?`s and ANNEswers

Ten minutes to write. Less time to read.

Small Things

Posted on September 26, 2024

This week has been inordinately busy . . . and it’s only Thursday. Still, more than one small pleasure has arrived when I least expected it. And they made my packed calendar feel less packed.

I had my first piano lesson in six months. The break was by design, as I’d decided to take some time off from lessons but not from piano playing itself. My teacher gave me some pieces to work on through the summer, and I did. So this first lesson back went really well. I even got three stamps (her equivalent of stickers) on my work.

Earl and I went to a new restaurant this week and were pleasantly surprised. It’s called The Squeeze, although I’m not sure why. But we’d heard good things, and who could resist a slogan that says, “Squeeze the day.”

The most spectacular item on the menu – and I really mean ‘spectacular’ – were the fried pickles. Now they might not be everyone’s favorite, but fried pickles have a special place in the heart for my friend N and I. We have had more than one variety from which we’ve created high expectations only to have them dashed.

But The Squeeze had fried pickles on the menu and the server, after listening to all my complaints about fried pickles, said, “I’d give ours a try.” So we did; and on the basis of the pickles alone we’ll be back to The Squeeze. I sent N a picture of the pickles and only wish she lived close enough to enjoy them herself. With me, of course.

Finally, the sunset tonight was also spectacular. I’ve written recently about the dirth of great sunsets, but this one was what I call a wrap-around. No matter which direction I looked the glory of red and gold was everywhere.

What is better than unexpected surprises that make your week? Well, maybe winning the lottery, but until my numbers come up I’ll settle for sweet music, fried pickles, and waning sun.

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Thank You

Posted on September 25, 2024

If you read my blog regularly, you know I’m editing a novel that I wrote over 30 years ago. It details one woman’s experiences dating in the 1990s, long before chat rooms, It’s Just Lunch, Bumble, Match, and all those other dating sites became the gold standard. It was before most people owned cell phones too. Instead, they used personal ads in newspapers and pencils.

I’ve self-published two works in the past, but don’t want to spend the time or money to do that again. So I’m revisiting, reviewing, and revising this manuscript in the hope of having some literary agent think it’s clever. Given the speed at which dating has changed, you could almost call it historical fiction.

Which is one reason I’ve returned to blogging this year. Agents (and publishers) are interested in writing talent that demonstrate a built-in following. That’s one reason well-known people get their books published, even when the work itself isn’t very good. I won’t name names, but I’m sure you’ve picked up a book written by a television personality or an actor, only to find that person should have stuck to the day job.

Knowing the publishing world looks for dollar signs instead of literary treasures, I blog most days, push the material through SEO and sometimes Facebook. And I keep statistics too. As of yesterday September had the highest readership of any blog month this year. So thank you for this subtle support as I build a following.

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Proofreading

Posted on September 24, 2024

Trolling on Facebook, I saw an ad for a course that teaches one to proofread for profit. It claims you can do this from home or from anywhere if you take the advertiser’s class. At first I was interested (although as a long-time writer for hire I already know how to proofread) because I wondered if the company provided client information with which to ply this new trade.

It doesn’t. It’s interested only in teaching you basic English, not in helping you find a job that uses it. In addition, today’s world does not value good English. For instance, do you know when to use ‘like’ as opposed to ‘as if’? Do you know the difference between further and farther; or even the difference between ‘between’ and ‘among’?

I would love to find a job where my skills in proofreading and editing are valued, but it’s probably too late. Ours is such a fast-paced world and basic English is changing with the same pace that much of what I’ve learned is probably considered irrelevant.

Still . . . if you want to communicate effectively there are certain things to do with the written (or spoken) word that make your message clearer, even if you don’t know why.

Like Dr. Seuss’s Lorax who spoke for the trees, I speak for really good grammar. And, in case you’re interested, you use between when you’re referring to two items, and three when you’re referring to more than two.

For instance, “The fight in the ring was between two adversaries, but the brawl in the audience was among many attendees.

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My Mug Runneth Over

Posted on September 23, 2024

Ever notice how mugs make great pencil and pen holders? Not only do they hold writing instruments, but they also hold memories.

Thirty years ago, when I left La Leche League International’s employ I took with me a mug with the LLL logo of a breastfeeding women on it. And it held my pens and pencils for a long time with the remembrance of my 14 months at that job. They were among the most significant in my work life, even though they were among the most brief. I learned so much from a female-run organization on how the work environment could be.

But that’s another blog; this one is about mugs.

My next mug holder was a treasure my Aunt Alice sent me from the Ship Tavern in the Brown Palace in Denver, Colorado.. Her husband, mine, she, and I always went there when we came to visit. It was known for its prime rib sandwiches, and the reputation was well deserved. The bar also offered Guinness on tap for the men in the group.

Just thinking about the Ship Tavern, which I hadn’t in a long time, makes me realize I’ll never have prime rib there again. Or the wonderful conversations that it inspired. Both my aunt and uncle died earlier this year. I miss them, particularly my aunt.

So now I have a “banned” book mug. It doesn’t have the same sentimentality as the two former ones, but it does have controversy on its side. This mug arrived in my home maybe ten years ago, because I ordered it to support some PBS catalog. Due to its age, it predates the current effort to ban books because of their LGBTQ bent or their description of racial, immigrant, or other phobic concerns.

However, the mug is not without controversy. It’s covered with the names of books that have been banned in the past. Let me share:  The Catcher in the Rye, Lolita, Les Miserables, Animal Farm, Madame Bovary, The Satanic Verses, Nineteen Eighty-Four, The Origin of Species, Huckleberry Finn, Lady Chatterley’s Lover, and Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

You can see none of these works is particularly contemporary, which suggests the effort to ban books is ongoing.

Work, family, and philosophy are all represented in the mugs that have held my writing tools. Since I’m a writer, that seems appropriate. But after posting this blog and realizing how much memory is part of it, I don’t think I’ll ever find another mug that holds as much of my life as the three I’ve described here.

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Just in Time, Maybe

Posted on September 22, 2024

Fall arrived officially today, although I don’t know the exact time. I read somewhere that the autumnal equinox (and I don’t actually know what that is) means there are exactly twelve hours of daylight and twelve hours of darkness on this day. I didn’t pay attention to this either.

You might say this blog isn’t very informative, but here’s the thing. It has rained all day today and that seems appropriate for the first day of autumn, especially since we’ve had so little rain since the beginning of September.

I did a little rain research in terms of what’s needed for the trees to turn color in the fall. Turns out rain is a key component. It’s not just rain, but the timing as well. A rainy Spring and a dryer Summer help trees maintain their health, but if it’s too dry then the trees don’t turn as vibrant a color as leaf peepers want.

It was looking as if this year’s colors were going to be on the drab side. In fact, I’ve already seen some yards where the leaves have just shriveled and fallen to the ground. It has been that dry.

Which is why the rain that fell today has special meaning. It might help save the color change.

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Found Time

Posted on September 21, 2024

I have no commitments on my calendar today, no appointments to Zoom, no pressing problems. At least not as I post. There are things I can do, but nothing I must.

It’s a great feeling to have an entire day to do what one wants. How often does it happen in your life? If it’s like mine, the answer is “Not often enough.”

Sure I’ll fill it, but maybe I won’t weed and maybe I won’t wash windows and maybe I will start the book for my book club meeting a week away. Maybe I’ll do my nails or polish my silver, but it won’t be unless I really want to. Maybe I’ll start a new crochet project.

I’m a list person; those of you who are list people know what I mean. You make a list, often on a daily basis about that day’s accomplishments. If you do something that isn’t on the list, you add it so you can cross it off.

So, my list for today is short: It’s to enjoy.

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Bland

Posted on September 20, 2024

Tonight Earl and I had a good friend for dinner. I had warned her there would be a new recipe, one that I’d saved from a magazine since 2021, so there were no guarantees. But with my cooking there rarely are.

I’m not one of those people who photographs her every meal for Facebook, so perhaps you’ll indulge me this once as I blog about the entrée. It was called “Unstuffed Peppers,” and the recipe was accompanied by an attractive photo of the finished product.

Originally this recipe caught my attention because another friend of ours, M, makes the best stuffed pepper filling we’ve ever had. The thing is whenever he gifts us with it, we promptly remove the filling from the peppers and eat it unencumbered. We like peppers, but for some reason we don’t like them stuffed.

So when this recipe crossed my path, I thought it would be the perfect antidote to wasting the peppers. Yes, there are peppers in it; but they are diced along with the onions and garlic and are not so obvious.

Earl and I diced and sauteed and mixed the ingredients earlier this afternoon, using the recipe which, by the way, came from Costco. I had a sneaky suspicion as we worked that there was something amiss, because there were few herbs or spices in it. While the mixture was heating on the stove I tried a variety of go-to options for adding zip. There was Worchester sauce, chili powder, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, oregano, and basil.

I taste-tested after each addition to the mix, but it still remained bland to me. So when our friend arrived, I was already full of disclaimers. Even put all the aforementioned spices on the table so we could doctor the entrée as we saw fit.

The thing is Earl and our friend didn’t seem as concerned about the flavor as I did. They both went for seconds, although Worchester was a popular addition to their dinner plates.

I’m not sure what this experience means. Maybe I’m just tired of cooking and need a night at a pizzeria. Or maybe I should ask M for his stuffed pepper filling recipe and try again.

In either case, the ice cream for dessert was delicious.

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It’s Almost Over

Posted on September 19, 2024

And no, I don’t mean the presidential election. I mean the baseball season for the Chicago Cubs. As of today, the team is 77-75, which is barely above 500. Which means that most likely the last game of the season will be Sunday, September 29; because hopes of making the playoffs are dwindling as fast as a race car driver’s chances in a crash with a wall.

I’ll probably write again about the Cubs; there’s all kinds of things to consider. But for today, I’m focusing on what Earl said this morning while we were brushing our teeth. I quote: “The Cubs have the highest payroll in the division and the highest paid manager in baseball. And yet, they’re still just a 500 team. We’ll see what happens next year.”

Let me parse this for you.

First the highest payroll in the division may or may not mean much, as our division isn’t very exemplary. The highest paid manager in baseball is accurate, and so far I don’t think he’s proven his worth. The team he came from, Milwaukee, just clinched a berth in the playoffs without him while the Cubs struggled all season. Additionally, he doesn’t seem to fit into the Cubs culture; he’s all business. I’m not suggesting the Cubs aren’t, but they have a certain playfulness about them that Craig Counsell hasn’t absorbed.

As for, “We’ll see what happens next year,” this is the eternal hope-filled mantra of Cubs fans. There’s always next year when it’s about the party instead of the team. Wrigley Field loves a good party. In ten days we’ll put the W flag away until next season.

And Earl will move on to football without me.

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AI . . . Grrr!

Posted on September 17, 2024

I don’t get this infatuation with AI.  Is artificial intelligence better than the real thing? By that I mean, is it better than using one’s own intellectual abilities to come to a conclusion? Does it replace analytical thinking for another’s regurgitated opinion?

In today’s world, where lies are bandied about as truth, where spin supersedes thought, and where JD Vance acknowledged to Dana Bash that he made up the story about the pets of Springfield, OH, part of his constituency as that state’s senator, how can one tell what’s real?

I have no answers; but I am coming to a solution for myself. Where once I went to the internet, namely Google® although there are many other internet browsers out there, for valuable information, I am becoming less inclined to do so.

Now when I ask Google® something, it comes back with an AI answer. Today, for instance, I asked “Does Hunts brand still make tomato juice?” It was a Yes or No answer in my book. But AI avoided the question and offered all kind of product Hunts produces, things I wasn’t the slightest bit interested in.

Yesterday, I asked Google® when the last rainfall occurred where I live. And AI told me it didn’t have any information about that. I’m sure it’s out there on the internet. I don’t know how information retrieval works, but in my world it worked better before AI showed up.

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No Soup for You

Posted on September 16, 2024

The above line is from a “Seinfeld” episode where the Soup Nazi, who seems to be a manager or an owner of a soup restaurant, doles out soup to people standing in line who must behave in a certain way to get his soup. I never watched a single episode, but I did look this up.

“No Soup for You” was a recent headline in our local newspaper, appropriated from the Associated Press, about the current plan of Campbell’s Soup Company to drop the soup from its name and be called Campbell’s Company.

I get it.

It’s been a long time since Campbell’s produced just soup. It is now an umbrella company for such products as Prego tomato sauce and Goldfish crackers. I applaud the company for expanding but I don’t see that it has to truncate its name.

Campbell’s is not alone; there are a myriad of companies out there that have abbreviated titles and logos. Examples include Dunkin’ Donuts that became Dunkin’ in 2019. Krispy Kreme dropped Doughnuts from its logo in 2021. And Domino’s removed the word ‘pizza’ in 2012. Then there’s Starbucks and KFC.

I suspect that the changes represent the larger variety of food items each establishment and brand name offers. Still, I’m a savvy enough consumer to understand that what was formerly Dunkin’ Donuts has expanded its menu. It doesn’t need a name change, and a ton of dollars that might impact the price, to tell me.

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