January 15, 2010 - Dogs and other things....

Good news - Ginny sold two paintings yesterday. Now we can eat for another month...

I keep seeing these comments about consumers willingness to spend money being the thing that pulls the country out of the depression we're in. I don't understand how people who have little or no money buying crap made in China and places other than this country can being us out of the depression.

I do not use the term 'crap' lightly. Once upon a time, I used to buy shirts from LL Bean. They were called 'canvas' because they were made from a nice heavy material, and they wore like canvas. The last time I bought them, they were no longer made in this country, and they were made from a very thin material that wore out quickly. And, contrary to popular opinion about less expensive items because they were made with cheap or slave labor, they weren't less expensive. Just recently, I had to purchase some underwear. What I was able to find was 50% more expensive than the last time I bought it, and it feels like tissue paper! I rest my case...

Also, I read where core inflation rose in 2008, and in 2009, but, SS was not raised to cover the increased cost of things. I thought it was supposed to. Am I wrong? Bonuses for bankers and stock brokers went up... hmmmm, must be their stimulus, you know, the money that was supposed to help the economy for all...

The article also said the cost of food went down last year. Obviously they do not shop where we shop. We keep spending more and ending up with less. How does that relate to prices going down?

And, have you noticed the number of big, expensive, vehicles on the roads has increased? Must be that cash for clunkers things... allowed rich people to trade in their their old BMWs, Lexus, Infinitis for newer models...

I wonder if the health care bill being considered prevents doctors from creating those groups that are becoming popular amongst doctors, the ones where they charge $1500 a year just to be able to see them? That's on top of any insurance or patient's $ they acquire as well. I'll bet it doesn't. So, what that means is that as more doctors find out they aren't going to make as much off Medicare and Medicaid, they will begin to move in the direction of 'join my club, or you can't come into the clubhouse'.

Back to Dogs -

I am not a dog fancier, or a dog lover. While I would never do anything to hurt an animal, dogs to me are smelly, slobbering, hair shedding creatures that make too much noise with their incessant barking when the loving owner leaves them out all day to disrupt the quiet of those of us who do not have to go to work.

Perhaps the way I feel is because I was never allowed to have a dog when I grew up. I can't remember every wanting one, but I know I wasn't allowed to have one even if I ever did want one.

When our sons were growing up, we did have a dog for quite a few years. He was a very good pet, but had it been up to me, we probably would not have had him. The way that we acquired this creature was as follows:

I very innocently came home from work one day, and was met by my oldest son, five at the time, who said as I walked in the door... "If Stacy swells up, can we keep the dog?"

My first thought was, "What have you been doing to her?"

Well, I came to find out that the woman who lived in the end apartment we lived in was going to move. They had just brought home a little puppy. Since they were moving, she asked her neighbors if they wanted the dog. The neighbors indicated they did, but that their five year old daughter was allergic to them, so they would have to see how that worked. That's why Stacy would swell up.

She did, and the next thing I know, we have a dog. Everyone said, "Oh, we'll take care of him, we'll walk him, we'll do this with him, we'll do that with him, blah, blah, blah...

So, as things progressed and the pet newness wore off, where would I be found on rainy, freezing days? Why, walking the dog, of course!

The apartment, and later, the house, smelled like dog; the car smelled like dog; the dog had health problems that cost us a small fortune, money we didn't really have. Yes, having a loving pet was our reward. How nice it must be for something that can't talk, work for a living, or do anything except bark and howl when fire trucks went by, and spread fleas around to ruin ones comfort, for them to be able to live in a nice place, and have meals fixed for them with no effort on their part. Almost made me wish I could live a life like that...

All in all he was a good pet, and was missed once he left this world for wherever dogs go, perhaps Hollywood to become loud mouth, know it all actors, or Washington, where they become loud mouth, know it all, congressmen and senators...

January 14, 2010 - Good and Bad...

There's a company cutting down some of the neighbor's trees in their backyard.

The temperature is 23 degrees. It's a sunny day. The snow is almost totally melted.

There is supposed to be a "soaking" rain all day Sunday, which makes me wonder what it is going to soak into, since the ground is frozen, and the water table is very high right now.

Looks like winter for this part of Virginia is over for the year.

The Indianapolis Colts will probably lose come Saturday night, since the idiots that run the team wouldn't allow them to have a perfect season. If I were a player and had a chance at a perfect season and they took it away from me for no good reason I would lose the desire to perform at my best, and if that cost an otherwise should-have-been victory, so what. I'd just have that many more weeks of vacation, and I'd still be paid a ridiculous amount, regardless.

Powerball starts here the end of January. I'll donate to that as well as donating my meager funds to the Virginia Lottery. Odds of winning are astronomical, but, someone will win, and if I don't play, I'll never even have the chance of winning.

I have worked on my book and have the base for a new start to it. I have written it, and will now let it bounce around in my subconscious as I move the rest of the book to the new version, and modify the structure as I go. I want it ready by the end of February.

In the meantime I will rework the short story and look for someplace to send it.

I should finish reading "The Angel's Game" next week, so I can then move on to yet a new book. I am more than halfway finished reading Don Quixote. Have no idea when I will complete that one. I have begun reading "To Serve Them All My Days" by R.F. Delderfield (British). It was first published in 1972, back far enough to the time when people actually enjoyed reading good stories that did not contain descriptive sex and violence.

I find that as I get older, being married to someone who comes from a large, close knit family, that any time the phone rings one becomes anxious, wondering if the caller is calling to inform about a death in the family. This has not happened for some time, and has happened several times in the past. It's just that, as big as the family is, and the fact that we're all getting older, there will come a time when the calls begin coming in on an all to frequent basis.

The calls will be from my wife's family, as there are no older members left on my side, with the exception of my mother. All her siblings have passed, as have their spouses. My sister passed away ten years ago, already, my father almost 40 years ago. It almost makes me want to rid myself of the phone, not that that would make any difference.

We are going to walk to Panera's for lunch today. It's a good three mile round trip, but it is sunny and pleasant out, and we can have soup, a salad, or something light once we arrive. Last night, we ate at a place called "Mosaics", which is probably one of my favorite places to eat. They have excellent food at a very reasonable price, and one can even order a half size of most dishes, which is an aid in trying not to overeat. I love their salmon! Last night, I had that, cranberry cole slaw, and smashed taters with herbs and a light coating of cheese! Excellent combination of flavors! I have yet to have anything there that I did not enjoy.

The thing I notice about eating in local restaurants versus chain restaurants is that most of the food in the local places have dishes that have unique flavors, whereas if one goes to a chain restaurant, I have found that most of the dishes taste the same, regardless of what one orders. Probably because the food is all prepared at some gigantic place to save money, frozen, and then shipped to wherever where it is thawed out, heated, and served. Although, the meats are probably thawed and cooked locally, still having been frozen and received versus purchased fresh and locally.

Richmond definitely has some excellent local restaurants! And we never tire of trying new ones...

January 12, 2010 - Oh no! Conan's not on anymore!

No, not Conan The Barbarian! Conan O'Brian, the guy who now, or did, host the Tonight Show! God! What I am going to do? I know! I'll continue to do the same thing I do every night at that time... sleep.

Shame on me! So little sympathy for the tragic end to one of today's most important problems. Who knows? Maybe Conan will soon be seen in the unemployment line... the same one that we now see 17 million other people in. Welcome, Conan! Can I hold your cashmere sweater so you don't get too hot while waiting to sign up for benefits?

Oh, yes, and let's not forget the "NEW" Kate Gosselin! She just received an all day make-over, adding extensions to that unruly mass of blonde hair she carted around before. Unlike other people getting a make over, this one took eight hours and was filmed. "An Extended Hair Documentary" to be shown on some pathetic TV network for people who have no lives to watch. And, they thinks she's dating already as well. I don't wonder. I know many men who couldn't wait to take on a woman with eight children under the age of ten. And a good time was had by all!

Do I sound a trifle cynical? Sorry. I just have a difficult time thinking so many people actually spend some of the little time they have on earth watching the garbage that permeates our airwaves. Oh, you think, I must do that as well, since I writing about it. Truth be known, I get my gossip from reading the rag mags in the bookstore... Like, there is a difference?

Had to turn in to Dr. Phil yesterday, which was Monday. Every Monday, good ole Dr. Phil has his "Dr. Phil Family" on. These incredible blubbering excuses for intelligent human beings have been being "treated" by Dr. Phil for six, count 'em, six long years! That makes me wonder just how effective is the treatment he's giving these... people? They were a sniveling bunch of crying and whining dorks when it began, and now they're even worse! One of them, who was fifteen when this started, has had two children by two different fathers, married some other guy, got divorced already, and has reached the ripe old age of 21. She's had her children taken away from her and cries with every question that is asked, and is mothered by a woman who cries because the girl is just starting to deal with her issues. That's about all these people do is yell at each other, cry, yell some more, cry a lot more... I'm beginning to think that Dr. Phil pays these idiots to continue to come onto his program because, as he said yesterday, it is "compelling television". Yeah, right. It compelled me to switch the channel and look for something constructive, like "Home Hunter's International" on HGTV. Now that's a good program!

Well, I need to run. The news is on, and I want to watch every minute of the press going over Canan's decision, again, and again, and again!

January 10, 2010 - Sunday - cold and dry...

Was found by the wife of a friend I worked with back in Indianapolis in the mid-70s! I was very happy to learn that they are alive and well, and that he got to retire at a relatively early age, ten years before I did. Mike and I have the same birth day, the 20th of August. However, he is ten years younger. He obviously made good use of his career time, unlike yours truly, who skated by and did as little as possible and still make a decent living. It's great that some people actually work. It makes up for those of us who never really did.

Went to Starbucks this afternoon. Got our drinks and snack, sat down to enjoy an afternoon of reading and sipping, and then discovered I had no eyeglasses with me. I went out to the van to see if the extra pair was still in there, and of course, it was not. Too far to drive home to retrieve them, so I settled down to read without them. People thought it was a little strange what with me resting the book on my ankles and turning the pages with my toes, but I managed to read quite a few pages over the several hours we were there.

Watched a bit of the NFL playoffs this evening. It was a very high scoring game, with Arizona winning 51 - 45. that was exciting... I guess. Didn't really care who won. Don't really know why I watched except that I was eating dinner and didn't feel like finding something else.

Tomorrow morning I will rise early, earlier than normal, and get to work on restructuring the book in hope I can find a publisher this year. Later tomorrow, I will go over the short story and start looking for a market for that as well. Who knows, maybe this will be the year I actually make a few $ writing. Would rather win the lottery...

No grandchildren watching this week, which means I have the entire week to work on my stuff! Bummer. Now I don't have an excuse not to. Shouldn't feel that way. It's not like I'm Benjamin Button, getting younger every day.

Speaking of which, we saw "It's Complicated" (Rated R) last night and thought it was a really good movie. Very funny in parts. Saw two young ladies in there that were not seventeen, even with a stretch. They probably paid for another movie and then just came into the theatre where "it's.. " was showing. Who would know? No one checks once you're in the theatre, and so anyone can go into any theatre they want. Hazards of multiplexes, I guess. At least there wasn't anything really bad in the movie. Most of what was in there has probably already been on TV.

Saw where good ole Harry Reid referred to the president as a "Negro", among other things, during the election season. Once again, apologies all over the place, the wording was not appropriate, blah, blah, blah... I'm really tired of all these ignorant jerks saying what they feel, and then thinking an apology sets everything okay... Why ever tell the truth? Maybe, to quote Jack Nicholson in that movie where Tommy "the handsome boy" Cruise questioned him during some trial for something or other... as Jack said "You can't handle the truth!" Unfortunately, that's the problem with most of America. Lie to us enough, even we believe it....

January 9, 2010 - Saturday

Went to the bookstore last night and did something I swore not to do for quite a while - I bought another book! I couldn't resist it. The title is "Americans in Paris During the Occupation". I learned something just reading the forward. During the '20s and '30s many black musicians went to Paris and brought jazz to Europe. That part I knew. What I didn't know was that during the occupation, all the blacks in Paris were rounded up and sent to a concentration camp for the duration. All, that is, except for Josephine Baker, the singer. I had no idea that had happened as it was never mentioned in any of the other books I have read about the occupation.

Anyway, this book tells some of the stories of the more well known Americans out of the about the 5,000 who remained after the Germans took over the city. I understand there were those who sympathized with the Nazis, those who did nothing during that time, and those that were active in the resistance. Josephine Baker was in the resistance.

One of the more interesting stories I ever read about was Edith Piaf, a tiny - 4'10" singer who became quite famous in France prior to the war. France referred to her as "their little sparrow". The Germans knew her well, and loved hearing her sing. So, she made arrangements to perform for the prisoners in the camps. Each time, she would talk the Germans in charge into allowing her to take group photos of the prisoners after the performances. Some of the German guards were also in the pictures.

She would then take the photos to the counterfeiters. They would use the photos, single out certain prisoners in them and create documents needed to exist on the outside. Then, when Edith would go back for another performance, she would smuggle the documents in with her. At the end of the show, she, her entourage, and the prisoners with the documents, dressed accordingly, would leave the camp. Had she ever been caught she would have been immediately executed.

She was an interesting and amazing woman. Her life, minus her part in the war, is documented in the movie "La Vie En Rose", which starred Marion Cotillard. She won the Academy Award - Best Actress - several years back for her performance. We saw the movie, and she was amazing, even pushing her hair line back to look more like Edith.

Edith Piaf did not have an easy life. She was abandoned by her mother. When her father left to fight in WW I, she was dropped off at a house of ill repute where she stayed until she was around 9 or ten. During her stay there, she had an infection in her eyes and was declared legally blind. This lasted for three years.

Her father appeared one day and took her back, not because he cared about her, but because he wanted to use her in his act as a street musician. Over the course of her life, she was a prostitute, into alcohol and drugs, and died at the age of 47 from tuberculosis. The movie is really good, but emotionally draining.

I saw where it was snowing in Paris again. Wish I were there to enjoy it. Shakespeare and Company have some interesting authors appearing there this year.

Today is grocery day, and tonight, movie night. Tonight we will see "It's Complicated".

The weather pundits are talking about the possibility of another storm next weekend. but that is a long way off. I did see on the radar this morning where it was snowing in Florida. Definitely this is a cold winter. I hope we do get a lot of snow next weekend! I guess we'll see.

January 8, 2010 - Short Story finished!

I have finished my latest short story. It's title is "The Cover of a Book". It has between 4900 and 5000 words. I have re-read it and it looks okay, but I will let it 'simmer' for a few days, and then reread it to see if it still looks okay.

That said, I will now focus on the book, researching publishers, and go from there.

I received yet another call from the company that had been trying to find me some work at COF, all to no avail. I told them shortly after Thanksgiving that they should stop looking, as I knew it wasn't going to happen, and in reality, I really didn't want it to. But, they continued on, even after I told them again before Christmas I was no longer interested. I really do appreciate all the effort they have expended, but my focus has been, and will remain to be, writing and art on the side.

We had our big snowstorm last night. A whopping light dusting cover everything with a blanket of white that was quickly blown off the trees, roofs, and vehicles this morning. Most of what did land in the yard has melted. Long range, no more snow for the foreseeable future. If by chance we have a storm like the one at the beginning of winter I will be very surprised. Temps are cold, but will warm next week. The rest of the country, however, is bitter cold with lots of snow!

I have pretty much decided that my health will be governed by what I eat and do, not by doctors, hospitals, and the pharmaceutical companies. Since having an apple on most days, walking, and attempting to eat right - but not all the time - I will decide when and if a doctor visit is necessary. I have not gone for some time, and will not go for any checkup until March. After that, it will be another 6 months before I return for my annual checkup. Should anything catastrophic happen in between times, well, we'll cross that bridge when and if.

I received a new supply of ink for my downstairs printer yesterday. Today I need to go upstairs and print something in order to give the upstairs printer some exercise. It's a backup printer, just in case, and I want to keep it working, even though the laptop it's associated with is old and really slow.

Grocery shopping at Trader Joe's this afternoon, and back to the bookstore this evening. Would love to be in Manchester, VT, and go to the Northshire Bookstore today, and then, to the great little restaurant we found last May and have some REALLY good blueberry pancakes for breakfast tomorrow. Must be close to lunch because I getting hungry!

Read the news about all the jobs that were lost last month. More and more will be lost, which does not bode well for this country. We no longer make things people need here, and all electronics are made in China or Taiwan, so all these new 3D TVs that they think will be sold in this country will probably sit on a lot of shelves here until the stores trying to sell them go out of business.

We should all be thinking seriously about growing our own food, since soon there will be little, if anything to work at in this country save for government jobs. Of course, down the road, it seems rather funny to think that the government will keep expanding and hiring more people in order for anyone to have any money to pay taxes with. Strange world, to say the least.

Time for lunch!

January 7, 2010 - Nothing in particular...

Observations -

Was waiting in the car for my wife to pick up some corn bread from Ukrops and looked down the row of cars to my left. There was, about 5 cars down, a youngish woman using a pair of tweezers to pluck hair from her chin. After looking in the mirror several times she seemed satisfied she had plucked them all and proceeded to leave her vehicle and go to the store...

Saw two notices on the internet today indicating that CNN and CBS are telling us how president has lied to us about his election promise of making government, and in particular, the health care debate, very public. They must really be concerned with so much of their viewing public looking elsewhere for their news.

Cold but sunny today. Areas north and south of us have winter weather advisories, but, we, as usual, have nothing. It's supposed to be raining here by three pm, but right now, at two pm it is sunny and not too cold out.

The ground seems to be frozen up pretty well, which is good. There's even ice on the ponds, and still some decent piles of snow hanging around. Considering it snowed almost three weeks ago, that's pretty good.

Spent yesterday afternoon in Starbucks. If one sits there long enough one sees some really interesting characters visiting the place. There were identical twin brothers in there when we first entered, each using their laptops. They had expensive looking leather satchels to carry them in. Makes me wonder if they were unemployed, or just working in there for a change of scenery.

Went to Panera's for lunch. Had some soup and their new chicken panini samich.

Tonight is ham and bean night at our house! We'll probably keep each other awake all night after that...

Our friend from the Czech Republic is finishing up his first week of Italian in Frienze tomorrow. It's a four week immersion class. Then, he stays for another four weeks to go wherever. His wife joins him on 11 February.

I received an e-mail from a publisher yesterday. They thanked me for inquiring about them. However, I hadn't. At least, not yet. They sent a website address and said I should check their submission guidelines there. I looked up the publisher and their website in a book I have, and it was a good website. I filed it for possible later use.

Not much going on today...