May 2004 Archives
Re: Six Apart’s Call for Feedback
I got into blogging a little over a year ago on Greymatter. I converted to Movable Type in July. I was pleased with what I saw and I still am as are most of the users here. We like your product. There are some issues I would like resolved but they’re minor. I’ve set up four blogs and a test blog here for a total of five. One is for me. A second one started out as a family blog for my wife’s family but has somewhat slowed down and is basically just her now. The third one I started is for my family. It has taken off beyond my wildest expectations and now has 24 authors but more are welcome to join. I have a large family scattered all over America. Finally, a fourth blog was started for planning a family reunion. It is password-protected to keep names, dates, and locations somewhat secure. The test blog is for testing templates, plugins, etc... With the limitations I’ve seen in your published price structure, I do not see a solution for me at any price.
CrabAppleLane is a website I undertook as a hobby for my wife and I. I foot the bill for the domain registration, the webhosting, and any and all software that runs on it. This is for our enjoyment. I was a donor on your donor’s list before and am more than happy to pay for the products I use. What can you do for us?
We ate at Petunia’s Place last night. Every now and then, I get a craving for plain southern food. Country fried steak (AKA chicken fried steak) is one of those traditional southern dishes and that’s what I had. It was pretty good but that craving is now out of my system for a while. Louisiana is about as far south as you can get but this kind of food is actually difficult to find here. I stayed with a friend many years ago in Houston and chicken fried steak was all the rage there. I didn’t understand it. It was almost like school cafeteria food to me. I didn’t think it was something you would order in a restaurant yet we ate it almost every night. Now, once or twice a year is actually more than I need. I’m still not wild about white gravy.
Watched two movies over the weekend: Reign of Fire and The Night We Never Met. Both got lousy reviews and I can see why. They’re not great movies. Still, I found both a decent way to pass the time. As William Hurt said in The Big Chill, “Sometimes you have to let art flow over you.”
Blog of the day via Pitcherlady is here.
Quote from said blog: “It seems other people have been going through this sense of despair throughout the blog world. Quite a number of people have been voicing doubt about why they blog and what significance it might have in their real lives. A lot of it has to do with the awful things happening in the world and the sense that something fundamental is being lost. The words in the blogs funnel around a empty core from which people seem unable to escape. Hope seems to be evaporating with each proclamation the world leaders make."
I wonder what blogs he reads. I've experienced "laughing knees" on the Chimneys Trail in the Smokeys. -Rob
The best laid plans and all. My garage door is all the way closed. It will stay that way until I can get someone out to look at it mainly because it no longer opens. I worked on it for about 3-1/2 hours last night. I ache considerably. It needs tools and know-how that I do not possess. A call to the manufacturer Monday or Tuesday morning is the only solution. Monday is a possibility because Memorial Day is not celebrated much in Louisiana. Banks, schools, and government offices will be closed but most businesses will be open with few exceptions. Louisianians celebrate Mardi Gras instead. Just so many holidays to go around, I suppose.
The broken garage door is unfortunate for another reason. The plan for today was to clean up a friend’s yard with my tractor. This is a bit of an ordeal to plan because I don’t have a trailer. A mutual friend has one but coordinating all of our schedules has proven to be difficult. So, guess where I keep the tractor. In the garage, of course.
This may all be moot anyway. Looks like rain.
Some pictures for a Sunday morning. I’ll move some of them to an extended entry tomorrow. Today, they own the spotlight.
What I have below is Althea. It’s related to hibiscus although I’ll never know why. It looks nothing like hibiscus. These were supposed to be white. It had white on the tag. Apparently, it was tagged wrong. Truth be told, I prefer this purple or the red but I already had a lot of reds and purples in this garden.
Pardon the experimentation. It’s a little something I picked up at Mandarin Design. It’s a new and exciting tool for most bloggers. It’s a bit overused right now because of that newness but that’s forgivable. I cannot say enough good things about that site, folks. There is a phenomenal effort going on there.
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “Here's something to finally help me. I'm terrible on the phone. Awful. I can barely recall the last time I was able to actually just call someone out of the blue to chat. "
Yesterday, an officer came out to take additional information about my truck for the police item number that was filed when it was stolen. That it was recovered had to be added to the item number. Now, I must go to another agency in person to have the parking tickets and whatever else has accumulated on my license plate while it was stolen expunged from my record. That it could not be handled by the police officer from her police car annoys me. I have no confidence whatsoever that the next step I take in this saga will be the last.
And another thing: The insurance adjuster that was supposed to inspect the truck yesterday was a no show so it looks like I probably won’t be taking it home for the weekend unless the guy shows up today very early. If that happens, I’ll hop one of those flying pigs to lunch this afternoon.
Oh, and dialup internet access sucks big time......
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “Oh, how I shall miss our bowling rituals -- the omelets, the fake names, the pins named after prominent annoying Republicans, the strikes in which we knocked them all down (Right-Wing Roundups). And, oh, the balls!"
My truck was recovered yesterday. It was found on a street corner blocking a fire hydrant. It had several parking tickets inside the cab and one on the windshield. Clues anyone? Could Lovely Rita, Meter Maid not figure out something was wrong after the 2nd or 3rd ticket? Whoever stole it lived like a pig in it. There were cigarette ashes, peanut shells, and chip wrappers inside. I doubt the thieves wore gloves. Clues anyone? They also stole all of the hub caps and trim rings along with two wheels with tires. There was some other minor damage as well. The insurance company is sending someone around today to inspect. With luck, I think it can be fixed, cleaned up, and ready to take home this weekend. All in all, it looks like a month of inconvenience will be the worst of it.
At some point down the road, my blogging capacity will be limited and haphazard for a few days. I’d like to have some guest bloggers fill in during that time but I’m not quite brave enough to throw the blog open to all comers. Everyone on my blogrolls is welcome and I’d be delighted if any of you were to grace my blog with your prose. My trust and respect is already present in your case. Any/all topics are welcome. Shameless plugging of your own blog is also encouraged. If you’re interested, drop me a line and I’ll fill you in on the details.
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “At my nephew's high school graduation a couple of years ago, the speaker politely asked everyone to hold their applause, as much as possible, until the end, so every kid could hear their name read. Instead, there was so much ruckus that the person reading the names had to stop the ceremony a couple of times.”
Interesting entry. The policy is unfortunate but not unreasonable. -Rob
Another great story from Pitcherlady. Glad the server issues are resolved over there. Was having withdrawals.
See the extended entry to see what movies yesterday’s quotes came from or go to yesterday’s entry and see if you know without looking. Still on a bit of a movie kick, this entry at Sheila’s garnered a response that included this snippet.
"Go ahead, make my day."
You can use this in trafic, in lines at the supermarket, to your boss, or sometimes to an annoying Girl Scout. Well....it worked for me. Who knew that a line like that would come out of Clint Eastwood? Easily one of the worst actors on the planet, and a far better director, this was the only line in his entire career he ever improvised, and it's the only one we associate with him. It's a kick-butt line.
I’m a Clint Eastwood fan. He’s been in a few clunker movies, mostly during his Sondra Locke period, but his acting works for me. His directing works for me, too, of course.
This will be a long day due to some extracurricular activity at work.
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “At work, let’s see, got a card signed by a whole bunch of coworkers, was really nice. They hadn’t gotten it all signed before I was discharged."
Sheila had a great series of entries yesterday titled “NAME THAT MOVIE”. One of them came from The Big Chill. I can’t recite that movie but I doubt anyone can slip a quote from it past me. Patsy and I are great fans of that film. Sheila did mostly classic movies and romantic comedies. Someone needs to do something like that for “guy” films sorta like Tom Hanks did with that Dirty Dozen scene in Sleepless in Seattle. Here are some (These are from memory. I think and hope they’re accurate.):
“Have you ever killed anyone?”
“Yeah, but they were all bad”
And another:
“Hey Ridley, you got any Beeman's?”
A British one from one of my all-time favorites:
“You want to buy my church, Mr. McIntyre?”
“Not as a going concern.”
And one more:
“They call him Rotten Luck Willie. You couldn't beat him with five aces.”
“I don't gamble”
“Neither does he”
Day 27 and still no word on my stolen truck. I’ll mail the claim form and affidavit at the end of business Friday if it’s not recovered by then. I’ll miss it and it will be a substantial loss but it will also be time to move on.
107 days until football season.....
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “There was one other development that caught my eye. The neighborhood boys are starting to notice 1st born."
A "pull quote" on that entry caught my eye and gave me ideas. I know how to do that now. It's also an interesting entry. -Rob
OK, now The Sopranos is getting interesting again. I’ve had quite enough of the family life and the inner demons of Tony Soprano, thankyouverymuch. The show was starting to turn into a soap opera. That’s not what got me hooked on the series. I admit it. I like the mob side of the story and there just hasn’t been enough of that the last two years although I haven’t missed an episode. I’m talking to the TV again. When Christopher left for cigarettes, I told Adriana to get out of the house. They never listen to me. Read the extended entry if you want to know how I think this will play out. Disclaimer: I have no first-hand knowledge. It is strictly guessing on my part.
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “The only question is why this isn't a big enough story to justify the cover of Time magazine as the original headline, "Is God Dead?" did on April 8, 1966. Come on, why not?"
After I greased the mower yesterday and noted the hours on the tractor (250.4), it occurred to me that I spend less than 30 hours per year on the tractor (27-point-something to be exact). Add another 27-point-something for weed-eating/edging/cleanup and I’m spending less time on this 5-acre yard than I did on my 45X120 yard in Metairie. If you’re doing the math, our current yard is almost 50 times larger. I understand the “larger” math. The “spending less time” math still escapes me.
I have no plans today. It’s grand.
It’s picture day here at CrabAppleLane. Hopefully, they're not too repetitive for the regular readers. I really do appreciate all of you. All pictures were taken just over an hour ago. I’m going to put some in an extended entry tomorrow for those of you (Like me) who are still on dial-up internet access but they will occupy the blog on the front page today.
Below, we have petunias reaching for the sun. We love the pinwheel varieties but the solids present a nice contrast.
I linked to this site a few days ago after I saw it at Kiwifruit’s. You’ve probably seen things all over the web that was inspired by that site. It was the Blog of the Day for May 11. Today, I finally had a chance to tinker with steal some of their tips n tricks. Check out this page on shadows.
This is what I did with one of the tricks I learned there. I'm mostly just a trial and error guy and it was a breeze. I am now a huge fan of that site. I expect it will be an inspiration and resource. My very limited web-design skills are generally learned on a need-to-know/want-to-know basis. I do not do this for a living. CSS and XML hold great power on the web but I just barely understand CSS and have zero knowledge of XML. Samples always help my understanding. Mandarin Design is loaded with them.
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “A song about baked goods being spoiled because some irresponsible clown left it out in the weather? Somebody help me to see the deeper meaning behind these words."
I’ll soon be in the market for a digital camera. Patsy’s 3-year-old Hewlett-Packard is fine for what it does but I think I want more out of a camera. A local morning show segment called Digital Gumbo (Free registration required) turned me on to this site about everything digital. It's worth bookmarking. So is Digital Gumbo.
My wife, Patsy, on can openers.
May I just say that the practice of firing guns in the air to celebrate is universally stupid wherever you are? Those bullets land somewhere. It is doubly universally stupid when there may be warplanes in the air overhead. Sometimes, the air overhead will shoot back. This is just a good safety tip free of charge from CrabAppleLane. I’m not talking about any particular incident in the recent past.
An MSNBC article on traffic this morning contains the following opening paragraph:
A third of German motorists fantasize about sex when stuck in traffic while only 10 percent think of finding an alternate route, according to a motor club survey published on Thursday.
I guess that's one way to deal with it. I don't remember ever being anything but an alternate route guy.
I take ibuprofen instead of aspirin for my arthritic knee and for the occasional headache. This article is encouraging in light of my family history. Dad fought colon cancer.
Day 23 and still no word on my stolen truck.....
111 days until football season.....
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “In search of cool cat wallpaper for your desktop?"
Ever get a tune locked in your brain and can’t get it out? Thanks to this entry at Bored but Busy, Beethoven is stuck in mine. I think I’ll just go with that. Beethoven is universal. When I took Classical Music in high school, almost two weeks were devoted to him. By all accounts, he was a disagreeable person. I don’t know anything about Beethoven that you can’t Google for yourself but maybe these tidbits are things you don’t know and won’t find through Google. I know some cool DVD’s about Beethoven or with references to him.
Immortal Beloved - I saw this a good while back and this movie is not all that well-known. Gary Oldman captures the essence of Beethoven except that he and/or the film makers left out old Ludwig’s anti-Semitism, if memory serves. Great music throughout and the story is sweet. I do not agree with the linked review. I enjoyed this movie.
Clockwork Orange - Not about Beethoven exactly but one of the two Stanley Kubrick movies that are worth seeing (Full Metal Jacket is the other). There is really no way to describe this movie so I will just say that Beethoven is an inspiration to the main character, played by Malcom McDowell, who refers to him as Ludwig van. This is one of the first R-rated movies I ever saw at the theater (Yes, I was underage).
Deep Purple’s Come Hell or High Water - Yes, Deep Purple. They do about 10 minutes of Beethoven (Including a rousing rendition of Ode to Joy) in the middle of this recorded concert and it is just fantastic. It’s referred to as Beethoven on the DVD. Disregard any review you might see about this DVD (The reviews run from love to hate and everywhere in between) and form your own opinions. I don’t recommend you buy this unless you are a fan or until you see it first. If you can rent it, that’s the way to go.
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “My mom snuck a book in the plastic bag she gives me with the USA Today. I can't afford my own subscription, and yes, I actually prefer to get my news the old fashioned way. Besides, the paper is portable, unlike my desktop. It's also great for cleaning windows, because you ran out of paper towels, because you ran out of napkins, because you ran out of tissues, because you ran out of toilet paper...all in the same day."
As I was channel-surfing last night, I came across the Braves-Diamondbacks game on TBS. I saw Randy Johnson pitching. He has always been one of my favorites and his form is instantly recognizable. It was the bottom of the 7th inning and the announcers mentioned that he was working on a perfect game. I sat there mesmerized and watched the rest of it. What a thrill! I’ve never seen even a part of a perfect game before. For those who don’t know, a perfect game is when the pitcher gets everyone out. No hits, no walks, and no one gets on base via error. Congrats, Randy, from CrabAppleLane.
My wife, Patsy, has gotten active again on things of importance to her.
My sister, Angela, is making blackberry jam.
Different kind of linkfest over at Kiwifruit. Quite enjoyable.
Blog of the day via Ilyka Damen is here.
Quote from said blog: “Is there honestly anyone who thinks that Michael Moore complaining about his film being 'censored' and 'blocked' is anything more than a publicity stunt? He knew last year that it would not be distributed by Miramax. The only reason he's making a fuss about it now is for the publicity. That he's getting."
A bit different take than mine from yesterday’s entry. -Rob
Michael Moore’s new film, Fahrenheit 9/11, has been seen at Cannes and reviews have been published just about everywhere. It’s going to be distributed by someone other than Miramax and I doubt many people would have actually paid to see it in theaters. Until now. It didn’t figure to be a moneymaker from the outset so why get involved in it at all? Miramax and specifically, its parent company, Disney, have called attention to it and it will be more widely seen now than it would have been otherwise. I’m curious as to why they are passing on the distribution. The film is political as are all of his films and not very commercial as are all of his films and Miramax had to know that it was going to be. So what? What’s different about this one? I’m not a Michael Moore fan but something about this bothers me.
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “A German couple apparently thought that just wishing really, really hard would cause them to go forth and multiply."
Happy Birthday, Duncan and Nikki! Duncan would be 22 and Nikki would be 20.
Da Goddess celebrated two years yesterday. Congrats a day late from CrabAppleLane.
Watched Something’s Gotta Give Saturday night. It ran a little too long and didn’t cover anything we haven’t seen a million times. Still, it was charming because of the great acting of Jack Nicholson and especially, Diane Keaton. Was worth seeing once.
SilverBlue is experimenting with Wordpress. CrabAppleLane is watching. Movable Type has alarmed mostly the entire blogging community with their latest announcement. Even if the prices were reasonable (They’re not), one of the blogs here has 24 authors and open invitations exist for about 15 more. I see no support for that type of activity in even their most expensive commercial version ($599.95 is way out of my reach for this hobby even if it were adequate for my needs). To steal a line from a movie, something’s gotta give. My current plans are to use this version of MT until it breaks or until an easy alternative is available.
115 days until football season.....
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “Grow up, guys. There are forces out there larger than yourselves, and when things go wrong, it just might be those larger forces or -- heaven forfend -- something YOU did or didn't do . ."
The raccoon below, whom we’ve named Raquel, was not particularly concerned about me. Those brown specks you see in the grass in front of her are dog food nuggets that we feed them. She has one in her mouth.
Sun going down and grillin’ on the back deck to Bachman Turner Overdrive. Life is good.
At the risk of repeating things now and again, I think Sunday will become picture day here mainly because I love to take pictures but also because CrabAppleLane lends itself to it. All pictures were taken this morning.
Without further ado, the Tiger Lily below is a survivor. Patsy read somewhere that they are toxic to cats so I dutifully dug out the three I had in a flower pot and poured the still good soil with the bulbs into this flower area around my bird house pole. I did not intentionally re-plant them. Ants like this garden area, too, and between all of the hosing and mulching, the bulbs got covered up again. I honestly forgot they were there. Obviously, neglect doesn’t bother them. Neither do the cats so I think I’m going to leave them alone.
Below, I can thank the non-stop sunshine for several weeks followed by the three days of torrential rain. It makes for very bushy tomato plants.
The mirliton vine below is at least a month ahead of last year’s.
Below is Patsy’s birthday gift from her friend, Celeste. We like whirly gigs.
The oleander below is in a bad spot. They like sunshine and they are starved for it there. I’m probably going to uproot it and try to plant it elsewhere. They should be very bushy. In New Orleans, they line the interstate exits near where I work. There are pink and white varieties and they are magnificent right now.
The tomatoes below will ripen in 2-3 weeks I’m guessing. When they first start ripening, they are manageable (2-3 a day is no problem). About two weeks later, they are ripening at a pace of 15-20 per day and that’s a bit unmanageable but fun anyway.
Below is one of four watermelon plants I have growing between my tomato rows. I’ve tried this in the past with some success. The watermelons will ripen and a raccoon, opossum, fox, coyote, or some other critter will get them open somehow and devour the red, red center leaving behind the rind. How they know when they’re ripe without having fingers to thump them with is one of life’s mysteries.
Below are three hydrangea blossoms from one bush. The left and right are the purplish-blue ones we have grown to like. The center one is close to the nikko blue we were hoping for. In It’s a Wonderful Life, Donna Reed hides in a hydrangea bush after Jimmy Stewart accidentally steps on her robe. She couldn’t hide in ours.
Below is a trail with a story. We purchased our lot back in the summer of 1988. The actual closing didn’t occur until October for various reasons. In November, we had the lot cleared so we could see what it looks like. All but the biggest trees were removed. I went out one day afterwards to replace the surveyor markers with treated lumber. Surveyors must be the cheapest people on the planet. They use whatever they can find to tie their cheap ribbon to. Anyway, it was a miserable day (Raining and cold) and I didn’t really feel like getting out of the warm 1984 Cavalier Wagon I was driving so I decided to drive from one marker to the next and replace them. A thought occurred to me. The lot was going to start growing again in the spring and I won’t be able to walk around on it. I decided to drive the perimeter of the property knocking down whatever weeds and saplings there were. Every subsequent time I visited, I would drive the perimeter again. The trail you see below was originally blazed with a 1984 Chevrolet Cavalier Station Wagon, then a now stolen 1990 Chevrolet C1500 Truck, and now it is maintained with a John Deere 670 tractor. We love this trail.
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “Apple. She named her daughter Apple. It's not often that we actually get to witness the birth of a future-effed-up-child-of-celebrities, so cherish the moment, kids."
Day 17 and still no word on my stolen truck. The police have two weeks to find it. After 30 days, I can and pretty much must file a claim of auto theft. Any settlement will be a loss for me. The truck was paid for and still on the job getting me to and from work and doing whatever other chores trucks normally do. It had 337,000 miles on it and I think it would have made it to 500,000 miles easily. I used it all the time for anything and everything. It was very low maintenance and I cannot possibly replace it for what the insurance company thinks market value is. I definitely got my money’s worth. It is the best vehicle I ever owned and I’ll miss it if it’s not found. I hope I can afford another one just like it when this is over. Maybe one with a CD player........
Bored But Busy continues to make me laugh. How's this?
The last time I threw a party the Mollusks left early using a lame excuse about having to filter silt early the next morning, but at least I got a picture before they rushed off.
Anyone else experiencing difficulties with Blogrolling the last few days? I don’t think they have the server capacity they need. I think they need to stop offering free blogrolls or maybe they should put the free ones on another server. When their servers are overwhelmed with requests, it makes my page load much slower than I want. Paying members shouldn’t have that problem. If this isn’t resolved by my renewal date in November, I’ll just go back to manually editing my blogrolls. It’s not as convenient as Blogrolling but it’s not that inconvenient, either.
117 days until football season.......
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “Publishers love it when the media types write books. The publicity is already built in."
Once again, I will attempt to make a 15-minute entry look like something other than a 15-minute entry and probably fail miserably. It was a long night spent down on the bayou and I’m up a bit later than usual and pressed for time as always. I hadn’t been to Thibodaux, LA in many, many years. I’m sure I was a teenager. Anyway, I can’t say the place has changed because I hardly remember it. However, the drive down was beautiful. Sorry, no pictures this time. If you’ve never heard a true Cajun accent, you should add it to your life list of things to do.
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “Drop the baby you're nursing onto the floor and go read this. In its full entirety. Now."
That’s a command you don’t see very often. Love the name of the blog. -Rob
I’ve been a bit down for a few days now. Life’s inconveniences combined with the whole world spinning off its axis are the main contributors. I’ve been reading a few other blogs and have gleaned the fact that I am not the only one. I dedicate this entry to the hope for better days ahead. These are links about matters serious or not. They raised the spirit for a moment or more and I kinda needed it.
Entries like this one from Greg Howard are why I read blogs.
I’m a bit of a naturalist wannabee. Bill Bryson never won me over to the joys of that calling. Fred does it with ease.
Simon, based in Hong Kong I think, had news about Louisiana that I somehow missed. The choices for me were to laugh or be embarrassed. I chose to laugh.
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “You could look out on the playing fields of the local high school while you read. It was a paradise, really."
Kem was right. I watched the Dick Van Dyke Reunion last night. I expected it to be the older stars describing various clips and maybe telling us a bit of what went on behind the scenes. I was not at all anxious to see it because I, too, revered the show. I watched it because Patsy wanted to see it. In its day and in reruns, it is the best comedy show of all time.
About the reunion: The stars that were still alive did a skit in character. Amazingly, the only one of the group that was at all convincing to me was Carl Reiner as Alan Brady. I will also say that they did no dishonor to the show, despite what the review linked above says, because it is simply not possible. That said, this show was totally unnecessary. The hour would have been better spent watching two of their fabulous reruns.
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “I don't suppose Al-Qaeda will conduct an official investigation of prisoner mistreatment by its troops after this, now will it?"
Doubtful. -Rob
We sat through The Business of Strangers over the weekend. I have no idea what to make of this movie. There was a lot of anger in it but it seems it was anger for anger’s sake. Maybe that was the point. If anyone reading this saw it, I’d be interested to hear what you thought.
Day 13 and still no word of my stolen truck........
121 days until football season.........
Blog of the day via Kiwifruit is here.
Quote from said blog: “It's easy to remember named colors once you find favorites like firebrick, and lemonchiffon."
Cool stuff. -Rob
I find it somewhat extraordinarily comical for someone to pound out “I yearn for the simple life” or something similar on their state-of-the-art computer and post it to the blog on their website (I’ve had a previous problem with this blogger so I’ve decided not to name them or to link the entry.). I’ll just say the simple life is not at all hard to find or attain. Just unplug the air conditioner, donate your car(s), your computer(s), and your washer and dryer to charity, and then just get to it. At least, try it for a few weeks. I’d be anxious to see your next blog entry.
Sheila O’Malley has a series of great quotes from her Commonplace Book spread out over many entries on her blog Saturday. My favorite one from Bette Davis is here. I love Bette Davis. She’s an original.
Blog of the day here.
Quote (May 5, 2004 entry) from said blog: “I don't write much about my day job. I actually maintain this blog and write creatively to ESCAPE my day job to some extent. Also, I respect the privacy and confidentiality of people I deal with."
My mother has a very selective and very kind memory about some things. On our wedding day, she dropped in unannounced while Patsy was still getting ready. My undoubtedly inherited selective memory doesn’t remember why. What I do remember about that encounter was that Patsy was having a typical bride’s wedding day. Nothing was going to her satisfaction and she is not one to suffer that sort of thing in silence. Patsy has full command of the “Deadwood” language but she hardly ever uses it. Today was different. She was using it at the top of her lungs that afternoon within earshot of my Mom and I and most of the Western Hemishpere, I suspect. This would normally shock my mother. My dad had to say “goldarn” around us because of her. Not long ago, Mom told me she doesn’t remember this incident at all.
Happy Mother’s Day to my wonderful mother and to all of the other wonderful mothers out there.
Happy Anniversary to Patsy. Anyone who puts up with me for 23 years deserves more than one day.
And, finally, some pictures from CrabAppleLane in Bush, LA on this gorgeous Mother’s Day.
Below, this big bumble bee is enjoying the princess bush. The bush blooms twice a year and the big bumble bees swarm to it.
Below, it was 70 degrees at 9AM today. In late July and August, I’ll go outside at 5AM to refill the hummingbird feeders. It is still dark at that time and the temps will be in the high 80's with nearly 100% humidity. It’s crushing. By those afternoons, it’s in the high 90's with that 100% humidity. You just haven’t lived until you’ve experienced it.
The hydrangea bloom below is not quite finished. My blooming hydrangeas are a pale blue with a hint of pink. They are not the brilliant blue we always hoped for. I am no expert but I think it could be the soil. Our un-amended soil seems to soften almost everything. The tomatoes that I grow on the NorthShore don’t have nearly the acid that the ones I grew on the SouthShore had.
The gardenia below is blooming for the first time in my garden. The fragrance is lighter than I expected and that’s quite a relief. Patsy’s digital camera or my photographic ineptitude doesn’t quite capture its brilliance. I’m inclined to believe the former.
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “Mothers day - phone home, those of you who can."
About two months ago, someone at work opened one of those virus-infected email attachments. I forget which one now. Everyone there got bombarded with virus-infected emails (50-75 per day at my work station). The IT guy took steps to clean up the mess but I am still receiving 10-15 virus-infected emails per day at my station. For me, these things are strictly a nuisance and, for me, that’s annoying enough. However, they are major trouble to the masses of people below my intermediate computer skills. I don’t care if this guy is only 18 and I don’t care what his intent was. Throw the book at him. The charge should be millions of counts of vandalism.
Day 10 and still no word on my stolen truck. I haven’t totally lost hope but my thoughts have turned to what to do if it’s not recovered. They’re not pleasant thoughts.
124 days until football season.......
Blog of the day (Courtesy of Fragments from Floyd) is here.
Quote from said blog: “Getting older is not as bad as the media would have us believe. So far, at 63, I kinda like it. But aging has a habit of springing tricks on you and one of the most bothersome is also one of the most common - the disparity between what you feel like inside and what the mirror shows you."
The thing that struck me about this blog, besides the quite eloquent writing, was the terrific series of photos on the main page. I love photos. Portraits, scenery, wildlife, whatever... -Rob
Osama Bin Laden may be somehow offering rewards.
A statement attributed to Osama bin Laden offered rewards in gold Thursday for the killings of top U.S. and U.N. officials in Iraq.
How does that work? The brain-dead follower says, “I’m doing this for you, Osama. My mom’s address is 225 Hussein Street.”? When or how could that reward ever be delivered? That’s assuming, of course, that Osama gets the message at all and that he has the means to pay it.
I really do think that al-qaeda is a rag tag bunch and not the master terrorists many think they are. That’s not to say they shouldn’t be taken seriously. I just think their apparatus, their network, their communications, and their wannabee followers are anything but secure. The war against them is winnable.
Missed it. I can’t say I disliked the show. It just didn’t interest me.
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “This blog is all about doors. Not the band. Real doors. Miniature doors. Pictures of doors. Drawings of doors. Anything related to doors. I love doors. I will also bore you with personal stuff occasionally."
I haven’t heard my little rodent friend the last couple of mornings. I put something out for it a few nights ago. I kill roaches, flies, and ants with no remorse but I’m not wild about killing furry little creatures even when it’s absolutely necessary. However, something (Probably an armadillo) is digging my garden up every night looking for worms. It has already broken a blue ginger stalk and dug up about 20 little flowers over the last few weeks. One of these nights, I’m going to stay up and try to catch it in the act. I’ll leave my remorse inside that night.
Procrastination as Motivation. That blog is making me laugh quite a bit these days.
Sheila and Meryl have it right. Does anyone really still see complexity in that conflict?
On a much lighter note, this site, courtesy of my lovely wife, was bookmarked instantly. Nice to have many sources in one place.
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “How does that saying go? I think it goes “A jack of all trades, but a master of none.” That’s how I feel lately. Sure we spin it by saying that we wear a lot of hats, but isn’t that the same as being a jack-of-all-trades?"
Yes, that's the same thing. -Rob
Talking about a prisoner scandal on Arab TV definitely wasn’t high on the President’s wish list of things he wanted to be doing but it is the right thing to do even though I don’t think it will play very well with that audience. I think it’s a mistake for him not to interview with Al-Jazeera, though. That will give them even more currency in the Arab world. He should have hit all of them. If there truly is a difference in how the Arab networks cover news, it should be laid bare for that audience.
John Kerry and the Democrats are picking up points across the board by not making political hay out of this. I’m not really sure how they could but that has never stopped them from trying in the past. Call it strategic silence. It is a very effective strategy and I wonder how long they can maintain it. It is not something they are well-versed in. I know how Will Rogers felt.
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “We see things in the clouds as they morph and billow--clowns, poodle dogs, angry gods. When clouds settle to earth, creature-shapes appear--oriental dancers from the tops of trees."
Spectacular image from another top-flight photo blog. -Rob
The BestOfMe Symphony is up over at the DQ. Fun stuff, as usual. An entry I submitted made the cut. Enjoy.
Billionaires for Bush? Not Bush, Louisiana. Damn.
Without MT-Blacklist, this blog could not go on. It denied 48 spam comments in the last 10 hours or so from 13 different IP addresses. To delete all of those comments manually and add that many addresses to the banned list for all of the blogs here would have taken up my whole morning. Another blog got hammered by them the other day. He doesn't use MT-Blacklist. My reaction would be similar to his.
Day 6 and still no word of my stolen truck. I sent off to the State of Louisiana for a duplicate title Friday. I never received the original title. It was mailed out just after we moved into the new house and I suspect that it was never forwarded. We had a strained relationship with our landlords but we also had an inept and/or vindictive mail carrier. Our mailbox was one of four or six at the street all lined up together back then. One of the neighbors represented by one of said mailboxes would sometimes put his trash out a bit too close to the mailboxes. On those days, none of the mailboxes would receive mail.
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “Dear Kitty, what is WRONG with you? Dear Kitty, is your food missing an essential vitamin? Dear Kitty, are you trying to dissolve me with your stinky-gum-disease slobber, wrap me in a cocoon and save me for a late night snack? Oh dear, Kitty."
I have a little rodent friend bustling behind my wall as I type. I don’t know if they are trapped or just going about their business but this isn’t the first one I’ve heard from that same spot. I’ll deal with it tonight if I get home before dark. Bit of a pain to set up lights.
26th Anniversary of the famous May 3 flood in New Orleans. Here's what I wrote for the 25th. No need to go over that again.
This struck me as funny. Bathroom humor hardly ever makes me laugh so a tip of the cap is in order.
It looks like someone else has noticed the language on HBO’s Deadwood. That was one of the first things Patsy and I noticed about it.
Two movies I watched this weekend. Solaris and Two Weeks Notice. Solaris was a total bummer. Entirely too slow and not all that interesting. Two Weeks Notice was on auto pilot the entire time but it was a decent way to pass the time.
129 days until football season.....
A butterfly image that caught my eye yesterday over at Kim's Place.
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “Ok, Italian. This place nearby makes the best spaghetti. I haven't had it in about 5 years. I can taste it already. Nope, doesn't open until 4:00, another hour. By now Sammy is looking at me kind of funny. She knows I'm thinking about food. She ALWAYS knows when I'm thinking about food."
Yesterday, I had two ideas going in my head for today’s entry. This morning, one of them is completely gone from memory and the other no longer interests me. When I’m at a computer, I’ll email myself to remind me. I wasn’t. If it’s very important (Sadly, blogging ideas don’t qualify. This is a hobby for me.), I’ll write it down. It wasn’t. Otherwise, it’s up to the memory. My memory is excellent for some things (Mostly useless things I might add) but somewhat spotty for other things.
In this information age, there is just so much information I can retain and really, only so much I care to. I’m cursed with a mild case of the jingles. I truly wouldn’t want a profound thought to crowd out those Alka Seltzer jingles I’ve so carefully remembered in great detail (Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is). What bothers me about this is that today’s kids, who watch far more TV than I did as a kid, will not be cursed with the jingles (Try it, you’ll like it.). Most of today’s commercial jingles (Whasssuppppppp?????) will be forgotten tomorrow. There are none today as memorable as those Alka Seltzer commercials of the past (I can’t believe I ate the whole thing).
Rained in the morning yesterday, threatened to rain all afternoon, and did rain most of the evening. During the threatening phase, I was able to get the yard done. That’s the extent of my good fortune. Gee, thanks. Made for some decent pictures this morning though.
Below is a garden variety gardenia I bought last year. It is about to bloom for the first time in my garden. I expect it to have a strong, headache-inducing fragrance. Hopefully, it’s not too close to the house. The ham, Priscilla, is on the stepping stone trying to entice me into a walk.
A lonely azalea blooms in May below. Kinda sweet.
Below is a wild gardenia. These are in bloom all over our yard. They have a light fragrance that is quite lovely.
A rose is a rose. This lonely rose below is sitting atop my tallest bush all by itself. The bush is about 7 feet tall.
Two of the south’s curses are pictured below. Red clay and red ants. Every rain produces several of these. Red clay is a great foundation for a road or a house but it is good for nothing else. It is slippery when wet and it gets everywhere. When it’s dry, it is hard as bricks (It’s used to make bricks) and produces red dust that gets everywhere. Red ants AKA fire ants need no explanation.
Below, well, she talked me into it. So many trails, so little time.
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “MY BOSS TOLD ME TO CHANGE THE STUPID SIGN SO I DID"
There’s a guy with a future. The Gas Station entry just below that is cool, too. -Rob
A post over at SilverBlue’s inspired this entry.
These are our (Patsy’s and mine) favorite nearby restaurant chains. To be considered for this list, the restaurant has to have more than one location and must be a few notches up from fast food. Some, but not all, of these chains are national. These are not necessarily in any order of preference and all of them are casual.
New Orleans Food & Spirits - We go to the one in old Covington. The food is excellent and the service is so good that you notice it. You’re very likely to have leftovers to bring home.
Romanos Macaroni Grille - This is part of the Chili's family of restaurants but they are much better than Chili's. We just love this place. The atmosphere is great and the food is great. I love the made-to-order pasta. You choose the ingredients, the sauce, and the pasta. You will definitely have leftovers to bring home.
Applebee’s - Always reliable. We’ve never gotten a bad meal here. I like the Bourbon Street steak, the burgers, the salads, and especially, the apple cinnamon chimichanga.
Ground Pati - The only link I could find was for the one in Houma, LA. They are all over Louisiana and have fallen on hard times. The restaurants listed here probably had something to do with it. Patsy and I have been eating at them fairly regularly since 1978. Still, it’s a reliable place to get a good burger. What is also outstanding here is the ribs.
WOW Café & Wingery - This is a restaurant that I hope can make it big. The food is good across the board and some of it is excellent. My favorites here are the wings (When eating in. They have about 10-12 different sauces.), the salads (They have a Greek Caesar and a Bangkok that are both excellent), and the chicken tenders (Best anywhere). Patsy gets the Covington Wrap (A salad in a wrap). ALL of the sides are good. Patsy and I are regulars here.
Semolina’s - The food at Semolina’s is very good but beware the location. The original Covington location is small and extremely busy. It probably has about three too many tables. A waiter/waitress cannot go from table to kitchen without brushing/bumping you or your chair. Some patrons love that kind of hustle bustle but I’m not one of them. The other locations I’ve tried were bigger and I found those experiences better.
Isabella’s Pizzeria - Great food but I’ve only tried the one in Covington. I hear the one in Mandeville is pretty bad. The Covington restaurant moved from old Covington (A location we loved) to a new location on the outskirts. The food is still good and the location looks like it will end up being better for them due to the proximity of a much larger and a bit more affluent work force. The old location's charm is noticeably missing.
Coffee Rani - Very good salads and sandwiches but a somewhat limited menu.
Deangelo's Pizzeria - Very similar to Isabella's.
Intentionally left out are Copeland’s (Outrageously overpriced and ordinary), TGIFriday’s (This place just does nothing for me), Outback (Very disappointed the last two times), and Chili’s (OK, but nothing special).
Any recommendations?
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: “The wife has pretty much assured me I am a nerd. See the comments here and here for verification. Its just something we have to deal with, in fact she secretly thinks I’m adorable when I’m pontificating on the beloved Mariners or comic books or video games, or (God help me) Star Trek. At least I hope she does. Okay, maybe not “adorable” as much as “tolerable”."
