Saturday 9

(Link in meme-roll)
Livin' on a Prayer

1) This song tells the tale of Tommy, who works on the docks, and Gina, who works in a diner. Where do you work?

I work at my local public library. It's a great gig. Unfortunately, I only made it 3 hours there today before coming home with a knotted-up gut. Seems like the whole town has been having trouble this week, even Beast. And he was out of town all week!

2) Jon Bon Jovi has said that he and Frank Sinatra are distant relatives. Tell us about one of your relatives.

My dad's parents homesteaded in southwestern Colorado in the 1910s-1920s. They didn't prove their claim after five years so retreated back to Denver, leaving behind broken dreams and their eldest daughter who had died of scarlet fever at age 6. Although I had known about this, vaguely, my entire life, it wasn't something Dad dwelled on, although my oldest sister was named after her. Dad was only a toddler when she died. A few years ago, when we moved Mom into assisted living, I got all the "family papers" including a box from Dad's family that is full of pictures and other stuff. In a small envelope in the bottom of that home-made, latch-top wooden box I found the school reports for that little girl from 90 years ago and a couple of small pictures of her playing with her sisters on the homestead. Her mother had carefully collected everything remaining of Marie's life and saved it in this envelope after her death. I wonder how many times Grandma opened that box and took out that envelope over the years.

A few years ago while on vacation we stopped at the cemetery where Marie is buried knowing only that she was in a grave marked only by some daffodils because they couldn't afford a stone marker. We found that there are many graves in this small, old cemetery marked only by daffodils. That broke my heart. But she sure has a great view of the mountains....

3) Jon and his high school sweetheart tied the knot in Vegas at the Graceland Wedding Chapel, and they remain married today. When you were in school, who did you fantasize about marrying? Where is that person today?

Which guys did I not fantasize about marrying?! There were dozens of guys I crushed on over the years. I never dated any of them, but like many high school girls, my friends and I had our weddings planned out, lacking only an actual, y'know, GROOM. Many of those guys have turned out to be pretty nice men--I ran into several at a reunion a few years ago--and the ones not in my class or who didn't show up at the reunion are doing just fine. I'm Facebook friends with a couple of them, in fact. My teenage self would think that is beyond bizarre.

4) The Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation is devoted to supplying local food pantries and helping rebuild neighborhoods hit by natural disasters. Here's your opportunity to give a shameless plug to a charity you support.

Nah, that's ok. Just do your research and make sure your money is going to help people, not pay salaries. Better yet, give your time instead of writing a check. Volunteer with a soup kitchen, a literacy center, a homeless shelter, a NICU in your area. Look inside yourself at what is important to you, at what makes your heart full, and find a time and place to fill it.

5) Jon is often complimented on his hair. What's the most recent compliment you've received?

Lots of people go on about my hair too. I'm kinda pissed off at my hair right now, but I'm a bit vain about it, I guess. It's nice and thick and wavy.

6) Everyone talks about their favorite vacation spots. But, since Sam is crazy, she wants to hear about a place you visited that you wish never to return to.

I had to ask Beast about this, since I couldn't think of anyplace. I'd go back to most everywhere I've been, but perhaps not to DO what I did while I was there the last time. He reminded me that we would prefer to never have to spend time in the Frankfurt airport again. We had a super-long layover there about 10 years ago and all I remember was the extraordinarily filthy restrooms, the dank and complicated hub between terminals (which we ended up going through what seemed like 20 times that day), and an escalator that stopped, with a jerk, while riding it, sending our luggage (and Beast) toppling before it started up, with a jerk, again. He ended up with a giant gash in his leg. Oh, and on our way back home, there was a taxi driver who didn't want to take us in his cab-a full-size Mercedes--because our luggage "wouldn't fit" even though it had fit just fine in the mini-hatchback cabs we'd used in Athens. Once he knew we were a fat fare, though, he started arguing with another cabbie and us about having been first. Dick.

Yeah, I'm not in a rush to go back to Germany at all. Lots and lots of just amazingly RUDE people.

7) When was the last time you played cards with an actual deck (as opposed to on your computer)? What game was it?

It was probably solitaire, but I don't remember for sure. Actually, it might have been a round of Spoons with the youth group before we stopped being leaders. That would be 2 years ago.

8) Do you bite your nails?

Yes. And the cuticles too.

9) Where are you as you answer these 9 questions? What's the view from where you sit?

I'm in my usual spot on the left end of the (new) couch, with Beast perpendicular in his recliner across the room in front of me. I can see past him through the dining room and into the kitchen. Now that there is a cafe curtain across the kitchen window I can only see the back-porch ceiling. If I look slightly to the right, I can see the sky out of one of the dining room windows. I could see it out of the side windows in the living room too, but the shades are up. Down. Whatever--the windows are covered, so I can only see shadows.