Sunday Stealing: authentically myself

The Sunday Stealing for this week is from the League of Extraordinary Penpals.

When do I feel most authentically myself?

I read the newspaper – remember newspapers? – while listening to music.

What I’m thankful for today

I’m working on a project that I’m keeping mostly secret for now. Yesterday, somebody gave me some specific insight that led me to believe I’m on the right path.

A memory I hope I never forget.

The day our daughter was born, not just her actual birth but that whole, very strange, day which involved my wife going to work for the last day before she intended to take a few days off. Ha! She came home after work, calling me up to tell me that she wasn’t going to go to the the new OBGYN because she felt too tired. I didn’t even recognize her voice! We ended up going to the OBGYN and were told to go to the hospital – go directly to the hospital, do not pass go.

Old Friends

Other ways I connect with long distant friends

I connect on the blog and on Facebook. This week, I discovered that one friend of mine knew another friend of mine who had just recently died; the one friend didn’t know I knew the other. I email a lot and text occasionally. Rarely do I call because many of them are not phone people anymore.

How I reconnect with myself when I feel lost

I find familiar music and play it as loud as I can without the neighbors complaining.

What would be my signature drink if I owned a café

I never know about these things. Possibly 1/3 orange juice, 1/3 cranberry juice, and the last third ginger ale.

Something I’ve let go of, as I’ve grown older

This assumes facts not in evidence

The things I’m most likely to lie about

The next four years will be pretty normal. After that, we’ll be returning to the tenets of democracy as we previously experienced them. This may be more self-delusional than anything.

What’s something I wish I had more time to learn

Genealogy. I see free classes online that I don’t have time to take advantage of.

Social media trends that puzzle me

Social media influencers. I catch brief videos that are really obnoxious. I think they are supposed to be funny.

Ixnay on the albany-smay

Local phrases and terms I use often

Actually, I try NOT to use the term Smalbany. For you non-Albanians, it’s the way people who live in Albany seem to connect in multiple ways. You might know someone from one circle of friends, but they are also associated with another circle of your friends and acquaintances because it’s a small city.

If I could only wear only three colors, I’d pick these...

Blue-green and black, and in fact, that’s probably what I wear mostly.

• Favorite books, music, TV, movies, and media this month

I haven’t started the new book yet, but I know what it will be.

Music: listening to Frank Sinatra, Dionne Warwick, and the Beach Boys. As I write this, I’m playing 20 Hard-to-Find Motown Classics, Volume One, a various artists album of those performers who mostly weren’t the dominating chart toppers such as the Supremes, Temptations, Four Tops, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, et al. On this particular collection, Baby, I’m For Real by the Originals;  What’s Become Of The Brokenhearted by Jimmy Ruffin; My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me) by David Ruffin; (I Know) I’m Losing You by Rare Earth;  Twenty-Five Miles by Edwin Starr;  You’ve Made Me So Very Happy by Brenda Holloway; and Love’s Gone Bad by Chris Clark.

TV—As always, CBS Sunday Morning and 60 minutes. I watched the recent episode of Grey’s Anatomy, in which one of the interns was in a car crash, and it was quite affecting.

Movies: Conclave; The Big Parade