Cathedral

My Funny Valentine

The Sunday Morning Muse, February 12, 2012

No phone call last night. Probably didn't win the Powerball Jackpot with friends from work. But it is still early. Maybe once all the tickets are gone through, there is a smaller prize lurking. Even small amounts of unexpected money are nice. It'll help with the flower seed budget. I'm ordering all kinds of stuff today. 

Am I turning into the kind of a practical person who wishes for small things and never takes the time to dream the really "big" dreams anymore? Ohh. I'd hate that. But I admit I didn't spend time dreaming of winning millions. I do know I would donate a lot to animal shelters. I did think of that as I wandered the pet store on Friday. 

Millions didn't improve Whitney Houston's life that much. Dead at  48. I never liked her music. Not that it is her fault, but when she sang I Will Always Love You all those years ago, I was a twenty something, inbetween relationships, and everytime it came on the radio I just immediately snapped it right off. I convinced myself it was horribly oversung and later when I learned that Dolly Parton wrote it...and I heard Dolly sing it, I liked it better. Not oversung. I know... In this case 99.99999 percent of people disagree with me. Unfortunately I will have to hear the song all weekend on the news casts ( 5 times already before 7 oclock) so think of me walking out of rooms to get away from that tortured song.

Fark headline: Whitney Houston Beats Bobby Brown to Death.  

Bad, I know. But it's the internet. No manners, no civility. But it is funny. But not really. So I won't laugh. It's just irony.

Insurance Companies to Cover Chastity Belts

In a stunningly simple conclusion to a ridiculously petty contraception war on women, the Catholic Church has agreed to pay premiums for insurance companies to cover Chastity Belts for women who work in Catholic affiliated agencies. "Chastity belts were the norm of anti-temptation fashionware during the Crusades,"  an unnamed source said, "so we see only a win-win situation here in our attempt to maintain our moral standards, but also give women a choice of when she wants to be pregnant."

Women will still have the option of buying their own birth control, provided they can afford it and are willing to take the chance of getting caught by the Bishop.

Digging into the Past

Thinking about family history and genealogy. I love the show Who Do You Think You Are? This week's episode featured Martin Sheen. They have some great celebrities signed up for this season and it is well worth watching. The excitement and wonder in the faces of the people on this show is great as they find out clues about their ancestors. I felt those same things when I traced my family history, and I still get those feelings when I find out something new or get pictures from someone.The one above shows ancestors of mine carrying their spinning wheels in the snow. A great photograph.

When I did my "digging" years ago,  I found a whole BOOK written about my grandmother's ancestors on my dad's side. Unfortunately it's written in Finnish, so I can't read it. But parts I got translated included names and dates I needed and an idea of where the family name came from and where their land was located in the 1600s. A second book showed two men fighting each other with knifes. I'd like to get that one translated someday to find out what they fought about.

My Polish side hasn't been as successful way far back, but I do have a picture of a great great grandmother with her children and some younger girls I assume are grandchildren all around her though I can't name them all yet. Which brings me to the subject of names....

I found a great quote in this story about the Junkman and the Madonna.

It's from David Eagleman: "There are three deaths. The first is when the body ceases to function. The second is when the body is consigned to the grave. The third is that moment, sometime in the future, when your name is spoken for the last time."

Sunday Morning Muse, February 5, 2012

Staring down at my English muffin with toast and jelly, and taking a sip of coffee. It's Sunday. Don't have to mindlessly stuff it down, drink it up and fly through the morning routine. I can actually taste the coffee today. And even though I've eaten it for a week now, the "Christmas" jelly on the toast is really excellent. Locally made. Musing about food.

The number one search on Yahoo right now is "chicken wings." What would we all be eating on Superbowl Sunday if someone didn't come up with chicken wings? In the interest of clarity, I'm not eating chicken wings today, I'm eating a version of chicken fingers. Another fine invention, but without the bones. And I won't need fancy sauce recipes as long as Sweet Baby Ray continues to line store shelves.

My small personal world is so much saner than what is going on out in the vast world out there. Boring, but sane. Predictable. Even Cozy for now. Yeah, as in not much happening, but no disaster ahead I can see. And that's not bad thing.

The mindless political diggy doo that passes for news has been trumped (pardon the pun) a bit by the chaos in Syria, the troubling times under Putin in Russia, and the crazy winter madness in Europe. (Minus 40 degrees in Finland!) The best for last:  the "sabre rattling" of the Jews and Iran, which has the potential to be a fine powder keg unless cooler heads prevail.

THIS is reality television. The trials and tribulations of the entire world dumped into our livingrooms...as we mull over Superbowl squares and munch on snacks and drink cold beer.  A strange juxtaposition. The battles of good and evil, right and wrong, man versus weather....that'll still be there tomorrow. For today...it's chicken! And the Superbowl.

Rushing Things, But That's Ok

Shamrock shakes are out already. I had one yesterday and we are still 10 days away from Valentines Day. But then again there is no Valentine's Shake. Probably should be.  Like a strawberry one with lots of whipped cream and that gorgeous but not so great tasting maraschino cherry on top.

I googled that cherry and they don't grow like that on trees.(Not that I thought they did, but I was curious how they did get that way.) Suffice to say it's a process. A lot of work involving dyes and brine.

They always remind me of college with the old gag about being to tie the stem into a knot with your tongue.

Anyhow, spring can't be too far behind, with shamrock shakes out. It's like seeing the first robin.

If winter stays like this, I'm lovin' it.  The Groundhog has spoken.

Richard Brautigan's Birthday

“I thought about it for awhile, hiding it from the rest of my mind. But I didn't ruin my birthday by secretly thinking about it too hard.” ― Richard Brautigan, Trout Fishing in America

Tax Season Ahead...Cats Working Hard