Saturday, June 13, 2015
4054.1 Jumping in Muddy Puddles
I don't know if anyone can see this. Please let me know...............
4054 A bit of worry, averted
Saturday, June 13, 2015
My neighbor George is getting up there in years. The 19-year-old who mows my lawn (significantly, he does not mow George's lawn) is his great-grandson, and not the oldest one, either. When I first moved up here, George did a lot of heavy work around his house, like, with my blessing, removing the fence between our front yards, which included digging up the concrete footings for the posts and loading the metal and concrete chunks into his truck.
The past year or two he's slowed down. He sold his truck last year. Lately I sometimes see him just standing in his yard, slumped, with his head down. Like he was resting. He goes to the deli for a newspaper every morning, and lately he just sits in the car for a while before starting it, and when he gets back he sits in the car with the door open for a few minutes before getting out and climbing the steps to the yard.
For the past several days I hadn't seen him at all. It's been hot and very humid, so I figured he was just staying in to stay cool.
I've been a bit worried about him.
Late this morning the street filled up with cars, the earliest arrivals were the grandchildren (the whole family lives right around here) and then many more people arrived with covered dishes. Many people. Most were wearing black.
I got a little freaked out.
And then someone arrived and called from the street, "Happy birthday, George!", and George stepped out his front door to wave. I was amused to see he was wearing a bright Hawaiian shirt instead of his usual dark t-shirt or plaid flannel.
Happy birthday, George. Glad you're still having them.
.
"[T]he West won the
world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion
but
rather by its superiority in applying organized violence.
Westerners
often forget this fact, non-Westerners never do."
--Samuel
Huntingdon--
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My neighbor George is getting up there in years. The 19-year-old who mows my lawn (significantly, he does not mow George's lawn) is his great-grandson, and not the oldest one, either. When I first moved up here, George did a lot of heavy work around his house, like, with my blessing, removing the fence between our front yards, which included digging up the concrete footings for the posts and loading the metal and concrete chunks into his truck.
The past year or two he's slowed down. He sold his truck last year. Lately I sometimes see him just standing in his yard, slumped, with his head down. Like he was resting. He goes to the deli for a newspaper every morning, and lately he just sits in the car for a while before starting it, and when he gets back he sits in the car with the door open for a few minutes before getting out and climbing the steps to the yard.
For the past several days I hadn't seen him at all. It's been hot and very humid, so I figured he was just staying in to stay cool.
I've been a bit worried about him.
Late this morning the street filled up with cars, the earliest arrivals were the grandchildren (the whole family lives right around here) and then many more people arrived with covered dishes. Many people. Most were wearing black.
I got a little freaked out.
And then someone arrived and called from the street, "Happy birthday, George!", and George stepped out his front door to wave. I was amused to see he was wearing a bright Hawaiian shirt instead of his usual dark t-shirt or plaid flannel.
Happy birthday, George. Glad you're still having them.
.
4053 Stuff --- Duh Stuff; Yeah Stuff; Other Stuff
Saturday, June 13, 2015
I read this and tucked it away some months ago, and then forgot about it, so I don't have the source or dates any more, but that really doesn't matter. This is the output of professional writers, pro reporters. They were PAID for this blather. Duh.
Immediately unknown? Wow. Birthing? Trains have babies? I suspect they meant "berth", but even then, berth applies to ships, not trains. Speed could be a factor? No kidding! Typo - and/an. Try proofreading.
Regarding the plane that disappeared:
Sigh. Journalism schools ain't what they used to be.
-------------------------------------------------
Go to http://www.buzzfeed.com/alexrees/37-over-the-top-evening-gowns-from-the-2013-miss-world-fashi to see the contestants in the 2013 Miss World pageant, modelling creations from "Indonesia's elite fashion designers". We are told this is not a joke. I don't believe that - those are some of the ugliest dresses ever! Perhaps it was a test for the contestants, to see if they could walk down the runway in an embarrassing dress, and carry it off.
-------------------------------------------------
I had to read this several times to figure out why it confused me: "Most classes fill up quickly, but will be held only if the minimum number of students registers." The problem is that the subject of the sentence is "most classes", so the "will be held" doesn't apply to the subject.
--------------------------------------------------
This one I also found a long time ago. My note on it says "lifehacker". There is a Lifehacker.com, but I don't know for sure that's where I found it. Whatever -- I don't want to lose it.
-------------------------------------------------
I found out a while ago that anyone under 4'10" is legally considered a "little person". Wow. If I were still working, I'd check into what that might mean. Maybe I'd have been able to demand a chair that FIT me.
By the way, I find "little person" offensive. It sounds demeaning, like I am of no consequence.
-------------------------------------------------
I scream inside every time I see or hear "orientate". Paul Niquette has written an excellent short essay on the topic, at http://www.niquette.com/books/101words/orient.htm.
(If you have a little time for browsing and love words, wander around http://www.niquette.com/, click tabs under "Books".)
-------------------------------------------------
I call bullshit!
This argument seems to be starting up again. A lot of people seem to think that a camera catching them doing something illegal is a violation of their privacy, and that the only purpose of traffic cameras is to generate money in the form of fines. Um, if you don't want to pay the fine, don't break the law. And if you don't want the cameras, are you willing to pay taxes high enough to have a referee/cop on every street corner? No? You just want to be free to do whatever you want, whenever you want, wherever you want, as long as Daddy doesn't see you..
I'm all for traffic cameras. Maybe it's the "mother gene" - mothers are all for eyes in the back of their heads.
.
Sometimes when you look in his eyes you get the feeling that someone else is driving.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I read this and tucked it away some months ago, and then forgot about it, so I don't have the source or dates any more, but that really doesn't matter. This is the output of professional writers, pro reporters. They were PAID for this blather. Duh.
Regarding the train derailment at O'Hare airport, "It appears as though the train would have been going faster than a train normally birthing at this station would be," he [the spokesman] said. "Normally a train pulls in at just a couple miles and hour and pulls into the station. Obviously this train did not stop so speed could be a factor here."Further,
"... it was immediately unknown if the train's motorman had some sort of medical problem prior to the crash"
Immediately unknown? Wow. Birthing? Trains have babies? I suspect they meant "berth", but even then, berth applies to ships, not trains. Speed could be a factor? No kidding! Typo - and/an. Try proofreading.
Regarding the plane that disappeared:
"MH370 flew along the southern corridor and it’s last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean west of Perth," Prime Minister Rajak said at Putra World Trade Centre Monday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. "This is a remote location, far from any possible landing sights."It's/its. Sights/sites.
Sigh. Journalism schools ain't what they used to be.
-------------------------------------------------
Go to http://www.buzzfeed.com/alexrees/37-over-the-top-evening-gowns-from-the-2013-miss-world-fashi to see the contestants in the 2013 Miss World pageant, modelling creations from "Indonesia's elite fashion designers". We are told this is not a joke. I don't believe that - those are some of the ugliest dresses ever! Perhaps it was a test for the contestants, to see if they could walk down the runway in an embarrassing dress, and carry it off.
-------------------------------------------------
I had to read this several times to figure out why it confused me: "Most classes fill up quickly, but will be held only if the minimum number of students registers." The problem is that the subject of the sentence is "most classes", so the "will be held" doesn't apply to the subject.
--------------------------------------------------
This one I also found a long time ago. My note on it says "lifehacker". There is a Lifehacker.com, but I don't know for sure that's where I found it. Whatever -- I don't want to lose it.
You don't get very far with silence. You won't always know the right thing to say, and if you say what you think or feel you might get it wrong. That doesn't mean the conversation that follows won't be for the best. Saying the wrong thing can often be the impetus for the right discussion. It's then that you find it's better to say something stupid than nothing at all.Words to speak by.
-------------------------------------------------
I found out a while ago that anyone under 4'10" is legally considered a "little person". Wow. If I were still working, I'd check into what that might mean. Maybe I'd have been able to demand a chair that FIT me.
By the way, I find "little person" offensive. It sounds demeaning, like I am of no consequence.
-------------------------------------------------
I scream inside every time I see or hear "orientate". Paul Niquette has written an excellent short essay on the topic, at http://www.niquette.com/books/101words/orient.htm.
(If you have a little time for browsing and love words, wander around http://www.niquette.com/, click tabs under "Books".)
-------------------------------------------------
"If the referee doesn't call a foul, it's not a foul." People say this about traffic violations. I strongly disagree! That's like saying that if someone wasn't arrested and charged with the murder, then there wasn't a murder.
A few years ago there was a big fuss about traffic tickets being issued based on traffic cameras in Arizona. There were actual real people screaming bloody murder that if a policeman (referee) didn't see them running the stop sign, or the red light, or speeding, then there was no violation!
I call bullshit!
This argument seems to be starting up again. A lot of people seem to think that a camera catching them doing something illegal is a violation of their privacy, and that the only purpose of traffic cameras is to generate money in the form of fines. Um, if you don't want to pay the fine, don't break the law. And if you don't want the cameras, are you willing to pay taxes high enough to have a referee/cop on every street corner? No? You just want to be free to do whatever you want, whenever you want, wherever you want, as long as Daddy doesn't see you..
I'm all for traffic cameras. Maybe it's the "mother gene" - mothers are all for eyes in the back of their heads.
.
Tuesday, June 09, 2015
4052 Catching up on photos
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
I've got a backlog of photos I want to post - because I like to keep stuff here, if for no other reason.
This is a portrait of me that Nugget drew last week. Apparently it is usual for her age group (recently turned 4) to have the arms and legs coming directly out of the head. Kind of makes me wonder - I know she's very aware that people have torsos (she comments on my big boobies and belly often enough!), so why do they leave it out? Is it that arms and legs and heads are so much more important? I thought it was interesting that she very carefully drew in the fingers and toes.
This is the dandelions in my city house front yard last month. I dragged out the vacuum cleaner and sucked up as much of the seed heads as I could, because I knew if the mower-kid mowed that mess, dandelions would take over the entire neighborhood. Then I spread a weed killer/fertilizer mix. It looks a little better now.
This is one of the five daffodil beds at the country house, this past spring. Late April, I think. There are several varieties in there. This is looking up from the end of the driveway toward the house, which is beyond the brow of the hill.
This is a bit of the side yard at the country house. Pretty, isn't it? I hate to give it up.
Snake! He's coming down from inside the exterior siding near the front door of the country house. I think each of those tiles is 6" square (the photo angle makes them look rectangular, but they are square), so if you straighten him out, that makes him about 36" long! At his thickest middle, he was an inch and a half wide. They can get up to almost 4 feet long, but I'd never seen one before as big as this one.
I had some Lincoln Logs here for a while, waiting for the Nugget to get old enough to be interested. We got them out the other day. Her Daddy built the section of barn to the right. Nugget built the section to the left. So far, there's no evidence of a budding architect.
Nugget's nursery school has special days, like "silly hat day", "pajama day", "funny hair day", and so on. The next four photos are from two "funny hair" days (I wonder what boys do for funny hair....). Daughter was very creative.
(Mouth full of peaches.)
Side view.
Another funny hair day. She had been watching Sesame Street on TV when "the pee-pee urge" hit. I came around the corner and found this. Usually she uses a ring that fits in the seat of the grown-up toilet, but she didn't want to miss any of the show, so she dug out her baby potty and set up shop in front of the TV.
My lava lamp. Sometimes when it's warming up, things get interesting.
.
"[T]he more a person deems absolute equality among all people to be
a desirable condition, the further left he or she will be on the ideological spectrum.
The more a person considers inequality to be unavoidable or even desirable,
the further to the right he or she will be.
--Roderick Stackelberg, Hitler's Germany, Routledge, 1999, pp. 4–6
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
I've got a backlog of photos I want to post - because I like to keep stuff here, if for no other reason.
This is a portrait of me that Nugget drew last week. Apparently it is usual for her age group (recently turned 4) to have the arms and legs coming directly out of the head. Kind of makes me wonder - I know she's very aware that people have torsos (she comments on my big boobies and belly often enough!), so why do they leave it out? Is it that arms and legs and heads are so much more important? I thought it was interesting that she very carefully drew in the fingers and toes.
This is the dandelions in my city house front yard last month. I dragged out the vacuum cleaner and sucked up as much of the seed heads as I could, because I knew if the mower-kid mowed that mess, dandelions would take over the entire neighborhood. Then I spread a weed killer/fertilizer mix. It looks a little better now.
This is one of the five daffodil beds at the country house, this past spring. Late April, I think. There are several varieties in there. This is looking up from the end of the driveway toward the house, which is beyond the brow of the hill.
This is a bit of the side yard at the country house. Pretty, isn't it? I hate to give it up.
Snake! He's coming down from inside the exterior siding near the front door of the country house. I think each of those tiles is 6" square (the photo angle makes them look rectangular, but they are square), so if you straighten him out, that makes him about 36" long! At his thickest middle, he was an inch and a half wide. They can get up to almost 4 feet long, but I'd never seen one before as big as this one.
I had some Lincoln Logs here for a while, waiting for the Nugget to get old enough to be interested. We got them out the other day. Her Daddy built the section of barn to the right. Nugget built the section to the left. So far, there's no evidence of a budding architect.
Nugget's nursery school has special days, like "silly hat day", "pajama day", "funny hair day", and so on. The next four photos are from two "funny hair" days (I wonder what boys do for funny hair....). Daughter was very creative.
(Mouth full of peaches.)
Side view.
Another funny hair day. She had been watching Sesame Street on TV when "the pee-pee urge" hit. I came around the corner and found this. Usually she uses a ring that fits in the seat of the grown-up toilet, but she didn't want to miss any of the show, so she dug out her baby potty and set up shop in front of the TV.
My lava lamp. Sometimes when it's warming up, things get interesting.
Sunday, June 07, 2015
4051 Outside the box.
Sunday, June 7, 2015
Nugget is very "into" clothes. I don't know where she got that. She especially loves "tutu-looking" skirts, and sparkles, bangles, and sequins.
A while ago she was wearing a straight, knee-length, rib-knit skirt with a t-shirt over. I was a bit surprised by the skirt, not her usual style, so I complemented her on her grown-up look.
She replied that it looked grown-up because it was her mother's.
"Your mother's skirt fits you? Wow!"
"No, it's not her skirt." She lifted the t-shirt to show me.
She was wearing one of her mother's tank tops as a dress/skirt. Because it was a stretchy rib-knit it fit her perfectly as a dress (except for being a bit low-cut, hence the t-shirt).
Cool idea.
.
Homophobia: The fear that
gay men will treat men the way men treat women.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Nugget is very "into" clothes. I don't know where she got that. She especially loves "tutu-looking" skirts, and sparkles, bangles, and sequins.
A while ago she was wearing a straight, knee-length, rib-knit skirt with a t-shirt over. I was a bit surprised by the skirt, not her usual style, so I complemented her on her grown-up look.
She replied that it looked grown-up because it was her mother's.
"Your mother's skirt fits you? Wow!"
"No, it's not her skirt." She lifted the t-shirt to show me.
She was wearing one of her mother's tank tops as a dress/skirt. Because it was a stretchy rib-knit it fit her perfectly as a dress (except for being a bit low-cut, hence the t-shirt).
Cool idea.
.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)