Provincial Little World

I look at people like Ralph Nader...









or Stephen Hawking...







or Jim Lovell...





and I think what is the matter with the majority of my brain cells? Belle in "Beauty and the Beast" sang about her provincial little world and frequently I feel similarly. My world can be defined by just a few square miles and is only populated by those people I know. You ask why not grow my world? I have trouble remembering what I ate for breakfast while these guys are solving the environmental problems of the world, discovering black holes studying and teaching quantum physics and flying to the moon or attempting to anyway. Just in case you ever need to feel humble, just think about people like these. Oh, and let me throw in a few more to add balance; Mother Therese, Madeline Albright and Maya Angelou.

Something else all of them have in common, THEY'RE OLD! The men for instance:
RN - 73
SH - 65
JL - 79
So I'm concerned, who's going to take the places of these renowned individuals in keeping humankind honest, making important discoveries and going where no man has gone before? It makes me think of the movie "Space Cowboys" where there were young punk astronauts who arrogantly tried to take over the mission but it was the old, worn out fighter pilots who saved the day.

I'm beginning to see a theme here. I commented years ago that the Academy Awards have lost their flair, their class, their dignity as the old, well-respected actors have left this life's stage. I ask you, which of these shots is the more impressive and truly classy?

Disagree? OK, you decide.

BEFORE


AFTER
I rest my case.

Close Only Counts in...

Well, the 2007 World Series is only 3 outs away from being over. It has been relatively boring because no one can touch the Reds. As much as I like Boston, I'm OK with sharing it with someone else next year though. I don't want to see us get into another Chicago Bulls winning year after year after year, ad nauseum. The best part of the Box is that their star hitter is from Madras, Oregon, where my favorite uncle, the rock star lives. He has been phenomenal, truly a case of local boy makes good. The worst part of these games besides the fact that the Rockies just haven't been up to it is that the singers of the various before and mid-game accompaniments were country-western, yuck!

I have another question for you, who are these fat, sloppy looking people who have field-side, hundreds of dollar seats? They don't even have on their team colors? Nobody knows how to be a good fan anymore. Not like my girls and I in the days of the real Trailblazers. What's a little tarmac sitting through the night among friends?

One more positive aspect of any final sports face-off, is the caliber of the commercials. I wonder if there's anyone out there who rates commercials. Some are so good you want to see them again, and others make my skin crawl. Others of course have me getting up and leaving the room, on purpose. Right now, I'm watching people interact with sparkler looking pictures, weird. OK, I left that out before but it definitely is one of the categories.

We did laugh tonight though when the first beer commercial was Anheuser-Busch rather than Coors, especially when they are playing in Coors Stadium in Denver.


Anyway, I think it's safe to say this is the end of this year's era. In fact, that's it, Papelbon just struck out his last 2007 batter and they are in a major group hug jumping all over the field. It's always a little anticlimactic when you win the final game away from home. The crowd isn't crazy spilling over the stands with noise that makes your head hurt. I still think Papelbon looks like John Lithgow.

Time for me to sweep myself off to bed and get ready for another wearing week.

Oh, and I only have 100 pages left in Harry Potter #5. Woo hoo!

National or Make that International Embarrassment

Well, we are sitting here watching the Colorado Rockies publicly humiliate themselves. It's the 6th inning and the score is Boston 13, Colorado 1. The last inning lasted 34 minutes, can you spell pitiful? I said from the start that the Rockies are outclassed and the battle between Cleveland and Boston was the real series. This is very embarrassing to watch.


Did you know there is a woman commander on the current Space Shuttle and a woman commander in the International Space Station? The sad thing is, it's 2007 and these statistics are still news. So, I wonder if they make the same money as all the men who have previously been entrusted with these positions? My guess would be they don't.


It sounds like the wildfires in southern California are finally beginning to come under control. So many people have lost their homes, property and some their lives. Those Santa Ana winds are lethal when it comes to fanning the flames. It seems like the fact that this is an annual occurrence would ensure there was better preparation to deal with these conditions.


Natural disasters in general, hurricanes, tornadoes, fires, tsunamis, etc. all prove again and again that you can't fool Mother Nature. We are not and never will be in control of our environments, MN will always have the final say. It's kind of a mom thing.


I'm off to get a little work done before MN catches up with me in the form of sleep.

But Weird Is Good!

I can't be teased about the subject matter of my blog because IT'S MY BLOG! I thought I'd point that out since it appears someone may have momentarily overlooked that minor detail.

Well, it's officially the end of an era and beginning of a new era.

OLD ERA






NEW ERA






Let me just say heated seats are like a little slice of heaven:) So sad when you get to the age that the temperature of your seat makes you supremely happy. Tonight the new one's in the garage and a young man (17) has my little firecracker in his garage.

Enjoy your new life, little Subie! I do think I heard a little mechanical sniffling as she drove away. Only an ENFJ can humanize a car.

This reminds me of a dream I had the other night. There was this fox trying to get in the kitchen window. Somehow, after I stepped out of the room, it found a way in through the side of the window but when I came back to the room it was smashed into pieces on the floor because it was only a porcelain figurine. Freud, where are you when I need you! The only thing I can figure is I was being told I can't differentiate between reality and fantasy, or maybe I just don't want to. It was truly one of the weirdest dreams I've ever had, which is why I can still remember it. Just in time for Halloween.

Red Sox: Do or Die

Well, maybe that's overstating it but they have to win tonight or they will get a nice long vacation until next year. They may feel like that's dying, at least seasonal dying. Anyway, this isn't going anywhere.


Today we were invited to roast beast dinner by my daughter and her sig ot (on Sunday). It's my favorite, red meat and all. Now that I think about it, I remembered we are having the same thing Saturday night at our friend's house who had her eyes lasered today. Oh well, when it rains it pours. ODing on roast beast is just fine with me. Especially when there are roasted potatoes and vegies involved. It's a good thing I just feasted on some cheese and apple or my mouth would be watering.

Baby boy came over tonight to see all of Grammie's Halloween lights/decorations. He LOVED them. He wanted to touch all the fiber optics so of course I let him. One of the pumpkins with a spider draped over it is about 30 years old and plays the "Alfred Hitchcock Theme". He was sort of wierded out by the music, he knew it was spooky even at 1 year old. He is truly exceptional.

Right before they got here I got a collection call saying I had opened an account with a company I'd never heard of and I had to pay the two year old balance of about $380. What really fried me is they had my name and SSN but a wrong address. Somehow it would appear someone has stolen my identity but now I have to figure out how to clear my record. I really, really hate this stuff. The criminal skates while the victim has to spend countless hours trying to get their record corrected. I think very few of these creeps ever get caught and when they do, I'm sure they are released due to lack of room at the inn. Ugh!


I saw a Wall Street Journal update today that Bush's veto of the children's health bill was not overturned by Congress so chalk up one more positive step for mankind with that one. All I can do is shake my head. I can't wait to see where we go from here, my hope is the only way possible is up.


Well, I have work to do and still need to practice so it's time to sign off. I don't think the 50 mph winds ever showed up today, the news exaggerated as usual. I think I'll close with, "Who can you trust?"

Just Returned from Mariner/Seahawk Country

The big news is the weather is as ugly and wet up there as it is here. I guess that means we have both shared in the remnants of said typhoon. It seems odd that a storm system can blow that many miles across the ocean and still have any wind left, I know I wouldn't.


Seattle does have great restaurants though. Ironically, instead of eating last night at Mazana like we were supposed to, we ended up eating at McCormick & Schmick's, which we have here so it wasn't quite as special as usual. Met some new people, heard some interesting (and some depressing) stuff so all in all, a worthwhile trip.

I also heard today that Hillary has a significant lead now on the Deomcratic side and Giulliani is sort of leading the GOP but not by alot. It seems so pointless to go through all this when that's all there is to choose from. Hillary is never going to get elected by the bible belt that seems to control our world and Rudy's only experience is as the mayor of a large metropolis. I remember thinking that the various presidential candidates who had only been governors previously didn't have enough experience domestic or international experience to not only move us ahead for once but to even keep us out of hot water. For the most part, I think I was right. So what in the dickens experience is a former mayor going to draw from when he's faced with North Korean or Iranian aggression, how is he going to make a decision on whether to pay for Social Security or Medicare, what if he has to decide between buses to New Orleans to save the city or federal aid to Florida because they are hit by simultaneous storm systems, the what if's go on and on. I mean the guy can't even decide which woman he wants, how is he going to make a decision on who should sit on the Supreme Court?

I've seen a few Colbert Report shows recently during which Stephen hasn't hesitated to blatantly promote his new book,

"I'm an American and You Can Too"

or something like that.

I guess one of the reasons I'm not so sold on this guy is his continuing copycatting of my idol, John Stewart. John hosts a half hour tv show, Stephen hosts a half hour tv show, John puts his guests on the hot seat, Stephen does the same, John writes a book (America), Stephen writes a book that even shares one of the same title words.

This is the excerpt from Wikipedia about Stephen's new book. Truthiness is a satirical term created by television comedian Stephen Colbert to describe things that a person claims to know intuitively or "from the gut" without regard to evidence, logic, intellectual examination, or actual facts. Colbert created this definition of the word during the inaugural episode of his satirical television program The Colbert Report, as the subject of a segment called "The Wørd". It was named Word of the Year for 2005 by the American Dialect Society and for 2006 by Merriam-Webster. By using the term as part of his satirical routine, Colbert sought to criticize the use of "truthiness" as an appeal to emotion and tool of rhetoric in contemporary socio-political discourse. He particularly applied it to U.S. President George W. Bush's nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court and decision to invade Iraq in 2003. (more...)

If you want to see the rest, you'll obviously have to go to the site. This book will NOT be on my Christmas list.

I'm not going to talk about the rest of the news other than Boston had better get their act together. I think they forgot momentarily how to hit the ball. Hopefully their memories return tonight.

Most everything else newsworthy was disgusting so I'm off to clean up after my kitty. A demain!

Calls 'um like I sees 'um

One day of Fall (sun) before 6 days of winter (rain)
Leaves everywhere, we are rich in leaves


Baby boy fell asleep immediately following 10 renditions of the Addams Family played by the dancing tree
Quimby, the neediest and most devoted dog I know
The Sox had better get their act together or Boston will lose to Cleveland and that would be a travesty
The end of an era, no more red, saucy Subaru
Only on Trading Spaces is it chic for men to sew
Why is there always more housework than there is time for house work?
Why does 60 sound so young these days?
I need to go to Italy to get photos for my kitchen
Are you born with the video game addiction?
I wonder what percentage of adults are really depressed?


Beginning to speculate on how to tone down the Christmas celebration while retaining the impact and and joy...



Lots of things to think about AFTER I finish working and practicing...

Can't Keep Up

I no sooner read that Orlando Bloom has a new lady love when he's in a car accident and breaks some girl's neck. The big question being, is it the same girl? Like I really care, if it were Mike he'd be hovering over the information waiting for the next EXTRA with baited breath. I simply don't bait my breath. I'm normal, not silly. EXTRA, Entertainment Tonight, Parade magazine in the Sunday paper, all silliness. What do we all care more about, who is going to lead us into the next war or how many piercings Britney Spears has...don't answer that.

What a lovely Fall weekend. Lots of visiting already and other fun stuff. Getting ready to post my cool car on Craig's List, that makes me sad so I'm not going to talk about it anymore.

Watched a girl's high school volleyball tournament this morning. Boy have they ever changed the rules. a point is scored with every play, they play a set of 3 to 25 points (must win by 2) and they play something like 4-5 sets in a day. Made me tired just to watch but it sure was fun. It was interesting how the girls lowest to the ground were the best diggers, whoever said there's no place for short girls in volleyball was dead wrong. They could get to hits that had everyone else rolling on the ground from trying to hit them. It's very popular, two gyms full with two games playing in each simultaneously.

That's something else, high schools are so much bigger and nicer now than they ever were when I was in school or even when my kids were in school. For all that you hear the schools are so bad and the kids undereducated, it certainly isn't for lack of lovely facilities. For those who believe the environment has a significant impact on someone's attitude, they would have to believe these buildings are much more pleasant to reside in day after day. In fact, they are probably nicer than alot of the kids homes. I don't even want to think about how many millions it costs to build one of them.

I bought Halloween candy today, I hope that means I get at least 10 kids again this year. What house doesn't get at least 10 kids you ask, well mine for many of the years since we've lived here. For someone who delights in holiday decorating and participation, it's been very hard to take. There's only one family of kids on our street and their church apparently doesn't believe in Halloween because I've watched for little costumes to come running out their door every year and it just doesn't happen. Anyway, I bought a very wierd and delightful assortment of candy type items that will be the hit of the neighborhood if I can just entice a few to take a chance on my house.

It can't come close to the wonderfulness of my Halloween memories (crisp apples, freshly-made popcorn balls-still soft and gooey, homemade cookies, etc.) but it's a relatively good substitute.

Time to write a letter and then to try out a new brew pub, yay for Portland!

Make It Quick

Oh, to be a cat. They sit there next to you, looking at you and their world is complete, that's all it takes to make them perfectly happy. OK, that and a clean poopy box and a little food and water here and there. I can't imagine the simplicity of that life. I know they can't think, so to speak, but our cat knows when it's time to go to bed and won't come in until she knows I've actually gotten into the bed. Then, she proceeds to march back and forth, back and forth across me rubbing up against us to receive maximum rubbing and scratching. I guess she's spoiled, I'm not sure how she got that way other than she's so darn cute. How can I kick her off?
(Mrs. Belvedere look-alike pictured here)

It's hard to imagine only having a little pea brain that only registers on hungry, cold, scared, tired or battle mode. Sometimes though, it seems like it would be very appealing, I'm quite sure she never has headaches. I'm also sure she doesn't have to monitor her budget, provide constructive feedback to her staff, write a business case or negotiate carefully through political situations. No wonder cats don't have grey hair and wrinkles. OK, maybe they have grey hair but it's not due to age! All I know is she loves her mommy and that's ok with me.

Time for us to go snuggle up together.

Have you ever...

...rubbed your eye then wished you hadn't because you can never get out of it whatever you rubbed into it? ...taken a bite of something covered with pepper and choked so hard you couldn't breathe, oh and lest I forget it happens in the middle of a very nice restaurant? ...had a feeling like something bad was going to happen so when something did, you spent considerable time trying to figure out if that was the bad thing or if it was going to be something else? ...spent many minutes trying to open a package until you finally grabbed something sharp and destroyed it just to get in (chips come to mind)? ...looked both ways to cross a street - nothing - then stepped out and there was a car, where the heck did they come from? ...wondered why cars speed up when they see you crossing? ...realized that your memories of the good old days in school were rose colored at best when a friend recalled the same memory, not-so-rosy from their perspective? ...really wanted to watch a particular show and stayed awake, stayed awake but were so tired you fell asleep right before the end and never found out how it ended? ...realized that years ago when you had the great body to wear the really cool clothes, you were too much of a nerd to be confident enough to wear them? ...thought you knew someone pretty well then they do something and you just shake your head because all of a sudden you can't figure them out? ...wished you were a dolphin? ...questioned if it stops hurting after the 10th or 11th tattoo? ...wondered if fish get cold? ...wondered if elephants get stuffy noses? ...wondered if centipedes ever trip and fall? ...wondered if roosters ever lose their voice? ...wondered if bears are ever allergic to their own fur? ...wondered if ants ever get buried alive in anthill cave-ins? Enough thinking, this is turning into the never-ending story.

Bon soir!

It's Sunday Night - BUT NO FOOTBALL!

I love watching the baseball playoffs but that's really the limit of the sports I can stand to watch on tv. I just can't get my head behind football, tennis, golf, basketball, or any other sweaty sport on tv. But baseball, tv gives you the best possible angles on a game of finesse, coordination and muscle. Who knows, maybe it's something to do with American pie, I'm just not sure. Either way, I'll enjoy it for a few more weeks until it's over again and we have to wait another year for it.

Laura and Ty have got the wierdest fungus growing in their tree. It's yellow and orange and if I didn't know better, I'd say someone created it like some wierd tree art since I've never seen anything like it before. I'll see if I can Google an image that will do it justice. Ok, this is pretty much it except that it's just one large pile that keeps adding to the top of itself. It's one of those things you look at and your mesmerized by it's grossness and creepiness. I was assured repeatedly that it's edible but not by this mouth!

I'm convinced that if I were stranded somewhere where there was no normal kind of food available, I'd be short-lived because some things are just too much to even consider. And that's a fact. OK, back to work now, another week, another dollar.