Unfamiliar with this week’s tune? Hear it here.
Chosen because next week is April Fool’s Day.
1) Some believe that the practice of playing tricks on one another on April 1 dates back to the 14th century because it’s mentioned in Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. Geoffrey Chaucer is considered one of England’s greatest poets. From memory, quote a bit of poetry for us. (It doesn’t have to be English, or great.) “Quoth the Raven, ‘nevermore.'” It’s a cheap one, but my brain’s coming up blank on other poetry right now.
2) When Crazy Sam was a little girl, her mother would prank her on April Fool’s Day by slipping a rubber worm or plastic spider in her lunch box. Did you/do you carry a lunchbox, either as a student or an adult? I did as a student, and for a little while as an adult going into the office. But we went remote probably around three years ago now.
3) In 1998, Burger King got into the April Fool’s Day fun by promoting a special “Left Handed Whopper,” supposedly perfectly designed for a leftie to hold. Describe your perfect burger. Gotta be honest, one of my absolute favorites is from Red Robin and has pineapple on it, and I get it with an Impossible patty. I’ve also had two fantastic veggie burgers that have had apple on them.
4) In this week’s song, Barbara Mandrell sings that she followed her heart into her lover’s arms. Are you more often led by your heart or head? Probably my heart, if I’m honest. I let my emotions rule sometimes.
5) She knows now she was wrong for believing her man loved her. When did you recently admit you were wrong? I’m not sure. Seems I haven’t had to lately.
6) Barbara Mandrell recalls being able to read music before she could read words. Can you read sheet music? I can’t, but I can read guitar tabs.
7) Barbara had her own TV variety show in the 1980s and, in the 90s, acted on the daytime drama, Sunset Beach. The soap opera’s producer, Aaron Spelling, was a huge fan of Barbara’s and was thrilled to finally meet and work with her. Tell us about someone you really enjoyed working with, and why. My writing group–and in fact, all writing groups I’ve been a part of, including my college classes. I’ve been lucky to land with smart, funny, intuitive people who are a joy to hang out with but are also honest about what’s not working for them and help tease something better out.
8) In 1979, when this song was released, a top-of-the-line Sony Walkman sold for $150 (approx. $500 in today’s dollars). Did you have a portable cassette player back in the day? I am just old enough to recall having a boom box with a cassette player a few years before my portable CD player was glued to my side.
9) Random question: What’s the first thing you thought of when you woke up this morning? My 9-month-old son. Well, technically, this morning in particular, it was the cat that was biting my hands to wake me up because he wanted breakfast, and then it was my son. He’s sleeping in his own room, so I can’t just roll over to check on him anymore, and of course that paranoia of wanting to make sure he’s okay always kicks in.