Saturday, December 8, 2012

Saturday 9 – Blue Christmas

I don’t know what happened this week.  It was supposed to be light and easy and before I knew it, it snowballed into a crazy end of week.  I’ve started writing a couple of posts, but haven’t had a chance to finish them.  A Saturday 9 will have to do for now.

1) Do you ever suffer the blues during the holidays? No, although this year I’m having a bit of trouble getting into the holiday spirit.

2) More than 18 million visitors have toured Elvis' home, Graceland. Have you ever been there? Nope

3) Elvis dyed his naturally light brown locks black. Do you dye your hair? I do not, although  I have threatened to go dark a time or two.  The regular maintenance of it has turned me off from going through with it though.

4) He also insisted his young girlfriend, Priscilla, dye her hair jet black. If your lover asked you to change your hair, would you?   Hmmm, I don’t know, but probably not.

5) Elvis served his country at an Army base in Friedberg, Germany. Have you ever been to Germany?   Yes, a couple of times.

6) Elvis famously had an affair with Ann-Margret during the filming of Viva Las Vegas. Have you ever indulged in a dalliance with a coworker?  Not since becoming a teacher.  Dalliances are few and far between in a work place primarily made up of women and gay men.   But it’s a bad idea.

7) Thinking of his movies ... Elvis was, by and large, unhappy with his film career and once said, "The only thing worse than watching a bad movie is being in one." Are you happy with the way your career is going/has gone? Oh, sure.  For the most part I am.  There are times when I wish I had pursued another career path.  I love teaching, but all the other stuff – politics, testing, management, lack of parent support, the BS – make it less enjoyable than it could be.  Or like today when the principal had to physically remove a student from my room who had a meltdown and was screaming bloody murder.  I don’t love those kind of days.  After those kinds of days, the vacation time is what keeps me going.  

8) Elvis lost "the battle of the bulge" toward end of his life. Are you happy with your weight?  Sometimes I am and sometimes I’m not. 

9) As a teenager, Elvis worked as an usher at a movie theater. What was your first job? I started working at Red Lobster when I was 15 as a hostess and then a server.  My favorite job before my “career” was a bartender.  Sometimes I think if I could pay the mortgage with it, I’d go back to bartending.  That was a fun job.

Happy Saturday!

22 comments:

  1. Hmm-zzzees. Elvis as the key, mmmmm, not sure.
    OK I'll go this way. The holiday blues aren't depression per se but a reaction to stress. When we lower the metabolism as we do on holliers we change how our system deals with muck.
    Hair colour, why would I. I'm blonde with black brows and lashes, but blonde everyplace else. Put me in a kilt&helm with a yard of sword and I'd out Braveheart, Braveheart. As to asking a chick to change hair colour. What on earth for. I have no need to polish my ego by trying that shit. That's leading into the realm when Angelina was a skank with a vials of blood.
    Tidying herself though would be another matter. It cannot be a very pleasant trip even for the owner when from toe to belly the only bare patch is over the hipbone. Otherwise, if the fellow is fully hetero he'll be a darn sight more goal orientated.
    Graceland; I not fully sure what it is exactly. But it seems to fulfill that aspect of the human condition that Compostella, Lourdes, Medjugorje and Fatima did in the past and on another continent.
    Oh, I'd say the blacking of his hair (and hers) had to do with the colour saturation on film of that era. That was much of the reasoning for Brylcreem also.

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    1. Oh good point about the hair color on film. I've never understood the fascination with Elvis - the utter hysteria over him or the need to visit all things about him. Although I always thought getting hitched in Vegas by an Elvis impersonator would be a hoot.
      Maintenance is by far different than change. The second being more about control rather than just good "housekeeping".

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  3. I have always fantasized about being a bartender. Especially now that it's illegal to smoke indoors and I wouldn't have to worry about my hair stinking. Of course, in my fantasy, I'd make a ton in tips.

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    1. The tips were the best part and it is such a social job, especially at a place with regulars. I did it when I lived back east and they still smoked in bars and restaurants. That was bad. Some nights if I'd had to change over a foamy keg I'd come home smelling like a boozer. I always worried I'd get pulled over and arrested for reeking of beer and smoke on my way home from work.

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  4. Christmas is a lot less stressful now that we really celebrate it somewhere else. Other's expectations do not depend on me having all the decorations up, baking goodies. All I have to do is get the presents wrapped and enjoy myself.

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    1. I think that's why I'm finding it hard to get in the mood this year.

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    1. A lot of times I think "I didn't sign up for this." That part is hard.

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  6. I think when weather cools down would help set the mood better for Christmas as well
    come see me at http://shopannies.blogspot.com

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    1. I think that is very true. It's hard to be in the Xmas spirit in the warmer weather.

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  7. You know, I always wondered about becoming a bar tender. I took a class once. My only problem is that I can't stay up too late.

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  8. My favorite high school English teacher tended bar on the weekends.

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    1. Oh, I can't even imagine working all week with kids and then bartending on the weekends. It would be good money, but the opposite time schedules would probably make me nutty.

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  9. How did you handle the sing-alongs? I can only imagine. How many times can one take "Sweet Caroline"? Was it that type of place? Like right now going around the bars is that Fun song "We Are Young". It does sound like a fun job though. The tips are great but dealing with the drunks is the con also.

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    1. It wasn't really a sing-a-long type place. :) The hardest part was having to cut guys off who were at their limit. I didn't really care what they drank, but if they went out and got in an accident the bar AND I could have been sued. We also had a few fights that had to be broken up. On more than one occassion I found myself instinctively trying to break it up by hanging on to someone's arm or back and afterwards thought, what a dummy, he's 3xs the size of you. Lots of good times!

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  10. I loved bartending! Back before I had my younger 2 kids, when I was still in relatively decent shape, my "rack" earned me some wicked-good tips! Well, my "rack" and the fact that I excelled at the art of flirtation. Oh! And I knew how to mix drinks, too. ;-)

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    1. Yes, it often seemed like going out with my friends, but getting paid a lot to do so.

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  11. You and Elvis. Thanks for the smile Pumpkin.

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