Wednesday Hodgepodge: Speeches, Songs and Solving

1. Did you watch The Oscars? How many of the Best Picture nominees have you seen (American Sniper, Birdman, Boyhood, Selma, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game, The Theory of Everything, and Whiplash)?

Er. The Oscars? I don't have cable. Or Netflix. We catch a few shows on Hulu, the free version, here and there. I have not seen ANY of those movies. Am I missing out?

Do you think actors should use their acceptance speeches as an opportunity to promote their political and/or social agenda? Does that sort of speech make you more or less inclined to change the channel?

I've seen some acceptance speeches in the past. It's their time to share what they want as there will always be critics and supporters no matter what they say. I can appreciate a great HUMOROUS speech though!

2. Speaking of the movies... are you comfortable going to a movie alone? How about dinner in a restaurant (not fast food, but an actual restaurant)? The second half of this question was posed by Carrie who blogs over at It's Not Easy Being Queen. Thanks Carrie! 

Why not? Enjoying one's own company is a great thing! I'd prefer to bring along someone for company though.

3. What's the last home repair or home improvement project you had to pay someone to complete? In hindsight was this a project you could have done yourself? 

Well, just a couple of weeks ago I was waiting for hot water in the shower and it never came. It turned out that a pipe had frozen and burst in the garage, spraying that hot water all over the place. I shut down our furnace and called the heating oil company. It's one thing to go without hot water, but another to go without heat in February in Maine. It was a quick fix fortunately, but a furnace is a very important component that I don't think I should tinker with.

4. Have you ever had Indian food? Like it or no? If you're a fan, what's your favorite dish? Have you ever prepared this yourself at home? Is there an Indian restaurant in your current hometown? 

Never. When I hear Indian, I think spicy and I'm not a fan of spicy foods.

5. A song that reminds you of your parents?

Since no songs popped into my mind, I did a random search of things related to my parents: 1960s when the dated and married, a favorite singer of my Dad's, Chuck Berry, and love because they'll be celebrating 45 years of marriage in June. Here's what came up:

I doesn't really remind me of them, but it was a fun search!

6. The 26th of February is National Tell a Fairy Tale Day. What is your favorite, or one of  your favorite, fairy tales? Do you have any childhood memories associated with a particular fairy tale?

I can't say as I have a favorite, but I remember my Mom reading Rumpelstiltskin to me as a child while snuggled in bed. Of all the possible fairy tales, that one stuck with me from early childhood. (I don't remember a sister with us so maybe it was before age 3 1/2.)

7. What's a problem you solved yesterday?

I picked up enough over-ripe bananas on special at the grocery store for 5 loaves of bread. Just $1.30! But even my biggest glass mixing bowl couldn't hold the ingredients for 5 loaves.  Being a lazy cook, I didn't want to do 2-3 batches of dough; I wanted to mix it all up at one time. I ended up transferring the wet ingredients to my BIG soup pot before adding the dry ingredients. It holds about 2 gallons of stuff. Mission accomplished!

8. Insert your random thought here.

Happy Hodgepodging!