Day: December 14, 2019

I Wasn’t Nominated

Fandango12 Comments

27E0DB3E-DE8B-49D8-A60F-7AAD497B16F1Mel, over at Crushed Caramel, was nominated for the coveted Liebster Award. So congratulations Mel. Woo hoo! Mel also nominated 11 other bloggers for the award. She did not nominate me, but that’s okay because mine is an award-free blog. That hasn’t stopped other bloggers from nominating my blog for such awards, but, hey, no biggie, right?

And Mel posed 11 questions to the 11 bloggers she nominated and I decided, even though I wasn’t nominated, to answer her 11 questions in this post. I did noticed that she posted her 11 questions in ALL CAPS. Maybe she was angry at something or just felt the need to shout, for some reason. But, hey, no biggie.

Okay, here goes:

1. DO YOU HAVE ANY PETS?

Yes, we (my wife and I) have a dog and a cat.

2. HAVE YOU EVER VISITED LONDON? IF YOU WERE GOING TO COME FOR THE FIRST TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE?

Yes, four times. (1) On our honeymoon, (2) to visit our daughter who did a study abroad in London one semester in college, (3) on a 25th anniversary trip with my wife, and (4) on a business trip. Across the four trips, I/we did every possible touristy thing you can name.

3. IF THERE WAS A CRIME IN YOUR HOME, WHICH LITERARY OR TELEVISION DETECTIVE WOULD YOU LIKE TO SOLVE IT?

Peter Falk’s Columbo, for sure.BFFBD7E6-75EB-4874-AB49-A23BA7D30690

4. WHAT KIND OF LUNCH DO YOU TAKE TO OR BUY AT WORK?

I’m retired, so I don’t take to or buy lunch at work.

5. DESCRIBE THE PERFECT FOOTWEAR FOR YOU?

45BC19FA-9495-4AFD-8E0E-3D6C7F591E56

6. DO YOU GET NERVOUS AT PARTIES OR BIG SOCIAL EVENTS?

I don’t go to parties or big social events, so what’s to get nervous about?

7. WHAT’S THE HOUSEHOLD CHORE THAT YOU DREAD THE MOST?

All household chores. That’s why we have a professional cleaning service every other week.

8. DO YOU HAVE AN EMERGENCY GRAB BAG? IF SO WHAT’S IN IT? IF NOT – WHY NOT?

I’ll grab my my wife, my dog, my cat, and my iPhone and I’m good to go.

9. DO YOU HAVE ANY FAMOUS FRIENDS? OR HAVE YOU MET ANYONE FAMOUS?

I don’t know anyone famous, but I’ve met some famous people: OJ Simpson, Nipsey Russell, Connie Chung, Bradley Whitfield, Daryl Hannah, and Kate Milgrew.

10. WHEN SOMEONE REVEALS YOU HAVE MADE A MISTAKE, IS YOUR FIRST IMPULSE TO DEFEND YOURSELF AND EXPLAIN WHAT HAPPENED, OR DO YOU QUICKLY ADMIT YOUR MISTAKE AND APOLOGIZE?

Yes, I blame it on autocorrect.

11. WHO CUTS YOUR HAIR? HOW OFTEN DO YOU HAVE IT CUT?

I shave my own head every other week. I have the same hair style as Patrick Stewart.97962592-AC26-4728-BBE9-20322D0FD275

None of you are nominated, either, but please feel free to answer the ALL CAPS questions Mel asked those that she did nominate.

Thursday Inspiration — The City

Fandango13 Comments

For my entire life, from the day I was born and probably until the day I die, I have lived either in a major city or in the close-in suburbs of one. I’ve never lived in the country or in a rural area. And, not to disparage those who do live the country life, I have no desire to do so. I’m a city boy.

I’ve lived in New Jersey, just across the Hudson River from Manhattan. I’ve lived in Washington, DC. I’ve lived outside of Los Angeles, in Dallas, near Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston, and now in San Francisco.

I do love San Francisco, but every single city I’ve lived in or near had so much to offer, from culture to entertainment to cuisine to convenience. And, in my case, to employment opportunities.

Now I’m retired and my wife is making noises about possibly moving to the countryside. Well, as long as we’re within relatively easy reach of a big city, I might consider it, the operative word being “might.”

Why am I sharing this with you today? I was inspired by Paula Light and her Thursday Inspiration prompt with the theme “city.”

SoCS — Cacophony

Fandango15 Comments

This week, Linda G. Hill has given us the word “loud, or a word that means loud, as the focus for our Stream of Consciousness Saturday posts.

Megaphone I know that most of you who read my blog with any regularity would believe me to be a liberal person. And you’d be right when it comes to politics and social matters. But when it comes to everyday life, I’m actually a rather conservative fellow.

I don’t wear loud clothes. I don’t turn the volume up to 11 when I listen to music, although I do turn the volume on the TV pretty loud for shows that don’t have closed captions because my hearing sucks — probably because, in my youth, I used to turn the volume up to 11 on my stereo with my headphones on.

I don’t like loud restaurants because the clamorous ambient noise makes it hard for me to hear what others are saying, so I will occasionally nod my head and smile, hoping that doing so is an appropriate response for whatever everyone else is talking about.

For that same reason, I don’t like to go to loud parties. And the cacophony of noises on the street, be they fire, police, or ambulance sirens, or the sounds of passing buses and trucks, drive me crazy.

So deep down inside, while I may sometimes be loudly outspoken on my blog, I’m actually a very quiet man who rarely shouts or yells and who very much prefers peace and quiet to loud and boisterous.

And that’s one of the aspects of blogging that I love. I can write loudly without making a sound.

A New York Minute

Fandango3 Comments

Jim Adams’ Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie Music Challenge this week features the song “New York Minute” by Don Henley, a member of The Eagles, featured on his third solo album, The End of Innocence.

When I read Jim’s post, I was reminded of something that I hadn’t thought of in years. I was born in New Jersey and also worked in midtown Manhattan for a dozen years, but the first time I ever heard the expression “a New York minute” was when I was living in Dallas in the late eighties.

My impression of people from Dallas is that they don’t move at a particularly quick pace. They always seem to be “fixin’ to” do something, rather than actually doing something.Fixin’ toThat said, they will eventually get around to finally doing whatever it was that they said they were fixin’ to do.

So when I asked a guy who worked for me to get me some information about a prospective client, I was surprised when, instead of saying, “I’ll be fixin’ to do that, boss,” he said, “I’ll have that for you in a New York minute.”

I gave him a quizzical look, and he said, “You know, real quick-like, like they do it up in Nooo York.” I told him I’d never heard that expression, and he looked at me and said, “Well, damn, I thought you was a yankee.”

“I’m actually a Red Sox fan,” I said, at which point it was his turn to give me a quizzical look.

So thanks, Jim, for conjuring up the memories.

FOWC with Fandango — Stairs

Fandango20 Comments

FOWCWelcome to December 14, 2019 and to Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (aka, FOWC). It’s designed to fill the void after WordPress bailed on its daily one-word prompt.

I will be posting each day’s word just after midnight Pacific Time (US).

Today’s word is “stairs.”

Write a post using that word. It can be prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction. It can be any length. It can be just a picture or a drawing if you want. No holds barred, so to speak.

Once you are done, tag your post with #FOWC and create a pingback to this post if you are on WordPress. Or you can simply include a link to your post in the comments.

The issue with pingbacks not showing up seems to have been resolved, but you might check to confirm that your pingback is there. If not, please manually add your link in the comments.

And be sure to read the posts of other bloggers who respond to this prompt. You will marvel at their creativity.