Thursday, February 29, 2024

Sunny Days

 
     Winter has been dragging on a long time in some places.  Here are some of our terra cotta (and poured concrete) sun (and moon) faces to hopefully cheer you up.

     This poured concrete one is new:  one of my Christmas gifts to my husband.  Some of the turquoise paint was on there, but I made the turquoise eye more noticeable.  The moon part was all turquoise, no accents.  We both thought it would look better with a terra cotta eye, "stars" and other accents, so I added those.

 
 This terra cotta one was our out-front stand-by for years.  It was also a past Christmas gift to my husband.  I added the turquoise details for effect.  (Our current house, Mediterranean style, has a terra cotta house number sign.  I painted the numbers turquoise, too.)  The cracks are just the aging of untreated terra cotta, which is like those pots for plants.  The super glue will prevent further cracking, but he's "lost points", too.  He's going on the back wall.  
Rodney Dangerfield dopplegänger?




  
















 


        This smaller terra cotta face has mostly been an inside decoration.  He's too small to see well outside.   Turquoise accents also added by me.



     
   This sun/moon was also a gift to my husband.  He painted this one quite brightly years ago.  It is also an indoors decoration.

     

Wednesday, February 7, 2024

Truman's Swans

  
     In the early months of 2024, FX generated a lot of buzz about its Season 2 series of The Feud.  The season focused on Truman Capote's "swans."
     But decades before the FX program, even before the real Truman Capote was famous, there were the original Truman's swans.   Harry Truman loved his swans.  Biographies will say that Harry had no middle name, just the letter "S" to honor his grandfathers.  In reality, the "S" stood for "Swans", his mother's great love.  In 1948, he even threw a Black & White Valentine's Day Ball for them in the White House.

     The swans were a jealous bevy.  They turned on each other and became aggressive.
     They even started attacking Truman and the iconic Presidential Desk.  They had to go.

     Truman got his revenge.  He sent them to the Kansas City (Missouri) Zoo.  Their descendants are still annoyed by loud humans and their offspring today.  



Wednesday, January 31, 2024

February 14th Hoopla

 
Why is February 14th, (Saint) Valentine's Day, such a cash cow 💰💸🐄🐮for Hallmark, florists & chocolatiers?  🎴💟🍫🎕

While a lot of stories turn out to be urban myths, Geoffry Chaucer's poem "The Parlement of Foules" ["The Parliament of Fowls"], written around 1375, seems to be a real reason why.

From Chaucer, in Middle English:

For this was on Seint Valenteyns day
When every foul cometh ther to chese his make...

As they were wont alwey fro yeer to year,
Seint Valenteyns day to stonden there...

Seint Valentyn, that art ful hy on-lofte
Thus syngen smale foules for thy sake...

-OR-

For this was on Saint Valentine's Day,
When every fowl comes there to choose his mate...

As they regularly do from year to year
On Saint Valentine's Day staying firmly there...

Saint Valentine, that is fully lifted up (upon us)
Thus sing small fowls for your sake...

      What?  This holiday morphed from something quasi-Christian to a poem about bird love to a serious cash layout to show you really care?  
     There were possibly up to three Valentines who lived in the third century A.D., when Christians were being persecuted by Romans. Possibly one or more died on February 14th.
     The stories about Valentine speak of love, but not romantic love.  It is a "fraternal" love for brother and sister Christians, played out by extreme sacrifice.
     However, prior to that, the Romans had looked at February as a "month for lovers", so that may have influenced why Chaucer set his meeting of the birds on St. Valentine's Day.  Ordinarily, that seems a bit early for mating season in England.
     So, if you're done with the V-D routine, try something different.  Offer to read your loved one Chaucer's poem in Middle English. That ought to kill any over-the-top romantic expressions (unless you're both majoring in older English literature).  😅
     If you're Christian, you could always view the theatrically released movie Paul, the Apostle of Christ as a family. That movie shows the type of love Valentine was said to exhibit.  
     Happy Valentine's Day! 



Saturday, January 13, 2024

Beyond Dreaming

 
  • This MLK Day, how about we do something more than dream it?  How about we live it?  --Marie Byars


Friday, January 12, 2024

Spare No Expense

      
      The one-year anniversary of Spare in January 2024 has been an inspiration!
     Many hoped that Harry and Meghan would be a little "sparse" for a while after the aviation and other low-grade "recognitions."   (The Kiddie Hawk "Legends of Aviation" Award is given yearly by an organization attempting to interest youth in aviation.  Neither the award nor the organization usually get the attention they did in 2024.)  
     Whatever they do, they will still seek income.  Maybe they could develop these products, which would practically sell themselves:

       Obvious but useful!  In an era where most "spares" are the annoyingly small donut tires (tyres), Harry could spearhead a movement back to full-sized spares!

     Who doesn't need to keep a few spares of these around?  Even though we're past the COVID shortages, you don't want to be caught without extras of toilet paper, or loo rolls, as Harry's native UK refers to them.
  

     Most of us keep some spare towels around.


     Or if you want to play up the "misfit" aspect, as Spare does, maybe this collection is for you:


For more ideas on possible Harry merch, check out these links:


Sunday, December 31, 2023

Is Something Missing Here?

 
"Brain in a Jar"
Perot Museum
Dallas, TX


🧠🧠🧠🧠🧠🧠🧠🧠
Happy New Year!
2024


Friday, December 15, 2023

Euro Christmas Battle

 
Which nativity* is better?

My mom's brightly colored German style?

Or the Italian faux-wood muted style we bought in adulthood?

I may be of German descent, but I like the Italian nativity better!

*Wise Men to come later.  We celebrate their coming on Epiphany, January 6th, so I put them out around New Years.  We've acquired 6 for our Italian set. Since the Bible only numbers the gifts and not the men, we put them all out!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!