Favorite Things, Humor, Life, Nonsense

Things I Want to Remember

Writer McWriterson

A few days ago, I had to ask Mike what phrase we used to describe staying in our houses during the epidemic. The word I was looking for?

QUARANTINE.

Mike was planning his business travel last week when he planned a trip on a date that sounded familiar to me. He booked it through the travel agency his employer uses and was getting ready in the shower when he remembered why the date sounded familiar.

It is the day of our oldest daughter’s college graduation.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH US??

To celebrate my birthday week and the fact that I’m losing my/our mind(s), I thought it would be fun to write about the random information that’s been piling up in my phone.

I’ve kept a running list of things I’ve thought about that may be used as tater tot subjects, podcast blurbs, or just ideas to bring up in discussion with other people. But I have to jot them down in my notes because otherwise I would forget (see above).

And you should write yours down as well, for this will be your fate soon enough.

MUAH AH AH AH.

Photo by ready made on Pexels.com

1-Soft grapes are not my favorite; I only like firm grapes.

2- I’m baffled as to why so many people love hummus.

3- Do you ever think about Hands Across America? Because I do.

4- Why is there such a large disparity between Amazon and Goodreads book ratings?

5- Why don’t cereal manufacturers include Ziploc-style enclosures on the inner bags? That’s because they want you to buy more. Capitalism sucks. Thank you for attending my TedTalk.

Photo by Mica Asato on Pexels.com

6-I’m so old that when I was in high school, there was only a boys soccer team. There was no girls soccer team. A female tried out for the team, and they “allowed” her to be on the team. I hate that I felt it was decent of coaches to “allow her” participate on the team.

7-In 2005, while cat sitting for a friend and her family while they were away at Disney World, I came dangerously close to killing said cat. Having said that, it should be noted that they lived in a massive spooky old home* with corridors, creaking ancient doors, and hidden chambers. For several days, I couldn’t locate the cat. (she told me that this was normal because her cat likes to hide from strangers)

Spoiler alert- the cat had been trapped in one of the secret rooms for four days without food or water after I had accidentally closed one of the hidden room doors.

Photo by Marko Blazevic on Pexels.com

When I finally discovered the cat, I began a 24-hour-a-day round-the-clock care of my own, attempting to hand-feed her baby food (vet recommended) while on the phone with their vet every other day. This was before to the advent of Google, social media, and cellphones. Thankfully, the cat survived and lived a long and happy life. The end.

*Because they no longer live here and are no longer married, I can refer to the house in this manner

** Dear God, I pray the cat incident was not the tipping point for the above.

*** I’m sure it wasn’t.

Courtesy Soundcloud

8-Who remembers Mr. Green Jeans?

9- When we go to public locations that aren’t crowded, they invariably get crowded once we arrive. Ella believes it’s because we’re secretly famous. We just don’t realize it.

10- I grew up in the town where The Shawshank Redemption was filmed.

What are some random things you want to remember?

55 thoughts on “Things I Want to Remember”

      1. I love odd facts and musings as well: that’s probably why I’m a fountain of trivia and quotes 🙂

        As for hummus, I used to not understand it either, until I had really good hummus. I now love hummus 🙂

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      3. Me, too! Did you know that the typical cumulus weighs about a million pounds? 🙂

        Don’t laugh, in the US I only know of a great place in Oregon, and even there the baba ghanoush (a delectable egglplant-based salad/spread) is better. In traveling to other countries, I found truly delectable hummus and learned that the type of garbanzo beans that the hummus is made of make a huge difference to the flavor. Apparently, good chefs taste different garbanzo beans every year to determine which “batch” to buy for their restaurants and then they stand behind the quality of the hummus. Every year it could be different. All I can say is that there is a difference in the end product! I’m starting to drool here over memories of meals past… 🙂

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  2. You write yours in notes, I just start them as a draft on WP. I was looking at my title/drafts/list the other day and had a giggle. What is going on in my head?

    “Capitalism sucks. Thank you for attending my TedTalk.” Yes, but thank you for the giggle.

    Crazy about losing the cat. I think the first rule in pet sitting is to NOT LOSE THE PET. 😳
    I’m sure you were so scared and felt terrible; I’m glad there was a happy ending. At least for the cat.

    I REMEMBER MR. GREEN JEANS!
    Sorry to yell, but I got excited for a second there.

    You are famous.

    Like you, I wish I could remember all the words that I try to speak while in conversation. Some days it’s hard to grasp that ONE word and I start to wonder: Is this it? Am I losing my marbles?

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    1. I need to start writing MINE in drafts on WordPress as well.

      They never called me again to cat sit. I wonder why…

      I can’t believe we ever forgot about Mr. Green Jeans!

      If I’m famous, you must be as well!

      You’re not losing your marbles since there never were any to begin with. Thank you for attending my TedTalk. 😉

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  3. I remember being surprised when Sandra Day O’Connor became a Supreme Court Justice because I didn’t know *girls* could do that.

    I remember Mr. Green Jeans– and Bunny Rabbit who wore glasses. As a kid who wore glasses from age 5, Bunny Rabbit was my hero and inspiration.

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  4. We were just talking about pets; and cats in particular last night. My mother in law once went on vacation and left her friend in charge of the cats— when she got home two of them were gone and never were heard from again. I had refused to watch them since I had killed quite a few of her houseplants the year before when housesitting and didn’t want to be responsible for kitty deaths too. I’m not that great with living things (kids aside!).

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  5. I want to remember when I go into another room what it was that I went into that room for? I stand there asking myself why am I in here? Then I have to go back to the room that I was in. And that’s when I remember!

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  6. I had a friend take care of my cat and she shut the door to the bathroom where Olive’s water was. Four days later, I had a very dehydrated cat. Fortunately, she bounced back. I remember Mr. Green Jeans. And when I was in high school, I was allowed to practice with the Boys Golf Team, but never got to compete.

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    1. I’m not familiar with cats, but I couldn’t believe she was still alive after four days without food or drink.

      I hate the fact that we are old enough to remember the days when girls were allowed to practice with the boys team. 😦

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      1. I was so worried about Olive but read afterwards that cats can go days without water. She wasn’t in great shape at the time, but fine now. We went out to dinner last night with couples in their 70s and you would. Or believe the stories the women told us!

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  8. 1. More people need to eat babaganoush instead of hummus
    2. I remember in Kindergarten we used to have assemblies to watch Hot Dog! A show about stuff.
    3. Artist Keith Haring left original art on the queue line at the Lazer Rollercoaster at Dorney Park, too bad when they tore that ride down they neglected to preserve that art.
    4. All three elementary schools I attended no longer exist 🫤
    5. Even though I grew up in the city, back in the 70’s the farmers would drive through the neighborhood selling eggs, cheese, fruits & vegetables.
    6. Lard Potato Chips sold in metal tins.
    7. TOYS IN SUGARY CEREALS
    8. Sneaking into R rated movies when you’re 13 or for that matter other movies after yours is done (essentially the 5 finger discount double feature)

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    1. 1- I’ve had baba ghanoush, and it IS delicious!
      2- I’ve never heard of that show before! I love that you can remember a show that you watched in kindergarten. 🙂
      3- WHY?!?!?!
      4- Oh man! One of my elementary schools was demolished due to asbestos. 😦
      5- I love that!
      6- I believe Charles’ Chips are still sold in metal tins?
      7- TOYS IN CEREAL! I completely forgot about that!
      8- I never did that. I was far too anxious. LOL

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      1. Why ? Why not. That was cultural history there. That artist was from Kutztown. It’s a major bummer, he’s one of my favorite artists if not influences. I regret not taking a photo of it back then.

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  9. I have to laugh at yours and Mike’s forgetfulness because I basically have to write everything down, otherwise I forget. Me and a friend actually make notes in a notebook of things we want to talk to each other about the next time we get together. How’s that for being old and forgetful?! At least we’ve never forgotten to bring our notebooks when we meet up. LOL

    Hummus…store bought is pretty awful. (The only decent ones I’ve ever had were from Trader Joe’s.) You have to have the real stuff – no comparison. I highly recommend Pita Inn! They make the tastiest, silkiest hummus. They even have a grocery store on the border of Skokie/Evanston on Dempster where you can buy containers of their hummus and baba ghanoush…as well as a lot of other wonderful Middle Eastern delights. It’s fun just to look around in there.

    Please remind me to never have you cat-sit. Ha ha!

    xoxo

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    1. SAME, friend. You should see all of the post-it notes I have all throughout my house! I love that you and your friend do that!

      Ooh, I’ve never been to Pita Inn, but it’s on my list of restaurants to visit, so now I’m excited!

      Poor Clementine, it’s no wonder she didn’t want to be near me! LOL

      Xoxo

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  10. I remember Mr. Green Jeans! He might be the only thing from that show that I do remember.

    Congratulations on your daughter’s graduation, and I hope you enjoy the day. My daughter graduated when we were all in lockdown, so there was no ceremony. They are planning to have one this spring for the class of 2020, but we all feel the moment has passed. Her college friends are now scattered all over the globe. It is what it was.

    I’m not sure what I want to remember. Too many things to list, probably. (I’m happy to forget what it was to be female in the 70s and 80s. When I was in kindergarten, I got so angry because I wasn’t allowed to play with cool cardboard bricks. Those were for the boys. I was told I should play in the pretend kitchen. I was still so fried about that 30 years later that I got a set of those cardboard bricks for my kids when they were young. I think I played with them more than they did.

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    1. To be honest, I believe it was the green jeans. Because there is nothing else that actually stands out. LOL

      Oh, I’m sorry for her class (and for you). But, as you point out, it’s too late now. Anna has two graduation ceremony alternatives because of COVID. One is for parents, while the other is for students. It’s not what it used to be, but it’s certainly not what it was in 2020.

      I’m relieved that I’ve mainly forgotten what it was like to be a female in the 1970s and 1980s. I love how you got those blocks for your inner child. By purchasing those, you healed her a little. I’ll think of you every time I see those cardboard blocks.

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  11. Yes, I sometimes randomly think about Hands Across America. I most often think about how many places must have been empty and the people who were at all the break points across America.

    I hadn’t considered myself famous, I’ll appy that theory to starting crowds at businesses!

    I once told some female office interns that I couldn’t get a,degeee in software when I was their age. They were appalled at the gender discrimination! I had to tell them it wasn’t discrimination… it was that computers were too new for degeee programs! My first programming class counted as a foreign language!!

    Mine: an elephant’s trunk is so dextrous that it could pick up a single thread off a smooth floor, if it wanted to. A flea can jump 600x it’s own body height. And I guess my story about when I first learned that Windows (the software) was invented. And “learning” to use a computer mouse.

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    1. EXACTLY. I just know there were big gaps in the middle of Nebraska and Montana where no one was holding hands.

      I expect you to sigh loudly when the crowds build when you go to a public place, “ugh, not the paparazzi, again!” 😉

      That is so funny about the computers.

      No wonder fleas are hard to get rid of.

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  12. HAPPY BIRTHDAY WEEEEEEEKKKKKKK! I don’t know the actual day so I will be sending you good thoughts all week. Hell, I would have done that anyway. Birthday! Week! Yay!

    I loved this whole list! Although, hummus is one of my favourite things – I’ll just eat your share! I also prefer firm grapes.

    When I was a kid, if a girl wanted to play hockey she had to join a boys’ team, and it was a huge deal. I didn’t play hockey but I do remember this. I don’t know when girls’ teams became normal, but it wasn’t in the 80s, that’s for sure.

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    1. It’s Thursday! But I celebrate all week! This is why I love you, my fellow Taurus!! 🙂

      I think the culprit in the hummus case is that I’ve only tried store-bought hummus. I believe I need to try homemade hummus.

      So I looked up Title IX (a legislation in the US that protects people from sex discrimination) since I remembered it being mentioned in high school (probably because of the soccer team), and it was passed in 1972, 13 years before my classmate joined the boys soccer team. This says a lot about America. 😦

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  13. I love this. I hate, HATE hummus. Your Ted talk remark killed me. I was a huge Captain Kangaroo /Mr. Green Jeans fan. The cat story- good grief. Did you ever babysit? Hope that went better. I think the soccer thing was just because you were from a crappy town, or small town. I am your age and your high school had a girl’ soccer team. Oh, I also hate soft grapes. Ew.

    The thing I thought of first when I read this (and then forgot until I was almost done commenting) is that the other day I couldn’t think of Wizard of Oz. I asked Reg, “Movie with Dorothy in blue and white checked dress, scarecrow.” He gave me the answer but looked at me funny, as in WAIT, ARE WE PLAYING A GAME HERE? IS IT MY TURN NEXT? Welcome to your 50s. *sobs softly

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    1. I was a MUCH better babysitter! 🙂

      Oh dear, you’ve made me reconsider my entire high school experience.

      Reg thinking it was a game you were playing makes me laugh so hard. As if it were a game of charades.

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  14. Happy Birthday Week Kari!!!! I hope you have a magical, wonderful week full of happy moments! ❤️

    And congrats to your daughter that’s graduating! Always something to cheer, but omg successfully completing a degree during the past few years? Major. I have two young relatives who are also graduating this year and I could not be more proud. This generation is *awesome*!

    I swan I thought Hands Across America was one of those not quite accurate childhood memories. So I’m in stitches to read it was all real! No one talks about it, so I assumed it was, like, a myth or? That’s wild.

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    1. Maddie! I was just thinking about you a few mornings ago while doing soul homework. How are you doing?

      We are so happy and excited for her! I think about how difficult it must have been to do this during a pandemic, and I admire her for it. The ups and downs of online education one semester and in-person classes the following. You are so correct, Maddie. This generation is very awesome.

      It does seem like Hands Across America was one of those Mandela effects!

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      1. I was just thinking about you too! I saw a quote the other day and immediately you popped into my mind… “Music is healing. Write that down first.” It’s Prince! Apparently Prince told his autobiography co-writer he wanted this to be his book’s guiding principle. Sorta says it all, huh?

        It’s going… eh…. Its going? Pretty sure if I had my astrology chart done for this year, the astrologer would take my hand and say, “Ohhhhh honey” before showing it to me…. But hey! We’re almost at the half way point!

        I am so so behind on your blog and I miss it! I miss your wisdom and your voice and your Ted Talks! I hope everything is going well for you. You are absolutely *radiant* in your “welcome” photo my friend. I hope this mean life is good!

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      2. Music is so healing. Yesterday, I was listening to a radio station that was playing music from April 1988, the month of my 18th birthday. I’ve been forgetful lately, which is annoying. But hearing these songs and remembering when they came from was like taking a dosage of medication. Because of those songs, I was able to recall specific events from that time period. I couldn’t have done it without the music.

        I’m sending you love and healing, my friend. ❤️

        Life has its ups and downs, but I am feeling good and living for each day.

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  15. I wanted to remember to send a birthday present 🎁 to you on your birthday! TODAY!!

    Please use your creative imagination to vision DALAI LAMA’S BIRTHDAY PARTY: you are now holding a green box looking inside and saying out loud “Wow, NOTHING! Just What I Always Wanted!” Your blogging family stands by your side laughing with you with great Memories of Joy. The card on top: YOU ARE LOOKING SWELL, DALIA

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