50WordWednesdays

Being with neighbors	Seeing some houses	Being off the roads
The 4 houses hosting this year’s event — with an hour at each house and a theme of “Pours to Passports” — will feature a cocktail and a snack from their respective countries: Italy, France, Ireland, & Mexico. In addition to “Mexican Mixers,” we’ll have a midnight champagne toast at the last stop.	I’ve lived in this neighborhood for 10 years now, and I’ve never been in 3 of the 4 houses hosting this year. I’m looking forward to checking them out, which is a great aspect of this party, along with meeting several new neighbors that’ve moved in since last year’s party.	Beyond the neighborhood community being shared, which is no small thing in itself, another great thing about this kind of party — walking around the neighborhood — is keeping all of us off the roads. And bonus for Bob and me, the final stop is at the house of our next-door neighbor!

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Had some controversy	Didn’t mention Christmas	Didn’t age well
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus was first recorded by 13-year-old Jimmy Boyd in 1952. Although an instant hit, it originally caused controversy for implying infidelity. The song was swiftly condemned by the Catholic Church, according to some disputed accounts. It was definitely banned by some radio and TV stations.	There are a few songs that weren’t written as Christmas songs, and in fact don’t even mention Christmas. They include Jingle Bells, which was originally written for Thanksgiving and originally titled “One Horse Open Sleigh.” Other examples include Winter Wonderland and Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!	The #MeToo movement rendered Baby It’s Cold Outside coercive and suggestive of date rape, and It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas has “gendered toys” with its dolls for girls and pistols for boys. There’s a handy cheat sheet to decide if a toy is for girls or boys.

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Doing research	No expectations	Permission to fail
Start collecting information: What are some beginner-friendly projects you could start with? What materials will you need? How much will they cost? Perhaps look online at tutorials and message boards, or maybe go into stores that sell the supplies and ask someone more knowledgeable for advice on how to proceed.	Chances are you won’t be an expert the first time you try your new hobby. You won’t be the best at it, but you won’t be the worst. Allow yourself room to grow, and when you finally reach the goal you have in mind, you’ll feel a sense of accomplishment.	Give yourself permission to fail and to take breaks. Becoming frustrated with learning something new is part of the process, so it’s okay to take a step back and take a breather. It’s a chance to remind yourself why you chose this project and what joy it brings to you.

Source: Perkins, N. (2021, May 15). Having a hobby is good for you. Here’s how to find one. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2021/05/15/996193143/a-knitter-a-rock-climber-and-a-mixologist-teach-us-how-to-find-a-hobby

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The checklist manifesto	The slow media manifesto	The feminist manifesto
The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right is the name of a book by Atul Gawande, an American surgeon, writer, professor, and public health researcher. I read recently. The author presents 8 lessons about the unexpected, extraordinary efficacy of using checklists for simple, complicated, and complex processes and procedures.	The Slow Media Manifesto was mentioned in my recent reading of Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport. The authors of the original 2010 “Slow Media Manifesto” are German creators Benedikt Köhler, Sabria David, and Jörg Blumtritt, who developed it as a response to fast digital consumption, advocating for mindful, meaningful media.	The Feminist Manifesto, written in 1914 by Mina Loy is a call to action for women to critique the 20th century feminist movement, while designing an agenda to secure women’s identity within the changing spheres of society by casting out traditional roles and demolishing the distinction between the two sexes.

Sources:

• Rossingol, N. (2022, August 17). The Checklist Manifesto Summary: 8 Lessons by Atul Gawande. Runn. https://www.runn.io/blog/the-checklist-manifesto-summary
• Rauch, J. (n.d.). Slow media resources. Slow Media. Retrieved December 7, 2025, from https://slow-media.org/resources#:~:text=The%20Slow%20Media%20Manifesto%20was%20written%20by,Communication%E2%80%9D%20by%20John%20Freeman%2C%20Wall%20Street%20Journal
• Wikipedia contributors. (2025, May 23). Feminist manifesto. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminist_Manifesto

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WCPE radio	Internet radio	Amazon Music Unlimited
WCPE, theclassicalstation.org, is one of my sources for free music. The station is operated locally (near Raleigh), but has a global audience through streaming. The most common times I listen are when writing or editing and for 40 minutes, 3 times a week, while doing my stretching and strengthening routine.	InternetRadio is my most-used source of free music. It’s an aggregator of 8,500 free streaming radio stations organized by popular genres, and I mostly listen to Venice Classic Radio Italia in the classical genre, particularly when I’m writing or editing, and to the SF70s station in the 70s genre otherwise.	We are in the midst of a trial Amazon Music Unlimited subscription, for which there is a reminder on our calendar to cancel when the trial ends on January 7, 2026. It’s not a bad service, but there’s so much free music available on the internet, why pay for it?

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Tardiness	Carelessness	Injudiciousness
How a service provider can be behind schedule on their first appointment. It has happened more than once, more than thrice even. I take the first appointment of the day and get there 15 minutes early. I don’t get called in until 15 or 20 minutes after my appointment time.	Why traffic barricades blocking a lane are left up even when no roadwork is going on. You’ve seen the signs: “Lane closed ahead. Merge left.” I can almost understand when it’s overnight, but way more often than they should be, they’re left up all weekend with no work going on.	Why some drivers at red traffic lights stop back 4 or 5 feet from the intersection. Often it’s enough room for another car to be in front of them. I always wonder if they’ve been hit from behind in the past and were bumped into the middle of the intersection.

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Connections puzzle	Bob’s movie	John’s book
My husband and I are both big fans of coincidences and of words. So, imagine our delight when the word “séance” appeared three times in one day. On Wednesday, 10/29/25, the purple category for the NYT’s Connection puzzle was “Words starting with the ‘say’ sound”: SACRUM, SEITAN, SEYCHELLES, and SÉANCE.	On that same day, my husband Bob — who is an avid movie watcher and who rates and writes a 10-word summary and a 6-word review for each — was watching Count Yorga, Vampire, and his summary of the 1970 movie was: “Friends learn handsome séance medium is vampire; vampire shenanigans ensue.”	On that same day, I was reading my 99th book of 2025, The Lost Husband, in which one of the characters fancies herself as having the ability to speak with the dead and offers to do a séance with another character whose husband had died a couple of years previously.

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Birthday	Diwali	Halloween
Our neighbor’s child, Mary Winston, went from zero to one in 365 days, and they gathered friends and relatives in their backyard one afternoon to celebrate the milestone. It was fun watching the guest of honor’s face as she tasted the cake made with edible starchy tuberous roots — a.k.a. yams.	We attended the Diwali — Hindu festival of lights — celebration, hosted by our neighbors Sarah, Sameer, and Krishna. It was indeed a festive event, complete with great Indian food — appetizers, entrees, vegetables, naan, and desserts; a bartender tending an open bar; a DJ; fireworks; and lots of nice people to meet.	Our friends Dana, Finley, and their daughter Amelia had their 17th annual zombie party. We “zombified” some costumes we had from a nautical-themed party on a recent cruise we went on, by adding on face paint. The “grease-based” make-up we wore finally responded to some mineral oil to remove it.

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Jury duty	Colonoscopies	Delaying RMDs
It varies by state, but in North Carolina individuals who are 72 years of age or older, can request to be excused from jury duty. They don’t take you off “the list,” or anything, so you can still be summoned. However, you can be excused simply for being “of age.”	It’s not a strict rule, but for average-risk individuals, most guidelines suggest that regular colon cancer screening can stop around age 75; for those from 76-85, the decision is made on a case-by-case basis. The benefits of screening generally decrease and the risks of the procedure increase for older adults.	Required minimum distributions (RMDs) from retirement accounts, like IRAs, are mandatory annual withdrawals that must be taken once you reach age 73. The amount of the distribution is calculated based on your account balance and your life expectancy, and failure to take the full distribution can result in a penalty.

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Nurse	Teacher	Physician
I’m not saying this just because my husband was a critical-care nurse for 35 years. He spent a good portion of that career in the Medical ICU, working nights and weekends. His stories opened my eyes to the kind of care given in the MICU and the sometimes-challenging family dealings.	I’m not just saying this because my sister was a teacher. She was a great, compassionate, and beloved one, with multiple nominations for Teacher of the Year. After leaving the classroom to obtain her EdD, she rose to the position of Assistant Dean, Undergraduate Affairs and Educator Preparation at ECU.	Both my PCP (Amy Hird, PA-C) and my back surgeon (Dr. Conor Regan), are the kind of doctor I respect the most. That is, they both are incredibly knowledgeable in their respective areas of medicine, while also being exceptionally personable. In my experience it’s been rare to find that combination.

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Clothes	Binoculars	Swimsuits
We each had only a carry-on suitcase for 3 days in NYC, followed by a 7-day cruise. I wore all but one dress shirt, didn’t wear 5 of the 7 t-shirts, wore only one of 2 pairs of long pants, and only one of 2 pairs of flip-flops I brought.	I have some mini-binoculars that have, arguably, gone on more trips without being used than anything else I own. I don’t even like them — the hinge is hard to adjust and they’re hard to focus. I might just get a wild hair and not bring them on our next trip.	Can you believe I was on a cruise ship with 2 free-fall drop slides, 2 whip-twister slides, a main pool, an adults-only pool, and no fewer than 5 hot tubs, and I didn’t wear either of the 2 swim suits I brought? And no, I didn’t do any skinny dipping.

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Mail	Plants	Lock
About a week before we go, we submit a hold mail request to start on the day we leave and start back the day before we return. My husband takes care of this item for us. Too bad there’s not a way to indicate, “Just throw away the junk mail.”	We have 2 plants in our house, and the day we leave for vacation, my husband moves them to our kitchen sink that he’s put a small amount of water in that they can drink from when they get thirsty. Truth be told, we wouldn’t be devastated if they died.	We have a sliding glass door off our primary bedroom that leads to our porch. In addition to engaging the lock on it, we lay a stick in the track for extra security. There’s actually a product for this, called a “charley bar,” but we just use a free stick.

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Sanitize areas	Pass muster	Meet cabin steward
It’s clean, but a little extra precaution never hurt anyone. Focus on the high-traffic areas of your room, such as the doorknob, deadbolt, TV remote, light switches, bathroom faucets, thermostat, safe keypad, etc. If you want to go the extra mile, rewash the bar glasses if your cabin has them.	The muster drill is an embarkation day requirement. Traditionally, this has meant identifying your assembly station and heading out there when the drill commences. For an e-muster, you will be required to watch the safety video in your cabin, and then make your way to the muster station in person.	Take this opportunity to tell them your preferences. We always ask them to empty our minibar to use as a fridge, tell them we need 3 pillows each, and let them know how we like our bed made up, which experience tells us is easiest to do with this picture.

Source: Oliver, J. (Ed.). (2024, September 27). 10 things to do as soon as you get to your cruise cabin. CruiseCritic. Retrieved September 22, 2025, from https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles/10-things-to-do-as-soon-as-you-get-to-your-cruise-cabin

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Writing	Reading	Tracking
Stephen King says, “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.” I’ve written something every day for the last 21 years, 8 months, and 2 days. It’s definitely a habit, and it definitely brings me joy.	I’m on track to read over 100 books this year, which include books that our Mostly Social Book Club reads. The totals for the 3 previous years are: 102, 50, and 70, respectively. My joyful reading habit includes writing up 10-word summaries and 6-word reviews for each book I read.	“My quantified self”: I track a lot of things in my life — so much so that I have a web page listing a great deal of them. I confess to being a spreadsheet whore, and more than once I have had to talk myself out of starting a new one.

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Organ donation	Cremation wishes	Bus pass
In North Carolina, like many states, our driver’s licenses have an organ donor field, which is designated by a little red heart if you are one. Its presence means you are registered as an organ, eye, and tissue donor and signifies your legal consent for organ donation upon your death.	I have a Cremation Society of the Carolinas card with 3 steps to take if you find me on the side of the road (or dead anywhere else). It’s a pre-paid plan I’ve had for 20+ years and it includes repatriation of remains in case I die on foreign soil.	I’m an occasional user of the City of Raleigh’s city bus transit system, which is called GoRaleigh. Youth ages 12 and under, and senior citizens 65 and older, can ride the buses free. To that end, both my husband and I have applied for, and received, our Senior ID cards.

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My physicality	My health	My career
I’m an ideal 5’10” tall and weigh 153 pounds giving me a BMI that doesn’t stand for bloated, miserable, and indulgent. I have a magic metabolism precluding me from any need to work out. And I can buy clothes off the rack or on the internet without trying them on.	Without high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or acid reflux, I’m using my pill box to store my sunflower seeds to snack on while out and about. Without arthritis in two of my fingers I can make a victory or peace sign faster than a knife fight in a phone booth.	I’m comfortably retired after a 25-year career as a chorus dancer on Broadway in shows including A Chorus Line, Chicago, 42nd Street, West Side Story, Oklahoma, Cabaret, Grease, In the Heights, and the best. gig. ever. of dancing in the men’s locker room in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.

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Sailaway	Nautical	Pride
For the ship’s sailaway party when we cruise as part of BearCruise, we’re encouraged to wear a hat or a t-shirt (or both!) with a bear on it to help each other identify members of our group of about 100. This Norwegian Getaway ship has a guest capacity of 3,902.	BearCruises usually have 1 or 2 parties while sailing. Here’s the first one: “Hey, sailor! Come dressed as a sailor of any kind… captain, pirate, Gilligan’s Island castaway, swabbie, Crackerjack, Captain Crunch… you get the idea.” Bob and I went all out and bought $8 sailor hats for the occasion.	The second party’s theme is Pride Colors: “Come dressed in your best pride outfit or dress monochromatic in one of the colors from the pride flag.” We plan to wear our “Guncles” t-shirts that our niece, Mary Lou, bought us when she spent a few days with us in May.

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Home	Côte d’Azur	Gym
My then-wife and I had a cleaning service, and after one cleaning, I went to change into the only pair of jeans that fit me at the time, and they were nowhere to be found. Why those women wanted men’s jeans is beyond me. They took some other stuff, too.	I was walking on the French Riviera, there on a 6-week IBM business trip, and had been warned about the pickpocketing Romani (then-called “gypsy”) kids. But like with most people, there’s such turmoil when it’s actually happening that by the time you realize it’s happening to you, it’s too late.	I got fraud-related text messages from 2 of my credit card accounts, both about charges at Lululemon and the Apple Store. Looking in my wallet, both those cards were gone, along with my credit union debit card, which was charged moments later for similar purchases at the same two stores.

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Spittle	Coffee	Deodorant
This postcard reminded me of a book I read recently about The Hershey Company, and the “ladies on the line” who made Hershey’s kisses. Rewarded for speed, and because those little “plumes” in the kisses sometimes blew away, some women used to spit on them to keep them in place.	This postcard reminded me of the reason I drink my coffee black, and it’s not because I’m trying to be some kind of badass. I started drinking coffee in college, and since I was acquiring the taste anyway, I wanted to learn to like the least caloric version of it.	This postcard reminded me of another set of 50-word stories I wrote about “things I think are irrational but that I do anyway,” which included nutritionally rating garbage disposal contents, my reaction to stand-up comedians’ failed jokes, and thinking that exercising is the absolute best use of a rainy day.

Source: PostSecret. (n.d.). PostSecret. https://postsecret.com/ [Postcards change every Sunday.]

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Mowing	Exterminating	Gutter cleaning
We were mowing our lawn — and by we were, I mean my husband was — and at the same time, the kid across the street from us was mowing his mother’s lawn. And while mowing, Bob noticed 2 other neighbors’ house maintenance goings on that we’re also having done this week.	The same across-the-street neighbor was also having her extermination service this morning, by Economy Exterminators, and our exterminator, BugOut, is coming today as well. Our assigned BugOut exterminator is Josh, who — another coincidence — was the exterminator assigned to the Red Hat building I used to work in before I retired.	Also this morning while mowing, Bob noticed that our neighbor two doors down is having their gutters cleaned, and we’re having ours cleaned on Thursday. The company our neighbor is using is amusingly named Suck My Gutters Clean. Our roof and gutter cleaner is — boring by comparison — Raleigh Gutter Cleaning.

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Editing	Reading	Exercising
I don’t edit as much as I used to before retiring, but whenever I do, I listen to classical music while doing it, because if I listen to music with words, I start singing along, and I lose my place editing. I typically listen to music I own while editing.	I listen to classical music while reading for the same reason I listen to it while editing — to avoid being “lyrically distracted.” For this activity, I typically listen to one of two free classical music providers: Venice Classic Radio Italia internet radio or a classical music playlist on Amazon Music.	Three times a week, I do 40 minutes of core, back, and left-knee stretching and strengthening exercises. For some reason, for this activity, I always listen to WCPE, theclassicalstation.org, a local classical radio station that broadcasts globally, and it is typically when George Leef, whom I love, is the announcer.

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Man	Cop	Paramedics
A white man, presumably experiencing homelessness, was bent over so far on the sidewalk bench between Planet Fitness and Dollar Tree that the top of his head was almost touching the ground. A Styrofoam leftover meal container and Arby’s and McDonald’s bags were littered around him. Someone called the police.	A Black Raleigh police officer arrived and tried to talk with the man, who couldn’t keep his head and torso up long enough to talk to the officer. The cop took notes, and talked into his two-way radio situated between his neck and right shoulder. Shortly thereafter an ambulance arrived.	Two EMTs, one very-young white female and a Hispanic male, emerged from the EMS truck. They wrapped a blanket around the man from the waist down and helped him walk to the vehicle. A few minutes after it left, an older, white woman arrived and spoke briefly with the policeman.

“Paydays”	Library book due	Subscription cancelation
We have 3 “paydays” between the two of us every month. On the 2nd, I collect a chunk of change from a retirement investment. The other 2 are our social security checks, Bob’s on the 2nd Tuesday and mine on the 3rd Wednesday. Not bad for sittin’ around doin’ nothin’.	I calendar the due date of my library books even though, on average, I take about 3½ days to read a book, and the lending period is sometimes 2 weeks and sometimes 3. I can’t remember ever keeping a book until its due date, so calendaring it is really unnecessary.	We are diligent about canceling trial subscriptions and always make a calendar entry to cancel them the day before they end. We’ve never forgotten to cancel one to avoid any charges for a conversion to a paid subscription. This month, on the 26th, our trial subscription to Apple Music ends.

Beef Burger	Flip Flop	Brisket
It is National Beef Burger Day. A beef burger starts with real ground beef on a bun or between two slices of bread. Of course, some of us like ours double stacked, and others prefer them spicy. What’s really important is what is in the middle — that delicious beef burger.	Annually on the Wednesday after Memorial Day, National Flip Flop Day encourages us to wear our favorite flip flops and show them off! The term “flip flop” has applied to flat-soled sandals with straps between the first and second toes and across the top of the foot since the 1960s.	National Brisket Day celebrates one of the 9 prime cuts of beef that come from the breast or lower chest of beef or veal and when prepared correctly, renders both delicious flavor and tenderness. Select a well-marbled cut of meat. The fat will keep the brisket moist and add flavor.

Sources:

• National Beef Burger Day. (n.d.). National Day Calendar. Retrieved May 28, 2025, from https://www.nationaldaycalendar.com/national-day/national-beef-burger-day-may-28
• National Flip Flop Day. (n.d.). National Day Calendar. Retrieved May 28, 2025, from https://www.nationaldaycalendar.com/national-day/national-flip-flop-day-first-wednesday-after-memorial-day
• National Brisket Day. (n.d.). National Day Calendar. Retrieved May 28, 2025, from https://www.nationaldaycalendar.com/national-day/national-brisket-day-may-28

Boxcars	Flatcars	Hoppers
CSX boxcars come in lengths of 50′, 60′, and 86′ and heights labelled “standard,” “hi-roof,” and “auto.” The 50’ standard boxcar fleet can carry from 70-100 tons. They carry a range of products, including rolled paper, pulp, newsprint, metals, building materials, appliances, food products, or any bagged and palletized material.	CSX flatcars provide an open platform that offer flexibility that no other freight car can provide. They come in several lengths and configurations, ranging from general purpose to very specialized designs to move extremely large and heavy shipments — from transformers to tractors. There are “general purpose,” “bulkhead,” and “centerbeam” flatcars.	CSX hopper cars are freight cars designed to transport bulk materials like coal, ore, chemicals, cement, and grain. They have a unique funnel-shaped bottom outlet with doors that can be opened to discharge the cargo, often using gravity or pneumatic pressure. There are 2 main hopper varieties: covered and open-topped.

Sources:

CSX Corporation. (n.d.). CSX Railroad Equipment. CSX. Retrieved May 22, 2025, from https://www.csx.com/index.cfm/customers/resources/equipment/railroad-equipment/

Google Search. (n.d.). seaboard+station+raleigh+train+depot. Retrieved May 22, 2025 from https://www.google.com/search?q=seaboard+station+raleigh+train+depot&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS1013US1013&oq=seaboard+station+raleigh+train+depot&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIHCAEQIRigATIHCAIQIRigATIHCAMQIRigATIHCAQQIRigATIHCAUQIRigAdIBCDg4ODFqMGo3qAIAsAIA

High school graduation	College graduation	Started @ IBM
50 freaking years ago, on May 25th and marching to Pomp and Circumstance, I graduated from Lejeune High School on the Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune. I wouldn’t be attending our 50th reunion in July even if I wasn’t going to be on a riverboat cruising from Budapest to Regensburg.	45 years ago, on May 9th, I received my undergraduate degree from East Carolina University in Mathematics with a Computer Science Option. Computers were so new then, there wasn’t yet a separate Computer Science major. I immediately moved to Raleigh to begin my 42-year career working mostly for technology companies.	I remember it so clearly. That May 19th morning 45 years ago, when I turned off the Research Triangle Park‘s Alexander Boulevard and into the IBM entrance thinking. “I have arrived.” Never in a million years did I think that I’d work for such a prestigious (at the time) company.

Oak Island lunch	Raleigh cookout	Front-porch happy hour
We took Mary Lou on the 2-hour trip from Raleigh to Oak Island to join other NC family members at Shagger Jacks for lunch. Our party of 10 enjoyed some good food, shared lots of family memories, and made a few more. We visited 2 aunts’ houses before heading back.	It was a gathering of Mary Lou’s first cousins, along with John’s sister and brother-in-law at our house for a littlenecks with Portuguese rolls appetizer and grilled chicken thighs for dinner — along with a cheeseball, celery, and carrots, broccoli salad, macaroni salad, chocolate chip walnut cookies and fresh strawberries desserts.	We had a front-porch happy hour with Mary Lou and 11 friends and neighbors, and we cheered on the Pelagic Run Club runners as they ran by our house. Once they’d all passed, we moved to the back deck to continue the conversations, snacking, and drinking until about 8:30 PM.

The three coffins	The inner coffin	The green pope
The traditional, three-nested papal coffins comprise: The inner cypress coffin, symbolizing humility, holds the pope’s body and personal items. The middle coffin, made of lead, preserves the body and secures important documents. And the outer coffin, crafted of elm or oak, ensures durability, symbolizes strength and honors the pope’s dignity.	The inner coffin traditionally includes coins minted during the pope’s reign and a rogito – a history of his key acts – written on parchment paper and placed in a brass or metal tube. Also included: a death certificate and other symbolic items — including his miter, pastoral staff, broken ring, and rosary.	The carbon footprint of the traditional three papal coffins varies depending on the materials and manufacturing processes involved. However, Pope Francis’s choice of a single, zinc-lined wooden coffin significantly reduces the environmental impact compared to the traditional triple-coffined system. The zinc lining replaces the three-coffins’ cypress, lead, and elm protection.

Sources:

1. Kennedy, L. (2925, April 24). Why are popes traditionally buried in three coffins? HISTORY.
2. Miller, S., Hjelmgaard, K., & Santucci, J. (2025, April 26). Pope Francis’ final farewell: A huge funeral, a humble burial. Live updates. USA TODAY.

 

It’s complicated	Paper	E-book
Whether it’s better to read books in print or on a device is complicated, because of the complex interplay of the resources involved across the entire lifecycle of a published work: how books and devices are made and shipped, what energy they use to run, if they can be recycled.	Traditional print publishing comes with a high carbon footprint. It’s the world’s third-largest industrial greenhouse gas emitter, and 32 million trees are felled each year in the U.S. to make paper for books. Then there’s the printing and shipping — to say nothing of the many unsold books that are destroyed.	Digital reading seemingly has a considerable eco-advantage over print by saving trees, pulping and shipping. Moreover, companies that make e-readers such as Amazon, which sells the market-leading Kindle e-reader, offer recycling programs for old devices, helping save an estimated 2.3 million metric tons of carbon emissions over a 2-year period.

Source: Veltman, C. (2024, May 25). What’s better for the climate: A paper book, or an e-reader? NPR. https://www.npr.org/2024/05/25/1252930557/book-e-reader-kindle-climate

 

Fireplaces	Convertibles	Wind chimes
The theory: It’ll be so lovely sitting around it, with the flickering flames and the crackling sound — so romantic and relaxing. The reality: Somebody’s ass will be getting up every 30 or so minutes to stoke that fucker, or it’ll die out or worse yet, start smoking up the house.	The theory: With the sun on our skin and the breeze on our faces, we’ll be one with nature. People will notice and envy us — like we’re rockstars. The reality: I can’t hear you and this damn wind is messing up my hair even with the extra-hold gel in it.	The theory: The soothing sounds will bring us a sense of calm and peace, and they might bring some good luck and ward off negative energy. The reality: That damn thing is keeping me awake at night, and today we got a complaint from the neighbors that it’s annoying AF.

Open on the sabbath? I went to my library on Sunday to return 2 books in the outside book-return receptacles and was shocked to learn it was open on Sundays! I knew that branch was open on Saturdays, but I had no idea it was open on Sundays, too. Sometimes, it’s the little things.
What’s in a name? Having had 2 beloved cocker spaniels, they have a special place in my heart. From a distance, I saw a store sign that said, “Village Spanials,” and missing the misspelling, I thought, “What??? There’s an oddly specific pet store here now?” Closer, it turned out to be “Village Spa Nails.”
Who knew from a wine bar? The restaurant that last July opened in the former location of Cafe Carolina, billed as a “wine bar,” has never caught my attention since I don’t drink wine. But today, the name Postino, certainly did grab my attention, since we recently ate at one in Scottsdale, Arizona and loved it.

Gay trash	Asian literature	African American picture book
Notes of Unspoken Words is a gay romance novel. The description of it had 2 acronyms in it that I had to look up — MMM and HEA. This is only the 2nd gay romance novel I’ve ever read — the other one being of the oddly specific genre gay Amish romance.	Greek Lessons is classified as Asian literature about a student who has lost her voice connecting with a teacher who is losing his sight. The book won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature, and it was named Best Book of 2023 by both Time magazine and The New Yorker magazine.	Dream a Dress, Dream a Poem: Dressmaker and Poet, Myra Viola Wilds is a beautifully illustrated picture book about the titular African American poet. After losing her eyesight due to overwork as a dressmaker — who made gorgeous hand-stitched gowns — she hand-wrote the culturally important poetry collection, Thoughts of Idle Hours.

2015	2020	2025
The theme of the event was “Eat Local Chili,” Bob named his entry, “Bob’s Beanless Batch,” and he won 3rd place vegetarian even though there was turkey in it — oops! (A judging snafu.) I don’t like beans, so he made the bold choice to make and enter one without them.	The theme was “Passport to Chili,” Bob named his entry, “PORCH-uguese Chili,” and he won 3rd place in the meat category. The name of his chili was inspired by the fact that the entries in crockpots are placed on tables on the Watkins’ wraparound porch, and me being half Portuguese.	The theme was “Dune: The Spice Must Flow,” Bob named his entry, “Howya Dune?” and he won 3rd place in the meat category. The name was inspired by the fact that Bob is Irish, “Howya” is how the Irish say, “How are you?” and “Dune” is intimating the word “doing?”

See short blog entry about this year’s win, which includes Bob’s medals and a haiku he wrote about winning.

What do I not need?	What is not wrong?	What do I not understand?
Here are the top-4 things I do not need, with the one I do not need the most first. 1) To ever relocate — love our house. 2) A retirement job — not bored, don’t need extra cash. 3) Another food to like — like plenty. 4) More age-related aches and pains — sucks.	Things in my life that are not wrong include: 1) My choice of a mate. 2) The relief from back pain I’ve enjoyed for a year-and-a-half. 3) The number of friends I have. 4) The result of “planning for retirement.” 5) The number of vacations I take in a year.	There are so many things: 1) Why men discard chewing gum in urinals. 2) What the draw is of violence and chase scenes in movies. 3) Our U.S. tax code. 4) How the proof for “1+1=2” can be 300 pages long.2 5) How a stationary car’s wheels can still turn.

Sources:

• ¹Mason, S. (2023, May 18). 15 questions to ponder. University of Arkansas. Retrieved March 4, 2025, from https://walton.uark.edu/insights/posts/15-questions-to-ponder.php
• ²Frater, J., & Frater, J. (2024, July 1). 10 simple things that are deceptively complex. Listverse. https://listverse.com/2014/05/14/10-simple-things-that-are-deceptively-complex/

We have these 3 movie posters hanging in our dining room, with a meal-times theme to them.

Breakfast at Tiffany’s	Naked Lunch	Dinner at Eight
This 1961 movie’s claim to fame is Mickey Rooney’s beyond-cringeworthy portrayal of “Mr. Yunioshi,” which catapults it to the top of “movies that didn’t age well” lists. I read the book, by Truman Capote, and I was stunned that they could make a 2-hour movie out of a 179-page book.	I refer to this 1981 movie as “the weirdest f*cking movie I’ve ever seen.” William S. Borroughs, who wrote the book it’s based on, said people’s opinion about the book included: “Disgusting!” “Pornographic, un-American trash!” “Unpublishable!” He adds: “So Hollywood, in all its wisdom, made it into a movie.”	This classic 1933 movie had a tagline that stated: “MORE STARS THAN HAVE EVER BEEN IN ANY PICTURE BEFORE. The biggest film sensation in 10 years!” The trailer describes a gentleman “who has outlived everything but his vanity,” and a lady “who would sacrifice everything to give a society dinner.”

Sources:

• Naked Lunch (1991) Drama, mystery. (1992, April 24). IMDb. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102511/
• Dinner at Eight (1933) Drama. (1934, January 12). IMDb. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0023948/

St. Lidwina	Wilgefortis (a quasi saint)	St. Isadore
The patron saint of chronic illnesses and ice-skaters. Ice skating at 15, she broke a rib and sustained a head injury leading to the progressive paralysis of her entire body, and putting her into a deep depression. After a life-long battle with illness, she died at the age of 53.	The patron saint of facial hair and gender-fluid people. She grew a beard to make herself repulsive to a king she was being forced to marry — and took a vow of virginity. Enraged, her father crucified her. She’s considered a “folk saint,” especially by women seeking to escape abusive husbands.	The patron saint of students, computer users, computer technicians, programmers, and the Internet. Isadore’s knowledge of encyclopedias morphed into the internet, seen as the modern encyclopedia of universal knowledge. I can only imagine the conflicting emotions of becoming a saint only to be assigned to the I.T. helpdesk for eternity.

Source: Engelbrecht, M. (2024, August 7). Catholicism: The 10 most Unusual Patron Saints. The•Collector. https://www.thecollector.com/unusual-patron-saints/

Flotsam	Jetsam	Lagan & derelict
Flotsam describes debris that floats on the water that often comes from a shipwreck or accident. It may be claimed only by its original owner. A finder may hold it for salvage. If the owner does not claim the goods within a reasonable time, they then belong to the finder.	Jetsam describes debris that was deliberately thrown overboard by a crew in distress, most often to lighten a vessel’s load. Jetsam may be claimed as the property of whomever discovers it. If the jetsam is valuable, the discoverer may collect the proceeds received through the sale of the salvaged objects.	Cargo left behind intentionally — usually with a buoy attached — to be recovered at a later point is called “lagan,” while anything that sinks to the bottom of the ocean without any plans for recovery is described as “derelict.” These categories, along with flotsam and jetsam, are covered by maritime law.

Sources:
What are flotsam and jetsam?
What’s the Difference Between Flotsam and Jetsam?

Before	During	After
I had very-visible metal braces in 1986 when I was 29 years old. 35 years later, on September 30, 2021, I got new-fangled, Invisalign® braces to re-straighten my teeth. Recommended by a friend, I got them at Zaytoun Orthodontics, and the estimated time to complete my treatment was 6 months.	Being the overachiever that I am, I finished in 4 months. I swear that the biggest contributor to that was using bite sticks many times a day (instead of just the recommended 3 times), because it was a satisfying substitute for biting my fingernails, which I could no longer do.	I got retainers on February 3, 2022, which I’ve now been wearing for 3 years. I’ve only forgotten to wear them 3 nights (unsurprisingly, each after a night of drinking) over those 3 years, and I’ve never once done the proverbial accidentally tossing of them into a McDonald’s trash can.

Backup	Download	Love
Backing up your phone is a Covey “Quadrant 2” activity, which means it’s important but not urgent. Other Q2 activities include relationship building and finding new opportunities. Knowing I’d forget otherwise, I have an entry in my iPhone Reminder app for the first of each month: “Back up our phones.”	I like to have a personal copy of our bank and investment account statements in case we lose access to the online ones for some reason—like changing banks or investment firms or when some statements “roll off” sites after 7 years. Our beginning-of-the-month reminder says: “Download monthly financial statements.”	Back to that Quadrant 2 “relationship building” item. Like many couples, in the beginning, we “celebrated” our wedding anniversary monthly. But unlike a lot of couples, after 9 years, we still do. (This month was 110 months.) My phone reminder, set for each month on the 28th, simply says: “Anniversary.”

© 2025, John Martin, JM50WordStories. All rights reserved.

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Nominative mis-assignation	You, too!	Suspect redirect
In a previous house, I had an exterminator who was somewhat socially awkward. The first time he came to service my place, he greeted me at the door by calling me Mr. Halliwell. I said, “It’s Martin.” He said, “I’m so sorry. Sometimes I call the customer their street name.”	Approaching my gym entrance, I start thinking: After scanning your membership badge, the check-in person is going to say, “Enjoy your workout.” Don’t respond, “You, too.” Similarly a friend shared that he has a tendency to say, “You, too!” when the DoorDash deliverer hands him his food and says, “Enjoy!”	This always tickles me when it happens. I’ll ask a gay friend, “How do you know Dave?” for example. And they’ll answer, “Oh, I’ve known Dave for 15 years!” [Full stop.] Okay. Doesn’t answer the question. Often, that’s turned out to mean that they met hooking up for casual sex.

© 2025, John Martin, JM50WordStories. All rights reserved.

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Tomato knife	Wooden spoon	Slicing knife
I’ll give this oddly specific kitchen utensil its due as the perfect knife when cutting its eponymous fruit — well, according to Britannica, it’s botanically a fruit, but nutritionally a vegetable. Bob loves it and uses it to cut other things, too. I, being a purist, use it only for tomatoes.	Rarely do I reach for a wooden spoon when I’m cooking. Bob, however, uses one more often than not — for something — while he’s cooking. I’m cognizant of this, because whenever I dry dishes, there’s almost always one in the lot, to which I invariably utter, “He loves a wooden spoon.”	Bob loves this slicing knife, which is one of the last of our knives I’d choose when I need one. He has “history” with it, having acquired it in an auction — at the historic Heck-Andrews house on Blount Street in Raleigh — amidst a box he bought simply labeled “kitchen stuff.”

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Power strip	Pillow	Prunes
Family bedroom cabins have only one power outlet. If you’re like most people who travel with multiple gadgets that need charging, you’re gonna need a power strip. If Bob and I were traveling, we’d need outlets to charge 2 phones, a laptop, a Kindle, and a blow dryer. Don’t judge.	“The Amtrak pillows are not the best. It’s totally worth the investment and effort to haul your own around.” Bob and I each use 3 pillows when sleeping — 1 for our head, 1 between our knees, and 1 to hug. The Amtrak-provided one would probably suffice for knees or hugging.	“The Amtrak food is kind of lacking in, what’s the word, fiber.” After commenting on how disgusting they look, Jeb tries a bite of one and immediately asides, “I gotta go to the bathroom.” Bob likes prunes, but I don’t. I’d take nuts or apples and hope for the best.

© 2025, John Martin, JM50WordStories. All rights reserved.

Sources:
•  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYiMihP0OHU&t=756s

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Bottle-weary	Crapulence	Overserved
The urban dictionary defines bottle-weary as “feeling hungover AF.” Presumably, the popularity of this euphemism stems from Colin’s use of it in season 3 of Bridgerton. In episode 4, the “Old Friends” episode, he says, “My head is bottle-weary. Forgive me for lashing out.” I might like this one best.	One of 10 “top-shelf drinking words,” according to a Merriam-Webster – Wordplay – Obscure & Fun article, it ranks along with: drinky, upsy freeze, drunkery, hair of the dog (that bit you), jimjams (a.k.a. “The DTs, or delirium tremens), three sheets to the wind, high jinks (also written as “hijinks”), and barleyhood.	This euphemism can be nicely incorporated into a sentence that uses the passive voice, a grammatical construct in English that conveniently obscures blame: “I was overserved last night.” No one has to know who was performing the action of serving, that you were actually a sot at your own hand.

© 2025, John Martin, JM50WordStories. All rights reserved.

Sources:
•  https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/even-more-drinking-words

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