The Times They Are a-Changin'

Last night we hosted a pot luck dinner for 11 neighbors who ALL have a pension for chattering (and at times, somewhat loudly). You people reading this post in the state of Washington might have heard some of the conversation.

Most people brought some kind of food or drink to be enjoyed by all. There were TWO delicious salads, two kinds of chicken, a potato casserole, tasty green beans, buttery crescent rolls, a delectable veggie tray, an appetizer that propelled one woman to lick the plate...topped off by scrumptious water melon slices and two desserts that had all of us promising to "up" the exercise program this week.

I had just ONE observation. Not one person brought something in a POT. I guess the term "pot luck" is an older reference to when people brought pots of salad?

Anyway, I will be thinking of an updated term for this gathering because it was so fun, I want to have another one soon.

Maybe we all bring our favorite pizza and it can be called a "Pizza Luck"?

(it would be easier on the hostess when cleaning up...but I'm not complaining!)

The Best Last Lecture

Randy Pausch died last week at the age of 47. He leaves behind his wife and three young children ~ and an inspirational lecture that could change your life.

He is best known as the Carnegie Mellon University professor who was dying of pancreatic cancer and delivered a "last lecture" to his students. Now this lecture has lead to the publishing of his book.

Pausch told USA TODAY during an interview at his home in March that the now-famous lecture was never meant for public consumption, nor was it for his colleagues or students. It was for his two sons and daughter: Dylan, 6, Logan, 3, and Chloe, 2. "If people are finding inspiration, OK, but the book is for my kids," Pausch said.

"I knew what I was doing that day," he wrote in the introduction of his best-selling book, also titled The Last Lecture. "Under the ruse of giving an academic lecture, I was trying to put myself in a bottle that would one day wash up on the beach for my children."

WOW.

He made a comment that he knew that he was dying and that his family would have to deal with a huge "fall" and he would not be there to catch them...but at least he could spend his last days sewing a net for them.

ABC is dedicating an hour tomorrow, Tuesday, July 29, at 10 p.m. to his story. Set your VCR's DVR's or tune in...it might just be worth your time to see how he spent HIS.

15 Years of Joy

It's Bailey's 15th birthday!

This little fella has given me companionship, unconditional love, gut-busting laughter and many lessons about patience and care-giving.

He was so trainable that he was house-broken in 3 days.

We used to call him a government employee as he shred everything in sight for a few months.

He has given us a few worries in that he has had two ACL surgeries on his back knees (flag canine football, going out for a pass) and one operation for kidney stones but he has all his teeth.

Although is official name is Sir Bailey Brute, he has many nicknames including Buster Brown, Scooter (never mind WHY), Bruster and Henry (I made up that last one).

I know people say, "he is just a dog....blah, blah.."

But remember, D O G spelled backwards is __ ___ ___.


Maybe too much kibbles and bones in anticipation of a big celebration?

Swimming Among Friends

I have always enjoyed swimming...maybe it started with Dad's little swimmers that raced to meet their egg of choice to produce this zygote.
I digress...a lot.

Anyway, every summer the local swimming pool was our hang-out of choice and to quote a great song, "those WERE the days, my friend, I thought they's never end, we'd swim and dive forever and a day" (author's editorial rights imposed there).
Later, 50 years later, I still enjoy the a little splash at the local swimming hole.
Yesterday I saw a youngster aka "whipper-snapper", sneeze 8 times right into the water. I don't know why that bothered me so much as the water color was not what one could call "crystal clear". In fact, the more I stared at this murky water, the more nervous I got.

I didn't look at the swimming pool as a leisure activity anymore. I saw a giant bathtub with 78 dirty, sweaty people who had not showered for 4 days but who had lathered and sprayed 10 ounces of sun block cream, lotion and oil on their gritty bodies shedding all of the above in my former recreation haven.
Then I thought of my little Sneezy, cavorting with his pals, Oozy and Tinkler and I hopped out of that pool faster than most 57 year olds can drive a car.

When I go home, in record speed, I might add, I took a 45 minute shower and started researching the health concerns of swimming pool usage.
I guess there are a few little ailments one can acquire by enjoying swimming underwater. It's not a HUGE concern if you trust the other 150 people who are swimming with you that particular day...I'm sure everyone is healthy, with no open sores, no using the pool as a toilet and no leaking diaper-swimmies. Oh, and no post-menapausal women who when they sneeze, they cry...from various orafices.
When I was reading the medical terminology for what pools can offer, I ran across this quote:

"Other non enteric pathogens that may be found in swimmming pools and spas are legionella,pseudomonas aeruginosa, mycobacterium, staphylococcus aureus, leptospira interrogans, molluscipoxvirus, human papilloma virus, acanthamoeba,trichophyton and epidermophyton floccosum, that usually produce dermic or respiratory infections."

I knew I missed playing golf for a reason. I only had an occasional bee sting or poison ivy episode...oh, yeah, and a trip to the hospital when Dad shanked a 3 iron to my temple.

Hmmm...Maybe I'll jsut read a good book. I hope I don't get a paper cut turning the pages.

Movie Theaters Can Be Dangerous

I LOVE going to the movies.
I even enjoy giving my ticket to the ticket-taker even when she can barely gesture toward my theater as she mumbles, "number 5"...
I LOVE the smell of popcorn and the previews of coming attractions.
I LOVE watching the different ways movies introduce themselves at the beginning.
I even LOVE watching the credit and seeing who the gaffer and gaffer assistant are.

Today at 10:15 a.m. I watched "MAMA MIA" starring Meryl Streep, Christina Baranski, Julie Walters, Colin Firth and Pierce Brosnin.
It was 1 hour and 43 minutes of toe tapping, face grinning and shoulder shimming fun. Maybe one has to be in the shadow of age 45 to really enjoy this but to see 59 year old Meryl Streep have as much fun as she had, all the while, dancing with unbridled enthusiasm like she was 14, was absolutely delicious!
I saw a review that panned Pierce Brosnan but I didn't care that he couldn't sing.

The only thing I DON'T LOVE about movie theaters is that they don't have a bona fide dance floor. I've managed to turn an ankle, pull a muscle and break more than a sweat as I danced in my seat to the music of ABBA. I must have thought that I could keep up with the trained dancers in the movie, all the while making a perfect fool of myself in my seat.

When I saw the show, HAIRSPRAY, my chiropractor was able to install a new swimming pool from the fees I "racked" up.

I guess this is the reason that I am such a valued subscriber to NETFLIX. My basement video screening room has a padded floor and a medicine cabinet close by.

A Picture is Worth .....

When you see a picture of you in a group photo, whom do you look at first? Of course, you will gaze at your own image 50x longer than Aunt Ginny in her Dr. Scholl's. You will be critical of your crooked smile, teeth and stance. You will say, "I look fat" or "I sure had a bad hair day" and finally move on to the next picture, after quick, obligatory nice comments about the others in the photo.

When seeing pics of other people's family members, we feign interest and act like these photographic gems should be sent to some contest and you go on to guarantee them top honors, all the while yawning to yourself.

Baby pictures are THE WORST. I don't think I have EVER seen a cute baby picture taken before the age of 5 years old. Ok, I am exaggerating a bit. But seriously, (this is where I get really deep so pay attention)...other than YOUR family members, have you seen a beautiful baby photo when the kid is less than a month old? It is usually NOT smiling...has wrinkles on top of wrinkles, look terribly uncomfortable in the new baby suit it is stuffed in with the smiling teddy bear on it's chest..and has a skull cap usually to hide the forsip prong marks from the recent delivery.

Now, we have celebrities having babies by the truckload lately. And Bradgelina are selling the the pictures of their new twins for over $20 million dollars. I have one question.
WHY? Oh, in THEIR case, the proceeds will go to fund either botox injections for someone's lips or to adopting 1,568 more children from foreign lands. But for other celebrities, who cares what their kid looks like?
Would I, after seeing their mug-ette on the cover of a "reputable" tabloid, be able to recognize them if they strolled by me in the park?
Am I going to cut the photo out and frame it for my office wall?
Will I even BUY the rag that it is printed on or will I merely show it to the cashier and mumble something about the outrageous amount of money we spend on stupid stuff?

OK, I have huffed & puffed enough about this subject. You can tell that I will be boycotting the sale of such trivia.

Do NOT, however, expect me to hand over my back issues of People's Top 50 Bachelors. Now THAT is worthy of press ink.

Stuart Little Live Here

Sure, some people in the entertainment industry have cartoonized mice as cute, creative and even cuddly and super-hero-ish.
Yes, I am a Disney fan and LOVE Mickey Mouse.
Of course I grew up with Mighty Mouse defending the weak and saving mankind.
Stuart Little broke my heart when he was forced to leave his adopted human family.
Tom & Jerry played so well together that they are primo examples for youngin' to model their behavior after....
And the movie, Willard....
Ah HA!, NOW we are getting somewhere! When I think of mice, I think of THAT movie, not the Magical Kingdom and "It's a Small World After-all".

We just had a “Critter-gitter” here after our outside painters found a 5” square hole in the wood siding where mice have enjoyed a red-carpet entrance to our abode.
Our local exterminating, hero, “Killer” found mouse droppings all over the attic (crawl space) and in the two basement storage rooms so these little “Mickey and Minni’s” are having a “field day” here. Killer wonders why I haven’t heard the little darlings since he figures there are a hoarde of them.

Apparently these mini-rodents have become so "at home" here that Killer ran across a miniature sign that read "There's No Place Like Home" and some tiny dandelions in a little vase. He also discovered an old fondue set that still had cheese drippings on the side. They have also commandeered a small TV set tuned to Animal Planet...
sigh.

Unfortunately, they haven't paid their share of the mortgage and cable bills so they are being evicted in the cruelest way imaginable.
33 bags of poison have been placed just about everywhere and this is high quality cuisine...$218 !! (I hope I don’t mistake my breakfast cereal for these “eternal slumber treats”)
UGH...

I may have to find other accommodations until the little fellas croak.

I subscribe to the NETFLIX service and my next movie selection just arrived. I haven't checked my list for a while so when I look inside the envelope, it's kind of like Christmas.
Not so much, today.
The movie, Ratatouille is being "returned to sender"

Here''s a Tip

Tipping points:

Should tipping at restaurants be a flat 15% all the time if the server did a decent job?

Shouldn't a customer count the number of times a service person comes to the table?

Why should I pay MORE tip on a $20. item that is on ONE plate as my dining partner who ordered a $7.00 salad? The service was the same.

I recently went to a top quality dining establishment and the waiter visited us 8 times. Three of those times was to bother us...er...I mean, CHECK on us to see if "everything was all right".

Then the other day I went to a breakfast restaurant and the waitress visited our table 5 times....we spent about 15 mintues less time there but the tip was $2.00 instead of $20.

Heck, the busboy at the foo-foo place came by 3 times. Should I have tipped him?

I'm just ruminating about these things because it's Monday and I don't feel like thinking about anything deep.

Check my DEEP Wednesday post. It's bound to be thought-provoking...this one is just a meander.

Expensive Toilet Paper

NEWS STORY ~
CLAYTON, Mo. — A jailer made a surprise "find" in the bathroom of the St. Louis County facility's intake center.

The correctional officer found $55,000 stuffed behind a toilet paper dispenser at the St. Louis County Justice Center in downtown Clayton last week.

Police Chief Thomas Byrne says the bundle of money was in $100 and $50 bills.

None of the inmates who were interviewed knew anything about it.

Byrne said the money has been placed in a special bank account until the rightful owner is determined.
_____________________________________________________________________________

Note: I suppose the officer who found the money may be able to claim it after a certain time period has expired. Can you imagine the celebration, complete with toasts and remarks that would accompany the reason for his "windfall"?

"Bottoms up"!
"Holy Crap"!
"It pays to be a "regular guy".
"Were you always good at hide and seek"?

Ok, sorry for the puns...it's Friday, gimme a break. I'm already in weekend mode.

Out-witting the Family Pooch

My little sweet yorkie-poo, Bailey, has been feeling puny lately. I took him to the Veterinarian last week and he gently poked, prodded and added ordered some x-rays to the tune of $210. (I never understood why the term "to the tune of" is used when I was hearing NO MUSIC at this point in time)

With the invoice came the diagnosis. Bailey is 14 years old and is getting O L D.
I then was given back my dog, his leash and a bottle of wonder pills that promised to find the canine fountain of youth.

Have you ever tried to give a dog a pill that is big as my shoe?
Of course, over the years, Bailey has had an ailment or two and three surgeries so I've had the pleasure of administering medicine to him before. I don't mind liquid prescriptions because I can take a syringe and sneak it in the corner of his mouth. But the pills are more of a challenge.

Yes, I have tried to give him the pill with peanut butter, cheese, salami and ice cream. He manages to eat everything but the pill. One person suggested that I freeze the pill because then the pooch can't smell it as well. Since then I have read that a dog's olfactory senses are 100 times as sensitive as us humans. (I feel sorry for any dog around my Uncle Herbert after he has enjoyed his 5th chili dog)
I have used the "crush the sucker" method and hid th Rx in his favorite food. He takes one whiff and walks away with his paws folded across his chest. Sit down strike time.
Then there is the "jam it down his throat" protocol. Yeah, right. Bailey can move his head and dodge and duck better than the greatest boxer of all time. I can't land a pill any where close to the mouth, although I've had some luck sticking it in his nose.

I have even gone to great lengths to trick Bailey into believing the freshly cooked chicken wing only has ranch dressing on it...and then I make lip-smacking sounds that would make Rachel Ray seem like a quiet librarian.
It is so sad to see a grown 50-something year old woman do an imitation of a super-bowl celebration dance just because she managed to out-wit a 13 pound dog by finally getting it to swallow a grain-of-sand-size pill.

But I feel so accomplished when I finally get the job done...until I sweep the kitchen and find a little pink pill in the corner of the room...or look at Bailey's sweet face and see the intended cure-all stuck under his chin in his beard.

I think I'll stick to giving him a teaspoon of Irish whiskey on Saturday night.

Vacations NOT That Enjoyable

Grandma Ellen & Griffin
______________________________________________________
I LOVE to go on vacations.
I LOVE pouring over the brochures and information about the intended target of my relaxation.
I LOVE "getting away from it all"
I LOVE sending postcards that say "Having a wonderful time, tough luck you're not here"
I LOVE planning what I'm going to do when I get there ... or
I LOVE Brian planning it for me if he goes.

I DO NOT enjoy other people going away, however. I mean, I am not jealous of their excursion ~ I am thrilled that they get to experience different stuff, yada, yada.
BUT, I don't like them being AWAY from me so that at my beck and call I can request a command appearance and oila! There they are to go to the pool with me, go try to beat me at miniature golf or ping pong...or try to convince me that I will participate in a C R A F T (which I won't but the discussion about it is fun).

Great nephew Griffin is going on a trip that sounds like way too much fun with his Grandma Ellen and his Uncle Scott.

I seriously considered booking a room at the same country Inn in Pennsylvania where they are staying but I thought it was just a bit "over the top"...besides, the costume shops are closed for the Holiday and I'm short on disguises.

They are going to go bike riding, maybe water rafting and possibly golfing (ouch! THAT one really hurt!)...not to mention experiencing gales of chuckles, grins and laughter.

So, they haven't left yet and I have printed off a dozen of my favorite photos of the little guy.
Have fun, Grif...but not TOO much, ok? And pay no attention to that pretty gray haired lady with the funnny mustache hiding behind the oak tree on #5 hole on the golf course.

4th of July Contests

Happy 4th of July!
Celebrate your independance...

BUT

Why have hot dog eating contests?
Stick with the three-legged races and the race with the spoon holding an egg.

Please set these little dogs free.

Mona Lisa ~ A Happy Gal

I found this interesting article and thought today should be SHARE day...and find what makes you happy!

Mona Lisa Was 83 Percent Happy
By Toby Sterling, Associated Press

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) —The mysterious half-smile that has intrigued viewers of the Mona Lisa for centuries isn't really that difficult to interpret, Dutch researchers said Thursday.

She was smiling because she was happy ~ 83 percent happy, to be exact, according to scientists from the University of Amsterdam.

In what they viewed as a fun demonstration of technology rather than a serious experiment, the researchers scanned a reproduction of Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece and subjected it to cutting-edge "emotion recognition'' software, developed in collaboration with the University of Illinois.

The result showed the painting's famous subject was 83 percent happy, 9 percent disgusted, 6 percent fearful and 2 percent angry. She was less than 1 percent neutral, and not at all surprised.

Leonardo began work on the painting in 1503, and it now hangs in the Louvre in Paris.

The work, also known as "La Gioconda" is believed to have portrayed the wife of Francesco del Giocondo. The title is a play on her husband's name, and also means "the jolly lady'' in Italian.

Harro Stokman, a professor at the University of Amsterdam involved in the experiment, said the researchers knew the results would be unscientific —the software isn't designed to register subtle emotions. So it couldn't detect the hint of sexual suggestion or disdain many have read into Mona Lisa's eyes.

In addition, the technology is designed for use with modern digital films and images, and subjects first need to be scanned in a neutral emotionless state to accurately detect their current emotion.

Lead researcher Nicu Sebe took the challenge as seriously as he could, using the faces of 10 women of Mediterranean ancestry to create a composite image of a neutral expression. He then compared that to the face in the painting, scoring it on the basis of six emotions: happiness, surprise, anger, disgust, fear and sadness.

"Basically, it's like casting a spider web over the face to break it down into tiny segments,'' Stokman said. "Then you look for minute differences in the flare of the nostril or depth of the wrinkles around the eyes.''

Stokman said with a reading of 83 percent, it's clear happiness was the woman's main emotion.

Biometrics experts not involved with the experiment said the results were interesting even if they aren't the last word on the Mona Lisa.

"Facial recognition technology is advancing rapidly, but emotional recognition is really still in its infancy,'' said Larry Hornak, director of the Center for Identification Technology Research at West Virginia University.

"It sounds like they did try to use a data set, even if it was small, and that's typical of work in an area like this that's relatively new. It's an interesting result,'' he said.

Stokman said he knew the University of Amsterdam effort won't prove or disprove controversial theories about the painting. One is that it was actually a self-portrait of Leonardo himself as a woman.

"But who knows, in 30, 40, 50 years, maybe they'll be able to tell what was on her mind,'' Stokman said.