Two Garden Updates and Several Pix

Well I did what I wanted this summer and took good care of my yard and garden. It became a favorite hobby again and there was plenty to show for it. I created the start of the Japanese garden, added a three tiered section to the front bank, added more flowers to the front bank, saw the success of the demon rose, successful nastursiums and the little rose impatienes are still alive. I added a peach tree and 4 blue berry bushes. And then there is the sweet potatoes (see blossom pix below)! :)

I've eaten tomatoes and cucumbers from my garden. Both excellent and they took care of themselves (gotta appreciate that in a garden).

My sweet potatoes are in blossom a little bit, but I still don't expect to eat them until the end of September at the earliest.

Sweet Potato
Blossom


Here are pictures of the amazing morning glory i got to grow up the sign in my front yard. There were two plants. They take quite ahile to get to blossom too, like the sweet potatoes that i think they are related to.

Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon

I was bored the other day and reminded myself of how amusing it is that all actors can be traced to Kevin Bacon. I found this link that let's you enter an actors name and generates the links. Very handy! http://oracleofbacon.org/index.php

Check it out! And for the history of the phenomenon here is the wiki article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Degrees_of_Kevin_Bacon

And just for fun...here's a pix of him young and wet! ;)

Time's a Wastin'

Oh No! Two weeks from this day i will b back at school. Summer is almost over. Today i have to finish the 2nd day of a 2 day conference at R'ville. The speaker is Heidi Hayes Jacobs who is extremely motivational. So getting back into the school mind set is beginning this week. I'd write more, but i have to get ready for it. More later......

the history of me and TV

anyone who knows me knows i never watch TV...in fact i sometimes really hate it's manipulative quality (it's addicting, especially all those commercials), but was that always so?

First off: we had 4 channels where i lived: 2,3,5,&9 and no PBS. I never watched Seseme Street. So it might not be shocking that my earliest memory was of Days of Our Lives. I remember when Hope was a baby and her mother Addie was hit by a car while crossing the street with her. I was 4 years old.

Next, I'd say there were the weird shows of the 70's i watched with my dad. I say next because my memory of them is really fuzzy, so I doubt i was much more than 6: In search of and UFO. Yeh, somewhere in there was Police Woman, Bionic Woman and Wonder Woman....i credit them for the strength i possess and the belief in myself. They were great role models for young girls. You know, it was the 70's and we still were convinced we could change the world. And 2 of the 3 heroes were not entirely human...i digress, b/c there is a theme. I easily grew to like weird shit.

Before i continue, i need to say that the muppet show deserves it's own paragraph. Variety shows were to the 70's as reality tv is to the early 21st century. So they make a kids variety show: The muppets. And it's actually witty, funny, and tries to be up-to-date with pop culture.....y'all realize Alice Cooper (in make-up) was once a guest host?

Forward a year or two or somewhere in between and i'm watching Brady Bunch and Gilligan's Island reruns after school along with Bewitched and this intriguing show my grandfather told me abot. Intriguing? Well, it was set in an Austrailian Women's Prison. But each week i really needed to know how the butch lesbian and the woman who killed her husband for cheating on her were fairing...i mean it mattered! But my dad was a litle angsty that his 10 year old watched such foder..however, well, i watched for awhile until Bo and Luke Duke took center stage in 1980 when i was 10.

Yep! my first hottie crush was john schneider. Probably the only time i lusted for a blonde. Then my grandfather got cable: I want my MTV!!!

In the 80's it was Cosby, FAmily Ties...then came college:

In Living Color was new, rare and watched every thursday night before we went out. Jim CArrey was still funny: Fire marshall bill and homey da clown...J Lo as a fly girl. The world became a little more brown and all was GOOD! And the talk show vied for popularity. Remember Arsenio Hall? The Olsen twins were newborns when i went to college and we watched them on Full House....and did we watch 21 Jump Street? I don't remember.

My next era in tv was Seinfeld which is so classic nothing in my mind will ever compare!!!!!! Yes, it was sponge worthy!!!!! Probably the only night i made sure i was home for the shows.

The era of HBO TV began Sex in the City, 6 feet under, Sopranos. Incredible shows! And of course there was the X=Files, where lots of weird shit happened, but half of it was explained logically. After 2002 i no longer had cable. This is when i actively stopped watching TV.

Now, You tube provides me with quite some info. I've even watched a few Anime (Deathnote)and a few music videos (cause MTV no longer plays music...where's the irony in that?)

But i just learned of Supernatural. I haven't seen the show on TV, only in DVD, but i love it. X-files always teased with the strange, but rarely delievered. Every episode of Supernatural provides bad guys, weird stuff and brotherly love/angst. Perfect show for my style. Ironically i watch it though video until season 4 begins.

For the first time in ages i am hooked and can't wait. So i guess, you never know.

Next year when i buy a new LCD digital TV i plan on getting cable again. Hmmm, i wonder if i'll watch it?

I wanna give up some thanks to the DGS

You know...ppl love to diss the garbage collector and say..."oh there's a thankless job for the ex-felon." Well I say no. Give your garbage collector respect, yes, even if he is an ex-felon. Geez, don't you think most people just want to be forgiven and allowed to move on with thir lives? Do you think people just look for things to go wrong? At least these guys are out working. And picking up my crap, which at times is way too heavy (rainy wet grass anyone) or stinky...3 boy cats!!! for anyone to deal with. They just took away about half a tree I'd put out there Wednesday.

Where I grew up the garbage collector was this sweet older man whose grandsons attended school with me. He was respected in the community, and his grandsons were bright, well adjusted students at my school. My point? Why must we judge someone on their work? That is so wrong when we know that we must see the person as an indivdual, when we need to open our eyes......

Picking Peaches

This was at Fix Brothers Orchards south of Hudson. It was gorgeous out! I'm going to be eating lots of peaches for some time! We picked 54 pounds!

Home of the Brave

Let me start by saying: you definately should read this book!


Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate is about eleven year old from the Sudan who has resettled in Minnesota with his auntand older cousin Ganwar. They live in the city in a high rise and feel far away from the rural life they always knew. The author creates a lighter atmosphere by describing the language barriers and cultural differences that would have made Kek’s transition difficult if he were not so optimistic. Hard memories of family lost come through on occasion like when Kek and his class visit the zoo.

He states: ...”but I am not alone. My family is with me, and every sight is something they cannot see, and every hope is something they can not feel. To carry them, unseen as wind, is a heavy burden.”

His thoughts are complexfor his age, and he carries the guilt of a survivor, still, he is ever optimistic. His optimism and love of cattle lead him to a job on the outskirtsof the city. It is there that he becomes closer to his cousin, but also where he learns nothing lasts forever and there is always change.

The author does an excellent job of weaving his grief with his hope and in the end Kek’s ability to: “find the sun when the sky is dark” makes this a story of triumph.


Five stars! Middle School and up!