What Happened: it's just a scarf

Crap! The inmates have finally taken over the asylum. Rachel Ray's scarf in this add looks, to some, like the headgear Muslim extremists wear so after some conservative bloggers raised enough ruckus Dunkin' Donuts gave it the dunk.

The linked article goes on to say how celebs in the past have inadvertently caused problems with clothes that have a statement in a language they don't understand. I have seen this with just normal folk but we don't have the press watching every step we take.

Last week I saw a family of four on vacation from an Asia country. Nice, mom, dad, younger sister and about a 12/13 year-old boy. These folks didn't speak English but they were quite. Doesn't bother me they are spending money here. They were all conservatively dresses but the lad was wearing a brand new t-shirt that said "Heavy Fucking Metal" in huge letters across the front. I had to laugh, the kid might have known what it said but I can guarantee his parents didn't. Should I have been insulted and told them this would offend some? Don't think so, I've seen lots on t-shirts and don't take offense.

If you want to be upset about Ray wearing a scarf, go right ahead but I also hope you are outraged about being lied to by our current administration. Good grief, even Scott McClellan, one of his long time people from Texas, is speaking out. Better yet, while you're questioning her sense of style, what's up with those eyebrows?

Missing anything?

This is another funny video. If you've ever been troubled by these little thieves you'll get a kick from this one.

Yet another one equally as funny.

Is there a goldmine in my desk drawer?

When I pulled out a few items at the back of my desk drawer today I thought I might have found a goldmine. To be honest, and I would, it would be my daughter's gold I mined. What did I find? An old baseball card from 1982. Remembering how much some old autographed cards were valued on the Antiques Road Show I got real interested.

I only slightly remember how this card came to us. I think she stood in line at a local shop to get Steve Sax's, then with the Los Angeles Dodgers, autograph on his card. First thing I did was check the 'net and though this is his rookie card, he came to the Dodgers half season in '81, it wasn't worth much. Closest price I could find was about twenty dollars and it would all hers if she had the notion to part with it. Not exactly enough to retire on.

Yes, ranting about gas, again

It's very difficult to have a discussion with some who agrees with you. The conversation usually goes something like:

Statement of a fact: blah, blah, blah.
Answer: Yeah, yes, your damn straight it is.

My beloved and I, in general, have much the same politics so most of the time I just take note of what he says because he can be quite humorous at times and profound at others. Take this morning when a news report mentioned a loophole in a law that restricts drilling off our coast. An example, China could drill off our coast where we couldn't and they cursed the "tree huggers" for getting laws such as this enacted. It does sound stupid and probably right because some of our legislators have lettered in stupid. I'll check this one further but people, you are missing the point. Drilling for more oil isn't going to change anything because that oil will run dry, in time and we'll be in the same sinking boat. We can not continue to pass on this problem to the next generation.

We had the chance in the 70s with that gas crisis and what did we learn? If you look at the number of gas sucking as apposed to gas sipping vehicles on the road you could assume we learned nuttin'. Does anyone need to drive their kids to school, outside of Iraq, in a Humvee? I think not but there they are at the pumps sucking down gas.

In the 70s did we invest in a better public transportation system? Nope, Amtrak and Greyhound almost went under for the lack of riders. How about the Metro? It's only recently it's ridership is up. Maybe the threat of $4 a gallon is hitting home. I know it makes me question that trip to the market to get one item.

Find at least one day you can, take alternate form of transportation, car pool, ride your bike, or walk but we have to reduce our dependency on gas. Also think of investing in some green technology companies.

Magical moments

Our darling daughter has a blog, Maltese Parakeet and from that we've nicknamed her lil bird. She's the only one and parents couldn't hope for a nicer kid. Not going to college wasn't an option and she got her degree then went on to put herself through law school and is an accomplished professional at her job.

When she was little we could pridefully boast about her accomplishments because we did have something to do with them. She spoke early and I'd like to think it's because I taught her but more likely it's because I chatter on incessantly. I will take credit for teaching her to read and for her love of reading. She was read to every night until she was old enough to take the book herself.

When she was nine I taught her to do laundry and balance my check book. No, I wasn't that lazy, it was summer and she was bored. She wasn't much older when she picked up a camera and as a teen she became quite accomplished on her own. It was about then we could no longer brag about what we'd taught her and switch to feeling good about what she was learning on her own. That was a magical moment.

As a parent, those moments are etched into your collective memory like first steps and first words; lots of "firsts" associated with kids. The one I'm thinking of today is one filled with all the emotions; joy, sadness, pride. Our goal was to raise her to think on her own. We felt independence was the most important thing we could give her and the day she got her driver's license and drove away, alone was that goal coming true. She was beginning a life on her own; that was our magical moment.

Thanks, lil bird for all you've given us.

Oud Babbies

The software I use to track how many visits come to this site is quite interesting. Among many of the statistics are how people find your site and many come from the search engine, Google. Another stat is where the visitor is from and I get visits from all over the world. Last week's had to be the funniest.

The visitor was from Saudi Arabia, Riyadh. Since I don't get many from that part of the world I looked into how they found me. Yep, Google. A few years back I posted about a friend, From the mouths of old babes. When I clicked on what the Saudi had Googled--boy, I was surprised--I'm too old to be shocked. Old Babes is X-rated photos of older women. Ha, bet they didn't expect to get to this blog.

Save gas; visit locally

If you are planning a trip to the Getty Center, and you should this summer, you'll have a wonderful selection of exhibits on view. It looks like August 26 to 31 would be the prime days to visit if you wanted to see all of the following for a truly great attractions for the summer.

Maria Sibylla Merian & Daughters: Women of Art and Science
June 10–August 31, 2008
This show should be great for kids, she was a painter of insects and flowers. Who doesn't like to see a big bug?

Bernini and the Birth of Baroque Portrait Sculpture
August 5–October 26, 2008
Bernini, the genius of Rome and stone, and a few of his contemporaries will be on exhibit this summer. Can't wait. Bernini was a womanizer, drinker, murderer, and all around fun guy but he did create work like the Ecstasy of St Theresa.

Faces of Power and Piety: Medieval Portraiture
August 12–October 26, 2008
Early Medieval portraits from the Manuscript's collection. Delicate jewels in miniature.

In Focus: The Landscape
August 26, 2008–January 11, 2009
The landscape in photographs from all the big guys in the Getty collection, twenty-five of them including--Gustave Le Gray, Alfred Stieglitz, and Robert Adams--to name a few. I'll be spending my free time here.

I don't know when there were so many at the same time which is good if you want to pack your summer with a bundle of great things to see. With gas prices going through the roof don't travel so far, visit locally. Did I forget the Central Garden? With Huell Howser's visit I'm sure we'll get visitors just wanting to see our beautiful garden.

Holy Smokes!

This was sent by a friend. I had to post it because I didn't want to clog up a whole bunch of bandwidth. You will want others to see this, it is very funny.

When you watch a second time, I know you will, notice that he looks at the ceiling. I'm sure this is in his kitchen. Love to hear how he explained this one.

Editor's note: This was just too funny so I Googled it and found the original on YouTube. This guy had made a few other videos, this one the funniest. There was a long list of comments about it being fake, how he did it, the lights coming on after the boom--but I really don't care--it's still funny.

Montana: Oro y Plata

My sister Doodles and husband, the Gypsy Caravan, are working in Montana this summer and having just arrived, they posted a few photos. You have got to head over to her site and check out more of the scenery. This is the view out the back of the trailer.

Hell, it's only 1,700 miles up there, why not head there for the summer. Ours should be a hot one here.




Ed note: their state motto, Oro y Plata means Silver and Gold.

Needles up: daugher becomes teacher

Mother's Day was yesterday and I'm very lucky to have such a thoughtful daughter. She asked me what I'd like to do on my special day and my request was for a knitting lesson. Lil Bird does many things well but she has turned into quite the knitter. She knit her Aunt Doodles wool socks before they headed out to the Great Northern Summer Experience. This would have made her Grandma Ann very proud as she was the knitter in the family.

Our dear friend has breast cancer and with the thought of having chemo, and the possibility of losing her hair, in the back of my mind, I wanted to make her a hat. Just in case. My darling child arrived Sunday morning, dogs in tow, with a wonderful present of knitting paraphernalia and printed out her favorite "easy" hat pattern from the 'net. She has a great site, Crazy Aunt Purl. She's a bit wacky and always funny.

We sat down and got busy with the lesson only to break and make a yummy pasta lunch. Check out a future blog on PBE about our lunch.

You see the hat, I finished last night after Lil Bird left and no, I wasn't up until mid-night. I finished by 9:00 pm. Under her tutelage I created a great hat and hope to make more. There is a children's cancer center at UCLA and I know they'd love to have hats donated for the kids.

So my Mother's Day was filled with yarn and needles and chit chat. That's what happens when you knit. It was also filled with cooking with my darling daugher. We even had some time for shopping and attending to the ears of one of the dogs. I didn't mind. I love them both. All in all it was a very special day, indeed.

see more cute dogs and puppies

When lil bird was braces-on-the-teeth age we spent a fair amount of time at the orthodontists' office which meant a longer than desired amount of time in the waiting room. To pass the time she'd read whatever was there and her favorite book was a cartoon graphic of what not to do with your retainer.

I hope this made her laugh today.

All the comforts of home

Being retired doesn't mean you can't take a few days off. From what I'm trying to figure out but my darling and I headed to the beach on Sunday for a few days. We wanted to stay right on the beach at Rincon, dry camping, but problems with our trailer made us settle for the RV campground. No view of the ocean but just a short walk.

We also like the main street of Ventura for the antique shops and small eateries; Cajun Cafe being one of our favs. An extra plus this trip, I found a shop that sharpens knives and I just happened to have two of my favorites. This guy does them while you wait and he did a great job. I'll be taking more each time we visit.

Using the full hook-ups gave my darling time to fuss with his new satellite dish. I was surprised but pleased when he got it working. We were missing a few channels, the one carrying the Doyer's game, but we muddled through. With the weather a bit dodgy we didn't spend as much time outside as we normally do so the addition of PBS was ok by me.

So why do retirees need time away? Seems like I don't read as much as I like and I got into a book I'd wanted to start. I was thrilled to do the crossword puzzle every morning from the paper and let's not forget the nap. I could take one at home but don't so an afternoon nap after a long walk on the beach was perfect.

Can't wait for the next trip.