I spotted this over the weekend and the first thing I thought was, “Shasta has a new flavor”?
Texture.
I am trying to renew my passport online. I can submit my own photo. It must be snapped in front of a plain, white background. I thought I had the perfect background except there’s texture. Too much texture. Ever wall in the house has some sort of texture. It’s the desert.
I’ll have to come up with something else.
Old?
This couple appeared in the “Bewitched” season four episode, “Once In A Vial”. A fun little farce where Endora gets smacked with a love potion she insisted to be used on Samantha, Endora ends up almost marrying one of Darrin’s clients.
When Endora and Mr. Callahan appear in front of the Justice of the Peace, hilarity ensues as Samantha tries to stop the marriage. The couple in the photo above are the justice of the peace and wife. They’re an old couple, quite friendly, and confused at all the witchy shenanigans going on.
Except, they’re not old. In this episode, the Justice of the Peace is played by Frederic Downs and his wife (Edna) is played by Mary Lansing.
Mr. Downs was 52, Ms. Lansing was 57. That’s not old. THAT’S MY AGE!
Back when I was young I thought 50 was old. Heck, everyone in that situation feels 50 is old. At 54 I don’t feel old at all. I hope Mr. Downs and Ms. Lansing felt as young then as I do today.
Quiet.
I went on a 4 1/2 mile hike today. The weather was beautiful and I had the opportunity to enjoy a lot of quiet.
I feel fantastic.
History.
We are hosting our first party in the house later this month. Of course, this means finishing what we started here nearly two years ago, and that’s unpacking everything and finishing off the repairs of the monsoon damage from mid 2021.
These two photos used to hang in “the parlor” at our last home back in Central New York and have been in storage since then. I decided to hang them in the upstairs office called “The Observatory”.
They are a nice compliment to the room.
Caturday.
Truman stands next to the food machine, hoping it will start making noise. I’ve shown him in this area before because he’s there a lot, waiting for more food to fall.
Flashback.
I found this video in a list of old links I had sitting on my computer. From back in 2015, fellow pilot Nick asked me to ride right seat with him in the ’66 Piper Cherokee 180. He’d flown this airplane only a couple of times and for his first flight after his safety checkout he wanted another pilot in the right seat. It was a great day to fly and Nick is a really good pilot. I haven’t seen him since shortly after this video, but I hope he continues to enjoy the skies as much as I do.
Priorities, Part 2.
After writing this morning’s blog entry, I got to wondering if during their annual holiday tradition of watching wholesome movies like “White Christmas” (a true classic), if the Christians suddenly grab their children in fear, anguish, and disbelief when this scene comes on in Act One.
Since Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye are dressed up like Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen, their antics would absolutely be illegal under some of these ridiculous bills being offered up by members of the GOP.
Do the far right Christians drop to their knees and start praying at the television? Are grown men weeping? Are children so stunted and impeded in their perfect, Christian ways that they suddenly feel compelled to throw on a pair of stocking and start singing, “Extra value is what you get when you buy Coronet?”
No, of course not. None of these things happen. Because people are not inherently stupid. They have to be taught to be stupid.
By stupid people.
Priorities.
With all the homelessness, poverty, climate change, brewing wars, and other travesties too numerous to list here, the Republicans in various states and districts are focusing on what’s really important.
Where drag queens are performing.
In Arkansas, there’s a bill to label drag queen performances as “adult entertainment”. If passed, and with their new governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, it probably will, performing in clothing and makeup contrary to your gender assigned at birth will become a crime.
The bill is so arbitrarily written that it will essentially make it illegal for kids to see Bugs Bunny trying to fool Elmer Fudd in a Saturday morning cartoon.
I did a little digging on Arkansas and how they’re faring these days.
- 28th in education
- 17th in quality of roads
- 28th in unemployment
They’re pretty middle of the road, but could do better.
On the other hand, Arizona is 50th in education. That’s right, last place. So of course, goth queen Justine Wadsack, after finally being elected to the state senate here in Arizona after years of trying and resorting to infesting the entire desert landscape with her visage, has introduced a similar bill here in Arizona. Because the roads and the homeless and the poverty and the lack of education and all that are not important. Men that appear prettier than her must be stopped. At all costs.
Personally I’ll stick with Bugs Bunny instead of this nut job. I am really, really tired of stupid people being so stupid.
Jerky.
It’s been a while since I’ve had to run through an airport at top speed to make my connecting flight. Last night, the relaxed folks at KDEN took their time parking our flight from KRDU (Raleigh-Durham), leaving me 10 minutes to get from gate B25 to A25 to catch my connecting flight home.
I made it.
However, my sprint through airport left me no time for a snack and no time for a bathroom break.
Not wanting another can of Pringles to substitute my supper and not having enough elbow room to go through the rigamarole of trying to assemble my “Take Off Snack Pack”, I opted for some beef jerky to tide me over until we landed in Tucson.
I don’t know if I’ve ever felt so patriotic while consuming a snack but the peppered jerky turned out to be quite good and kept me from going over the edge before getting home.
For those that eat meat, I highly recommend the experience. This Peppered Jerky has a bit of a kick but I didn’t find it overpowering.
I did not find these packs on Amazon, but their website has a storefront. It looks a little pricey. Perhaps these can be used as a stocking stuffer at the end of this year.
