Scraps and Such 02: The Weekly Hodgepodge

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From Volume 577:

What's a popular food you don't like? 

Pumpkin spiced anything.  I find pumpkin spice rather bitter no matter what it's in.  Pumpkin itself has an odd flavor (having a "whang" to it is how we refer to it in the South).  For some reason, if pumpkin is in cookies or bread, it doesn't taste bad.  I'm sure there's some food science explanation for it, but I have no idea.

From Volume 578

What was your favorite part about growing up in your hometown? 

I grew up in a small town where the neighbors knew each other.  Our neighborhood would spend a lot of time outside -- the kids playing and the adults conversing with or greeting each other from the front porch. Speaking of the front porch...

He ain't lying.

What's a favorite item you've purchased this year? 

I'll go into more details about my 2024 purchases in my year-end review, BUT one of my favorite purchases this year was a set of inexpensive acrylic paint markers.  NOTE:  Okay, technically I bought them in December of 2023 (according to Amazon), but I didn't start using them until 2024.  Though my painting skills continue to improve, some of the smaller details are still difficult with brushes.  I'm enjoying using these markers in conjunction with brushes to get the effects I want.

From Volume 579

A favorite way to give back and help others?

Maybe this is nitpicky, but I don't care for the phrase "give back."  It implies that I have "taken from" someone or something and need to atone for it with insincere generosity bred out of fear. 

To answer the question, though it is not my only means of giving, creativity is my favorite way to bless others.  From making baby items for a crisis pregnancy center to creating handmade cards for Cards for Kindness, pouring my arts and crafts skills into brightening the day of a stranger fills my bucket as well.

Holiday movies...tell us your favorite and what it is about the film that makes you love it. Is it the film itself or a memory it stirs? 

Each Christmas season, I watch several iterations of Dickens' A Christmas Carol.  My favorite will always be the George C. Scott version from the early 80s.  Taking a close second and third are the Patrick Stewart version and The Muppet's Christmas Carol. A very well done 4th place goes to Ebbie:  a 90s adaptation of the story with Susan Lucci as Elizabeth Scrooge.

The story fascinates me (I read the book nearly every year also).  I suppose Scrooge would be an example of learning to "give back" since his miserly and selfish ways do take from his community--he turns a blind eye to the truly needy and begrudgingly pays his employee, Bob Cratchit, crap wages.  His redemption and generosity at the end (though he has slightly displaced motives) are the most enjoyable parts of the story--in both film and book form.

Insert your own random thought here. 

In case you missed it:  

• My previous Hodgepodge post:  "Chocolate Seasoning" is here.
• My latest book review "2024 Full Shelf Challenge V. 2: 05" is here.
• My latest First Line Friday post: "#24 - The Power of Thank You by Joyce Meyer" is here.
• My "24 in 2024" post is here.
• My 2024 reading challenge:  "Full Shelf Challenge V.2" is here.
• My latest series on my Auntie's Workshop blog "30 Day Art Challenge 2024" starts here.