13 November 2021

Welcome to Saturday: 9. What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme!


Without You (1972)

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

1) Nilsson sings that he can't forget this evening. Did anything happen this evening (or last night, if you're answering during the day) that you expect you'll recall for a long time?
I'm not sure I'll remember for a long time, but Marta made a delicious pumpkin cake for dessert.  We almost never have dessert and Marta almost never cooks, so this was special.  (It was delicious)

2) In the 1960s, he worked in a very "un-rock-star" job: computer programmer in a bank. Looking over your career, have you more often worked in or out of an office setting?
I've always worked in an office setting, at UC Berkeley, for two typing services, and in medical offices here in Davis.

3) He fibbed to get the job, telling the bank he'd graduated from high school when in reality, he was a drop out. Have you ever fudged a fact on your resume?
Actually, I don't remember having a resume...I spent years TYPING resumes and helping people write them, but I don't think I ever needed one myself.

4) The bank found out the truth but was so pleased with Nilsson's personality and performance they kept him on. Tell us about a friend or loved one's misbehavior that you have overlooked.
I'm not sure I'd call it overlooking, but I helped my friend with the affair she was having. She was married to an alcoholic who mistreated her and I was happy she had someone who seemed to care for her.  Ultimately that was a bad decision on my part.

5) Before finding success as a singer, Nilsson was a songwriter. He composed "Cuddly Toy," recorded by the Monkees. Do you have a favorite Monkees song?
I guess "I'm a Believer."

6) In 1976 Nilsson married Una O'Keeffe. They met in a New York restaurant, where she was a waitress. He asked her about her accent -- she was from Dublin -- and a romance ensued. While the waitress and the rock sttar seemed like an unlikely couple, they remained together until his death in 1994 and had six children. Do you know how your parents (or grandparents) met?
My aunt was an artist and drew caricatures at the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition on Treasure Island in San Francisco.  She had a boyfriend who brought his friend with him to the fair and my aunt thought he would be a good date for my mother.  The rest is history.

7) Nilsson was a night owl and found he felt most creative late at night, right before he fell asleep. When are you at your best: morning, noon or night?
It depends on the day.  Probably morning, but if I sleep late, it might be late night before I get creative (I am writing this at 1 a.m.).

8) In 1972, the year "Without You" was a hit, Alice Clark Browne made history as the first African American aerialist to perform with Ringling Brothers and Barnum Bailey Circus. Did you ever attend the circus?
We used to go regularly in San Francisco when I was a kid (I remember feeding peanuts to an elephant--you could go outside and walk around with the animals).  Walt and I took our kids once or twice, I think, but it was too expensive to take five kids.  I was always disappointed that my parents never bought me any of the stuff that they sold in the audiences during the circus and vowed that when we had kids and took them to the circus, I would buy them stuff they wanted...But as an adult, I realized why my parents didn't spend so much money on junk!

9) Random question -- Think about last week. Would you prefer this week to be more exciting, or more boring?
Well, this week is going to be more exciting because we have a show to attend and review.  Theaters are starting up again.