Saturday 9

(Link in meme-roll)

Since U Been Gone (2005)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here. 

 

1) In this song, Kelly Clarkson is dissatisfied with her relationship and she's moving on. What's something you've moved on from lately? It could be anything from a romance to the laundry detergent you've been using for years.

I stopped being so concerned with tidying up the house before the cleaning crew arrives. Eventually, I'll have things sorted more completely, but right now there are boxes and stacks of Beast's things everywhere that I can't face.

2) She sings that she can now breathe. Studies have shown that July can be a good month for allergy sufferers because trees and grasses are no longer pollinating. How are your eyes, ears, nose and throat this morning?

I'm allergic to corn pollen so as soon as the spring BS settles down, the corn starts its thing and I'm miserable pretty much till the first hard freeze. I live in the world's largest corn field. 

3) Kelly complains that their romance reminds her of a "stupid love song." Let's be more positive: what love song do you associate with positive memories?

I heard Walking on Sunshine for the first time in eons this week and it reminded me of Beasty and I in college when we spent our summers writing writing writing letters to each other.

4) While Kelly's first love is music, she's established herself as a TV personality. In addition to her daytime talk show, she's been a judge on The Voice and hosted an awards show. Have you ever been on TV?

Yes, as a member of a marching band in the Tournament of Roses Parade in 1980.
And never again.
Which is more than fine with me.

5) She has confessed a weakness for Doritos. Would we find salty snacks in your kitchen right now?

I've got a partially-emptied bag of popcorn chips right next to me right now, and a barrel of pretzel rods nearby (thanks, Beast for getting me addicted to these!), and I think there's another bag of something in the snack drawer in the kitchen. I really need to clean that out... [the drawer, not the 'bag of something']

6) Kelly has found her weight the source of public debate. Are you like Kelly, whose weight fluctuates? Or does it stay stable?

I used to be the skinniest kid in the universe. Then I got pregnant at 29 and now weigh 60 lbs. more than just before Sparky was born. Oh well. 

7) In 2005, when this song was popular, a motorist made news in Texas when he was ticketed for driving over 200 mph in a 75 mph zone. Have you ever been pulled over by the police?

Of course I have, but nothing like this. There's a village nearby that used to be a notorious speed trap and they got me once for doing 50 in a 40 zone.
Within the last year a cop pulled me for not fully stopping at the stop sign by the train station on my way home. Warning.
Then there was the time just after Beast moved into Nursing Home from Hell that I got stopped because my license plate was expired. I was within the month and the cop told me to just go get it fixed after I told him where I had just been.
Oh, and back in my young-and-dumb days I was accosted outside my mom's workplace for blowing through a four-way stop by a daycare. The cop read me out, asked why I was parked where I was and when I told him I was picking up my mom he demanded her name, after which he shooed me away with a stern warning. Oh, did I mention my mom worked at the County Courthouse? And he was very familiar with her? He followed me into the building to check my story.
After Beast got popped for a DUI, I was stopped because the car's license was on the state's auto-reader alert. Once he realized I was not Beast, he let me carry on. I offered him an Arby's curly fry in thanks.

8) Also in 2005, Tom Cruise had a pop culture moment when he famously jumped on a sofa. Do you remember where he did this?

I did not see it live, but it was on Oprah. Probably a moment he wishes he could delete from his memory banks... He's a ridiculous man.

9) Random question: Tell us about a photo you wish you'd taken, but didn't.

I have a terrible photo of my dad with Sparky as a baby about a month before Dad passed away. It was the only time they were together and he was doing his patented "soda pop" trick to Sparky's glee. Unfortunately, the sun was behind him and so it's completely washed out. I wish I'd've taken more pics with the two of them, since Sparky is the first kid (5 kids, 9th grandchild) in his lineage to get the auburn hair he had as a young man. 

Well shit now I'm all weepy over my dad...30 years later.