Saturday 9: Jolene (1973) Unfamiliar with this week's song? Hear it here. 1) In this song, Dolly Parton sings about a woman with great hair, great eyes, a great smile and a great voice. OK, so Jolene has it all. Of these, which is your most attractive feature: your hair, your eyes, your smile or your voice? A. I'll go with my eyes. I am told they are quite expressive, and my close friends can almost read my mind by looking in my eyes. They are hazel and look like cracked ice. 2) Dolly tells us her husband mentions in Jolene in his sleep. Do you talk in your sleep? A. I talk, scream, y ..read more

Thirteen books in my "TBR" pile: 1. The Nature of Witches, by Rachel Griffin 2. "Nothing is worth more than this day," by Kathryn & Ross Petras 3. Coyote Weather, by Amanda Cockrell* 4. Chronicles of Botetourt County, by Edwin L. McCoy* 5. West of Santillane, by Brook Allen* 6. Kingdom of Copper, by S.A. Chakraborty 7. News! by Dan Smith* 8. The President's Daughter, by Bill Clinton & James Patterson 9. Writing Fantasy & Science Fiction, by Orson Scott Card, et al 10. The Year of Living Constitutionally, by A. J. Jacobs 11. From Strength to Strength, by Arthur C. Brooks 12 ..read more

Yesterday at the grocery store, a somewhat familiar sight from the past greeted me: Yes, the toilet paper was mostly gone. I attributed this to two things: panic about the longshoreman strike at the ports (which lasted 2 days and has resolved itself for now) and the urge to donate goods into the many donation boxes that sprang up around the county to help out the folks who lost everything in the floods in far southwestern Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee, courtesy of Hurricane Helene. We donated, too, but not toilet paper. We bought food for cattle at the local farmers' cooperative ..read more

1. What gets you fired up? A. I can get "fired up" over many things, but nothing sends me off more than an injustice against someone I care about. 2. What makes a good life? A. Having someone to love, shelter, food, and enough, whatever that means to each individual. 3. What risks are worth taking? A. Risk worth taking would include saving someone else's life or doing something that logically you feel would move you toward a much-desired goal.  4. Who inspires you to be better? A. I have a few friends who like to kick me in the butt occasionally. 5. What do you have doubts abou ..read more

Saturday 9: Love on Top (2011) Unfamiliar with this week's song? Hear it here. 1) Beyonce sings that she and her lover have worked through a tough time and now they are happier than before. Do you agree with the lyrics that relationships take effort? Or do you think that if a couple is well-matched and their love is real, happiness will naturally follow? A. Love takes work. Marriage takes work. Friendships take work. I don't think there is anything much natural about a relationship of any kind aside from pheromones that might have led to an initial attraction. 2) She tells us that he ..read more

I needed to run errands this morning. This is how the day went: I got up and began reading the news. The internet kept cutting in and out. I checked the phone lines, and they were static. I had had the phone company out yesterday to check the phone lines for the same thing. I was told there was water getting in the line "someplace" and as soon as I noticed it, I should call and tell them to have "Doug" come immediately. This has been a problem for YEARS, but we've had a drought, so it hasn't been as much of an issue. Anyway, I called the phone company when I realized the lines were static. I ..read more

1. I didn't quite forget it was Thursday, but I came close. 2. I've been trying for weeks to get a flu shot. Finally, last night I got an appointment scheduled at the pharmacy for 7 p.m. for both my husband and I. We arrived to find I had no appointment, but he did. They gave me the shot anyway but charged me $42.  3. I spent part of the morning on the phone with the insurance company trying to find out why I was charged for something that my paperwork says should have been free. 4. The concierge for the health insurance company suggested I had run across a new employee who didn't know ..read more

Yesterday, I went with my husband to the orthopedic center in the city. He is having trouble with his knee, with fluid on the kneecap that is as big as my fist. The first thing they wanted were x-rays of both of his knees. We sat in a waiting area with other folks, the only two people with masks on, of course. After they called my husband back for his x-rays, I scurried over to the restrooms. Upon my return, my seats that had been furthest away from other people were taken, so I sat in a chair in the hallway that was directly in front of the entrance to the x-ray area, where my husband would ..read more

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1. What do you want to be remembered for? A. It's ok if no one remembers me. But I hope I have been a nice person. I would like to be remembered for being kind. 2. If you were put in solitary confinement for a year, what would you do to stay sane? A. I'm not sure what all you are allowed to have in solitary confinement, but I would read books, write, and sing. 3. If you could have video of any one event in your life, what event would you choose? A. There are things I remember that I'm not sure are real memories. I'd like to have videos of those so I'd know. 4. What are the top 3 thing ..read more