Friday 5: Up and away

sunset on lanai and the pizza we had for dinner shortly after. good pizza! october 2019.

From here.

  1. What most recently made you feel elated?
    Thankgiving afternoon, jumping into the cool water and having the ocean mostly to myself. It was one of the best feelings I’ve had in this entire lockdown.
  2. Where is the slowest elevator in the universe?
    When I was in grad school at Hawaii Pacific University, I was in an elevator in one of the downtown buildings. HPU sooooorta has a proper campus now, but before it bought the Aloha Tower property, it was spread out in buildings all over downtown Honolulu. I was in the verrrrry slow elevator in the building where the library was, and as I and my fellow passenger arrived at the library floor, I said, “This is the slowest elevator in the world.” She said, “No, it’s not. Have you been to the Hawaii Loa Campus?” Yes, of course. Most of my classes were at that campus, in fact, and I knew exactly what she was talking about. “You’re right,” I said. “That one is even slower than this one, by far.” We smiled and went in different directions.
  3. When were you most recently in an airplane?
    October last year. Two coworkers and I flew to Lanai to work on a project. The other two stayed overnight; I flew back late the same evening. It was a good trip, and the thing we worked on is still being considered.
  4. With what have you had it up to here?
    I’ve been neglecting my car since I spend so little time behind the wheel and all my trips are very short. Now certain things remind me every time I get in the car that I haven’t been taking good care of it, and I hate myself. So this weekend I’m doing a bunch of car maintenance stuff, as much as I can do myself, and then I’m taking time off next week to have done the stuff I can’t take care of, like the stupid airbag recall. I saw a headline a couple of months ago that read something like, “Nissan says it sent man sixteen letters about defective airbag before he was killed by his in an accident.” Yeah, that man is going to be me if I don’t do this. Except I’ve only received six or seven letters.
  5. What’s a good song whose title contains the word “sky?”
    “Blue Skies” by the Choir. My easy number one. Others I love are “Bullet the Blue Sky” by U2 and “Crack the Skye” by Mastodon. Also, shout-out to a band I really like whose name has the word: Harakiri for the Sky.

Friday 5: Pandemic daze

From here.

early in the lockdown, i thought skulls were an appropriate mask theme. i own several skulls masks.
  1. Where do you get most of your pandemic-related news?
    I read Google News a couple of times a day, clicking only links to sources I believe in. I subscribe to the online editions of the Washington Post and the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, ‘though for local news on the pandemic, I’m more likely to go to KITV 4 News. The Star-Ad’s mobile app is kind of a pain to deal with.
  2. How do you feel about your local government’s leadership during this pandemic?
    I know a lot of my fellow residents will disagree, but on the whole I think it has been almost as good as could be expected. Our governer is a terrible communicator, yet overall, we erred on the side of safety, and I’m here for it. It helps that our lieutenant governor is a physician, and his daily lectures kind of gave me more confidence that at least informed knowledge was in the decision-making room. The mayor’s gotten all kinds of hate, and I get it, but this is an unusual city. Our geography is the reason for the economy, and our geography is one reason we’ve been able to keep numbers comparatively low. We have laws about bringing in non-native pests, and they can seem crazy restrictive, but we also have never had an instance of rabies on this island. You wanna mess with that? I don’t. I say this because the seeming dick-ness of the mayor may actually have been necessary. He just didn’t do a great job of communicating it well, although his “no peaches on beaches” was pretty brilliant.
  3. What does your favorite mask look like, and about how many masks have you accumulated?
    I think I have close to twenty. I like most of them quite a bit, but the ones I’ve worn the most are my two Las Vegas Raiders masks (one black with white print; the other white with black print), my Oakland Atlhetics Masks, and my My Neighbor Totoro mask. I like the designs but what really does it for me is the way they fit, and the ease with which they slip on.
  4. Where have you most often had takeout during this pandemic?
    Counting drive-throughs, it’s undoubtedly McD’s, which I’ve gone to at least once a week, but more like twice a week, since this lockdown began. I do my laundry in a laundromat each week, and McD’s has been my distraction of choice while my clothes do their tumbling dance at 3:00 in the morning. Not counting drive-throughs, it’s probably Rainbow Drive-In because it’s super close to home.
  5. What new interests, skills, or hobbies have you picked up since mid-March?
    I’ve always loved cooking, but this stupid lockdown has sent me seeking new dishes and new methods, which has been interesting. I’ve also set up two new blogs which I haven’t begun posting to yet because who has time for that anymore? They may never launch. They were sort of spontaneous what-am-I-going-to-do-with-this-day decisions. But I’ll announce them here if I do kick them into motion.
this was advertised as a darth vader mask, but it really doesn’t look like vader to me. reminds me of the album cover for fates warning’s The Spectre Within album, which is even better.

Friday 5: High voltage

From here. This week’s questions taken from AC/DC song lyrics in recognition of the band’s new album, which is pretty dang good.

  1. Are you ready for a good time?
    I’m eager to have one, but I don’t think I see one in the near future, at least not until after the new year. I may have a good time on my own January 20, which I am absolutely looking forward to. Sorry Mel.
  2. What do you do for money, honey?
    I’m a writer for a non-profit. It’s good work and I do it with good people. This is all I ask of my career, so I’m pretty happy where I am. I jumped in too late to be called a lifer, but I don’t envision myself leaving.
  3. Who’s your friend and who’s your foe?
    My foes are COVID-19 and government officials who subvert the democratic process, including those government officials who indulge, encourage, or empower other officials toward this subversion. My friends are (to quote a character in Ted Lasso) “good people trying to make a difference.” I’ve worked in a few different career-type jobs these past couple of decades and I’ve made very good friends at them all, good people trying to make a difference. Ross, George, Valerie, and Traci at HBA. Alison, Kerri, Susannah, and Sandi at Assets. Keith and Juli at KCC. Suzanne, Julie, Cindy (especially Cindy), Wendy, and Shellet at the engineering firm. Sylvia, Patty, Sharon, and Ali where I work now.
  4. What do you do that’s guaranteed?
    I am almost guaranteed to find new ways to mess up. Everywhere I’ve worked except the engineering firm and the community college has rules in the books added because of something I did. Mmm maybe not the current place, but it’s only a matter of time.
  5. Do you wanna journey?
    So much. I was already coming down with some wanderlust before this thing started. Wanted to make a few repairs to my car first, then was going to go on a few trips. I even pay for an email subscription to this service that alerts me when there are super low fares somewhere, including mistake fares that the airlines usually honor. I’ve paid for two years and have taken zero trips. I figure when I take one it will pay for the subscription, and when I take a second I’ll come out ahead. However, this is unlikely to happen any time soon! See my answer to number three about foes!

Friday 5: It can’t be that bad

“If it makes you happy, it can’t be that baaaaad…”

From here.

  1. What movie makes you happy?
    Two that come immediately to mind are Groundhog Day and Sideways. However, the unexpected recent answer is Pitch Perfect 2, which isn’t nearly as good as the first movie (which also makes me happy). Still, for reasons I can’t identify, it really does the job. Oh-em-aca-gee!
  2. What song makes you happy?
    The one that’s almost guaranteed to do it is REO Speedwagon’s “Roll with the Changes,” with REO’s “Live Every Moment” a very close second. I’ve got them first and second in my REO playlist and they’re just great for driving to work with. Shout-outs also to Michael Franti and Spearhead’s “Say Hey (I Love You)” and “The Sound of Sunshine.” And don’t tell anyone, but “Walking on Sunshine” by Katrina and the Waves does it to me too.
  3. What food makes you happy?
    I’m going to be specific and say indian food at Maharani in Honolulu. I almost never go, since I typically dine alone and you always feel bad as a solo diner in such a popular restaurant. When I go with friends I actually feel lucky to be eating such great food. Like I woke up and Morgan Freeman as God said, “You’re going to have a fantastic meal tonight.”
  4. Who makes you happy with just a text message?
    I wish I could give a better answer, but almost always Crush Girl. I think I’m nearly over my interest in her as more than friends, but she still lights up my day when she initiates a text conversation. It makes me feel special to know she’s thinking of me.
  5. What beverage is most likely to lift your spirits?
    Nothing beats a good cup of coffee. It really fills me with joy, especially now that I seldom drink it. Yeah, nothing else comes close.

Listen to Michael Franti and Spearhead and feel good today.

Friday 5: Z

From here.

  1. How have you been sleeping lately?
    Miserably. For the past few weeks. A combination of work stress, not enough exercise (because of bad weather), and current events is making peace and rest difficult to find. I’m hoping some of this will be alleviated in ten days or so.
  2. What kinds of linens and stuff do you have on your bed today?
    I’ve found a combination I really like, so when it’s time to wash everything, I just strip the bed, do the laundry, and put it all back. I have a navy blue fitted sheet from Target. Not the least expensive of Target’s offerings, but not the most expensive. I’ve found that higher thread counts are kind of uncomfortable for me; I like a little bit of texture in my sheets. My flat sheet is a brownish-orange sheet, also from Target and possibly the least expensive. I have a black pillowcase from Target for my regular pillow, and a dark blue pillow case with a starry sky pattern (as in yellowish white dots to look like the night sky) for my body pillow. I have a blue and white Mexican blanket, a gift from R, on standby, but I haven’t needed it since winter.
  3. What’s the latest you’ve gotten out of bed these last few months?
    I like to stay in bed late on weekends, but my terrible sleep has made such relaxation distasteful. I’m usually up by 9:00 on weekends now, and usually take a short nap later in the day.
  4. Have you had any pleasant or unpleasant dreams lately?
    Geez. I had a terrible nightmare Wednesday morning. I was a teacher, and it was set in a school. Since I’m not a teacher anymore, I’m interpreting this as related to my work stress. I was in possession of a female student’s binder when I shouldn’t have been. It was kind of an accident. I realized I’d grabbed the wrong thing, and was flipping through it when there was a knock on my classroom door. There was a TV reporter with a microphone and several reporters with cameras outside, asking to come in and speak to me. I hadn’t done anything wrong except this unintentional possession of the student’s binder, but I also knew how it might look. I went into near panic when I realized I was dreaming, and I forced myself awake. It was really scary.
  5. What helps you relax these days?
    Morning swims for sure, but I haven’t been in the ocean for two weeks now. There are a few podcasts I enjoy, whose hosts have relaxing voices. After listening, I often don’t delete them, so I have a few hours’ worth on my phone. Most nights, I’ll play the podcasts when I lie down to sleep. It helps. Mina Kimes. Kevin Sheehan. John Hodgman. Katie Nolan.

Friday 5: Consumption

From here.

  1. What would you consider your most recent major purchase?
    Chagall Guevara is a band who in 1991 released one of my favorite albums. The lead singer is Steve Taylor, whom I idolize, but guitarists L. Arthur Nichols and Dave Perkins are also musicians I think very highly of. They recorded just the one album, despite excellent reviews. Early this month, they launched a Kickstarter campaign to release a new concert album, recorded in 1991. I jumped all over it, committing at the $75 level, which includes the live album on LP and CD, plus a t-shirt and a CD of unreleased studio songs — including a couple of new things the band is recording now! The rabid fans took the campaign past its $40K goal in twenty-two hours! Then when they were nearing $60K midway through, they set some stretch goals, offering fresh vinyl of the original album and all kinds of other cool things if they hit $100K, which I really thought was too large a stretch. I was wrong — they hit that mark, and are at $114K from 1754 backers, with three days to go. I’m in it for the music only — I don’t need guitar picks or turntable slipcovers or whatever, but what they are offering music-wise was far, far too good to pass up. So now I’m in for $150 for all three albums on CD and 180 gram vinyl. Plus the shirt. It comes to $172 bucks with shipping. Ridiculous, but when it comes in the mail, the pain will have been forgotten and all I will feel is love. And for these musicians to see how beloved they are? That’s part of what I’m paying for, and they are already talking about the possibility of reforming (or maybe I’m making this part up). And they set up another stretch goal they will never reach, but if they get to $125K or 2000 backers, they’re going to have a concert in 2021 in Nashville. Even if I don’t go, I’ll love that I helped it happen. No, I do not own a turntable. Why do you ask?
  2. On what are you hoping to spend a good chunk of change in the near future?
    Car stuff. The transmission’s getting ready to go, and I really like my car, so I’m going to spend more than its value to have it done, and then since I’ll have invested so much in it, I’ll have some body work done. Yikes.
  3. When did you most recently resist the urge to splurge?
    I put a new ukulele in my cart and then moved it to “save for later.”
  4. When did you most recently experience buyer’s remorse?
    I wasn’t pleased with myself when I had that second Taco Bell breakfast whenever I had it.
  5. What’s something interesting you consumed this past week?
    I watched The Banker on Apple TV+. Listened to a lot of Rush music. Ate a nice veggie stir-fry with a ribeye. Oh, and those Lay’s Nashville Hot Chicken potato chips. Really good. They taste just like fried chicken skins.

Friday 5: One-decade rewind

From here.

  1. What are some albums you really like from 2010?
    In 2010 I purchased BK3 by Bruce Kulick, Streets of Rock and Roll by Keel, Periphery by Periphery, Infestation by Ratt, The Seraphic Clockwork by Vanden Plas, Warp Riders by the Sword, Aqua by Angra, Angel of Babylon by Avantasia, Cherryholmes IV: Common Threads by Cherryholmes, Burning Like the Midnight Sun and de-plumed by the Choir, Clara McVille — Concert Edition by Clara McVille, Acoustic by Della Mae, In Your Eyes by Echoterra, Tug of War by Enchant, The Big Black and the Blue by First Aid Kit, American Slang by the Gaslight Anthem, No Better than This by John Mellencamp, Aligned Archetype by Kellee Maize, Stairwells by Kina Grannis, Live Love in London by King’s X, Spring by Larkin Poe, Omni by Minus the Bear, High Violet by the National, Taken by Rhonda Vincent, Magic for Everybody by Sam Phillips, The Secret Sisters by the Secret Sisters, Volume 2 by She & Him, and Excavations of the Minds by Sky Architect. I’ve since purchased several more from the same year, but since this is a look back at 2010 specifically, I’ll only pick from among these. The clear choice is Omni by Minus the Bear, with Burning Like the Midnight Sun by the Choir second, American Slang by the Gaslight Anthem third, and Cherryholmes IV by Cherryholmes fourth. Man, good memories.
  2. What are some songs you remember fondly from 2010?
    Among popular songs, I see “Like a G6” by Far East Movement was that year. Pretty great song. Also “I Gotta Feeling” by Black Eyed Peas. I purchased both of these as singles. Also “You Belong with Me” by Taylor Swift. Great songs, all of them, but the two best are “Fireflies” by Owl City first and “Fuck You” by Cee-Lo Green second. Great songs.
  3. What’s your favorite movie released in 2010?
    I’m pretty sure I was at the movies more than once a week during 2010. I saw in theaters Leap Year (Amy Adams), Youth in Revolt (Michael Cera), When in Rome (Kristen Bell), Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Valentine’s Day (cast of hundreds), Cop Out (Bruce Willis), She’s Out of My League (Jay Baruchel), Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Hot Tub Time Machine (John Cusack), The Last Song (Miley Cyrus), Clash of the Titans, Death at a Funeral (Martin Lawrence), Kick-Ass, Iron Man 2 (Robert Downey Jr.), Just Wright (Queen Latifah), Letters to Juliet (Amanda Seyfried), Princess Kaiulani (Q’orinaka Kilcher), Get Him to the Greek (Russell Brand), The A-Team (Liam Neeson), The Karate Kid (Jackie Chan), Toy Story 3, Grown Ups (Adam Sandler), The Last Airbender, Despicable Me, Inception (Leonardo DiCaprio), Ramona and Beezus (Selena Gomez), Dinner for Schmucks (Steve Carell), Get Low (Robert Duvall), Flipped, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Anna Kendrick), Lottery Ticket (Bow Wow), Easy A (Emma Stone), Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole (Hugo Weaving), Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (Michael Douglas), Secretariat (Diane Lane), Hereafter (Matt Damon), Morning Glory (Rachel McAdams), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1, Tangled, The King’s Speech (Colin Firth), The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Fighter (Mark Wahlberg), How Do You Know? (Reese Witherspoon), True Grit (Jeff Bridges), Gulliver’s Travels (Jack Black), and Blue Valentine (Michelle Williams). I might have seen the last few in 2011, since they were released in December, but I’m not going to draw that line since I can’t remember. There are more bad films here than great (Valentine’s Day couldn’t end quickly enough). I’m going with Blue Valentine first, Scott Pilgrim second, and Harry Potter third.
  4. Which television programs debuting in 2010 did you rather enjoy?
    Not much to choose from here. I definitely watched Hot in Cleveland and Hawaii Five-0. The former was bad but it starred Valerie Bertinelli so I kept watching it. The latter was decent but I lost interest after a few episodes.
  5. Which events in 2010 bring back good memories?
    It was a good football season. I incorrectly predicted the Steelers would beat the Packers in the Super Bowl, but I liked the Packers better, so I was pleased by the result. I’ve mixed feelings about this because Aaron Rodgers is better at putting the football exactly where he wants than any QB I’ve ever seen, and the stupid Packers haven’t done a good job of putting good players around him, and it’s still the only Super Bowl Rodgers has won. They are wasting an amazing talent.

Friday 5: 家

From here.

  1. In what forms of housing have you resided?
    There were a few places in two states I don’t remember, so I’m answering beginning with ages 3 and 4, the earliest I can recall.
    At least two two-story houses as part of multi-home units (military housing)
    Three two-story single-family houses
    Two one-story single-family houses
    Four walk-up apartments
    One two-story single-family mansion that was my off-campus dorm
  2. What are the best and worst things about the location of your home?
    The best are that it’s very quiet and still very close to city things. The worst is that I sorta have to get into my car for everyday things. I’ve gone a few periods without wheels, so “have to” is too strong a word, but it’s very, very inconvenient without a car.
  3. Where would you keep a second home if you could have one?
    I have two ideas. One is a small house in Cooperstown, New York, where the National Baseball Hall of Fame is. The other is a smallish lake in sort of the same area, where I spent a summer with R and her father. One day, when I become filthy stinking rich from being a writer for a nonprofit, I’m going to find a realtor to find me a home on a lake like this one. Not huge, but not tiny, with a no-motorcraft rule. This rule makes a huge difference. People paddle canoes or row boats, but there are no jetskis or motorboats.
  4. How well would you adapt to permanent RV life?
    I would mostly adapt very well, but I have a tendency to accumulate stuff. I think this would be the toughest adjustment. I’d easily limit my book collection. However, I’m very attached to my music collection. I think I could manage with what I own now, actually — I just wouldn’t be able to grow it very much. I’d have to give something up for everything I picked up. Doable. And probably worth it for the life of a nomad. I have a friend who lives in a bus, and I’m envious whenever he posts photos on IG.
  5. What’s the prettiest thing to look at within five miles of your residence?
    I think Ala Moana, the beach where I swim a couple of times a week, is six miles away, so I’m going to say the waterfront behind Aloha Tower, especially late in the day. In the year before I started working at the nonprofit, I walked there a lot, just to enjoy the view. The water isn’t the sort you’d want to swim in, however, and there’s no beach. It’s very industrial. But boy, is it pretty.

Friday 5: State change

From here.

  1. What recently caused you to boil?
    I’m going to stay away from national current events because that’s too easy, and focus on my personal life. Bloody Wednesday at work, a few weeks ago when our leadership laid off ten percent of my awesome coworkers, was devastating and infuriating at the same time. It’s been a month, and we’re still dealing with it. The devastating part is obvious, but the infuriating part is that even though nobody can really predict a pandemic or what it’s going to do to a nonprofit organization, getting to a point where you have to cut loose ten people, ten awesome people, some of whom have been with the organization for decades, is a failure by leadership. I know these things often cannot be helped, but someone is responsible, and it’s never, ever the responsible people who lay themselves off. Perhaps it’s a built-in unfair reality of doing business, especially in a profit-driven world where a nonprofit works on the thinnest of margins, but that doesn’t change the unfairness of it, and I’ve a right to be angry. Which I am.
  2. What often causes you to freeze?
    I don’t know what things are like in other places, but in some cultures here it’s socially normal to give everyone a kiss when you greet them in social settings. Say, at a picnic. Someone shows up and walks around greeting everyone with a kiss. If it’s a guy, he shakes hands or fist-bumps the guys, but he kisses the women. If it’s a woman, she kisses everyone. I like kissing women as much as the next guy, unless the next guy is Joe Biden, but I freeze up every time this happens. Thankfully, it seems to be happening less and less, but man. Sometimes it happens in a group of people you don’t know very well. Super stressful. Aaaaaand sometimes (albeit rarely these days) it happens in the conference room at work. Yikes. And no thank you. Honestly, it’s more often a hug, but I’m almost nearly as terrified of the hugs as the kisses.
  3. When did something evaporate into thin air?
    For Christmas, my sister gave me this cast-iron griddle I love but haven’t used yet. She threw in a couple of amazing oven mitts, and I adore them. I never knew I needed oven mits that only go up to your wrists, made of some heavy-duty fabric but with silicone on the part of the hands and fingers where you grip stuff. The silicone has grippy bumps too. I have these enormous cloth-lined silicone oven mitts that go up to my elbows. They’re great for getting a broiling pan out of the oven, but practically useless for getting a small bowl out of the microwave oven. These little hands-only oven mitts are great for that kind of thing, and I’m dexterous enough in them that I can twist off stubborn jar lids or bottle caps with them. Anyway, I have difficulty keeping track of them for some reason. They’re there, and then they’re not there. Maddening!
  4. What recently caused you to melt?
    I’ve been watching Anna Kendrick in Noelle lately, just for the feel-good. Anna plays Noelle, Santa Claus’s daughter. She tries to convince her brother, the heir to the red suit, to return to the North Pole to claim his title, but he’d rather teach yoga in Arizona. It’s a silly movie completely absent any cynicism or darkness, but I love it. And Noelle has these moments where she extends grace and compassion to people who need it (and who doesn’t need it?). There are a few scenes that have teared me up ever since the first time I watched it, but now I get teary in almost all these instances. Noelle’s gift for listening to people so they know they’re being heard and sympathized with is amazing, the kind of thing we are all charged to do, and she demonstrates how easy it really is. And there’s this silly that’s-what-Christmas-means-to-me speech that’s written specifically to make you cry, and of course I resist that entirely, but the last five times I’ve watched the movie I just let it go, melting right into the living room carpet.
  5. Among United States you haven’t visited, which would you most like to check out next?
    It’s obviously going to be a long time before I can do it, but I’ve got my eyes on Ohio, with Illinois and Missouri second and third, mostly for reasons related to professional sports. Each of these states has two Major League baseball teams loaded with history and lore. Ohio is in first because it also has the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, which I really need to visit. The music festival I most want to attend someday is in Atlanta every fall (except this fall), so Georgia’s on the radar too.

Friday 5: She’s going the distance; she’s going for speed

Haven’t done this for a while. From here.

  1. What’s your favorite cake?
    I’m not a huge cake guy. I prefer pie. But if there’s a good cake around and I’m craving something sweet, I’ll partake. The best cake I ever had was at someone’s birthday party at Ice Palace when I was in high school. It was amazing. Just a regular white cake with white icing, but from a high-end bakery that I don’t think exists anymore. I remember thinking, “Wow. I need to re-think my concept of cake.” However, since that’s not available the best cake I can think of is the chocolate cake with chantilly frosting at Liliha Bakery, although the same cake at Zippy’s is just about as good.
  2. When did you last have pancakes?
    Last month or the month before, I picked up a Denver omelette at Pancakes and Waffles on my way back from the beach, with a short stack. The pancakes are quite good there.
  3. When did you last bake a cake or a cake-like thing?
    Oh, I made a mug cake a few weeks ago! In the microwave. It was really good. I think I’ll make another sometimes this long weekend.
  4. What part of your job is a piece of cake?
    General copy-editing is pretty easy for me. I have a knack for making other people’s writing readable. If the source material isn’t terrible, I don’t usually have to focus much — I can listen to music and even converse with others while I do it.
  5. Where have you had a really good cupcake?
    There are some good cupcake shops on this island, but my favorite were from a food truck called The Girls Who Bake Next Door. They have a store now, and have retired the truck. It’s kind of near my house actually. I should drop in.

EDIT: Darn it, I forgot the bonus question.

Bonus question: What are your thoughts on icing?
Mostly I prefer a cupcake without it, and a regular cake with very little. I had a couple of students who would often bring cupcakes (or better: mini cupcakes!) to school, and they would save a couple with no frosting for me. “Don’t touch that one!” they would say to their classmates. “That’s for Mr. D!”

Also, I was reading another Friday 5 respondent’s answers, and she reminded me that strawberry cake is a thing. I’ve had some great strawberry cakes made with strawberry soda. That might actually be my favorite.