Friday the 13th 5

Karla hosts Friday 5, right on time for Friday the 13^th

SO, let’s get right on it―

1. Are you superstitious about anything?

I'm always reluctant to mention new possibilities to anyone until the deal is very close to being signed, sealed, and delivered. Some kind of anxiety that it might not happen if I speak too soon, so that sounds like a type of minor superstition.

2. Karla tells us "I’m going on vacation on Tuesday," and asks, "What are you looking forward to?"

I'll refer and defer to my answer to (1) for this one. Yes, there's almost definitely something new and exciting in my future... leavin' it hangin' at that.

3. There is a lot going on in sports right now–World Cup, Basketball finals, and much more. If your life were a sport, what would it be, and why?

I'm not a big sports fan, though I've been known to get very excited by the NBA finals, and (of course), World Series when Red Sox are playing. One of my bosses told me I loved "the thrill of the chase," and that I do, so despite my almost never acting remotely like a drama queen, I'll describe my life as a baseball game, with indeterminate length of innings and entire games, some small, subtle dramatic moments you'd need to be looking for and almost expecting even to notice, some others so large, public and spectacular you couldn't miss them. We're also talkin' totally unpredictable number of innings, too. I think the longest game I experienced live in the ballpark was 17 innings, a close parallel to the recent Times and Innings of my Own Life.

4. Hey! Remember orange push-up ice cream treats? What happened to them? What is one of your favorite summer treats? Ice cream sandwich, popsicles, frozen grapes, fruit pizza, DQ Dilly Bar, etc.?

I esp loved the orange covered vanilla ice cream on a stick—I think they called it dreamsicle where I lived; also fudgesicle, chocolate covered, and at one point and place the ice cream sandwiches were awesome because the chocolate cookie part was soft and a little chewy, like a brownie.

5. So there is this thing called “Listserve” that picks one random person per day to write an email to like a million people world-wide. It’s pretty cool. Some people make music suggestions, offer sage advice, or plug their latest interest/project. If you could write a note to a million people around the world, what would you say?

The best I can do is to counsel everyone they need to find a viable, (reasonably healthy) supportive, church or other community that will love, challenge, encourage, and hold them accountable, because without that, mere individual efforts to keep on keepin' on will not succeed. I needed to end today's play on a serious note of advice to myself.