Sunday Stealing: The Unknown Author Questions

I need a Nap!

Sunday Stealing: The Unknown Author Questions 

Apologies.. this is late because I can't see well.
But thank you Bud for posting a Sunday Stealing each week.  

1. if someone wanted to really understand you, what would they read, watch, and listen to?
Read: The Book of Hopi
Watch: I can't think of anything for this one.
Listen to:  is answered in # 29

2. have you ever found a blogger who thinks just like you? if so, who?
First of all let me say that I've taken you all into my heart.
Philosophically speaking, I'm more of a radical than anyone, but CountryDew comes the closest to thinking as I do. And, I also would pick Bev and Kwizgiver for that, though they, like CountryDew,  are much more "demure".  I'm notoriously reckless.

3. list your fandoms and one character from each that you identify with.
If this is about TV, I'm lost.  I would like to be like Pollyanna without her more annoying characteristics.  

4. do you like your name?  is there another name you think would fit you better?
Generally speaking, I do, though I really wish my mother, who named me, would have given me 
her second name.

5. do you think of yourself as a human being or a human doing? do you identify yourself by the things you do?
Human Being because I was born to be an artist, and that never happened.

6. are you religious/spiritual?
I am a believer in avatars and in Christ's message.  I can't abide "Christianity, as it is now practiced, however. 

7. do you care about your ethnicity?
Since I keep no "customs" of either Europeans or Native Americans, that would be a "no".  I do identify most with my French, Welsh, Scots-Irish, and Native American ancestors.  

8. what musical artists have you most felt connected to over your lifetime?
The Romero Brothers, Julian Bream, and Chet Adkins.  Anyway, there's also a lot of Guitarists.

9. are you an artist?
I create jewelry, and can sketch, paint and carve very well so yes.

10. do you have a creed?
"Just Love Them"  That was one of the instructions and/or duties given the Dalai Lama when he was a child. 

11. describe your ideal day.
I would step out of the RV, Mr.Z would hand me a cuppa.  The kids would arrive and we'd eat breakfast.  I would take out my knitting, and they would go on a hike.

12. dog person or cat person?
I love them both, but will never have another cat.  Milo was our last cat and losing him was heart breaking.

13. inside or outdoors?
I love the great outdoors.  I am a nomad at heart and could happily travel around seeing America for the rest of my life. But there will be no more tent camping, sadly, which is the best of all worlds.

14. are you a musician?
No, but I can play the guitar.

15.five most influential books over your lifetime.
Well, one masterpiece has six volumes.  I'll count it as one. History of Western Civilization, by Will and Ariel Durant.
Jules Verne's book, Mysterious  Island
The Tao de Ching

16.   if you’d grown up in a different environment, do you think you’d have turned out the same?
no

17. would you say your tumblr is a fair representation of the “real you”?
If it's anything like Facebook, I wouldn't touch Tumblr with a ten foot pole.

18.   what’s your patron-us?
I don't have one, but three.  So, I'll say it's St Theresa of Avila. I've read all her writings and feel closest to her and her gentleness. 

19. which Harry Potter house would you be in? or are you a muggle?
The House with Gandolf in it, if he actually lived in a house.  And, no, I'm definitely not a Muggle.

20. would you rather be in Middle Earth, Narnia, Hogwarts, or somewhere else?
Without a doubt I want to live with the Elves.  Middle Earth. I could gaze upon the delicious and  fair Legolas.

21. do you love easily?
Spiritually? Yes.  In corporeal life?  I possess a guarded heart.

22. list the top five things you spend the most time doing, in order.
(a) sleeping
(b) reading
(c) cleaning and laundry
(d) computers
(e) eating

23. how often would you want to see your family every year?
My kids? Every day they'd want to see me.  No one needs a parent living in their back pocket, but now, I want, more than ever, to live close to them.  They live in a much closer community, and much more humanitarian as well.

24.   have you ever felt like you had a “mind-meld” with someone?
Mr.Z and I have a very connected consciousness, and this is over great distance.  Their are a few others, too.

25.could you live as a hermit?
As someone has said, as long as I had the internet, yes.  

26. how would you describe your gender/sexuality?
I'll always be a cowboy at heart.  

27. do you feel like your outside appearance is a fair representation of the “real you”?
No.  I'm 25 in my mind, riding horses every day.

28. on a scale from 1 to 10, how hard is it for someone to get under your skin?
That would be a 10.  I don't let others steal my inner peace anymore, though there are a couple of them trying to do just that.

29. three songs that you connect with right now.

1. Into The Mystic, done by Joe Cocker:



2. Jason Becker's "The End of the Beginning"



3. Aliison Kruass, "Down To the River to Pray"



30.   pick one of your favorite quotes.

It's in the side bar of this blog...

"Justice without force is powerless. Force without justice is tyrannical."

~Blaise Pascal~

I won't last a day without you... Carpenters. Saturday 9

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it HERE

1) This song makes reference to rainbows. Have you seen one lately?
This is the last one that I saw, maybe mid March?.  It hasn't really rained very much since then.  It cheered me up quite a lot, and the rain made the air so fresh and sweet. Mr.Z had just sent me a text including a photo of the rainbow he'd just seen at the Lake, and so I noticed that it started raining pretty hard here with bright sun lower in the sky,That just portends a rainbow.  I dashed outside in the rain and caught this one.

Make it big

2) When Sam heard this song, it occurred to her that she wouldn't last a day without a game of online Yahtzee. What little commonplace pleasure reliably brightens your day?
I like to play free cell, and solitaire but they aren't on line. But  I'm spending more time in our online game as life takes a turn down a very long, darkm and dangerous alley.

3) Richard Carpenter was emphatic that his group's name was "Carpenters," NO "the." Whenever he hears the group referred to as "The Carpenters," it gets on his nerves. What little commonplace annoyance reliably sets you off?
Commonplace annoyance?  That would be when someone gets on a high horse just asking to be knocked off.  A host on a show can hardly say, "And here they are, I give you, Carpenters!"  What's that wee snit all about?

4) Karen Carpenter said she drank iced tea all day long. What beverage do you think you'll have with your next meal?
I'm about to have lemon ginger tea with honey and a splash of vinegar.  It's rather yummy.

5) "I Won't Last a Day without You" was written by Oscar-winning composer Paul Williams. He also tried his hand at acting, most notably appearing with Burt Reynolds in Smokey and the Bandit. Back in the 1970s, the three movies in the Smokey series were very popular. Have you seen any of them? 
No, sorry. I'll watch them now if they are any good, because I did like Burt in the  few films we saw, as an actor, but as a man?  Idon'tthinkso.  Not a very romantic lead at ALL! lol

6) This song was recorded in 1973 by Diana Ross. Now in her 70s, Miss Ross is still going strong with a busy calendar of appearances in 2017. What's your favorite Diana Ross song?
THIS one,  It can't be embedded but it is a very Powerful and Beautiful song...

7) In 1972, the year this song was popular, the United States and the United Kingdom joined forces and launched the Copernicus satellite. Today it's remembered for the discovery of long-period pulsars. Crazy Sam got bored writing this question. Do you enjoy reading about science?
I LOVE reading about science. Even that late 20th century faux science of Economics.

8) Before Michael Phelps, Mark Spitz was American's premier Olympic swimmer. In 1972 he won seven Gold Medals. After making millions in endorsements and TV appearances, he settled into a career as a realtor in Los Angeles. Are you contemplating a change in residence any time soon? If you move, will you be consulting a realtor?
*Tap dances around the question*  No.  We have no plan to move.  And I remember Mark Spitz so very well.  His swimming competitions were things of grace and beauty.
 
9) Random question: Which of these is completely, 100% UNTRUE of you -- boring, lazy or stupid? 
 Being at the very least 10% of all of the above, I don't DARE make such a bold claim.

Thank you Sam, for the fun meme every Saturday!  

NOTE:  If any reader wants to see other entries, or even toss an offering into the mix, go HERE to the Saturday 9 page for this week.

All about Animals: Humans are animals too; remember this, always. The Tails, and Tongues, of the Borg are forked....pass it on

Do you like these little beetles?

Our children's Brains?

Past EPA Actions taken for the poison Chlorpyrifos

This is an excerpt from the above article:

"To address health and environmental risks from chlorpyrifos exposure, the following restrictions have been placed on pesticide products containing chlorpyrifos:

• In June 2000, we eliminated all homeowner uses, except ant and roach baits in child resistant packaging and fire ant mound treatments. In addition, termiticide uses were phased out.
• In 2000, we required that all uses of chlorpyrifos products in the U.S. be discontinued on tomatoes. Use on apples was restricted to pre-bloom and dormant application. The grape tolerance (maximum residue level) was lowered to reflect the labeled dormant application.
• In 2002, we limited the use of chlorpyrifos on citrus and tree nuts as well other crops.
• In 2012, we further limited the use of chlorpyrifos by significantly lowering pesticide application rates and creating “no-spray” buffer zones around public spaces, including recreational areas and homes.

Over the past several years, we have conducted several risk assessments and taken regulatory action in response to a petition from the Pesticide Action Network of North America and Natural Resources Defense Council. In March 2017, we denied that petition, which asked us to revoke all pesticide tolerances (maximum residue levels in food) for chlorpyrifos and cancel all chlorpyrifos registrations. As a part of the ongoing registration review, we will continue to review the science addressing neurodevelopmental effects of chlorpyrifos. Read the Federal Register notice announcing our response to the petition."

The following is a press release from the Center for Biological Diversity:

"For Immediate Release, April 21, 2017

Contact: Brett Hartl, (202) 817-8121, bhartl@biologicaldiversity.org

Public Records Sought on Dow’s Efforts to Pressure Trump Administration Over Pesticides, Endangered Species

WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity submitted Freedom of Information Act requests this week seeking public records from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Commerce to illuminate reports about how Dow Chemical is pressuring the Trump administration to abandon efforts to protect endangered species from pesticides.

Last week Dow asked the Trump administration to scrap a nearly completed four-year effort to protect endangered species from Dow’s insecticide chlorpyrifos. In January the EPA announced that its scientists had determined the highly toxic pesticide is likely to harm 97 percent of the approximately 1,800 listed threatened and endangered animals and plants found in the United States. (Italic's are mine.)

“American taxpayers have a right to know exactly how Dow Chemical is profiting from the ever-deepening corporate swamp in our nation’s capital,” said Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center. “It’s detestable that Dow and the Trump administration have so little respect for the health of our children and environment.”

Over the past six years, Dow has donated $11 million to congressional campaigns and political action committees, and has spent an additional $75 million lobbying Congress. In January 2017 Dow was one of three companies that donated $1 million to the Trump inauguration. President Trump named Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris as the head of the American Manufacturing Council in his administration. Liveris praised Trump by stating that Trump is making the United States “not a red-tape country, but a red-carpet country for America’s businesses.”

 Trump, who referred to Liveris as “my friend Andrew,” gave Liveris his pen after signing the executive order mandating that agencies create so-called “regulatory reform task forces.” Several weeks ago, the EPA shocked public health advocates by abruptly scrapping a proposed ban on chlorpyrifos, which is known to cause brain damage in children.

“Dow spent millions on congressional campaigns, the president’s coronation and lobbying Congress and now it’s looking for its payback,” said Hartl. “The disgusting backroom efforts to sidestep the Endangered Species Act are the latest proof of just how hostile Trump’s closest industry buddies are toward common-sense protections for our environment.”

In December 2016 Liveris criticized the EPA’s ground-level ozone pollution and renewable standards for utilities, while agreeing with a climate-change-denier that carbon dioxide is “an inert compound” and should not be regulated by the EPA.

During his tenure as the CEO of Dow, his company was assessed $6.5 million in fines by the EPA since 2010, including serious violations of the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.

Over the same time period, Dow AgroSciences — the division that manufactures pesticides — has been assessed four separate penalties for violating the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act.


The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.2 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places."

Home schoolers, here is an article for you. And, Apricot Nectar Rose Roars back to life.....

Wendy Bradshaw's Facebook page goes Viral.. in part because she sees what the standardized testing is doing to children. An Excerpt and HERE'S A LINK to the page at Daily Kos.

An Excerpt:

"Their brains aren't ready for some of the things they do. And Bradshaw says that with confidence because she has studied and researched early childhood development, with the degrees to prove it.

“It makes zero sense,” she said, and is not necessary. We got to the moon and back without learning how to read in kindergarten.”

To this I can only say, "AMEN!"

The Rose:
Though still not displaying the deep green of leaf that it normally possesses, our Apricot Nectar's got an incredible amount of bloom.  This is a big relief.  What was killing it was a fungus that was half masquerading as a drought problem.

Neither of our roses are on the "resistant" list from this Oregon Nursery.  So, they both got the sniffles last summer.  Apricot Nectar looked like mere sticks after awhile and it missed the November/December bloom cycle.

Here is is today, this morning in fact

Make it Bigger if you like.

During the Dry last year, I looked on the web for simple solution, like my mother used to make.  I found this one,  Sodium Acetate solution.  I am in love with that page because it's one of the few that isn't loaded down with a TON of ADS!  Unfortunately, it is no longer being updated.

Sodium Acetate Solution

Mix together:
1 Gallon of water
2 tablespoons Baking Soda
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
3 drops of Dish-washing Detergent (Hand washing)
Then stir in 1 Tablespoon Distilled Vinegar

Clean up all fallen leaves, cut away any yellow leaves from the plant itself.
Then spray the plant. Do not compost any of the litter or the leaves.
Vinegar and Baking Soda forms an Acetate, and this is why this works.

Washington Post wins a Webbie!

They have done such a great job.  Huzzah you guys!

The Daily 202 for today

In all likelihood, Trump's Folly will not be built.

Well, Yippie!!!

Left image Source
Middle image Source
Right image Source

Tuesday Tails.. Birds in the Anza Borrego Desert tune up for Spring. And meet Fern...

Fern was in a filthy cage in a dog meat farm in Korea. I quote:

"It was a freezing cold day in January when we first met Fern. Despite her suffering, she was so sweet and patient. Fern was the last dog we removed from a dog meat farm in Wonju, South Korea. Her eyes were trusting and she went along quietly when our rescuers pulled her from her rusty cage."

The Rescuers were captivated by her gentleness

Trainers at The Pet Experts gave her a certificate of Goodness.
She now has a wonderful forever home where she has a kittah pal named Nova.
Thanks to all the rescue workers who do this Kind and Compassionate Service on behalf of the Sum of Us.

This sweet shot of a Costa's Male comes from HERE at Bird's-Friends.com

This is how our little tyrant of the feeders looked when he rested on the wire of
The Christmas lights stung under the patio cover, lying in wait for his next target to harass.

For decades, at least 20 years we had a Costa's Hummingbird around the feeders.

Page about the Costa's from Audubon

This Page is from Birdnote.org

This site a wonderful site for people who know our area birds and even for those who just want to see some gorgeous things about the terrain, the birds and Native American history.   Lake Murray, where the first Costa's picture is taken,  is in San Diego's Mission Trails Regional Park.

Happy Birding around and about San Diego.

Music Monday: Marc Scibilia singing his song, "Summer Clothes"

Suzi sent this:
She and I both like this singer-song writer.

Sunday Stealing: The Time and Money Questions.

We found this gem from a site called MommyeTime. It's not clear if she wrote or stole the questions. From the site's set up, it appears the blogs purpose was to help raise children and saving (or better phrased as "helping") your marriage. The picture here is from the blog, but we're pretty sure it's not the author. And to add to our confusion of not finding a picture of the site's writer(s), we couldn't even find a name.  


Want to play or see other entries in the Sunday Stealing meme?  Go HERE

And now Stealing!  Cheers to all of us thieves!

Sunday Stealing: The Money Time Questions

1. What are five passions that you have? (If you have less than five, tell us what you do have interests.)
My Family, Art, Music, and dogs and cats. That's five, right?  I'm pretty passionate about them all.

2. List up to ten random facts about yourself. 
-------------------------------------------
My ten random facts about myself:

1. I love Udon noodles.  I want to eat them every day but now seldom do.

2. I used  to go outside at 3 am and listen for the little foxes calling each other on the mountain.  They no longer are around.  Probably they lost out to urban development and Coyotes.
3. I enjoy the calls of Wolves and of Coyotes, howling to each other in the wilds.
4. I could live all winter in the Desert. I love everything about it.
5. My favorite taste is salt.
6.  My hearing is very sharp.
7.  I have two broken toes.
8.  I'm often hyper focused but am not ADHD.
9.  I'm thought to have a condition called Tetrachromacy.  My sister also has it.  I think it's the Native American in us.  The problem I'm now having is that I've got cataracts forming. So, Lol! So long, vibrant color vision!
10. I like spiders, though I'm allergic to their little, wee bites.  I have to be very careful in handling them. Last night there was one crawling along the ceiling over our bed, and I got out the feather duster, kept swirling it around as he raced for the edge to jump, and escorted him out the front door.  Unfortunately, at that same time, I let IN a mosquito, who entertained us for a good long while.  We didn't escort HER out.  Out of this "Vale of Tears", perhaps, but not outside to freedom.
---------------------------

3. List five people (personal, historic, living or dead) who have had a major impact on your life or the way you think.
My mother, the original Zen Master in my life, my amazing, brainy husband, and my 4 highly analytic daughters. I know; that's Six. I don't care, twins cannot be separated.  How's that for an excuse?

4. List 5 things you'd tell your 15 year-olds self, if you could.
(1)You will live through this; (2)you will find happiness; (3)your brain is fine but it's just different; (4)you want four children and even though you end up not wanting four, you are going to have four and will be very happy about it;(5) don't let the Muggles you will meet get you down.

5. What is a major strength that you have? (You can list more than one. Staying with our no rules approach.)
I have, and am lucky to have, a rock solid reason for knowing that this place is not the "real" world.

6. What is a major weakness that you have? (You can list more than one. STILL staying with our no rules approach.)
I believe in a Human Being's right to have liberty and justice.  However, in a world that worships money and power, no matter how brutal,  this leads to angst and broken hearts.  This makes me feel helpless and powerless.

7. Describe the family dynamic of your childhood versus your family dynamic now.
My childhood was very rough?  Terrible actually.  Part of it was, I'm sure, due to the way my father, a decorated war hero, was treated when he came home.  The family I married into?  Some were xenophobic.  A few were outright Bigots.  So, our own family dynamic?  We raised our children to be Color Blind. It was the only way either of us could think of to make sure that they escaped those other "dynamics".

8. What popular notion do you feel that the world has most wrong?
I find it hard to believe that there is ANYONE, ANYWHERE who still believes that the Humans on the Planet are not ALL rather closely related.  Come on, it's only about 300 thousand years people.
This arcane attitude is totally mind boggling to me.

9. Name three things that always cheers you up when you are down.
Being on line with our friends; holding hands or joking around with Mr. Z., and knowing that we are going to be seeing the kids soon.

10. Name three things would you like to be remembered for?

Kindness, Forthrightness, and Compassion. Yes, yes, obviously, I'm still working on them...

Saturday 9...Don't Sleep on the Subway, under buses, or even in the emergency room.

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!

~*~Please go HERE to play along or to see links to other participants' posts.  It's very fun!~*~

Saturday 9: Don't Sleep in the Subway (1967)

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

1) Subways can be bright and noisy. Do you need it dark and quiet before you can fall asleep?  

Many hospital stays have convinced me that I need quiet and dark to sleep.  Having said that, I can fall asleep in the recliner if I'm exhausted and with Netflix blaring away.

2) In this song, Petula encourages her lover to talk it out instead of walking out. Do you usually remain reasonable during a disagreement? 

Define reasonable, please.  I will just fall silent, and recently I should have done,  if I'm being interrupted or ignored as if I wasn't even there.  I also leave the area as soon as is possible.   It's a case of only possessing ONE last nerve and having someone trample on it one too many times.

3) Petula was a child star in England during WWII. Her BBC broadcasts were very popular with the British troops, who nicknamed her The Singing Sweetheart. Soldiers pasted her photo onto their tanks for luck as they went into battle. Do you have any little rituals or good luck charms that calm/comfort you when you're afraid?
I'm not very superstitious.  Though I recently bought a little Amethyst ring because of it's "powers".  I don't actually believe in that either but it makes me think about a Loving Universe out there when I look at it.

4) Now 84, she recently told London's Daily Mail that she's surprised and thrilled to have found love again with a new man. Do you believe you'll ever be too old for romance?
I'd never marry again.  I was lucky in love and that is what I want to muse upon if it comes to that. I'll just get two more dogs and some kittahs.  And a hot tub!

5) Her family is far flung. She lives in London, her middle daughter is in Paris, her son is in Los Angeles and her oldest daughter lives in New York with Petula's two grandchildren. Who is your nearest friend or relative? Which one is farthest away?

My nearest friend is across the street.  We had a nice little chin wag and "tea and Sympathy" chat, just last week.  My sister, the nearest relative, lives here in this county.  My beloved DDs and DSonILs live 500 miles away.

6) In 1967, when this song was popular, Rolling Stone published its first issue. John Lennon was on the cover. Publisher Jann Wenner reports that, either individually or as a group, the members of The Beatles have appeared on the most Rolling Stone covers. What's the first Beatle song that comes to mind?  
It was, and always will be, George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord".  I love this song the best of all.
  

From THIS fabulous Trekkie Page

7) In 1967, Star Trek was in its second season on NBC. Who is your favorite Star Trek character? 
Worf. He was a Klingon Warrior, and fierce.

But he also had a gentler side.

From this Trekkie page, a must see!

8) RANDOM QUESTION: When you slip into jeans or slacks, which foot do you put in first?

My right foot.

9) As you considered #8, did you mime pulling on your pants?

No I did not. lol.  That's an easy way to fall on one's backside.

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!

From the book, Hemingway Didn't Say That.

" 'Bud Crew says that a month ago he wrote this on the warehouse wall at Bud’s Tool Cribs in Richardson: “‘The way to do is to be.’ —Leo-tzu [sic], Chinese philosopher.”

A few days later, a salesman wrote under that: “‘The way to be is to do.’—Dale Carnegie.

Recently, says Crew, an anonymous sage has added still another axiom: “‘Do be, do be, do.’ —Frank Sinatra.”

Paul Crume’s Big D, Dallas Morning News, January 29, 1968, A1. Accessed in GenealogyBank.

Friday Frogging: The Manly Beastly sweater

Yes, it's finally coming together.  But I've gotten that restlessness again.  Easter Sunday was pleasant with the in laws but it was also very enlightening.  From now on, I will take my knitting and put on my Zen "Cloak of Inscrutability".  I'm not fit to be in Human Company.  It's very tiresome.

The Manly-Beastly Aran Sweater.  Gorgeous, eh?

I've decided to frog back to the baseline and start again with these instructions. This should be in quotes but I couldn't find the original resource page again.  The next poster, a Guru of chart knitting, pronounced it correct.

Make this BIGGER

This is one of the comments on a web page about knitting from charts.  I think one thing is left out, namely this fact below:

The instructions should include that the chart be read from RIGHT to LEFT on the ODD numbered rows, and LEFT to RIGHT on EVEN numbered  rows.  Or else it's some other kind of Hocus Pocus.  

Wish me luck, please, because I'm going to need it!  I've used charts many a time but mostly never a sweater pattern where one must knit in the round for sanity, and then leap over into the flat into insanity.  ⇜😕⇝

I now need:
A. a nap
B. a new brain cell to rub against the one I've got left, or....
C. some chocolate.   *thinks about it*

Friday will be all about the knitting.  I'm saying this now to save you a trip or two into the dreaded "Knit Nut Zone".

Fools and such

" A municipal councilor . . . remarked that certainly half of his colleagues were fools. An apology was demanded. He promised to make reparation and caused bills with the following correction to be posted on boardings in the town: 'I said that half of the town councilors are fools. I now declare that half of the town councilors are not fools.' ”

This is from the book, Hemingway Didnt Say That.  

Thursday Thirteen: A pen collection.

I've messed up the publish date.  Sorry if you couldn't see the blog entry, or it disappeared on you.  

I've been thinking about getting back into letter writing in a big way, especially for the agencies that have a lot of people write letters to save lives!

So, taking a cue from the Thursday 13 topic list, here's my list of my favorite ink pens.

 I'll just start on the left and go across the row.  I put the picture in the middle because it seemed to help.

1.  This was an impulse buy in the late 90's, and it stands as a symbol for the reasons I don't go to Office Max too many times a year.  I am a paper and pen NUT!  I still love this chubby but short ball point pen.
2.  This was a gift from WWF, one year.  Gorgeous writing instrument with plenty of heft.  The pencil that came in the set is hefty, too.
3.  Mr. Z gave this to me because, well, see answer number 1.  It's a lovely and hefty pen and came with a pencil, too.
4.  This is a pen from an inkwell that was my mother's.  She gave it to me one year because it was something she knew I had loved to use when I was young.  I still have the well, and a bottle that goes inside it.
5.  This pen was a foundling at some shop somewhere in the 60's.  I always spot the Pens!  Anyway, it will take one of the cartridges that I used to, and maybe still can, buy.  It's a beautiful writing instrument.  I once wrote all my letters with it to pen-pals.
6.  The orange pen from what once was a set of both pen and pencil for children.  These are from the 40's.  Both it and the blue pen (and pencil) sets have a life and a charm all their own.  I used these as soon as I was able to write.

7.  The pen from the Blue set children's pens and pencils.  
8.  An Esterbrook from the 1950's and another one of my mother's pens.
9.  My mother and dad had a matching pen and pencil set, from Eversharp, that they bought when they were first married, and working together at the L.A. County Law Library.  I've used this so much because it fits my hand perfectly.  I have mother's set and my sister has PD's.
10.  A Parkette from the 1930's that belonged to my Grandfather.  I don't use it as much anymore because all these old pens are in need of new bladders.  And, I've found that they are available on Ebay and just snagged some.     You have GOT to love the web!!

11.  This is my own "modern" Parker pen.  Mr. Z. bought it for me in the 60's, and he bought himself the next pen down the line, a black barreled beauty.

12.  This is Mr. Z.s pen.  We did a LOT more actually writing in those days because I was still writing to my mother, my pen pals, and all my aunties, and well, the less glamorous but ubiquitous bill paying task. Needs must, they say...

13. This hooded beauty was my mother's last pen.  It was from the late 50's I think.  But, I haven't researched it.  It writes like a dream.

Speaking of research, if you'd like to see a fabulous pen collection, go to RichardsPens.com.  

And, now, why not go write someone a letter.  You know.....

~*~"Shock  and Awe" them~*~
Come on, I know you want to do that.

This is related to the Tuesday Tails post for this week

Cyanide bomb article from "The Wildlife News" web site

Tuesday Tales on a Sunday: Upadated: Cyanide devices removed from Idaho.

This is a big victory.

You must GO HERE to read the story in the Washington post.

This momentous victory, in the face of a hostile administration and Congress,  was also re- posted at the Center for Biological Diversity's web page since their members played a big part on getting this ban in place.

Read the latest on the illegality of use of these devices by the Dept. of Ag.

Yes, but did we not just blow half the Afghani herds, and their minders, up with this Mega whatzit Bomb?

The goat herds of Afghanistan can yield big money, if the country's ever left alone to do it.

Read about it HERE

Didn't Heifer International have a big drive to replace all the goats that had been killed by the bombing in Afghanistan?  I seem to remember it and donated to it myself.

What's that old song line?

"We did it before and we can do it again!"

Fun stuff--- Millennials videos

Just some fun...  My kids are all Gen Xers.  But, they work with Millennials.

I'll be off line for a couple of days.. Happy Easter to everyone who loves this Holiday....

Wheeee!

Friday and off to see the wizard...And Knitting chart reading stuff from YouTube, and Tin Can knits page

Whoot, whooooo?

I've joined some social media, and it's like a mine field.  But I like the rough and tumble.

I'm still trying to get back to knitting the Manly Beastly.  That spectacular 3D dream is fading out and it's back to guess work again.  Time to put on some Norwegian Slo-TV and veg out with the knitting.

Fun fun fun for a semi- undiagnosed - dyslexic....

It's mind boggling I tell you!

Tin Can Knits Page

A child's curiosity, humorously noted....

Personally, I always tried to answer the kid's questions because they were so cute, but this is funny.  Enjoy!

"There is no cure for curiosity. It must be outgrown or endured. A child is born with its mouth in position to utter the word “Why?” and when, at some later date, it is punished for asking too many questions, it thinks up enough additional questions during its punishment to make the Encyclopaedia Britannica look sick."

Boston Sunday Post of Massachusetts. August 1, 1915
As noted in the book: Hemingway Didn't Say That: The Truth Behind Familiar Quotations.

I'm wishing you a Happy Easter, and a safe journey.  I know this isn't very P.C. Or ecumenical, but I do respect your customs, Please do accept the safe journey part, as I can wish you that.

I bid you Peace, in your hearts, lives, and families.

Tuesday Tails: Some happy, some sad......

from BankerChick's blog.  I stole it, as 'twas very cute.

Rusty Ring's story about the passing of dear family Kittcat is HERE
Bittersweet and beautiful

Now for a different sort of sad:
Some so called sentient beings (the selfish,greedy and aggressive,etc) live in another world it seems, but not any of them are birds apparently.  So $#%&* Sad! 😢

"The White House budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2018 ( a pdf) would mean crippling reductions to America’s most important conservation initiatives, many of which support Audubon’s efforts to protect birds and the places they need.

Story at Audubon.  Yes, this is the story of yet another stupid Governmental decision 

Now for some happier news from South Korea...

For more information visit HERE

Even More good news:

And from Tucson Arizona..  Tiny Arizona Pygmy Owls get a day in Court

Music Monday: Joni Mitchell.. "Big Yellow Taxi"; Simon and Garfield, "The Boxer"

"Don't it always seem to go, you don't know what you've got til it's gone."



"After Changes we are more or less the same.".....

I've had it up to "HERE" and It hurts too much to stay silent...

.....especially in deference to party-line demagogues.

I've re-linked the political blog..why the hell not?  In for a penny, in for a pound...

If We, the People, who hold Truths to be self evident, end up not being able to remove Trump and his whole row of Line dance partners via the courts and the egotistical, power mad Republican party(like that will ever happen)- we are going to end up with a civil war here. 

I always hoped that what I also saw coming down the road was not going to happen.  Every other nation, even the Russians, will have to keep their heads screwed on straight, because, "Something wicked this way comes".  

 This is such a nightmare, and may result in a war, civil or global.

I saw Putin "smoooshing"  the French President, and immediately thought, "I wonder what Putin is holding over HIS head?." 

Then I think, but not regularly," Has the U.S. been judged and is being punished?" After all, that could explain it.  But overweening Greed and the Megalomania can also explain what's happening.
Far too many Republicans are ruthless, and unscrupulous, and the voting system has been gamed. Obviously the personality disorder that Trump suffers from fit their plans or he would be gone.
However, all this leaves the rest of us playing "piggy in the middle".  We haven't had a good Republican president, one actually elected and not appointed, since Ike.  He was an amazing man.

There I've said my piece.

Sunday Stealing: The Sassy Questions

It's late and I'm tired so this will be sparse.  HERE is a link in case anyone would like to use it.

Cheers to all of us thieves! 

Sunday Stealing: The Sassy Questions

1. If you could say anything you wanted to say to Donald Trump, what would you say?
You're Fired!!!

2. If you had to be the mother of Britney Spears or Lindsay Lohan, who would you choose and why?  
Who would want that?  I KNOW I don't have to do everything I'm told to do now.  

3. You get to be Queen for a day. The kids are all taken care of, and you can spend as much money as you want. What do you do all day?
I'd spend the time writing thousands of checks to every Animal rescue Org, and send out checks to food banks all over the world.  I'd also tell Trump that he is fired!

4. Is there a song that brings tears to your eyes every time you hear it? If so, which one?
"Landslide"

5. A fairy taps you on the shoulder and tells you that you can either have a perfect face or a perfect body for the rest of your life. Which do you choose?
Since the face is part of the body, I'd choose  to have a perfect body.

6. If you could live any place in the world and money was no object, where would you live and why?  I've said before, many times that I'd like to live in the South of France.  But really, I just want to be near my kids.  And the reason for that is that I miss them every day.. 

7. What is your biggest regret in life?
That's dead easy.  I would have gone back to Uni and finished my degrees.

8. If you could go back and visit one person in your life who is now dead, and ask one question, what would that question be and why would you ask it?
Can't go there.

9. If you had the choice to age forward (like we are now) or aging backwards (think Benjamin Buttons) which would you choose and why?
I choose the former...got it backwards... or what we have now.  I don't want to be growing younger because what happens when you become an embryo?

10. What will the epitaph on your headstone say?
I won't have a a headstone.

Thank you for playing this week on Sunday Stealing! Please consider liking WTIT on Facebook. Click here. Link when you have posted. Stop back and visit other player’s posts. That is really what this is all about, making new friends! Have a great week. See you next Sunday!

Saturday9: Work from Home

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: Work from Home (2016)

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

Head's up note.  I usually forget to do this but not today.  If you would like to play along go to Sam's Blog, and check it out.  Come on over and have a look-see.  I think you'll like this long running meme.

1) This song is about a woman who doesn't get to see her lover often enough because he's on the night shift. Have you ever worked nights? I have worked the night shift and so has DH.  We worked at PacBell and he worked the frame, and I was a telephone operator, a job that I found to be fun except for split shifts.  Ugh!  I always forget this job in the two memes; I don't know why.

2) She promises that if he takes the day off, she'll make it feel like a vacation. Have you traveled anywhere fun so far this year? Do you have any leisure trips planned for 2017? 
No we haven't gone anywhere.  Nearby Family obligations.  We are thinking of a trip but we'll see.

3) The ladies of Fifth Harmony are enthusiastic supporters of the Girl Scouts, rewarding troops who excel in fundraising activities with free concerts. The Scouts' best-known fundraiser is their cookie sale. What's your favorite cookie (Girl Scout or otherwise)?
I love the delicious vegan cookies from a little shop called, Starry Lane Bakery.  Happily they are doing well enough that they are able to relocate to Hillcrest.  Sadly, they aren't on the way to my sister's house anymore.

4) Fifth Harmony also participated in Goodwill's Fall Haul campaign. They encouraged high school students donate as many items as possible to Goodwill, and the winning school got a free concert. When did you last take gently-used items to a resale organization?
A few years ago.  I love Goodwill, both here and in Santa Cruz. In Santa Cruz, I found a pot made by my late next door neighbor, here.  I was absolutely gob smacked. Now I have three of his ceramic pieces.  You just never know what you'll find at Goodwill. 

5) Do you ever shop second-hand or thrift stores?
Thrift stores are the go-to place for our family. It's lots more fun than anything else; but Target does come close.  Or a Hardware store. I 💟  Harbor Freight!  *leaps for joy*

6) Fifth Harmony member Normani Kordei competes on Dancing with the Stars this season. Would you do better on DWTS or The Voice? In other words, are you a better singer or dancer?   At my age, I'm not good at either anymore.  But I once had a nice singing voice.  I also did love to dance, and enjoyed it, but nowhere near to the level of  "ballroom", like Dancing with the Stars.

7) In February 2016, when this song was first released, The Denver Broncos won the Super Bowl and Spotlight won the Best Picture Oscar. Can you recall who won the 2017 Super Bowl and Best Picture Oscar, just two months ago?
Oh my, do I remember the spectacular showing of the scrappy young team from Atlanta, and I went down in flames with them, loving them all the more at the end.  It was a great distraction for me.
I still love the team and want to watch their next season.  Good Luck in the next season Atlanta!

The Oscars: I've never watched  the Oscars again since I watched them with my mom.  She enjoyed watching them; such memories are nice, so I'm glad to have that.

8) 2016's most popular TV show was Game of Thrones. Are you a fan?
  Sorry.  Not at all.  My trainer tried to get me to watch it, calling it a love story.  But images of Children competing for food, and the word," Hunger" as well, just didn't flash any positive lights in my head.  

9) Random Question: What's the subject line of the newest message in your email spam folder?

It's from knit picky patterns.  I want to shut it off but don't have the tracking skills organized in my brain at the moment.  Maybe tomorrow....... *sighs*

Photographic Excellence

Gary McCarthy

Los Angeles Times article: fighting back.

 California fights back

California has the 6th largest economy in the world, but we can't go it alone, nor do we want to.  But we don't want to be thrown under the bus, either.

Everyone who wants to live in a free and just society will have to make up their minds rather quickly about resisting the brigands if we are to save what's left of our civil rights.  The choice is still yours.

Choose wisely, since your child's life depends on it.  Think of the kids.

Politics is bad for your health. Dr. Carp's page

A very nice friend noticed that something was cracking in me, and sent this page authored by a former Physician at Kaiser.

Dr. Carp's Page

I'm going to do what I've been told to do.  Take a break and knit for others.

Tonight we bombed Syria.  I just am heart sick.

To the White Helmets.  God Bless you, and keep you safe.

I will keep you all in my prayers always.

Thursday Thirteen: 13 Vegetables/fruits I like to eat

The first item is something Mr. Z found out.

And, U.C. Berkeley's webpage is a treasure trove of  plant facts.

1. Broccoli has a compound in it that combats certain RNA strands which help cancers to multiply.

2. Artichokes support the liver, and help keep it healthy. I take a daily supplement of artichoke extract suggested by my doctor.  We also buy the artichokes in season.  Yum!

3. Spinach was first grown as a crop, in Iran 4000 years ago.

4. Heirloom tomatoes are slightly sweet.  Yum!

5. Rutabagas started out as a cross between a cabbage and a turnip. I like them sliced and fried like potatoes.

6. Potatoes boast about 4000 different varieties.

7. Carrots  Are healthy and so tasty.  And they originated in Persia, which is now Iran.

8. Here's the skinny on Chocolate, a bean which is also healthy, as  U.C. Berkeley explains...

9. Nuts. I'm so glad to not be allergic to this lovely food.

From HERE.
There is some really good nutritional info there.

10.  Kale, especially in stir-fry and salads.  I want to try it in green drinks,too.

11. Brown Rice.  Well, white rice, too.  The short sticky and also long grain. Does that count as 2?

Yummy Stuff!

12.  Soy Bean curd.  It's so delicious.

13. Corn on the cob, cooked on the grill.

From What's Cooking America 

Happy Thursday 13, Everyone!

The Last Wordless Wednesday: update on email Addy

"Guernica" by Pablo Picasso: 1937

I wish you both Love and Peace

Anyone wishing to be added as a reader to my political blog, please send requests to:
ZippikitATGmailDOTcom

In all the fuss and hubbub, this tiny insect carries us all on it's wings.

From THIS web page

Let us remember to keep it together, at all costs, for the birds and for the bees and for the Earth's children.  The idiots trying to destroy the EPA and the remnants of the U. S. Department of Fish And Game have NO IDEA what they are dealing with.  We need the bees and other pollinators to have any food to eat.  

Very Early Tuesday Tails.. Churchy comes out of hiding, and a little Cockatoo has some fantastic moves...

The "old man" has finally emerged from his second nap of the season.  He crawled WAY back into a burrow they all have dug over time, and went back to sleep.  Mr. Z found him rambling and eating on the little hill at the back of your garden.  The dark form on the side of the photo is from the shade cloth on the patio cover.

Torts need dried grasses and weeds in their diet too, especially after hibernation. So he's now chowing down, happily, on these things.  Am I EVER glad to see him.

This is so funny and cute.  Enjoy it...

I love how his bird friend puts a foot up to fend him off...

Farmer's Almanac is online. I didn't know!

After the rose, this unassuming blossom was my mother's favorite.  She planted these in her garden every year.

Cosmos: Photo is from HERE

That link goes to the online Farmer's Almanac.

Do you remember the actual Almanac?  Do you remember reading that book avidly?  I certainly did, and so did my grandparents, and my mother.  I was so happy to find that it's now on line.

Endangered Earth April Fool....BuHahahahaha

Sorry Folks.  I lost all the pictures in a fight between the page and the Evil Wall-Eyed Google Giant.  Guess who won.

Happy April Fools Day!

Trump: Coal Safe to Eat, Drink and Make Sweet, Sweet Love to In an executive order issued early today, President Donald Trump encouraged all Americans to embrace the fossil fuel known as coal, which, as he tweeted at 2:34 a.m., is a healthy source of everything. Outside its obvious use for generating electricity, the miracle substance can also be sautéed, broiled or fried -- or even liquefied and consumed as an energy beverage, tweeted the commander-in-chief. In addition, according to the executive order, the black, combustible sedimentary rock can be converted to a powder and sprinkled into the marital bed to spice up tired romance. "I promise you, you'll absolutely love it. It's the best thing for America. Sprinkle it on your toast, rub it on your body... If you miss out... sad!"

White House Issues 'How to Talk' Guides for Employees The Trump administration sent a new guide to all 4.2 million federal employees this week with helpful guidance on how to talk. Not only are "global warming" and "climate change" banned from use -- "These are antiquated ideas for nerds and crybabies," the guide says -- but so are phrases like "the science shows that...," "public health" and "the Russians." "The Trump administration loves freedom, and we want you to speak freely, but only with the right words," the guide's introduction says. "You heard the president say it during the campaign. He's got the best vocabulary, the best words, so let's follow his example!" Other guidance for speeches and government documents calls for a mandatory, 80-percent increase in the use of "great," "jobs" and "great, bigly jobs."

Wildlife Hastily Adopting 'Apocalypse-proof' Mutations A new study reveals that, since Nov. 8, 2016, several American wildlife species have begun to rapidly evolve mutations to gird against potential apocalypse. "It's the damndest thing," said one federal wildlife scientist, who would only speak anonymously because she's not sure whether scientists are still allowed in the Trump administration. "It's as if they know something we don't." Pikas, possums and raccoons have all been observed with emerging outer shells capable of withstanding a nuclear blast. Dolphins have started to develop skin impermeable to spilled oil. Migratory birds have departed for Canada and not returned. Other species, including some humans, have been observed simply huddling in dark, quiet places.

Reclassified as Condiment, Prairie Dogs Can Be Eaten In an attempt to capitalize on the popularity of late President Ronald Reagan -- whose Department of Agriculture famously attempted to classify relish as a vegetable in order to cut corners on children's school lunches -- the Trump White House has declared various rare and tasty species, including prairie dogs, to actually be condiments. The prairie dogs can now be gobbled at will in combination with hamburgers, sloppy Joes and frankfurters, the White House said. In addition, since the small, fat mammals can be difficult to catch, condiment-gathering methods -- which traditionally have been limited to tomato harvest, mustard farming, etc. -- will soon be expanded, in consultation with the NRA.