Bing Crosby Facts and Statistics

As I've been learning about Bing Crosby, I've been reading Bing Crosby: A Pocketful of Dreams - The Early Years 1903-1940 by Gary Giddins. Here are a couple of facts that I've learned:

• Bing Crosby received a classical Jesuit education at Gonzaga High School and Gonzaga University. He is the only major singer in American popular music to receive a classical education.
• Bing Crosby didn't know how to read music, but he had an amazing audiographic memory and could memorize and sing back anything that was played for him.
• "In a national poll conducted in the late 1940s, Crosby was voted the most admired man alive, ahead of Jackie Robinson, Generals Eisenhower and MacArthur, Harry Truman, Bob Hope, and the Pope." (Loc. 174-175, Kindle version).
• "He was the first full-time vocalist ever signed to an orchestra"(Loc. 209-213, Kindle version).
• "He made more studio recordings than any other singer in history (about 400 more than Sinatra)" (Loc. 209-213, Kindle version).
• "He made the most popular record ever, "White Christmas," the only single to make American pop charts twenty times, every year but one between 1942 and 1962" (Loc. 209-213, Kindle version).
• "He scored the most number one hits ever, thirty-eight, compared with twenty-four by the Beatles and eighteen by [Elvis] Presley" (Loc. 216, Kindle version).

Homeowner Woes and Garages

This past academic quarter has been very demanding for me, because I took on more work than I should have. Plus, things have been kind of crazy at home. Within the past two months or so, we have had three separate ant invasions (in different parts of the house), two incidences with mice in the home, a leaky roof, and a water leak in the basement. And there are some slightly unusual smells in the basement now, which may or may not be related to the problems stated above. Ugh. The new roof is supposed to be finished this week, and I hope things will calm down after that point!

We also will likely be getting our shed torn down sometime next year (due to a local construction project which will require us to sell part of our property). This means that we need to quickly build another shed or a full garage, so we will have a place to house our lawn mower and yard tools. I don't know when we will be able to afford a garage (it depends on how much money we get for our property that is being sold), but J and I are spending our free time mulling over garage options. We like this one by Garages Etc. Ideally, we would like something with a loft for storage (and J ideally would like to have a studio space). Plus, we also need something to fit with the aesthetic of our home. This prefabricated option is nice, although there are some practical space logistics which might prevent this model from being a viable option:

Sometimes I wish I could spend all of my savings on trips to Europe, instead of on home improvement projects. Maybe one day that will be the case, but I doubt it!

Exercise!

I definitely don't consider myself to be an athlete by any means, but I like to think of myself as a moderately active person. I like hiking, and I opt to walk places if I have the chance to do so. I go to the gym about three times a week, and when I'm there I usually run around three miles on the treadmill. I have run a few five mile stints before, but that's about as far as I have run - not necessarily because I'm tired (I get a euphoric high after running for a mile or two), but because I don't have more time in my day to dedicate to running. Plus, admittedly, I also get a little bored after running for a long time.

I like exercise. I like the way I feel when I exercise, because I feel alive with my heart racing and my sweat glands working. I also like how I not only feel physically alive, but mentally alive when I do yoga or a dance class: it's almost like I can feel both sides of my brain working, as I try to physically mimic the poses or moves that the instructor shows. Every time I leave a yoga or a dance class, I'm always struck with how I feel very alert.

For that reason, this article about the mental benefits of exercise really resonated with me. My memory, mind, and mental well-being are so important to me, and I really like thinking about how exercise can help me to stay mentally sharp and aware. This article also makes me think of J's sharp grandparents, who walked around their city and up the hill to the local university on a regular basis. Grandma P lived into her nineties, and Grandpa P is still alive (at ninety-six, I believe) and rides a bike for his regular transportation!

I hope I can encourage my children to develop healthy exercise habits and hopefully find a love of exercise. Sam doesn't like competitive sports, but he does enjoy swimming and likes going to his swim lessons. Lucy likes going to her ballet class, which is a good start! I'd love it if one of my kids ends up liking basketball, baseball, or volleyball, because it would be fun to play with them. But if they don't, that's okay too. I just want them to be healthy, more than anything else.

J understands the importance of exercising, but he doesn't get any type of adrenaline rush when he works out. (I wonder if he may have a lower lower levels of dopamine in his body). J still exercises though, and recently discovered that he really enjoys rowing. Earlier this fall, he took a rowing class that would practice on Lake Washington. It's too cold to go out on the water now, but he still uses the rowing machines at the gym and actually gets fairly good PR times. I really enjoy seeing him get excited about this sport.

Post-Election Thoughts

I didn't sleep well last night, after learning that Trump was going to be elected president. I'm so disheartened and depressed that America has fallen so far away from its mark, and that power is invested in someone as dangerous and unpredictable as Trump.

A few weeks ago I came across this interview in the David Soutier, a retired Supreme Justice Court judge. His perspective and historical-approach to looking at American politics resonated with me (starting about 1:37 at the clip below).



I worry about the same things that Soutier worries about. Knowledge is such an important thing to me, and I worry about how ignorance is going to affect America. And, given that this morning I just finished teaching a class on political propaganda in Roman portraiture (using Augustus of Prima Porta as an example), Soutier's discussion of Augustus and the fall of the Roman Republic is especially poignant to me.

My hope is in the young people of America (see voting results for my age demographic). I hope that we can be civically engaged in order to combat fascism, tyranny, intimidation, xenophobia, racism, and misogyny. I like that Hillary Clinton said in her concession speech that we need to place faith in the constitution and in the basic human rights that are outlined therein. I think these next four years will really show if the constitution and the unique setup of the American government (with its various branches and institutions) will actually do their job: to prevent authoritarianism and protect the rights of the people.

Celebrities Project: Marilyn Monroe

I finished my Marilyn Monroe Month (as part of my Celebrities Project) several weeks ago, but I haven't had the motivation to write a recap of my experience here. The truth is, it was terribly depressing to learn about Monroe. What a sad life she led! She never really had a loving home when she was growing up: her mother was mentally unstable and Norma Jean Baker was passed around between foster homes until she was essentially placed in her first marriage by her foster parents. Really, it seems like Marilyn didn't really have close friends throughout her life. She was always surrounded by people, but many of those people didn't care about her as an individual.

I started off by reading My Story by Marilyn Monroe (with Ben Hecht). This autobiography was written only up to a point: the manuscript stops abruptly just after Marilyn goes on her honeymoon with her second husband, Joe DiMaggio. The abrupt ending was fitting in a way, since Marilyn's life also ended so abruptly.

In some ways, it was nice to pair this autobiography with Anthony Summer's book Goddess: The Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe. Although this book was interminably long and repetitive, I did like that Summers tried to help distinguish what was fiction and fact in Marilyn's My Story. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this dramatic actress had the propensity to embellish and exaggerate events of her life. The book's main argument is that Marilyn actually didn't commit suicide, but that she may have wrongfully died due to her compromising affairs with the Kennedy brothers (specifically Robert). There are a lot of suspicious things about the circumstances of her death, including the fact that she was discovered with a phone received clenched in her hand (which typically would not happen if someone had overdosed on sleeping pills, which prompts the hand muscles to relax and drop things before rigor mortis sets in). Regardless of what really happened, it is certain that she had a sad ending to her life: she was mentally and emotionally unstable during the last months of her life, and didn't get the help that she needed to overcome her addictions and problems.

I obviously picked the wrong movies to watch, too. I decided to skip watching the shows that I have already seen and enjoyed, so I didn't see shows like How To Marry a Millionaire (I really love her comedic timing in this show), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes or The Seven Year Itch. Instead, I saw Monkey Business (1952) with Cary Grant, in which Monroe plays a secretary that gets involved with a scientist who has discovered a formula which makes people youthful. The film was okay, but it was a little too silly and long, and I didn't think Monroe's comedic timing was that great in this show.

I also saw The Misfits (1961), in which Monroe plays opposite Clark Gable and Montgomery Clift. This movie was really slow paced and not that interesting for the most part, except for one scene at the end of the movie (at 2:16 - 2:21 in this online video). Seeing Marilyn get so upset and scream so loud was so unexpected for me that it was really poignant. It was also interesting to just know that this movie was written by Arthur Miller (Marilyn's third husband, although their marriage was breaking down at the time this was filmed). Marilyn also had an obsession with Cary Grant (she imagined that her estranged father looked like Cary Grant), and so it was interesting to see them play together. Cary Grant died soon after this film was completed.

The movie that was most interesting to watch was the unfinished film of Something's Got to Give (1962) with Dean Martin. This was the last movie that Marilyn started to make before she died, and she was so unstable and unprofessional that she ended up getting fired from the set. She looks unhealthily skinny to me in this film, but perhaps I also had that reaction because I knew of all of the problems she was experiencing with insomnia and alcohol at the time. There are some funny moments in this unfinished film, though, and I did like to see Dean and Marilyn play opposite each other.

I'm realizing in this Celebrities Project that I don't personally connect with many of these celebrity figures, including Monroe. I guess I must have hoped to connect with these figures more, which is perhaps why I've been a little disappointed with the people that I have been studying lately. I do like that Marilyn Moroe loved learning (even though she didn't have the best formal education herself); I enjoyed discovering that she decided to take a university-level art appreciation class 1951, after she decided that she wanted to be more cultured. I also like that she collected art and loved to read. But beyond those points, it was hard to connect with someone who lived so out-of-touch with reality and who desperately craved attention. I'm just not that kind of person!

UPDATE 4/24/22: Someone on Twitter posted this picture of a rose that was painted by Marilyn Monroe in 1962. It is fun to know that she was interested in making art on her own:

Relationship thoughts

I don't know how my relationship with J compares to the broad spectrum of relationships out there, but J and I feel like we have a wonderful marriage. I feel like we are amazingly compatible. We often remark that we are so lucky to have each other, because we get along so well and bring out the best in each other. I hope that my kids will look at our marriage and find things that they want to emulate in their own relationships one day. A handful of conversations have made me to think about my relationship with J lately, and I've realized that, apart from love, there are two things that I think are necessary in a successful marriage: respect and unselfishness.

Respect: I think that this is the foundation of a good marriage, and in many ways I think that deep love and respect are interrelated. The reason that J and I get along so well because we sincerely respect each other. We respect the talents of each other, perhaps especially if we don't have the same talents ourselves. We respect each other's mind and intellect, and consider ourselves to be equals in regard to our wits and brains. For that reason, we feel like we can learn from each other and we respect the decisions that the other person makes. We want to solicit each other's opinion! We are willing to communicate and make compromises on issues, because we respect the stance that the other person assumes.

We respect the person that our spouse was (even before we knew them), and we respect the person that they are today. And because we respect the person that they are today, we feel confident that we will respect the person that they will become in the future. For that reason, it's easy to have a forward-thinking mindset and a solid commitment to each other.

Unselfishness: I think unselfishness is important to have as a spouse, but especially as a parent. One of the reasons that I love J so much is that he is unselfish when it comes to our kids. He willingly and freely gives his time and attention to them, and they are always in the forefront of his mind when he is at home. Because J is unselfish, he is wholly engaged and present.

When a person is unselfish, I think that they naturally and effortlessly are driven to serve and help the people that they love. J looks for ways to be helpful to me and the kids, because he knows how much that contributes to our emotional well-being and happiness. I think I'm still learning how to be as unselfish as him.

Sam and Third Grade!

Sam started third grade! The picture above was taken on his first day of school. This year he is in a special Discovery Program that is supposed to explore concepts at an accelerated pace, and we have high hopes that he will do well in the program.

Sam's picture and art that is currently on his classroom's bulletin board

He likes his classmates and has a fun time playing with them at recess. One of the things that he has really been excited about this past month is wizardry, and he and a few boys like to pretend some type of wizard game during recess. He started reading the first Harry Potter book at school (during their "Literature Time," when they can read anything they want to for 45 minutes), and that book has definitely inspired Sam.

The other book that has gotten Sam excited about wizardry is the book Wizardology that he checked out from the school library. Sam has been taking copious notes out of the book and then bringing his notes in little folded booklets. For the first few days, he was reading a lot about wands, and he kept coming home from school and asking me to identity the different types of trees in our yard (so he could think about whether the wood from those trees would make a good wand or staff).

My favorite part about these notes is that Sam draws arrows and question marks by the words that he doesn't know. I love that we had a talk about what "rejuvenating" meant after he came home with these notes.

This is my favorite wizardry note yet, because it outlines all the things that he wants me to help him with. In Wizardology, Sam read that the wizard should think up an antidote to the spells that he creates. Sam decided that if a lion touches anything, that would break his spells. This is why he wrote down on his "to do" list to "tell [ask?] mom if she sees a lion hug it." 

Sam is a handsome little guy, and I think that he is starting to get attention from girls. There is a girl down the street who comes over a few times a week to ask if Sam wants to ride bikes with her. Poor Sam is too embarrassed to tell her that he doesn't know how to ride a bike, so he makes up random excuses every. single. time. I'm not sure if this little girl has a crush on Sam or not, but I'm pretty sure that there is one girl in Sam's class who does like him, because one day he came home with this in his backpack:

 The outside of the paper has "To Sam, from Alyssa" written on it. I'm pretty sure that the row of hearts along the bottom of the page are indicative of a crush. Sam evades any question that I ask about Alyssa, not in a way that suggests he likes her, but one that would suggest indifference on his part. My guess is that he won't be having crushes on girls anytime soon; wizardry is much more interesting and fun!

Lucy and Dress-Up Clothes

Lucy has definitely inherited the "dress-up gene" from her aunts on the S side of the family. I wrote earlier how Lucy inherited some lovely hand-me-down costumes from my Ant Bee and cousin Zel. These costumes have pretty much changed her life, and we now enter dress-up mode around once per day. Usually Lucy only likes to wear the outfits for a few minutes, before she moves on to the next outfit.

I wasn't sure how much I could promote the "girly girl" aspect of costumes and frills, because I don't want Lucy to feel like her identity comes from what she wears or her appearance. I'm trying to avoid saying things like "You look so beautiful!" and "You look so fancy!" (even though they do come out sometimes). But right now I think that mostly costumes are for her, at least right now, a way to pretend to be a character or different person. And I'm like that kind of imaginative play. Plus, it's kind of fun to see her being the same kind of dress-up girl that I remember my little sisters were at her age.

She chose this outfit herself. A Tinkerbell knight with a light saber and glass slippers

These sparkly Frozen shoes are a hand-me-down from a girl who goes to Lucy's daycare. Lucy adores them, even though they are about two sizes too big for her. I'm not that big of a fan of them myself, especially since they scatter glitter on the upholstery.

A "Christmas Queen" with glass slippers. We got this slippers as a compromise because she kept tripping over her feet in the too-big-for-her Frozen shoes.

Lucy's interest in dress ups is inspiring her dad! ;)

We also started dance class this month, which is really exciting. Lucy loves to get dressed in her dance outfit, and she especially likes the part in the class when they kids get to pretend to be a bee that flies around the room.

Lucy begged to have an Elsa dress (yep, we have a "Frozen" and "Let It Go" fan in the house). I let her pick out an Elsa nightgown, and it was supposed to serve as a motivation to help Lucy ditch her paci (she's supposed to trade in the paci for the nightgown), but it hasn't worked yet. Last night she chose to wear the nightgown, but drama and crying ensued for the next 90 minutes while we tried to get her to fall asleep. I guess there is still one thing that she loves more than a fancy costume. We'll see if we can break this paci habit in the next few weeks. I'm anxious to segue into toddler mode and get rid of the three last vestiges of baby mode in our house: pacis, diapers, and baby food crushers. My hope is that pacis will be the first and easiest thing to go, since she only uses them at naps and  bedtime.

Keekwulee Falls and Wolf Tree Nature Trail

We have been lucky to have a few weekends in which the weather was nice enough to do some hiking. On Labor Day we went and visited Keekwulee Falls, which on the Denny Creek main trail (just about 3/4 mile above the creek itself). I really loved this hike because the terrain was really varied: sometimes were were inside a forest of tall trees, and other times were were on a more exposed area on the side of a mountain with rocky terrain. It was also fun to see Denny Creek too, although the creek was quite dry, so we didn't get to play in the water.

The whole hike was about 3 miles. It wasn't terribly steep, and it was varied enough to keep the kids happy and interested. Probably the most difficult thing about the hike was walking on larger rocks up toward the falls, but the rocks were more of a setback (in terms of time) than a physical challenge. I definitely want to come back, especially at a time of year when the water is higher. We got to eat a picnic lunch (with our friends the Roses) on the mostly-dry, smooth rock bed of Denny Creek though, which was a fun and new experience.

Then, this past weekend we went to Discovery Park and walked along the Wolf Tree Nature Trail. This trail is only about 1/2 mile long, but there are many small trails that wind around the three different pools that are located in the area so there is a lot of variety. We also exited the trail for a bit to see the Daybreak Star Cultural Center and see a view of the sound from there.

I loved the light behind the trees, plus it's a good shot of both of my kids, so I wanted to put up both an actual shot and a detail image.

We ate lunch by the bright-green pond that was had plants covering its surface

Pond #2

Pond #3 - I loved how clear and reflective the surface of this pond was (especially in contrast with the other two)

It has been about seven years since we have been Discovery Park, and I'm glad we got to go and explore a new area of the park. We drove down and looked at the South Beach, but we decided to not hike down there this time. We need to utilize this park more often, because there is a lot to explore and do.

"CHA!" movie pics

When I was in Utah a few weeks ago, we sat down as a family and watched some old home movies. We happened to come across one that I made probably in 1998, with my high-school friends Julie and Heidi. The movie is probably about 20 minutes long. We named the movie "CHA!" after the Vancome Lady on MAD TV (who would say, "Tcha, you know what, uh-uh!").

The premise of the movie is that two unpopular, nerdy girls (who play "Hi Ho Cherry-O" for fun) walk into a magical closet and emerge as beautiful and popular girls. Julie and I played these girls.  

As soon as Julie emerged from the closet, a boy called her on the phone (to emphasize her popularity and desirability!). (Actually, it's funny because every time a character becomes popular, the phone rings and a boy is calling. This was funny to watch, because the boys who are on the line are always the names of the boys that we actually liked at the time.)

My line: "I need to go into the closet too. I want to be popular like Julie." 

As soon as we both become popular, Julie and I did a Michael Jackson dance (that Julie choreographed!) to "The Way You Make Me Feel"

After we became popular, Julie and I decided to throw a party. However, our nerdy friends Tootsie and Flootsie (played by my sister V and her friend Patricia) tried to crash our party and we had to get rid of them.  

After we got rid of the party, our popular friends (also played by V and Patricia) came over. 

Heidi played a mystical goddess who appeared to me and Julie. This is where the "Cha..." line to comes into the film. Heidi reprimands the popular girls for their mean behavior toward their nerdy friends. 

Julie and I resolve to be nice to the unpopular girls... 

...including Heidi, who came skipping down the road toward us. 

Heidi asks if we want to do some coloring in her coloring book (a nerdy activity!)... 

Julie and I decide to be kind to Heidi and stay friends with her. We pull her out of a tree (she is saying "Where's Heidi?" like the character Arnie in What's Eating Gilbert Grape) and decide to invite her to visit the magical closet.

And we all have become beautiful and popular, thanks to the CHA! closet. We end the movie by saying, "And we owe it all to CHA!"

It was fun to watch this movie so many years later, especially since I don't get to see Heidi and Julie very often. My family got a kick out of it, and we also noticed that a lot of my mom's clothes and accessories (like the bag Heidi carries) were used for the nerdy characters (although the Hawaiian shirt that I wore was mine). The yellow, polyester, faux-patchwork quilt shirt that Julie wears in the first scene is one shirt that particularly reminds me of my mom. I think this old shirt was thrown out a few years ago, so I'm glad that we have it captured on film.