"I thought it was a costume ball!"

If you've ever seen the old cult film, "Start The Revolution Without Me", you'll recognize that line. Louis XIV comes down the stairs in this awkward, garish bird costume and he's the only one dressed up. Of course, he's kind of a dufus so it isn't surprising but still funny. The film has the most bizarre story line and cast, Orson Welles, Gene Wilder and Donald Sutherland who play identical twins who get switched at birth, one set poor and one set rich. I can't remember who else is in it but it is worth a couple of hours on a Saturday afternoon with a big, old bowl of popcorn.

I'm celebrating the fact that my name is going to be posted on a plaque over my friend's pantry in their new house. Now how many of you have that singular honor? Why do I, you ask? Well, I was the one who suggested they have a pantry put into their current house so they are simply going to take the sign with them and put it up again in their new house. Who knows, my sign could travel half way round the world in future generations. I wonder if I should apply to the Guinness World Book of Records for the only pantry in the world named after a person, probably not. That wouldn't hold nearly as much interest as eating 48 hot dogs in 15 minutes or climbing to the top of a 100 foot pole and sitting there for three days without coming down. Nope, the more I think about it, it sounds more and more boring compared to those world record examples.

All the new Fall tv is on, you'll notice I'm on the computer as opposed to on the couch. I figure if I wasn't impressed last season, they don't have much chance of convincing me otherwise this season. Just how many ways can a group of people fight with each other, the only thing I see that changes is the island they're on. No, they won't get my vote on or off the island. Give me a good old movie any day. I've almost finished "Saving Grace" for the umpteenth million time, one of my all time favorites. I find myself grinning just thinking about it regardless.

Fall is turning back into summer over the next week or so. This is definitely a bonus so we have all sorts of outdoor activities planned to enjoy it. This is the best time of year because all the colors are beginning to change and the air feels crisp and clear, even when it's warm. We have scads of squirrels who live in the trees around us, I could sit for hours watching them scurry back and forth, preparing for the winter (even though I see them scurrying all winter too). Unfortunately for the cat, she isn't allowed outside so she has her eye on them and talks to them through the window but they blissfully ignore her. In fact they come right up to the window and give her this innocent look, twitch their tail while she is having a fit, then scamper off, rubbing her nose in it.

This last April/May, we visited Santorini, one of the Greek islands. It is on one edge of the caldera of what was at one time the largest mountain ever recorded in the world. Legend insists that it could have been the home of the lost city of Atlantis, obliterated when the giant mountain/volcano erupted and fell into the Mediterranean Sea. When you stand on the edge of the cliff and look down into the caldera, you get a sense of the immense size of that mountain. Now that they know it is over 1,200 feet deep, the eruption must have been like nothing we've ever seen, truly cataclysmic. It makes our nearby 12,000 foot peak seem like a mole hill. Considering some of the ancient civilization discoveries elsewhere on the island you almost believe the whole Atlantis thing could be true. Or maybe you just want to...

So, if not Atlantis, what about reincarnation? That is a cool concept. When you die, your soul is reborn in a different form. Apparently, you get multiple chances until you get it right, or something like that. Actually, I'm not sure the cycle ever ends. Which means it could be possible that all of us have known each other at some other time in the past. I think that's cool. Unless I was like a buzzard or a seagull, that would not be cool. It would also not be acceptable to have been a spider or a yellow jacket, those are not noble souls. But a dolphin, now that would be the ultimate. Imagine spending your entire life jumping in the surf, doing flips, perfectly synchronized with your family and friends. I doubt that was me though, I'm not that good of a swimmer.

Time for the pumpkin to appear, please return my glass slipper...