A Word from Sam the Eagle

CoCo Update

The month of February draws to a close and Coco is yet to be spade. This has to happen sooner rather than later. She is venturing off the porch quite a lot when it is sunny. I worry.
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Because we certainly don't need more mouths to feed.

Go Ahead and Laugh, It's FRIDAY

I'm Still Here

I'm still here, so it's not like I won the lottery. But I could have. I had the Powerball. But that was the only number I had.



Dreaming of winning the lottery is a big Western PA past-time when the jackpot is big. It was nice to hear what kind of cars people were saying they wanted to buy. I overheard a guy describe in detail the Cadillac Escalade he wanted... first thing on the list if he won. Another said a Viper.


Me? I want a Schinn bike. Yup. The kind you pedal. It's all I will need on my island since it probably won't have more than a couple miles of roads. If that.

The Sunday Morning Muse, February 22, 2009

This is my 80th Sunday Morning Muse. Today it's all about music. Things just coming together. Leonard Cohen was in New York... V*n M&rrison coming next weekend. I won't make either concert...but it doesn't matter. I still can be a part of it. I've watched some of Leonard's tour in snippets on the internet. And I've read about it in Rolling Stone. Thrilled that he is out there... ringing the bells, as he puts it. He is actually singing old stuff like Famous Blue Raincoat, Closing Time, and Hey That's No Way to Say Goodbye. It makes me smile. No music like old music.

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Along that vein, everything old is new again for V*n Mor&rison, too. His first album, Astral Weeks, which was deemed so groundbreaking in the 1970s, is back on center stage as V*n releases a "live" version hopefully this week...and I pre-ordered my copy. Astral Weeks was my old boyfriend Joey's favorite...and I struggled so hard back then to find something nice to say about it. I loved everything else Joey and I listened to...and he was patient. Just smiled at me, as if to tell me I just wasn't ready for it yet. He said that about the album Common One, too. I didn't like that one at first either.... then something clicked and I "got it." I'll never part with it,now.

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Music is like that. :)

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Maybe it's the former DJ in me but I love just sitting around playing "do you remember...."

because it is amazing what you forget. And it's fun. There's this guy I know that whenever I see him we try to stump each other. Today it was Black Oak Arkansas. I threw another name right back at him....Spooky Tooth. Last time I saw him he said "It's A Beautiful Day." And I was stumped. Never heard of them. Until he started singing their song, "White Bird..... in a golden cage....."

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I knew the song, of course. But he GOT me. I would have never guessed the name of the group was It's A Beautiful Day."

Black Oak Arkansas...

Something to turn up and PLAY LOUD on a Sunday morning. A real toe tapper.
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It really kicks in about 4 or 5 minutes into the set... with Dixie. First just voices then really cool guitar playing.... stay with it till the big AhhhhhMMENNNNNNNN.
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Love the Washboard.
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Gotta Get one...

Forever Yellow

A few weeks ago my mother's dresser drawer got stuck. After I got it open, I was amazed to see this wrap around yellow skirt with these God-awful white stripes--folded neatly and preserved in a plastic bag. She kept that thing all these years.

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It is the one and only piece of clothing I have ever sewn. It exists as proof that my Home Economics teacher in high school wouldn't let this stubborn girl quit. Let's just say sewing wasn't my strong suit. It wasn't my suit at all. I could NOT SEW. Period. Even a simple wrap around skirt. She made me rip the stitching from that skirt and start again no less than 4 times. I hated that skirt so much I didn't care if I left it laying in shreds on the floor. I vaguely remember swearing at the teacher just to get put out into the hall instead of having to spend another second of my life fighting with that sewing machine.

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All these years later, it still exists, never worn, and hasn't seen the light of day since I brought it home when I was 16 years old. But it serves a great purpose. It is a tangible reminder that though I sometimes think I can do anything if I set my mind to it, there are things in life that will never be easy. The other lesson I learned is.... even if I do manage to finish something I don't like doing, it still ain't gonna be pretty.

Farewell to Socks the Cat

Sweet Pea and I wish to express our sadness at the death of Socks. Sweet Pea felt a particular kinship to Socks, being that they are both Tuxedo Cats.

An Evening with Leonard Cohen

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Hey, look at this. I opened up Yahoo this morning... and right there on a list with Bombs in Pakistan and prostate cancer news, is Leonard Cohen's concert in New York. Well, let's just go ahead and read about it.
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Great article. Love this part:
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His lean, taut songs sounded particularly apt in such a time of economic recession. At one point, Cohen told the crowd he understood that hard times were coming, then drolly adding, "some say even worse than Y2K."
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....and this part:

He both recited the lyrics and sang the song: "Ring the bells that can still ring/ Forget your perfect offering/ There is a crack, a crack in everything/ That's how the light gets in."
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and the end...
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. . . Cohen sang "Goodnight my darling/ I hope I leave you satisfied" and shortly thereafter — breaking from his graceful poise — skipped off the stage.

Glory Be... Indulge Me.

Glory Be to the Father...to the Son ...to the Holy Spirit (whatever THAT is), as it was in the beginning and is now...

(almost there...I'm thinking...)

and ...always will be? (maybe) World without end.... AMEN.

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Howzat from memory? (Six more and an Ave Maria to go.)It's been a long time. But it was worth it. I can get a "Get out of Purgatory Free" card someday if I keep it up.The Catlicks are bringing back "indulgences." Since they haven't eliminated Purgatory yet, they can still come up with things for people to do get out of it once they are in there, provided it still exists.

Remember, Limbo is gone now. The Church eliminated it months ago, after teaching about it for 800 years or so. But dead babies couldn't do good deeds or recite Glory Be's to get out of Limbo anyway.






(Photo is from Dante's Purgatory)

from Slate:

An older version of the Enchiridion, known as the Raccolta, did assign lengths of time for each indulgenced act. Reciting seven Gloria Patris and one Ave Maria in a single day, for example, would grant you "an indulgence of 100 days." That didn't mean, however, that the penitent would get 100 days knocked off his purgatorial stay. A 100-day indulgence just earns you the equivalent of 100 days of earthly penance. (In the early and medieval church, penances were extremely arduous; a sinner might be
sentenced to years of nothing but bread and water or months of wearing
sackcloth.)

Looks like there are a few loopholes. But even purgatory sounds better than wearing sackcloth or just eating bread and water. You could get scurvy.

Chinese Woman Misses Her Flight

All I kept thinking while watching this....Boy, would it be nice to have a good scream like that. Just let it all out.

The Sunday Morning Muse, February 15, 2009

St. Valentine barely left the building and the crates are being opened to fill the shelves with bunnies and easter eggs at Walmart. Today Valentine's Day stuff is 50 percent off.It was a great time to stock up on candy. I got three bags full of these lucious creme filled hearts and also some Hershey miniatures with cutesy wrappings. And more little Valentine hearts with sayings on them for the candy dish. I love those.

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I had half a thought of giving away my candy to other people today. Sweets for the sweet. But the other half won.
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Don Juan DeMarco- Restaurant Scene

I suppose he would be the ideal Valentine Date.

Step Right Up and Find Your Soulmate!

Are you still searching for that elusive soul mate? You know what I'm talking about. And so do all those people on those silly dating site commercials who plugged in all their desired traits, paid their money, hit a key stroke and... Va la! Instant soulmate.
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I'm kidding. But you know, people can "label" anything. Who am I to say these love lorn internet surfers haven't INDEED found their greatest love. But a great love doesn't necessarily qualify as a soul mate. You don't know what kind of screwed up relationships they endured before.
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But, hear me out on this, because I've entertained a few thoughts on the subject. I believe you can learn to love someone you are attracted to and find contentment in that. You may even settle in for the rest of your life. Just not wanting to be alone is something which motivates a lot of people to tie the knot. These types of relationships tend to need a lot of nurturing, plenty of patience and a lot of forgiveness on both sides. Because you can't change people. You adapt. What I have seen as two people like this "become one," is they actually become "two---half-people." They lose their individuality.Their whole lives become a compromise to one another.(ex: My husband doesn't like me to cut my hair so I keep it long) Eventually they lose themselves all together and with that, whatever qualities that attracted them to each other in the first place.

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You can also "fall in love" with someone because there is this big chemical attraction and hormones are going wild and you entertain the notion of some future together before you really find out what that person is all about. It can be a crap shoot. You may find that the sparks die down after you discover you both have very different dreams and goals in life. Different world views. Then again, you may get lucky and be very compatable, and carry that spark all the way to old age.
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But when you meet a soul mate it is a different deal. An unspoken connection exists almost from the moment you meet. And it doesn't go away. In conversations you can almost read each other's thoughts at times, finishing each other's sentences, or jumping to the same conclusions without really having to explain yourself. A knowing of sorts...without words...is shared. But this doesn't imply total agreement on everything.
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Quite the contrary.That would be boring. Instead you can be a complement to each other's thoughts and dreams. Challenge each other to new heights, bond even further with new ways of thinking about things--share your different backgrounds, experiences, and hobbies. Envision together a life that doesn't require you to give up doing what you already love to do, or to look any different than you do now, or pretend to like something that you don't just so "he'll like me." You can just BE and that is enough.
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Because being who you are, and loving each other unconditionally, is really what it is all about.

Your Song- Elton John

My gift is my song....and this one's for you.

The Stimulus Bill Passed the House Today

And that's all I have to say about that.

The Eden Express- Mark Vonnegut

"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive."

-Robert Louis Stevenson

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I first learned of this quote when I read a book by Kurt Vonnegut's son Mark, called The Eden Express many years ago. The book is about his journey upon graduation from Swarthmore College to British Columbia where he and his friends set up a commune. The book deals a lot with his personal experience with schizophrenia and he eventually does end up in a mental hospital. I remembered the book all these years because it was just so compelling. Viewing the world from his very challenged point of view left me at times wondering what was real and what was his imagination. And that was his intention. A view inside of his mind... where something was going really wrong. The writing was intensely personal.

From Amazon.com

"Required reading for those who want to understand insanity from the
inside." — The New York Times

CoCo Update

CoCo spent the coldest part of the winter so far under the glider on her cat mat. This week's thaw brought her off the porch and into the driveway. She is a precious little thing with those big green eyes. She can do little tricks, and she is smart and attentive. Just like me.

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She'll be spayed soon and we will both be available for adoption to a good home.

The Sunday Morning Muse, February 8, 2009

Screw bi-partisanship. It ain't gonna work. If I were advising President Obama, I'd say, Nice Try, but screw them. Put your best plan together, get your votes in line, and go for it.

Some things haven't changed since the Wild West. It will always be Us versus Them. I know this, because I will never be "with Them." Because I'm with "Us." The people who voted in Barack Obama.

I'm sick to death of the Hannitys, Becks, Rushs and other pontificating jerks spouting talking points. Bring out the real economists. People who know. PLEASE. SOMEONE to talk about how to get our country out of this mess.

Let's be honest. The Repuglicans can nitpick and potshot and whine and moan about any letter in anyword on anypage of that 700 page bill. Then they'll still vote no, because they can't let you, the Democrat, actually solve the crisis a Republican administration left us. Because it would mean.... another TERM.

That's the gig. That's the story. It's all about power. Always will be.

And of course there will never be enough "tax cuts," for all their rich buddies.

(We saw how well THAT strategy worked under W.)

So Screw them.

Pass the damn bill.

Stop the bleeding.

Eight Babies? Well Why Not NINE?

I just read more about that strange woman who had the eight babies. No father in the picture. No job. Hospital bills will be in the millions. Six kids already by in vitro fertilization. Used to work as a "technician" in a mental hospital for 625 a week until she hurt her back and got $167 thousand dollars in payments.

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So much for the bad back problems.

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No sweat carrying 8 babies for 9 months.

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Depending on what you read, her case history (a very depressed and anxious woman who reported severe lower back pain, which limited her ability to pick up her 15-lb. baby without first sitting down), ---- or the glowing accolades of her PR firm (smart! articulate! well educated!), she is either nuttier than a fruitcake or Mother of the Year.

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I bet you can guess what I think.

The Boy in the Plastic Bubble

I was just watching a very young John Travolta in The Boy in the Plastic Bubble.The movie was in the bargain bin for a buck. I have this vague recollection of the real Bubble boy from my childhood, David Vetter.

I didn't finish watching the movie. It was too depressing. I know how it ends.

When Will I See You Again?

It's 3 degrees outside and I found The Three Degrees on YouTube.

Half-Time Show Rocked

So...what did everyone think of The Boss's Half-time performance? Not everyone liked it as much as I did. This review lists the 10 Unforgivable Sins regarding the 12 minute show. I admit

the stage did appear a bit cluttered with people. I forgave that. Clarence on the Cowbell comes up quite a bit in conversations I've had. Also people who say Bruce "never had a voice."

Hard to disagree there. He really didn't have much of a voice Sunday night. I think he gets by on pure adrenaline and shouting sometimes. But it works for him. Yeh, the Boss Time skit was a bit corny. Sliding into the camera crotch first also took me aback a bit, but I still let that go. Chocked it up to that energy he gives off.

Groundhog Upstaged by the Steelers

What normally would have been the lead story in Western PA, seemed almost lost in the super-hyped Steeler coverage.

Six more weeks of winter. Damn groundhog.

I hear he is right only 39 percent of the time. Maybe we'll get lucky this year.

My sanity depends on it.

Steeler's Polka- 2009 from the DVE Pep Rally

Featuring the Trel-Tones music and singer Bratislav. I love the drunks all singing along...and the dancing girls. Most people around here know most of the words to most of the song. Except for the new words.

The Sunday Morning Muse, February 1, 2009

I just took this picture out my back window of my computer room. Thankfully my gutters haven't come crashing down yet.

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I slanted the camera picture just for fun to fit more ice in it. February is HERE! It's a symbolic thing. The Ice Is Melting. Cross out that horrible month of January. Today we are headed to the 40's!!! Some blue sky... some sunshine! I feel my mood picking up already. Maybe I'll start my taxes.... take a walk, clean the house, put the Christmas tree away... what? Okay it's really a winter type tree with birds and cherubs on it. Seasonal.

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Alas, but for a day. Quasi-warmth. Temperatures above freezing. The joy of it. More cold and snow are forecasted for this week. Push those negative thoughts aside. Enjoy for now.

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After all...It's Superbowl Sunday! The Steelers are in Tampa. Grocery stores here are full of folks buying chicken wings, pizza, and Steeler Cakes. Everyone is wearing Steeler shirts, ties, pins, jackets, hats, and anything else black and gold. People are dressing their pets up like the Steelers. Steeler fans are EVERYWHERE. Adorning their cars with Steelers signs and flags. I have seen a Steeler Black and Gold Jeep, and here in our town there is a Steeler House.

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Now... back to all this time to kill before the game starts. . .maybe I'll Google the Steeler's Polka.