it's a "your choice" week. 2020 has become a terrifying year.  I can’t watch the news without feeling fear rise up in me ... So I wanted to return, however briefly, to happier days. Remember, back in the 80's, all those great videos on MTV? Dire Straights even mentioned MTV in a lyric: Peter Gabriel was kind of weird: Robert Palmer videos had lots of lipstick. Before he got creepy, Michael Jackson knew how to tell a story. Cyndi Lauper knew how to have fun: And Madonna was always controversial. Devo taught us how to whip it... Tin roof....rusted. Here's one of my favorites: And last but not least, a video popular in the 2000’s, when my kids were in high school, a salute to my generation.

We live in scary times.  I watch the news and I am shaken. The rage of the repressed is boiling over.   I wonder where the pain, the rage, the unrest, will lead us. We live in scary times.

1. What do you think is the greatest television show of all time? Right now my mind is still on yesterday's space launch, of course that will influence my answer.  But I will have to say Star Trek .  The original series portrayed a better life for all of us in the future,  an existence when our differences were embraced and relished, where IDIC --     Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations , the basis of Vulcan philosophy, celebrating the vast array of variables in the universe -- was a guiding principle. The concepts of acceptance and understanding continued throughout the Star Trek universe, in all the shows and movies that followed the original series. And so much of our pop culture is filled  with references to the show, in all its iterations.  In the dark and terrible times we are living through, I hold out hope for a future as envisioned by Star Trek. 2. Would you rather win a Nobel Prize or an Academy Award? A Nobel. It...

Space flight...wow... Back in October 2016, Drew and I visited the Kennedy Space Center in Port Canaveral, Florida.   We are both children of the 60's,  grew up in the era of Mercury, Gemini and Apollo.  We'd visited once before, in 1987, and knew we had to come back. We took the bus tour around the facility, and our guide spent a lot of time talking about NASA's partnership with a private company,  SpaceX.  He told us that SpaceX was working on rockets that would launch cargo into space, and would eventually work on launching astronauts into space.  This was big news, since we'd been relying on the Russians to transport our astronauts to the International Space Station after the space shuttle was retired.  He told us that unlike the old Saturn rockets, the SpaceX rocket would be completely reusable, with the Stage One component designed to return to Earth and land where it could be recovered. He told us that NASA planned to return to the mo...

Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey Welcome to  Saturday: 9 . What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love to  answer the questions, however, and here is today's questions! Saturday 9: Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey (1971) Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it  here . 1) The lyrics tell us Paul believes it's going to rain. How's the weather where you are today? I'm writing this on Wednesday, and the weather is beautiful.  We're supposed to get rain tomorrow, Friday and Saturday . 2) Paul sings that he  is sorry because he hasn't "done a bloody thing all day." What do you hope to acco...

Today I saw something I never imagined I'd see in this country. A CNN reporter, his producer and his cameraman were arrested on the air during a broadcast.   Minneapolis is burning.  The outrage over police brutality is erupting. An African American man died during an arrest when a police officer held him down by placing a knee on the man's neck until he suffocated.   The man, George Floyd, was arrested for forging a check.  He did not resist arrest, as video proved. CNN reporter Omar Jimenez was reporting on the protests and rioting.  He was on the air when officers approached.  He pulled out his press pass, told them he was standing where he was told to stand, but would gladly move if so directed. And he and his crew were arrested. If I had not seen the video I would never have believed that something like that could happen in America.

From August 2019, sunset on the Great South Bay #skywatchfriday

Rediscovered a favorite coffee mug. My souvenir from a visit to MOMA  in 2015.

1. The US of A celebrated Memorial Day this past Monday. Does your family have any military ties? If so, tell us about them. As I mentioned the other day, my father was a proud veteran of the US Army. 2. Cole slaw, potato salad, baked beans, potato chips, mac and cheese, macaroni salad...your favorite BBQ side? How many of these do you make from scratch vs. buying from the deli? What does it mean, the phrase "from scratch"?  Doesn't everyone get their sides from the deli? 3.  I enjoyed asking this question back when the Hodgepodge was a regular thing...Lake Superior State University posts a list each year of  words they think should be banished from the Queen's English  for misuse, overuse, and/or general uselessness. The 2020 list includes- quid pro quo, artisanal, curated, influencer, literally, I mean, living my best life, mouthful (word used by foodies to describe texture of food in their mouth), chirp (basically an insult, you can read more on ...

So ...Memorial Day weekend.... It rained on Saturday.  I had a lot of errands to run.  It felt so normal, driving my car as I ran my errands.  Until it didn't.  Making sure I put on my mask every time I got out of the car.  Standing on line, six feet apart, just to go into a store.  I'm not afraid of the virus, I was tested and have the antibodies, but still... And most of my errands weren't even for me.  My sisters are so protective of my 87 year old mother andso terrified of the virus that they've barely left the house since March.  "Can you pick up a few things at Trader Joe's?  Can you go to the bakery?  Can you pick up mom's pills at the drugstore?"  Of course I can... I was stopped at  a traffic light and could not help but notice the car next to me: Drew says it's a Corvette, probably from 1957 or 1958.  Cool... We watched a baseball game Saturday night.  Game Six of the 1986 World Series. ...

And today's theme? Songs about flowers or gardens First thing that came to mind was this classic by Peter, Paul and Mary. Here's John Denver singing about growing a garden. But Elton John's garden was empty. From a little ballet called The Nutcracke r, here's "The Waltz of the Flowers" How about some Jimmy Buffett? And finally ... <!-- end LinkyTools script

1. Would you kiss the last person you kissed again? Absolutely. 2. What’s the closest thing to you that’s red? A bluetooth speaker: 3. Did you meet someone new today? Does the cashier at Trader Joe's count? 4. What are you craving right now? Normalcy. 5. What comes to mind when I say “cabbage.” The stuffed cabbage platter at Ben's Kosher Deli. 6. What does your last text say? kk 7. Do you bite into your ice cream, or just lick it? I bite it. 8. Do you like your hair? Yeah...yeah I do.   I lost my hair to chemo in 2005.  I was lucky...it grew back thick and curly, with more body than it had before I was sick.  It also grew back much grayer than before, but there's an easy cure for that... 9. Do you like yourself? Overall, yeah.  There are things I would change if I could, things I should try to change, but overall I'm OK.   10. Do you like cottage cheese? Current favorite: 11. What are you listening to ...

Battle Hymn of the Republic Welcome to  Saturday 9 . What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme! Saturday 9: Battle Hymn of the Republic (1963) Unfamiliar with Judy Garland's rendition of this week's tune? Hear it  here . Memorial Day is the federal holiday designated to honor American service people who died in battle.  1) On May 30, 1868, President Grant presided over the Memorial Day observance at Arlington National Cemetery. Have you ever visited Arlington Cemetery? I have visited our nation's capital many times, both on business and as a tourist.  During the summe...