勝美2

Another The Friday Five and Friday5 doubleheader!




The Friday Five. Thank you!

1. What is your favorite thing to drink on a hot day?

Water. H₂O. A Lake Michigan cocktail.

I am very fortunate to live in an area where water is plentiful and delicious straight from the faucet. My sister lives ten miles to the west. On the other side of the subcontinental divide. If I were to pour a glass of water on my front lawn it would end up in the Great Lakes. Actually a freshwater sea. If my sister was to pour a glass of water on her lawn it would theoretically end up in the Mississippi. She relies on well water. Which is nasty. Her county was known for the many springs and resorts and water bottlers. But after one hundred and eighty years the aquifier is nearly depleted.

Used to drink a lot of iced tea and Kool-Aid. And soda water. In fact, I make my own soda water. Any flavor you can think of. Including savory.

My favorite drink other than a martini with a Reuben sandwich is Cel-Ray, a spicy, savory celery soda. Cuts through the slight greasiness. Took a little experimentation with the juicer; I prefer my version. More flavorful, less aggressive carbonation.

Savory soda water? Uh huh. Just as there are savory juices. Such as V-8. I would consider tonic water in another class altogether.

Right now I am working on a replacement for Jelly Belly Very Cherry soda water and a fizzy version of the discontinued Hi-C Ecto Cooler.

Jarritos tamarind, Mexican Coca-Cola, Kool-Aid Aguas Frescas... I could talk about sugary soft drinks all day long.

Late afternoons after I've finished all the errands and mowing the lawn, I'll get the charcoal grill going, hop in the shower, put on a sundress and sit in my rocking chair in the shade of the neighbor's oak tree with a the latest copy of the New Yorker magazine and a pink lemonade and gin and wait for my friends to come over for a supper party.

2. What superstitions do you have?

Clap your hands when entering the room with the shrine so you don't freak out the gods. Even though I'm not Shinto.

3. What is your favorite pen to write with and why?

Sakura Pigma Micron 003 with 0.15mm ultra fine tip. A rainbow of colors, wide assortment of tip sizes. For fancy writing, like if I have to sign Christmas cards, then the Sakura Pigma Brush Tip. Really great for calligraphy without the inkpot and brush mess. For everyday writing, Parker Jotter stainless steel pen (with OHTO ultra fine ink cartridge) and matching mechanical pencil (with Uni NanoDia 0.3mm 4H lead).

A mechanical pencil is must have necessity. There have been instances — despite carrying my pen in my coat pocket and not my purse — when the ink has frozen. Mecho pencils are inexpensive. And will not leak. And more stylish than a golf pencil. Put one in the minivan, the roadster, the kitchen, the workshop, the garage, the overnight / carry-on bag, the purses, the wristlets...

Why do you think our great-great-grandmothers carried mecho pencils to fill out their dance cards? Pencil is erasable.

4. What books have you read or been reading during the Pandemic?

Everything from manga to Dickens. And it turns out I prefer a tablet to a book. I can curl up on the futon with Myrtie The Wonder Cat and don't have to turn the lights on.

5. MTV has decided to resurect playing music videos and they've decided to give you a two-hour space to program your favorite music on air. What do you air?

Japan MTV never stopped playing videos.

Mami from SCANDAL just celebrated her thirtieth birthday and it is SCANDAL's fifteenth anniversary.

They grow up so fast. It seems like only yesterday the ladies were still in school.

Actually I am the same age as Rina, the baby of the group.

So. I would do an in-depth retrospective. From fifteen to thirty years of age. And then play videos from their new album.

Friday5 Questions courtesy of Scrivener. Thank you!

1. When most recently did someone show you unexpected courtesy?

A young man at the Pick 'N' Save had a grocery shopping cart ready for me and wiped down the handle.

Of course he worked there and it was his job. That and acting as a doorman to maintain social distancing guidelines. But it seemed sort of gallant. Well I mean it's Pick 'N' Save for pity's sake. It's not like it's all fancy schmantzy like Piggly Wiggly.

2. What were you most recently forgiven for?

My sins. That would have been during Lent back in the pre-coronavirus.

You whippersnappers are too young to remember back in the day when people were free to congregate and practice their religion and go to confession and make an act of contrition and penance. Pray the rosary and light a vigil candle.

3. What did someone most recently buy for you?

The closest I can come is the guy at the Hawaiian delicatessen threw in a free cocoa puff (cream puff with choco cream) with my order for a Lahaina Special. A quart of cocoanut curry soup, one pound of kohlrabi slaw in papaya seed dressing, one pound of lihing carrot pineapple slaw, one pound of macaroni potato salad, two pounds of char siu chicken, two pounds of kalua pig, two pounds of purple sticky rice, four desserts and a roll of toilet paper.

The roll of toilet paper is an advertising gimmick from the early days of the quarantine when there was hoarding causing a run on toilet paper and stores were out.

The deli ran out of toilet paper. So. David gave me an extra dessert. Five desserts.

To tell you the truth, I'd have been just as happy with a box of Botan rice candy or can of Aloha Maid POG. Or some Hello Kitty Momoberry Pocky.

♫ ♪ Aloha ʻoe
Aloha ʻoe ♪
♪ E ke onaona noho i ka lipo
Maintain social distancing  ♫
♪ A hoʻi aʻe au
Until we meet again next week at supper time ♪ ♫

4. What did someone most recently make for you?

My friend Spewgie's daughter, Spewgie Jr, drew a picture of us flying kites. Something for which we usually pile in my minivan and head for the beach.

We could try the County Grounds. Right in the neighborhood. Highest spot for miles. Take separate cars. I'm afraid Junior will come running up and give me a great big hug. Kindergarten may be starting in September. She's got to learn to distance.

5. Who could you probably be a bit nicer to?

Comet Shafransky. So he poops on my lawn every day. He is a dog. Dogs are stupid. Caniniciding him isn't going to get me anywhere. Except ten to twenty in the slammer.

No. I will have to become a worse neighbor than the Shafranskys and drive them away. I am thinking of rejoining the pipes and drums corps. Which requires lots and lots of practice. While sitting outside.

The bagpipes are the loudest unamplified musical instrument known to womankind. Is it The Star Spangled Banner or The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald? Doesn't really matter because the way I play you'd think a hundred banshees were after you. Even though banshees are Irish and my bagpipes are Scottish. Which goes and shows you how annoying I play.

Sayonara, Comet! Lawn pooper.