Good Grief!

It's not Halloween without a Charlie Brown special. I missed it on TV this year and then discovered it on a blog. I watched all 25 minutes of it. Delightful. In fact, "Linus and Lucy" is one of my favorite songs...

Some favorite Linus quotes:

"Never jump into a pile of leaves with a wet sucker."

"There are three things I've learned never to discuss with people: politics, religion, and The Great Pumpkin."

"Nothing but sincerity as far as the eye can see...." (when refering to his pumpkin patch)

Cartoon Classics

This Halloween weekend I joined some friends at the home of Marilyn Monroe and Jesus. Among the guests were a pair of Sparrows... that's Captain Jack Sparrow... and Carla from Cheers. Holly Golightly showed us how to party and Kramer was there without any Seinfeld sidekicks... one ER/Scrubs/Grey's Anatomy dressed gal made sure we were all well medicated and Johnny Cash played a tune while Groucho Marx cracked some jokes. Of course in this bizarro world Groucho was married to Emily Gilmore and Steve Irwin even made an appearance. We had not one witch but two--one's nose is giving me nightmares... while the other is the more famous Professor Mcgonagle, quidditch enthusiast.

I opted for a cartoon classic and dressed as Olive Oyl... I may not be 96 pounds or have extremely large feet, but I thought I might be able to pull together a recognizable look and I think I succeeded. I am not some huge Olive Oyl fan but it was fun to learn a bit about her. It turns out that Popeye wasn't her first love and she actually had a comic before he was even around.

"In the late '20s, Olive was the star of Thimble Theater, E.C. Segar's daily comic strip that revolved around the Oyl family. Thimble Theater ran in 600 newspapers. Her parents were Cole and Nana Oyle and she had a brother named Castor Oyl and a boyfriend, Ham Gravy. Hotfoot, King Bozo were also cast members..... Popeye soon replaced hapless Ham Gravy in Olive's affections. Their first kiss occurred Aug. 27, 1929, when Olive planted a big wet one on Popeye's nose... and by the early '40s the strip had been renamed Popeye." read more here.

I was truly impressed with the calibre of costumes at this event and my very favorite has to be my fellow cartoon legend--Marge Simpson. I've always admired her spirit and her amazing beehive. (Some of you know I've been mildly obsessed with the beehive hairdo for years.) With Marge there is much to love and it's funny how I can hear her voice saying, "Oh, Homey..." just as clearly as I can hear Olive saying "Oh, Popeye..." The costume was so simple and yet so PERFECT. I understand the hair to be a blue furnace filter. I love it!

Ball Jars and Baby Kitties... My Visit to the Farm

I recently made a trip north to visit my Grandma. Since I was "in the neighborhood" I made a point to stop and visit my dad. Of course we had a nice chat and I entertained him (not so much) by playing "You are my Sunshine" on my harmonica. I got to see two teeny-tiny baby kittens in the quoncet and I mourned the loss of some beloved trees that were removed because they'd taken out some power lines in a recent storm. Then while I sipped my afternoon coffee, my dad and I talked lefse. He made his first attempt at the art of lefse making last week and was disappointed with the results. Since I did make 18 batches of it last fall, I had a few words of wisdom and that felt nice. I think he'll try again soon and I've no doubt it will be perfection.

Before I left the farm he decided to load me up with a pumpkin, some potatoes, an onion or two, some carrots (still in the garden) and some canned goods. First off, we set off to fetch the carrots and discovered that some very resilient and determined deer had beaten us to it and the remaining rows of carrots were mostly all rooted out of the ground and eaten by deer! Apparently, my pa has never seen anything like it. Then he decided to show me his pantry and I think he was pretty pleased to see my amazement. Yeah, my dad has been canning all fall. He sent me home with beet pickles, dill pickles, salsa, green beans and he had a lot more on those shelves. Those canned goods aren't the sort you find at the store... they are the real deal made with a pressure cooker. He had several kinds of salsa, whole tomatoes and more.

I am sure to some this seems a bit odd, but my dad has always held a number of roles. He can cook and likes to make delicious meals for his guests. They are often nothing short of a thanksgiving meal on an average day. His gardens produce a lot of produce and something must be done with the harvest. So canning is a must. I think he's a bit like an experimental scientist who likes to try new varieties and different planting times with the garden and that carries over to the kitchen where he's not afraid to try new things as well. I am excited to sample the goods I brought home and am eager to see if my lefse tips will prove helpful.


P.S. I grew up on that sort of canned good stuff... we never bought store bought canned beans or dill pickles... Those Ball jars are loaded with nostalgia as well as green beans and it makes me miss that.

The Mambo King or Emmitt Smith, How I Love Thee.....

Dancing With the Stars is a little something I enjoy each week. Now, don't get me wrong... I pretty much can't stand either host or any of the extra stuff, but the dancing is first rate. (I record the show on my DVR and then fastforward all the parts I don't like) I am constantly impressed with the ability of the celebrities to learn new dances each week and then perform at the level they do. I can tell a lot of people think this is the Joey Lawrence and Mario Lopez show... but I could really see Emmitt Smith winning it all.

I do love "Slater" and he is pretty amazing on the dance floor. And yet, I have to say that the total package is Emmitt. Not only is he fully committed to the dances, he is articulate in the interviews. He's a nice guy and serious and sexy too. That man can really move. I think America is seeing him in a new light and discovering that there is a lot more to this football player. He's an athlete, sure, but his versatility is evident and he seems to be able to juggle his career, his family, and now this, with what appears to be ease. In the end, I think that's what makes him really great. He seems so focused, controlled and relaxed all at the same time. When he is dancing I see grace and power, and there is no doubt that he knows what he is doing and he's REALLY doing it. I wanted to show a friend one of his dances on You Tube and I couldn't decide which one... I find that I love them all. Just talking about this makes me a little weak in the knees.




Awww heck... check out ALL the performances here.

Still Here

Life has really been kicking me in the ass lately... for example I actually wrote this very post two days ago but then when I tried to publish it, I discovered my internet and cable were down for the next 12 hours because of my ISP's local updates.

I look back at this month on the blog and see a mere three posts and I'm sorry. I hope to be back full-force soon. I really do hate the fall of every year... September, October, and November are three months in which people seem to want to CRAM every little thing in.... I think it's an effort by the world to make teachers pay for those months off in the summer....

And like I said, it's not been all unicorns and sunshine lately.

Still one good thing happened on Tuesday at my final harmonica class. I won a "door-prize" for correctly identifying Steven Segal as the vocalist on a particular cd. Seriously.

And the prize was a black baseball hat stitched with the slogan "Flannery for Sheriff" Rumor has it, I could get $400 for this on Ebay!

Making Music.... Mouthing Off

Last night was my second week of harmonica lessons. I am taking a continuing education class and so far I've learned how to suck and blow. Hmmmm... My colleague, Marcia, and I are learning together and it's a hoot. We have a variety of ages in class... it ranges from a nine-year-old boy to a 93-year-old man. Right now, I am mystified by the concept of bending notes and in figuring out how to play single notes (do I pucker or tongue slap?). I think I may need remedial harmonica but so far we ARE having fun. Today in the lounge, Marcia was telling animated stories about class and kept using the terms "suck and blow" and I finally said perhaps we should say "draw" instead of "suck" and she grinned and she said... "Sure, and soon enough we'll all be saying... Man, this really draws!" (a little harmonica humor there for you!)

Too Much Excitement for Me ...

I seriously need to stop watching episodes of Lost before bed. I've seen 10 episodes of season one in a handful of days and I am already addicted. Very suspenseful. TOO SUSPENSEFUL. I am having Lost related dreams... I don't handle "scary" well...

Sometimes Curiosity Pays Off

This has to be the cutest little movie. Or maybe it's just an excuse to hang out with the cutest little monkey. Either way, I loved it.