My son was telling me about a throwback party he attended at the university bar; the throwback era, he said was mostly between 2012 and 2014. I was momentarily stunned into silence, and then had him list off a few of the songs that they had played: a lot of Pitbull and the Black-Eyed Peas, the notable era exception being the 2005 hit Hips Don’t Lie by Shakira. Shakira Shakira! All the songs he mentioned are on my Nicole’s Workout Spotify playlist, and they are all songs that I consider to be “modern.”
This reminded me of an 80s Retro party I myself went to at the bar at my university, and the year was probably 1995, so I guess the years go by and yet nothing changes. Still. At the time, I remember dancing to My Sharona and thinking how fun it was to dance to such retro music, and here is my son, grooving to Mr Worldwide. Sunrise, sunset.
We have a houseguest this week! My younger son’s best friend is visiting from Calgary, and he scheduled his visit to coordinate with the ending of my son’s seasonal golf course job as well as my older son’s reading week, so the house is full and so, if you will forgive the sentimentality, is my heart. My older son’s roommate just happens to be a good friend of both boys, so he has been over here as well and I am in my element, feeding everyone in a “Eat, Eat!” kind of way.
Speaking of my younger son, once again he has decided to grow a moustache for the month of November. Typically he only shaves every four or five days, meaning that he usually has a stubbly scruff most of the time, but now he is clean-shaven except for his old-timey Clark Gable-style moustache. As always I am a strong proponent of body autonomy, even in the facial hair department, but also, Clark Gable-style moustache. Remember that Jimmy Buffett song Pencil Thin Moustache? It’s not unlike that.
Rest in peace, Jimmy Buffett. He sure brought a lot of joy to this world, and particularly to me. He also brought us the song Why Don’t We Get Drunk And Screw which I secretly wanted to play at my wedding, but did not. Imagine how funny that would have been, though. I just got a water bed, it’s filled up for me and you. What a glorious time piece of a song. The 70s is my favourite era, music-wise: soft rock, yacht rock, cock rock, Motown, and, my top genre, disco. It would be very, very difficult for me to find a song I do not bop around to happily that was created in the 70s. Even the ones with terrible lyrics and misogyny I will happily sing and kitchen disco to, notably When You’re In Love With A Beautiful Woman and If You Want To Be Happy. I joked about having the latter played at our wedding and my husband was horrified at the very thought. It would be a fun ironic song if it wasn’t blatantly mean-spirited. Still, I will groove to it.
I was grooving down the pathway the other day and I stopped to talk to a gentleman I frequently talk to, who just so happens to look exactly like Kenny G. He and I are probably going to one day spin off this planet with our excessive morning positivity; he’s a kindred spirit, Kenny G is, is what I’m saying. He gestured to the path in front of me saying “Are you enjoying our Golden Mile?” and I was so charmed by this turn of phrase.
The path has been carpeted with leaves, and somehow Rex managed to walk an entire 90 minutes with a leaf on his head. I guess he was feeling Fall Festive.
Less festive is the fact that the dog park has been very, very muddy of late. I stopped to speak with yet another gentleman on the path, while our black and white dogs sniffed each other. The gentleman laughed at Rex’s paws, which were completely covered with mud. “Rex! Your boots!” he said, and I replied with a “This is the problem: no white shoes after Labour Day!” The man looked at me in the most puzzled way, with a completely furrowed brow, and then smiled and nodded as he said his goodbyes. Later, I asked my husband if men do not know about the Labour Day White Shoe rule and he replied with what are you talking about, so I guess that answers that, at least in the Boyhouse.
Weekly Reading
Pineapple Street. Have you ever picked up a book based solely on hearing other people mention the title, without looking at the synopsis or anything about it at all, and then, on starting it, realize that it’s completely different from what you might imagine? This was exactly my experience with Pineapple Street. In my mind it was something exotic, maybe something tropical, maybe women in a different country and their lives? Well. I did not realize Pineapple Street is in Brooklyn Heights and that this book would be about an ultrarich, old money family. I guess that is exotic in its own way, there’s no rich like NYC rich, am I right? But I have to say, while it’s a readable and easy book to digest, the writing is pretty lazy. All the characters are completely one dimensional and then most of them do a 180 near the end of the book with no nuance whatsoever. The theme is millenial heirs of old money, and it’s like the author thought “okay, three kids, we will make one of them represent the millenials who want to give away all their fortune because they disagree with inheriting large sums of money, one of them will just enjoy the money and work in the family business, and the last one, let’s make her someone who gave up her career to have kids and wants more, more, more money. Great, we covered it all.” Like I said, this is readable and for those of us who like to read about fashion and tablescapes, it’s kind of fun, but it’s not profound or nuanced or going to set the world on fire. I later learned that the author is actually a publishing executive so, you know, that answers that.
Please Don’t Sit On My Bed In Your Outside Clothes. This hilarious, smart, and thoughtful book of essays was written in 2020, so it definitely has a Quarantine Flavour to it. This woman has had a very, very different life experience from me, which makes this all the more eye-opening and thought-provoking. She has a way of starting with a hilariously shallow topic, that suddenly delves deeper, having me think of things in a totally different way, i.e., the concept of self-care. The essay that I think will stay with me the longest is the one about performative allyship, which is something that I have been thinking about since the summer of 2020. Actually, I’ve probably been thinking about the concept of people using social media to “raise awareness” without doing anything meaningful since the days of women posting their bra colours on Facebook to “raise awareness” about breast cancer. Friends, we are all aware. But what are we going to do about it? One takeaway from this is, in terms of allyship, that it can be actively harmful to repost violent viral videos. Marginalized people do not need to be inundated with that in the name of “raising awareness.” Anyway, this was a very enlightening – and did I mention, very funny? – read.
Some of you will remember a while back that I was interviewed as a guest post on my good friend Elisabeth’s blog (HI ELISABETH); sadly, that blog was deleted and my interview, including the story about topless sunbathing, was lost forever. Well, the happy news is that Elisabeth RE-interviewed me and it’s up there today, so please go check it out. Another piece of happy news is that my friend and writing support Laura Bray has a substack and this month she is offering 20% off paid subscriptions, in honour of her birthday month (HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAURA!). Do go check her out as she is a gifted writer and an all-round lovely person.
On that note, have a beautiful week, friends! xo
I love the idea of you and Kenny G filling the walking path with positive vibes! And what a gorgeous path it is.
My daughter recently picked up a book and noted it was written in 1990. “Were you alive then?” she wondered incredulously. Sigh.
Hope you are having wonderful times with your house full of boys and cake!
Lololol were you alive! That’s too funny. The 1900s! It was a whole different century!
1970s music is great! Even songs that are bad, are hilariously bad so we can still appreciate them. ha ha… I would consider songs from 2012 to be “modern” as well.
I was laughing at your “no white shoes after labor day” comment and was astonished to learn that men have never heard of this. I’m also enjoying the mental picture of Rex with his muddy paws.
I read your guest post!!! I loved it. Enjoy your full house this week- that will be me next week when my son comes home.
Yes, hilariously bad is right! Like, listening to some of the lyrics…what even was happening? But I love it. My husband pointed out that Judas Priest and Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, etc., came out in the 70s and I do NOT enjoy that genre of music. So I guess there are some 70s songs I don’t like.
My heart would be full too, Nicole! I hope you’re having a lovely time in your boyhouse full of boys!
I follow Phoebe Robinson and really enjoyed her takes. And I’m putting Pineapple Street (I know what you mean–it sounds like House on Mango Street!) on my TBR, because I secretly like reading about rich New Yorkers.
Also tacky, my love for water beds. Someday, I may be able to convince Big A to get one–but who knows if they’ll even be making them by then!
MAYYAAAAAA you need a water bed and you need to tell me all about it. Well, maybe not ALL about it…
Honestly, do they still make water beds? I should investigate. Not that I’d want one, I like rock-hard beds.
My BFF in HS (back in the 80s) had a waterbed. It seemed like such a fun idea but it was cold as heck to sleep on and sloshy. I really don’t know how anyone in the 70s thought having sex on them would be fun – probably drugs? The answer to why people found so many things fun in the 70s I guess…
Maggie, they come with heaters–my cousin had one in the early 90s and I loved sleepovers at her place extra because of it. You say “sloshy,” I say “undulating.” LOL.
Oh that’s right! Now that you say that, I remember that they needed to have heaters. Logistically it seems like it might be…um, tricky to get the job done?
Enjoy your Boyhouse, now with more boys!
I listen to a podcast produced by a company called Pineapple Street Studio and I always kind of wondered if that’s a real street somewhere, and now I know.
Ooooh I’m curious as to the podcast! Maybe I’ll go look up Pineapple Street Studio!
It’s called Ghost Story. It’s about a man investigating his wife’s great grandmother’s murder. But come to think of it, he lives in London, so maybe there’s a Pineapple Street there, too.
Oooh. I don’t usually listen to crime podcasts but mayyyybeeeeee…
My husband and I love to play old 80s music videos on Youtube. And then feel sorry for ourselves in the old days when we would have had to wait for MTV to play it instead of being able to pull it up on demand.
I keep seeing yellow cakes with chocolate frosting and I think this is the universe’s way of telling me what to make for my husband’s birthday. Done!
Or…remember waiting to hear a song on the radio so you could tape it with your tape recorder? And it would always have DJ patter in the beginning and end?
What in the world, 2012 is “throwback” now? The weird thing is that I can’t think of anything distinctive about this time period. Everything since I graduated from college is just a blur, one big time period of adulthood. I cannot differentiate between 2008 and 2014.
I’m with you, I thought Pineapple Street was about immigrants from Jamaica. No idea where I got that idea!
Hmmm, you know what, I think I’m like that too! Everything is a bit of a blur since the 90s I guess!
LOL LOL LOL at the throwback party. THOS ARE MY NEW SONGS. Like, I have a new music playlist, which I should clearly RENAME.
Also Rex! Such a living stuffie.
Lol I know, Sarah! THAT IS MODERN MUSIC!
The whole retro thing is mind blowing. Backstreet Boys began 30 years ago!!?? How is that possible. But I do remember when we had ’50’s Days’ when I was in junior high and high school and thinking that was ancient history, when it was only 20 years prior.
Your Golden Mile is stunning and I bet a peaceful walk. I agree that I thought Pineapple Street was going to be exotic or at least about food! LOL! I did not find it to be vibrant or hilarious.
Thirty years of Backstreet Boys…wow.
Pineapple Street was just…not hilarious, and I just found the writing so lazy!
Hips Don’t Lie came out in 2005
Noted and amended, thanks for stopping by.
I think the 80’s is my favorite music. Enjoy your boy guests and the accompanying appetites. Sounds fun. Golden mile, indeed. What a pretty walk.
Oooh I also love 80s music! Thanks Ernie!
Men don’t know about white shoes after Labor Day? That’s weird.
When I was in grad school we had a seminar and someone brought in stuff women would generally know more about than men and vice versa. I’ll never get out of my head the image of our professor holding a dental dam up to his eyes and examining it VERY CAREFULLY. LOLOLOLOL. Also, turns out I’d never seen brake pads before.
I have also never seen brake pads! I mean, I’m sure some men don’t know about the white shoes thing but the men who live with me don’t.
Ohhh. That Golden Mile is GORGEOUS.
I definitely still wear white sneakers after labour day – that’s the only white footwear I own. I feel like I get a pass for sneakers?!
The throwback era – I laughed so hard! It’s all about perspective, eh?
That cake looks divine, enjoy the guests (ALL THE HEARTS!), and thanks for guest posting again today.
Sneakers are an exception for sure!!
I had that Dr. Hook record with When You’re in Love with a Beautiful Woman, and our aerobics instructor at Mac used to play If You Want to Be Happy, and we would sweat ANd laugh.
Friends with kids filling the house is the very best.
I mean, I love those songs. But also they are absolutely horrible lyrics! (although, funny?)
The Golden Mile looks like a beautiful place to walk! And so sweet that the leaf could hitch a ride on Rex’s head! I’m with you – that music is modern! Anything after 2000 is modern to me! I still have a big stereo that has a double cassette player in it! But I don’t have any cassettes left to play in it.
Oh Michelle, I wish I had known that because when I was cleaning out my storage in preparation for the move, I found so many tapes, INCLUDING MIX TAPES!!!! Oh, I wish I knew, I would have sent them to you!
Oh dang!! That would have been so much fun!!!
But can we talk about not sitting on the bed with outside clothes on?? Because that is one of my sensory issues. I felt like I was alone in this. It feels good to see a book title like that.
I want to walk down that gorgeous path. Man, where you live is so beautiful.
Ooooh Kari, you should read that book for that essay alone! I’m not too bothered by my husband sitting on the bed (he and I are the only people accessing our bed) but I draw the line at my pillow. DO NOT PUT YOUR HEAD ON MY PILLOW.
Your week sounds like so much fun. Kids doing things, you feeding kids, and I’d guess laughs aplenty. I subscribed to Laura’s substack on your recommendation. While I don’t entirely get substack a few people have suggested I should move to that platform, so endlessly interested in who is there, what it’s all about.
Ally, there are so many substacks. I think that every podcaster I listen to has a substack! And part of it is just like podcasts, some is free content, and some is paid subscription. I think it’s a good way to make a little $ from writing. Personally I can’t even think about moving platforms, that seems like too much for me right now! But never say never I guess.
Regarding the white shoes, I have two words for you. Serial. Mom. Do you remember that movie? Dark humor, so funny.
Enjoy the full house, that sounds amazing and wonderful! Your pictures of the Autumn path are beautiful. Rex keeping the leaf on his head reminds me of girls trying to walk with a book on their head for posture. Seems like he has excellent posture.
I DO REMEMBER!!! “NO WHITE SHOES AFTER LABOUR DAY!!!” Hahaha thanks for the reminder!
The golden mile – that’s a perfect description! It’s beautiful. Our leaves are pretty much all gone. Womp womp. And wow, a throw-back party to 2012/2014. Now I feel old! My new hire was born in 1998 and wow does that make me feel old, too!
I read and liked Pineapple Street. It was an easy breezy read – kind of a good pallet cleanser between heavier content!
Woof, 1998. I mean, I finished grad school in 1998! Aieee.
I love the Golden Mile; however, the title kind of reminds me of the Green Mile, which was a good movie, although very disturbing in some places of course. I do love a good Tom Hanks movie though. But I digress.
The white shoes after labor day thing reminds me of my mother, who is from back East. I think that (a) Californians are a little less buttoned up than East coasters (my Mom used to also wear dress gloves as a kid), and (b) perhaps in the year 2023, that rule is not really followed as much…you tell me…is that still a rule!? Anyway aside from sneakers, I would rarely wear white shoes at any time of year and I don’t see many men wearing white shoes ever (aside from sneakers as well). Do Canadian men wear white dress shoes? I must know.
I mean, I have never seen a man in white dress shoes in Canada, regardless of season. And I do not have any white shoes myself. But I can barely wear white tops because if I do I’m guaranteed to spill something on them, so of course I’d never wear white shoes. So I guess the rule is moot in my world, except of course for Rex.
I am still not over the fact that 2012 is considered a throwback. I feel so very old now!
THAT PICTURE OF THE GOLDEN MILE. OMG, Nicole. I might be more tempted to get out for more walks if my walks looked like that!
I know! 2012! It felt like yesterday!
Isn’t that walking path beautiful? Every day I feel so lucky.
Your music choices for your wedding made me laugh. Love to picture your husband’s startled look!! Ps I’ve been trying to comment for days. I’ve been in myrtle Beach & keep getting “not acceptable”! When I hit post. Let’s try again.
I’m so glad you laughed because I personally think it’s hilarious! “if you want to be happy for the rest of your life…” IMAGINE.
Darn, it ate my comment! The Golden Mile reminds me of the Birch Path in Anne of Green Gables. <3
And, Rex. A source of many smiles even for those of us who aren't lucky enough to be his people. 🙂
I feel very Anne of Green Gables often, just being blown away by the beauty around here!
Thank you for the recommendation! I am really enjoying our writing time together and can’t wait until you finish your book!
Laura, same! I feel the exact same way, also about my own book because WHEW THIS IS HARD WORK! Lol!
Suzanne,
I love 70’s music! Classic rock mostly, but I’ve been known to shake my booty to a little disco now and then! “Stayin’ aliiiivvvveeee…” How much do you love Travolta as Santa Claus in that Capitol One commercial? It’s my fav commercial right now! Hoping our library has the Phoebe Robinson book. TTFN, Mona
THAT TRAVOLTA COMMERCIAL! It’s gold! I was SO excited the first time I saw it and I’ve watched it MANY times now. It will never get old!
OOH that Golden Mile!! Gorgeous!! I love Rex. How often do you have to get his hair groomed? I assume since he’s a wavy/ curl breed he needs it done? I am now trying to figure this all out with our little puppy Charlie and I am quickly realizing I’m pretty sure I’m going to be spending more on his hair than mine. Argh.
Too funny about the Labor Day/ white shoes comment! haha. It’s so awkward when things like that happen, lol. Reminds me of when someone says something, and you don’t hear/ don’t understand what they said, so then you ask them to repeat it, and for whatever reason (be it the phrase, a different accent, the person just mumbles, whatever) you STILL don’t understand and then it’s like, well, do I ask again? Or should I just kind of laugh and nod and pretend I understood?? haha.
Hi Kae, I get him groomed about every three months, and it’s very expensive because he’s so big! Charlie will probably be a lot less expensive. I find he needs his nails done about that often as well, and honestly, he should probably be bathed more often but I just cannot manage it. He does not like water and, like I said, he’s huge! So to the doggie salon we go.
A throw back party for 2012. *sigh* What is happening, Nicole?
I WISH you had played Why Don’t We Get Drunk And Screw at your wedding. It would have been epic. Can you at least FIB and tell your sons you played it.
I’ve not heard of Cock Rock, so that’s a new one for me. 😳😜
I love that you have another HAPPY MORNING person to visit with Mr. Rex.
Wouldn’t that have been so funny? God I love that song. I am SO GLAD you agree!
I have no feel for time anymore. If you ask me, the 90s were just 5 years ago LOL
I LOVE the Golden Mile. Wow. What a delight to walk there… and I mean, why wouldn’t Rex walk with a leaf on his head. Look at this thick fur.
I wanted to let you know that I took down the Christmas cards from last year (I KNOW!) last weekend and there was a picture of Barkley on your card. It made me smile 🙂
Awww that is SO sweet! He was always separately photographed because he was SO hard to get a picture of! He was a bit camera shy I guess.
I know what you mean, I am always surprised to hear how long ago something happened.