Saturday 9

 

Fooled by a Feeling

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: Fooled by a Feeling (1979)
 
Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.
Chosen because next week is April Fool's Day. 

1) Some believe that the practice of playing tricks on one another on April 1 dates back to the 14th century because it's mentioned in Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. Geoffrey Chaucer is considered one of England's greatest poets. From memory, quote a bit of poetry for us. (It doesn't have to be English, or great.)

Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote,

The droghte of March hath perced to the roote,


Wait, what? You weren't expecting Chaucer in the original Middle English? Well, that's good, because the only part I know is the opening line of the Prologue.  Though I did read a lot of poetry when I was younger, I minored in English.  (Had enough credits to make it a second major, but I didn't want to take grammar or linguistics.)

Another favorite, by  William Blake:

Tyger Tyger, burning bright, 

In the forests of the night; 

What immortal hand or eye, 

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

2) When Crazy Sam was a little girl, her mother would prank her on April Fool's Day by slipping a rubber worm or plastic spider in her lunch box. Did you/do you carry a lunchbox, either as a student or an adult?

As a very young girl I had one similar to this:

3) In 1998, Burger King got into the April Fool's Day fun by promoting a special "Left Handed Whopper," supposedly designed to perfect for a leftie to hold. Describe your perfect burger.

Depends on my mood.  A cheeseburger and top it with either  (1) bacon, pickles, onions and ketchup, or (2)  sautéed mushrooms and onions.

4) In this week's song, Barbara Mandrell sings that she followed her heart into her lover's arms. Are you more often led by your heart or head?

Definitely my heart.  

5) She knows now she was wrong for believing her man loved her. When did you recently admit you were wrong?

Drew and I have very different styles when it comes to driving a car.  I think he's too aggressive, he thinks I'm overly cautious.   I used to be a horrible back seat driver, it would often lead to an argument. I had to force myself to stop...

Well, last Saturday I had my second dose of the Pfizer vaccine.  I couldn't get a local appointment here on Long Island, but had to drive into Manhattan, to the Javits Center -- 34th Street and 11th Avenue.   Drew drives a Pacifica, I drive a Prius C, so of course we took my car -- trying to park a minivan in Manhattan is asking for trouble.  

We found a spot on 12th Avenue, and Drew stayed in the car while I got my vaccine.  (He was vaccinated earlier, at Aquaduct Racetrack -- much closer to home.)

After I got my shot, our plan was to stop  for a quick visit with my daughter-who-lives-in-Manhattan (her apartment is on East 56th Street) before heading back to Long Island, then stop at Shake Shack to pick up some burgers on the way back to Drew's house.  

I started to feel side effects from the vaccine as we drove over the 59th Street Bridge (I hate that bridge, by the way, it didn't make sense to go down to 34th Street for the tunnel.) By the time we got to Shake Shack I was experiencing fatigue and a bit of brain fog. So I told Drew that he would have to drive my car back to his house. 

It was the first time Drew had ever driven that car, the first time I ever sat in the passenger seat in that car.  And I said something ... and he got upset...

6) Barbara Mandrell recalls being able to read music before she could read words. Can you read sheet music?

Not well, but yes, I can read sheet music.   I took piano lessons from the time I was 7 until I was 10.  I took viola lessons in elementary school from 3rd grade until 6th grade. And I sang in the school chorus  until high school.

7) Barbara had her own TV variety show in the 1980s and, in the 90s, acted on the daytime drama, Sunset Beach. The soap opera's producer, Aaron Spelling, was a huge fan of Barbara's and was thrilled to finally meet and work with her. Tell us about someone you really enjoyed working with, and why.

Alan and I met about 15 years ago.  We worked for the same company, in the same department, but we didn't really work "together", we were on different teams.  But we had a chance to socialize and get to be friends. We both left that company, but stayed in touch via social media.

So a few years later, when my new employer was looking to hire, I asked Alan if he knew of anyone who would like the job.   He applied for the job, was hired, and we actually worked on the same team.  

I left that job last year.  I don't miss the job, but I do miss the people.  Especially Alan.

Alan and I have a lot of the same interests.  He majored in English as an undergrad.  He likes Broadway, and science fiction, and old movies.  We are on the same side politically. He tells the most atrocious punny jokes.  He loves his wife, brags about his daughter and grandchildren, and was devastated when his beagle died.

We hang out on Facebook, but it's not the same.  I think maybe after we are all vaccinated, Alan and his wife and Drew and i should get together.

8) In 1979, when this song was released, a top-of-the-line Sony Walkman sold for $150 (approx. $500 in today's dollars). Did you have a portable cassette player back in the day?

They still make these?

I had one like that  in college, back in the late 70's and early 80's. My favorite cassette at the time:

I bought my first Walkman in the mid 80's.  I listened to cassettes while I commuted to work on the railroad.  Listened to a lot of Cyndi Lauper and Madonna on that thing.

9) Random question: What's the first thing you thought of when you woke up this morning?

Feeling a bit sad today.  This is the second year  my Passover holiday is being disrupted by Covid.  But then again, what could be more Jewish than celebrating our escape from an ancient  plague while living through a modern one?  

Every year, at the end of the Seder, we say "Next Year IN Jerusalem!"  That phrase has had a different meaning for me lately.  

Next year, live and be well, we will have a normal Passover holiday...