Or a song playing at the grocery store that reminded them of when they were five on the 4th of July. It could be the song they played at a middle-school assembly. They’re like me in the fact that sometimes, you get a song in your head and you can’t remember who sang it or the title. With friends, I’m going to try and give them YouTube playlists. I’ve found photos of him in a school play and his championship season with his basketball team. This service also has newspapers from my dad’s hometown. I’m writing about the 1970s and ’80s and sometimes need info about the Bay Area/San Francisco that can be found thanks to issues of The San Francisco Examiner. It was expensive ($110) but I decided it was necessary. My dad is tricky, but I’ve already come up with a solution: months ago when I had money, I invested in a year-long subscription to to do research for my memoir. This is mostly so we don’t end up like the people in the SNL Amazon Echo Silver sketch, with Kenan Thompson’s elderly gentleman banging on the Echo saying “Them kids got me a busted machine again! Odessa!” Mostly we’ve been requesting songs for Alexa to play (who knew you could request Rita Hayworth’s “Put the Blame on Mame” to play on Amazon Echo? Not us!) Mom is covered: Alexa lessons. Thanks to my mother’s best friend, I received an Amazon Echo as a belated graduation gift (I graduated with an MFA in Writing and Publishing in May) After setting it up, I decided I’m giving my mother a joint gift for both of us: we’re going to learn how to use Echo and our new bestie, Alexa. This is when I tell my friends and family to stop reading! You will ruin the surprise! However, my current financial status means no physical presents for my friends and family, with the exception of an anthology I’m in and have several copies of (and if you haven’t gotten Chicken Soup for the Empowered Woman, get it for the woman in your life! Only $10.99!) So I have to be a little creative, gift-wise. Thanks to freelance gigs and family members, I have enough to eat and a roof under my head. Every Tuesday near where I live, I see people line up at the Salvation Army for a box of food. The good news is I’ll be working the tax season at the IRS, but that starts in February. A couple of job opportunities didn’t come through, so I have enough to pay bills and that’s it. I’m not saying this to get sympathy or scorn. This year I find myself in a unique position: I’m broke, so giving physical gifts simply isn’t in the cards.
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