I made my goal! Over 500 posts in under 20 days! Thank you. For someone who is a blog rookie, I think that’s pretty good.
So, this blog will be short and dolce! And, tomorrow, a story. Just haven’t decided which one. Should it be a spooky story? Or an excerpt from The Ragworts? I’ll sleep on it.
Hope you all have a great sleep and sweet dreams. Buono notte! Good night!
500 or Bust!
Can I get just 6 more views to meet my goal of 500? 6 more views! Please, pretty please, pretty please with sugar on top! Tomorrow, I’m write you a story!!! I promise!!!
Sometimes Baby Boomers Bomb
When it come to new technology and social networking, Baby Boomers, I have found, generally bomb! Ka-boom! There’s an old saying that I learned when I was going to Al-Anon, for my ex-husband, many years ago, Keep It Simple, Stupid! My advice for the day.
Why does everything you touch, when it comes to technology have to be so fracking confusing. For example, I was asked by a thirty-something publishing agent, “What is your social platform?” Like in have I received any gold medals??? Well, uh, no. Had no clue what he meant. Just ask,” Are you connected with any social media sites?” Oh, you mean like FB? Okay, I can answer that. And then the “blog” word came up. “Oh, yes,”she said (what the frack is a “blog”). Thank goodness for the wonderful, ever patient, loving thirty-somethings at “Write by the Rails.” They set me up! Solved.
Next, the switching, updating of OS. Hey, I’m impressed that I, at 63 even know what that is! Please, I’m a good girl, I do everything they tell me to, so why, oh, why, doesn’t it work!!! Helllllp me! And so, someone wrote a book…”Everything you Need to Know…” and this 900+ page book explains everything that is not in a device manual. SO why bother having a manual??? Just get the book!!!
God bless technology, (I wonder if He uses a Mac or a PC,) and the people who develop it. Next stop, for me (help me, Nick) it’s Instagram!! And a gracious good evening to all.
“…one is silver and the other’s gold.”
Any body out there an ex-Brownie Scout? I remember, as a little girl being a Brownie Scout and learning the song”
“Make new friends, but keep the old,
One is silver and the other gold!”
We all have family that we are born into and then there is family, that we choose. Those are friends, friends for life. Last night I watched Jay Leno’s last show. At the end of his show, he explained why he never went to another network when he left the Tonight Show, the first time. He explained that for the 22 years he had been with NBC, he had worked with, what he felt, were family. The first year he started with NBC, he lost his mother, the second year, his father and a few years later, his brother. So, the only family he had left were his colleagues and friends at NBC.
Sometimes, we forget who our real friends are. Are they the 100 FRIENDS on FB? There’s someone I know who refers to everyone he/she meets as a “friend.” And, I’m like, how are they a friend? How do you define that? Do you really have 300 best friends? Really? It’s almost like it’s said as a status symbol!
My definition must be way different. I think social media may have redefined that word but for me, I know who my friends are. Do they change throughout your life? Yes, occasionally they do, but there is always a core. A core, if your blessed, of 5 people, (in my opinion) maybe less. And, I think, one of the determining factor is time. People that have been with you, over the years, through thick and thin. People that you don’t always like, but always love. People who may criticize you, but never judge you. People who can share their deepest, darkest secrets with you and you can do the same, and trust that they will keep them. People who don’t break the promises that they make to you, without a real reason. People that don’t betray you. People that you can be away from for months or years, but are still there, whenever you need them. Hard standards to meet? Maybe.
I think that people, like myself, who are only children, seek out these people. Since they don’t have brothers and sisters, they seek out the “goodness of strangers.” Sometimes that works and sometimes, not so much. But, I’d bet that their core friendships are larger. That they have more loving, trusting friends, than others with a large amount of siblings. Especially, if, like me, they’ve traveled a lot.
So, that brings me back to the old “Brownie” song. “…one is silver and the other gold.” The “Bestie,” the “BFF,” the person(s) who you can count on, no matter what. Got, one? Two? Three? You are blessed. I am blessed.
Happy Birthday, Ma!
Today is my Mom’s (Ma’s) 98th birthday. Hard to believe. I don’t see her as being any older than when I was in my twenties. She would have been in her 50s then. She was one of those women who never aged. While her body was ravaged with cancer, three times, acute asthma and emphysema, COPD, osteoporosis, colitis, PAD, and congestive heart failure, her mind stayed young and alive.
There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t miss her. Not a day, that I don’t talk to her, about her. She is with me always, in mind and spirit. Sometimes I hear her laugh or telling me something like “Belinda, don’t burn the garlic.” My mother was larger than life, so to expect that pulsating ball of energy to just disappear would be ludicrous. She just keeps on rolling.
She was Linda, and I, Belinda. Appropriate. All I ever wanted to do was “be Linda.” Be that beautiful person, who would light up a room as soon as she walked in. Be that person, whose warmth and love would still be in the room, when she departed. Be that person, whose overwhelming love of life would carry her through heartache and illness with an upright stance and smile on her face, even when she was bent over, almost crippled with osteoporosis. And all she ever wanted to be, was me.
I was all, am all, she could not be. I used to drive her nuts, scare her to death and completely adore her. Because of her, I was educated scholastically and worldly, I was completely independent and I was a successful business woman. All those things she could not be, but did not need. She was just so much more, she was Linda.
I’ve heard, so many times, women say, “Oy, you’re becoming your mother,” like that’s a bad thing. I can only hope to be half of what she was. She had an “open door” policy. The door was open, c’mon in. I swear, people came to the house, just to be in her presence. They used to call it the “Health Farm.” If you felt like crap when you walked in, you felt rejuvenated when you walked out. There was always a sandwich, or bread and cheese, or her magnificent home made cookies, a cup of coffee (brown or black), tea or glass of wine. There was always a loving ear to bend and the advice of nothing less than the sage of times.
I’m told that I sound just like her. Off to a good start, but since I’m only half of her, half is what I’ll have to settle for. And, I’ll have to work a little harder to get there. So, Happy Birthday, Ma! I love you.
The Art of the Three Point Turn
Often I hear, “Did ya see that, she made a perfect three point turn!” Not so easy with a big, three wheel, candy apple red, mobility scooter. (No, not a ‘handicapped” scooter, nothing handicapped about it.) Listen, this is the scooter that my husband brilliantly equipped with Harley mirrors, and a license plate. So, one asks, how do I do in an elevator? There is nothing handicapped accessible in an elevator. They forget that once you pull in, the electronic controls are behind you. So, if you’re in there by yourself and you’ve forgotten to back in, you just ride up and down a few times until someone else gets in and presses your floor, or you luck out and the elevator happens to stop. UNLESS, you can make the three point turn. Practice, grasshopper, practice.
One must always remember to pull in on a diagonal…never straight in. If not all the way around, you can then, at least get sideways and control the electronics. Once that door closes, and your straight in, it takes an inch-inch-maneuver, but you can do it.
And, as far as I’m concerned, the controls are never low enough. I have used my cane (not pretty), a pen, my eyeglass stem, my scooter key, or anything straight, long and hard…watch out guys! One learns to get creative.
Then, if I’m sideways and it’s time to get off, as long as the elevator is long enough, I back up, turn my tiller and off I go! Now, if I have to do the “Inch-by Inch” thing, then I simply stop the elevator, take my time, until I’m straight forward, flip the elevator back on and leave. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Thanks, Otis.
Don’t let’s get started on bathrooms.
But Wait!
My husband writes great emails to his sister and brothers. He is also famous for his “Gary-isms.” I thought this one was worth publishing!
Subject: Torpedo deicer ( de icer )
Ummm guys, hello, just the mentioning of using a torpedo space heater to deice a car called Dream Boat followed by a comment stating it was “fortunate that the paint didn’t melt off” can only end with these well known TV words: BUT WAIT -THERE’S MORE! But real trouble starts when you are too trusting. A person could read your e-mail, reinterpret its innocence then run amok. Not to worry Sis, I won’t Veer from the facts as I SEE THEM.
All the videos of the shows called Worlds Dumbest, Americas Funniest Videos, Famous Last Words, What Were They Thinking, Etc., all have the same paths= innocent looking lead in, a few clues of doom only the home viewer sees, passing thru stage where any HALF SANE person would see this obviously ain’t gonna work, onward to the universal last words of HEY WATCH THIS ! Then the oh no oh no x¥%#{>€^*¥£€!!!!!
Soooo, which show are you two and Dream Boat going to be on?
Its too late now but I’m curious as to which of these News At 11:00 lead ins should we have looked for: Paint endures heat but burning tires ruin car, melting ice puts out car fire, neighbors say “they are a bit strange, from up north ya know, cup is a mason jar, falls off driveway, Mr brilliant frequently mutters Jane lets go, brother in a barrel, rumor of family zoo,”
As I said. Facts as I see them.
Any thoughts of getting thoughts from other brothers? I bet the true/full meaning of running amok would be oh so evident.
Later,
Gary
The Week That Was!
What a great week! Besides the freezing cold and snow that surrounded most of the Eastern seaboard, except Florida which, as everyone knows, is really another country, it was an exciting week. (Trust me, it doesn’t take much!) The wonderful writers/bloggers in Write by the Rails, started their blog tour. The reading has been excellent…some anecdotal, some about their books, all good! I learned how to get up and running with my blog and web page. Thank you Katherine Gotthardt! I’m always excited to meet new people, especially those that are willing to teach. So, that’s my first bit of excitement.
I live in a condominium and am President of the association. It’s been seven years of hard labor, but has been worthwhile. We still struggle, however, with the drug element brought in by some tenants. Fortunately, I’ve built a pretty good rapport with our local Police Department and have come to know some of the officers, personally. They really are a great group and I appreciate all they do to help our little community out. This week, our security cameras picked up a real life COPS episode! Talk about exciting!!! You go guys and dog.
Have had friends in and out, all week. God bless them! They know that when the weather is bad, I’m in. I love that our friends feel so comfortable in our home. They are all family. It’s a good thing.
Last but not least, getting an “A” grade from my cardiologist and presenting him with a signed copy of PQ. It wasn’t so long ago that I was in terrible pain and he sat with me when I was so miserable that I didn’t know what to do. He was so happy with getting the book and being able to share it with his girls, 9 and 11, after he read it first! Phillip, you did good!
And last but not least, the thing that bella Napoli is known for and part of my life’s blood, pizza! Thick or thin? Chicago or New York? Sausage or pepperoni? A topic for another blog but, it’s all good!
Told you…it doesn’t take much.
This Week in Weird – 1/25
The photography in the Grimm piece is breathtaking. Thank you for sharing that.
Truth or Dare…A Gnome’s Recipe
Is this recipe a fantasy? Maybe, maybe not. It sure sounds good, especially on a very cold Virginia day.
Phillip made this sauce in the Vast Enchanted Forest after he and Edward hadn’t eaten for a whole day. They had just left the Farmer’s Market where Phillip said his “good-bye” to a very unhappy Ivy. What had happened afterwards, Phillip did not know until Azur broke the news.
It was evening when Phillip and Edward entered the Forest and they were exhausted.
There were many Tree Folk in this part of the forest. Groups of them line the curvy path and appeared to be engaged in important conversations with one another. Their twiggy hands pointed and gestured. One of them glanced over and gave Edward a little wink as the travelers walked by.
Phillip’s Quest, Book 1: Winterfrost, “The Staring Statues”
Edward, the squirrel was always hungry and enough was enough. He knew that Phillip could not go much longer without food so,
He jumped from tree to tree, for a good hour, while Phillip looked over his maps (they were lost, at this point). One of the Forest Fathers even helped by shaking his branches and allowing Edward to gather all the fallen nuts! Phillip then made the sauce with some maters he bought from a dwarf at the Farmer’s Market.
Five or six small ripe maters will make enough for one gnome and one hungry squirrel.
Finely chop the maters up into a hollowed out rock or a saucepan that’s been coated with a little oil. Simmer the maters until some of the water cooks out. Put a handful of crushed hazelnuts into the mater sauce with some salt and a bit of black spice (if you have it) and cook until thick.
A perfect meal for day old tater buns and if you’re lost in a vast forest.
…Appendix F: Phillip’s Mater Sauce with Hazelnuts
The Appendices, B-F are recipes that I adapted. Some important ingredients have been omitted and revised to coincide with the story. Still, an experienced cook could improvise and make with his or her child. Actual recipes will be reprinted here or in an upcoming cook book!
By the way, the artwork for The Vast Enchanted Forest is brilliant! Please look at the Twisted Oak Press website: twistedoakpress.com, where you can by beautiful art prints from Phillip’s Quest, as well as other art from my collaborator, Dean Kuhta.
Winterfrost Publishing 