saturday: money

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1. This lyrics mention “the birds and bees.” Who told you about the facts of life?

Oh, boy. I don’t actually remember. But my parents were both pretty open, so it could have been either one.

2. Barrett Strong sings that love won’t pay the bills. How do you handle bill paying? Do you set aside one day a month to take care of all your bills, or do you pay each one as it comes in? What’s your system?

I’m the bill payer in the house, so the system is all mine. I pay them twice a month. I got in that habit when I first was active duty in the Army. At the time, you could opt for your pay to be either once or twice a month, and I opted for twice. I don’t know that that’s a thing anymore. But after years and years of doing that, it became habit. Plus, the hubs’ pay now as a contractor still comes bimonthly so there you go. I pay on the 1st and 15th, or whatever the last business day is before then, if those days fall on holidays or weekends.

3. He refers to dollar bills as “lean greens.” Can you think of any other euphemisms for money?

Probably too many, most of which are food-related. Cheddar, dough, bacon, bread, cake, moolah, Benjamins,

4. April is tax time, so money is top-of-mind for us all. Do you do your own taxes or do you seek the help of a professional?

After this many years of doing it myself, I feel like I’m an unpaid professional. I’ve done my own, my kids’, even a few friends.

5. On this week’s song, Barrett does a solid job on the vocals and he handles the keyboards well. In addition to performing, he was a talented songwriter. One of his most popular compositions was “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” a song about a lover who listened to gossip and got some useful information. Have you ever been the subject of gossip? If yes, was there any truth to the rumor?

Girl, please. My high school, way back in the Stone Age, was a cesspool of rumor. For me, it started midway through my junior year. I dated a guy; let’s call him Pete. (He wasn’t Pete.) He was smart and talented, funny and sweet, and we were really good together. We had each other, but we had our friends and other things besides each other. It was kind of the quintessential, high-school movie relationship, where everyone around you thinks you’re going to actually live happily ever after. Until his bestie got jelly. Let’s call him Nick. (He wasn’t Nick.) Nick didn’t have any problems with us while he had his own girlfriend, but once he didn’t, he wanted Pete all to himself. So he got in Pete’s ear, whispering insidious and untrue things until Pete dumped me. I was crushed. It got worse because that wasn’t enough for Nick. Nope, he started a rumor campaign about me, dragging Pete into it until they were both coming at me hardcore. Within weeks, the whole school thought I was a flaming slut. Which was especially fun since my mom was one of our teachers, and she believed it, too. It wasn’t true, but that didn’t stop every guy from trying to date me to get some, and then telling the word I put out even when I didn’t.

It could have turned me into a statistic, because it got bad. It travelled past my high school and into the one in the town I lived in. (I went to school in the next district over because my mom taught there.) But instead it made me fierce. Good thing, too, since here we are, decades later, and I still occasionally have someone make a comment about it. To put it in context, this started in early 1987. That makes it 38 years and counting, and these small-minded people can’t let it go, even though Nick and Pete ended it by graduation in 1988. Good times.

6. He worked with Motown and its sister label, Tamla, for years, but when they moved their offices from Detroit to LA, he quit. Have you ever relocated for your career?

Again… US Army. I’ve relocated and relocated and relocated…

7. In 1959, when “Money” was popular, Huckleberry Hound was a hit with young TV viewers in 1959. What was your favorite cartoon when you were a kid?

It would be a toss-up between two, both technically over before I was born. Enjoy…

8. While children were enjoying daytime cartoons, their parents were discovering The Twilight Zone, which also premiered in 1959. Decades later, it’s still being rerun on cable and streaming services. Are you a fan?

I love The Twilight Zone, except for one episode. I saw it just once, years and years ago, but I still am affected by it. It was an episode about an old man with a lot of cats, and his neighbors hated it, so they killed the cats. It got me right in the feels.

9. Random question: Right now, would you prefer to grab a snack or take a nap?

Since I’ve been awake since 0415, and it’s not even 0515, I’d like a nap.