Questions from Carol Anne

My lovely friend Carol Anne has given me some questions. They’re associated with her Liebster Award. Congrats on your award, Carol Anne, and thanks for thinking of me! 💖

My 11 questions to you my nominees are:

1. Can you swim?

I know the basics, but I’m not a strong swimmer, and frankly I prefer to stay on land and gaze out at the beautiful waves.

2. Pepsi or coke?

Coke, please.

3. Snail mail or email?

Email is less wasteful.

4. Do you enjoy traveling?

No. Shocking, I realize. Everyone loves to travel, right? Well, I do enjoy experiencing new sights, attractions, nature, etc., but the expense and inconvenience make it a net negative for me. Travel is very costly unless you go by car, split the cost of gas, have people to put you up at your destination, yada. Or go camping, lol. Then there are all the migraine triggers for me that happen from noise, light, discomfort, etc. Also, there is my ongoing back/neck pain. Not to mention I don’t like leaving my kitty for more than a couple nights because I miss him too much! 🐱❤️

5. Snow or rain?

I’m from the East and honestly I miss the idea of snow but not the reality of it. Snow is beautiful and fun, if you don’t have to be anywhere and can bundle up and take a lovely walk. Rain can be romantic if you’re snuggled indoors with your sweetie, or a kitty and a good book, but again not if you have to drive in it. Since I’m in California, land of perpetual drought, I welcome any and all precipitation! Of course, we always get the “wrong” kind, in the “wrong” place, so they tell us the drought goes on…

6. What is one of your favourite quotes?

Life is short; eat dessert first. 🧁

7. Are you a glass half full or glass half empty sorta person?

Depends on the day.

8. What is your favourite flower?

Sunflower. Or tulips!🌷

9. If you could give your younger self some advice what would you say?

Go to Northwestern (in high school)! Stop dating insane men (in the 1980s). Buy tech stocks (in the 1990s)! Sell the tech stocks (before the crash). STOP DATING INSANE MEN. 🙄

10. If you had one superpower what would it be?

Repelling insane men.

11. Favourite book?

The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera. Tied for second place: Where I’m Calling From (short stories by Raymond Carver) and Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman (short stories by Haruki Murakami).

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©️2019 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

One Word Sunday ~ Triangle

Triangle

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©️2019 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

PFF13: Portlandia!

Welcome to my Friday Flashback! This post originally appeared here on August 30, 2015, exactly four years ago.

Portlandia!

Diane and I went to Portland, Oregon for a few days ~ it was so much fun! I love this city. The vibe was so mellow and friendly. Everything was clean. Great place,  fab food, beautiful gardens… wanna go back someday. 

https://goo.gl/photos/yUc8V8k3vWwxCoor6

~*~

© 2019 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Trippy Dippy Do

My goodness! Rory has outdone himself with a kabillion and one questions about holiday plans as if he means to become a travel agent or summat. Here we go then.

The Topic Today Is – Staycation, Vacation or Excavation?

What was the last holiday you took away from where you live?

– What do you mean what? I went to my daughter’s wedding celebration up norf.

Where did you go?

– NORF! It’s that way ^^^.

For you when is the best time to take a vacation [Holiday] as in which season, and why?

– Mrf? That’s a lot of things in one. The best time to go is when someone spots me their flyer miles which is why I’m going norf again this fall (it’s still that way ^^^).

Provide five links or titles [your choice] of the best comedy holiday films you have seen to date?

– Eh? So much work.

1. My Life in Ruins. Nia Vardalos from My Big Fat Greek Wedding is a travel guide in… guess where?

2. We’re the Millers. Sort of a “holiday” for a group of weirdos.

3. What’s Up Doc? Hilarious movie with some characters on holiday colliding with others on biz.

4. Mike & Dave Need Wedding Dates. Dumb but funny.

5. Dirty Dancing. Okay, so it’s not a comedy, but I love it.

Did you overspend or underspend to your allocated budget for the vacation that you took?

– I spent the right amount.

Have you ever fallen unwell, experience jelly belly or worse on a holiday and what happened?

– Only briefly, probably from spoiled food. Nothing happened… just took it easy for a few hours.

Are you a mankini/bikini/teenykini or nokini holidayer/vacationer?

– I have modest swimsuits.

Last time you went potholing/skydiving/parachuting/dolphin or shark swimming and if none of those, when was the last time you swam in the deep blue?

– Stuck my toes in the Pacific a few years ago. I’m not a strong swimmer, so I don’t go in all the way.

How long do you normally vacation away?

– A couple days. I don’t like to leave Gatsby.

Please provide three musical tracks/song titles that make you feel in the vacation spirit?

Please display five images of the top archaelogical ruins you would love to visit or have visited and please define which they are [as in visited/love to visit].

– Would love to visit this old thing…

If you are a staycationer, what do you tend to do when at home on your holiday/vacation break that is different to the normal routine?

– Nothing.

Last time you were seriously sunburnt was?

– Over 20 years ago.

Do you speak any languages if so which and how fluent are you?

– None, zero, meow.

When on holiday or vacation are you the same as when at home behaviour wise or are you a complete party animal?

– Same.

Have you when away ever upset the locals to the point that the law had to be brought in?

– Who told you?! I mean no. Of course not. Don’t be absurd.

Provide three images to the worst souvenirs you have ever purchased thinking they were fanbloodytastic when you bought them?

– I haven’t bought dumb things. Oh, that’s not true. In Florida when I was 13 I bought a plastic alligator from a vending machine. All gone now.

What is your preference, solo/group/duo or family holiday/vacation time away?

– Family.

Please name five places you have never seen that you would love to visit?

– Boston, Maine, England, Scotland, Ireland.

Why do you want to go there?

1. Boston = lobster roll.

2. Maine = Stephen King story settings.

3. England = old crumbly things.

4. Scotland = shortbread.

5. Ireland = supposed to be pretty.

Come on fess up, l’ll not tell a soul, but have you ever seriously embarassed yourself or been embarassed by another when on holiday/vacation so badly that you wanted to excavate yourself right there and then?

– Er no.

I realize this post makes me sound like the most boring of boring borings and I’m okay with that. Everyone else can sound exciting in comparison. I’m setting the curve. You’re welcome!

~*~

© 2019 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Lovely Trees

Cee’s theme is trees and my photo search pulled up a lot! Here are some…

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© 2019 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

No Vacancy [musical fiction]

My daddy was no Elvis, but he sure liked singing along to the King’s music as he wandered from town to town, hitching rides on boxcars, destination Bangor, Maine. Sometimes he’d do a couple hours labor and make enough to buy a cheap motel room, no phone, no pool, no pets, but he had enough for a pack of cigarettes and a bottle of cheap whiskey.

That’s how he met my mom. She worked in the liquor store across the street from that motel in Bangor, and it was the end of her shift. They chatted for a while outside and ended up back in his room.

“You do this a lot?” he asked.

“Only a time or two,” she said.

They had their rendezvous, and he hopped a train the next day. Six weeks later, my mom discovered he had left her a present and tracked him down. She found him at the end of Lonely Street, called her daddy to meet her, and they knocked on his door.

“You’ll marry my daughter or else,” my grandpa said as he waved his gun at my daddy.

“Yes sir,” my daddy said. “Go find a minister and I’ll get dressed.”

But instead of getting dressed, my daddy jumped off the roof, which is why they call it the Heartbreak Hotel.

My mom went back home to her parents, and that’s where I was born, but she was never happy in Maine again. We began to wander like my daddy had, staying for a time in various small towns while Mom found a little work, and then moving on again.

We traveled around the midwest and back; by the time I was in high school we were living off aid because employers didn’t care for my mom’s perfume: eau de booze. That winter of my junior year we were staying at a crappy motel halfway between Erie and Pittsburgh, when one Tuesday I got home from school and couldn’t wake her up. She’d mixed a bottle of sleeping pills with her gin. She was my mother and I loved her, but she put me through hell. I grabbed my things and got out of there before the authorities could take me from the Bittersweet Motel.

Then I began my own journey and some of it’s a bit hazy in my mind right now. I know I headed west; the East Coast had nothing for me but heartache and pain. I can’t remember exactly how long it took me to end up on that desert highway, cool wind in my hair, but the important thing is that I got here. I knew when I saw her in the doorway as the mission bell rang that I had found my way home again.

There’s plenty of room at the Hotel California. They have a nice courtyard where we dance every night. There are mirrors on the ceiling and pink champagne on ice… honestly, it’s pretty fancy, and I’ve never received a bill. I’m not sure where my car is though, since I can’t find a door to the outside, but I’ll look again tomorrow. I’m tired now.

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This post was inspired by Jim @ Mindlovemisery along with the following songs:

“King of the Road” by Roger Miller

“Third Rate Romance” by Sammy Kershaw

“Heartbreak Hotel” by Elvis Presley

“Bittersweet Motel” by Phish

“Hotel California” by the Eagles

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© 2019 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Gardens

Cee has gardens as her fun foto challenge theme this week, and I think I can dig up a few pretties…

My trip to Portlandia with Diane:

The Huntington Gardens in San Marino:

Some sweet pics from my last visit to Alameda:

Chihuly’s glass garden on Catalina:

And of course an octopus’s garden (in the shade)!

~*~

© 2019 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

PFF9 ~ Road Trippin’

Welcome to my Friday Flashback! This post originally appeared here on August 2, 2018, a mere year ago.

Travel Musings

In theory, I’d love to travel to a bunch of cool places ~ England, Scotland, Ireland, Italy, Israel, etc. ~ but practicalities always quench my wanderlust. First, the cost. Second, the time. Third, my migraines. It’s not only long plane flights that mess with my head, but everything about changes in my environment ~ food, sleep, weather, etc. ~ are pain triggers as well. I also don’t like to leave my furbaby. Right now, it’s an emotional challenge for me to go away for more than two nights in a row, but luckily I have a trusted friend to come over and take care of Gatsby.

I thought I had blogged about my idea for a post-retirement (and post-kitty) epic U.S. trip, but apparently I only discussed it on Facebook. My previous plan was to take train rides from the Pacific Northwest across the country. I’d see Idaho, Montana, Minnesota, etc.; then onto Chicago, Philly, and NYC; up to Boston, Vermont, NH, and Maine; down to DC, Nashville, Atlanta, and New Orleans; over to New Mexico and Utah; smoosh Yellowstone in there somewhere… basically see lots of new places, plus old friends (and meet friends in person with whom I’ve been corresponding for decades). But I’m not sure this is a good plan any longer, given the state of railroads these days. Dunno if I want to drive thousands and thousands of miles alone when I’m old, but…

I have this fantasy that after I retire (and after my kitty has rainbow-bridged), I could get rid of most of my stuff and do this epic trip in a comfy vehicle. But still… so much driving! Oww, my neck hurts just thinking about it. After the trip is over (three-four months, who knows?), I could figure out where to resettle in California, in a less expensive area away from the coast.

Be nice to visit Canada at some point too. That reminds me: I still haven’t bothered to get a passport after all that fuss to finally obtain my birth certificate. Yes, I am legal! I know, it was iffy there for a while, lol. But all this road-trippin’ is only a fantasy. It’s not like this crazy vacay would be cheap ~ I’d need to stay in a lot of motels and buy a lot of snadwiches. Not to mention gas!

The furthest I ever go these days is the Bay Area, which luckily is fabulous, and not only because my awesome daughter lives there with her awesome fiance and their awesome puppy. But mostly because of that.😍

Share Four Somethings ~ July

I found this sweet idea at Laurie’s blog. Don’t know if I’ll do it every month, but it appeals to me today.

Something Loved

I loved attending the wedding celebration of my daughter Diane and her husband Sam this month up in Marin County. I was able to get some photos before everyone arrived. Can’t wait for the official pics! 💖

Something Said

My little granddaughter called me “Nana” for the first time (in person) last weekend and she also said “baby” when we introduced her to another one at the wedding! 💕

Something Learned

When I was googling the lyrics for songs, I discovered that “Scarborough Fair” wasn’t what I’d thought. I’d always assumed it was a romantic song about a man missing his lost love and asking a passerby headed her way to remember him to her. Not really. The lyrics are actually a man giving a girl a series of impossible tasks, and if she can complete them she’ll win his heart. (Ugh!) Or it can be sung as a duet with both a man and a woman giving each other the tasks or I guess two gay guys or whatever combo you like, even a unicorn trio… god forbid I should leave anyone out of this mess.

Something Read

I finally got around to reading We Have Always Lived in the Castle. I enjoyed this book, but only 3-stars worth. It certainly wasn’t the masterpiece I’d expected. The “twists” were so utterly predictable, from the first page really. Was anyone surprised by which sister did what? Come on now.

But the story was different and fun. It took chances, and I always appreciate that. It’s courageous of an author to create a cast of entirely unlikable characters. Except Jonas the cat, of course… he was likable. The main thing that got on my nerves was the constant repetition of names in dialogue. People don’t speak that way, and we all know now (I hope) not to shovel names into every line, especially when it’s only two people having a convo.

Not only that though. The entire book relied on repetition to pound us with points. I get that these people were all wackadoo, but when we write about OCD behavior, we have to be entertaining. It’s been done; it’s not impossible. You just have to be more clever about it.

Still, I lightly recommend the book.

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That’s all for now! Twas a very busy but enjoyable July. My August will also be busy (what happened to the concept of slowing down in summer?), but do not worry ~ the Three Things Challenge will return as promised on August 1. 😀

The Weekly Smile

I have lots of smiles from last Thursday through Sunday, since I spent those days with my family. I flew up to the Bay Area, where I stayed a night with my eldest and her guy (younger daughter and her hubby and baby had already arrived). Friday we all traipsed over to the hotel and hung out to await the Big Day ~ Diane and Sam’s wedding on Saturday! I don’t have any pics of the wedding itself yet, but I took one of my own that makes me smile. Can you see why?