Thursday, September 27, 2007
Videos
Monday, September 24, 2007
September blues
October is just around the corner, altho' you'd never know it by the weather. I've been bitching about the weather for 4 months now, and I thought sure I'd be done by now, but it was 94 fricking degrees outside today, and I had to be out in in. And I'm sick of it. Thus the title today: September blues.
The pumpkin conveys how I feel tonight; felt that way all day, and Pepcid didn't help. Speaking of pumpkins, we have 5 of them already. Plus a ghost pumpkin, a white one, which is totally cool. I think I'll pick up a couple more of those, and carve at least one. I got one of those pumpkin carving kits that has the tools in it to punch thru' the paper templates with a little punch thingy. Then when you carve, it's much easier to do. Which is what I need, with my hands getting arthritic. But I love Halloween and wish I had more room for decorations, namely, that little Halloween Village that Michaels has. The little buildings are all lit up and have moving parts and little moving people and music or screams.... and each one costs anywhere from $39.00 to $109.00. They're not the cheap ones ~ but they are awesome. I'd have the whole town if I had room. Well, at that price, maybe not the whole town. I guess it's something you'd have to start buying young and adding on to. Which leaves me out. Bummer.
Tonight is the premier of Dancing With The Stars and Heroes and Journeyman, and with overlapping times, I'll have to save Heroes, and possible Journeyman to the DVR. Jane Seymour is going to be one of the celebrity dancers, and she is 56. Wheew. That's a lot of work for someone her age, since I'm not that much older. I sure wouldn't want to be dancing 8 hours a day. Usually the older ones are weeded out fairly early, which I'm sure is okay with them.
So...I'd better clean up the birdies and fold a little laundry and be ready for TV again. It's been a long time.
I love: cotton blankets
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Death Pools
I don't remember how I stumbled on this, but there are a whole lot of sites on the internet devoted to "Death Pools". One hub I looked at had over 50 separate sites where you could play, and another had even more. They are actual pools - like a football pool - where you make a list of people that you think will die this year, and put money on it. Some of them are just for fun. Some offer trophies. Some of them have been around for 20 years. Once I overcame my surprise, curiosity took it's place.
One of the sites I looked at gave points according to the age of the people you picked. Say you picked someone who was between 16 and 29 you would get 12 points, while a person between 70 and 79 years would only net you 7 points. You earn 1 extra point for a unique pick ~ if you were the only competitor to pick that person. You get 2 points for a celeb who dies on the 13th of any month. Three points for murder, suicide or other accident, and five points for a celeb who dies on their birthday or Christmas Day. Don't know why that site didn't award 4 points for anything. I imagine most of the sites award points this basic way. Anyhow, you total up your points at the end of the year based on that kind of criteria.
They have great names: "Dying for Dollars", "You Bet Their Life", "Cash for Cadavers", Celebrity Crypt", "Grave Expectations", and on and on. Gotta like the originality.
In no particular order, I made up a list of the celebrities that appear on alot of the lists. Some surprised me, some didn't:
Billy Graham, Jerry Lewis, Osama bin Laden, Fidel Castro, Kirk Douglas, Dolores Hope, Willie Nelson, Nancy Reagan, Mickey Rooney, Elizabeth Taylor, Mike Wallace, Muhammad Ali, George Bush Sr., Courtney Love, Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, and Nicole Richie. I saw Madonna and Howard Stern's names on a couple of lists.
Recently deceased people were on a lot of lists: Lady Bird, Tammy Faye, Brooke Astor, Luciano Pavarotti....
Merv Griffin and Anna Nicole weren't on many lists.
I don't know whether to think this is a sad commentary on life today, or whether it's just harmless fun. I think I'm leaning to "harmless fun" since I really enjoy being in pools. What do you think ~ would you ever participate in a Death Pool?
I love: Bacon
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Chit chat
Absolutely nothing went on today with me. Took mom to the doctor, and went to the bank. That's about it.
I posted the picture of that huge spider web in Texas. I've never seen anything like it, and I'll bet you haven't either. People are quoted as saying that so many mosquitos were trapped in the web, you could actually hear them screaming. Make my hair stand on end..... I love it around my own house on foggy mornings when the sun breaks thru and you can see all the webs that you never knew existed till then. They are truly amazing.
I also read that the oldest person in the world, Tomoji Tanabe, turns 112 today. This is a bit mystifying to me, as there are quite a few sites that list the worlds supercentarians (over 110 years of age), and they still list Edna Parker of Indiana as the world's oldest at 114. I checked 4 web sites, and according to them, she is still around. Maybe we're all wrong. Who cares, right??
Also noted on CNN's site that the Phil Spector jury is deadlocked. Why am I not surprised? I hope I never get called for jury duty. To me, looks are foremost in determining innocent or guilt. :-) Also, can't make myself even mention O.J........
One last note: the Autobahn is 75 today. CNN has a feature on it. I was hoping it would be filmed from inside a car going about 110, but no such luck. They did mention that even tho' there is no speed limit on it, there aren't any more accidents on it than on any other road. Marco and I were on an amazing freeway system in Montreal, Canada quite a few years ago, and cars were zooming past us and we were doing 70 or 75. There were about 16 lanes, counting east bound and west bound lanes. Compared to that, the Autobahn seemed more like Interstate 70.
Okay, kids, this old lady is heading for her jammies and a coke. You all be cool!!
I love: Being ALONE in my car.
Monday, September 17, 2007
The Kitty and the Truck
Friday, September 07, 2007
Rain on our parade
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Waiting for Cool
I'm fresh out of pics from the camera to post. Maybe I'll get a few more at tailgating this weekend. If it doesn't rain. I forget who sent me the pic of the bird and the mouse, but it's cute. Obviously someone posed it and then snapped it quickly, but it works.
I keep hearing on the news that some of the schools are using their 'snow days' as 'heat days' already. I think most of our kids have airconditioned schools, but some of them ride the bus, and I can only imagine how hot that is. Since it's too hot to be out, I bought a variety of books at Barnes & Noble. Some are for our new laptop that has Vista on it, and has new features that we have to learn. We also want to set up our webcam in the great room and aim it where we can see the birds and the dogs. Then we'll set up a home page and that way, as long as we have the wireless laptop with us, we can log onto our home page and see what's going on at home. Nifty.
Also got a new Ann Lamott book. I'm reading non fiction at the moment. I'll read a couple of scary books as fall progresses, and we get closer to Halloween. Anyhow, Ann's book that I'm reading is 'Bird by Bird', one of her earlier books. Before Dubya was president. I like her recent books for the anti-Bush and anti-Cheney stand. Wonderful reading. She kind of echos Dennis Diehls' assertion that our president and his whole family seem to have family ties, intentions, backgrounds, beliefs and motives that are a whole lot less glorious than we poor commoners have been led to believe. Dad would have approved of her books. We're not much of a Bush family. And my view of him is mild. Check out Rick's blog on the sidebar. It's much more informative on the gang in D.C.
Well, until it cools off, I'll just be huddled away in some air conditioning or another. We've got some neat fairs and festivals in the upcoming weeks, so that will be fun, and hopefully cooler. Since Marco is at a general meeting at the Legion (and probably drinking beer on the patio again), I'm going to haul out my DVD player and watch something chick-flicky. So....later, ya'll.
I love: when the cashier rings it up, and it's cheaper than I thought.
You stay cool, Columbus.
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
A good night's sleep
Here's a great pic of Kayla that papaw Marco took Sunday at the Labor Day picnic. Papaw just saw Kayla chilling out and snapped her and I love it. Miss Kayla is a junior this year. (!!) Amazing. She drove over to the picnic. I still can't get over that. A grandchild driving. Jeff knows how this is also. How did we get so old so fast?? The question now is: who will become a great grandparent first?? It will be interesting.
This is another really hot day, and I think that makes about 400 this year alone. It's 94 outside and humid and hazy. I feel terrible. Oh.....I'll bet you're all thinking: What's the deal with "a good night's sleep"? Well, we got a new mattress and it was delivered today. It's awesome and it was badly needed. I can't wait to hit it tonight. Let's see ~ it's about 7:00 now, and I think bedtime will be about 8:30. We have a king size bed, but not king size pillows. They're standard. Down filled. And I have 6 of them on the bed. Everything is fluffed and clean and waiting on me. Marco is at the Legion working on the books, which is a euphemism for "drinking beer on the patio." Which is probably a good idea. I think I'll have something icy before bed; I think there is cranberry juice and vodka here.
I've been yaking to mom that she ought to have a debit card, even if she doesn't use it. You never know when you'll need access to your money at 2:00 a.m. in the morning. She always refused. Then her bank SENT her one. Yay. It's been activated and she has her PIN. We're gonna get this ole lady into the 21st century yet. Can't wait to see if she actually uses it. :-)
I can't think of anything else exciting today. Guess I'm too excited about my new mattress. In fact, it's calling me now, so I think I'll wind this up.
Let's see.....I love kissing in the rain.
You be cool Columbus.