do you know the way to ses'me street?

I do! I do! It's at the farthest, most northeastern, portion of Seaworld Orlando!

"Oh, you poor dear. I bet your tootsies were aching a-plenty."

Actually, it could have been worse.

Fortunately, I had Chloe and Miyah pouring cool water - repeatedly! - onto my feet as I sat and tended them at the splash park area.

"You had babysitting duty? Where were Christina and her mom and sister? What about Chris and his son?"

Melinda and Chelsea had gone in search of roller coasters to ride. Christina went in search of food, but she was gone so long that I was sure she'd joined up with the others! 

Nope, the line was just that crazy long.

As for the boys, they'd gone off on their own.

Christina had wanted a 'girls trip' this summer - this was certainly it!

"Yeah, I don't think that's quite what she had in mind."

Perhaps not, but that's how it worked out.

See?

Here are five of us six females!

We were right on time for the 4 PM show at the Dolphin Theater... plus, we had 'reserved' seating!

That Platinum Pass that my first niece bought has so many perks!

She was able to obtain Guest passes for me, her mom, and her sister, so we all got in for free!

Tomorrow, we three freeloaders will go to Aquatica for free, too!

"Well, that certainly is a blessing! How generous of her to share her largesse with y'all!"

Hey, that's just how she is. Large in heart and generous in spirit - that's how she came to be fostering children and that's why she's adopting Miyah and Chloe.

"And just what is this photo about?"

Well, that's those same five of us six, this time at the Shark Encounter Aquarium.

There's Miyah, Chelsea, Chloe, Christina, and Melinda, to the far right and almost invisible.

Believe me, she's there!

This was such a nice, cool, place to be, literally and figuratively!

 

"Yes, I'm sure it was! That was during the hottest part of the day!"

So it was, in that early afternoon when the sun is especially hot! That's why we went straight from there to the Lakeside Grill, to put our all-day dining passes to work... and work they did!

I had the grilled chicken kabobs and there must have been two entire chicken breasts on the two skewers! That meal included rice pilaf and grilled veggies... and a free side of hummus and pita... and a huge drink! I manned up and ate most of it, too.

Oh, yeah!

"And then what did y'all do?" 

I already told you: we went to the dolphin show and to Sesame Street Land. 

Oh, and to the 5 PM Orca Encounter in between those.

Littlest girl sat with me, while the others chose the splash zone.

Neither of us wanted to get our shoes wet!

 

"That's pretty funny, since you ended up at the splash area of Sesame Street!"

Yes, I guess it is!

Before that babysitting gig, I had another, early on.

Christina wanted to ride the Manta roller coaster with Mel and Chel, so I told her to go ahead and I'd mind the little ones.

Then, it was so very hot...

and the Aquarium was right there...

so we three hung out there and had fun!

The girls stayed close to me and got into the buggy every time I asked, so I didn't lose them.

They tend to wander on their mom, but not on their Great Auntie!

Honestly... we had fun, with no fussing at all.

"That's truly amazing, given how much trouble Christina has getting to to do what she asks."

Well, they know she'll cave to their demands, so they keep on until she does.

Hopefully she'll figure that out soon.

Meanwhile, what a blessed day we had!

i thank You, God!

paper doll painter and old rocks

I'm calling it a "continuation of their birthday celebrations" - something I'm starting to get a reputation for, I'm sure.

If not for my trip yesterday to the Jepson, I might yet be putting off their gifts a little longer...

but I had wandered into the gift shop and found a few items that were perfect for them, as well as for others with upcoming other birthdays, so...

right place, right time.

This paper doll, for example, with some rather interesting stickers, is just the thing for my great-niece in Louisville.

"Dearest Ally,
Happy 12th birthday!
I remembered that you dressed as Bob Ross for Halloween and thought you would enjoy this paper doll of him.
I've also enclosed a post I wrote about him last year!
with much love,
G'Aunt Tina"

I even had an envelope with a window in it, so Bob's face could look out at her!

I think she and her folks - and her Grandma, my outlaw Bunny - will get a kick out of it!

Plus, my gift is sure to stand out - get the pun?! - when it arrives!

Now, for my niece in Alabama, the one and only niece that shares my birthday, I'm starting her off with two pairs of socks from the museum, in bright colors and with fun designs - oooh la la!

Maybe she has a sock drawer like I do, right?

I also sent her a copy of the fun post about "Bobby's Socks", the many, many, lone ones with mates lost in the laundry.

I think she'll find it very funny... and she may even do her own experiment this summer!

 

She's also getting something near and dear to my heart, something Mama had kept as an inside joke between us.

I had developed a habit of collecting shells from beaches I visited - Cocoa Beach, Daytona, New Smyrna - while I was stationed in Orlando for CTM school.

Naturally, when I was up in Illinois, I wanted to do the same... but that beach had no shells.

That didn't stop me!

In the lid, Mama had written:

"From Lake Michigan
Summer 1977
Tina picked up
on shore when she
was stationed at
Great Lakes"

 

I had stumbled upon the box when I'd moved into the Ocean Room and set them aside for the little girl who wanted to be a scientist.

The time had arrived to share these beauties with her!

 

"Dearest Aubree,
I hope you continue to Have a doggone great birthday!!!
Happy 9th, my dear, future, petrologist!
These rocks were collected by me while I was stationed in Great Lakes, IL, for training in electronics.
I had my 19th birthday while there.
I don't know what types of rocks these are, or even how old they may be...
but I know they are at least 43 years old!
with much love,
Aunt Tina"

 

Now, off to get these into the mail before another day passes!

(smile!)

26 films in 4 days!

"Let me guess: comcast has graced you with premium channels for free!"

Bing, bing, bing! That's right! Streampix, HBO, and Starz, to light my nights and my days with the highlights of Hollywood! Well, and other locales, too, of course.

"Of course! So many places making movies - Dire Straits must love it!"

I know I do.

"So... what movies have you seen?"

Well, you know me. I've turned this into a series of film festivals, rather than a smorgasbord with no particular order to it. The first block was "guy movies about love", inspired by a conversation of fb with Jay Sinclair. He has a bunch of old VHS movies and was asking where to donate them. Someone suggested the women's crisis center and he countered with "they probably wouldn't go for these guy movies." I told him I loved those flicks, having grown up with three brothers (and worked in male-dominated jobs all my life).

"So, what did he decide to do with the tapes?"

Beats me! I haven't kept up with future developments on that story. I've been pretty busy watching movies to be discussin' them!

"Hey, no skin off my nose! So, whatcha watched?"

Well, I started with "40 Days And 40 Nights", which sounds like it's about the rainstorm that floated Noah's Ark, but you have to think Christian, not Jewish.

"So, that would be Lent. Hey, is that a laundromat?"

It is!!! And the sign says "Clean Laundry is a Fresh Start"! Certainly assured me that I was at the right place, right time, on Tuesday!

"Magnificent! And the movie was good?"

It was fabulous! From that one, I went straight into "(500) Days Of Summer", which was also fabulous and had my boy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, trying to work his way over to Autumn.

"Hahaha! Not the season, but a girl's name, right? How punny!"

Indeed, it really was, and I loved the five-minute dance number! And I liked the dates bouncing around, not sequential. 

"Me, too. Really makes you pay attention."

So it did, making me ready for maybe a little something I already had seen before... and had espied in the listings. "Risky Business" was the ideal chaser!

"Oh, major coolness! Hard to believe Tom Cruise is 38 years older now than he was in that 1983 movie! Such good music, too!"

You know it! And that scene on the train... and the one with him catching the crystal egg like a football... very nice!

"Oh, yes, yes, yes! So many good moments!"

There certainly were! But I had noticed that the guys had gotten younger in those three films, so I needed a "guy in love" who was a bit older, right?

"Sure, I'll play along! Where's a guy our age, g'friend?"

Exactly. Enter Richard E. Grant as a middling singer with a major crush on a conductor with curves in her hair and her body. What's a man to do but stage AN OPERA, at his country house, with up and coming young stars? And so we have "1st Night"!

"Woohoo!!!"

But wait, it gets better! The opera was a Mozart comedy, "Cosi fan tutte", perhaps to not so subtly nudge his lady love in his direction.

"How delicious! A little inside joke for them!"

Precisely!

"And was there a fifth film?"

There was not, at least not in that vein. Plus, it was already after 2 AM, so I thought something shorter might be better. And so began the HBO Kid Shorts Film Festival! Appropriately, it started with "The Music In Me", which segued quite nicely from the opera movie. Right place, right time!

"Apparently so! How wonderful! I know you love the shorts!"

I do! That first one - of eight total - consisted of a mixture of home-made clips of kids playing their favorite instruments, interspersed with more professional segments with the kids talking about how they started playing. This boy, Tony, was very impressive, with a version of "Stormy Weather" that was incredibly upbeat! Loved it!

"He really was good! So were the other children, on their violins and guitars and pianos."

So very much talent out there! That was showcased in some other films, too, in this particular personal film festival. But I had followed up that one with "Flight", about a boy with dreams of being an astronaut and going to the moon... to be close to his "mom in heaven". I really felt for the dad when the son said that.

"I hear you."

Thanks. I thought I could use a little perkier topic before I turned in, so I cued up "The Leopards Take Manhattan: The Little Band That Roared". Excellent choice! This woman who wanted to get music into the middle-school classroom started a percussion class in 1993 that was not only still going strong, but led the group to a jazz education invitational to New York City in 2006, the year this movie was finished.

"Good for them! Not bad for a bunch of kids from Louisville, Kentucky!"

Not bad by a long shot! I have to wonder where they are now, fourteen years after that movie. Right? How many stayed with playing music? How many are in bands now?

"So many questions! I know just what you mean."

The next morning, I was tuned in to a bunch of kids overcoming personal hurdles by finding something to focus on. "I Can't Do This, I CAN Do That" showed how those with non-physical issues (dyslexia, attention deficit disorder, audio processing disorder, sensory processing disorder) were able to use playing a musical instrument or dancing or some other favorite activity to bypass the problem, at least for a while. One kid put it best: "I don't like the term 'disability', I prefer the term 'different', because that is how I see myself."

"Yeah, I get that. Labels may help statisticians, but they sure do box people in."

Exactly. "I Have Tourette's, but... Tourette's Doesn't Have Me" followed that same motif, with real kids, talking on film to other kids, about their symptoms and their work to overcome them. Again, playing instruments or finding a hobby they enjoyed, including dance, allowed them some control over their bodies' tics and spasms and utterances. It was definitely made clear that they were not their disease.

"Those both sound pretty serious for a group of shorts targeted to a young audience."

Well, wait until you hear about two others. The first I saw would have been right at home in the SJFF, it really would have been. "The Number On Great-Grandpa's Arm" was beautifully done, with a middle-school aged boy having a conversation with his G'Gpa about his time in Auschwitz. Bear in mind that the man would have been about the boy's age at the time.

"Wow."

The one I watched right after that was another history lesson for the young. "What happened on September 11?" was certainly kinder and gentler than the news had been during that time. In this scene, a survivor is explaining to the class what it was like to have an acre of offices, per floor, crashing down as you struggle to get out of the building.

"Wow."

My favorite part was near the end, when they were talking about The Survivor Tree, once a charred stump buried in the rubble for 30 days, now a 30-foot tall beauty with hundreds of white blossoms. It's a flowering pear, much like the one in my front yard.

"That's pretty cool. Nice to feel a personal connection with that area."

It is. I remember going up in the World Trade Center - I don't recall which Tower - up to the observation area and feeling the building sway. That was before I went to Okinawa, you know.

"Yes, I recall you going on about that a few years back, when you saw "The Walk". What a lovely movie that was, when the building was freshly built!"

Yes, and that was with Joseph Gordon-Levitt, too.

"Indeed. It sounds like you're winding down, but I only count seven shorts here. Had you misspoken earlier?"

I had not. The eighth one, "Family Is Family Is Family", explored different types of family groups. You know, much like that commercial that has "love has no color, love has no religion, love has no gender". This included love of adopted children and foster children, too, so it was a nice glimpse back ten years. I wonder how all those families are doing?

"Good question. I have to wonder how the pandemic has affected all those folks."

Yes, well that will have to wait another day. Time for me to slunch! I have chirashi!

"Later, chica!"

b-i-n-g-o hooray!

Can you believe it!!!

I actually won at a game of Bingo!!!

Even better - it was Game 5, the silver-gray card!

You know, like my hair!!!

And I did it early on, too, when only 9 numbers had been called!

That B-6 was the last one I needed and I was in such shock when it was pulled that it took me a while to type "bingo!" into the chat box!

 

That caused some confusion to the hosts.

Perhaps something on their end indicated that someone should have completed a row of five... but no one had spoken out.

In fact, I took so long that another number had been pulled, one which had an asterisk beside it on the main board.

That meant it was time for Ellen to ask a trivia question!

But my fingers had finally typed in "bingo!"...

so the question was asked and answered...

and I was still the only winner!

Hooray for me!

I told them it was the first time I'd won, that I just liked playing the game and was just happy to be there...

and that was true.

I had looked forward to the game ever since last month, on the second Monday, when Katy and the KC Crew had brightened my evening!

I'm even already signed up to see them in the merry month of May.

That will be a grand start to my bday63, won't it?

(smile!)

he said my name, said my name

"You talking about William Shatner again, dearie?"

Nope, and I'm not referring to Alan Ruck, either.

"Oh, nice, new blood in the mix!"

Hahahaha! That's funny, like a little inside joke, just between us!

"You mean my use of the word 'blood'?"

Exactly! This was my day to give blood... remember?

"I can't say that I did. Usually they call or send an email to make sure we don't forget, but not this time."

Yeah, that's what I told Deborah and Tonya. Still I did make it there and even wore my unicorn mask.

"Since you're one of the rare breed that donates blood? Yeah, I caught that joke!"

I was sure you would!

"That looks like a pretty cool mileage. When did that happen?"

At the American Red Cross center. Funny thing is, I didn't notice that odometer reading of 216555 until I was all done and back in my car, trying to figure out where I was going to dine.

"And just where did you treat yourself this time?"

 

Can you believe I drove all the way over to... Carrabbas?! Seriously, I did! I thought about just walking over there, but I was already in my car and I didn't want Deborah to look out the window and see my car still sitting, so I drove literally twenty feet and parked again, this time at the restaurant.

"That's a hoot! Hoot! Hoot!"

Yeah, I thought you'd get a charge out of that!

"And it looks like you had the Tag Pic Pac, too."

Well, remember, they retooled it and so it's called Linguine Positano, but it's still pasta with garlic, tomatoes, basil, and olive oil. I love that stuff!

"It's a nice memory of Italy, too."

That it most certainly is! If I close my eyes, I can still feel the chill breeze on that sunny ferry ride from Salerno to that fair part of the Amalfi coast. Good times!

"Very good times."

And now most of those young women are married and have young children. I had thought there might be a ten-year anniversary return to that part of the world, but I don't know. We'll see how things are this time next year.

"You'll have to raise the flag on that thought on fb. The page you set up for photo-sharing of the trip is still up, isn't it?"

Yes, yes, it is, and they're mostly still members of "And we're walking"! Yes, I'll put a feeler out there and see who bites. After all, my passport is still valid!

"Well, there you are then! Sounds like a game plan! Now, what is this all about?"

I needed to feed the car, so that's what I went to do, but the pump was out of receipt paper, so I snapped this. Turned out to be fun with numbers!

"'Fraid you're gonna have to walk me through that."

2.57x = 25.07

"Um, yeah, how 'bout a bit more than that cryptic equation?"

Fine. So, the price of gas was $2.57 per gallon. I always let my tank stop the pump and when it did, there it was!

"Are you going on about the 2, 5, and 7 all being in the same order? You are, aren't you? Of all the silliness..."

Right place, right time.

"... to rattle on like it's some big deal..."

Right place, right time.

"Oh. You were not alone."

 I am never alone. I have to believe that.

"And you are absolutely correct in that belief. Good for you for picking up on that message from the ether."

You betcha. I try to stay tuned in and listening. Like when  I was watching this middle episode of "The X-Files" tonight.

"Is this Special Agent Fox Mulder???"

It is!!! And he said my name!!! Multiple times!!!

"LOL! Nice to have little things to make you happy!"

Amen to that!

ready for the next 100 at the cinema

Yes, I said "100" and I meant "100"!

With this trio, I have completed that quantity of movies at the cinemas since they reopened on August 27, 2020.

Cognizant of that mark being made, I've had a bit of fun with the titles of these last few.

Last week, the movies viewed made the following comment:

Chaos, Walking.

Raya and the Last Dragon, 

Boogie.

Just a little joke, right?

This week, I have:

Tom and Jerry, 

I Still Believe 

The Little Things.

Not quite haiku, but still rather pleasing and nearly poetic.

I guess I have Donald Sutherland and his role as a retired literature professor in "Man On The Train" to thank for that line of thought running about in my mind.

Get the joke?

That was meant for Sheldon Cooper.

(smile!) 

Will I continue counting movies going forward? Perhaps not. As the local cinemas have continued being open for the weekends, it is doubtful they will be shut down again. Spring break is upon us for the schools soon and I suspect the cinemas will resume weekday screenings for that week. Rather, I am hopeful they will.

After all, just living for the weekend is not something I'm fond of doing. 

Now, I'm partaking of a bit of British-laced, Monty Python-esque, hilarity on an old SNL show! This is drag racing in the manner I would love to watch! I wonder if Club One and Blair Williams would ever have such? I doubt it.

Thankfully, On Demand has 40+ years of SNL to enjoy, including this frivolity between Eric Idle and Day Aykroyd on s-2 e-3. Hooray!

As for later on tonight, past the witching hour, we in the USA will be springing forward, causing all to lose a perfectly good hour of sleep.

I'm sure David Lee Roth of Van Halen won't bat an eyelash if I delay the jump in time until I awake tomorrow.

That's no doubt what he will do, too!

Ah, the beauty of sleeping in!

(smile!)

laundry, art, and a puzzle just for me!

Curiouser and curiouser, and Alice would say.

This was not the photograph I thought I had taken, but better.

I was at Sandfly Laundry, entertaining myself as April was already gone for the day.

She and I enjoy splashing Spanish and English back and forth at each other and I had expected her to be there, as it was just 4 PM on a Thursday... but, no.

So, like I said, I was entertaining myself.

Naturally, that meant I'd whipped out my camera/phone, thinking to take a shot of my black kitteh cat mask reflected in the dryer, with the clothes swirling behind.

Fortunately, serendipity had a hand in the result.

This more closely resembles the type of collage art that Axelle does.

On the left is the reflection of a shirt, hung up and out of the way on the laundry cart.

The center features a pale woman in a dark coat, with a very long red scarf wrapped across her dark hair and trailing to the floor.

To the right, another woman stands, this one in a black and white bikini top and dark pants, her long hair blowing out to the side in the light.

My hand, holding the cell phone, anchors the lower right.

Tre bien, n'est-ce pas?

I'm actually considering getting it printed and framed.

After all, in "Yes Man", an art gallery had a showing of enlarged pictures snapped while the person behind the camera was jogging in the early morning light... and folks were actually wanting to buy those pieces!

Sure, sure, it was just in a movie, so chances are pretty slim that would actually happen.

Then again, reality can be stranger than fiction, so... 

I say it could most def happen!

Just like it could happen that the universe would make sure that the first Jonesin' Crossword I find in ages has clue references that would be inside jokes for me.

No, really!

The entertainment paper has changed its look, and its content is mostly centered on bars and clubs, but at least it still has Matt Jones' work in it... and the bin down from the laundrette still had copies of the latest issue.

Right place, right time.

I waited until I was home again to delve into it.

He had given it the title "GIMME A REASON... WHEN YOU KNOW...", and, with the Tracy Chapman song pulled up in my mental jukebox, I set about trying my rusty hand on the hints he'd supplied.

 

17-Across caught my attention right away: "a copper-colored coin last minted in 1958".

Hey, that's the year I was born!

The answer was "WHeat pennY", I determined.

Well, I wish I had been aware of that while I was teaching!

I liked to have a mole of copper atoms to show my students, and that is the quantity of the element represented by 23 zinc-free pennies!

I'd always have to check the dates, making sure the pennies were before 1962, the date they began having that other metal in their cores.

I could have saved myself the eyestrain if I'd known to just look at the coin backs.

Aye - you live and you learn!

 

25-Across was the next to grab me: "Alfred E. Neuman line".

Shades of Mad magazine!!!

That had been an influence on my invention, the Elements of Touch Periodic Table.

Determining the answer took a bit of doing, but eventually I got it.

"WHat, me worrY?" - minus the punctuation, naturally.

Hahahaha!

That also cinched it that the circled letters were the same throughout the grid.

 

47-Across was the next one I solved: "never in a million years!"

It took a bit of doing, but I was finally successful: "WHen pigs flY"!

I immediately thought of that whimsical picture at The Pink Pig BBQ, too.

Hmmm... I wonder if it is still in business?

I just may have to check it out next week!

 

Time to go back and try my hand at "sport featured in the 2005 documentary "Murderball" ", the clue for 39-Across. 

That answer was one that spanned the width of the puzzle.

I don't recall actually seeing the movie, but once I started working on the other hints and revealed that physically-disabled equipment was involved, I remembered hearing of it.

"WHeel chair rugbY" was the game, and those guys were tough!

I've seen clips of it, but I'll see if I can rustle it up for my next Sports Film Festival.

Time for the final clue with the circled letters!

This time, though the three circled spots were sequential, not of the same pattern.

What might that mean?

Well, 58-Across had a wordy clue: "discover (or how to determine what the four circled answers have in common".

Then, the answer popped into my mind: science!!!

Woohoo, he was singing my song!

Sure enough, he was, with his urging to "find out WHY"!

Marvelous!

(smile!)

stamped and self-addressed

The top one, of Isle of Hope on the east side, is for Alyssa.

The bottom one, of White Bluff Road on the west side, is for her sister Leila.

Trust me, their Daddy will get my little inside joke on sunrise and sunset!

The middle one, of the Pirate's House restaurant, will go to Hinesville for C J.

These two are off to Hinesville, too, and were purchased in Italy in 2012!

The one for the bridge in Florence, with its lines straight out of a child's book, is for Miss Chlo.

The lower one, of my favorite place to tromp around in Rome - that would be the Forum, with my name on an ancient temple! - is for Littlest Girl.

I think their Mama will appreciate the link to my favorite European country.

Victory Drive, upper left, is headed to Kobe, as he lives out that way.

Bonaventure Cemetery, lower left, is for Caitlyn, as her mom goes there fairly often.

As for Ally, up near Statesboro, I think she'll appreciate the one of St. John's Cathedral

These three are destined for Alabama!

The upper left, with the statue of James Oglethorpe, is for nephew Conner, while the bottom one, featuring Casimir Pulaski, goes to his big brother, Merritt.

The fancy Gingerbread House, with its Southern porches on the top and bottom floors, is for my niece, Aubree.

All told, I spent at least three hours joyously putting together these "love in the mail" packages for the little ones in my life.

Hey, the pandemic is still on, so this is the closest I can get to giving most of them hugs... so, of course I did it!

These unicorn valentines went mostly to the littler ones and are stickers, two to keep and two to share, if they so choose.

The "Dad joke" valentines all went to older kids, for reading fun... and scratch-off practice for lottery cards!

Again, they have two that I've marked for them, but they also get two to give to friends.

Sharing is more fun, isn't it?

Maybe they'll even write to let me know who they shared with!

Such fun!

yet another crabtree!

Apparently, that surname is more common than I had realized!

This character is a Crabtree, though not a Kevin, and he's being interviewed for a job too good to be legit in "Help Wanted".

It all worked out well for him, though not for the fellow who hired him, as the wrong man ended up thrown out a window.

 

 

Then, on a different channel right after, Dr. Becker was "The Wrong Man" when a past flame, still wed to another, tried to blaze bright - good for him for dousing that light!

Those were both in the wee small hours this morning - a little light viewing before bed.
 

Tonight, Barbara and I watched Liam Neeson try to keep the wrong man from a little boy, enjoying the road trip onscreen along the way.

She made sure to wear the face covering made from this favorite photo of hers, to show how much she enjoyed the birthday gift from me last July.

She now has the calendar from Ocean Conservancy to brighten her life with dreams from the seashore.

As I told her, it's a little miracle that no one chose it last weekend - it must have been intended just for her!

So many coincidences...

little miracles of timing...

including inside jokes for me...

i thank You, God.

not the grinch you're looking for

He's just a big green meanie from outer space and he's bad -

oh, so bad!

I couldn't help thinkin' 'bout "Little Shop Of Horrors" just now and the song the show had about its big, green, blood-thirsty plant - I so love that musical!

Sarris isn't flora of any kind; nope, just like us, he's definitely fauna.

Unlike us, he's not from planet Earth and, as far as I know, not even from anywhere in the Milky Way Galaxy... nor even from a speck of dust on a wish puff dandelion.

That's where the Grinch was from.

(smile!)

For my Tina Tuesday adventure, I chose to go out of this world, On Demand!

Hahahaha!  Hahaha!

I had intended to watch "Focus", in truth, and was about to cue it up when the listing directly below it called my name - no, not quite like William Shatner had done, but as Tim Allen channeling Captain Kirk would do.

That's because he was actually doing that in "Galaxy Quest"!

Not calling my name, silly, but doing the other thing!

(Get the inside joke from the name? Hey, I already gave a big clue! LOL!)

Such a cavalcade of luminaries in this comedic adventure, including Sigourney Weaver, Tony Shalhoub, Sam Rockwell, Enrico Colantoni, and my dear Alan Rickman - and these were folks who already had name recognition in 1999 when they signed on for this spoof.

What a gem they have crafted!

I just may watch it again before it goes away on Friday -

the more mirth, the merrier!

(smile!)

better than i found

I'd started this special day "playing Santa" with Christina, as she had a week or so ago.

She'd gone to pick up the toys and clothes over by Savannah Arts Academy, then swung by for my company on the way to their haven.

(Hey, that's a little inside joke for me and her.)

I then suggested we go over to Greenwich and 'visit with family' and, to my delight, she'd agreed.

Very nice!

 

We'd tidied up at the Barry plot, doing the usual: setting the flowers into the jars, picking up random bits of jetsam.

Then we'd walked over to Jean Marie's, only to find her sign half-broken and all chipped, with the rocks I'd left centered all strewn about or buried.

When we left, my goal was to return with duct tape and try to secure the marker to both wires.

That didn't happen today.

I'd pointed out to her, on our way to the cemetery, the Marathon gas station where Smitty said her dad hung out. 

We didn't see him on the way there, but she spotted him as we drove back along Skidaway, sitting in the sun.

She hasn't seen him since August of 2018, when she and I and he had dined together for lunch.

I had not seen him since the dinner at the Diner two months after that.

We visited him for about twenty minutes or so.
Then she took me home and headed out to pick up her daughters from daycare.

I took care of the November sales tax for brother Smitty's business.

Then I updated the bookbag for Ronnie that I'd carried in my car since summer, hoping to spot him.

The package of socks and bag of Tootsie rolls were items I knew he would like. 

Given the shift in weather, I added mittens, a knitted hat, and a scarf.

I'm hoping he'll use the bag of toiletries and the mask.

As the time was already after past 5 PM, I knew the cemetery would be closed, but I went ahead to deliver the bookbag.

Miracle of miracles, I actually found my middle brother for the second time today.

i thank You, God.

zooming with axe

Happy Founding Day to my chemistry fraternity brothers, be they male or female!

(smile!)

On December 11, 1902, Alpha Chi Sigma was founded by a group of science nerds who knew strength lay in numbers.

(That's a little inside joke, y'all!)

Mitch Levings, our Grand Historian, gave us the scoop on why and how and what was done back then, as well as a few notable later moments.

John Becker presented "Digging Up The Founders", informing us of the locations of those long-deceased forebears.

Joseph Marshall responded that "the founders aren't dead, just failing to react" -

hahahaha! hahaha!

It was so good to see these folks - and more on the other three screens of attendees - and to actually know some of them.

Take Gary Anderson of the Order of Altotus.

I've known him, as well as Mitch, since the 1990 Conclave in Tallahassee, the first such that I had ever attended.

Hosted by Florida State University, Mitch had flubbed his moment by thanking "the University of Florida" for providing the locale - ouch!

Neither the Gamma Beta Seminoles nor the Beta Iota Gators ever let him forget it!

I had only been a member of the fraternity for two years at the time.

How nice to be reminded of that event!

Matt and Jen Schnippert are also Gamma Betans, but much newer than me; still, I've known them since the 2012 Conclave in west Georgia.

Others that I recognized were Scott Wilson, Calvin Bond, Timothy Deschaines, Sean Pawlowski, and Bob Stevens, primarily from the 2014 Conclave in Virginia.

I may not have liked those early mornings, but I certainly remember fondly the exhibit of four slabs of the Berlin Wall that were visiting that campus.

Why have I not been to a Conclave since then?

Timing, perhaps; money, perhaps; time, perhaps.

Maybe this summer that lack of chemistry brethren can be remedied.

(smile!)

droppin' science for christmas

This year, I'm doing something a little different for Christmas.

Rather than give toys or clothes, I'm giving ornaments to the under-18 bunch of nephews, niece, and greats.

In addition, the great-niece in Louisville will be receiving gifts to share with her classmates.

I'm presenting Ally with chemistry.

I have had a bag full of National Chemistry Week items, saved specifically for her from SERMACS last year, in the living room closet, waiting.

No longer will they languish!

I've packed every bit of it into a $21 Priority Mail box and sent it to her.

As well as those ChemCatchers, she'll have the magical self-inflating balloons, kits for making uv-detecting armbands, colorful pencils, and a fine selection of stickers featuring Minni-Mole and her friends!

Perfect fun for sixth-graders!

Plus, there are the "Saving Savannah's Water" activity books from the City of Savannah and the 2019 NCW "Celebrating Chemistry" activity books!

I'm sure her science teacher is going to love these, too -

especially as I've included enough for next year's class!

That's because I had some intended for the Asbury Angells youth group, but that program has changed.

What was that about a Christmas ornament for that active great-niece?

Well, she's getting a Fish of Many Colors!

You know, like the Coat of Many Colors that was mentioned in Dolly Parton's song?

It'll be like an inside joke between me and her!

(smile!)

The fish is felt, so it won't break if the dog knocks it off the tree.

(smile!)

As for me, I've been pretty busy on this first Faustina Friday date night of December!

After the Post Office, I was off to "Half-Brothers", a fairly silly, brand-new, guy movie that featured a lot of different US locales.

That was wonderful!

Then I popped over to Dickey's for some barbeque and happened upon their Cue-ban sandwich - 

mighty tasty treat!

Especially when followed up with pecan pie!

Now, I'm off to "Die Hard" for the first time this weekend -

yippee-ki-yay, y'all!

(smile!)