Frogs

Ok to really appreciate the audio of this post, you must turn to up to like 11. Because it doesn't really compare any other way. It is like going to a rock concert, but only frogs. I go out when it is dark, and literally get knocked down from the noise. Just sayin...

New Bedroom Set

This week seems abreviated with Monday off and everything, I just don't know. I didn't really go into detail about our (that's me and my wife's) new room. You know we got some "island themed" furniture, and you know we painted the room, but that's not all.

We will put up a fan, we haven't decided which one yet, and crown molding as well. There will be some kind of art involved too, whether that is something we purchase or something we make ourselves is yet to be determined. And I forgot to mention, a new TV as well. We bought it last weekend, nothing too ostentatious, it was on sale, and more than likely, made in China, but it is my step into the whole HD television market, and honestly, I would not rush out to get a TV with this if you have a perfectly good one at home. I mean, we like it and everything, but it doesn't offer very much in the viewing department.

There is a difference, but the difference isn't like going from a black & white to color. Now I didn't purchase the top of the line set, mine was for a song, in fact lower than a comparable set 5 years ago would have cost, plus it is only 720 instead of 1080 pixels, but really... who cares?

So here is to a new bedroom set, a new TV, and who knows what else... if you know what I mean...

Classic Film Friday: Little Women

So we have a film from 1933 that is based on these 4 women, sisters, that was originally written as a book, that takes place during the Civil War. Kathrine Hepburn stars as Jo, the tomboy and aspiring author. The other 3 sisters are there, but you watch the movie for Hepburn.

The movie is like book is like the movie. There is a semi-surprise ending, but if you read the book then you already know the ending. It does start off rather slow, but it picks up at the end...

No Fishing

I find myself in a conundrum. It seems that lately, people want to go fishing in the retention pond behind my house. I really don't know why, I mean, all that is in there is some brim, Not enough to make a meal out of, but enough to play around with I guess. But I wonder, why didn't these people get them a house with a water view like we did?

I am trying to not sound like a NIMBY, but how can I enjoy it, when I am too busy fending off looky-lous and whatnot? I can't believe the nerve of some of these people. I'm trying to stay even keeled but these people park where they are not supposed to park (unless they work for BJWA), they traipse through my yard, (sorta... it isn't really my yard, but it is maintained by me, so it might as well be mine right?) and then it is kinda creepy, because they come kinda late, and I really don't want anybody wandering about... know what I mean?

I bought that house at that place because I would only have 1 neighbor and a sewer pump (yeah I know it sounds gross, but I can say that is the quietest neighbor I ever had). I back into a wetland and the retention pond... except for the people that want to come violate my sense of personal space.

So I ask... am I alone here or should I just accept the inevitable? I mean it would seem that this all could be avoided if the said "law breakers" would come to me or one of my other neighbors and simply ask if they could fish in the "lake". Now I am left wondering, if they are fishing or are they looking around for something to steal? Am I being paranoid? Yeah probably, I really don't anything that is worth stealing, but still...

Garden Update: Week 14

Well the rain finally stopped, only to kick up again. Everything is moving right along, though I think a little too much rain and too little sunlight but nothing died, so it'll be ok. The tomatoes have flowers on them. I never would have thought that they would have done so well.

The Ugly Truth

My 3-Day-Weekend

Well I finally did it. I broke down and bought a bedroom set. We have been talking about it and going over it... since we met, 4 and a half years ago. But we couldn't justify spending that kind of money on us, sure we could get new sofas or a new bedroom set for the kids, but it seemed silly to spend money on ourselves.

When you think about it, that is just crazy, and finally we went ahead and did it, and we are in the process of painting our bedroom, wiring up a ceiling fan, and pretty much anything else. So I'll have the furniture this Saturday, and the room has been painted, which my daughter thinks is "fun". I cannot tell you how un-fun painting a room is to me, but trust me, it is not on my top ten funnest things to do list.

So my big holiday/3-day-weekend was spent, watching it rain, and rain, and rain... and getting a new bedroom set, which then turned into painting the room, things just seem to happen that way. One day we seem to never be getting anything to the next everything is pretty much done. I post some pics when I have them, it is an "island theme" which has nothing whatsoever to do with me, but I supply the muscle, so I guess it does have something to do with me after all.

Happy Day Off

I'm the tan and handsome one... sorta' this was 15 years ago.

So, I got this email with a picture in it. It's my graduation picture of my whole class, kind of fitting sense it is Memorial Day, though nobody died that I know of, we were all in the military. Happy Memorial Day everybody!

New Song... A Year Late

I have been listening to the Raconteurs and I found that they have a song on guitar hero called 'Consoler of the Lonely' this song rocks. So much so that my daughter actually plays this song with me. That in and of itself is incredible.

The Raconteurs - Consoler of the lonely [Glastonbury '08]

So yeah, I'm like a year late finding this song, but I really like it. I like listening to it and rocking out on the guitar... even though I can't 'really' play the guitar, at least I might look like I could in the guitar hero version of the world... sorta' I mean I do this as a therapy as much as I do this for fun.

My Vote Doesn't Mean Squat

Well, I just don't feel very diplomatic or "happy go lucky" about my vote anymore. It seems that the SC Supreme Court has its own opinion of what happened...

'S.C.Supreme Court Chief Justice Jean Toal said there is no evidence the voting irregularities from the Bluffton Town Council election deprived votes from the two candidates who lost in November and are seeking a do-over.'

...this is from the Bluffton Today, there is no mention of this story by anyone else, so I do wonder, but still I don't know. They go on to say,

'“What evidence is there that that miscoding resulted in even so much as one person being prevented from voting?” said the chief judge, citing a county protest hearing transcript on the matter.

“There’s a lot of testimony in there where people were fussing,” she said, adding, “Was any voter mentioned by name at all?” Karl Bowers, the attorney representing Fulgham and Thomas, conceded there were none but pointed to the county’s determination that a new election was warranted.

Toal was not swayed. “There is not one single voter that was put upon the stand to testify they were prevented from voting, and there is no voter who voted a challenged ballot or whose vote was challenged,” she said. “All you’ve got is some statistical information from Ms. Garvin about how the voters were coded.”'

I was one of those people, but if what I have to say, if my vote doesn't matter, what is the use? We might as well be a dictatorship. I tried to look up the SC Supreme Court to write them a letter, but there was none. I guess next time, if we believe this is a democracy, or republic as it were, I need to start making a "fuss" and crying discrimination and disenfranchisement from the very beginning.

Classic Film Friday: Bright Eyes

This is a Shirley Temple movie, and so you know it is going to have a little girl, singing, and dancing. Shirley Blake (Shirley Temple) is a little girl who's father has died(not in the movie), he was a pilot, and she is known all over the airplane hangers. Her mother also dies (in the movie), she is hit by a car.

Her mother was working as a maid for a well-to-do family. Joy Smythe (Jane Withers) plays the adversarial rich, bratty, spoiled little girl. Who also lives with Shirley as her mother was a live in maid for the Smythes. But the rich Uncle Ned (Charles Sellon) likes Shirley, more than he likes his own flesh and blood. So everyone has to be nice to Shirley, while Uncle Ned is around anyway, not so much when he isn't, which makes Shirley run away to the airfield and Godfather James "Loop" Merritt (James Dunn).

So a custody battle ensues, but neither party really wants to do the other harm. It's just one of those things, of not knowing the "who, what, when, how, and why" behind the other person's actions. We watched this movie because my daughter is dancing to "On the Good Ship Lollipop" song in her dance recital. I don't think I'll have the next Shirley Temple by any means, but the movie is pretty good.

The Cat

Yeah, I know, just watch it, because this is how I live... everyday. She is hungry.



Not that there is anything wrong with that, but it does get kind of old. So anyway, that is life with a 15 pound cat.

Trophies are the Best!

Garden Update: Week 13

Man it is cold! I don't even remember it being this cold (yeah I know it's in the 60's, sometime in the 50's at night) this late into May. Man oh man, I need some global warming or something. And it is raining every day this week, and on into next week. Or at least they are predicting that it will rain.

Which is good for the garden... I guess. The tomatoes are looking strong, as are the cucumbers. The pepper plants were the odds on favorite and I can't figure out what has happened. But they may pull it out still, it is a long and hot (hopefully) summer.

But the rain doesn't seem to be stopping...

The Crash

And so there I was, making a rue with my daughter, you see a rue is a thing of beauty. How good it is, simply depends on how long you are willing to wait... and how much muscle you have. You are basically stirring a mixture of oil and flour, until you think your arm is going to fall off. I like a dark rue, almost like chocolate, but this time we settled for something a bit lighter.

I was making gumbo, real gumbo, not any of this crap I see at local eateries. My wife was away on a business/school trip, and I wanted to surprise her when she got home. Well, I'll tell more about that later, but for now I'm talking about that connection that is made when two people (myself and my daughter) have the same goal. And I took literally leaps and bounds in getting to know my daughter, and her getting to know me. She cooked pretty much the whole thing, I helped, but the accolades belong to her. It was nice, and I put my head down after a long day of preparing gumbo and slipped off to sleep.

Then my wife comes home, I am crashing, and everything else pretty much goes to hell. Because my wife wasn't here to see me making progress with my daughter, and because she is very wary of me when I have a low blood sugar (it was 20 or something the night before I had a stroke, and she blames that on it all) so instead of making sure I'm ok, people have a tendency to lash out, because it is human nature.

I "woke up" sometime after the great gumbo surprise happened. I didn't growl or bark or do anything negative, but I really don't remember what I did. I was sorry, and I told everyone so when I did wake up, but the damage had already been done. So at this point, I was in damage control, instead of accident prevention.

I can't really explain how it is when I come off of a low blood sugar, but it is kind of like being drunk and waking up at the same time, except you know you didn't have a good time and people are worried about you. It basically sucks, but there is very little, if anything, you can do about it.

I patched things up for the most part with my wife, promised to be more careful, promised to let someone know if I am crashing, and I patched things up with my daughter, because she was blamed for me having a low blood sugar, and that is really not fair to her, but as a back up she now knows what she should do. But ultimately it rests on me, and I've got to do better, So here is to doing a bit better...

Update: Where I'm At.

As you may know... or may not know, I haven't really said much about the stroke. I like that fact, but there are still things I don't/can't do as good as I used to. One new thing I've started doing is balancing on one foot while in the shower while I scrub the other. That sounds pretty mundane doesn't it? but if you think about what is involved, it is actually quite complex. Balance, wash, all while being pelted with water, like I said mundane, but complex.

I still don't have the feeling that my right arm is 100%, I don't know if I'll ever get it all back. Handwriting is most affected by this. The funny thing is the doctor showed me how if I take my thumb and pointer finger and pinch them together rapidly again and again, eventually either my left hand will slow down, or my right hand will speed up. There is a name for that, but what it is escapes me right now. It has to do with making everything the same.

I still have language apraxia, which basically means I know what I want to say, but there is a problem with forming the words. I'm getting better at find the right words to say, but it can be distracting, especially when I need to say something quick. Aphasia comes in to the picture. They are both intertwined, but I can say that they are likely the least of my worries at this point. Not that any of this is really a worry, but if it was, that would be toward the back of the line.

My face, well that is just a lost cause. Thankfully, not that many people have to look at it. Really I'm kidding, sorta, there is nothing I can do, or nothing that I'm willing to pay money for to make better, so I've got what I've got. And that isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I do get a little upset from people who are in my own family who have grown tired of the "I had a stroke" deal. I cannot play the Wii Fit to save my life, and just thinking of the game makes my blood pressure go through the roof.

And on to work, you know I see people that are affected by what I went through everyday. I wish I could talk to them, say that it will be ok, that these people will help you get better. Besides being unethical I just can't look at a patient's chart and figure he needs me to talk to him/her. It just doesn't work that way. Besides that, I'm not in patient care, and I can't talk very well (see above). But I see them, and I know that they are going to be cared for, just not by me, maybe they should tell me thanks eh?

I Got Some Money

The other day my little one came up to me, with a one dollar bill in her hand, and said, "I have 500 dollars Daddy."

I said "oh really?"

She said yes, and went on her happy little way.

Now I know it is a gross over-simplification, but man I envied her for a brief moment in time. She really didn't know how much the money was, or whether or not she had enough or virtually anything. She told her mother that she had 2,000 dollars the other day.... while holding the same 1 dollar bill.

Is there something to be learned from this exchange? Maybe, maybe not. My daughter has no clue how money works, or the reason we work is to get money to buy things with. Plus there is not an endless supply of money out there... or is there? In time she will learn, but until that time comes why not just play along?

Come Around Again

I've been noticing on the mood on the internet in general, is nothing that I want to be associated with. I'm just saying, somebody always has to be wrong, and someone else has to be seen as a martyr or someone who was wronged and is now right, or left, or upside down. Good lord, I can't take it.

I do know that given enough time those that were wronged will be right, and those that were right will be wronged and it will come again a full circle. So why are we getting mad at each other? I truly don't know. I wish I did and then I'd put a stop to it. But alas, we don't live in that kind of world. Someone always, Always, ALWAYS... has to be right and the other side is then thought of as wrong, and to keep in good graces with their friends, or their own sense of morality, but if you stop and think about it that is a world of absolutes, and we don't live in that world either, or at least I don't live there.

How can you save a convict from lethal injection but you can kill unborn babies, or save babies that were unwanted but kill a convict for whatever. We don't add up. (Personally I am for the death penalty and pro-choice, but I'll never be in a circumstance where I will face either.) It is really rare to find someone you disagree with about politics, religion, or pretty much everything else.... on the internet and still befriend them even though they are "wrong".

I think I would like to meet real life people and see if they 1. if they actually think. and 2. see what drives them to these extremes. I'm just saying, what seems like one person's high crime, is another's sign of loyalty and worth. I don't, can't, wouldn't even begin to understand. That is why I, for the most part keep quiet about politics and religion and anything else really.

I am just sayin' that I see what people are putting out there, and it really kind of makes me wonder. There always will be somebody crying, I think that is just the way we are. But still, why bother? It'll come back around again, it always does. Every time.

Classic Film Friday: Mother Jugs & Speed

Ok this is probably beyond screwball comedy, it is more like an insane person's view of how the whole ambulance system works, but it is funny. Bill Cosby stars as Mother a old hand in the ambulance business. While Jugs (Raquel Welch), is the operator/secretary for the ambulance company and has gone to school to be a paramedic. Meanwhile Speed is a cop, or an ex-cop who needs to make money while he serves out his suspension.

The comedy is somewhat black, but if you like that sort of thing (which I do) it has it's moments. Mother is an alcoholic and a nun hater, Jugs is a woman in a man's world, and Speed is in trouble too. They are fighting to keep their jobs as the city has put the contracts up for bid. Bribes and kickbacks are just the way things get done. Will they make it? You have to watch to find out.

A side note. I could not find an embeddable video of this movie, but you can see it's original trailer here

Garden Update: Week 12

Well another week goes by and more surprises for me. I would put the tomatoes in 1st place, cucumbers 2nd and peppers in 3rd. It has been raining, A little almost every day, and I think that has helped. See you again next for a new update...

Change That Tire

Ok I have been telling the wife for weeks now that we would need to get new tires for our van sooner rather than later. Oh my God! Do you know how much that costs? To get a relatively middle of the road tire (four of them), and have the alignment done, north of $750.

Well my mind was made for me when my wife got up one morning and discovered one of her tires flat, it had a screw in it. And it could have been patched, but the wear bars were starting to show (the van has almost 55,000 miles on it). So we went ahead and did get the new tires. But first I had to get the spare on to get her to work.

So I told her to get our daughter to school (the three-year-old) and by the time she comes back, I should have everything done. And I did... sort of. I had to find a cheater bar to break the lug nuts loose, and I had to get the jack to come out. But I was putting the spare 'doughnut' tire on as she pulled in the driveway.

But I was only finishing up. I still had to get a shower and go to work. My day had only begun. Later that day my wife called me to tell me what it would cost to get all four tires and an alignment, I told her that was a good price... considering, and she went after school to get them put on.

Now you would think that is the end of the story, but it is not. Now there is some kind of "noise". a kind of flap, flap, flap sort of noise. Except nothing, that I can see, is flap, flap, flapping. The car is going back to the tire place to see if they can figure out what is wrong.

Trophies are nice but...

Next Year

Ok, so everybody who bothered to look knows by now, my dog didn't win the ugly dog competition. He got second in a really light field. Something weird about odd numbered years, because he has never won in an odd year. And he was really putting on a show this time. Rolling around in the dirt, wet hair, the hole 9 yards... But he came up only 2nd. Oh well, I think the crowd knew who was ugliest that and in my heart I know who is ugliest too.

See way back, almost 4 years he was in the 'Top Dog' competition. He lost that too, but I...or rather he was vindicated by the ugly dog contest. He has won the ugly dog in 2008 and 2006, he got 2nd in 2009 and 2005, 3rd in 2007. He is a top ranking dog, but what I can't get anyone to understand is, we like ugly, we want to be ugly, we relish it. But I lost count of how many people told us, he is not ugly. I really don't want to hear that crap. He is ugly, and he will be found to be the ugliest dog again. Because next year is an even year, and we know what happens then. And don't say he is pretty, or handsome, or that you like him anyway. We don't want to hear that.

He is ugly, and I love him for it. The End.

See you next year.

Operation Repo

Hey... You want to know what my wife's guilty pleasure is? She likes watching a TV show. Now normally I wouldn't say this is anything, but to know her... she is so straight laced and correct, to think she has a dark side intrigues me. The show I'm talking about is Operation Repo. Basically it is a reality show about a Repo men and what they go through.

It is insane, I mean I can't even begin to wonder or even think about how these people (the ones getting their cars repossessed) live with themselves, but I guess I just haven't found myself in that position in life yet (hopefully I never will). But then, I let my curiosity get the better of me. Operation Repo is a TV show, which means it is fake. I can't tell you how that plays out, but even my wife now says she'll pass on the show.

When you think it is real people doing a real thing, you might like it, but when you know it is just acting, well you're not as compelled by it. They try to make it seem real, but it was almost too real. So on to the next thing, whatever that may be. Operation Repo was just too crazy to be real, all of the signs are there, and we can see them clearly now. We were dumb, we admit it. I think all of these reality shows are about as scripted as a professional wrestling match. Maybe I should just delve back into fantasy, you at least won't walk away from that duped.

Mother's Day

To all the mom's out there... Have a nice on. I know we really shouldn't have one day to say thanks. There really aren't enough days to say that. To the wife, that plays the role of mother to daughter of a mother herself, I really do appreciate everything she does, from wipe snotty noses to pick up my underwear. I appreciate and love you, not just because you spoil me, but because you're you.

And my love and appreciation goes out to my mother too, without I don't even know where I'd be. I know there were a few near death experiences. 6 at least, and I am just one of five. Thank you for being my mom.

And it doesn't stop there. To my grandmothers both of whom have passed on, look at your families and smile. Not a bad bit of work I might add.

And to all of the other mother's out there, Take your kids, grab 'em, and hug them. Because it's a great time to do that, and if you can't because distance separates you, call. But really it should be the other way around. So call your mom will you?

The Festival...

We're at the Bluffton Village Festival today. We're not coming home until we have a trophy... or not. I have been thinking of all kinds of great things to write about, that is until I actually have to write it. Then it is gone. Anyway, wish my daughter luck as she gets her ugly on at the ugly dog contest. Maybe you'll see us there...

Garden Update: Week 11

Ok, I'm like way late and there won't be a Classic Film Friday. But at least you know the garden is intact and doing quite well actually. The tomatoes are looking like less of a question mark, the cucumbers are growing like gang busters, the peppers not so much, but it is still early.

Anyway thanks to my cable/internet provider and/or Netflix, we could not get the roku to load more than 10 minutes at a time. It provides great time for catching up on freinds, but it does nothing for the actual movie. Next week we'll have a good one, you'll see...

How I Found Pluff Mudd

Ok what I'm about to say, I'm not really all that proud of, I'm actually quite lucky really. For awhile now I've wanted to photograph the bridge and beyond. The bridge I'm referring to is the one right by my house, sort of, it is the one closest to me, I think. It is the Okatie River underneath it, and so it holds Highway 278. Sounds pretty exciting doesn't it? Ok probably not, but there is a tale to be told, and a lesson to remember.


Here we see a tree, which is kind of strange, because there really is no trees in or by the river.



Here is the Okatie River, not really a river, but anyway, a tidal estuary, aint it nice? Now up until this point we really didn't encounter any pluff mud, but I'm working on it, believe me.


This is a crab, they live in pluff mud, they like it there, probably because they are light enough to not sink in it, but that is mere speculation on my part.


All the crabs were tiny, and for the most part would run into their holes... there were a few that didn't make it. God rest their souls.



Here we have made it, this is the side of 278 nobody really sees. We did run into what we thought was pluff mud here. There was maybe a 6 inch layer of mud that we had to navigate/negotiate. What we didn't know is what lay in store for us later...


Ok we made it. Well we did not make it back yet so don't get too excited. I did feel kind if let down as there really wasn't much to photograph.

Except for the sky. And even then there is the power line in the way.

We make our return trip, and everything is pretty much going according to plan. Not that there was a plan, but if there was we were going by it.


Until here. You see, this very skinny peninsula was mildly amusing to me. I walk up to get a closer look and sluuurp I found the real pluff mud. I took a step, and it was like any other but then the ground gave away and I discovered that for all intents and purposes I could grab my, eh hem, crotch or touch the ground, they were both the same. I had sunk one leg past my mid thigh and now I had no idea how I was going to get out of this.

You really can't accurately describe what it feels like to be walking one second, the next you're in mud up to your ass, you just can't. Desperation set in. I can say that, though my 13-year-old, was laughing hysterically, I was methodically thinking of a way out. I gave the camera to my still snickering daughter and pulled up just enough so that I was on my knees, and I knee walked until I felt I could stand again. My clothes were done, but other than that I was ok.

Then it was my daughter's turn to sink in the mud, which really was funny, because she was laughing at me, and she sunk both of her legs down into the pluff, and she lost her flip flop (yes I know, not the shoe I would have worn but kids, you know?). So she sticks her arms down into the hole to get the flip flop and success we have got it, except now my daughter is just about covered in pluff mud, and I take the camera back.

We retreat without further incident, both of us really looking forward to a shower. But if I can take anything away from this trip it's this... You can laugh if you want to, but the same thing may happen to you, and the wife was right in warning me about pluff mud, I hope I never again find myself in it.

That Time of Year Again

Guilty Pleasure = Travian

My guilty pleasure is playing Travian internet game. It is a really drawn out and long process... and takes months before you can do anything, but for some unknown reason, I can't stop playing it. You start out as one of three races, Roman, Teuton, or Gaul. After that you pick a spot for your city and begin to build it up. This is a war game, so with that being said your or others feeling are going to be hurt from time to time.

That is why it is good to make friends with you neighbors, otherwise you'll have lots of uninvited company over all the time. So why bother, I mean what is this all for? I'm really not sure, I guess I could walk away from it, but I don't want to. Of course eventually it will end, as it has to. You amass the right armies and equipment and whatever, and then the powers that be will provide their own armies and you have to fight it out to see if you can win.

Now I am far, far away from all of that... in fact I'm just now getting over my 3rd or 4th wipe out because it just kind of goes like that. You build up you resources, wheat, lumber, iron, and clay while making your army bigger and eventually you get some other like minded individuals and form an alliance. From there on it is really up to you. Conquer or be conquered so to speak. I have heard of people just getting on it to be "farms" to other more powerful players, I can't imagine why though.

Yes it really is a guilty pleasure. I really can't justify it, but I keep coming back to it. So there must be something about it.

Mosquito Control...Not

So I went on a walk with my two dogs, right out my back door, along the side of the pond, and it must be mosquito season, because they lit me up like a a fire. Lord have mercy. I'm talking swarmed. It was unbelievable. I'm from New Orleans, I am used to some mosquitoes, in fact we used to chase behind the mosquito truck all the time. I have never experienced what I went through the other day. I cannot for the life of me understand why anyone would want to live in this hell.

I was still in my work clothes, which is a long sleeved shirt, and khakis. The only exposed part of my body was my hands and head, and man oh man... they had a field day. And I was swatting and waving and trying to move... it really did bring back memories of cheap B movies like this:



I hope mosquito control gets their act together, because this is crazy.

FEMA trailers

Ok this story hits close to home... sort of. FEMA has said the deadline for returning the trailers is May 1. Well as you may have already guessed, some people are having a hard time with that. Here's the story. I can understand that people have been ripped off, or mishandled the money or whatever. My grandmother lived in a trailer, she received it after Hurricane Betsy in 1965. And was still living in it some 30 years later.

I don't think today's "travel trailers" are quite like my grandma's (mawh mawh if your from New Orleans) trailer. It was a two bedroom, one bathroom deal, and it had been moved three or four times in those 30 years. Then again, maybe it was, I really don't know.

You could say, "hey why did your grandmother live in that trailer so long?" She liked it there, and really didn't mind it at all. She was also opposed to the color TV, I can remember going with my father to seek out a black and white TV set, because otherwise my father would be over at her house adjusting the color everyday.

So what am I trying to say? Home is what you make of it, my mawh mawh appreciated what she had and didn't ask for anything more. Maybe that trailer is still in use today, My father sold her trailer and the one he was living in along with 6 acres of land to move into a more citified manufactured home on 1 acre of land. I miss the trailer, the land, and especially my mawh mawh.

Squish Face

The 3-year-old has come up with a new game. It's called squish face. Well that's what I call it anyway. She thinks she invented it, but she's 3 so I guess we'll let her get away with that one. It looks like this...

She does it to you and you do it to her... Squish Face, I'll make millions off of this. OK, probably not, but if you find yourself bored and want to kill some time, puff out your cheeks and squish them, make whatever sound you like, and viola... Squish Face!

Classic Film Friday: Stormy Weather

This movie caught me by surprise. You see I really do watch the movies the week I list them, and I really didn't know that this one was an all black cast.

Bill "Bojangles" Robinson plays Bill Williamson a World War I vet that is telling his life story. Selina Rogers (Lena Horne) is an established singer, and Bill knew her brother in the war (he was killed). The two hit it off and before you know it, there is a bit of romance between the two.

There is song and dance a plenty and some of the performers of the day as well... Cab Calloway, Fats Waller, Nicholas Brothers dancing duo, singer Ada Brown, and dancer Katherine Dunham. There is 20 different musical numbers in all and it is only 77 minutes long. Check it out, it is kind of light on plot, but with all the music makes up for it.