I'd probably be workin' 'til the day I died". Quoted by a retired gentleman I ran into at the Fibre Arts cafe this year. He was a very hard worker and appreciated by his employer, but his employer ran into hard times.
I am sad that this local meeting spot/coffee/fibre arts store and bookstore has left Bridgeton. The bookstore moved to Vineland and the Fibre arts shop to Millville. I enjoyed stopping down for a cheap cup of Community coffee and conversation.
Just finished listening to an audiobook, Just for laughs, for the second time. About 18 comedians which had been interviewed by Terry Gross for her NPR program, Fresh air, were featured. Perhaps Terry Gross is heard all over the nation but I am happy that she lives in the Philadelphia area and is always on NPR. I will just list my FAVORITE ones (perhaps a few names of celebrities will bring traffic to my blog?) Sarah Silverman, Will Ferrell, Denis Leary, Sacha Baron Cohen, George Carlin, Tina Fey, Tracy Morgan, Steve Martin and Woody Allen.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Splash park and other travesties
They are finishing up the new "Splash park" in my local zoo. Just in time for winter?
My only problem with this splash park is that they ripped up a perfectly lovely section of azaleas to replace it with concrete things. And isn't it awfully close to the animals? They keep messing up the zoo. We had a charming little white bridge in the park. Some politician drove across it and thought it was too curvy and dangerous so they replaced it with an ugly rusty metal rail thing, totally spoiling the only charming thing in my town.
Just watched America's heart and soul, directed by Louis Schwartzberg in 2004. I am not very good about watching movies or DVDs at home, but I drove all the way to Ocean City to watch this documentary with about 10 women as part of a series at the library. There wasn't much of a plan to it...showed a bunch of interesting characters, real Americans, and some great scenery. I have been to a lot of the places, but I wish he had been more clear about exactly where we were. It seemed to start off with some regular working folk, then some really odd characters, then some extreme athletic types and finished up with some heart warming tales of people helping others. I think I may have met the cowboy named Roudy in Telluride, CO. I remember we went riding past the Elk which, amazingly, do not bolt when horses come by. The most interesting segment was zooming along with the bicycle messenger in New York City. I wish Ben, of Ben and Jerry, had more time. Then we saw a blind man climbing icy peaks (why?) and people dancing while dangling over cliffs. I cried when the guy with cerebral palsy was pushed by his father running in the Boston Marathon.
Someone loaned me the book Puritan Boston and Quaker Philadephia, by E. Digby Baltzell.
In theory, I was interested in this topic, but this was one nonfiction book that I just couldn't stick with. I am trying to get interested in history but sometimes it is just in one eye and out the other.
My only problem with this splash park is that they ripped up a perfectly lovely section of azaleas to replace it with concrete things. And isn't it awfully close to the animals? They keep messing up the zoo. We had a charming little white bridge in the park. Some politician drove across it and thought it was too curvy and dangerous so they replaced it with an ugly rusty metal rail thing, totally spoiling the only charming thing in my town.
Just watched America's heart and soul, directed by Louis Schwartzberg in 2004. I am not very good about watching movies or DVDs at home, but I drove all the way to Ocean City to watch this documentary with about 10 women as part of a series at the library. There wasn't much of a plan to it...showed a bunch of interesting characters, real Americans, and some great scenery. I have been to a lot of the places, but I wish he had been more clear about exactly where we were. It seemed to start off with some regular working folk, then some really odd characters, then some extreme athletic types and finished up with some heart warming tales of people helping others. I think I may have met the cowboy named Roudy in Telluride, CO. I remember we went riding past the Elk which, amazingly, do not bolt when horses come by. The most interesting segment was zooming along with the bicycle messenger in New York City. I wish Ben, of Ben and Jerry, had more time. Then we saw a blind man climbing icy peaks (why?) and people dancing while dangling over cliffs. I cried when the guy with cerebral palsy was pushed by his father running in the Boston Marathon.
Someone loaned me the book Puritan Boston and Quaker Philadephia, by E. Digby Baltzell.
In theory, I was interested in this topic, but this was one nonfiction book that I just couldn't stick with. I am trying to get interested in history but sometimes it is just in one eye and out the other.
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
High times, the Playboy of the pot world
Not that I would know. I just thought this was an amusing comment. Very interesting program on the legalization of marihuana in Colorado. This was on NPR today with Terry Gross. I thought the segment on 60 minutes on medical marihuana a few weeks ago equally fascinating. Today there was a description of the dedicated, devoted indoor growers, some shirtless and shoeless and playing rock or classical, depending on the what the plants want. The growers even SLEEP with the plants. It is all very controlled and measured and I wish it would come to New Jersey.
Drove all the way down to the shore today. Not a very pretty day. But the weather was varied on the way down and beautiful in spots. Don't think I could live down here in the winter. It plays on my feelings of loneliness. Kind of sad right now. Only a few signs of the recent tragedy of Hurricane Sandy, but I only perused a few blocks. There were some piles of brush, some uprooted trees and sidewalks, and some sofas out on the street. I came down here to renew my library membership and see a film. Don't really like being home on these long, cold evenings. Of course, I don't really like driving around in the dark, either. Oh well.
How can people talk on the phone so much? Many times I see these people in the library with headphones on and they seem to be carrying on a constant conversation with someone. I don't get it.
Drove all the way down to the shore today. Not a very pretty day. But the weather was varied on the way down and beautiful in spots. Don't think I could live down here in the winter. It plays on my feelings of loneliness. Kind of sad right now. Only a few signs of the recent tragedy of Hurricane Sandy, but I only perused a few blocks. There were some piles of brush, some uprooted trees and sidewalks, and some sofas out on the street. I came down here to renew my library membership and see a film. Don't really like being home on these long, cold evenings. Of course, I don't really like driving around in the dark, either. Oh well.
How can people talk on the phone so much? Many times I see these people in the library with headphones on and they seem to be carrying on a constant conversation with someone. I don't get it.
Monday, November 12, 2012
Don't let's go to the dogs tonight
Returning some library books today. I really need something new to read. Got too much nonfiction going. That is more difficult to deal with.
I read The confession, by Beverly Lewis. It is book number two in a series called The heritage of Lancaster County. Kind of schmalzy. I think Lewis was in the forefront of the Amish romance craze. or "bonnet books" as I used to call them when I worked in a library. All of them have a picture of an Amish girl on the cover wearing a lace cap. Actually, this one doesn't, but... I read the book cause a friend of mine has something to do with The confession, a musical put on in Bird in Hand, PA. So this is a story of a girl who finds out in the first book that she has really been adopted and she is not really Amish. She feels different and just can't bring herself to marry the bishop so in the first book, she gets shunned. The second book involves her search for her birth mother and a case of mistaken identity.
Her birth mother (rich) is searching for her, but others are trying to keep them apart for their own nefarious gains.
Don't let's go the the dogs tonight : an African childhood, by Alexander Fuller, is a coming of age story that is quite unusual. I listened to the audiobook and was intriqued (and sometimes put off) by the variety of unpleasant things she had to put up with. A mother who was often drunk or crazy, dust, heat, sweat and cigarette ash falling into her food, rats, snakes, civil wars, terrorists, and on and on. Glad it was HER and not me. She seemed to love it, though. She lived in many different African countries with her family farming tobacco, raising cattle, etc.
I was just feeling good about my day but then found myself rushing, trying to visit a friend, put in an appearance at a funeral and then get to an appointment in another town. My day plummeted between the funeral in Woodstown and the appointment in Vineland. I rushed through the receiving line, traffic was slow, I took a wrong turn, I underestimated how long it would take, there was construction, a light refused to turn green, my hives were itching. I was highly stressed by the time I got to Vineland. In spite of all of that, the weather today is beautiful and seasonably or unseasonably warm.
I read The confession, by Beverly Lewis. It is book number two in a series called The heritage of Lancaster County. Kind of schmalzy. I think Lewis was in the forefront of the Amish romance craze. or "bonnet books" as I used to call them when I worked in a library. All of them have a picture of an Amish girl on the cover wearing a lace cap. Actually, this one doesn't, but... I read the book cause a friend of mine has something to do with The confession, a musical put on in Bird in Hand, PA. So this is a story of a girl who finds out in the first book that she has really been adopted and she is not really Amish. She feels different and just can't bring herself to marry the bishop so in the first book, she gets shunned. The second book involves her search for her birth mother and a case of mistaken identity.
Her birth mother (rich) is searching for her, but others are trying to keep them apart for their own nefarious gains.
Don't let's go the the dogs tonight : an African childhood, by Alexander Fuller, is a coming of age story that is quite unusual. I listened to the audiobook and was intriqued (and sometimes put off) by the variety of unpleasant things she had to put up with. A mother who was often drunk or crazy, dust, heat, sweat and cigarette ash falling into her food, rats, snakes, civil wars, terrorists, and on and on. Glad it was HER and not me. She seemed to love it, though. She lived in many different African countries with her family farming tobacco, raising cattle, etc.
I was just feeling good about my day but then found myself rushing, trying to visit a friend, put in an appearance at a funeral and then get to an appointment in another town. My day plummeted between the funeral in Woodstown and the appointment in Vineland. I rushed through the receiving line, traffic was slow, I took a wrong turn, I underestimated how long it would take, there was construction, a light refused to turn green, my hives were itching. I was highly stressed by the time I got to Vineland. In spite of all of that, the weather today is beautiful and seasonably or unseasonably warm.
Saturday, November 10, 2012
1-800-GOT-JUNK?
You bet I do. Saw this roadside sign just as I was pondering the plethora of signs by the road and the fact that they always arrive, but they never leave. I think someone should take responsibility for removing the signs for craft fairs that happened over a month ago and candidates who tried unsuccesfully to unseat longserving politicians. Even Hurricane Sandy didn't seem to make a dent in them. I think I saw an art project at earth911.com for re-using these roadside signs.
Gas prices going DOWN in Vineland and going up in Bridgeton. What is with that? Nothing gives me more of a thrill than finding the cheapest gas price in the neighborhood.
Still have hives. Antihistamines did nothing, anti-fungal pills did nothing. I consulted my alternate health book which I keep at home for those diseases in the middle of the night and NO INTERNET occasions. It said if you still have hives after 6 WEEKS go see the doctor. I went after 24 hours cause I am a bit of a hypochondriac. I don't know why, I just love going to see my doctor. She says don't come back for three months, but I am always looking for a reason to come back sooner. Actually. hives are pretty unpleasant. Now I have a REASON for that creepy crawly feeling, I just don't know what it is. I want to scratch but I am trying not to.
Gas prices going DOWN in Vineland and going up in Bridgeton. What is with that? Nothing gives me more of a thrill than finding the cheapest gas price in the neighborhood.
Still have hives. Antihistamines did nothing, anti-fungal pills did nothing. I consulted my alternate health book which I keep at home for those diseases in the middle of the night and NO INTERNET occasions. It said if you still have hives after 6 WEEKS go see the doctor. I went after 24 hours cause I am a bit of a hypochondriac. I don't know why, I just love going to see my doctor. She says don't come back for three months, but I am always looking for a reason to come back sooner. Actually. hives are pretty unpleasant. Now I have a REASON for that creepy crawly feeling, I just don't know what it is. I want to scratch but I am trying not to.
Friday, November 9, 2012
You've got non-compliant written all over you
What the Physician's assistant told me today. Having some skin problems and was attempting to treat myself with over-the-counter medications, but it wasn't working.
She told me I wasted my $27.00 I spent last night at Walgreens. Realize I have not been careful about spreading germs around on my own body and also I know that my diet is awful. Days go by and I do not eat a fruit or a vegetable. So now I got a bunch more medicines prescribed and was told unpleasant things such as take only brief COLD showers with no soap and don't scratch the itch. Are you trying to torture me, or what? I am already freezing with this weather.
"The election was not a murder....it was an auto NON-erotic asphyxiation". So said John Stewart the night of the election. I thought the comment oh so clever but then I repeated it to someone who had no idea what auto-erotic asphyxiation even was. I think he is very funny. Stephen Colbert I do not get. I keep thinking, whose side is he on? No ones, I guess.
I have been spending so many nights at home that my battery ran out on my Nook. Yes, I do lead quite the exciting life. I have a basic disconnect between not wanting to be home all evening and not wanting to be out driving around in the dark.
She told me I wasted my $27.00 I spent last night at Walgreens. Realize I have not been careful about spreading germs around on my own body and also I know that my diet is awful. Days go by and I do not eat a fruit or a vegetable. So now I got a bunch more medicines prescribed and was told unpleasant things such as take only brief COLD showers with no soap and don't scratch the itch. Are you trying to torture me, or what? I am already freezing with this weather.
"The election was not a murder....it was an auto NON-erotic asphyxiation". So said John Stewart the night of the election. I thought the comment oh so clever but then I repeated it to someone who had no idea what auto-erotic asphyxiation even was. I think he is very funny. Stephen Colbert I do not get. I keep thinking, whose side is he on? No ones, I guess.
I have been spending so many nights at home that my battery ran out on my Nook. Yes, I do lead quite the exciting life. I have a basic disconnect between not wanting to be home all evening and not wanting to be out driving around in the dark.
Thursday, November 8, 2012
I think I felt some endorphins
Just went to exercise, second time this week. The Arthritis Foundation exercise program is done mostly sitting down. I love the teacher. We do a little bit of Tai Chi too. I am a paying member of this health club, but have only been twice this year. Let's see...at $26.66 per month, that is $319.92 per year and $159.96 per visit. I have been meaning to get back to exercising for several years now. I was afraid if I stopped paying, I wouldn't get back in with the deal. (One of the many things I do which don't make much sense!) But I like the feeling that, anytime I want to, I can walk right in.
Now I am visiting The Megabyte cafe, a newish business in Millville, New Jersey. The cafe is at 110 N. High St. in Millville. Killing time til the library opens and I can make a couple of printouts. Due to budget cuts, most of the libraries don't open until 10 AM now and they close at 8 PM. Have a nice table by the window, having my morning coffee, using the wireless with my laptop, and enjoying a delicious English muffin, heavily buttered, with strawberry jelly on top. Life is good. We didn't get too much snow down here...just enough to make an attractive dusting.
Ran across Rachel Maddow on TV last night. Boy she is great! She is a political columnist on CNBC. Her show is called TRMS, I guess? She showed a chart with pictures of all the nine white men who made rude comments about rape and abortion and pointed out that they ALL lost. It is so easy for liberals to "gloat" right now, but she gave it a very humorous skewering. I only watch TV going around the dial, I never hardly ever watch anything on purpose. If it is on and I am home I may watch it. OK, I take it back, I do watch 60 minutes on purpose.
Now I am visiting The Megabyte cafe, a newish business in Millville, New Jersey. The cafe is at 110 N. High St. in Millville. Killing time til the library opens and I can make a couple of printouts. Due to budget cuts, most of the libraries don't open until 10 AM now and they close at 8 PM. Have a nice table by the window, having my morning coffee, using the wireless with my laptop, and enjoying a delicious English muffin, heavily buttered, with strawberry jelly on top. Life is good. We didn't get too much snow down here...just enough to make an attractive dusting.
Ran across Rachel Maddow on TV last night. Boy she is great! She is a political columnist on CNBC. Her show is called TRMS, I guess? She showed a chart with pictures of all the nine white men who made rude comments about rape and abortion and pointed out that they ALL lost. It is so easy for liberals to "gloat" right now, but she gave it a very humorous skewering. I only watch TV going around the dial, I never hardly ever watch anything on purpose. If it is on and I am home I may watch it. OK, I take it back, I do watch 60 minutes on purpose.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)