Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,
I hope you enjoyed Mother’s Day. I’ve been thinking about my own mom, who I get to see in DC later this week, and about my wife Kate, who I am seeing right now as I write this.
Because of her ailing knees, When Kate finds herself on a couch or in a restaurant booth, she feels most comfortable when she extends her legs over something sturdy to support her, and that usually means my legs. I’m grateful that Kate is quick to lean on me. I know she misses the constant pressure of our departed bulldog, for Dilly often rested her head on Kate’s feet while she cooked, or snuggled up next to or upon Kate when she would (rarely) sit down in a comfy chair or love seat.
Studies show that our pets make us happier and healthier. In class last week, one of my students nominated “minimize stress” as one of the five ways we can sustain good health. Everyone nodded, but some modified their perspectives on stress after my subsequent lesson on positive psychology and “flow.” I reminded my audience that our writing class and other UC Davis classes seek to strengthen students — strengthen their brains, their habits, their resolve — rather than to eliminate the stressors in their lives. Students who spend a lot of time playing intramural sports or exercising in our Activities and Recreation Center know that they must appropriately challenge and stress their bodies in order to become stronger.
Our family has been relearning this lesson in recent weeks and months, Kate in particular. For instance, while Kate’s knees look as cute as ever, X-rays and MRI imaging suggest possible reasons for her ongoing discomfort. Let’s just say that if Kate were drafted, she could use her two sets of under-kneecap Texas longhorn bone spurs to defer her military service, only legitimately!
But none of the knee issues or other ailments compares in intensity to the severe heartsickness that we all feel in our house, a house that has been without our bulldog for a long and lonely week. At home, Dilly had been Kate’s constant companion, and her absence has brought her and the rest of us unwelcome trials of sadness.
Of course, this mom has been responding heroically. Kate and a friend primed our living room and dining room on Dilly’s last full day on earth, and then painted both those rooms on the first full day that she was gone. On Thursday, the day of Kate’s double knee injections, with strict orders to rest, Kate instead painted two coats in the bathroom, solo. Kate has sought to bring order to the house at a time when we all feel chaotic and unmoored. The new bamboo floor will be installed tomorrow, with a couple Pub Quiz irregulars stopping by late tonight to help us move the heavier furniture off the carpet.
Times like these remind me what a powerful woman Kate is, and how beautiful she is while in action, whether it be spending hours on a tall ladder with funky knees, or walking slowly from the car to the Mondavi Center for our date night seeing David Sedaris. (As an aside, it was David’s sister Amy who said, rather sardonically, “Sometimes losing a pet is more painful than losing a human because in the case of the pet, you were not pretending to love it.”)
While I can quote many writers and humorists on grief or beauty, often at such times I turn to the poetic stylings of the Commodores when thinking of my strong and lovely wife. As we are told in “Brick House,” a song that could have been written for Kate herself, “she’s mighty-mighty.”
I commend my Kate, my mom, and all the mighty and marvelous moms out there who struggle for their families, and become stronger and even more beautiful because of it.
Tonight’s Pub Quiz will feature questions on topics raised above, as well as the following: regal names, unforgettable images, karaoke for small audiences, untold wealth, noisy creatures, unwelcome love letters, the Appalachian Trail, shared authorship, vowel endings, domestication in Siam, the absence of vitality, the measure of a gram, states that start with A, hazards in New Zealand, oceanography, a million dollars, under covers, popular songs, calls and responses, statuary, the meaning of mountains, the Google effect, a defined period of time for comedy, quarter runs, puns with time and money, military service, multicultural authors, African animals, composers who are neither Rod Stewart nor Al Stewart nor Jimmy Stewart, fighting bellboys, the opinions of the writers of Rolling Stone, delightful colors, absent future presidents, ornithology, living where you work, slumping popularity, and Shakespeare.
This coming Thursday night we are featuring a memoirist at Poetry Night: Janelle Hanchett, author of the new book I’m Just Happy to Be Here. A former student of mine, Janelle has been building audiences with her blog for years, and now her book is selling madly. Check out the reviews on Amazon, and then join us Thursday night at 8 the Natsoulas Gallery. Because my son Jukie and I fly out of town early the next morning, I myself won’t be able to attend the after-party, but the reading and open mic will be memorable and well-attended. Next week’s pub quiz will be hosted by James Haven, the longtime player who did such a good job on April 30th. I will see you tonight.
Your Quizmaster
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Here are three questions from last week’s quiz:
- Yet another question about U.S. States. What is the only U.S. state to border the Canadian provinces Manitoba and Saskatchewan?
- Science. According to an April 30th publication in Circulation magazine, Harvard researchers say five things will help you live longer, and the list isn’t all that surprising: 1) exercise, 2) eat a healthy diet, 3) maintain a healthy body weight, 4) don’t drink too much, and WHAT?
- Sports. The LA Dodgers recently put what left-handed pitcher on the disabled list with biceps tendinitis?