Copperhead Road, Revisited

Copperhead Road via Meta AI

I warned Cameron so many times not to go out on Copperhead Road, but it was like an itch he had to scratch. I told him about the folks who had crossed the rickety bridge over the stream which separated the town proper from the Hollow, and how they had seen otherworldly beings up there. They had never been the same once they got back, and some of ‘em didn't even make it back. Granny had a hunch what had happened, and it wasn’t something I could repeat.

When Cam was a wee one, his eyes would grow big with terror if anyone mentioned Copperhead Road, but once he hit his teens and got his driving license and an old truck, he scoffed at me. “Aunt Elvira, you know as well as I do that the moonshiners make up those crazy stories so no one bothers them. I don’t believe any of that junk for one minute.”

There were ‘shiners living in the Hollow, it was true. The Pettimores had been running whiskey for generations now, and lord only knew what else they had going on. These thoughts were getting my nerves all tangled. I tried to focus on the banana bread I was baking for the church sale, but my hands were shaking, and I couldn't remember if I had put in the salt already. "Cam, please listen—”

“Look, I don’t want you to get upset, Auntie, but someone put spooky lights and stuff on Copperhead Road for Halloween, and Ashley wants to go up to the Hollow. I gotta show some backbone so she doesn’t think I’m a wuss.” Cam grinned as he texted something on his phone.

I sighed in frustration. "I know it’s tempting to go see for yourself, but where there’s smoke there’s fire. You put your hand in the cage, don’t be surprised if it come out snakebit. Ashley will think better of you if you protect her from all that.”

He rolled his eyes and laughed. “Fire and snakes and aliens! Anything else? A ring of devil worshippers?”

I gave up trying to talk sense into him.

On Halloween, the sky boiled up a storm, but this made them more excited about going to the Hollow. Ashley couldn’t stop chattering about it as we passed out candy to the littles. The sensible mommas had taken their kids early to trick or treat, so as to get home before the rain came. 

“Don’t worry, Elvira,” Ashley tried to reassure me. “I’ll blend right in with the Hollow demons in my wicked witch costume. And no one will mess with Cam as the Grim Reaper!”

After they left, I sat by the window as the cold rain turned to sleet and beat against the glass. My own memories disturbed me so much that I added a dollop of ‘shine to my tea. By the time dawn broke, it had been several dollops, and I hadn’t slept a wink. I never told Cam what had happened to me up on Copperhead Road when I was 17, and that story will go with me to the grave. Let’s just say that no one comes back from the Hollow same as they went in.

Midafternoon Cam’s truck rumbled up the driveway. 

~*~

Written for the Sunday Whirl Wordle 777 using show backbone beings believe bit storm stream ring scratch tempting devil hunch. This fictional story was inspired by Steve Earle’s 1988 song “Copperhead Road.”

A Shell of a Post

Elvis just shelling around with his kale (my photo)

I'm participating in Joyce's Hodgepodge this week. Thanks again Joyce for your thought-provoking questions!

1. How do you define beauty? 

I try not to since it's so subjective, but I am moved by the natural world as well as art (including the written word). Sunsets, waterfalls, flowers, butterflies, etc., are all pleasing to my eye; paintings and poetry nourish my soul. Music can be beautiful too. This may sound weird, but math is beautiful to me, in a philosophical sense. Cats are full of beauty. Clearly, in my mind, beauty has many disparate facets! As far as humans, eh, whatever. So much of what we think we find physically attractive about other people is culturally defined, and I try not to buy into that. 

2. Have you ever taken a trip by train? If so where did you go and what did you think of the experience? If not do you have any desire to do so? Where would you like to go? (You might find inspiration here-The Best Train Trips in The World)

I have not traveled overnight by train, though I have fantasized about taking a extended vacation around the USA via train post-retirement. From what I've heard, unless you spend a fortune on deluxe accommodations, this is pretty uncomfortable, so as with many things, overnight train travel will most likely remain in the fantasy realm. Of course I have taken the train ~ back in Chicago, I often commuted by train instead of the bus. I've taken the train to visit my eldest who now lives in San Diego County, which is super convenient if I'm not bringing a bunch of stuff with me. 

3. Shell shocked, bombshell, bandshell, shellacking, in a nutshell, walking on eggshells...choose one and tell us why you chose it, or how it relates to your life in some way currently.

Welp, back in my days of marriage/ dating I was definitely walking on eggshells much of the time, but I haven't done any of that in 10 years, TG, so none of these terms really apply to my generally peaceful life at the present time. PS: I had to look up bandshell. 

4. Tacos, pistachios, oysters, clams, eggs...your favorite food on the list that comes in/with a shell? 

Tacos are delicious, especially the vegan tacos at a place near me that are made with mushrooms. I'm not a huge fan of pistachios or clams, but I do enjoy cooked oysters in stuffing. Way back when, I used to eat raw oysters, but I learned that is not a safe thing to do any longer. Eggs are great, but the yolks are so high in cholesterol that I limit my consumption to every couple weeks. Just having the whites isn't appealing to me.

5. Are birthdays a big deal in your house? Is your own birthday a big deal in some way? Elaborate. 

Eh, not so much for me personally, as I have had so many of them now. Generally, my friends will have a little celebration for me (and vice versa, if they desire). My daughters and I acknowledge birthdays with sweet messages and sometimes little gifts, and naturally my grandchildren's birthdays are a big deal for all of us because they're still little. I was actually going to write a post to a prompt this week about the worst birthday I've ever had, but I didn't feel like diving into all that negativity. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

It would be sad to leave this post without mentioning seashells, which I love. I have a few broken ones around my plants because I think they look cool. Back in the day, I had some huge seashells, though I don't know what happened to them. My mind is a complete blank on the topic. Did they break? Did I give them away when I moved? I have no clue. I also love pasta shells ~ is there any kind of pasta I dislike? Doubtful...

Oh, for some odd reason, my gmail spam folder lately is full of crap about Shell gas cards. What's up with that?

Two for Tuesday: Money Honey

Two ducks in Los Angeles (my photo)

Today would have been my parents' 69th wedding anniversary, so it's only appropriate that I post about two love stories I watched over the weekend. Of course, the movies are fictional, and my parents' love was real, though you might not have known that if you witnessed their constant arguing. For decades, up until my mom's death in 2008, I wondered why they stayed together when they were so different, but I finally understood that they simply loved each other despite all the bickering, cold silences, and threats to leave. I vowed that my life wouldn't be that way, and it wasn't... until it was. Unlike my parents, I did get a divorce (two of them, in fact), and I never ended up with a great love like they had.

One of my parents' ongoing conflicts had to do with money, which I've read is a very common conflict, though neither of my marriages ended because of that. Both of the movies I'm reviewing have financial security as a central theme, which wasn't planned at all, but it makes this post more cohesive. 

1. Cocktail (1988) stars Tom Cruise, Elisabeth Shue, and Bryan Brown. It was written by Heywood Gould and directed by Roger Donaldson. Tom plays Brian Flanagan, who is straight out of the military and now thinks he should be able to land a high-paying job on Wall Street and make a million bucks without any experience or education. After being turned down repeatedly and told he needs a degree, Brian enrolls in college and takes a job as a bartender to pay the bills. Bryan plays Doug Coughlin, a philosophical poet of a bartender, who tries to impart his life's wisdom to "Young Flanagan" on the topics of (a) shorting drinks in a theatrical way so customers won't notice; (b) reciting poems on the spot to entertain the patrons; and (c) focusing on getting a "rich chick" to finance his future. Doug does get his rich chick, but he screws that up with bad investments, and Brian gets his eventually too ~ Jordan Mooney played by Elisabeth Shue ~ though her father vows not to help them because he doesn't like Brian (understandable from his POV). In order to get the girl, however, Brian first has to have his epiphany that money doesn't buy love or happiness. 

Critics hated this movie, but it was a smashing success with audiences and generated a huge payday. I liked it a lot (though I agree that some of the dialogue was clunky), and I particularly enjoyed the showmanship and banter between Brian and Doug. Critics complain that much of the story was "unrealistic." Yes, it's fiction, not a documentary of bartending. Critics also moan that the ending was predictable. Yes, it's a romance, and romances end happily, else they wouldn't fit the genre. This is my third or fourth rewatch.

2. Materialists (2025) stars Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, and Pedro Pascal. It was written and directed by Celine Song. Dakota and Chris are exes Lucy and John who clearly still have feelings for each other and are both struggling financially to make it in NYC (the movie doesn't explicitly say that Lucy has money issues, but imo it's implied, and she does admit to making $80K, which isn't much in New York), and Pedro plays Harry, a super rich guy. Lucy works for a matchmaking agency, and she's perfect for the job: warm, nurturing, encouraging, etc., while brutally honest about "the math." In dating, the math means coming up with a formula consisting of age, income, background, politics, physical attraction, etc., before setting up a date. It's fun to listen to the ridiculous things people want and expect from a potential life partner while bringing quite less to the table. Reminds me of my good old days of dating and how traumatic it was to be considered and rejected, though I can laugh about it now. Lucy wants the math to work for herself too, which is why she begins a relationship with Harry, and like Brian above, she has to arrive at her epiphany moment before she ends up with the true love she craves.

Critics were much kinder toward Materialists than to Cocktail, but there really isn't much difference in my view. Both had unrealistic aspects and predictable endings. In Materialists, there's a surgery that the uber wealthy men can get for $200K that increases their height (breaking their legs and making them longer with extensions), but I don't see anyone panning that in my brief foray into reviews as they did the crazy bartending stunts. I enjoyed the film and wouldn't mind seeing it again in a few years. Dakota Johnson is one of my favorite actors, along with fellow nepo baby Kate Hudson. Hey, if they're good, I don't care who their parents are. 

I watched both movies on HBO. 

Two for Tuesday: Movies

Two ducks in Los Angeles 

Last Friday my friend and I saw Coyote vs Acme at the Bella Terra theater in Huntington Beach. (Dinner first at the Cheesecake Factory, which is always delicious, even if you don’t have dessert.) We really liked it! Just good nostalgic fun with no profound messages, except maybe a reinforcement of the thrill of the chase being superior to the catch. (Sometimes.) If you aren’t that familiar with the old cartoons however, you might not find the movie super enjoyable. Apparently, the film was inspired by a 1990 article in the NYT, which you aren’t even allowed to read as a gift article if you don’t have a subscription. Whatever. They suck.

Saturday I went up to Los Angeles in a carpool to see Project Hail Mary with other friends. These peeps have a super big TV screen, so we had the pleasure of that along with the comfort of being in a private home. I’m glad I read Andy Weir’s book first because otherwise I might have been confused at some points, especially during the backstory scenes. I really enjoyed seeing how the alien was depicted onscreen after imagining him via Andy’s words on the page. It was an excellent movie, and we all loved it. I highly recommend the book and the film. 

Unfortunately, my alien-themed cupcakes, while cute, tasted awful. Pillsbury is usually great, but the pistachio cake mix, along with the frosting, was just plain yuck. I don’t understand how they messed up so dramatically, but I had a bad feeling as soon as I opened the box and took a sniff. Since sometimes my sense of smell is off, I made them anyway (baked late Friday night and frosted Saturday morning). I definitely do not recommend this product.

I also saw The Phantom of the Opera musical at the Segerstrom Center in Costa Mesa on Sunday (told you I’ve been busy, not to mention working some OT for month-end). The tickets were a birthday gift from my daughter and son-in-law. We were all unfamiliar with the story, but the singing and costumes were gorgeous, so it was a lot of fun even if we didn’t follow 100% of what was going on. One of my close friends was at the same showing, but her seat was nowhere near us, so we couldn’t chat.

A musical version of The Great Gatsby is scheduled for next May at Segerstrom, and I hope to see that too. I am familiar with this story! I only read the book like five times and watched two versions of the movie. 

Plane Podge

AI guy in a tux hanging onto a chopper

I'm participating in From Across the Pond's Hodgepodge 667. Thanks go out to Joyce for coming up with a bunch of interesting themed questions every week!

1. August 19th is National Aviation Day...do you like to fly? Last time you were on an airplane? The date is chosen in honor of the history and development of aviation, and celebrated on the birthday of Orville Wright. Have you ever been to the Kitty Hawk area of North Carolina? The city of Dayton in Ohio (their birthplace)?

I hate flying. I know it's safer than driving, but even so I am thrilled that both my daughters now live within reasonable driving distance. For a while, I was regularly flying up to the Bay Area to visit them because the drive took 7 hours. It wasn't the actual flight I disliked as much as the whole rigmarole of getting to the airport two hours before boarding time (drive and pay for parking or get an Uber?), navigating the massive annoying crowd at the airport, dealing with flinging my carryon in an overhead bin without hurting my back, being squashed into a tiny seat next to PEOPLE, and getting a headache on the descent. Yuck!

The last time I was on an airplane was in 2021 coming back from Oakland after visiting my daughter. She and her hubs moved to SoCal shortly afterward. I have never been to North Carolina, but I have been to Ohio (the Newark area, not Dayton) ~ my mother was born in Granville, and we occasionally visited her peeps when we lived back East. 

2. In what area of your life do you tend to 'wing it'? Is this an area you should be winging? 

I'm a planner, not a winger, but I am trying to be casual about blogging now, which I suppose is a form of winging it. When I was on WordPress, I stressed myself out by replying to multiple prompts per day, hosting prompts, replying to every comment, feeling the need to comment on everyone else's blog, etc., until it sucked up all my free time. These days, I only reply to a prompt when I have something I want to say, which means that I skip most prompts, including my own that I made special images for, such as Two for Tuesday and Thursday 13. While I do have a post scheduled for this Tuesday, it will probably be a while before I come up with another thirteen related statements. Yes, when I do it, the statements must be related to a theme!

Should I be winging my blogging? Yes, absolutely. I have a lot more free time now, which means that I read many more books and watch many more movies. Ironically, that gives me more blogging material.

3. A favorite book, song, or movie that relates to flight in some way?   

I just read Final Descent by Audrey J. Cole, which I liked a lot ~ it was about a pilot who was being gaslit by her ex-husband, culminating in a cockpit fight with a creep he had hired to ruin her life. (Nice illustration of how both dating and flying are terrifying and should be avoided.) A year or so ago, I read her full-length novel Missing in Flight about a baby who was kidnapped aboard a plane while his mom went to the bathroom. It was really good, and I recommend it!

Should I confess that I kinda enjoyed the ridiculous movie Snakes on a Plane? LOL

For music, how about the beautiful and sad song "Early Morning Rain" by Gordon Lightfoot? 

Hear the mighty engines roar

See the silver wing on high

She's away and westward bound

Far above the clouds she'll fly

Where the morning rain don't fall

And the sun always shines

She'll be flying o'er my home

In about three hours time

4. Soft serve, gelato, sherbet, frozen yogurt, or good old fashioned ice cream...what's your pleasure? Your favorite flavor? How often do you indulge? 

Wait, what? How does this relate to flight? Maybe like they do with booze, we can set up a froyo flight of vanilla, strawberry, coconut, and mango samplers. Don't forget the toppings! My favorite is one of those bases with strawberries, mango, and coconut on top. I used to like vanilla with peanut butter cup pieces smashed in, but lately I find that just too sweet and blech. I'm not sure if I've ever had gelato. I don’t have frozen treats that often. Way back when, I used to be "addicted" to Ben & Jerry's vanilla with cookie dough, but I don't buy their products now because REASONS.

5. I never get tired of______________________. 

Mamma Mia movies. Relating them to the theme, you do have to take a flight to Athens and then a ferry to get to the island of Kalokairi, where the fictional Hotel Bella Donna (formerly the Villa Donna) is located. Or if you are wealthy, like Sophie's grandmother, you can charter a helicopter to take you from Athens to the island. Oh, I see from Google that the island is also fictional. Huh. Learn something new every day!

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I sometimes think that I'm obsessive, but then I run into true obsessives and realize that I'm not even anywhere close to their level. Being competitive by nature, I will sometimes experience a sudden urge to out-obsess the obsessives, but that impulse is generally squelched quickly because I'm also lazy.

Slippery Slope

My mommy and me, 1962

Forty plus years ago my mother said that “a lady” did not leave the house without a full face of makeup, especially lipstick, and her hair curled and styled, whether she was going to work, to religious services, or to any kind of social event.

Back then, my mom loved very feminine pretty dresses, under which she wore an industrial-strength pointy bra, a girdle, stockings, and a half or full slip, depending on the dress.

The slip served two related purposes: first, it prevented the outer garment from being clingy or see-through; and second, it provided a layer of modesty while sipping tea on Grandma’s sofa or standing over a subway grate in NYC. 

Nowadays, some women prefer their skirts to be see-through, and they may wear a bra by itself as a top with no blouse over it or a full slip as a dress.

One thing never changes throughout history, which is women being constantly subjected to criticism for their physical appearance ~ too fat, too thin, dowdy, slutty, mousy, matronly, trashy, not dressing “her age,” wrong color lipstick, overdressed, underdressed, on and on and on.

The saddest thing of all (imo) is that it’s almost always other women doing the judging and making the hurtful comments.

~*~

Written for Denise’s Six Sentence Story (slip).

Two for Tuesday: Nonfiction

Two ducks in Los Angeles (my photo)

As I mentioned earlier, I’m trying to get out of my reading rut of thrillers and romances by choosing other genres and even nonfiction when the mood moves me. Here are two reviews of nonfiction books I read in July.

1. When the Earth Had Two Moons by Erik Asphaug. As a layperson, I enjoyed this book very much. Some of the science (ok, most of it) was over my head, but I still managed to learn a lot from the way the author tried to make it more easily digestible with metaphors and such. Sometimes the language became quite poetic! It definitely heightened my curiosity to read further on the topic and also made me more aware of the crucial need to fund space exploration. Four stars.

2. Marley & Me by John Grogan. I didn’t expect to cry at the end of this book because honestly Marley seemed like such an annoyance to put up with. I could not have handled having this giant destructive dog in my home, even with a man around to do most of the wrassling. The descriptions of the constant drool were enough in themselves for me to nope out. Kudos to Grogan for making most of the misadventures sound funny and ultimately heartwarming. When Marley’s decline began, I did get the feels, especially because it all reminded me of the loss of my own pets, one of which was relatively recent (RIP Gatsby). Overall, this was a very enjoyable read, including the teary parts. Four stars. 

PS: Marley & Me was made into a movie in 2008 starring Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston. It was good, but the book was better.

Sharing My World

Gatsby, my soul kitty (my photo)

Hey, it’s been a while since I responded to one of Di’s Share Your World posts, and I couldn’t resist this one. 

1. What have you recently forgotten to do until the last minute?

I’m probably jinxing myself here, but my answer is… nothing! One of my main OCD tendencies is to make lists of everything and add reminders to my calendar for every possible minor deadline or even things sans deadlines that I simply want to accomplish. There are things I should do but haven’t done, of course, but that’s not because I forgot ~ I just don’t wanna do them.

2. How many blog posts do you publish on average a day?

I would say probably one or two. Blogger doesn’t show you highly detailed stats the same way that WordPress does, so this is just my “feeling.” When I first began this blog (or wiped and restarted it) in the summer of 2024, I vowed that I would not post just to post. My old WP blog had loads of filler posts that embarrassed me when I looked back at them. Back then, it was normal for me to post five times per day ~ I probably went three or more years without skipping a day! Now, I regularly skip days. Last week I think I skipped two days. 

3. How long have you been blogging?

Short answer: 22 years, with a few breaks. Skip to Q4 if you aren’t interested in the long, meandering saga.

I began my first blog in 2004 (Ultrablog from my then-screen name of Ultraviolet) because my writer friends were all starting them. Most of those friends have given up blogging, sadly, and their blogs lie abandoned in the internet graveyard. They still operate under the illusion that’s it’s possible to have meaningful conversations on Facebook. I despise FB! I’m only there for my book club now. The latest horrible annoyance is their refusal to hide/ mute stuff you request. They literally do not care how miserable the user experience is; they care only about the ads and business pages people pay for. 

Sorry, irrelevant rant. The 2004 Blogger blog got derailed over the Pit Bull War, my comments were “hacked,” and I deleted the whole thing in 2007. I began a new, quiet Blogger blog that focused on cats and trivia, but I became bored with it. At the end of 2007, my mom was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and I started a private Blogger blog to express my thoughts surrounding her illness and death. I think I invited 20 readers to commiserate with me. After my mom died, I archived that blog and took it down.

A year later, my divorce was in process, and I began dating a man who was supposedly going to leave his wife (ha ha). Since I was frequently depressed over my entire situation, I began a WordPress blog to post angsty song lyrics, snippets of poetry, and sad quotes. That ended up morphing into my long-running blog, which I paid for to eliminate ads and kept up for over a decade until I got heartily sick of it and of WP generally. I deleted that blog in early 2023.

But I still had this Blogger blog! This wasn’t my original blog or my trivia one, both of which had been deleted; this was simply my backup blog, which I used when WP was being glitchy to “hold” posts until WP behaved again. Anyway, I decided in 2024 that I missed blogging after seeing a movie and desiring to write about it, so I wiped this one and began anew.

4. If you had to rename your blog, what would it be?

Idk. I really like this name, but if I had to rename it, I’d choose something like Pointless Meandering.

Gratitude: I am thankful that I figured out how to give Inky her flea pill. She doesn’t go outdoors, but fleas are everywhere, and one might sneak inside the house, so it’s important to stay protected. This particular pill is very grainy and hard to stuff down her throat, so I gave up for a couple months, but Saturday I was determined. I put a dab of I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter on the pill to make it slippery. After making sure she swallowed, I put a tiny dab of it on her nose so she’d lick it off and swallow again. It worked! Yay! (I used to give Gatsby topical flea prevention meds, but those are icky, and I want Inky to be able to take a pill.)

No, I don’t have real butter in the house. I like butter to be fake and spreadable. Thanks for asking. Also, before anyone starts, the Chewy vet said this was okay to do.

A Pearly 'Podge

With my pink pearls in Queens, NY (1988)

I'm participating in Joyce's Hodgepodge again this week by responding to the following questions.

1. What's something on your August calendar you're looking forward to? Or dreading if that's easier to answer. 

My daughter and son-in-law are treating me to a production of The Phantom of the Opera at the end of August, and I am very much looking forward to that, as I have never seen it live, only a bit of it on TV. I'm also seeing Project Hail Mary at a friends' house, and I plan to make alien-themed cupcakes to bring for the potluck. I finally ordered a proper cupcake carrier so my treats don't get all smushed in transit.

2. August 5th is National Oyster Day...do you partake? How do you feel about pearls? 

When I was a kid on the East Coast we ate raw oysters all the time, and they were delicious! Nowadays, it's really dangerous to eat raw shellfish, so I never do. I'm even wary of sashimi (got very sick from it in 2016 around the time I met the ghost guy) and usually order cooked fish with the very occasional exception of tuna or salmon (the crabmeat or fake crabmeat in California roll sushi is always cooked). My mom made oyster stuffing a few times, and I absolutely loved it, though generally there aren't that many opportunities to order cooked oysters. I'm not a fan of oyster soup, which for some strange reason my parents always had on New Year's Eve. 

As far as pearls, they're okay. I have some pretty pink pearls that I received as an engagement gift, but I don't wear them often (see the photo above). I enjoy the scene in Mamma Mia Here We Go Again when Donna and Bill go diving and find an oyster with a pearl in it.

3. Tell us about a time when you felt like 'the world was your oyster'. 

Uh, I don't know. I guess the good life was mine when my girls were little and my ex's business was successful. I didn't have to work. We had a nice house, and I didn't worry about money. My parents were still around and healthy. Etc. That lasted from around 1992 to 1998.

4. Trip Advisor lists seven islands in the US that require no passport (for US citizens). If you're answering today from outside the US you'll still need to produce yours. An-y-way, have you been to any of the seven? Let's pretend you get an all expense paid trip to one this month...which one do you choose and why? 

Catalina Island California~Martha's Vineyard Massachusetts~Mackinac Island Michigan~Key West Florida~South Padre Island Texas~or Kauai Hawaii

I have been to Catalina and Kauai, both of which are gorgeous. Since I am not a fan of plane travel, I would choose an all expense paid trip to Catalina again (from where I live, you take a ferry over).

5. Sylvia Plath is credited with the following- 

"August rain: the best of the summer gone, and the new fall not yet born. The odd uneven time."

Agree or disagree? In other words, how do you feel about this month? 

I don't feel the best of summer has gone, at least not this year. As I said at first, I have at least two fun events coming up in August and possibly more. While I used to look forward to September, I don't now because of the beastly hot weather and horrible winds here in coastal Southern California. September is migraine central, basically (although mine have improved a bit, so we'll see). I do enjoy October, when it cools off a bit and we start talking about Halloween.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I didn't get a great night's sleep last night, so I am enjoying a slow, lazy day of not doing much, while trying to work up the energy for aerobics. Later, I will watch S3 episode 7 of House of the Dragon.

Tiger Striped Hodgepodge

Meta AI created image of "tiger fudge"

Happy last week of July! I am participating in Joyce's Hodgepodge again this week by answering the following questions.

1. What was the last thing you celebrated? 

We celebrated a friend's birthday with a Friday dinner at BJ's and seeing The Odyssey. I enjoyed the film but it was very loud, very long, and very violent. I wore earplugs the whole time, which someone told me to do, and I definitely appreciated that advice. Saturday the party continued at the Orange County Fair where we attended the fabulous (and glittery) combo cover band concert of Kenny Metcalf as Elton John and ABBA LA. Very fun! I wandered around the fair for a couple hours, mostly staying indoors to see the exhibits because I enjoy them and also because the weather has been extremely hot and humid here. Sunday (today) my family got together for a pool party and to celebrate (a bit belatedly) my grandson's birthday. He seemed happy with the FIFA themed foosball tabletop game I gave to him.

2 July 29th is International Day of the Tiger. Besides the wild animal itself, when you hear the word tiger what's the first  person-place-thing-whatever that comes to mind? 

Tiger fudge. This ridiculously delicious treat is made with melted milk chocolate chips, melted white chocolate chips, and heated peanut butter. You pour each layer in a pan separately and then swirl a knife through the whole thing to make it stripey. Refrigerate it until completely cold and then cut it into little squares. Meta AI didn't know what tiger fudge was, but after I described it, I ended up with the above pic, which I think is adorable.

3. The expression 'eye of the tiger' describes someone with intense focus, determination, and the drive to succeed. What area of your life are you currently bringing that kind of energy to?  

I don't have this level of focus and determination any longer. I prefer to do things at a moderate pace, probably because when I was focused and determined, it didn't lead to the success I wanted, so why not enjoy life a bit more? For example, I no longer force myself to get up at 4AM and write for three hours before work. That didn't lead to publishing success, so I might as well get more sleep.

4. What was the last meal you cooked? 

Hahaha. I don't cook for one person (myself), except for the simplest things like an occasional omelet. It's too hot to cook now anyway, and I prefer salads and fruit bowls with yogurt or cottage cheese.

5. Describe your July using exactly five words. 

Hot, humid, exercising, reading, blogging.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I had over 3000 views on this blog yesterday, which is disturbing, since I know they're almost all bots. What do they want from me? I think the massive view numbers began when I did April A2Z this past April, and they've been rising steadily. Before that, I hardly had any visitors, so the bots must scrape blog addresses from public lists, such as A2Z.

Honey, Honey

The cast of MM2

I’m participating in Jim’s Song Lyric Sunday again this week, and today he asks for songs about candy, honey, sugar, or sweet. Naturally, I have to feature “Honey, Honey” from ABBA, except I am not using the original 1974 version but the one sung by Amanda Seyfried in the 2008 Mamma Mia movie instead, which I think is better, more emotional, and not as smoothly cool. 

When the movie begins, Sophie greets her friends Ali and Lisa who have arrived at the fictional Greek island of Kalokairi for Sophie's wedding, which is the next day. Sophie tells them she has a big announcement, so of course they immediately think she's pregnant, but that's not it. What happened is that Sophie has found her mother's diary from the summer when Donna was pregnant with Sophie. 

All these years, Donna has maintained the lie that Sophie's dad was a nameless one-night stand who disappeared before Donna knew she was pregnant. But the diary reveals a different story. From the diary, Sophie and her friends learn that Donna had three relationships in a very short span of time, and one of those men is Sophie's father. Not only that, but full names are included in Donna's diary. We hear about Sam Carmichael first...

Honey honey, how you thrill me, a-ha, honey honey

Honey honey, nearly kill me, a-ha, honey honey

I'd heard about you before

I wanted to know some more

And now I know what they mean, you're a love machine

Oh, you make me dizzy

Sophie reads from the diary the heartbreaking account of how Sam left Donna and returned home to the girl he'd been engaged to the whole time, which of course makes Ali and Lisa feel terrible for Donna. But not to worry! Bill Anderson shows up, and though Donna is still depressed about Sam, she goes with Bill for a sail around the islands, and dot dot dot ~ "that's what they did in the olden days!" 

Honey honey, let me feel it, a-ha, honey honey

Honey honey, don't conceal it, a-ha, honey honey

The way that you kiss goodnight

(The way that you kiss me goodnight)

The way that you hold me tight

(The way that you're holding me tight)

I feel like I wanna sing when you do your thing

Finally, we learn about the third man, Harry Bright, Donna's friend from Paris who shows up "out of the blue" after Donna has slept with Sam and Bill, and dot dot dot...

Honey honey, touch me, baby, a-ha, honey honey

Honey honey, hold me, baby, a-ha, honey honey

You look like a movie star (look like a movie star)

But I know just who you are (I know just who you are)

And honey, to say the least, you're a doggone beast

Note that the 2018 prequel sequel shows these events a bit differently. In MM2, Donna meets Harry in Paris and spends a night with him. The next day she travels to Greece, where she meets Bill, who offers her a ride on his boat when she misses her ferry ~ Donna and Bill do not sleep together at this point because they are interrupted by an SOS from Alexio. After helping Alexio, Bill goes off to his boat race, Donna meets Sam on Kalokairi, and Donna and Sam become lovers. When Sam leaves to return to his fiancée, Bill shows up again, and then he and Donna sleep together on his boat. Harry does not return to Kalokairi in MM2, and so Donna goes through her pregnancy and childbirth sans the baby daddy (whoever he is) with help from Sofia, a local woman, who may or may not be related to Bill. 

Some of you may think that I know a little too much about these Mamma Mia movies, and to that I say pffft. Anyway, after the girls are done with Donna's diary, Sophie stands alone at her window and the song subtly switches from being about the three men as Donna's lovers to Sophie needing to find out which one is her father in order to feel complete. Spoiler: she has invited all three men to her wedding and believes she will know which one is her dad at first sight. Ha ha ha. I'm so excited because there are rumors of an MM3, in which we will learn the true identity of Sophie's bio-dad (to date, she's fine with having "three dads").

Listen (and watch) the MM1 song and movie clip here. Songwriting credits go to Benny Goran Bror Andersson / Bjoern K. Ulvaeus / Stig Erik Leopold Anderson. I copied the lyrics from LyricFind.

Coral Kiss (flash fiction)

My mom’s engagement photo, 1957

I always visit my dad early Sunday. Mornings are better for him than evenings, when he tends to “sundown.” I can’t really hold a conversation with him after dark when he goes on about events from decades ago as if they just happened and struggles to find the right words besides.

Today he's sitting at the kitchen table “doing his taxes.” They were completed months ago by our CPA, but Dad likes to shuffle the papers around, stick them in the colorful folders, and pull them out again. 

I plop a box of donut holes on the counter, get a plate, and arrange a pile of fried balls. I find a spot on the table free from papers and put down the plate. I take the coffee cups out of the carafe and place one in front of each of us. "How's it going today, Dad."

"Good," he says. "I'm making progress on these documents."

I sip my coffee. It's strong and steaming hot. "That's great. Have a donut."

He takes one and stares at it. "Mom visited last night."

My mom has been dead for six months. Sometimes I play along with Dad's fantasies, but I am not in the mood right now. "Dad," my voice is soft. "You know that Mom passed away."

He nods. "Yes. We had some tea. Can you get me more at the store? I don't want to run out."

"I'll put it on the list. But... you know that Mom is gone, right? This was just a dream."

"We were sitting here," he insists. "She's worried about you. The divorce. Everything."

"It's all fine." I tell him, trying to change the subject. "There's a fun old movie today in the social hall. Smokey and the Bandit. I'll set the alarm on your phone so you don't forget."

"I'm not going to forget." He glances at me sharply. "I don't need an alarm. It's irritating."

"Okay, okay." I pick up his phone and set it anyway. 

We eat a few of the donut holes and finish our coffees. I try to tidy up a bit without disturbing his messy mountain of receipts. "I'll call you tonight," I say. "You can tell me about the movie."

He opens the green folder and removes the papers he stuffed in it a few minutes ago. "All right. I should get back to work now. Thanks for the cookies."

As I pass through the kitchen on the way to the door I glance into his sink. There are two cups sitting in it with teabags at the bottom of each. One cup has a lipstick mark. My mother's color, Coral Kiss. I pick up the cup and stare at it.

My father's voice floats to me across the room. "I'll do the dishes in a little while, honey. Don't forget to get more tea."

~*~

Written for the Great Minds Think twist challenge. Inspired by true events.

An Incomplete List of Loves

Mom, daughter, me, daughter, 1993

These I have loved...

My mother’s very slight country-twanged voice;

My father pestering me to read Joyce;

Creating Spirograph patterns for hours;

The blissfulness of steamy hot showers;

Playing Battleship and Clue with my friends

And Pink Panther cartoons on the weekends.

Visiting the zoo to check out the snakes;
New pink erasers waiting for mistakes;

Frosting a cake with swirls of buttercream;

Discovering Bobby’s death was a dream;

Romance novels full of intrigue and spice;

Sushi made with avocado and rice;

Apple and cinnamon scents of the fall;

James Bond adventures that held me in thrall;

Warm fluffy towels straight out of the dryer;

Melted marshmallows crisp-blackened in fire;

Soft little mews waking me from a nap;

Kitties who purr while curled up in my lap;

Wriggling my toes in a new pair of boots;

Countertop bowl full of fresh summer fruits:

Peaches and mangoes and cherries galore;

And sunbeams gleaming upon a wood floor.

Knickknacks set at right angles so neatly;

(Secrets stashed in my posts quite discreetly);

Nixing my past from the Wayback Machine;

Keeping my conscience and kitchen pristine;

My OCD may take weird contortions —

Counting spaghetti, measuring portions.

My grandmother did, so what can I say?

I love that I get to blame DNA.

More than these I love my daughters and grands,

While sadly aware of decreasing sands.

All these have been my loves.

~*~

Written for dVerse Poets Pub. The inspirational poem is “The Great Lover” by Rupert Brooks, which was written in rhyming couplets, so that’s how I wrote mine (except for the required first and last lines), even though I know that rhyming is out of style. 

Tech Dreck

Copilot here to help (via Meta AI)

Sometimes… I catch myself longing for the old days, but then I remove the rose-tinted filter from my glasses and try to deal with the latest technological annoyance that has been foisted upon me. 

Now we have Microsoft Copilot infesting every aspect of our office workstations. Some people don’t mind it, though they are all younger than I am. I don’t need help writing an email! Remember Mr. Paperclip? Copilot is a million times more irritating. Besides, Mr. Paperclip was cute. Maybe they should make Copilot look like an actual pilot of our choice, such as James Bond flying a helicopter or something. Yes, James, I would like this document summarized. How thoughtful!

But I do love my iPhone. It allows me to stay in daily contact with my daughters, as opposed to the weekly update we would get in the days of yore. Sometimes I even get to chat or text with my grands. This is a really nice way to stay in touch when you can’t visit more often than once a month or so.

It’s also great that the social media platforms allow us to stay in contact with friends and possibly relatives that we might not feel like having long involved phone conversations with. Just wanna know you’re still alive! Kthxbye.

I need to keep reminding myself that technology is my friend. Mostly.

~*~

Written for Linda’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday (sometimes).

Plans and More Plans

Yummy udon noodles (my photo)

I’m noodling over a couple questions in this week’s edition of John Holton’s Writer’s Workshop. Join in, if you like.

What is something the past did better than the present day?

People were better at sticking with plans in the past, at least in my experience, and I attribute this to the lack of cell phones. Before cell phones, it was often difficult to connect with someone at the last minute to change the details of an event or to cancel altogether, so people were more likely to keep to the original plan. Ghosting was rare, in my experience, with dates or otherwise ~  you didn’t want to get a bad reputation as a “flake.”

That said, I love my cell phone, as it allows me to keep in constant touch with my daughters via texts and pics. Otherwise, I would probably only hear from them once a week with a phone call like we did in the days of old. Oh, and FaceTime lets me see and chat with my grands at random times! Love that. 

What do you hope to accomplish in the second half of this year?

As I have mentioned before (and will likely mention again, bwahahaha), I began an exercise program on June 1. It was Leslie Sansone’s 30 Day Challenge to “burn and firm.” I stuck to it faithfully, and although I felt good about it, I didn’t really notice any improvement in my physical appearance. However, it’s now a week into the second month, and not only have I kept up the exercise habit, I’ve also increased the level. I bought heavier hand weights, stretchy bands, and a bunch of new Leslie vids so I don’t get bored. While a couple months back, 20 minutes of light walking exhausted me, last night I did 3 miles (42 minutes), plus a floor routine for “sculpting.” I was tired afterward, but not excessively. 

Finally, I am noticing that my body is leaner and more toned, so during the second half of 2026, I want to keep increasing my fitness level, both for health and vanity reasons. My blood pressure is lower already, and I am hoping that my cholesterol numbers will be better when I get my physical in a few weeks, but who knows. Even with exercise and eating right, this may be more of a genetic issue. They say that balance will improve as the core strengthens, so hopefully that will help me avoid falls, which is sadly a common problem among the elderly. 

I also want to switch up my reading to get out of the thriller/ romance rut, and I have started doing that (a little), and I hope to find my painting spark again, as I really enjoy it once I am in the mood.

Wish me luck with my plans! It’s not only about having willpower and motivation… I also need the universe not to throw impediments in my way, such as blackouts and backaches.

No Plan is My Jam

Group photo of the Mamma Mia 2 cast 

Don’t read this if you’re going to get all offended that I have no plan to celebrate the upcoming July 4 holiday, other than the fact that any three-day weekend is cause for at least a little yippee.

My daughters and I are processing the recent death of my ex-husband (their father) last week and are not in a celebratory mood, not that we usually make a big deal over July 4 in any case.

Sometimes my friends and I go to a concert and/ or a fireworks show on the 4th, but most of these peeps are traveling this year, and I am not inclined to go alone, not that I could get tickets to anything at this late date.

It’s more than that though: I am very disappointed in the direction of this country lately, so I don’t feel like rah-rah-ing over its big birthday, though I will likely wear my red, white, and blue shirt and matching star earrings on Saturday because why not?

I’m looking forward to three quiet days of hanging with my sweet kitty Inky (and my housemate’s cat Autumn, though she isn’t super social), having a lot of reading time, working on a puzzle or two, maybe doing a little painting… and of course rewatching the Mamma Mia movies. 

I’m definitely not looking forward to drunken lunatics screaming all night and setting off illegal fireworks in the streets, but that’s the price of “freedom,” I guess.

~*~

Written for Denise’s Six Sentence Story using plan.

Flashback Friday: Homonymy

Somewhere in time...

I'm participating in Fandango's Flashback Friday today with a post from my old WP blog from June 26, 2011. I found it on the Wayback Machine. The internal link is no longer available.

Homonymy

My daughter and I were noodling on love and relationships, how they mean different things to different people, and how it can be hard to settle on a definition that remains solid over time. During the discussion, I thought of this post at Gekko’s and said, “Some consider a relationship to be a vessel and love fills it up. Well, ideally love would fill it. The vessel might crack and love spills out. Maybe it can be repaired. Or maybe something else fills it up. “

My daughter said, “You mean a blood vessel, like to the heart?”

I laughed, “No!”

“A ship?”

“No, no. A goblet. A vase. How interesting you came up with the other possibilities.”

Isn’t it though?

Father's Day Hodgepodge

Dad and me in 2011, RIP

I'm participating in Joyce's Hodgepodge again this week. Happy Father's Day!

1. Summer's here!  In the northern hemisphere anyway. If you're in the southern hemisphere substitute winter for the word summer. What do you love most about summer? What's your biggest summer pet peeve? 

I love that my commute gets better because school's out. I love the Orange County Fair. I love warm days and popsicles dripping down my hand.

Toward the end of summer, the beastly dry and hot Santa Ana winds return. Instead of wind blowing from the ocean, it blows toward the ocean, filling our coastal air with all the dirt and dust from Inland California. It's really disgusting and gives me a migraine.

2. What song always reminds you of summer? 

Anything by the Beach Boys, of course! 

3. What's something you remember about your childhood summers? Do you think kids today get to enjoy summer the way you did as a child? Elaborate. 

Going to the beach with my mom. Trying to learn how to draw dogs from a book. Playing Battleship and Clue with neighborhood friends. Pretending our picnic table was a pirate ship. Riding my bike to Dairy Queen for a Mr. Misty. Reading romance novels. Watching TV. Trying to get a tan. Spending a lot of time alone.

I'm not one who likes to wax rhapsodic about the olden days when everything was supposedly better. I think that's BS, honestly. I had a lot of lonely times, and I was bored a lot too. Maybe today's kids are scheduled a little too much, but overall I think it's cool that parents try to make sure they have fun things to do with other kids during summer, while also learning new skills and getting exercise.

4. We celebrate Fathers Day on June 21st. Do you favor your dad in looks or temperament? Tell us something about your dad. Or your husband as a dad. Or a son/son-in-law as a dad. Or your grandpa. 

As you can see from the above pic, I look a lot like my dad. My temperament is similar to his as well: I'm introverted, introspective, and wordy. Usually I'd make fudgy brownies or chocolate chip cookies for my dad on Father's Day ~ he had a big sweet tooth, as I do. I miss him.

5. Let's wrap up with a summer this or that:

flip flops or sandals

beach or pool 

watermelon or peaches

shorts or sundress

iced coffee or ice cold lemonade

amusement park or water park

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

My ex-husband, the father of my children, is dying in hospice. It's a tough time for us right now, and I may not post or comment much this week. 

Thanks for understanding.

Inky Pinky Hodgepodge

Inky pinky painting

I'm participating in the Hodgepodge again this week, which is hosted by Joyce. She sure comes up with some great questions!

1. June 17th, 1994 was the day of the infamous O.J. Simpson car chase. What were you doing in 1994? I'm guessing somebody is going to tell me they weren't born yet but that's part of the fun of the Hodgepodge. Lots of generations are represented here. 

In June of 1994, I was a 33 year-old SAHM, so I imagine that I was doing mommyish things and not paying much attention to the news. I vaguely knew this big event was happening, but I had way more important stuff going on, like coloring with my daughters and baking cookies.

2. What's your favorite summer salad that isn't the traditional tossed green lettuce kind of salad? Do you like fresh fruit in a salad (other than in a fruit salad of course)?

I love fruit salad and fruit in any green salad, especially berries and mango. My favorite summer salad is the strawberry poppyseed chicken salad at Panera (check it out).

3. Is chivalry dead? Should it be? 

Chivalry is a double-edged sword, pardon the pun. Obviously the old-timey chivalry with knights and jousts and stuff is dead, except at Medieval Times and Renaissance Fairs, but we now use the term to describe "gentlemanly" type of behavior. While it may seem nice for men to be especially courteous to and protective of women, and also pick up the check, that often comes with a price. I think we all know what that price is. The concept seems pretty dead to me these days, but I have aged out of that world, so I guess I don't really know. Personally, I'm fine with not having those things and not being expected to do anything in return either. As far as holding doors/ elevators, that's just general politeness ~ people do it for each other regardless of gender, which is how it should be.

4. Would you rather spend a week of your summer vacation in Hawaii or Alaska? Have you ever been to either? Are they two places you really would like to see? How do you feel about 'Hawaiian pizza' aka pineapple on a pizza? Have you ever eaten Baked Alaska? 

Neither, as I dislike traveling and being away from home/ kitty. I've been to Hawaii a few times, and it was nice. Friends have taken Alaskan cruises, and the photos look interesting, though cruises appeal to me even less than vacations in general. I'm totally fine with Hawaiian pizza, though I probably wouldn't order it, as I prefer an all-veggie pizza. We had Baked Alaska at my second wedding (1988), which was a terrible idea (not mine). It was dramatic and tasted fine, but I missed having a real cake. 

5. World Cup play is happening now...are you interested? Watching any matches? Did you or your children play soccer/futbol? There are eleven US cities hosting matches--Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York with the stadium in NJ, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Seattle along with  three cities in Mexico (Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterrey) and two in Canada (Toronto and Vancouver). You get free tickets to one of these matches. Which city do you choose? Tell us why. 

I have zero interest in any sporting events. My daughters did not play soccer. I guess I would take the free tickets to the Los Angeles games and give them away to someone who'd enjoy them.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

On Saturday, my friend Lisa and I had dates ~ literally. She brought over hot honey sushi (don't judge; it's delicious!) and date rolls with coconut. We watched the first part of the HBO Billy Joel documentary (I already saw the whole thing, but she hadn't), and will watch part two in a few weeks. It's excellent! The reason I resubscribed to HBO is because House of the Dragon is returning for the third season next Sunday, and that's one of the rare shows I enjoy. (See, I can suspend my disbelief for dragons!) It's been a while since I subbed, so I clicked on the cancel button to see what it would entail, and they thought I was cancelling right then, so they offered me half price for three months. LOL! I guess I will have HBO until October now. Any movie recs? Since it's so long between seasons and my brain is stuffed with so much junk, I am rewatching S2 of Dragon this week to prepare.

Yesterday (Sunday), my coworker and I did a "paint your pet" session at Pino's Palette. No, we don't put paint on the pet! We paint from a photo. She did her cute poodle-type doggo, which came out great, and I painted Inky. Because we needed room for her tail, the canvas has an area that needs "more," as you can see in the above image, so I ordered some large black stickers from Amazon to spell out her name on the left side. I'm really pleased with my painting, especially the eyes!

Today (Monday) I took the day off from work and will be driving up to Los Angeles in a few hours to see my granddaughter in her first ballet recital. I'm happy I can do this, as I don't get to see the kiddos all that often. Living an hour's drive away (at the best of times) sounds close, and it's certainly closer than a plane flight, but it's not like I can just pop in whenever. Visits are always planned around work and school.

That was more of a recap than a random thought!

The Last Time I Saw Oakland

On the way to Oakland Airport, November 2021

Memory’s shadows 

Blur into a tapestry 
Collage of sunsets

*

This photo is the last one I took in the Bay Area. I used to visit every couple months to see my daughters before they moved back down to SoCal. When my youngest first started at UCB (her sister joined her in Berkeley later when she got a job in the area), I made the 7-8 hour drive alone, until that fateful day when my car overheated on July 4, 2013. I managed to find an open service station, and they did a temporary fix, but I could no longer use the air conditioning. By the time the temperature reading hit 108, I figured I was going to die. I left the freeway and stopped at a Jack in the Box. Then I called my girls to tell them I loved them and to say goodbye. They told me to quit being such a drama-llama and get the JitB’s address so they could pick me up. Turns out that many people don’t actually know the address of where they work! Wtf? They found a manager who knew, and my girls came to rescue me. I rode to Berkeley in an AC’d car with my eldest, while my youngest drove the hot box. On the return trip, I took Highway 1 (PCH) due to it being cooler, but that took over 10 hours.

Reader: that was the last time I drove to the Bay!*

Flying isn’t my favorite thing, but I did it from 2013 to 2022, in order to see one or both girls. My youngest moved to Los Angeles in 2016, and my eldest relocated to San Diego County in 2022. I am sort of in the middle now here in Orange County, which suits me fine. There are a lot of good things up in NorCal, but as I have said before… I am a homebody and prefer to stay local.

~*~

Inspired by Jill’s Haiku Fridays.

*Edited to add that I did drive to the Bay Area in 2020 for Thanksgiving, as we were all still freaked out about Covid, and I wasn’t going to deal with strangers in the airport or on a plane. Newer car, no issues.