Sunday Stealing

June 29, 2013

I didn't check this for any grammar or spelling.  It's really 12:03 and I've been awake a long, long time!
summertime meme
Welcome back to Sunday Stealing which originated on WTIT: The Blog authored by Bud Weiser. Here we will steal all types of memes from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent memes. You may have heard of the expression, “honor amongst thieves”. In that age-old tradition, we also have our rules. First, we always credit the blog that we stole it from and we will “fess up” to the blog owner where we stole the meme. We also provide a link to the victim's post. (It's our way of saying "Thanks!") We do sometimes edit the original meme, usually to make it more relevant to our global players, to challenge our players, sometimes to select that meme's best questions, or simply to make it less repetitive from either this new meme or recently asked questions from a prior featured meme.
Let's go!!!

This week's questions come from Academic Cog and she wrote the questions herself because she hadn't seen a summer meme in a long time.

1.) What first tells you that Summer is here?  Summer arrives for me in mid June, and school is out for three months.  We don't actually have seasons in So Cal, which is especially true for San Diego.  We have what is called  a Wet and a Dry, like in Australia.  I know this because I used to spend up to six months at a time at my grandparents farm in the Midwest,until I was five years old, and know what winter and Fall are like in the real world.. 

2.) Name your five favorite distinctively Summer habits or customs.  Sandals, shorts, wetting down my clothes to stay cool on days when it's a hundred degrees outside, going down to the beach to stay cool, getting up early to make food to eat, like potato or pasta salads and stick them into the fridge.

3.) What is your favorite smell of Summer?  The Ocean at Sunset Cliffs.

4.) What is your favorite taste of Summer?  I love potato salad.

5.) Favorite Summer memory?  I love the one summer we took our kids to Sequoia and King's Canyon - before it was ruined by clear cutting- and spent three weeks there.

6.) Extreme heat or extreme cold? Which would you choose and why?  I would choose either one if I could live in an earth sheltered home 15 feet under the surface.  The choice between too extremes is hardly any choice at all, frankly.

7.) What books do you plan to read for the season?  The rest of Jane Smiley's newest ones, and maybe a new Annie Proulz or two.  I also want to read the books I've left behind this Fall and Winter - the ones in the side bar.

8.) What is your favorite part of summer? 
I like being able to eat cooler foods.  I like going down to get fish and chips at Point Loma Seafoods and not have to sit outside freezing my buns off.


9.) What's your favorite quintessentially summer food? As  I said, Potato salad,  Cold cereals, Salads of any kind, and fried fish.  Least favorite?  I really don't like coleslaw all that much unless it's Pinot Grigeo slaw.

10.) Best beverage to beat the summer heat:  Iced tea, Sweet!  I make mine in a quart mason jar in the fridge from two Tetley tea bags, two Earl or Lady greys, all of it decaf- and one lemon ginger tea bag.  Yummy stuff!

11.) Least favorite/most annoying thing related to summer?  The extreme heat.  I don't like it.  Also, I find not being able to get into or out of  La Jolla in summer.  Too crowded.

12.) Pick one: the lake /the beach.  Beach.  I am a sea creature.  I love to watch it and smell the air coming off the surf and be in it if I can be.

13.) Most amusing summer vacation trip you've ever taken?  As a kid we never went anywhere at all, the reason being we had no money, mostly.   One year I did get to go see my Colorado cousins though and that was fun.  All the kids rode bundled up in the bed of the pickup and dad and two uncles rode in the cab.  We got there in 18 hours, flying very low.  It surely was cold in Steamboat Springs, once a tiny Rocky Mountain town, even though it was summertime.  

14.) Most ridiculous/cringe-inducing/blush-provoking summer outfit you have seen? (Bonus points if you yourself were wearing it!)   I was in Venice one year - the one by Santa Monica, not Italy - and a man skated by wearing nothing but a purple thong.  He smiled at me,  I blushed at him, and he was thoroughly happy about it.

15.) Your absolute dream summer afternoon would be to be at Agate Beach with my hubby and kids and Wolfie.

16.) If you could go anywhere on summer vacation where would you go?  Santa Cruz.  There's no other place on earth like it, with the possible exception of Torrey Pines Preserve.  In Santa Cruz, I'd go watch the break off the cliffs, and then we'd all go have something to eat at Seabright Brewery.  Yum!

Free to Vote- Not a Wordless Wednesday- flowers too

Free to Vote

This isn't politics, this is civil rights in a Democracy.  Yes, a joke of a democracy but a democracy nonetheless.  This thing is another big chunk out of our democracy, if it sticks.  We need everyone voting, and not being shut out because they are too old, too infirm, or even too illiterate to jump through all the hoops that will now be set in their paths.

On the face of this new ruling, it looks like something good, weeding out the people who don't belong in the voting booth.  But it's a lot more sinister than that.  Look to Florida, or even Ohio in recent times.  We don't need this kind of trouble in a troubled nation.

I've got some medical stuff to do.  But I'll be back soon enough.  

I put up a cheery little flower header and here is bouquet from the "Way-Back Machine":

Sunday Stealing.. super moon tomorrow.

Super moon tomorrow morning.

Last Year from the National Geographic page Linked above

Get ready to take your snapshot.  It happens several times a year, but this one is a full moon.

If I Won 100 Million Dollars Meme
Welcome back to Sunday Stealing which originated on WTIT: The Blog authored by Bud Weiser. Here we will steal all types of memes from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent memes. You may have heard of the expression, “honor amongst thieves”. In that age-old tradition, we also have our rules. First, we always credit the blog that we stole it from and we will “fess up” to the blog owner where we stole the meme. We also provide a link to the victim's post. (It's our way of saying "Thanks!") We do sometimes edit the original meme, usually to make it more relevant to our global players, to challenge our players, sometimes to select that meme's best questions, or simply to make it less repetitive from either this new meme or recently asked questions from a prior featured meme.
Let's go!!!


This week's questions come from BackTalkk Quotes. They didn't say where they got it, but it was probably stolen as well.

IF I WON 100 MILLION DOLLARS....   


OOOOO play money!!!! Let's play!  Let's see, that's about 1/1500 of the cost of a B1 Bomber.

Iron Cross Speech by Dwight D. Eisenhower

Ok, now for some fantasy fun!

What kind of car would you buy? 

I'd buy several.  Some Tiny Scion iQs in several colors

See Stats HERE

 and some tiny Fiat 500e cars, colors I liked

Picture from HERE

these for me and any of my "kids" who want one.  Nieces, friends, etc.



Where in the country would you move to?
I'd buy a space in a trailer park in Santa Cruz.

What kind of house would you buy?  
The kids can pick what they want. For myself, I would buy a studio space somewhere up there.  To that studio, on five acres of land, I would attach a sanctuary for dogs and cats, rescued from shelters, with a well paid and trained staff and attendants for every 12 animals to insure that they all got loving play and attention. 

Would you give your family any money?  
Yes, if they needed it, I would.

What charity would you donate to?
Why just one?  Let's start with this one:

And after that there would be Oxfam, Soldier's Charities, Women For Women, US Humane Society, the Ti Na Nog Horse Sanctuary, San Diego Audubon, Audubon USA, Green Peace, and Parkinson's research, Native American charities. And these are not in any particular order.

Would you give your friends any money?
Absolutely, if they wanted it.   I like making things for friends and when I'm not petting dogs and cats I can be making things in a bright new studio for friends.

Where would you go on vacation?  
I'd visit friends in Alaska, British Columbia, Vancouver, Washington, Oregon, Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota, and Texas.  Maybe more!

What luxury item would you buy first?  
The cars.  I know, I'm boring, I can't imagine a luxury anything.  Oh wait, I'd get a better camera.  Yes, that.  And I want to plant a lot of flowers everywhere!! I'd give money to the Urban Guerrilla Gardeners and go with them on their planting adventures.  I like night recon, a lot!  Dress up!

Would it change your life?  
It would.  A lot. That's a lot of money to be responsible for, eh?

Would you save any of it?  
Most of it would be going into a trust fund to support whatever I started for animals or little kids, like schools on the rez with Native American teachers, if they wanted either.  Serious stuff.  It needs to be protected and last longer than I do.  Social change is what I'm after.

Would it change your current relationship?
I hope it wouldn't. My hubby is the one I want to be with until I drop off the twig.

Would you quit your job?
I'm a crafter so I'll never quit working, happily.  I love craft.

Would you ever work again?
For someone else, no, but since I'm a crafter I could make REALLY nice things and give them away.

What one task would you never do again?  
I'd never have to clean my tile floors again, never have to work around craft storage again, or dust for that matter. 

What dream of yours would you be able to do?  
Giving away lots of money to worthy causes. Being able to step in and to do a matching of donations for the Environmental movement and others.

Would you change the way you dress?
No.  I'm sooooo beyond that part of life that it's unthinkable for me.

Would you change anything about your body?  
No, now if I were 50 I might get a face peal.

Would you miss anything about not being rich?  
I would miss being relatively anonymous and so boring no one wants to meet me.

Who would be the first person you tell?
DH and then I would thank who ever gave me such a fabulous chance!  Then, I would thank The Diety for the chance to do this HUGE thing.

Would it bring you happiness?
I'm already pretty content and settled in my mind so, no, I really don't think so.  Are you giving it away soon? 

 hehehe.. thanks for the fun and the chance to play multi-millionaire!
 

Saturday Komeekz, chit chat about this and that...

I give her thumbs about another two years before they fall off.

Texting is very bad for the thumbs.  You have been warned.  heehee

Good Lord, is it really June 22nd already?

About a third of the sample fabrics are stripped down and ready to sew into totes or purses.  I've decided that  I have to dig into the denim jeans box and other storage places here and there, to see if denim's a good choice for the bottoms.  Maybe I'll have to beg for some of DH's black jeans.  Hmmm?  Wish me luck!

After fitness today, I just read my Smiley book and tried to talk myself into reading the Tomes.  They are so depressing but that may be one of the reasons that History repeats itself.   Everyone is so depressed about how the ever present and seemingly too healthy to die young powermongers keep doing.  Like they build the huge fortunes for themselves that go just exactly where when they die?  The rest of us are scraping by trying to leave something for the kids we dragged into the world.

I think I'll go hunt down an honest FBI agent and give him or her a hug.  Don't you think that's a good place to find honest people?

Friday bit's and pieces. Bitchy Resting Face....And a picture of baby dove resting on my rockingchair.

LOL!  It's not your fault.  There really isn't any cure, either.  Hahahahaha

I've got it, and to tell the truth, it has saved my life more times than I care to count.

And, the baby dove came back after two nights somewhere else.  I saw a parent dove on the end of the garden post today, so thought the baby might be around.  The garden post is an old fence post from decades ago.  It's one that the girls had marked with hand prints; we saved it and installed it in the raised bed. 

Here's the baby, waiting to be fed, at dusk, by his/her parent.  The picture is grainy because it was nearly twilight.  I pumped a lot of light into it.

It has since flown away to roost in a safer place

Craft report:  I've started peeling all the paper tops off the samples and it's going to take a long time.  I'm grateful for having them to make totes or purses for family and friends.  It will help me to have small projects with long straight lines to sew!  The doll clothes pattern is finally all ironed onto backing and cut out.  The pieces are quite maddeningly small, but very cute.   I hope to get to cut out and sew on them as soon as other projects are done.  We'll see!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.   Beauty is everywhere so remember to look around for it.  You all are in my prayers every day, especially those of you who are troubled or are in harm's way and far away from home.   

Thankful Thursday, the IMF and Greece...

I'm thankful that the 600 ton Gorilla had to apologize, even though it came just a little late!

"It makes it easier for the Greek government to say 'slow down all on these measures' that have led to six years of recession and record high unemployment," said Theodore Couloumbis from the ELIAMEP foreign policy think-tank.  "It's like going to a doctor who's been treating you for cancer when you fundamentally had Parkinson's and the doctor says, 'I'm sorry.'"

Poor little Greece, the Whipping Boy Europe and of the IMF.  

Theodore, ask them about what they did to places like Jamaica and Haiti and Thailand.  Ask them about Economic Hitmen.  

With the IMF operating, who needs any Mafiosi? 

Reuter's Article HERE

For reading this far, you get a flower picture!

Indian Hawthorne, at the Rec Center this Winter

 

Wordless Wednesday, Oregon Rhododendron, a friend's picture.

Thank you for sharing, C and Mrs. C.!

Tuesday Tails. Baby dove twin settles in. Tort report. Oregon pond's Canada Goose and the Woodducks. Ceramics report...

A week or so ago, a Cooper's Hawk, camping our fence, made off with one of the baby doves.  But, the second one, now a juvenile, is still with it's parents,  and it's taken to roosting on my rocking chair outside under the shade patio. I wasn't early enough this AM to get a picture of the newly minted juvenile dove -parents still feed it and stay near it at night - but I'll try again to get some snaps before posting this tonight.

Tort Report:  The remaining two baby  torts are going to be going outside soon, into the baby cage we kept Lucky in, the 20 something, when he was a tot.  I hope they enjoy being out for a few hours a day to graze.  I was hoping to have some pictures, close ups, of Milagro and Dusty eating dirt, which they love to do, but we worked longer and harder at Ceramics than we meant to today.  The old molds came.

Ceramics report: We had a marathon day at ceramics today, hauling in from the parking lot, cleaning, labeling and finding shelving for approx 20 molds brought to us by the husband of a member who has passed away.  We gave some molds to a shop but kept some for ourselves to pour.  We old folk really worked our fandangos off!  The staff at the rec center helped us to transport the molds from the parking lot to the room, so we are very thankful for having the young folks around! 

Here are just a few of the molds we moved, cleaned, rebanded and put on the shelves.  When it was over we all said to each other that we were going home and taking naps!

What a job!

May You Walk with Beauty all around you:

 Friends in Oregon are volunteers at a beautiful place.  They took all the following Photos, plus the one of the gorgeous pink Rhodie in the last post.  This Canada Goose, as well as a group of North American Wood Ducks (and one straggler), were snapped by them this Spring. 

One straggler from another flock helping to eat the scattered grain.

That's all the tails I have on this Tuesday Tails day.  Hope you enjoyed the photos. Now I'm going to rest so I can go hunting with my Dragons!

Music Monday: Carol King and James Taylor.... "So Far Away" PLUS Bit's and Pieces of a Monday. Sunday Cinema One day late! Mon Dieu! Such a week!

But first the music....

Bit's and Pieces of a Monday:

Today, at the crack of dawn, I awoke to find that my tongue was still swollen.  This has been going on for a week and probably coincides with some recent rantings and bad words I've spewed at politicians.  I know they can spy on us but can they induce drone attacks of illness by way of some new invisible ray?  The tongue may have attracted such an attack, but I'm sure the other grumpy body parts are probably related to a cranky auto-immune that afflicts my wrists, knees and foot at the moment as well!

So, off to the dentist where I received excellent care and advise and some funny little packets of medicine (though they look like they could contain mustard or ketchup) to apply to the sores.  Being allergic to penicillin has turned out to be more fun than I EVER imagined it could be!  If I were still into shoes a trip to the shoe store would be a must!

Off to fitness instead, for a delayed visit, where I limped my way through a routine that saves my hands, but not my knees or foot.  It cuts them no slack whatsoever!  But, Gung Ho-ness is always the watchword in this house, so I packed in my plans to sit contentedly scribbling out words on the two daily crosswords, in order to avoid any "Wimp!" labels or muttered grumblings or even, God forbid, guilt! 

I must say, when I have forced myself to, "be all that I can be", I sort of feel better about being a lay about the rest of the day!  How about you?  Don't you love the entitlement that a sweat session at the gym, when you are gimpy, gives you?  You then have the totally American Constitutional Right to do whatever you fracking well please the rest of the day! 

I think I'll go watch "Amelie" again.  Gee loaned it to me, and I LOVE it!  It's the best art film I've seen in ages.  It's R rated, of course, and subtitled.  Happily, my French is coming back to me! 

But Beware!   No children under the age of 21 should read this or see "Amelie".  Mon Dieu!

Sunday Stealing-- Weird Question Meme (part two)

Stolen from Sunday Stealing and in their words:

"This week's questions come from Do These Shoes Match This Purse? Maggie doesn't say where she got it, but it was probably stolen there as well."

What is your ring size? depends on the time of day - it's six, usually.

How often do you wear jewelry?  I wear my little bits and pieces every day - small earrings, a special ring for my departed darlings, wedding band, couple of silver ones(one with a tiny turquoise) etc. Though I sometimes make it for others as gifts, I'm a very plain Jane about wearing it.

When was the last time you consumed alcohol?

 Mother's Day. Big mistake. And, though I love Margaritas, it won't happen again.

Any big plans for the summer? Kids coming.   And, we will remodel the shade patio and replace the cover. We also do Beach stuff. We live in a tourist trap.

What is your favorite comfort food? Potato chips. Love the things.

These are the best!  EVER!

Do you prefer broccoli or asparagus? I actually prefer both! Asparagus has to be fresh so only in Spring do we get any of it. Sad. :-(

What color are your bedroom walls? They are dark green, leaf green but dark,  like a forest.  There are trees on the drapes that I made for in there.  I love it!

With whom do you live? Hubby, doggie, torts, ghosts- hehe.

Which Star Wars movie is your favorite? The first one.

How about Harry Potter? Our BIL gave us all his extra copies of them when he got blu-rays. I guess I  really like the first few.  But then, all that silly broom flight in "games" just didn't turn me on.

What was the last movie you saw in theaters? It has been ages and I just don't remember the title.

Did you get the popcorn or candy? I've never had good popcorn at theaters. For that, I go to the Zoo. They have good popcorn.

What is the most romantic text in your inbox?  Huh?  "Should I buy those Chips you like?"  That's love, true love. 

Have you ever played miniature golf on a date? Yes, I actually hated golf but love miniature golf. I like Pitch and Putt, too.

What’s a phrase you overuse? I probably over use, "Patak!" or maybe, " Merde!" under my breath.  When I get really mad I say, "Frack!"

Do you always use good grammar? I always try but I'm slipping a bit in my dotage, besides, the rules seem to be changing. Why do we not still say, "It was she." instead of saying, "It was her." ???? Even the Brits are doing it!

Do you have an accent or a speech impediment? No, but I can understand most people talking to me and in films, even Scots if you can believe it. I love accents, and wish I had a very nice South African one -or perhaps one from New Zealand.  Of course, Aussie accents just make Americans crazy.  I love that one, too.

What did you eat today? I had a scrambled egg burrito, and then for lunch, some organic apple sauce. This is another strange day for me.

What do you do at work? I don't work anymore.

Do you know the rules to any sports? Let's see:  I know the rules for volleyball, badminton, soccer, tennis, basketball, baseball, and American football.

Do you prefer to watch or play sports? Alas, I can no longer play. I only watch tennis, soccer and basketball if I get a chance to see them while walking on the treads.

What is your favorite kind of hat to wear?  I love straw hats, decorated with flowers or shells.

Do you pray? Yes I do, often.

To whom do you pray? to God, in the form of the Heavenly Father, the Angels, St. Michael, the Great Spirit.  Actually I may just be praying to whomever may be listening to me, I suppose. Demons?  Be careful what you ask for!

This is from HERE  Isn't it gorgeous?

 Here is my favorite Guido Reni.

Isn't it Beautiful? St. Michael killing Satan.

What is the closest mountain to your house?  It's a toss up between Mt. Laguna and Mt. Miguel.  Mt. Miguel is/was my favorite one before it sprouted all sorts of towers.  Now it's ugly.  There should be a law against defacing sacred mountains, imho!  *smooths feathers back down*
There are two other pretenders to mountainhood that are closer, one of which I do love a lot, too.

What size engine is in your vehicle?  It's a 6 cylinder putt putt.

Saturday Komeekz! B.C.

 And there you have it.  Recycling at it's best.....

Friday Pot shots... This is a Greg Palast Article on Vice Zine's Web Page because....

I am basically sick of Politicians. That is except for Elizabeth Warren, Barbara Boxer and a few others who still impress me with their honesty and bravery.

http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/the-drone-ranger-obamas-dirty-wars

Don't read it if you don't want to.  Just move on to the nicer stuff, and the fun stuff on the web.  This is not fun to read but it's a heartbreaker.

Me?  I'm going back to craft, like there is no tomorrow, because that was the reason I started this blog.

I want to be with the Angels, and I'm through with people who pretend to care but don't, really.

Chaussure De Foot (smu-fr.org, I will post more about the ZNet article if I find anything else.  Thanks for your interest.

Thankful Thursday, shopping therapy, and bits and pieces.

I'm thankful that I didn't know about the drones, and what they did, until a several months ago.  I am thankful that I'm old enough to know better than to think politics is anything but a tug of war and that there are much more important things to do with one's life.

I'm thankful for a patient DH who lets me spend money on things I might actually make when my hands are better.

Stuff for Illusion necklaces, I love the things.

I'm thankful people still care to read my blog, that my back has taken me this far in life and may actually have a few more Grande Battement left in it.

I'm thankful for having daughters who love me and are not so far away at all.  And I'm thankful that the Great Spirit sent Wolfie in dreams so we'd know who to go look for.

Thank you all for the comments on posts.  I will get back to you, lovely people!

Tom Foremski's OPed on ZDnet

I just cut and copied this from  ZDNet.  It's Tom Forenski's OPEd,  and I believe he's right. The odd thing is that before this was published, it already had 2 hits!   "I", said Hamlet, "smell a rat!"  I kid you not!  2 hits!  Scary isn't it?

How secure is the National Security Agency?

Many are concerned about the National Security Agency (NSA) collection of data on US companies and individuals and the very real possibility that it has a way of directly accessing the servers of the world's largest computing platforms: Google, Facebook, Microsoft, etc.
It's certainly a situation that deserves attention and concern. But what's missing in this discussion is this: how secure is the NSA's spying system?
If a foreign entity wanted to spy on US companies or individuals, would it try to tackle the problem directly by targeting the specific company or individual in its electronic spying attempts? It might, but that's a lot of work for an uncertain payoff.
A much more efficient approach would be to hack into a surveillance system that already has access to the information. Far better to hack into the NSA spying system at Google, or at Facebook, or at Microsoft (if such an NSA system exists, of course).

In early 2010 Google discovered that Chinese hackers had gotten into its systems. Who did it call to help deal with this problem? The NSA. [Google to enlist NSA to help it ward off cyberattacks.]
This puzzled me tremendously, why would Google, with its enormous brain trust of the world's top computer experts call on the NSA? Why didn't Google have the means, the expertise, to deal with this problem directly and solely?  It makes sense if it was the NSA's spying system that got hacked within Google.

The search giant knows its own systems and how they can be protected but it doesn't know the NSA's computer systems and how they protect themselves. It makes perfect sense to call in the NSA to help plug this hole because it's a hole created for the NSA which the NSA might have left vulnerable in some way.
The NSA also employs the world's top computer experts but it's not infallible. Everyone knows that there's no such thing as a completely secure system. The greater danger in the NSA's spying activities is not from the NSA itself, but from the many nefarious foreign national, and international criminal enterprises, that find a way to exploit the existing spy systems so thoroughly crafted, and so thoroughly extensive, that have been built by the NSA.

The danger from allowing the NSA to have deep access into the data systems of US companies is that that very system creates an enormous vulnerability that would not have existed. Hack into part of the NSA spy network and you have access to a mass of private data that would be near impossible to collect in any other way.
It's ironic that the NSA's activities to improve the security of the US have created the nation's largest security risk of them all.

Music Wednesday? Wordless Wednesday c/o of Pina

Tuesday Tails

I'm a little sad because the wren who had a night nest in my shade patio met with the neighbor's cat in it's back yard.  My sweet Wren was just barely alive when the neighbor brought it  to me, and I couldn't save it:

Rest in Peace, Tiny friend.  And, Please don't come back as a cat!  Coyotes, you know...


To happier things:
My hands are too messed up for me to do much typing or anything.  But my sister made me this beautiful box last week.

And, lastly but most importantly, a picture of a very lively Wolfie at the party for DH's 95 year old Mom.

DH and I got to meet one new family member and one possible who is a very nice fellow.  It was a great party, and we all enjoyed the four dogs that were there.  The dogs established that Wolfie was the grumpy old man, and that Tish was the Alpha Female, so all got along fine once Tish, a Maltese, realized that she was not the "Alfa  anything" in Wolfi's eyes, as her fighting weighing is about four pounds.

The other male, Mr. T., knew to whom to kowtow and proceeded to lick Tish all over as much as possible.  This insures his rank as second officer in command.  Wolfie could care less and let them know it.  He's not a good example for puppies and, happily, there were none there. 

Sunday stuff, Stealing, A pretty washcloth pattern from Simply Notable, etc .. whatever hit's my eye...

Stealing first, if it happens......Ah, I see that it did....


Weird Question Meme
Welcome back to Sunday Stealing which originated on WTIT: The Blog authored by Bud Weiser. Here we will steal all types of memes from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent memes. You may have heard of the expression, “honor amongst thieves”. In that age-old tradition, we also have our rules. First, we always credit the blog that we stole it from and we will “fess up” to the blog owner where we stole the meme. We also provide a link to the victim's post. (It's our way of saying "Thanks!") We do sometimes edit the original meme, usually to make it more relevant to our global players, to challenge our players, sometimes to select that meme's best questions, or simply to make it less repetitive from either this new meme or recently asked questions from a prior featured meme.
Let's go!!!


This week's questions come from Do These Shoes Match This Purse? Maggie doesn't say where she got it, but it was probably stolen there as well.

Do you wear slippers?  Yes, I wear them most of the time in the house.  Except summers, then I wear sandals.  I would love to be able to find the Brazilian Mules I used to wear all the time.  That would make me taller than a shrimp again.  Darn!  Why can't we import proper shoes, and from anywhere but Asia?  Not all women have narrow, little feet!

How many pictures are in your living room? One of my paintings  but we actually don't have a living room, per se.  There are framed posters in the other rooms, humming birds and one of sunflowers, and some photos from my kid around the other rooms.  There's a framed  Mutts comic in this room.  You can order reprints on nice paper on line.  I love Mutts.

Do you ever watch Brady Bunch reruns?  No, I never watched them the first time, either.  sorry

Are you allergic to anything?   Lots of environmentals and a couple of biggy pharmas. 

When was the last time you called in sick?  I never did that.  I was lucky enough to be able to quit jobs if things got unbearable.  My volunteer work was what I liked the very best.

Have you ever been in a car accident?  Yes, a very bad truck flip on a back road in the Sierras when I was a kid. 

What is your favorite snack food?  potato chips

 Have you ever seen a tornado? No, but they scare the living Bejeeebers out of me anyway.

 If you won a million dollars, what would you buy first? Two houses in Santa Cruz for my kids.  They would have to make payments but the big down would really help out.

What time is it right now?  Right now as I'm typing.  But, wait, you aren't talking about "Be Here Now" time, you are speaking clock face stuff.  Nearly midnight the day before.

Do you think it's cool for men to wear flip-flops?  Sure

How many pairs of shoes do you own?  Maybe eight, probably less if you count all of them, that goes from hiking boots to strappy dress sandals.  We just watched an episode of Black Books where they all go on vacation and the ONLY thing that Fran packs in her HUGE case is Shoes!  Lol!

Do you think you are a hypochondriac?   No, I have a real, quantifiable disease, two or three of them all auto-immunes that combine their super powers to defeat me but haven't quite managed the coup yet.

Do you own a dictionary?  We have four or five dictionaries, two English and the others in different languages.  Also, we have two in Klingon.

Where was the last place you went on vacation?   Heaven.  Actually Santa Cruz but it's very close to the divine place....

Do you talk about your friends behind their back?   No, Jesus would know, and forbids it, and gossip is something you must give up to be a good Taoist or Buddhist, too.  I really want to become a Real Human Being, but I have to "change my ways" to do it.  I'm working on it. 

Are you actually fat but in complete denial about it?  No, I'm strong, and that is because I train with a Marine.  Semper Fi!  That link goes to an organization that helps Marines who are struggling.

What color is your mouse pad?  I don't have one.  I hate them.  My desk is smooth and I keep it clean so the mouse stays happy.

Does your kitchen have a theme?  American Hickory and sort of American Craft.  I am a country girl.  My sister is the Victorian.

-------------------------------

Now the pattern and a pici.

It comes from Simply Notable HERE, and is the corrected pattern for these.  I am going to make mine from size 20 white crochet thread (or maybe it's 30?  I just don't remember what I have), only it's the stuff I used as comfort knitting after J died four years ago.  I still use that cloth for my face and love it.   

Happy Birthday Dear Bee!  We love you guys so much and hope your day is, and Elle's day was, very happy. 

Since this was written on Saturday, to get a little ahead of the game, I have to go make some potato salad for later.  It's going to be a MOB scene now, I'm told.  I'm bringing knitting and earplugs.

Tah!

Costa Rica Sea Turtles post.

I removed this because I didn't realize it was an appeal for funds.  I apologize for the mistake.

If you would like to read about the attack of five activists in Costa Rica,  the link is HERE  at Care2's site.

Saturday Komeeks,a Little Monster, and Happy Birthdays, too

Aaaannnnnddd, speaking of fish and other little creatures of the deep...

Here's a story, Via DH,  about a little monster so dangerous it had to be kept alone in the tank.  It ate EVERYTHING else in the tank.

Read about this little Monster HERE

 I guess this is one shrimp that nobody wants dares to eat.

Today is Ele's Birthday.   Tomorrow is Bee's.  Happy Birthdays to you both, and next year, a promise, we'll go have pizza together, or something very nice to eat somewhere, maybe Seabright Brewery? 

Wishing you each a Very Happy  Birthday!

The envelopes with mysterious markings have a lot of surprises in them, or rather one very big one.  Enjoy!

Friday Stuff...

Well, I don't know about you, but I reaaaaally miss Friday fill-ins, what can I say? That is one of the better ones, less obviously Xrated, at WeKnowMemes.  I'm not linking because I don't really dig the place that much.

As promised, here's a picture of part of the upholstery fabric sewing stash with which I have been gifted.  There is another almost full laundry basket in the closet.

This wonderful trove is doing it's best to cheer me up.   Big important birthdays are this weekend, and because of distance, we just can't be there.  Such is life.  Sometimes I think it would be nice to just be done with it all.  But then I get over it, and soldier on..... There is Beauty to be seen and photographed.

If you don't have anything else to live for, there is always beauty.  That's what the Great Spirit gave you binocular, color vision for, Me Beauties!   I just heard that humans are happiest when they can see sunrises.

HERE you go; you can float down through the Flickr River Sunrises

Thankful Thursday just under the wire....pant pant....

Today I went out to meet a couple with whom I'd chatted 6 months ago, for at least a half hour, over the patterns at JoAnn's, about the wonderful things that the wife was making with sample scraps.  She was wearing a beautiful little vest and carrying a lovely handbag, both made from the samples.

Well, last night the wife called and asked me if I was still interested in having some of these samples.  They still collect the materials  because otherwise all of it would end up in the trash. 

What I'm thankful about, today, is that the wonderful thing happened, they brought by bags and bags of sample upholstery fabrics still on their little hooks, for me to churn out articles of delight - meaning purses, toys, and tote bags, and perhaps even a vest or two.  These nice people do this for a long list of groups and individuals.  I feel so honored to be getting some of it!

He was a teacher of shop classes for years and years, and while doing this he came across a whole roomful of sewing machines that had been discarded because Home EC was cancelled at the High School he taught at, if I'm remembering this right.

So, mechanic and amazing person that he was, he started fixing the machines.  The next step was logical and simple.  He decided that making presentation bags for the gifts that his students were creating, in wood or metal shop, for their Moms was the best use of this bounty IF only he could find fabric.  In addition, he reckoned, his students could learn to sew.

Well, together, this amazing couple found the needed fabric in cast offs at the backs of stores and the rest is history.  Several thousands of little bags later, our paths crossed over the purse patterns sale at JoAnn's and as I said, I am now in possession of a treasure trove of sample fabric thingas.  And, I am so so thankful for this thing called Kismet!

It's gives me such a good feeling to know that such people are out there and working hard to make other people's lives happier while saving wonderful bits of fabric from the land fills.  Tomorrow afternoon I'll put up some snaps of my treasure.  I couldn't be happier if I were twins. 

Wordless Wednesday.. two views..

Evening before

Monday at Dawn

UPDATED...Tuesday Tails. Birds and tiny torts up out of the sand.

The newest members of the dove family are calling out to their parents in their short, baby coos.  They are on the roof of the eaves just outside the window of the room I'm in right now.  It's evening and soon the babies will have to brave another night.   Last night one of them wanted to bed down right outside my sliding glass door.  I shooed it away so that it would find a better and safer place to roost for the night.  Mourning doves are prolific, and it's a good thing.

Mourning Doves, very closely related to the Passenger Pigeon,  face feral cats while trying to raise their fledglings, who always go to ground when they leave the nest.  Cats, both roaming pets and feral, are a predator the doves were not faced with until about 200 years ago.  Doves are thousands of years old as a species.

We also have a House Wren who is keeping a night nest in one of the ferns.  I saw and heard it last evening while sitting quietly by an open slider screen.  Birds are just the best thing to watch!

I love Cornell's Bird ID Pages - Whoot!  Wait, that's an owl.

Here's a Little Cutie for your Cuteness file.  I know you all have one.  What better use of the web is there?

And Thank you's go to Diana, a reader, who sent this to me:

She shared it from The Sacred Feminine for Life Blog

 

Music Monday ... The Air That I Breathe...The Hollies, and an old yellow Eppy blooms for the first time in years.

This is for DH.



This beautiful song came out of the 60's.  I love 60's Music.


I'm off for awhile.  I have to move my SR around to take advantage of better light.  I hope to pop into your blogs and see how you are all doing.

See you maybe Thursday depending.  Love and Peace!

May you walk with beauty all around you...

Pinks from about a month ago

The old, beat up yellow Epiphyllum bloomed today.  I was shocked to see it, but got some snaps just the same.  Maybe I'll put that up on Wordless Wednesday. 

Sunday Stealing, late edition! Sunday Matinee bit at the end. "The Next Three Days"

Go HERE to play!

1. What’s something you hide about your personality?
I am shy,  So, I over compensate for it by laying my life out in a blog.
2. How do you deal with criticism?  
I take it like a man.  I suck it up and plan revenge.
3. What’s something sweet you’d like someone to do for you?
I wish some very rich person would buy me a house in Santa Cruz.
4. Which fictional character would you most like to have lunch with and why?  
Amelia Peabody.  She's what I'd like to be like so I'd love to have lunch with her someday on her varandah.
5. Who would you say is your “anti” role model? Someone who serves as a warning rather than an inspiration?
I cannot say.  Not here anyway.  Email me?
6. What’s the most infuriating thing your parents (or caregiver) do?
I cannot say.  hehehe  My parents are gone and I haven't got a caregiver.  Yet!
7. Which movie character do you most identify with and why?
Movie character?  Legolas and because he is an Elf, a Gentleman, a Hero, and, most importantly, an Archer!
 8. You’re an Action Movie Hero. What’s your weapon of choice and the line you scream when defeating your arch enemy?  
A long bow of course.  And I would scream, "I'm glad you are dying, you bastard!", while I pucked in the killing arrow.  Or maybe I'll just administer the Coup de Gras with a size 35 Knitting needle.
9. What’s the oddest term of endearment you’ve ever used or that someone’s used for you?
Beanie.  I love to call my sweetest folk that name.  On me?  No one calls me anything so sweet.  Crabby, that's the one.  I like that one.
10. What was something you used to enjoy, but was ruined for you? What’s the story behind that?  
I used to love to run around in old gold mines.  I like it so much that I did it even though I knew it was dangerous.  Our Rockhound friends told me tales enough to make my hair stand on end, so I stopped it, but only after they told me that the Hantavirus also lurked there.
11. Which mythological creature are you most like?  A Centaur.  Why?  I love horses and if I had to be mythological, I'd like to be half horse.   
And if you could be any mythological creature, which would you want to be? 
Well, I would also like to be a mermaid.  Why? I would like to live in the sea and still be able to be half human.
12. Describe your dream library.  
It would be the biggest one on earth.  It would have a few select authors of fiction, and that would also include every history book ever written in it, even if it were to be classified as non fiction.  And, I would be able, by some magic means, to read them all in less then an hour each, and in the languages in which they were written.
13. If you could design an amusement park ride, what would it be like?  
Like riding an Orca but without the dangerous behaviors like drowning and biting?
14. Do you have any “rules” about food?  
I will not eat shell fish, dairy products other than sharp cheddar, and I will not ever eat a black eyed pea.
15. What’s your opinion on age differences in relationships?
Anything goes!  And this is because I've met people, male and female, and of all ages, who found someone decades younger than they were, who loved them, in a romantic way, for themselves. 
16. What’s something you want to do that you’d be embarrassed to tell other people about?  
 I'm supposed to tell this to the entire world?
17. Describe a time/event in your life that you’re nostalgic for.
Firstly, I would like to have a family around me to cook for again.  The only other nostalgia I ever have is for 
running around the desert collecting rocks with our friends.   I loved those times. 


Well kids, no time for Sunday Matinee this week.  I've been looking at every single Avon collectible on the Web!  But there is an amazing thriller called, "The Next Three Days".  Hunky guy in it.  Russel Crow.  hehe  Hunky!  But the movie isn't about him.  It's a five star thriller where he plays an amazing husband who will stop at nothing to save his family.   It is so good!

Cartoons on the fly...

The most Aggressive and greedy will always take what they perceive as extant power or wealth, spiritual or otherwise, for themselves.

This creates scarcity and in the case of Spirituality, Chaos..

But remember, we have other unassailable wealth and power (read Spiritual) which cannot be touched, if we learn how to access it.

And, Here comes Mom!

She's obviously PO'd.  Does she look it:?

Just think of the Universe as being full of help when you need it.  And, have a fun weekend.