January 30, 2010 - Snow, sleds, and digging out...

FINALLY! I got to watch it snow, and I didn't have to stay up all night to do it! Amazing!

Ginny hates it. I think it's great! it never got above 20 degrees all day, and it snowed, and snowed, and snowed! Loved every minute of it.

Yesterday in preparation of the snow, we decided to find out if our two youngest granddaughters had sleds yet. They didn't. They missed out on sledding in December, and I didn't want them to miss out this time. They had never been sledding, and that is something all young people should do.

So, we called all over, and drove all over, and found out that Pleasants Hardware was going to be getting a shipment of sleds and shovels in sometime between 1pm and 5pm. So, we made sure we were there around that time. The saleslady said they would be there sometime during the afternoon, but we should have time to grab some lunch before they arrived. Seems they had a shipment in the morning, and those were gone in an hour.

We left the store and spotted a restaurant across the street called "The Republic" and made our way over there. Ginny had a steak sandwich and fries, both really tasty. I had, and this is not on the list of preferred foods for dieting, but I didn't care, as it was friggin cold out and I was hungry - anyway, I had chili cheese mac! Spicy; great; made my head sweat and my nose run!

Went back to the hardware store and I stood around trying to look like I was looking for something, just waiting for the things to come in. I got there right around 2:30pm. The truck arrived at 4:15... By then there were around 15 people waiting. Ginny grabbed two "SnoBoogy" boards, I paid, and we left to take them to their house.

I told Ginny now that they had sleds they had better go sledding! The reason I said that was because their father, our youngest son, when he was coming up on his ninth birthday, all he talked about was getting a basketball goal for his birthday. So, yours truly went to Sears, and then the hardware for the cement, and spent the greater part of his birthday putting up a basketball goal. I had to stand on the back end of my Pontiac station wagon in order to push the backboard up, hold it with one hand while the other had to place the pin in the pole to hold the thing where it belonged. By the time I finished, I was soaked in sweat, my hands were filthy and bleeding from all the little cuts I had earned while doing this great thing for my son's birthday. I stood back and looked at it, thinking how happy he was going to be.

With that in mind, I almost skipped up the walk and entered the house. Out comes my nine year old son running up to me, and as I waited to hear the words of gratitude flowing from his lips, he said.... "Dad... I want a badminton set!" Amazingly, he lived!

Digging out of the snow was not bad. It was very light, and did not take long. I think I will probably have to do a little more tomorrow, as it seems to be still snowing here and there. They are saying we may have a bit more come Tuesday, and there is a chance for another storm through here next weekend. If that does happen, I guess we'll have to finally admit that it really is winter here! First time in a long time.

This is the first winter I can remember here where we have had two good sized snowstorms in the same winter, but spread out with 6 weeks in between. In the past, we would have one, and another about a week or so later, and that would be it. Not so this year.

Tomorrow, if they re open, we head to Starbucks!

January 28, 2010 - Paintings in the Living Room

I was sitting in "my"chair in our living room looking at all the things hanging on our walls, things we have collected over the years during our travels here and there, and from the art shows we have attended or participated in.

One of the pieces is a pair of cherubs holding one of those air plants. This we picked up one weekend when we upped and went to New York city's Greenwich Village for a few days. We were just walking down the street and noticed some activity in a school playground. There was a flea market of sorts going on there, so we looked around. We spotted the cherubs lying on a table with other plaster items, many of them not fully dried yet. We asked how much they were, and the man said $10, so we bought them! We handled them very carefully, as we did not want to damage them as we brought them home. Once home, and after they had dried thoroughly, Ginny took a small knife and scraped off the excess plaster. They have been hanging in our living room ever since.

Another piece of art is a small watercolour painting done by a man named C. Booth Farcus. C. Booth was 90 years old when we first met him at a local outdoor art show. He painted these wonderful landscapes of different places, all small paintings, all framed, ready to hang. All of his paintings sold for $35 or less, but, there was a catch. Every woman who purchased one of his paintings had to give him a hug as well.

C. Booth was an interesting man. I wish I had been able to spend more time with him and learn some of the history behind his life. He had an artist friend by the name of Cliff Satterwhite, also an artist, who suffered from a mental disability. Cliff was younger than C. Booth, but C. Booth took care of Cliff. In all the art shows they participated in, it was C. Booth who made sure that Cliff got there safely, was able to put his display stand up, and hang his paintings. Then, of course, C. Booth had to do the same for his own work.

C. Booth would sell every single painting he brought with him, whereas Cliff would never sell a thing. It was not that Cliff's paintings weren't good, because they were excellent, it was because Cliff would not let go of one of his "family". Cliff's paintings were amazing! The man could take a photograph in black and white and create a beautiful painting using little dots of colour, somewhat like pointillism, colours that made one think they were looking at reality instead of a painting. But, Cliff only entered art shows where there were monetary prizes. He just did not want to sell any of his paintings.

There was a man who came by his display stand one show, and saw a painting he really liked. The price was $2200. The conversation went as follows:

"How much is that painting?"

"You don't want that painting," Cliff replied.

"Yes, I do," said the man. He walked over and looked at the price, took out his checkbook and wrote a check. After tearing it out, he went back to Cliff.

"Here," said the man. "I want that painting."

Cliff shook his head. "You don't want that painting."

The man held out his check to Cliff, whereupon Cliff took it, and tore it up while repeating, "You don't want that painting."

The man gave up and walked away.

C. Booth told us that Cliff's mother had left a trust fund for Cliff to live off of, and it was administered by his brother. He said if you ever went into his house you would find paintings stacked against the walls of every room in the house.

I felt back then that once Cliff passed away, he and his art would become very well known. I do not know if Cliff is still alive. I can't believe C. Booth is, as he was 90 when we met him, and that has been many, many years ago. I do, however, cherish the memories of both of them and their ability to make others lives richer simply by being who they were, and giving to us who were fortunate to know them beautiful memories of themselves and their paintings.

January 26, 2010 - Books for teens and other irritations

First, the weather. Supposedly there is a snowstorm headed our way. It is supposed to start Friday and go into Saturday. No one knows how much snow we may get, if any, so we'll see if they are accurate or not. The last time a storm took a similar path as this one, we had almost two feet of snow. But, in the world of weather, as in other things, they predict based on what they think will happen. Personally, I hope they're correct, but, only if it snows during the day so I can watch it!

Tomorrow is Starbucks day! Can't wait!

Now to my topic subject.

How many of you have teenage children or grandchildren? Do they read much? I mean things like books, not text messages, or twitters. There is a section in most book stores that house books for teens. There needs to be a classification on books the same as there is for movies. Why? Because there is some real hard core porn in these books labeled for teens.

I am not one to call for preventing books full of porn being kept from anyone, if that's what they want to read. However, I do draw the line when young teens are being fed books by some authors who start out writing provocative stories for young teens, hook them in with characters that appeal to them, and then start writing hard core porn under the same classification.

I ran into this situation years ago when perusing a book for young ladies written by a well known female author that young girls really liked. She had written books that were supposed to help teens deal with situations they might encounter as they grew up. All well and good. Until I picked up her latest book at the time and began to read.

I couldn't believe what I read. Within its pages was hard core porn, using words to describe in detail acts that belonged in Hustler, or Penthouse. The only thing missing were the photos. Fortunately, I had no young girls to worry about. As I stood there, a girl of about ten saw the new book, and immediately ran to her mother wanting to know if she could buy it for her to read. I didn't stick around to see the outcome. I only hoped that the mother would pick up the book and read some of it before she bought it.

Now, do I believe that young people are not aware of these things? Nope! They undoubtedly are. However, they also know about garbage cans, and we wouldn't allow our children to dig around garbage cans just because they might be curious would we? I wouldn't.

Anyone who thinks it okay for they're children to read books that have things in them like a teenage girl who takes drugs and really likes the way they make her feel, and therefore is more than willing to have sex with anyone who her drug supplying boy friend brings around, and to display herself doing certain things in front of a webcam while high, as she puts it, have at it! Then you can sit around and wonder why your kid needs to go to drug rehab over and over, or enjoy the fact that certain things show up on the internet with your naked daughters performing for the cameras...

And to all the moms who allow their 11 and 12 year old daughters to dress like hookers, stop getting mad when some disgusting old pervert ogles her, or for that matter, abducts her. If you do not want this to happen, then it's up to you to stop it before it starts.

I am going to speak to the manager of the B&N Store when I go next time and tell them what I think of them selling porn to teenagers, and suggest someone read the books for young teens and put a warning label on them. And no, I do not believe anything will come of it since no one cares anymore.

January 25, 2010 - Now it's the birds!

I just read a horrifying report on the internet! It seems that several swans (swans mate for life...) showed up at the pond with new mates! Good grief! Does this means that birds are getting into a swinging lifestyle? Or, perhaps even getting divorced?

If swans are starting to get divorced, I guess we should be prepared for some swans to start wearing expensive suits complete with vests and pocket watches and being floated around the pond in large boats driven by gray herons in their formal attire and haughty attitudes. Those would be the swan divorce lawyers and their chauffeurs.

And the ones sitting at the edge of the pond with no feathers? Those would be the male swans who were "taken to the cleaners" by their mates.

Then, of course, there would be the swans with graying feathers floating around with one who has yet to lose their baby feathers. These would be the cougar swans with their young birdie studs.

Then, on top of all that, we would begin to see those black swans with all the rings in their bills, web feet and colored head feathers. These would be the young gothic swans who are rebelling because the pond has been fouled by the lawyers.

Oh, and we can't forget the large, oversized male swans, who have a svelte looking younger trophy swan on their wing. These would be the owners of the swan law firms who deal strictly in high profile swan divorces...

The Super Bowl should be a good, high scoring affair, which means it will be a lopsided game with one team running away from the other one that is over by halftime.

Cloudy, so far, and around 63 today. I guess that means no snow.

Short entry today. Back to work!

January 23, 2010 - Thoughts and other things

Something to see...

I have a friend who takes the most incredible wildlife pictures. He has a blog where he places

pictures. If you want to see some really interesting photos of nature at it's best, take a look see.

His blog can be found at: http://davewhitewildlife.blogspot.com/. Enjoy! I know I do...

I just finished writing a letter to the editor of the Richmond Times Dispatch, responding to a column written by Garrison Keillor. He is obviously one of those "progressives" that feels that if you do not agree with the current administration, you are an idiot!

He stated that "coffee drinkers", most Americans according to him, did not run around waving their arms and yelling. They, being the astute humans that we are not, instead sit and read a reliable newspaper (is there really such a thing? - Man! Wrote that while my arms were waving all over the place! Incredible!) to find out what is going on in the world.

Well, I drink coffee, and, I drink tea occasionally, and I am really sick and tired of people like him, and the government, attempting to belittle and destroy anyone who disagrees with them, and make us all mind our manners and do what we're told.

He had the unmitigated gall to state that Sen. Brown won in MA. because someone dropped a book in a room and scared all the tea drinkers. Of course, the fact the Sen. Brown, a non-democrat/progressive, won the seat in Ma. (only the second time in 126 years that a non-democrat/progressive won it) because, as the voters said, they wanted to send a message to DC, was totally ignored.

While eating breakfast, I could not wait to write my letter. If it is, by chance, printed, I will copy it onto my blog for anyone who might be interested in reading it.

Next topic! The government has authorized that up to 200,000 Haitians would be allowed to come to this country and stay. While I sympathize with them for their terrible misfortunate, I have to ask why? So they can join the 23 million Americans out of work, and the millions who are currently homeless? What's more, the states where these unfortunate people will be housed will have to cough up the money to take care of them. Where are they supposed to get it? Most states are almost bankrupt already, and it's getting worse over here, not better. Sorry, but I just do not understand it.

Different topic. I also do not understand why I have this unquenchable thirst to read all these books on Paris, especially about the 1920s through the 1940s. I am purposely reading the most recent one about Americans in Paris as slowly as possible, knowing that as soon as I finish it, I'll want to read more. Just because every time my computer boots up and I access the internet and see my page saver... a web cam of the Eiffel Tower, doesn't have anything to do with it.

I think my problem is that I wasn't alive and in Paris during those years, meeting Joyce, Hemingway, and all the other writer's who lived there during those years. But then, had I been there then, I would not be here now writing about them and reading about them.

Tonight - movie night! "Young Victoria". Only movie currently out that looks good, as we've already seen the others we wanted to see.

Last night - opening at ArtWorks. A few more people there. Didn't see any of the past regulars. Most of the ones who stopped by the gallery area we have picked up one of Ginny's cards after oooing and awing while they perused them. If I took a poll today, most, if not all, probably tossed them away as soon as they returned home. Am I a cynic, or what? Nope. Just been there, done that. One can always hope, though, at least for a few more months before the plug is pulled.

Also, last night, made another trip to the bookstore. Picked up three classics to read should I live long enough. Ginny picked up several as well, so we're well supplied for the next ten years or so. I have made headway in reading Don Quixote, though. Only 365 pages to go out of 895. Need to read some more of that this weekend. Once I complete that, I will start a different classic. By the time I finish reading all of them I probably won't remember a thing, or even know where I am...

January 21, 2010 - Bits and Pieces

I can't believe it's been several days already since the last time I updated this marvelous piece of... what? I don't really have a description, I guess.

Maine, in the region where our son lives, had 14 inches of snow last night. He's really excited about having to shovel out. I can't blame him. I'd get excited too if I had to shovel that much snow. Speaking of which, they say we might have a few flakes blowing around in the air, the snow type, that is, sometime tomorrow afternoon. The other flakes around here walk around, too heavy to be blown around.

We went for our walk today, and it was cold outside. I think it's interesting that I have not seen my breath that much this year when being out in the cold. I'm not sure if it is because it has been so dry out, or because I'm no longer breathing, and I just don't realize it.

There is an opening tomorrow night down at ArtWorks. It will be interesting to see if anyone shows up for it. Many openings from last year were very poorly attended compared to 2008.

I am an official member of the Virginia Writer's Club for the year 2010. I plan on networking as much as possible to see if that has any impact on my being able to publish my book. I am almost half way through the restructuring, and expect to possibly finish by the end of the month now, or early into next month. I have rewritten the part of one character in the book, the driver person, at least the beginning part. I still have to do the last part which will come once the diary has been restructured. I like the way this is going now much better than last year. Once I have the necessities completed, query letters to publishers will be in the mail, and we'll continue to pursue that end.

I have also spent a lot of time working through the short story I finished several weeks back. I have a little more work to do on that, and I will begin sending that out as well, just don't know where to.

I began reading a new book yesterday, the one I bought on Americans in Paris during the German occupation in WW II. I read where Isadora (A Greek Dancer) Duncan's brother, Raymond, was a great believer in living as the ancient Greeks did, and so ran around Europe, including Paris, wearing a form of Toga and sandals. I also learned that of all the Americans who stayed during the occupation, only one, not yet named, was ever brought back to the US and tried for treason.

Early on, the Germans, who supposedly admired Americans, did not confiscate American property. Unless they were African Americans, and then they were tossed into concentration camps for the duration.

One of the things I enjoy when reading is learning about different people, such as Isadora Duncan. While I knew the name, I knew nothing about her. Such as, she died that the age of 49 in an auto accident in 1927. Prior to that, her two daughters were killed, along with their nanny, when the car they were riding in ended up in the River Seine. After not dancing for some years after that, she began anew, and adopted 6 young children that were in her dance class, referring to them as her "Isadorables".

I've also learned a lot about Robert Bullitt, the American Ambassador who was "elected" by the French government to be the "Mayor of Paris" during the initial occupation of Paris, and to ensure the smooth transition of the city into German hands. It had been declared an open city in the hope the Germans would not destroy it, but when a group of French soldiers decided they would fight to the death, the Germans were gearing up to destroy the city, block by block. Bullitt helped calm that situation. All I can say is, Thank God they didn't destroy it!

I am also learning a lot about the group of doctors who periodically went into Afghanistan to tend to the wounded when they were fighting the Russians. I am a little over half way through that book, looking to finish within a week and a half.

I haven't decided at yet if I will read the biography of Georgia O'Keefe, the artist, or the biography of Alice Longworth Roosevelt. Or, maybe a different book than those. Whatever strikes my fancy.

A few days ago we went into a mall we hardly ever go into and saw where Waldenbooks was going out of business. So, we went in to see what was left, as they were selling everything off at a really good discount. I picked up, among other books, the huge book of New Yorker Cartoons, a coffee table book for a large coffee table. It was originally on sale for $19.99, and I didn't really want to spend that even though I love their cartoons! Well, it was there for $8, so I bought it! I found several others I had debated with myself about purchasing, but didn't. One is the latest novel by Orhan Pamuk, the Noble Prize winning author from Turkey. I had read part of it in the bookstore before this, and did not buy it then as I had, and still have, so many books to read. Now, I have that one as well. I couldn't resist the low price. I fully expect the floor to collapse soon from the weight of all the books we have upstairs.

Lunch time!

January 17, 2010 - Movies, restaurants, and dreams of travel

Friday night we saw the movie "Leap Year". Very good movie! It stars Amy Adams and some guy. Absolutely enjoyable! Even the guy part. It's about a young woman who decides to go to Ireland to propose to her, I don't know what, male personage she's living with? And the trials and tribulations she experiences in doing so. One of the best parts throughout the movie were the scenes of Ireland! Amazing! Can't wait to go back!

When we were in Dublin way back when, we stopped at a small restaurant to have dinner. The maitre de sat us by the front window so we could watch what was going on outside, and, I think, to carry on a conversation since business at that time was slow. After we ate, he indicated he would like to present us with Irish Coffees, on the house. Of course, we accepted. That was some strong coffee, let me tell you! By the time we had finished them, I was really glad neither one of us was driving... anything. Fortunately, we did not knock anyone off the sidewalk as we made out way back to the hotel.

One other event comes to mind as well. Different night. We went to the Temple Bar area, and the Temple Bar, to hear some traditional Irish music. We sat in a corner and nursed our Guiness, listening to the music. In front of us there were five young, relatively attractive, ladies sitting there. In no time, they were joined by four, eager, young men. It was interesting to watch the play as they, over the course of an hour or so, as the young men paired off with the young women. The one young woman who was left alone, so to speak, was the only one there who had several piercings arranged around her lips, ears, eyebrows, and nose. She attempted several times to try and join the fun, and was basically ignored by the young men. If looks could kill, there would have been four dead young men in front of us.

Anyway, we were discussing the evolution of the evening on the way back to the hotel, and I remarked to my wife that what was likely to happen was that the over eager, hopeful, expectant young men, would be left sitting there at the end of the evening wondering where the young ladies were off to, thinking of what might have been. Been there, done that... but then, maybe it was just me, and they would actually score, whereas I was usually left on base wondering why the game had ended so soon.

Because of the scenery in the movie and the memories of travels past, we have decided to eventually find part time jobs doing something, throwing all the money we make into the bank, and then head to Europe in early 2011. Where to will depend on how much money was have saved up by then and how long we could stay.

Saturday morning we met our youngest son and his two daughters for 'brunch' at a place called Kuba Kuba down in the fan. For those who do not live in Richmond, the fan is an older district in the city proper that is full of interesting houses, row houses, and great restaurants. Kuba Kuba is on the corner of Park and Lombardy, across the street from where the granddaughters used to play in the park there.

The food served in the restaurant has a Cuban, Caribbean flavor, and is excellent. Just spicy enough to add a bit of zing to the flavors, but not so hot one's tongue becomes numb to the taste of the food. The prices are very reasonable, and the portions are good sized for many things, just right for the rest.

On the way to the car we passed a house for sale. It was empty, so we peeked in the windows. It looked really nice. But then, it should, since the price listed was $500,000.

Dinner tonight was eaten at Weezys, a restaurant on Cary Street across form the ever popular Can Can. We go to Weezy's when craving crab cakes. One can have 4 crab cake sliders (enough for two people), a good sized bowl of black beans and rice, seasoned, and a bowl of vegetables, all for $20. The crab cakes are $10, and the others $5 each. And, there is more than enough to fill one up and even bring home for eating at another meal.

I was only going to eat one of the crab cakes and bring the other home so I could have another complete meal tomorrow, but my beautiful wife informed me they were not good when reheated. So, I forced myself to eat them both, felt stuffed, hoping they did not go to my waist.

Can Can is our place to go on occasion for Sunday breakfast, which is affordable. We skip eating dinner there, as it isn't affordable, at least not for us.

Diet wise, I have lost 9 pounds so far, with only 16 - 17 to go! I need to lose that by April, so when I go back to the doctor to get my blood pressure checked, maybe it will be good enough whereby I can stop taking the meds for it. One can always hope.

Tomorrow, back to work on the writing! Other than the blog, that is.

Weather wise, I'm going to put the snow shovel back in the shed. Tomorrow, and for the foreseeable future, it is supposed to be warm, 50s and 60s, so I don't think it will snow.