“Thou art a worry to thy friends” [SOCS]

Linda told us to grab the closest book, open it, and put our finger on a page ~ this would be our Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt. Mine is the quote in the title, which is on page 64 of Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck, a used paperback I picked up at an exchange a while back but haven’t read yet.

Honestly, I’m not really inclined to read the book now, given the annoying dialog on this page, and the names of the characters (Pilon and Pirate). I feel it well within my rights to make such an arbitrary and snap judgment because I have an enormous pile of books to read, and more come in all the time. I’ll never get through them all before I die, so why not cull them in any manner whatsoever?

May sucked as far as reading. I began a few books and lost interest, played games on my phone, read a lot of blogs and news, and was basically a scatterbrain. I need to get more focused now. Today I deleted my phone solitaire games that I play when I can’t sleep, and which probably keep me from sleeping too. Duh. I could spend that time reading. It’s less stimulating as far as keeping me awake like a game. But to be fair, I have dozed off in the middle of a card game, though not often. Maybe once.

I don’t think I’m a worry to my friends. I’m very sensible and predictable, at least that’s how I’m perceived. Reliable. Dependable. I can be counted on to do a thing if I say… which is also a curse, you know? Because unreliable people always get a break. Hey, no biggie if Joe didn’t show up… we know how he is. And oh there goes Janet again, such a wild and crazy gal! But me? If I mess up or don’t show, everyone is all but you said!!!

Eff that. Why can’t I be the wild one once in a while? But it’s not me, I know. I like plans. I schedule everything. I’m on time, or early. I reply. I’m considerate. Bla bla bla. Boring! I’ve even tried to plan my own funeral. I want one of those I Dream of Jeannie urns. I want to have coconut cupcakes and a song list. Hotel California, of course. New Kid in Town. Those Shoes. Tequila Sunrise. End of the Innocence. And a lot of Neil Diamond. Jimmy Buffett. Fleetwood Mac. Supremes. Sheryl Crow. Gordon Lightfoot. Johnny Cash and Rosanne Cash. But that’s a bit too planny.

Maybe.

Weekly Prompts ~ Food Cravings

My tastes haven’t changed much since I was 14, not in food or anything else really. I guess that’s sad in some ways, if you’re the type of person who believes that life should be about growth and change. Or maybe I’m just true to who I am, a girl who’s partial to grilled cheese, word games, and men with British accents. 🇬🇧

(No, that doesn’t mean I want to play Guess the Blogger with scrambled letters and obscure clues to people I don’t follow! 🙄)

So, decades later, when I crave things, it’s still the same things. Cheesy noms like mac and cheese, pizza, nachos, quesadillas, etc.

Equally, I have yearnings for the sweet side of the buffet. Chocolate chip cookies, PB cookies, lemon bars, cupcakes, pumpkin or key lime pie with graham cracker crust…

I’m not a chocoholic though and don’t usually crave chocolate by itself, though I do love homemade chocolate chip cookies, which is why I put them first. If people ask me which kind of cake is my favorite, I’ll say coconut ~ my standard answer since I was a kid.

Around once or twice a year I crave a big juicy cheeseburger from 5 Guys or In-N-Out. I usually don’t have the patience for the In-N-Out line though. This is how you can tell I was born in New York: always in a hurry, even when there’s nowhere to go.

~*~

Weekly Prompts

Measles, Science, Faith, Etc.

I want to mention measles for a minute because it’s important. If you’re a kooky anti-vaxer, I suggest you skip this post. I won’t be hosting any anti-vax comments here ~ they will hit the trashcan without response. Thanks for understanding. 🙂

In 1989, I was attending college at Cal State Northridge when there was a measles outbreak. I was a commuter student and didn’t socialize much, but even so I called my regular doctor and asked him if I should worry about it. Nah, he said, you had your vaccine as a kid.

I did have all my vaccines in the 1960s, but nevertheless I got a light case of the measles as an adult in 1989. If I hadn’t had my vaccination as a child, I might have gotten really sick as an adult. Children can also suffer terrible complications from the virus.

One of my cousins died of “whooping cough” (pertussis) in the 1930s… and just recently a child died of it here in Orange County. How any parent could decide to skip giving a healthy baby this vaccine boggles my mind. Imagine listening to your baby cough to death.

I realize it is a special weekend coming up for people of two major faiths and I respect that. I believe in nomming up delicious coconut macaroons as well as Cadbury eggs. But even more… I believe in science.

You can call that faith if you wish.

Texture [CFFC]

Can you imagine the flaky texture of the coconut mingled with the sugary glazed soft yeasty donutty goodness in every bite? Mmm, this is definitely my favorite kind of donut, which I used to buy every Friday at the café in my office building, but they no longer have them. Probably a good thing, since now I just eat a Clif bar, same as I do every other morning. Rah, boring healthy things. If any nutritionists are reading, they will proceed to lecture me on how a Clif bar isn’t really healthy because it has too many carbs and we all should be eating egg whites, kale, and grapefruit for breakfast. 🤮

When my eldest and I visited Portland, OR, I had a brief flirtation with the gourmet donut phenomenon. They are tasty. We have a gourmet donut shop in Costa Mesa called Sidecar or something and I tried it. Yummy. But eventually I returned to the cheap, coconut donuts I’ve always loved. Runner-up is cinnamon crunch, which is not a plain donut dusted with cinnamon. God no. It’s a glazed donut with crunchy cinnamon nummies all over it that will crumble over your clothing and car, should you be silly enough to try to eat one while driving. I think Dunkin’ used to have them at the train station in Chicago, or else I’ve hallucinated the entire experience. I am getting old, and I’m entitled to my donut fantasies, TYVM. 💖

Apology please, with a cupcake 🧁 [rant! bothsidesy! ackkk]

Like many, I often judge hastily, when I should know better by now. I was noodling around on Twitter this past Saturday when everyone began freaking out about the MAGA hat kids vs the drummer guy. Since I dislike the President and MAGA apparel, my sympathies went immediately to the drummer.

After a while I learned that the drummer is a known activist, not that there’s anything wrong with that ~ he’s a peaceful activist, as far as I can tell ~ but someone who’s used to confrontation nonetheless. He seeks out attention for his causes, as do all marchers and activists.

The MAGA boys were in town for a pro-life rally. Is there anything more uplifting than to witness a bunch of rowdy privileged prep school boys telling grown women what their healthcare options should be? Here’s my thought about what to tell teen boys who are opposed to abortion: never have sex with a female. That way, no unwanted fetus creation can be directly attributed to you.

Next I learned that the people who actually sparked this entire kerfuffle belonged to a third group, Black Israelites. I had to google them to find out what their dealio is. They were apparently insulting the MAGA kids, who responded by going into their tribal Catholic school dance, as you do, and the Native American group, headed by the drummer, felt like getting in on this action.

So, my new view of this incident is a big eff them all. No one deserves an apology except for me. Why me? I shall explain. 😀

During this craziness, lunatics on the left decided that the MAGA hat boys were the most evil things on this earth and should be doxxed and destroyed because they were smirking. Omg smirking! Nothing was off-limits… people began sifting through every scrap of info they could find and leaping to conclusions about identities.

Naturally the school principal and all the teachers’ names were made public. They’re all white and certainly horrible racists ~ we must obviously assume. I mean, Kentucky, eh? If it seemed like a student’s name was found, good enough! Go ahead and blast it all over, hit the parents, siblings, any colleges that accepted said monster, workplaces, etc. Kids were smirking at a Vietnam vet, so fair game, amirite? You know the left luvs them some Vietnam vets.

Except for one teensy thing. The lunatics misidentified at least one person and made his life hell. This is where your apology to me comes in (you know who you are). If it wasn’t for the insane proliferation of anonymous online accounts all over Twitter and FB, it wouldn’t be so easy to dox and destroy people with an army of trolls. If everyone had to use their real name when acting like a self-righteous jerk online to “out” strangers for smirking in a video, and whatever else, things would be way different (better), imo.

I’ll take my apology cupcake in the form of lemon cake with coconut frosting, thanks!

Ask someone else… [SOCS]

Canola oil was en vogue for a while; now it’s bad. I forgot why it was bad so I looked it up… GMO blah de blah. That’s allowed cuz I checked before I began writing, did not break my SOC to google. My darling daughter gave me “canola” when I asked for a prompt… of course she couldn’t have given me something good like butterfly 🦋 or cupcake 🧁.

Anyway back to canola. So, I switched from olive to canola then to coconut 🥥 cuz that was the thing but now the nutritionists are freaking out about coconut again like they do once a decade or so… I remember giving up granola bars for a while in the 1970s cuz they said one more tsp of coconut oil was surely going to give me a stroke. Never really went back to granola in a major way though cuz even after the coconut freakout died down the dentists were all shrieking that granola was worse than candy so might as well just eat a Snickers and it’s cheaper besides.

Not that I eat much candy 🍫 these days either. I blogged about how I broke my Snickers habit and when I ate one months later it didn’t even taste that good anymore. Maybe I’ve finally developed an adult palate? Nah! Still love mac&cheese. Still love c00kies.

Just to clarify… of course I still have olive oil for things that aren’t desserts, should I ever make any. You peeps will be the first to know, rest assured. Who else would I tell? But I don’t cook much… it’s expensive and wasteful to cook for one person unless you are okay with eating one dish for a week.

Btw, my friend Cathy and I made c00kies last weekend with half real butter and half coconut oil and not only were the c00kies incredibly delicious but we ate lots and did not die. We will obviously, someday, but probably not from c00kies. Not that that’s a bad way to go. Mmm c00kies…

Next time pics!

~*~

SOCS prompt from Linda

Sunshine in Winter

I know it’s not quite winter yet, but brrrr.

Crushed Caramel (such a yummy name!) has nominated me for a Sunshine Award! Bunches of warm thanks, Mel! ❤️❤️❤️

My first task is to answer Mel’s questions:

1. IF YOU AND I WERE GOING TO DANCE TOGETHER – WHAT SONG WOULD IT BE TO?

– Hmm, I’m not much of a dancer, but I love oldies, so how about… the Beatles “Rock and Roll Music?”

2. HAVE YOU MADE ANY CONFESSIONS IN YOUR BLOGGING POSTS ABOUT MOMENTS OF MADNESS IN YOUR LIFE OR TIMES YOU WERE ALMOST IN TROUBLE WITH THE AUTHORITIES? (I know that some of my nominees have shared a long list of their confessions already, so please do pick the most outrageous!)

– I always obey the law (hi Stan), but I’ve had plenty of documented moments of madness aka “dating.”

3. WHAT IS THE MOST UNUSUAL OR MEMORABLE DISH YOU HAVE EVER EATEN?

– My parents along with a waiter coerced me to eat a snail when I was 11, and it was absolutely disgusting. My parents liked unusual things and I didn’t mind some of them, but you shouldn’t force people, especially children. Now my diet is pretty tame compared to back then.

4. ARE THERE CHARACTERS FROM ANY MOVIES OR NOVELS THAT YOUR FRIENDS COMPARE YOU TO?

– Not to my face.

5. ARE THERE ANY QUALITIES YOU ADMIRE IN OTHER PEOPLE AND WISH YOU HAD TO A GREATER EXTENT?

– I wish I were more assertive early on. My problem is that I’m too nice and too accommodating… for a while. Eventually I say no and draw a boundary line, which freaks some people out. I wish I would put the boundaries in place much sooner. But I don’t because I’m curious like a kitty. I like to test things out and see what might happen.

6. HAVE YOU ANY EXPERIENCE OF ACTING, SPEAKING, SINGING OR DANCING ON A STAGE?

– I’ve done stand-up comedy.

7. APART FROM REMOVING ANY PARTICULAR POLITICIANS, IS THERE ANY ISSUE OR PROBLEM IN THIS WORLD THAT YOU FEEL PASSIONATELY YOU WOULD LIKE TO CHANGE?

– I wish we would stop destroying our oceans, mistreating dogs and cats, and ruining every experience with noise.

8. IF I WERE TO MAKE YOU YOUR DREAM CAKE – WHAT WOULD THAT CAKE BE?

– Lemon 🍋 cake with coconut frosting.

9. WHAT WOULD YOU LOVE TO SEE ON THE FRONT PAGE OF THE NEWSPAPERS TOMORROW MORNING? (other than than any particular politician being abducted by aliens)

– US Prez and VP dead (not abducted cuz then they might be returned) of natural causes, like the flu, and Nancy Pelosi at the helm.

10. HAVE YOU EVER HAD AN INTERNET ROMANCE OR AN INTERNET CRUSH YOU WERE TO SHY TO CONFESS?

– Me, shy? Nope. If I have a crush, the internet is the first to know.

11. YOU ARE ON MY LIST OF NOMINEES BECAUSE YOU CONSISTENTLY MAKE YOUR POSTS INTERESTING, YOU ARE FULL OF PERSONALITY AND YOU SUPPORT THE BLOGGING COMMUNITY SO MUCH – BUT TELL ME, ARE YOU LIKE THIS IN REAL LIFE?

– I’m the same everywhere, except in real life I am (as stated above) sometimes squishy about saying no, which is actually an unkindness in the long run, since I will eventually find my iron will, and then things may not be fun.

Okay, now I’m supposed to write my own 11 questions and tag 11 bloggers, but as we know, these tags come here to die. There are loads of fun question poasts floating around Blogville though, so no one who wants one will be deprived.

Have a great Monday!

Octolages

As is my way, I’m doing City Sonnet’s photo challenge in one swell foop. This time, the whole month will be right here in one poast! How exciting! Since I didn’t want to overwhelm my readers with 31 full-size pics in predictable order, I mashed them up in collages. First, I will poast the key, and then I’ll show you my photo art. You can match them up if you like, or simply enjoy for a minute and return to your normally scheduled life.

Peanut Butter

I stole these 26 questions from Fandango, who snagged them from Barbara, at Teleportingweena. But I have an issue with 26 (yes, including our alphabet, annoying). Twenty-five is a great number, and oddly enough (hehe) so is 27. But 26? Meh! I guess I can think of it as 13×2 and be okay that way. That’s what I’ll do then: renumber the questions halfway through.

1. Share your profile picture.

– Which profile? Here’s one from last year, taken at the happiest place on earth.

2. Who are you named after?

– Paula Abdul.

3. Do you like your handwriting?

– Like Fandango, I used to have great handwriting, but now that I’ve gotten older, it sucks.

4. What’s your favorite lunchmeat?

– Peanut butter.

5. Longest relationship?

– I had a good relationship with my dad from the day I was born until he died in 2013 just before I turned 52.

6. Do you still have your tonsils?

– Nope.

7. Would you bungee jump?

– NFW!

8. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?

– Sometimes.

9. Favorite ice-cream?

– Coconut chocolate chip.

10. What’s the first thing you notice about people?

– That they’re too close to me.

11. Football or baseball?

– Neither.

12. What color pants are you wearing?

– White lounge pants with grey and pink flowers.

13. Last thing you ate?

– Peanut butter on a banana.

1. If you were a crayon what color would you be?

– Ultraviolet, baby.

2. Favorite smell?

– Cinnanommmm.

3. Who was the last person you spoke to on the phone?

– One of the partners at work.

4. Hair color?

– Light brown plus some silver.

5. Eye color?

– Hazel (this feels like filling out a dating profile now).

6. Favorite food to eat?

– Seafood pasta.

7. Scary movies or happy endings?

– Romantic comedies with happy endings.

8. Last movie you watched?

– I rewatched American Gigolo a few days back because it came up on Prime. Saw it over 30 years ago and liked it a lot. Didn’t like it that much this time. I didn’t sense any chemistry between the leads; it was just trashy and sad.

9. Favorite holiday?

– Loved Fandango’s answer, but I’ll go with New Year’s Day.

10. Beer or wine?

– Neither. Alcohol triggers migraines.

11. Favorite day of the week?

– Sunday.

12. Three or (four) favorite bloggers you want to learn more about?

– Anyone who plays along.

13. Added info you didn’t know you wanted.

– Buy my books!

Tourist [RDP]

Days blend in a haze,
Like coconut, mango, and rum;
Sometimes she can’t tell
When one ends
And another has begun.
She feels like a tourist
In the shops of her life,
But she no longer stops
For seashell postcards–
She has nothing to write.
Grey mist encircles her,
And she thinks it’s the end,
But it’s only afternoon fog,
Soon to dissolve,
Then sunlight once again.