Get On YOur Feet

As I work on this post it is very late and outside I hear the peepers (itty bitty little frogs) that are singing their hearts out by the thousands all along the bay.

We went to the  "tasting" of a friends new restaurant across the street from the bay. Lovely place, good food, a huge bar shaped like a treasure chest.. ocean views.  We had a good time.

I am going to join in for  Saturday 9  hosted by Sam Winters.

  GET ON YOUR FEET (1989)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) In this song, Gloria Estefan encourages us to stand up and make it happen. What's something you want to accomplish this fine Saturday?

To make a success of a new  university course I am taking.  I have begun courses at Hillsdale College.

2) She sings that we've all been through some nasty weather. How has winter 2021/22 treated you thus far (weather wise)?

Pretty good.  I hate complaining about weather as I have mentioned before.    I am tired of hearing all the whining about it .    Too cold.. then too hot.  Let's just get on with life.

3) Best known as a recording artist, Gloria is also a best-selling author of children's books. When you were a kid, were you a big reader?

Oh absolutely NOT! I hated reading.  I was a great reader and read on a high level even in elementary school but I couldn't be bothered with things like Little House or the Bobsie Twins or whatever they were.

I liked Archie Comics etc.  I read some movie magazines.  I did read the Encyclopedia Britannica, and I read a large number of books on  Amer-Indians and  anthropology as a kid.   

In high school I read Shakespeare but I really can't tolerate most novels. I like Robert B Parker only because he cuts to the chase.    I read a lot online now and I have a rather big library of books at home all of which are well read.   But as a kid I wanted to be out being active.

 

4) In addition to music and writing, she's a linguist. As a college student, she supported herself as an English/French/Spanish translator at Miami International Airport. When were you most recently at an airport? Were you traveling yourself, or picking someone up/dropping them off?

I picked up a friend from Texas at Thanksgiving time and dropped off again after a week.

5) Gloria made her acting debut in 1999's Music of the Heart, a Meryl Streep movie about music teachers in Harlem. Did you have music classes in school? Have you ever taken private lessons?

 Our school system began music classes in kindergarten and they continued until the senior year of high school.   Every student learned to read music and to play a simple flute. Other instruments were also available and we had singing classes as well.     

I took private singing lessons  for a long time from a lady who sang with the Metropolitan Opera.

My grandmother played  pipe organ and was also a piano teacher. My mother and father also played very well.   I learned by watching them.

6) Today Gloria is one of the celebrity residents of Star Island, a man-made island in Biscayne Bay. Star Island is connected to the mainland by MacArthur Causeway, named for General Douglas MacArthur. Tell us about a street in your neighborhood, and who it's named for.

Most streets here are girl's first name and things that have to do with the ocean and  the seashore. 

Bay Ave, Albatross, Bayview, Beach, Bittern, Blue Heron, Bowsprit, Driftwood, Harbor Inn, ... you get the idea.

The bridge connecting us with the barrier island is the Barnegat Bridge as mentioned in the  Four Seasons song "My Eyes Adored You".. but its real name is the Thomas A Mathis Bridge .

Wikipedia says that Mathis was a racketeer! 

 (June 7, 1869 – May 18, 1958) was an American politician and the Republican boss and racketeer of Ocean County, "

7) 1989, the year "Get on Your Feet" was popular, was the year of the first HDTV broadcast. By 1998, high-def shows and TVs were dominant. How many TVs are in your home? Do you watch shows on your computer or phone?

 I now have 2 big screen TVs.. one in the living room and one in the new guest room which used to be the master bedroom.   I watch things on YouTube.

8) Also in 1989, The Simpsons premiered. It's now the longest-running prime-time TV show ever. Are you a fan?

Yes.  I have always liked the program!

9) Random question: Should husbands wear their wedding rings?

 If they wish to it certainly would be nice.   Some men don't wear them for work reasons but now they make rings that are safe etc.  No one  of the men in our family ever wore them.