Meme Monday
Today’s meme Monday is a two-for. The silly meme above, and the old school meme below, which is questions asked by AllyBean on her blog.
Q1 – What’s your favorite movie?
Oh gosh, so many. Maya would say, ‘Out of Africa’, because I sometimes like to watch that movie on my birthday. Such a gorgeous movie. Ted would say, ‘Flashdance’, because gosh, I love that movie, god help me. I just do. I might throw ‘Babette’s Feast’ in there, because it is lovely indeed, and I don’t get tired of ‘Sleepless in Seattle’ for some odd reason.
Q2 – When trying to buy shoes, what’s your biggest problem?
Arthritis. I have arthritis and really high arches, so I need special shoes for that delightful combo. I have a LOT of trouble finding shoes that don’t hurt, and I hate it. I miss the first 5 decades of my life, when I could wear cute cute cute shoes with high high heels, with nary a care. Sigh.
Q3 – Ice cream cone or cupcake?
Ice cream cone EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. But I would eat a cupcake if there were no ice cream available. I’m not a racist.
Q4 – What’s one good thing you have learned about yourself during this pandemic?
That I am resilient. That I am lucky.
Q5 – Any eccentric people in your family? Discuss.
Quite a few, but mostly my parents. My mom cultivated the eccentric vibe when she was young…smoking a pipe, hanging out with guys in HS that were not her boyfriends, which was not so much done in the 50s. She dropped out of college and dated a musician, got pregnant and had my brother. Before he was born, she decided she didn’t want the druggy lifestyle around her baby, so they broke up, and she married. The story of her marriage is complicated. I told a therapist the whole story once and she looked a little shell shocked. She divorced him and had me and went back to school. She raised us on her own. She was strong, flawed, and amazing. I miss her every day.
My dad also dropped out of college, he decided that there was more to life than going to class. He refused the draft, would not go to Vietnam. He marched for peace and equality, went to jail for his work helping to register voters in the South, went again for his protest work for unions. He married and had my sisters, and was incredibly involved in their upbringing, an equal partner. He spent his life working to make the world a better place. Both of my parents ended up finishing school and getting their Masters degrees.
I guess that’s not so very eccentric, just not living their lives by the cultural norms of the time.
6 Comments
Ally Bean
Thanks for answering the questions and linking to my post. I love the image at the top of the post, btw. Made me laugh out loud.
I’m sorry to read about your shoe problems. I can imagine that it must be trying to get a pair of shoes that fit properly. I have my issues but nothing like yours.
I’m glad you can adapt to a dessert situation that doesn’t involve an ice cream cone, forcing yourself to consume a cupcake if need be. Way to be strong!
I miss your mom’s blog and I only *knew* her for a couple of years. She was articulate and smart and fun– and a bit off her noodle which endeared her to me. I knew she and your father had a different kind of relationship so thanks for talking about it here.
J
I love a good ice cream cone, but even better would be an ice cream sundae…cherry ice cream with chocolate sauce. Yum. Or a banana split. I am glad that you ‘knew’ my mom. She sure loved her blog, and I loved that she had it, it helped me get to know her thoughts in a different way than ever before.
nance
First of all, that meme graphic had me literally laughing out loud. Neither of the cats appreciated it, but they are judgy and snotty in the morning anyway.
My parents constantly raved about “Out of Africa” which may be why, to this day, I have not seen it and have no desire to. But knowing you love it makes me rethink my prejudice.
I miss wearing my cute high heels, as you know. Rick recently built me shelves for them in the back of the upstairs closet. I am allowed to keep them forever, and I probably will. He is the one with the high arches, and I am the one now with the foot arthritis. Aging is tough.
As I often say, you should someday write a memoir, and I’m serious. You personify the Ken Burns quote, “There are no ordinary lives.” Doubtless while you were living yours, you didn’t think too much about it, but you have been living an incredible story.
J
Nance, I love that Rick built you shelves for the shoes you will likely never again wear. He’s a keeper, though you knew that.
I hope if you do watch ‘Out of Africa’ that you like it. It’s a little dated in some ways, but then again, it takes place around WWI, so it makes sense. It’s long though, so make sure you set aside some time. I wonder how an ‘Out of Africa’ ‘Flashdance’ double feature would go down? I guess I would have the house to myself, if nothing else.
Martha
Love the meme lol. Same problem here with arthritis. I really want to hear more about your parents. I think I would have liked them!
J
Martha, my mom had a blog, you can read it from my sidebar if you are interested, she is at the top of my blogroll, “Maya’s Granny”.
If you want to read about how I met my dad at the age of 21, the story is here:
http://jellyjules.com/?p=265
They were both amazing people and I miss them horribly. I am thankful to have had them as role models…mostly for how to live, but occasionally what mistakes to avoid.