Friday 5: Un_____able

1. What’s a movie you once liked but is now unwatchable? I was a Twilight fan for a hot minute back in those days, but it didn’t take long for that to fall apart–the writing is awful. But it did mean seeing most of the movies as they came out, and granted, by that time, we were heckling them more than truly enjoying them, I think. Kristen Stewart, with a few exceptions, is just a bad actress, I’m sorry. I realize she was given a weak character in this instance, but the only two movies I’ve ever seen her in where she was either good or her style worked were Adventureland and Into the Wild.
2. What’s a song you once liked but is now unlistenable? I don’t know that there are any I’d call totally unlistenable, but I definitely burned myself out on a lot of stuff I loved as a teenager. There’s a lot of stuff from then that I still love, too, though.
3. What’s a book you once liked but is now unreadable? Ha, see above. I’m also tempted to include 50 Shades of Grey not because I liked it but because up to a point, it wasn’t that bad. It’s one of those books that destroys itself as it goes by just getting worse and worse. I truly started it thinking, “Okay, this isn’t good, but it’s tolerable,” and ended on burn it all down.
4. What’s something you once found unbelievable but whose truth is now undeniable? I don’t know!
5. What’s something you once found tasty but is now unpalatable? Please, this was my entire first trimester of pregnancy. Nearly all of my staple foods sounded disgusting, vegetarian foods in particular. I’d just jumped on the Beyond Burger craze, and the thought of any meat substitutes was awful–that, fake chicken patties, fake hot dogs, even the things like orange chicken made me nauseous to even think about. For a while there, I needed very simple, almost bland foods. I’m mostly out of that now, but I’m definitely not back to normal. There’s still a freezer full of food I’m just not quite ready for. I’m also really tired of hard-boiled eggs. They were great for a little while as something quick, easy, and healthy for me, but that got old fast.

From Friday 5.

We increased our circle a smidge this weekend.

Since we still haven’t met our nephew, Arlo, Paul had the idea to see if it would be cool if we could do a drive-by visit, and Katie said that was long as we wore clean clothes, she was okay with us coming in for a proper visit. She and I have talked about this a little–among all of our little branched-out families, most of us pretty much aren’t leaving our houses, so we figure seeing each other is probably okay. I realize this isn’t quite in line with what the experts are advising, but I mean…I’ve left the house four times since restrictions started in March, and Katie’s situation is very similar.

So we visited for a little bit, then came home to our new writing group Paul’s sister Emily got going. The last one I was in dissolved–it was made up of coworkers, and all but two of us have moved or switched jobs or both. Although my contributions will likely be spotty for lack of time, I’m glad to be involved in it. We hop on Discord on Saturday nights and discuss.

This was also the weekend where the limitations of pregnancy made themselves painfully clear, literally. The goal was to really put time and work into getting ready for the baby. After a delay of about a week, the crib is supposed to arrive tomorrow, and my mom offered to steam-clean the carpet in his room. So the first project was getting ahead of the mess that the living room and kitchen had become, most of which turned out to be empty boxes. But normally, we split the work for an hour or so and it’s done. Now? I can’t, and I really didn’t expect that and was surprised by just how hard it was for me. At best, I’m moving a lot slower and get a lot less done than him, and at worst, I need to sit down after carrying something from one end of the house to the other. So that’s how Paul did the bulk of the cleaning on his own Sunday.

But the weather was nice, so I thought, “Hey, I know I need some exercise.” My original plan for this point in the pregnancy was to be walking on a treadmill at the gym, which of course didn’t account for a damn pandemic shutting the thing down. So we decided to go for a walk in the park, which I maintain was a good idea for the most part, but I ended up overdoing it. I needed to go slower and sit down a lot, but for the most part, I felt pretty good and felt like getting out and moving was helping. The problem was I misjudged my limit, so I was really, really struggling when we turned around to go back to the car. It didn’t help the aches and discomfort I was having, and instead, I ended up with aches and discomfort in other places from not being active lately.

I was still feeling it a bit this morning. We were set to finish the cleaning project, and while I did contribute, it was minimal. I just couldn’t. It was taking a lot of me, which was making me frustrated, and fortunately, I’m married to a saint who keeps telling me my job right now is to literally grow a human in my body and that’s it.

Weirdly, as of the last couple hours, I feel really good. Maybe it just takes over 24 hours to recover from exercise and for the benefits to kick in.

My mom came over and steam-cleaned the carpet in the baby’s room. For that being the least-used room in the house, it was kind of amazing to see how dirty the water was, and I’m afraid of how offensive my office and our bedroom probably are. Woof. But at least he’ll have a nice, clean room, for the most part. When the crib is up, I do want the cats to have some time to check it out and make some progress towards understanding in their little kitty brains that it’s gonna have a very different purpose soon.

This being Memorial Day weekend, somewhere around Friday or Saturday I thought we could head out to my dad’s grave today, especially since it’s so close to our house. I mentioned it in our family group text, and everyone kind of was separately thinking the same thing, so my mom spent the morning doing the steam cleaning and we drove out to the grave around 1, then grabbed some takeout and came back to the house to hang out a little bit.

Ordinarily, we probably would’ve had a cookout, even if just a small one where Paul did most of the work, so it was a little strange for it to be small and limited and not feel much like Memorial Day, honestly. But I guess that’s just how it is now, and I don’t see it changing–and at least we can see each other instead of being totally separate like we have up to this point.

I expect this weekend, we’ll stay in. Paul sounds like he’s gonna tackle assembling the crib during the week, and until the drive-by baby shower, we won’t have a ton of stuff to put in there just yet. What we definitely need to do is devote some time to the hospital’s virtual classes, since in-person ones are all canceled.

I making this point a lot, but it’s strange times to be a new parent-to-be.

Saturday 9: Battle Hymn of the Republic

Unfamiliar with Judy Garland’s rendition of this week’s tune? Hear it here.

Memorial Day is the federal holiday designated to honor American service people who died in battle. 



1) On May 30, 1868, President Grant presided over the Memorial Day observance at Arlington National Cemetery. Have you ever visited Arlington Cemetery? I have.

2) On Memorial Day, it is customary to fly the flag at half-staff until noon and then raise it to the top of the staff until sunset. Will you be flying the flag at your home this weekend? We don’t have one, no.

3) Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day, because flowers and ribbons were left on graves of soldiers.  Do you find solace in visiting cemeteries? I don’t know. I guess a little bit. We’re going to my dad’s grave on Monday.

4) The lyrics to this week’s song were written by Julia Ward Howe in 1861. Her inspiration was a White House visit with Abraham Lincoln. In 2020, under normal circumstances, public tours of the White House are available but you must request your ticket in advance from your Member of Congress (House or Senate). When you travel, do you plan your trip weeks before you go? Or do you decide how your days will unfold once you reach your destination? First of all, I remember back when anyone could get a ticket, you just had to get up early in the morning and line up for it. As for the actual question, it depends who I’m traveling with. Personally, I like a mix of pre-planned things, if it’s that kind of place, with some free days to explore or just hang out. Most of our traveling in the last couple years has been for weddings, and for the most part, what we did was take a few extra days off to enjoy the area. In Erie, we spent time on Presque Isle, and in Virginia Beach about two years ago, we took a couple extra days to enjoy the beach.

5) Judy Garland performed this week’s song before a live audience as a tribute to President Kennedy, who had been assassinated just weeks before. She knew Kennedy personally and considered this a farewell to a friend. While the performance was difficult for her — at one point she flubs the lyrics — she believed it was important, and could perhaps help the country heal. Tell us about a song that reminds you of someone you loved who is no longer with us. Since I mentioned my dad, I made this playlist after he died.

6) John F. Kennedy served in WWII and was awarded a Navy and Marine Corps medal and a Purple Heart. His brother Joe also served and was awarded the Navy Cross, but he received his citation posthumously, having died during a flying mission over East Suffolk, England. Here at Saturday 9, we consider everyone who serves a hero and want to hear about the veterans and active military members in your life. I’m surrounded by them. Both grandfathers served, my dad and one of my uncles did, my brother and my best friend’s boyfriend is National Guard, I have some distant cousins in, some of my husband’s college friends, my brother-in-law was in the Marines for a few years…we’ve got someone in every branch.
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7) Memorial Day is considered the beginning of the summer season. Will you be enjoying warm weather this weekend? Oh, yeah. We’re still social distancing, so we won’t be hosting or attending anything like we have in the past, but we’re definitely having summery weather, finally.

8) Berries are especially popular in summer. Which is your favorite: strawberries, blueberries, blackberries or raspberries? Raspberries and strawberries are probably about tied, then blackberries. I like blueberries the least. We have blackberry bushes at the back of the yard, and we planted some strawberries in the garden this year.

9) If you could attend a Memorial Day picnic with any fictional character, which would you choose? I don’t know.

Friday 5: Grace

1. When most recently did someone show you unexpected courtesy? I don’t know. I mean, it’s not like I’ve been around many people lately, and being pregnant, everyone tends to cater to me a little more now, too.
2. What were you most recently forgiven for? I don’t know about this, either. Because in my mind, at this point in pregnancy, I’m needing more help doing simple things, and I don’t like it and view it as a nuisance to myself and therefore think it’s a nuisance to other people (mainly my husband). And of course he doesn’t see it that way and has been nothing but a saint, which I think most people would say, “Well, of course, as he should be,” but I’ve been on Reddit enough to know there’s lots of shitty dads-to-be in the world. Although I guess there are two things he’s dealt with impressively. The first is an increase in snoring that has twice pushed him to sleep on the floor of the unfinished nursery in a sleeping bag. The second is that because of congestion that comes with pregnancy, I’ve been sleeping with my mouth open, which for reasons I do not comprehend means I apparently just, like…spit at random? I guess it’s kind of like blowing raspberries. My best guess is it’s something I’m doing weird when I breathe, I don’t know, but I’ve now more than once just kind of spit in his face. And other than a, “You spit on me last night,” he hasn’t said a word.
3. What did someone most recently buy for you? For me but also the baby–we’re doing a social-distancing drive-by baby shower in about two weeks, and we’ve gotten a few gifts sent to the house from people who aren’t participating. Most recent one was a little rocker.
4. What did someone most recently make for you? My best friend made the baby a tie-dye onesie for each month. My mom’s making some things for said shower. My husband made cookies yesterday, which weren’t strictly for me by any means, but I do benefit. Oh, I guess there’s also the fact that he’s making my meals almost exclusively now. Standing in front of a stove is surprisingly exhausting.
5. Who could you probably be a bit nicer to? I think I’m nice to just about everyone, although I can be cold towards people I don’t like. I could probably ease up on that.

From Friday 5.

Well, we knew it was coming eventually, but Paul got his 60 days’ notice at work. Finally, nearly a year and a half after first getting the news that his company would be relocating to Mexico, he has an end date–hilariously, right after my due date. Oh, universe, you are hilarious.

Obviously, this coming mid-coronavirus also makes for complicated timing and a lot of work in his field is moving overseas, but we’re not freaking out. He’s getting a decent severance package, and while my paycheck absolutely isn’t gonna be enough, I can grab overtime here and there and the timing does potentially solve our problem of how to handle me going back to work.

The news happens to come the same day his friend who moved to New York after the closure was announced found out his job is being eliminated, mostly due to coronavirus.

We’ll figure it out. It’s not the first time he’s lost a job. Yes, having a baby this time absolutely complicates things, but we’ve been here before.

In other news, I have no idea where my weekend went. It was the laziest, most unproductive one I’ve had since this all started, and I couldn’t tell you why. We spent some time clearing out what we had been using as a sort of guest bedroom to get ready for the baby. The crib should be arriving tomorrow, and the current plan is for my mom to steam-clean the carpet in there before anything is assembled. Currently, there’s still some old furniture in there, but it’s clearly making the transition. A few people have sent gifts, so those are all in there, as well as the stash of samples I’ve been amassing for the better part of the last seven or eight months. If a website offered me free samples of diapers or wipes or bottles or whatever, I signed up.

Eliana turned one, which was originally to have been marked with a whole birthday party. Instead, the grandparents and aunts and uncles popped by their apartment, except my brother being my brother, I was never told of this. And while being left out is, like, a complex of mine, I know him well enough to know he didn’t intentionally exclude me, he just…didn’t think to say anything. And at the same time, Paul wasn’t really comfortable going and neither was I, in part because some in attendance are working in healthcare right now. I trust that they’re all being careful, but being pregnant, I don’t see a need to expand the circle of people we’re seeing. I’d be okay with visiting some weekend on our own instead.

I also chauffeured Paul around to run errands. My car battery has now died twice because it’s just sitting in the garage, so after getting it charged back up, I suggested we run errands and I’d drive and he could go in, as he has been, and handle the actual purchasing and human interaction. And man, it felt so good. I was having fun. I offered to just drive on weekends when we need something so I can get out of the house without actually, like, doing anything.

Because I’ve left the house so little–I believe that was outing #4, and the previous three were doctors appointments–seeing people just wearing masks in public is still really, really weird to me. It’s very dystopian sci-fi, while everyone else is used to it. Mostly, I guess.

Pennsylvania’s current approach is color-coded phases–red, yellow, and green. Most of the other end of the state, out near Philadelphia, is still in the red, while we moved to yellow on Friday. In my opinion, there’s not a huge difference between the two. It seems to be that yellow allows for additional retail to open. The outlets, for example, are open because it’s an outdoor mall, and anchor stores at regular malls are allowed to open. Malls themselves aren’t. But for the most part, social distancing and mask wearing is still the norm.

Reactions in the area seem mixed. There has been some push to reopen, with my county joining a couple others in suing the state and some people definitely agreeing with that decision, but I’m not one of them, and neither is anyone I know. My friends are all pretty much on the same page that there’s no way this is gonna truly end anytime soon, and we’ve popped on Zoom a couple times to chat. My immediate family is pretty much the same way, and my mom in particular is being very careful since my drive-by baby shower is at her house. She’s frustrated with some extended family for seemingly ignoring all guidelines completely and opting to have a small get-together next weekend.

Things feel split along political party lines, and therefore to a certain degree age, which is ridiculous to me, especially considering there’s still so much we don’t know about the virus. I’ve felt for a long time that this distrust of the media and science was a problem, and this is exactly why–we’ve now got large groups of people who either don’t understand or are straight up ignoring that this is legit and that some of us are relying on  the bulk of the country to just chill and do their part to limit exposure. If I wasn’t already working from home, my doctor told me that they’d have me start my maternity leave two weeks before my due date solely to quarantine.

Looking ahead, our weekend is likely gonna be some baby prep with more of…whatever we’ve been doing to kill time. I kind of wish I wouldn’t nap so much, but I truly can’t help it at this point.

 

Saturday 9: Always Remember Us This Way

Unfamiliar with this week’s song. Hear it here.

1) In this song, Lady Gaga sings about the Arizona sky and California gold. Have you visited many of our western states? I haven’t, unfortunately. In the States, I believe the farthest west I’ve gone was St. Louis.

2) She sings that she’s overwhelmed and can’t find the words to express herself. Do you find it easier to share your feelings verbally or in writing? In general, writing–I’m more collected that way.

3) Her real name is Stefani Germanotta. She took her stage name from the Queen song, Radio Gaga. Do you have a favorite Queen song? That’s definitely a top one, and one I find is underrated. I love a lot of Queen songs, but I’m gonna take this opportunity to direct you to another underrated one, “Year of ’39.”

4) Her dad is Joe Germanotta, president of GuestWifi, a company that enables hotels and restaurants to offer high-speed wifi to their customers. Do you consider yourself tech savvy? 

5) Early in her career, Lady Gaga performed songs for a children’s audio book called The Portal in the Park. Tell us about the last book you finished — did you listen to an audiobook, or read a download to an electronic device or a bound book with pages? The last one I finished was a physical copy of Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.

6) She prefers dogs to cats and tea to coffee. Do you agree with her? Yes on the tea. And while I do have two cats that I adore, I am more of a dog person. The cats’ independence is great, though.

7) Back in 2015, she appeared at the Academy Awards, performing a medley to celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Sound of Music. The movie’s star, Julie Andrews, graciously came onstage to thank Gaga for her showstopping performance. Whom did you most recently thank? Probably my husband, probably for bringing me food.

8) In 2018, when this song was first released, retailer Toys R Us closed all its stores and went out of business. What’s the last toy you purchased? The cats’ monthly toy subscription box.

9) Random question: How has social media made your life better? It’s made it super easy to stay connected with family and friends.

Friday 5: Shifting Sands

1. When did you last feel sand between your toes? Probably the last time we were in Erie, about a year ago–Lake Erie’s beach isn’t the same as a proper ocean, but man, when you need something, it’ll do.
2. When did you last have a sandwich? I don’t know. We ordered from Subway at some point in the last few months. Unless a burger counts, in which case, last week.
3. What kinds of sandals do you own? Not many because I really don’t like them. I only own flip-flops at all because we do occasionally go to pools, and it’s just not practical to wear regular shoes.
4. How trustworthy has the Sandman been these days? I’ve mentioned this before, but I am now in week 33 of pregnancy, the point where most women are having trouble sleeping. At my last doctors appointment, where I reported that I was still sleeping just fine, she was sure that wouldn’t be the case in another couple of weeks, but alas! Here we are, and although I do wake up a few times a night, normally to readjust and get comfortable (and maneuver around cats), I’m not really having any trouble. The baby moving keeps me awake for a little bit when I first lie down, but that’s about it.
5. What do you know about San Diego? I know I’d like to go there!

From Friday 5.

Last week progressed like normal–work, sleep, repeat.

For Mother’s Day, we decided to defy the stay-at-home order a smidge and have a takeout dinner at my mom’s. I was comfortable with going–only Brandon and Paul are leaving for work, and my mom is going out only as needed and is very thorough and meticulous when it comes to wiping down anything that goes into the house, so I was fairly confident we could see each other safely. We did agree to wear masks, although that got abandoned fast. Once we were done eating, we kind of forgot about it. I did wear one when I held Eliana, though, and that was interesting to navigate. She’s about to turn a year old and I didn’t want to get close to her without a mask, but I didn’t want to freak her out, either, especially since she hasn’t seen us in two months. But she did really well. She looked a little confused at first, and then was like, “Oh, right, you’re the weirdos I FaceTime with.”

Normally when we go home from my mom’s, I intend to stop at the local dairy farm for milk and just kind of end up not feeling like it, but having my mom deliver a gallon of milk and a pint of ice cream reminded of the quality of it. So I had Paul stop and pop in on our way home and threw in a request for chocolate milk and a shake, too. My main major craving is still specifically cherry icees, but any frozen beverage will do in a pinch. And I forgot that their chocolate milk truly tastes like melted chocolate ice cream. It’s the best. I’ve got one or two glasses left to get out of the quart Paul grabbed, and I’m gonna miss it when it’s gone. I could ask Paul to get a bigger jug, but I don’t blame him for not wanting to load me up on sugar.

On that front, I joke that he’s policing my diet and that Reddit would rip him to shreds, but I’m glad he’s considering healthy options the way he is. I started this pregnancy off okay, focusing on healthier choices, but the longer I go, the easier it is to cave to whims. He nudges me a certain direction but doesn’t, like, keep me from giving in to some junk food, and I think it’s a good balance. He’s also cooking for me as much as possible, considering we now work different shifts.

This week has been rougher so far for small but annoying reasons. Just enough at work to end up working late a few days. I’m grateful for the overtime, but at the same time, physically, even just sitting in a chair for the regular eight hours has its struggles. I don’t feel tired most of the time, but then I’ll start to get sleepy and feel like I need to lie down, and that continues in cycles over eight hours (or more) plus back pain and the other discomforts of growing a human. I don’t know how pregnant women manage to work more physical or more demanding jobs.

And then there was confusion about an appointment I was supposed to have today. Back when I scheduled, I remember them specifically saying it was going to be a telemedicine appointment, and they sent me home with a blood-pressure cuff. When they called to remind me of my appointment, they said it was in person. Not a big deal, honestly, but I was worried about the possibility that something got mixed up and decided to call to double-check–and given that my car battery died last appointment, I also decided to make sure that was functioning. And…it’s not. So when the office confirmed they had me down in person instead, I had to reschedule. I’m on for Friday morning instead and had to take a half-day, and hopefully my car battery will be charged back up by then. If not, I can take Paul’s car, which is why I scheduled the way I did, but I’m annoyed about having to do it at all when I’m positive I was supposed to be chatting with a doctor from the comforts of home. That said, everything is chaos right now and I don’t think I’ve had appointment scheduling go smoothly and be normal since probably February, so I don’t entirely blame them. Besides, it’s not like I have a lot of telemedicine time left–soon enough, I’m gonna need to be seen in person until the baby is born.

As annoyed as I am about the entire circumstance and much as I hate to request time off work on short notice yet again, I am glad I’ll have a half day Friday, and we all just kind of have to deal with it. They can’t exactly do anything about it, and frankly, neither can I.

This weekend will be another spent at home. I’ve had a very unproductive week, probably thanks to many naps, so I’m hoping to catch up on some things and feel a little less lazy, even if I have a good excuse. I may just have to accept that at this point, my body’s working hard and if I need to sleep, I need to sleep, but I’m not enjoying it.

Saturday 9: I’ll Always Love My Mama

Unfamiliar with this week’s tune? Hear it here.

1) This week’s featured artists, The Intruders, sing that they don’t know how their mama made it through the week without ever getting a good night’s sleep. How did you sleep last night? Considering I’m seven months pregnant during a pandemic and share a bed with my husband and usually two cats, pretty good. The last couple nights were harder than usual because on top of pregnancy aches and pains, I’ve had some bouts of acid reflux. I’d be having that even if I weren’t pregnant, but I woke up coughing  with a burning in my throat a couple times. Thank you, Tums, for putting a stop to it.

2) The Intruders performed this song on Soul Train, a syndicated show that ran for more than 3 decades. What show do you try never to miss? There’s nothing I tune in to every single week. I hit stuff online after the fact. There’s too much great TV for me to even try, so I prefer to zero in on one or two at a time.

3) On Soul Train, the Intruders wore solid black shirts beneath their brightly colored jackets. Black, white, khaki, navy and gray are considered neutral colors, because they go with everything. If we were to check your closet, which would we find you wear most often: black, white, khaki, navy or gray? Definitely black.

4) Especially for Mother’s Day: Access Hollywood named Carol Brady of The Brady Bunch TV’s #1 mom. Who is your favorite TV mom? Ooh, I don’t know!

5) Mother Winters always gave Sam peppermint tea to calm her stomach. Do you have any tried-and-true home remedies to share? My grandma always swore by a shot of ginger brandy to help with colds. I think Coke can help settle a stomach, and in college, my roommate and I swore by a 50/50 mix of cranberry juice and ginger ale. And tea!

6) Sam’s mother always tips 15% in restaurants. Sam has worked in food service and is more judgmental, tipping between 10% and 25%, depending on the quality of the service. What’s your tipping policy? Are you more like Sam or her mother? How do you handle tips for carry out or delivery during this Covid-19 crisis? I’m more of a 15% tipper with increases for service, but my husband’s a 20%-er. Frankly, he’s been handling all the takeout and delivery orders right now, so I have no idea what he’s been doing. But when this is all over, and I mean for real, not this nonsense where people are opening up too early, I’m gonna be upping my tips. My husband and I have both been working full-time still and a lot of people aren’t that fortunate, so we can afford to throw a few extra bucks to servers who have been out of work for two months.

7) When the tip of her shoelace becomes frayed, Sam’s mother snips off the end and then paints the tip with clear nail polish. Good as new! Sam thinks that’s crazy because you can just buy new laces for less than $2. Are you more frugal like mother or spendthrift like daughter? I’d probably just buy new laces, but generally, if I can fix something, I’d rather do that than spend money, even if it’s not a lot.

8) Mother Winters loves how french vanilla smells and burns her Yankee Candles all year around. Do you use scented candles or air fresheners? Candles and sometimes whatever candle-like contraptions companies come up with, like tart burners or Yankee Candle’s melt cups. And occasional incense.

9) Sam is celebrating Mother’s Day with her mother’s favorite, Hershey Bars. Would you prefer classic milk chocolate, dark chocolate or chocolate with almonds? Classic milk.

Friday 5: Getting It Back Together

1. What instrument in an orchestra would you least like to play professionally? Ooh, I don’t know. Probably something big, like a cello. My little hands couldn’t take it.
2. How long would it take you to find a rubber band wherever you are now? Funnily enough, my husband had been looking for some and I could’ve sworn they were just in a drawer in the kitchen, but they weren’t. Turns out that’s because they were in a bag in my office from when we moved that never got sorted through and pout away, like many things in this house.
3. In your area, what’s the name of a local band you like? So there’s my longtime favorites, Punchline, but one I discovered more recently and really like is Young Lungs. Ooh, I’m gonna through in Nevada Color, too, because my brother knows one of the members from high school.
4. How good was your high school band? Better than the football team, that’s for sure.
5. Of bands whose names are listed like Joan Jett and the Blackhearts or Neil Young and Crazy Horse, who’s got the best name? I’m a big fan of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, as well as Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra.

From Friday 5.