Hitchhikers Around the Galaxy Unite

How could I have missed this day?!? This is what I get for not having a computer to surf for these important events.

Check out DodKat's faithfulness to this holiday.

Man, next year I plan to talk like a pirate, pop some bubble wrap, and carry me a towel!

Joie de Vivre ~ A Hearty Joy of Living!

Remembering

To me fall is the time for remembering. The winding down of the year, winter right around the corner, long dark nights indoors give time for contemplation. Spring and summer are times for living life, having adventures, fresh beginnings. However, I think that the powers that be were wise in giving us reasons to remember in the rush of everything. We need to take time out of our living life full tilt to remember so many wonderful things.

Regardless of your politics, we need to remember the people who stepped up and gave their all to protect us from living in fear. I spent several years in counties that, not too long ago, had their people living in fear. And I am thankful that I have days, weeks and months where I do not have to be fearful.

Pentecost is this weekend. Now is a time to remember that life is not just the physical. There is a spiritual side to us that God has given so that we may seek something more than what we can see, touch, taste and feel.

Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and Graduation happen in the late spring and early summer. Parents, however much they may bug us, have spent days, weeks and months worrying about us – our safety, futures, love lives, and worrying if they are doing anything to totally screw us up. Graduation is usually a day for looking back on youth and looking forward to the next stage. Yet this is also a time for parents to celebrate a chapter of their stresses closing. Granted, there are plenty of things parents will need to be involved in (just ask my Dear Sweet Mother), but in a job where there are few end dates and finished accomplishments this is a time for parents to say, “I helped my child grow and fulfill this stage.” And we children, even if we graduated several decades ago, can look back and be thankful for the people who helped us navigate our childhood.

So what do you memoralize?


Joie de Vivre ~ A Hearty Joy of Living!

Technical Dificulies

Sorry I am not posting much this week. Because of a little incident involving a cup of coffee and the motherboard, my laptop is in the shop getting overhauled.

Insurance always puzzles me. If my computer had worn out, the warranty would have covered it. So why doesn't insurance cover stupidity and acts of God? Isn't that why we get insurance, to cover accidents?
#$%^@$^%#$T$#^# That is what I think about insurance right now!

Joie de Vivre ~ A Hearty Joy of Living!

Mom's Lessons

Five things that my dear sweet mother taught me

1.Never put housework before family, friends or a good book. Keeping up appearances is for lonely people who do not know how to keep up with friends. Plus, I remember my mom quoting some of her philosophy:

I am hoping that the kids will get fed up with living in a dirty house and vow to never let their own house get this way. I am hanging with my friends for you.

Well, the dust bunnies I am raising for pets attests to the success of this.

2.You can stretch a bottle of shampoo by adding a bit of water to it. This is particularly useful when the kids use like a quarter cup of shampoo with each lather, rinse, repeat.

3.Elementary school plays and high school concerts are worthwhile events.

4.You can do things without asking Dad, as long as you can convince him that he gave his permission before hand. Just be careful about getting caught, especially bringing home the puppy your middle child whined for, or he will remind you about who is responsible for years to come.

5.One of the best ways to serve God is to serve people. Sending a bit of gas and 20 minutes giving someone a lift, listening while they need to vent, and sticking in an extra casserole in the oven for someone in need is a part of being the person God created you to be.

What have you learned from you mom?



Joie de Vivre ~ A Hearty Joy of Living!

The Manilow

When I was a child I developed two characteristics. One is that once I find something I like, I will stick with it. The other is that I have always been a step behind in just about everything. Hence my glee at the return of peasant blouses and the reason I scan store catalogue hoping beyond hope that bellbottoms or acid wash will come back. It also explains why all during the 80’s and even now I am a Barry Manilow fan. When I was 12 I discovered that sappy ballads and powerful key changes hit my heart. So the whole Las Vegas trip was a birthday present to take me to see the man who knew exactly what I was feeling when those dumbass boys were stupid enough to let me go!

Now I know that Barry appeals to a different part of people than say BB King or Mozart, but I love the fact that he does not take himself too seriously and has fun with the cheese factor in his performance. Besides, his songs actually have melody and lyrics that do touch something very human inside of us all.

But the best part of the show happened after the encore. I met Tony. He didn’t tend bar, he was an 82 year old usher who was simply charming.

"Do you know that that blond boy is Barry Manilow? Yes, it is true. The people last night, they didn’t know."

When Fellow Fanilow asked him to give me his Barry Manilow button as a birthday present, he responded…

"My button? You want my button? You’re half my age. Elton John, now he as two buttons – here and here."(Putting his hands on his backside.)

Well, thanks to Fellow Fanilow, I now have a very nice button. I also have an understanding of the multi tiered slot machine. If you get two cherries, an orange, three pineapples and one Carmen Miranda – that is good. But if it is two Carmens, one cherry, one orange and a fruit basket is not good. Or wait, maybe it is if Carmen is staring at you cross-eyed that you win, or lose. Maybe I have a lot more to learn before I getting into the super secret high stakes games.


Joie de Vivre ~ A Hearty Joy of Living!

Viva Las Vegas

The birthday weekend got off to a surprisingly good start – beginning at the airport where doodah!, Fellow Fanilow and I met a lovely semi-retired anesthesiologist who lives in Vegas. I say semi-retired because there is a doctor that she has partnered with for many years who moved his practice to the foothills of California. Whenever he has a serious surgery he flies her in for the day. I guess with the pressure of surgery, you’d want someone you know and trust on the keeping-the-patient-out-but-not-dead end of things. All I’ve got to say is that the money had better be pretty darn good because the flight’s an hour and a half and the drive is more than another couple of hours. Anywho, she gave us the lowdown on the place locals go for a weekend buffet – the same food as the casinos on the strip but only a third the price. She also let us know that if you are going to see Cirque Da Sole, while both are dazzling, Mystere has a better storyline than O and is more elegant. So put that in the corner pocket of your mind for future getaway plans.


After we got our rental car (which we lovingly referred to as our muscle gangsta car) and checked into our room – which had little munchkins bouncing off the walls hopped up on lollipops (get it, munchkins…lollipops…) – it was 2:30 AM and we were starving and buzzed on over stimulation. So off to the Bellagio Café for a super late night supper. Easy-peasy, right? Ha! Vegas may be eager to fill your every whim when you are in the super secret high stakes Kino game room (I know they exist somewhere, I know they do dang nab it), but if you are an ordinary couple of Janes wanting a BLT at 3 AM you’re going to have to learn the lessons of waiting. Not only did it take three people to get customers to their tables and take orders, the wait staff had an unwritten rule that they were not to communicate with each other verbally (it probably throws gamblers off their mojo) so they have some Helen Keller strung out on crack hand signal system, which no one understood and had to walk over and whisper in the other’s ear. If they point three fingers in the air while facing east and flicking the wrist clockwise means seat these two people away from the kitchen door and get them water with ice. A counterclockwise flick of the wrist means no ice.

But the best part of the night came as we were standing outside with middle aged men and their, well lets just assume they are their daughters. As we were languishing in line, this guy with a white satin tracksuit with teal writing and his friend came strutting in past the hostess and two assistants, totally ignoring the hand signals. A flurry of staff stumbled over themselves shooing him back to the front. Let’s pick up the dialogue here:

Tracksuit Man: Do you know who I am?
Mousey Hostess: No sir, but you have to wait until the others have been seated.
TM: Do you know who I am? We are RF & BD, (which sounded like r f’n bd, as in real f’n big deal). I wait for nobody. Get Tom on the line and you’ll find out I don’t wait for nobody.

I don’t know who Tim was, but he got RF & BD a table, sitting just far enough away from us that we got to see him periodically stand up, take off his jacket and walk past the mirrors admiringly flexing his muscles – all for our entertainment. We would have taken a picture, but I think he knew people who could hurt us and make it look like an accident.　But anytime you feel frustrated and that you deserve better, feel free to shout out, "I'm RF'NBD and I don't wait for nobody!"

Coming up next, the Music and Passion.

Joie de Vivre ~ A Hearty Joy of Living!

Me and Elvis

One month ago two incredibly dear friends took me on the ride of my life to celebrate my 40th birthday. Yes that is right, the big four-oh. By the way, I am to tell you that my mother, who is too young to have a child this old, adopted me when I was 20 and she was 14 years old.

So where did we go, you may ask? Was it to the raging nightlife of Boise? Duluth? Omaha? These are all very fine cities in their own right. But for a milestone birthday we headed for the bright lights of the Los Vegas Strip.

There were a few goals that we had:
1) Convince someone to let us be brides maids at their Las Vegas Chapel-o-Love wedding.
2) Find an Elvis. We got so busy that goals one and two dropped down on the things-we-gotta-do list. However, I found out that the head of our math department was hitched at the Vegas Graceland Chapel where you can have your choice of Elvis, gold lamé young Elvis and the flashy, sequined, 70's cape and jumpsuit Elvis, perform the wedding.
3) Visit all the places in Ocean's 11
and quote as many lines as possible. Fortunately the only line I can remember is, "If you don't shut up I am going to eat your whole head."
4) And the major reason we went to Vegas is to see The Man in action. Yes, I am talking about Berry Manilow. What can I say, he writes the songs that make the whole world sing.

There is more to come. So please stay tuned.

Joie de Vivre ~ A Hearty Joy of Living!

Only The Soul Can Perceive What the Eye Sees

I am finally back. So much of what I was writing was either rushed or trite. It got tiring. I would love to say that I put a self-imposed hiatus until I got inspired or emotionally and spiritually refueled. That is partially true. I was tapped and writing anything beyond drivel was too much work. So a combination of lack of inspiration and laziness has kept me procrastinating until suddenly an entire month has gone by. I have to remember the advice of many professional writers - that they set aside time every day to write - even if they do not feel inspired. So, while I am going to try and minimize the drivel, I am going back to the discipline of posting weekly, starting today. The title of this post came from a sign in Yosemite - one of the most beautiful places God ever His mark on.

On our second day there, My Sweet and I went on a hike to Vernal Falls, and this was our first real hike since the onset of winter. The walk was glorious and a challenge at first. But I felt pretty good because I was keeping up with a couple of very fit 20 somethings. At first. By the end of the first leg I had dad's carrying toddlers passing me up. But a sweet East Indian granny and I were going neck and neck.
The next leg of the trek was only 0.3 miles to the falls. I figured there was no problem - it is more than that when I walk from my house to the neighborhood grocery store. No problem, right? What that little trail sign did not mention was that the 1/3-mile was practically straight up. You may be thinking to yourself that is no big deal. Well imagine this: you decide to go check out the view from the top of the Empire State building - and take the stairs! I do not care how buff you are, by the fifth floor you'll be huffing and puffing.

Even the bundle of energy 5th graders, who had zoomed by earlier, needed to stop for breaks. They were talking so seriously about their video games, getting quite philosophical. Discussions of all things electronic was acceptable for them to do in the midst of glorious beauty - they were eight years old and didn't know any better. This was not acceptable behavior for the full grown adult a few feet above talking on his cell to his wife and children three floors behind us. Not only is using a cell phone on a hike ascetically and dare I say morally wrong, but hey Mister if you get distracted on these mist covered pillars of death you'll slip and come crashing down on me.

The trip up to the fabulous falls took like about 5 hours. The trip down could have been 15 minutes if I just stopped, dropped and rolled - like Dick Van Dyke taught me back in the day. Instead we took a longer loop down that was 1.6 miles, but was a cakewalk. And now I need to go soak my aching body in a nice hot bath.

Joie de Vivre ~ A Hearty Joy of Living!

Elvis and Me

I am off to Vegas Baby for a girls' weekend and a milestone birthday. Plus we are on the hunt for the quintessential Elvis-wannabe. More stories to come.

Joie de Vivre ~ A Hearty Joy of Living!

Drowning at the Lake House - Whoa!

In the spirit of February, My Sweet and I rented the sappy romantic movie The Lake House that once again paired the adorable Sandra Bullock - who I think would have made a wonderful elfish princess in LOTR - with award winning Keanu Reeves. Yes, I am relatively certain that Mr. Reeves won the "Largest Number of Emotions Attempted With One Tone" prize. He also was the recipient of the 2000 "Surprising Inability to Damage the Matrix.” Mr. Reeves as also achieved the Grand Masters level of the use of the phrase "whoa” as in, "Whoa, I know karate." (The Matrix) Or, "Whoa, I look darn good strolling through mist covered grapevines." (A Walk In the Clouds) And finally there is, "Whoa, I just made a deal with the devil so I can be in a Shakesphere movie." (Much to do About Nothing)


Now don't get me wrong, there are several things I appreciate about Mr. Reeves. First of all he is a very pretty man. He wasn't kidding about looking good in A Walk in the Clouds. In addition, my favorite high school comedy of all times is Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure - it way beats the pants off of Mike Myers' Wayne's Word. He was good in Parenthood, he was the same character but with a real girlfriend. Speed was his pushing the envelope role as the mono-emotional cop who would risk messing up his hair in order to save the lives of the innocent. But seriously, that is it. Every few minutes of the Lake House had me writhing on the floor because this role called for more emoting than what King Whoa could give. I could go along with the suspended belief of time traveling love letters. I could even put up with the predictability of the ending. But add to this Keanu's emotional stuntedeness, well it is a trifecta that I just could not handle.

The next week we rented United 93, and I was overcome with realization that the real life professional air traffic, who played themselves in the film, were showing a greater variety of believable emotions than Mr. Keanu Reeves.

On a more cheerful note, if you are a fan of The Office - check out Dwight and Michaell trying to bring sexy back.
Joie de Vivre ~ A Hearty Joy of Living!