Wednesday Hodgepodge: Chop cherries and dollars, but not the truth

1. What do you find is the most boring part of your life at the moment? 

Breakfast, probably.

Sometimes lunch.

Occasionally dinner.

2. February 22nd is George Washington's birthday. You'll find his face on the US $1 bill. What's the last thing you bought for roughly $1.00? (.94 €/ .83 £)

The top I'm wearing today, from the dollar (last-chance) rack of a local thrift store. I bought it because I liked the pretty sky-blue colour, but it also appears to be a higher-end brand, so that was a bonus. Actually the jeans I'm wearing were also from the dollar rack, so I guess that makes a two-dollar outfit.

3. Is it ever okay to tell a 'little white lie'? Explain.

There's too much playing with the truth already. I think we need to be cautious about how much we can afford to add to the fire.

4. What's the last thing you 'chopped'? Cherry pie, chocolate covered cherries, a bowl of cherries, cherry vanilla ice cream, maraschino cherries, a cherry lifesaver...your favorite cherry flavored something? 

Chopping and cherries are getting me mixed up here. I chopped up dried cherries to put in Christmas bread, if that counts.

5. Describe yourself with three words using your first, middle, and last initials. 

Affordable

Equable

Woeful, right now. See #6.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Oh, there's a lot of that right now, but it doesn't feel right to call it just "random."

Our blog, such as it is currently (that is to say, infrequently), just touched the eighteen-year mark.

I didn't feel much like doing a woo-hoo post about it, though, as that was the same day I lost a close friend and colleague, the second to pass away in the past year. Queen Shenaynay, as she christened herself years ago on her own blog, has been remembered with love by many people already, and I don't need to say more about that here except that we will miss her and miss her and miss her some more.

And then there is the large disregard for truth that whams into one on even a quick viewing of the past week's news. I try not to get political here so I'll leave it at that.

"I have a woeful feeling, as if the double O of doom were sticking in my throat." (James Thurber)

On a brighter note (because we badly need one here), this is not only Washington's birthday, but Ash Wednesday, and while you might not think that the beginning of Lent is a particularly bright spot on the calendar, it is, at least, the promise that the rest of these things only "come to pass," as Queen Shenaynay used to say, and that truth and life will remain beyond them. 

Linked from The Wednesday Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond.

Pre-Spring: Clothes and Inspirations

Spring here can be more like a second winter, which is not as enjoyable as a second breakfast. But in February we do start to see longer days, more sunshine, and the occasional green thing trying to come out. And in March, I'm planning to spend a couple of days in a spot that gets springier weather.

Arthur Lismer, "A September Gale on Georgian Bay"

Thrifted sweatshirt and scarf

OPI Nail Lacquer in "Tickle My France-y"

Vintage earrings

Travel Things

So I'm going to work backwards, both in climate and in number of clothing items, and start with a very small carry-on wardrobe for warmish weather.

Read the rest of the post here.

The Wendi's Day Hodgepodge

1. Tell us anything you want about your January. 

OK, since you asked: I have a new book out. Getting there was pretty much my January. Also a good chunk of my December.

2. Lake Superior State University posts a list each year of words they think should be banished from the Queen's English for misuse, overuse, and/or general uselessness. The 2023 list includes GOAT, inflection point, quiet quitting, gaslighting, moving forward, amazing, Does that make sense?, irregardless, absolutely, and it is what it is.

Which of these words/phrases do you use regularly? Which of these words would you most like to see banished from everyday speech and why? Is there a word/phrase not on the list you'd like to add? 

GOAT? I had to look that one up. Greatest of all time? I guess that goes along with "amazing," unless it's amazing grace.

Irregardless...yeah, that one's been argued about for years, irregardless of its non-meaning. (And as I'm typing this, my spellcheck is red-lining the word, it doesn't like it either.)

Moving forward, I'm going to quietly quit my stoicism, because it is what it is.

3. February 2nd is Groundhog Day. What's something that feels repeated in your life right now? 

I have about three CDs sitting near the small player near my computer, and I keep forgetting to take them downstairs and switch them out with something else, so I just keep listening to the same three over and over again. At least they're not Sonny and Cher.

4. What's a food you love that's named after a place?

Nanaimo Bars.

5. What's the best season of the year to visit your city or your part of the country? Tell us why. 

Living in an Oktoberfest-happy region with lots of beautiful maple trees, you might think I'd say fall. But if you were coming to visit, I might say summer, because there are music festivals and flea markets and buskers and all kinds of free things to do.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

This is a difficult day, because it's a year since the passing of my blogging/reading/homeschooling/believing friend Wendi, usually referred to here as the DHM, who was also a great fan of Nanaimo bars. This is what I wrote about her then. She gave us a great deal to remember her by. Wendi, if there were any flowers out there today, I'd go enjoy them for you, but it's freezing cold and snowy, just like it was this time last year. I'll just have to appreciate the icicle hanging by the wall instead.

Linked from The Wednesday Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond.

Luminous Lives

 Blogging over here today.