Five Minute Friday, and Friday5

Five Minute Friday Prompt word this week is, "Nothing".  You can go to the Link HERE to join in the fun.

We write, flat out, for five minutes, not worrying too much about grammar or punctuation, but of course ingrained habits are hard to break, especially when one is going to publish!

Remember to leave a link to your own post at the prompt page, and also visit the blog of someone, or many someone's, who are on the link list with you.  People who write here are amazing and very diverse.  This is a fun meme.

Five Minute Friday:

Nothing:
The thing I remember the most about Nothing is that everything we see is mostly Nothing.  This was learned in a high school Science-Math class and was a huge surprise to me.  Remember, I went to high school in the dark ages, not long after that Atom and Hydrogen Bomb were invented.  
I'm sitting her trying to remember what else I feel about nothing, but Nothing is a very deep subject.  It is after all, about Nothing.  Nothing is what you feel when you are told that you are going to die.  You have no experience of this, and as a little child, you don't know what to feel about learning that everything dies, even your mother, and your grandmother and you.  Still you happily welcome your children into your life and hope that you won't have to have the experience of out living them, with this sort of bravado that things will all work out for the best if you pray to the right God or do everything right.  Of course it's nonsense, but that's what you do, start making little bargains with God.  Then you are actually faced with the death of someone close to you and it feels that death or Nothingness is very close indeed.  More little bargains, and then a sort of Peace.  

that's it.  five minutes.


Friday5: with a LINK to this week's Five HERE
Check out this fun meme!  Come join in the fun!  Be sure to leave a comment on the friday5 blog so that others who do this can come visit you, too!

1. What kind of campfire experience do you have?
I started camping, with campfires, when I joined Girl Scouts, and the big people started taking us camping, like in Brownies when I was in Grade School. Then my sibs and I would camp out in our woods but weren't allowed fires.  Girls Scouts after Brownies, could have campfires.  Yay!  And, then with DH and the kids, all of us are still camping out after 50 years.  Our oldest girls were only a few months old when we took them camping.  And, although DH and I have a more comfortable bed and a tiny kitchen we haul around with us, we still enjoy campfires, and cook over them, when we go out and stay in a National Forest, County camping area, or the local deserts.

2. How are you with a charcoal grill?
I still love a Hibachi.  It's my favorite little cooker.  My favorite thing to make on them is Kebabs.  But we have a small gas fired BBQ grill that DH makes the most use of when we are home.  That BBQ actually went on a camp out on Thanksgiving one year with the RockHounds.  That was really fun because, even though it rained constantly, our grill just kept right on cooking the Turkey.

3. What was the occasion for which you last lit a candle?  A couple of weeks ago I lit a candle inside one of my candle holders.  I love candlelight.  There's just something magic about those little lights.

4. What food, usually consumed cooked, do you prefer raw? (Alternate question: What food, usually consumed raw, do you prefer cooked?) 
First, the only things I eat raw are nuts, grains, fruits and vegetables.  That leaves meat, which I prefer cooked, and well cooked except for the occasional steak we eat.  Most people don't eat raw meats, so I feel in the majority here.  Lima Beans, Green beans and potatoes are about the only vegetables that I would rather eat cooked than raw.

5. What was the occasion for your last getting all fired up?  Do you mean temper-wise?  I would guess it was when we got rear ended coming home from DD's Graduation.  We were stopped in rush your traffic, and he hit us going about 20 miles and hour.  Happily, there was no damage to our Jeep, but the man who hit it was just as happy as we were, even though he got quite a lot of damage to his poor little blue car.  Bless your heart, where ever you are, Sir.

Thanks for participating, and have a sizzling weekend!

Thankful Thursday: Daughter's Graduation.

Beautiful University of California at Berkeley

It's late so this is a very quick post.

Firstly, I want to thank all the teachers out there who help, cajole, encourage and teach our funny little kids to grow up and take the threads of their own destiny in their newly capable hands.

Herself, with one of her awards

I'm grateful that we were able to see our daughter graduate from UC Berkeley, with highest honors, a testament to all her hard work and the sacrifices she made to have such an achievement.

She worked to earn money to live on, and fought a battle with a serious illness during this time as well, which makes victory for her even sweeter.

There were so many amazing kids there that day, all graduates from the Department of History.

May you all be blessed with success in all your endeavors in the course of your journey through life.

Congratulations, Class of 2014!

Live Long and Prosper!

Not so Wordless Wednesday:

My Daughter told me that I should draw every day, as she does, for the Peace and as a Meditation.  I said that I would, and also promised to show them some sketches that were done of them when they were little girls.  The paper is so fragile now that a record needed to be made.

Elle at age 5, from life

Bee, at age 4, from life

Unplugged? Me? Saturday9

Vacation

Welcome to Saturday: 9. What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme!

Readers,  you can join in this fun MEME by clicking on the 9ers button in the side bar.  Come on in!


Vacation (1982)

Unfamiliar with this week's song? Hear it HERE.

1) Do you know how to water ski? Yes. I am glad I had the chance to learn.  It's about the most fun you can have out there on top of the water, though para-sailing or wind surfing are newer sports and look like great fun.  

2) Do you have 2014 vacation plans?
Nope, we live where a lot of people come to vacation.   I like that except if I want to spend a day on Sunset Cliffs or something.  Ocean Beach and my favorite bead store are down there, so I can go look at beads at the same time.

3) Do you have a passport?
No, but we want to go to Canada so I may have to get one so that we can get back into the US.  I can remember something about that but maybe things have changed back.  

4) If you took a 7-night cruise, could you completely unplug -- no phone calls, no texts, no internet?
No, because I'd rather be sailing in an ocean going sailboat rather than cruising- those things are too big, noisy and smelly for me.  Anyway, out there in a sailboat, you can unplug except for Sat-phones.  No sailor going more than a few miles of shore should have a Sat-phone.  

EDIT to say:  No sailor going more than a few miles off shore should be WITHOUT a Sat-phone.  They have saved the day many a time.

5) Do you own a travel alarm clock?
Yes.  I use it at home, too.  It's little and doesn't glare in my face at night nor does it BLAST me out of bed.  This little baby has a discrete little "deet deet" sound.

6) Though the Go-Gos broke up in 1985, they frequently reunite for live performances. What's the last concert you attended?
Neil Diamond, and he was in good voice.  

7) Their first hit was "Our Lips Are Sealed."  Can you be trusted with a secret?
I must have been born to keep secrets.

8) In 1982, when this song was popular, the comedy Tootsie was in theaters. What movie makes you laugh?
"Brother Where Art Thou", "Moon over Parador", "Cold Comfort Farm", "Clueless", "The Men Who Stare at Goats", "Miss Congeniality", "Sister Act I and II","Burn After Reading", "Reds", "Doc Hollywood" and literally shed load of others.  Laughter is the best Medicine!
9) Sam is chewing on a Tums as she composes these questions. What's the last over-the-counter medication that you took?
My allergy medicine last night.
  

Friday5,

Hello, and welcome to this week’s Friday 5! Please copy these questions to your webspace. Answer the questions there; then leave a comment below so we’ll all know where to check out your responses. Please don’t forget to link us from your website!

Sorry if these questions seem a little dark. It’s been one of those weeks.

And there is a lot of dark out there that is survivable with the correct skill set, eh?
When have you had to choose the lesser of two evils?

I think my brother and I were many times choosing whether it was right to kill a parent who beat us or our mother.  
When have your good intentions resulted in something awful?

I'm lucky enough to have never had this happen, but I'm not dead yet, either.  There is still time, I suppose, for this to happen.
In your experience, have two wrongs ever made a right?

I can't think of any time that this has been true.  Maybe I just don't want to think about it.  I know why wars are fought.  You can't goad someone into horrific responses, or you are as guilty as they.
When have you had to let virtue be its own reward?

When dealing with really unbearable attitudes and behavior from certain people not related to me.  I can't say more.
What is the worst toll stress has ever taken on you?
It gave me an auto-immune disease with all it's variant, and dreadful ills. 

Thanks for participating! Have a beautiful, peaceful weekend!

Friday Five Minutes... If it gets here in time, I will write about it.

Thankful Thursday. My Levi's fit!

Graduation is here, so I'm pretty busy.  I'm very thankful this time has finally come.

I hope to post a bit here from time to time.  I'm thankful this long awaited event  - 7 years - is finally here. Grace and Tender Mercies abounding!  Oh yes, Goodness me! My Levi's fit.  Both pairs.  Yay!  

Wordless Wednesday: Sunset at a Sri Lankan Restaurant.

Reading Antique Books

The Thomas Hardy from the library has been in storage for tens of years.  It's fragile.  And it's so beautifully written that I clutched it to my chest in delight.  What a treasure.

I'm going to re-read all of Thomas Hardy.

What I'm reading.. Thomas Hardy, and a wee rant.

Sorry no Tuesday Tails.  But there is another strange wind blowing, a Santa Ana style wind coming out of the WEST!???  I have no idea why this is happening but I mean to find out. I cannot stand wind.  If there is rain out there for us, this thing will hang it out to dry over the Pacific!

Lanting's Studio link

"Oh no Toto, hang onto your ears!"

The little paper holder is from a Summer program for children that an amazing woman ran out of a converted school bus

Under The Greenwood Tree.  I certainly hope this is a "Happy" book.  I know nothing about it except that I've always liked Thomas Hardy novels. The Netflix blurb about a film of that title,based on the book, made it sound, well, "Happy".  I'll just hope it's a little serendipitous find, this Hardy book, as an antidote for the Revelation of  Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics ( The link goes to a TED talk by Sebastian Wernicke) in  Area 51, by Annie Jacobsen.

Rant Alert:  This is the last rant about anything to do with Elites, Politicians, or Government's revolving doors.  I'm done.  They exist, they are evil, and have had the GALL to call some other governments The Axis of Evil.  I find this trait of the Bush administration both disingenuous and insulting.

Since we have been speaking of lies, Bush Jr, that Yale cheerleader, took us into two wars based on lies he told to all of his fellow Americans, save those who were in on the secret.

I'm very offended by it all.  I don't think I'm the only person alive who knows that Bush used his power, just before leaving office, to make an executive order that sealed both his and his father's Presidential papers away for, basically, 150 years.  That means that they, and everyone of their ilk, now will be safely dead before anyone else, using the Freedom of Information Act, can find out just what really happened during his or his father's terms. Why would he do such a thing?  Your guess is as good as mine, but I know what I think.

And another thing.  Just why did Bush Sr. buy a million acre ranch in Paraguay, right next to the American Army base there?   Paraguay is right in the middle of South America, more or less.  Is it a Fishing Haven? Are there lots of Game animals to be had?  There are just so many questions.

Perhaps they mean to be safe when someone starts WWIII?   Are they all going to just hightail it out on the Lear Jets loaded with enough fine wine to last the half life of plutonium?  Will they go dig up their pre-buried gold doubloons from under the tarmac of the amazingly long runway that was built there?  Are they planning to live like kings?  They already do, you know.  And, why gold?  Because Gold doesn't go radioactive.

And, when the land they once called "The Land of My Forefathers" is cleared of human occupants - yet again, will they all just roll right back in here and claim it ALL for the New Emperor of the Earth?  Just a few questions....  No, I don't read conspiracy web pages.  I just read the newspaper, now and again, and I also tend to read Non-Fiction books about Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics.

I don't want to rant anymore, ever!  There are upstanding members of Congress and Non Profit Corporations who do a much better job of this.  I'm going to knit, sew, paint and  fire ceramics and make as many pretty little things to give to the kids and my beloved friends and family and MY Fellow Citizens as I've got the time to do.  I'll sell some of these things on Etsy and donate profits to Women for Women, or Doctors Without Borders, but I'm not going to waste another scintilla of effort on our corrupt political system.  I just want to share a little bit of beauty, here and there, to offset the horrendous, Soul Crushing, Political Circus we've been being treated to.

I'm done.

Just a few days Late. But, almost in time for that Faux Holiday, Mother's Day.. Monday Music

Like your ads with a Masculine bent?  From the 40's 50's and 60's and maybe even into the 70's, a look at the plodding past for the Little Woman, eh?  Go HERE and have a  walk through your Mamma's memory lane.

We've come a long way Baby!  We can even buy our OWN cars now.  The little woman doesn't need hubbie's input or vast mechanical knowledge to do so.  He's just as mistified about the on board computers and highly advanced cam driving systems as you are.

And also how about this:
We Come from the Future

All in fun..  So go look and have a laugh.  Thanks to the Big Sisters for these little gems.  They think I read some pretty radioactive stuff, too.  Time to have fun.



Yes, I have had this up before, but I really love it, so, thinking it's time to party, I'm going with it.

Monday, what AM I supposed to do today?  I forget!  Learn how to keep a smart phone from outfoxing me?  Yah.  That's it!  And  have some fun.  It's time.

sunday stealing at the movies.

May 10, 2014
A Movie 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!!!



From Frankly, My Dear.

A Movie Meme

1. What is your all-time favorite "costume" movie or period piece?  Period Piece.  That would be "Gentle Persuasion"

2. What classic film would you nominate for a remake?  "Gone With the Wind", as heretical as it may seem, I never could watch Clark Gable films.

3. Name your favorite femme fatale.  Catherine Zeta Jones

4. Name the best movie with the word "heaven" in its title.  "As it is in Heaven"

5. Describe the worst performance by a child actor that you’ve ever seen.  It was in "The Resident Magistrate" a series on BBC.   The little boy was a terrible actor.

6. Who gets your vote for most tragic movie monster?  I have a hard time seeing a monster as a tragic figure.  Sorry.

7. What is the one Western that you would recommend to anybody?  "True Grit", without hesitation.  I somewhat want to say, "Dances With Wolves" but the mule skinner's death and the killing of his mules just made me sick.

8. Who is your ideal movie-viewing partner? Mr. Z, absolutely.  We watch a lot of films together.

9. Has a film ever made you want to change your life? If so, what was the film?  A documentary about the X15.  For a long time I wanted to be a fighter pilot.  I took all the entry tests when I was 18 to go into the Air Force, until I learned I wouldn't be flying fighter jets. Then I said, "No thank you."   Women were too short they said.  They were secretly training short men from foreign lands though.  Duh!  We've come a long way, Baby!  I started thinking more about Government duplicity then and became a sort of radical thinker. 

10. Think of one performer that you truly love. Now think of one scene/movie/performance of theirs that is too uncomfortable for you to watch.   Sandra Bullock.  I can't watch that stupid movie, "Speed".   It's less about Ms. Bullock than it is about Reeves.  I can't believe it won two Oscars.

11. On the flip side, think of one really good scene/performance/movie from a performer that you truly loathe. Jack Nicholson in "Is This as Good as it Gets?"

12. What movie has the best soundtrack?  Too many to name, legions of great scores!

13. Favorite actor with a mustache? (i.e: Charlie Chaplin, William Powell)  Sam Elliot, hands down.

14. Shadowy film noir from the 1940's or splashy colorful musicals from the 1950's?  OK....I'll take musicals for $5000.

15. Favorite classic Disney?  What is a classic with Disney?  OK "Lady and the Tramp"

Happy Mother's Day to All you wonderful nurturing women who keep whole species alive by caring and giving!  

Saturday 9. My Mama didn't dance and My daddy didn't rock and roll.

Your Mama Don't Dance

Welcome to Saturday: 9. What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme!

Your Mama Don't Dance (1972)

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

1) This song is about how the older generation often doesn't understand what the younger generation is up to. Do you keep up with trends?  I was never trendy, and I haven't stayed up with the music scene at all since about the mid 1990's.

  

2) This song was in the top 10 in 1972, which is also the year HBO was introduced. Do you have any premium cable channels? No, not a one.

  

3) Mother Winters taught Sam how to kill the lingering food smells in her microwave (take a bowl of water, add a few drops of vanilla extract, and heat it in the microwave). Do you have any useful household hints to pass along?  That baking soda absorbs odors in a Fridge and vinegar in water cleans windows really well?

  

4) The French word for "mother" is "mère." What other French words do you know?  How many you want?  I know about 6,000 and can still conjugate the simpler voices.  It's going fast though.  Merde!  Quite popular a word with dancers.  

  

5) Flowers and plants are popular on Mother's Day. How is your yard or garden? Is it green and/or blooming?  It's green and blooming but the roses are already done with one cycle.  We have a whole side yard of winter weeds for the birds.  The Cape Honeysuckles never stop blooming and the citrus trees are getting some buds.

6) Mother's Day is a big holiday for card shops. So are birthdays, weddings, and St. Patrick's Day. Hallmark sells greetings for everything from "Congratulations on Your New Job" to "Happy Retirement." Who received the most recent card you bought?   I bought some condolence cards most recently.

  

7) Have you put away your winter clothes yet?  No, they stay out all year.  Our winter clothes aren't really that wintery.  We are lucky to have down jackets for when we go to the Central Coast.  It's cold up there!

  

8) Mother Winters used to scold Sam for leaving her dirty dishes in the sink. Sam admits it: as a grown up, she's still a bit of a slob. Do lean toward "neat" or "messy?"  I like things neat and tidy.  It's not to say that there are no messy places in this house, but if I had enough energy, it would not only be neat and tidy but also clean.  I think better in that sort of space.  If we ever get a break from these "Winter of Our Discontent" medical things working it's way through two generations of family, it will be.  Others in this situation, my heart goes out to you.  Big HUGS!

  

9) To celebrate Mother's Day, Sam is giving away candy bars. Would you prefer classic milk chocolate, dark chocolate or milk chocolate with almonds?  Definitely the Dark stuff.  Happy Mother's Day, Sam.

Anyone who would like to play along, just click the picture for 9er's in the side bar.  It's a fun group to run around and Howl with!  Adieu mon Ami!

Friday 5 and Five Minute Friday, word this week "Grateful"

Hello, and welcome to this week’s Friday 5! Please copy these questions to your webspace. Answer the questions there; then leave a comment below so we’ll all know where to check out your responses. Please don’t forget to link us from your webpage!

This is going to sound lame to quite a few of you, but like many men my age, I went through several professional wrestling phases, and I’ve recently been reminded of my once-recurring fandom. Although I do not follow the non-sport anymore, I cannot resist listening to interviews with some of the stars of my youth. So this week, I give you five questions inspired by the names and nicknames of great wrestlers.

1.In what way was someone recently rude to you?

The nurse who told me that she knew I was sleeping because she came by when I was.  She was a little ticked because SHE had had to come in when another nurse had had to go home ill, and this just before rude nurse was climbing into bed.  Really, I don't blame her for being short, but it was a little rude.  I was not asleep or I would have known it, sleep is so incredibly RARE in the modern hospital.

2.What’s the most macho thing you’ve done recently?  Macho, Hmm.  I do like to arm wrestle big rocks around the garden but those days are over.  I'm just not macho anymore.  

3.What was the last occasion for which you wore a mask?  I've never worn a mask.  Not ever. Grease paint and other theatrical make up but never any mask.

4.What’s a nice encounter you’ve had recently with nature?  The little spider in the corner of the sewing room ran out when I pulled some things up to stack them differently.  I tried to get it to get onto my fingers so I could let him/her go outside, but it just stood it's ground.  I said, "Ok, then just go where you want to!".  And so it did.

5.Who cuts your hair?  I do, and have for donkey years.  Right now I'm letting it grow out long.  I'm sick of trying to keep up with it.

Friday Five Minutes.  LINK up HERE  Or use the side bar button.  

The word of the week is: "Grateful."  Write flat out for five minutes, not worrying about grammar or punctuation, or anything but getting the thoughts and feeling on to the wide space in your blog post editor.

Grateful:

I think about being grateful to all the people who have made it possible for me to be where I am today, of course you have to include the good with the bad, but I won't mention anyone but the good.  There was first of all, my maternal aunts cousins and grandparents who gave me a start into a happy life.  I also include my mother who put a lot of love into me those first few years.  My brothers and sister who followed me and have given so much joy to my life.

Then there were all the teachers who helped me, and those who didn't, because they all had an impact on where life lead me.  Most of my teachers were amazingly good.  I think I was lucky even in two that weren't, my fifth grade teacher who made me the scape goat, one of the kindest men alive who found out half way through the year that his dearest heart was dying of cancer and there wasn't a thing that could be done about it.  And the French teacher who just pummelled me because my pronunciation was perfect but my grammar was not.  I had a lot of verbal training but hardly any reading.  This guy was an Englishman with some sort of problem and basically that was horrendous arrogance.  I was not the only one in the class that he rode.

And my sister in law, who welcomed me into the family as sweetly as she could.  And of course my DH who is just like his sister.  And our children's souls who answered the call and came to be our daughters.  It was rough on the first two and not so hard on the twins.  I am forever grateful to have known all these people.  
Done

Thankful Thursday: I'm thankful for the Oceans- mini rant

Happy to wake up and say, "Thank you, God, for giving me another day!"  I just woke up way, way to early with an aching arm- pulled bicep three months ago and it still is cramping.  But, I slathered on some trusty Arnica Montana Gel, put some little Arnica pills under my tongue, and the pain was basted away.   If it works on Race Horses, it's a good little herb.  Thank you Great Spirit!

Gearing up for a Mini Rant:

The Ocean:  Thank you God for the Beauty of the Earth, given by your Grace to offset the Terrible Thunder Lizards we still have running around disguised as Human Beings.

Point Reyes Light House

It's a quiet day.  I'm just resting.  Walked most of 20 minutes and straightened out a few more things.   I also tossed some detritus that was stuck in with - empty tiny boxes, bits of seed pods collected in a fit of crafter's madness.   You know those sorts of things.  Things that will come in "Handy" for an "Artistic" collage some day. I'll do one more box today and try to get over my obsession with wood and twigs.  I have a stick collection.

I can't knit.  The hands and thumbs are hurt and needing rest.   But I certainly can toss flotsam and jetsam.

The Book:

I'm reading the most depressing part.  There is nothing new in it, just the level of detail given.  This level sets the stage better for the "Massive Egos Faceoff"  that cost lives, American included, in the run up and demise of the "American Century".   I've known this all along, but not to the extent that I now know it - deep and wide.  Annie Jacobsen just tells a straight up story, historically correct, and you can't ask for a more complete chronicle than that.

For most of us who think about it, Americans' happy and prosperous lives are unwittingly at the cost of a lot of innocent other people's lives.  I'm almost finished with Area 51, still would recommend it highly as something to read for your soul.  But, the next few years I'll spend reading books about people who really made a difference, like Rachel Carson and the average Joes who have never fallen for their Basal Brain's guttural little whitterings.

I think that now I'll spend time reading a few book about pets, and especially dogs,so that I can be back amongst people whose minds are focused on the Earth and the OTHER Earthlings, and not on Hubristic Greed with a Huge Dash of Arrogant Bastard on top, to be blunt.  As is said, knowing the truth sometimes hurts.  This hurts.

Did I say I was thankful for authors who lay it on the line to write the way that Annie Jacobsen has.  Well, I am.  Thank you, Annie!

Wordless Wednesday - Eppie and Relentless Dove Nesters

Tuesday Tails. Canadian Street Gangs and Backstreet infighting between the Air Force and the CIA.

Thank you, Rho!

I've been watching shows with more than a few Hunters from both sides of that border getting Big Howdies from bears, some Black Bears, some Grizzles.  They are people who seemed to be surprised that bears would actually attack if you were out looking for deer and you found one of theirs.  If you go hiking someday in the woods and come across a carcass, please get away from it as quickly as you can manage without really running.

Most of the drama/trauma has been to the humans in the family the last week.  I got a  frantic call from my sister, and it was Jeep to the rescue once again.  Her poor DH has one good eye, and it apparently decided to throw a curveball at him at work.  Mr. Z has been going back and forth between his mother's bedside and taxi service to the clinics and back for DBL.  I've been forced to sit on my arse and do nothing but read or watch Netflix - I know it's a piece of cake- because DH worries that I will do something characteristically stupid - in otherwords, act like the 45 year old I once was and try to lift a recliner up with one hand while vacuuming underneath it.  Yes, I can be as bad as his mother but she's 95!  I'm young!  I want to be FREE!


To make sure my blood pressure medicines are working right, I've decided to read (and emote about) all the skulduggery - and outright lawlessness - of the CIA and the Air Force of the 50's, 60's, and beyond- trying to wrest programs from each other so they can have POWER and MONEY to fulfill their wildest dreams.

And you thought only UFO's were wandering around out there!

 If you want to join the fun, feel free to read the the book above, but take your meds!  Area 51 will tell you where the children's houses and educations have been going! So Droll!  As is said, "the Navy gets the gravy and the Army gets the beans".  Well, in defense dollars, I'm not sure who garners the most "bread", but my money's on the black ops programs run be the two brigands mentioned above.

Cheers!

Belgian physicist François Englert

Professor Englert is not involved.  At least I don't think he is...... ;o)

Music Monday, Ladies and Germs... The Great Band of Jethro Tull, "Darma For One", and "Thick as a Brick".

Enjoy!  Have a Happy Week!  These together are long......

"Darma For One"




"Thick as a Brick"

Sunday Stealing

May 3, 2014

Play along by following the link in the side bar.  It's really fun.  Well, when it's not about TV it's fun.

TV Meme, part two

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!!!



From TV Tuesday a now-defunct blog. The link is broken.   TV Meme, part two

I will answer these questions because I did watch a few shows here and there, and even though I think of Television as the biggest waste of time that was ever invented.

16. Talk Shows. Do you watch daytime talk TV? If so, do you prefer the calm shows like Oprah or the wilder side like Jerry Springer?  No, I didn't watch even Oprah for long.  I did watch her show for about a month, and even liked it. Unfortunately,  every ten minutes she went to a commercial. That put her show dead in the water for me.  I used to like something around 10 am that was for women. The Talk?  Anyway, same thing.  I can not STAND commercial television.  And, from what I saw later and elsewhere, Jerry Springer was no better than a loud mouthed, abusive, yelling coward.  Who needs that?

17. Which daytime talk TV show would you like to be on? What would the topic be?  Like to be on?  None that I know of.

18. Before talk TV took over game shows ruled the airways during the day, which do you prefer? Or are you a soap opera fan?  I've never watched any of these two types of shows either.  I was too busy cooking, baking bread and cookies.  I was busy sewing things and chasing little toddlers around.  And feeding pets. lol

HeathRobbins Photography

19. Is there a game show (past or present) you think you would do really well on, as a contestant?  No. I was never interested in game shows, soap operas or more than a couple of talk shows.

20. Who is your favorite game show host? Who is your least favorite? NA

21. Marathons. Have you watched any TV marathons? In part? In whole? Is there a show you’d like to see run an all day marathon? On the flipside is there a show you’d avoid in marathon?  Marathons on Television?  Lord help us.

22. Out of curiosity, what’s the longest you’ve ever watched TV in one stretch?  September 11th, 2001.  Before that we watched channel 5's coverage of the earthquakes in California, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

23. On the whole do you feel most Special Reports are really that special? Or are they simply annoying? What special report has effected you most? (IE: (9/11, Reagan being shot…etc)  I have to say that it was 911.  That is the sort of coverage that television does best.  But, now we have an even more immediately effective media in YouTube, and streaming Indi coverage of events.  Indi had been so brutalized in the past, especially in the coverage in Los Angeles during the late 1990's and during the WTO protests in Seattle, as to be made invisible.  But the reporters were there.

24. What is the (pick one: stupidest, saddest, silliest, most disgusting..) thing you’ve ever seen on TV?   Coverage of the Warren Report.

25. What’s your fondest memory of something on TV?  It was during a Charger's football game when Kellen Winslow, Sr. blocked a field goal.  Totally Awesome.  I admit to watching the Chargers back in the day.

26. What’s the first show you remember watching regularly?  Bullwinkle and Rocky.

27. What shows would make up a perfect night of TV viewing for you?  Nova, Call the Midwife, and Nature.

28. You get to create one show to put on the schedule, with any stars you choose. Who and what would it be?   George Clooney and Sandra Bullock in a show about Bank Robbers.  Wait, that's probably been done.

29. Canceling or Not. What show(s) would you cancel without a moment’s hesitation? Is there a show (previously canceled or just no longer airing) that you’d bring back, original cast and all?  I don't know current shows well enough to know.  Most of what I hear about new shows is that they are crap.  And I've been watching some moldy oldies, testing whether we want to watch them at all, and most don't make the grade.  And who wants to see a now doddering leading man who used to be a considered, by some, as a REAL hunk?  

Why does everyone dye their hair that awful red?

Any takers?

Saturday 9, Ongoing progress in Getting Organized, Knitting report, and The Wolfie toenail thinga.

I will be reporting the Snail's Adventures in Organizing it's Home, and this will occur every single day, with pictures, it's a monumental undertaking for a snail.

Now for the wonderful Saturday 9! You can play along by clinking on the link Button in the sidebar.

Blues in the Night

Welcome to Saturday: 9. What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme!
Saturday 9: Blues in the Night (1952)

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

This is actually one of my favorite songs, and I will sing along with it when it's on the radio mix.

1) Was last night a good night for you? Or were you singing the blues?  Last night we both were a little tired and blue.  We needed to cheer up so we got Greek take out, got into jammies, so to speak, and watched a period piece called "Mission Impossible", now made campy and a bit silly,  plus the first episode or two of Miami Vice on Netflix. 

2) In this song, Rosemary Clooney sings about hearing "big talk" she didn't quite believe. What's the last fib, tall tale or out and out lie you heard?  It was probably something out of a politician's mouth, or maybe the CEO of a bank?

3) Rosemary Clooney has a well-known nephew -- George, the Oscar winner and frequent People magazine cover story. Do you have any nieces or nephews?  I have a lot of nieces and nephews. 

4) Ms. Clooney married the same man twice. They married, had five children and divorced. Then three years later, they tried again ... and divorced again. Have you ever been tempted to give it another try with one of your former loves?  Luckily for me, I have no former loves.  I can see why people do try this though.  Once you've loved someone, and they grow up a little, it's tempting to try again for that sweet feeling of love and companionship.

5) Singers as diverse as Linda Ronstadt, Bette Midler and Amy Winehouse have said they admired and were influenced by Rosemary Clooney. If you could meet any artist (singer, writer, actor, director, painter, musician ...), who would it be?  I would want to meet Vincent Van Gogh.


6) 1952, the year this record was a hit, is also the year the "Big Bang Theory" was introduced by physicists Ralph Alpher and George Gamow. That is too lofty a topic for this humble meme, so instead we'll just ask: Do you watch the TV show of the same name?  Yes, we watch it, but wait for it on Netflix.  My sister, who also watches it, has to be careful not to tell me anything about the current state of "affairs" going on between all the various dating characters.

7) Sam Winters just broke her right thumbnail. While she won't go so far as saying it has her singing the blues, she must admit it bugs her. What little annoyances are you dealing with today? Sorry you broke a thumbnail.  They are the best tools!  I'm still recovering from Surgery and what with what others are going through on a daily basis, it's really a minor annoyance.  I am still "Organizing Things", a biggy on the list of must-get-dones, but I rest a lot, too.

8) The house next door to Sam's has a FOR SALE on the lawn. Are you contemplating a move? I am always contemplating a move.  I will move away in a heartbeat if the chance ever arises.

9) What's your search engine of choice: Google, Bing, Yahoo or Ask?  Actually I have two.  For research, it's Yahoo.  For everything else, it's Google.  But Yahoo seems to be changing.  *Sigh*

Thanks so much for joining us again at Saturday: 9. As always, feel free to come back, see who has participated and comment on their posts. In fact sometimes, if you want to read & comment on everyone's responses, you might want to check back again tomorrow. But it is not a rule. We haven’t any rules here. Join us on next Saturday for another version of Saturday: 9, "Just A Silly Meme on a Saturday!" Enjoy your weekend!

Getting Organized.

All of the white binders are now in the Storage side of the Sewing Studio now.  What is on the table is mostly for jewelry production, and some things that are for ceramics, and those are hidden under some stuff that has to go elsewhere.  The unfinished butterfly house is one of two that I want to get painted and put up this summer.  I work and then rest so progress is slow, but progress nonetheless.

Make it big, IF Google let's you

Now the binders are in their new place and await labels.  The poor dusty bears will get a good cleaning, and so will the pig, raccoon, fish, rabbit and off camera Hedge Hog.  He'd fallen and couldn't get back up. Some of these were gifts, and some I rescued from Thrift stores.  Since I can't have fifteen mixed and pure poodles for a traveling dog show, I rescued bears and other foundlings.  There just aren't enough hours in the day... you know?  See, it is as you suspected; I am just a kid at heart.

Wolfie Report:  Wolfie got his sharp toenail (dew claw) trimmed this AM by Moi, the Inept.  I was using the wrong tool, of course, because all the rabbit clippers have been stashed somewhere unknown.  So, we had a little bleeding, in fact it was more than a little.  I was beside myself with angst, and regret, holding up his injured arm, and watching the facial tissue fill with red dots.  ( I refuse to use the K word.)  We called the groomer and she advised to put white flour on it.

So, if you don't have a styptic stick made for dogs, you can use white flour.  HERE is a very complete page for the process of trimming back a dog's nail.  Wolfie, because of his ancestry, can grow nails that curl right back onto themselves in a perfect circle. They almost look like jump rings for jewelry, the Boogers! Sometimes there are sharp little daggers on one edge that dig into his pad.  I was attempting to cut off just that point, like you do with your own toenails from time to time.  Mon Dieu!  Quelle Horreur! Plus Jamais ça!  Brrrr!  (for the amusement of Kara *wink*)

Knitting report:  Got past the gussets.  Whew.  Now I'll just match the little M*rde to it's mate.  Then comes the pink stardust sweater, and the other two sweaters.  As to the pink, I'll never buy 90 yard skeins again unless it is all wool.

Have a great Saturday night and Sunday!

Yay, it's Friday! Friday Five and Five Minute Friday ...sock up date

Friday5!

Want to play along?  Click the hotlink up yonder....

"Sorry about all the “what’s the story…” sentences. Sometimes, in order to think of questions I haven’t used before, I have to prompt myself with phrases different from the usual 5Ws, if that makes any sense. Stupid writer tricks."

Re this Friday5:  I don't have these sorts of experiences because I moved very far away from where I went to school or had my early adult friendships.

1. What’s the story about the time you learned that two people you knew separately also knew each other? Didn't happen for me.

2. What’s the story about the time you ran into someone you knew but didn’t recognize him or her because your acquaintance with the person was specific to a completely different setting?  I can only tell you about someone I DID know very well, too well, A former boss, who couldn't place me when she came as a volunteer to the office I was working in.  She never did find out why I looked so familiar, because I really didn't want her to know; I disliked her horrible ways that much.

3. What’s the story about the time you lost something important and then found it after you’d already purchased its replacement?  I lose it, I don't replace it.  I always expect to find it, and usually I do!

4. What’s the story about the time you were tight with someone you normally didn’t hang out with because he or she was the only person you knew at some function?  I was a cross the lines of catagories sort of person.  Actually, I still am.  If I know someone from somewhere else, except for question 2's subject, I greet and talk to them.

5. What’s the story about the time you learned that someone you thought you knew only recently was really someone you knew a long time ago too?  Well, it's just never happened to me.  Sadly, not many people I grew up with, or knew when I was young, came this far south - many went East!  lol

Thanks for participating, and have a delicious weekend!"

Five Minute Friday:  The word is Mess.

Mess is so appropriate this week.  I am straightening out two Swartz piles that happened over time when I was either too busy or too sick to clean them up.  I've shared pictures of two areas that developed into studios for a business I used to run.  I have an Etsy shop by that name but have never had the energy or the time to stock it.  Hopefully my bionic operations have closed down, and I can get back to doing the many things I love to do and to make.  I am coming across things that I wanted to make for nieces and for my own girls or even to sell at shows that got put in a box and stowed away.  My memory used to be legendary and now it is just a MESS!

Mess also applies to my head.  I'm worried about so many things that I really can't do much about but pray.  I'm not worried about me, but about others.  Why can't the elite wake up and stop being so greedy and mean that we have hungry kids in our rural areas as well as our cities.  What is the matter with the people on the 1%?   Are so many of them so lawless and arrogant that they can't see what Jeff Bridges sees?  He said that if another country was doing this to our kids we would be at WAR!  I hate to say this but one of Hitler's sticking points was seeing hungry children digging in the trash for food.  If you know anything about reparations, it's always the people who pay.  Not the leaders.  They are, if not killed by hanging for treason, usually well fed!

Ok that's the end of it.  I think too much, apparently.

A Battle Cry!

Knitting:  The sock is all straightened out, and since I didn't use my left hand at fitness today, I expect to be able to knit quite a long time in the next three days.  I'm back on my rocker.. or maybe the recliner. hehe

You all have a fun weekend.  

Thankful Thursday, with some knitting blah blah and some Clean it all UP snaps...

Thank you for all the  MUTTS! , Mr. Patrick McDonnell!

Mutt's makes my day!

Sock knitting report:

GAH!  Anyway, I got all the gusset stitches on, and knit a baseline round or two, then I thought, "I don't think this is going to work very well without a heel cup!"

National Geo Frog Pix Source- go see amazing animals!

So, I Frogged and I frogged and I FROGGED, FROGGED, FROGGED!  First because I didn't remember to even DO a heel cap and then forgot exactly HOW to do my favorite heel cap.  I've now highlighted the TURN HERE  that was hidden in the other tiny words of the pattern.
I'm so very thankful that my right brain still works when the left brain is out lollygagging in Outer Space with the Moon Fairies.

Another Thankfulness:  I am thankful for the men and women who still care about others enough to take on the job of Nursing Care!  We had some Mama Drama over the last week.  But, my dear, tiny MIL is back on the mend, and she and I are now tied for Family's Bionic Woman Gold Metal.  She has two metal joints and so do I.  I told her she had better not try for a third because I was not going through another replacement even if they promised me a Corvette as a prize!  Ponies, maybe... *thinks about it*

Now, I'm also thankful for my very own Woofie.  This little guy keeps us Sane and willing to go through whatever it takes to see that he gets a good life after all he's been through.  No more abandonment, please God!

I've moved a major stumbling block out of the way of the SteelCase bookshelves in the Sewing Studio.  This means I can now go weeding the books and other detritus that was not accessible for a few years.  I could get at it but had to move a tall shelving unit in and out to do it.  Now it's over in front of the yarn closet and it can stay there.

The closet behind is filled with boxes of yarn
All from my long career as a yarn collector.
SABLE I'm sure.

I am going to be donning a dust mask and sucking "The Dust of Ages" up from these shelves.  They need to be used properly- this for all the stuff I'm not getting rid of to be able to fit!  I had a sort of Daydream while starving in the hospital - this was done so my pancreas - which was on strike- would not turn up it's toes.  This was a sort of a daydream about what I needed to do when I finally got home, And the words "Clean UP!" flashed across my consciousness.  Oh, Almighty and Dearest God, I am not ignoring that message!

This will hold all my binders from the mad collecting
of patterns off the web.  The bag with Yellow material
holds a whole quilt that is in the making

I hope you are safe from the floods in Florida, and the wildfires in California.  "Oh Doctor!" as a favorite sport's caster used to say.