Sunday Post #amwriting #amjoy

 The Sunday Post is a blog news meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on your blog for the week ahead. Join in weekly, bi-weekly or for a monthly wrap up. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme

           LOOKING FORWARD TO april

Happy April.  This week I'm sharing a few more ride-share stories:

Dance

I picked up someone who was going to the Wilkins Auditorium for a dance competition in St Paul, MN.

“Oh, you must be so excited!” I exclaimed.

“Yes, this is the second time we’ve came to Minnesota for a dance competition,” said the mother.

(I picked them up at DoubleTree in Saint Paul)

“Dance will change your life,” I said to the young passenger who was riding with her mother, continuing with “ I used to be on the dance team in high school and I thought about going on TikTok and creating dance videos but you have to be very precise and it takes a lot of time and energy.”

Continuing with:

“But I know a dancer by the name of Matt Steffanina who wasin “Amazing race:” A reality show, a competition, and he creates videos on TikTok and has gone viral.”

“I might go viral if I did Tik Tok dance videos because of my short stature,” I said.

****

By chance, my next ride-share passenger would also relate to this idea of energetic things we do as youth because he played for his high school basketball team: Saint Brenner’s in St. Paul, and we talked about how his best game was coincidentally the game that he ended up losing.

“ we left everything we had on the court that day,” he said enthusiastically.

“I was also in a lot of bands in high school, “ he said (but I thought he said “I do a lot of dance,”fortunately he cleared that up for me)

“And even now I’ll do an open mic night and play music and do improv or poetry

“Oh good, so that means you’ll still get to practice your music,” I said.

“Oh, I’ll always play music!😀🤔” he said enthusiastically.

“By the way, don’t pick up any clients from over here at night time”, he added ( we were on summit avenue)exiting the 🚘 car.

Modesto

While driving for ride-share, I picked up these two women who were telling me about where there from: Modesto California, and how it’s like a hot dusty desert and they call it mo-dusty, and how George Lucas was from there hence the Star Wars setting.

And one of the women started talking about the idea behind Gattaca and how she got on the Gattaca train years ago before the pandemic. For those who don’t know Gattaca is a Netflix show and this is the premise:

Gattaca-a future where status is determined by genetics, a genetically flawed man conspires to game the system in order to achieve his lifelong dream.

“The powers at be want a perfect race. I believe people should have flaws,” my rideshare client said.

“Me too,” I advocate for the disabled community.

Readers please comment below

ON THE BLOG

Reading

I loved "Sadie on a Plate" by Amanda Elliot. This was my second week working through this one and I loved the reality show aspects and the food of course.

Synopsis: A chef’s journey to success leads to discovering the perfect recipe for love in this delicious romantic comedy. Sadie is a rising star in the trendy Seattle restaurant scene. Her dream is to create unique, modern, and mouthwatering takes on traditional Jewish recipes

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The Sunday Post is a blog news meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on your blog for the week ahead. Join in weekly, bi-weekly or for a monthly wrap up. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme

           LOOKING FORWARD TO may

This week has been pretty eventful.  I've done quite a few improv sessions on ZOOM. And I took my car to the shop thinking there was something wrong with the brakes and after two hours of sitting in the shop with a rambunctious five year old, I learned there was nothing to be fixed on my Toyota Camry.  I also started planning a few more theater events and hope to ease my way into the scene more as some personal struggles have finally lifted.

Oh, I also went to the dentist. These days, the only way I can be seen by my dentist is if I tell receptionists I have a cavity. Which may be a nice trick for those of you who have had trouble being seen by a dentist.

 More fun ride-share stories below

Driving rideshare one day, I picked up a woman who used to be an RN at an oncology clinic. She told me how she met her husband who is a fireman who worked three jobs. They met while speed dating and she explained how he is a wonderful man a lot nicer than her first husband who was a plastic surgeon.She said he stood by her side when she had surgery on her back a few years ago. Her husband waited hand and foot on her 24 hours a day until they got a nurse to come into their home

She had injured her back while hiking..She had gone to Belize on vacation an and they had been hiking for 12 hours a day . She said this next bit discreetly “I have been pooping in my pants and I didn’t realize it at the time but it was my nerves that were interfering with my digestion system.”

By the third day she was in her hotel room screaming in pain so she went back to America to get surgery. And then found herself at work a few weeks later with pain again.She had asked her doctor to approve her to go back to work but her doctor told her that if she continued working as a nurse she will need to have neck surgery so she decided to stay home after her five week hiatus was over.

She said she had begin to lose herself without her job as a nurse. She had never been a mother and she couldn’t feel her purpose. She realized that all of her purpose was wrapped up in her work and it took a long time for her to realize that she could always practice medicine by serving her friends and family. And she is beginning to do consciousness work continuously .

“It’s a lifelong journey” she said.

Readers please comment below

ON THE BLOG

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LOOKING FORWARD TO MARCH

Happy St. Paddy's day everyone! 

This week I've been watching the show about nothing: "Seinfeld" when I came across the episode where Elaine dates the close talker, Judge Reinhold, I thought I'd include the giphy of Reinhold (above).  

I also thought I'd share some more fun ride-share stories I've heard.

Ten Thousand Villages in a cold remote city

Ten thousand villages is a store in St Paul that sells hand crafts made in Third World countries. The business calculates a decent wage for people in foreign in countries and then the employees make the goods and send them to America.

“ we’ve been working with multi-generational families so we know how the businesses are running in other countries and it’s great to see each family growing up and going to school and so forth” said an employee.

This was a huge contrast from another conversation that I had with someone who had connections to families overseas. The client had this to say about their sister:

“We can’t send my money for my sister to school in El Salvador because the gangsters would think that she is rich and will try to rob her so she just goes to high school for now.”

That's my week. Tell me about yours in the comments below.

ON THE BLOG

Reading 

I picked this one up.  I think I saw it as a popular read somewhere and I love NY settings. Initially, I loved the plot that has to do with a woman getting her skirt caught in the subway and a guy helping her out and the two landing on public tv. But then there were so many side plots happening in the book and I couldn't focus on the relationship between the characters.

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LOOKING FORWARD TO March

I thought I'd share some more fun ride-share stories I've heard.

Forty states in a year

I been to forty states in a year.

I picked up a guy who had been to forty states last year.

“Oh, are you a pilot? I asked.

“No,” he said chuckling.

“Which one was your favorite?

“Idaho. I enjoyed the parks there.”

We drove past some cars that had been hijacked and left on the side of the road.

“People have been having their little hay days with cars in Minneapolis,” he said.

Funniest 😆 🤩 game ever

I talked with my friend Erica again .I call my ride-share clients “friends” after I pick them up several times.

“Have you had a conversation with your brother since the last time I saw you?”I asked Erica.

(Erica and I have had several conversations about her military brother who is according to her quite eccentric and rude)

“No I haven’t spoken to him , thank god,” she said in a chiding-fashion.

(An idea about traveling flashed through my mind since I’ve had several days off my full-time job)

and I asked her if she had ever traveled internationally.

“ yes I’ve been to London and Spain,” she said.

“did you ever travel outside of London?” I asked.

“ yes I’ve been to the city of 🛁 Bath”

“wow, me too!” I said.

“Yes , when I was there we went to the bar and we played the penis game.”

Erica didn’t describe the game but she said:

“by the end of the night everyone was shouting penis penis! And my friend was like ‘Oh, ‘I’m so glad I brought you to London.”

She continued by saying, “And when I was in London someone on the train 🚂 once said “ get your foot 🦶 off me, you fucking cunt! And I was happy 🧐 thinking how this happened in London.”

(while I’m sitting thinking 🤔 how I should tell Erica how polite the Londoners are)

And so I just go with the flow and say:

“Someone offered me a raincoat while I was in London.”

“Oh yeah, londoners are so polite,” she said,

“ when we were leaving the bar, I was pretty drunk and pleaded with an officer saying ‘oh please help me !and the officer gave my friend and I a ride to the train station.”

I told her about a time I felt especially flirtatious in London I was at the mall and there was two mall cops (and I always tell people this story )but I asked them a to take the picture of us and they were like:

‘who do you want to take the picture? and who do you want to be in it ?and I was like I want YOU to be in it (pointing to the handsome British chap) and you can take it” (I said to the redhead that look like Prince 🤴 Harry) ”

(What happens in London stays in London seems to be the lesson in that story)

That's my week. Tell me about yours in the comments below.

ON THE BLOG

The Perfect Escape follows the story of Nate and Kate (adorable ik), who begin to work at a zombie escape room. I decided to pick this YA contemporary novel up. I don't read that much YA anymore but this is cute.  The main character has Korean Heritage and having been to Korea in the past, I enjoyed some of the tidbits about the country.

The stage is set for the play of a lifetime: but it's the romantic drama backstage that has everyone applauding.Paul and Cath are the perfect creative team. He's an up-and-coming theater director and she's his unflappable, rock-steady stage manager.I picked up a few contemporaries that have this theme of acting in them to see if I could relate with all my acting I've been doing. There's a lot of backstage drama between characters in this one.

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LOOKING FORWARD TO FEBRUARY

This week a few of my events got cancelled due to the snow storm.  I had called into work to prepare for the storm the night it was predicted to snow, but snow didn't hit until the following evening (darn) 

It wasn't as bad as I thought, but we did get at least eight inches, and it melted the next day.  This week has been filled with improv and meeting new people online.

A Bridge near the U of M

That's my week. Tell me about yours in the comments below.

ON THE BLOG

Reading:

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The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted  @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things  received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme

LOOKING FORWARD TO FEBRUARY

This week I thought I'd answer more questions about myself.

pic of my son, Zulfi

1. What was the last movie you went to? What did you think? I went to see the latest "Spiderman" and it was pretty great.  I liked the idea behind the different dimensions. 
2. What did you want to be when you were small? I'm still small, lol. No but in all seriousness. I wanted to be spiritual leader or a teacher, which I eventually taught for three years.
3. If you could choose to do anything for a day, what would it be? I would probably go to the Olympics, especially the Winter Olympics. I enjoy watching the figure skating and skiing.
4. What two radio stations do you listen to in the car the most? I listen to KDWB (new pop, hip hop, rock, and some other types) and the classical station.  My car finally has a radio that works after three years so I enjoy it (minus the commercials, self promotions and pledge drives)

   

   Went to Whole Foods grocery for scones and brownies

5. Which would you rather do: wash dishes, mow the lawn, clean the bathroom, or vacuum the house? Wash the dishes.  When I was a kid, I used to imagine I was a character from Miss Piggle Wiggle and I would try to see how well I could do the dishes because Miss Piggle Wiggle taught important lessons on how to trick your mind into doing things you didn't want to. 
6. If you could hire someone to help you, would it be with cleaning, cooking, or yard work? I'd hire Marie Kondo to help me clean and organize my home. I do a bit of hoarding and need some help.

More Pics from my week

One of the many Catholic churches I drove by

That's my week. Tell me about yours in the comments below.

ON THE BLOG

Reading:

I enjoyed this book by Sally Thorne. The main character is building a home and her reinforcements are her brother and best friend.  The main character is not someone you see a lot in chic lit. She's raunchy, funny, bold.  She dresses however she wants and says what she wants. She's not afraid to admit that she's fallen for the occasional drunk.

Sunday Post

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The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted  @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things  received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme

LOOKING FORWARD TO February

Here are some ride share stories that I heard this week while driving for Uber. 

Stealing cars at 16

I picked up a girl while driving for ride share who was on their way to St. Paul community college.

“Are you in post secondary?” I asked.

Mural in Twin Cities

(Assuming that she was taking college courses while in high school)

“ oh what’s that?” She asked.

(Me feeling real old right now)

I explained it to her.

“ they call that Gateway. But yeah… I’m taking courses to cover the classes I missed while in juvie”

“Oh, what we’re you in juvie for?” I asked.

“For stealing 🚘 cars and selling drugs”

(And you’re sitting in the back of my car.)

“How old are you?”

“16. I spent seven months in juvie. The food isn’t good and sometimes they put you amongst people who have committed homocide. Sometimes you’ll be in a room and be forced to stay 🤫 quiet.”

Nuns with Alzheimers pray

Alzheimer’s clients live at Catherines in St. Paul Minnesota said my a ride share client who told me that she works double shifts during the pandemic.

At Saint Catherine’s university they have a separate nursing award for Alzheimer’s clients.And a lot of the residents are nuns.

“They still pray a lot even though they have Alzheimer’s” said client who is a nursing assistant that works at St Kates.

cast of Fearless 5 (photo courtesy of Fearless Comedy)

Upcoming shows

Fearless Comedy annual New play festival Feb 11,12,18,19,25,26 @Mounds Historical theater

I went to this musical show yesterday. Look forward to posting a review soon.

ON THE BLOG

That's my week. Tell me about yours in the comments below.