Midnight...

I feel like the yawning cat on the post below!... Being old and staying up late should never be used in the same sentence!
I forced myself to stay awake until midnight last night so that I could go on line to listen to The Gregg Hunter Show. He's the man I mentioned in other posts who has a call in-radio show and talks about old movies and old stars and or does interviews concerning the Hollywood industry.
Last night he happened to be doing a very interesting interview with the author of "Exiles in Hollywood. His name is David Wallace. Names began to fly as I tried to keep awake enough to listen..
Otto Preminger / Alfred Hitchcock / Charles Laughton and Ellsa Lanchester / Greta Garbo / Heddy Lamar ..and on and on! The likes of these names will never be forgotten by many, but many others will never hear of them. And that is really sad.
Big name directors and actors of a time gone by... it was a time before "special effects" so the actors had to portray it all. (don't get me wrong.. i love, love, love, special effects! But only where they are really needed to enhance a story) It was a time when actors were owned by the studios, and directors ruled the production. It was a time when many actors made a "salary"..not the sort of money they make today!
For anyone interested in movies.. it was a time you should find some books and read about it!
That being said.. I could only stay awake about 40 minutes when I knew I was no longer really hearing what was being said, so I went to bed. Ohhhh, how I miss hearing that show! But I know as long as some sort of repeat of the show isn't put on at an earlier time for the East Coast, it will be seldom I manage to stay awake to hear it. And that makes me sad because hearing others speak of names that just don't come up everyday is interesting, and brings back memories of the old movies.
Just the mention of Charles Laughton, after remembering he was married to Ellsa Lanchester ( Bride of Frankenstein 1935 and she was in the movie I mentioned not long ago of "Murder By Death" 1976. Her list of credits reads 96 movies!) I then thought of Laughton's : Mutiny On the Bounty 1935 (Capt. Bligh), The Hunchback of Notre Dame 1935 ( Quasimodo ), and he was also in Spartacus in 1960 as Sempronius Gracchus. (among his movie list of 62 movies).



The stars of yesteryear worked at their craft!!
Though I will never have an opportunity to meet the likes of these sort of creative talents, I'm happy when I do get to meet or hear some that are still with us like Kevin McCarthy.
Which brings me to the fact that as of Friday I will be gone for the entire weekend to a Lord Of The Rings convention, so I will not be posting those days.. ya'll get a break!
I am happy that I will have a chance to meet and hear Sean Astin speak at this convention. I guess, without really considering it, I am a fan of his. He happened to have made a few other movies that I absolutely love. (Including LOTR of course).. and they would be Goonies, and yet another movie I've mentioned before: Rudy. I'm not much of a hand raiser to ask questions but I hope someone asks about those movies so that he will talk about them. I realize it's a LOTR convention, so it will remain the top subject of the weekend.. but dang...he sure was good in those other movies too!

Scalzi's Monday Photo Shoot

How funny is this? Scalzi's Monday Photo Shoot is of YAWNING... he put up a photo of his cat (Lopsided Cat) yawning... well Winkey at this house looks an awful lot like John's cat...and yep, I happened to have a photo of her yawning!

So, that's my Monday Photo Shoot John!! Are you really sure that's YOUR cat in the photo and not Winkey?!

Movies that made me laugh?

Argh!.. since I talked about movies that make me cry, I was going to try to mention movies that make me laugh... so I turned on the television today and what's on? One of Haley Joel Osment's movies! "Pay it Forward"... dumbly, I watched! And dumbly I cried!

Well that put me in a great fix to try to write about movies that make me laugh! Instead it brought to mind another movie I should have mentioned that I always cry at.. The Color Purple!! Such a good movie!! And such a good cry at the end!!! But at least it's a "happy cry"..versus the "sad cry" like I just had in Pay it Forward! Oh, and one other movie I cried a lot at, but most people I know don't even know the movie, which surprises the heck out of me, it's called: What Dreams May Come. This is a Robin Williams movie, and he's made me cry more then once in more of his movies. He may be best known as a stand up comic, but he's a much better actor then he gets credit for. (even though he did get an award for The Fisherking.)

So.. there is crying over something that's a happy moment, and crying over the sad moments, and then...... there's the cry that goes from a few tears to a full, blown out "now I can't stop crying" cry!! (I really have to thank Kyitoe for bringing up this subject! Since he did I've cried more then laughed! Like my own depression doesn't make me cry enough! gimme a break!) I'm almost afraid to turn on the tv guide channel and see what else is on today!

Oh! I forgot one.. have you ever started laughing at something and then you can't stop laughing?... and then you laugh so hard you start to cry?!.. and then you can't stop crying??!! I have!.. I never can figure out how I go from laughing to a full blown cry! Yeah, yeah, I know.. it must be afemale thing!

I was more then happy that the HBO movie this week was War of The Worlds. No crying! But that has to be because I'm not a Tom Cruise fan. I am however a big Dakota Fanning fan, and she was fantastic in it. This kid is already a great actress, I hope it continues for her.

So now, here I sit trying to think of movies that make me laugh..yeah right. Well I know there are some, just trying to think of them now that I've had my cry for the day isn't the easiest thing to do! I know I've chuckled at Shrek and Ice Age, but those are cartoon movies.

I can come up with a few old movies that I know I had laughs through out the movie but I honestly can't remember one, right now, that made me laugh really really hard. Hmmm, oh well, I can remember laughing during the original Pink Panther movie, with Peter Sellers, and during Blazing Saddles with Gene Wilder and Cleavon Little, and in one black and white movie that I still find funny and sooooo well done, called: Murder By Death, which besides being funny, had one of the biggest "all star casts" I can ever remember seeing together! Eileen Brennan - Truman Capote - James Coco - Peter Falk - Alec Guinness- Elsa Lanchester- David Niven- Peter Sellers- Maggie Smith - Nancy Walker - Estelle Winwood - James Cromwell , if you ever tried to get that many stars in one move today, it would be impossible because of the salaries they require now. But it is a really fun movie (a spoof of old time detectives trying to solve a mystery) and holds up today as well as it did in 1976 when it was released.

On this note, I will end this post... but first, a few lines of script from Murder By Death... enjoy... and then tell me what movies you found funny.

Jessica Marbles: I smell gas!
Miss Withers: I can't help it, I'm old.
Jessica Marbles: No, not that kind of gas. The kind that kills!
Miss Withers: Well, sometimes my gas...
Milo Perrier: He's gone!
Jessica Marbles: Who's gone?
Milo Perrier: The butler. Here's the key.
Sidney Wang: If butler gone, where you find key?
Milo Perrier: In his pocket.
Jessica Marbles: What pocket?
Milo Perrier: The butler's pocket.
Sidney Wang: Butler gone but pocket still there?

Sidney Wang: No pulse, no heartbeat. If condition does not change, this man is dead.

Sidney Wang: What meaning of this, Mr. Twain?
Lionel Twain: I will tell you, Mr. Wang, if YOU can tell ME why a man who possesses one of the most brilliant minds of this century can't say his *prepositions* or *articles!* "What IS THE," Mr. Wang! "What IS THE meaning of this?"
Sidney Wang: That what I said! "What meaning of this?"

Things always seem to happen in 3's..

And so it goes...the third celebrity we have lost in a matter of days. His name: Jack Warden, born in 1920, he was 85 yrs old.

I don't doubt that everyone has seen him at one time or another, either in a movie or on television, for he was a very in demand character actor and once you saw and heard him you remembered him.....and like the others before him.. he will be missed greatly.

Here is a link to the AOL News story about him.. Jack Warden Dies at age 85.

And here is the IMDb link so that you can read his many credits: IMDb

I hope this is the last we loose for a while anyway. We need a Gregg Hunter on the east coast so that we may listen and learn more about the creative people that have brought us so much entertainment.

I do believe! I do, I do, I do!

I was reading Bill's journal today,The Wildcats Lair (and on Blogspot), Bill was responding to Jess's Writers Question The question was: What is your experience with characters? Do they come to you "full grown out of oblivion" or do they come in pieces and only share a bit of what you need to know them? Do you hear their voices, or do you develop them? What makes them real for you?

...and in his response he wrote this: Characters really do take on a life of their own. Many of the ones that run around the inside of my head have enjoyed that space for more than a decade. Some are probably going on two, but just how many of them are really alive to me? More than I care to admit!

Now, sometimes I respond to Jess's questions myself, only because I've attempted to write a Fantasy Fiction story, that most who read my journal know about. (Kesterwood Forest). But never having any real writing training and having no hope what-so-ever of writing well enough to be published, I don't always respond to her questions. (then again, sometimes I do, just because it strikes me so strong, that i feel qualified to respond.)

Anyway... I came close to trying to respond to Jess but I didn't. But, that certain something I just mentioned about "striking me"... well, it struck in the sentence that Bill wrote... the part where he asks himself "just how many are really alive to me? More than I care to admit!"

Boy howdy! Ain't that the truth!! To anyone who has never made up characters to tell a story, I realize they wouldn't really "get" it, but anyone who has.. well, if most (if not all) of your characters don't become borderline real to you... then you probably don't even like your own writing!

In Fantasy, of course there are characters who one might think, "how can they seem real to you?".. maybe a giant or a dwarf character. But, ummm, dwarves are real people, and so are giants. Giants are people born with acromegaly, a disease that results in an over abundance of growth hormones, also known as Giantism. So right there a piece of the character is "real". Others such as a Wizard type character may not be totally real, but where most of the "reality" begins (for me) is with the personalities you give them, no matter what sort of character it is.

Among my characters I have a Giant named Kien, who could well be labeled "the gentle giant", a dwarf named Laika, who wants nothing more then to have good friends and a life different from others, and an old man named Abbercorn, who could be the father I never had, or a mentor that most anyone would want.

So.. oh yeah, I agree with Bill about characters being alive and very real. And not just in my head, but in my heart also. Sometimes hearing that "it's just Fiction" can be cruel words when it means "they aren't real". I know I can no longer look at a forest without wishing I could walk into it and meet some of the very characters I wrote about. I've laughed with them, and cried with them... no one can tell me they aren't real.

And to Jess... you bet I hear their voices!

Enough already!

Boy, I'm glad Tuesday is over! Yesterday evening we had more booming thunderstorms go thru our area. The biggest lasted a little over an hour. Can we say "lightening"?! Gads zooks! One thunder didn't stop rumbling and another flash of lightening would occur!! Over an hour like that! All the cats were moving around nearly on their stomachs and in slow motion if any movement at all... can we say "scared"? lol.. I was right with them after that last one we had that took down major branches and trees around here. I sat on the stairs out of my room since the room is in a direct shot for a huge tree on the lawn of David's' other house next door. It seems along with these storms can come winds of 60 mph and they always blows that tree (which a healthy large branch did break off the last storm) towards this house and the room i live in. (can we say paranoid?)

Of course the timing for the storm was about a crummy as it could get... 15 more minutes to go watching "House"(Hugh Laurie) and BOOM, it had begun and I quickly turned off the television! Dang it! So of course I don't know the ending of the kid who was burned. If anyone saw it, feel free to tell me what they discovered about the kid that made him have the accident. *sigh*

The outcome of the storm is that close by (but not us this time) had trees down and electrical lines down. I've said before that I am OLD and I can say that of all the years growing up in NJ that I've never witnessed so many severe storms here as we have had this year. That's been the real kicker for the weather reports to make my stomach churn.. they just hadda add the word SEVERE! (they weren't wrong this time). Know what i just love?.. when they say: "potentially severe"!.. duh.. so do I worry or not? heh.

However, for now, it did break the heat wave, for which I am eternally grateful! My room had been a constant 92 degrees (98 outside) even with fans going. Although, there are window air conditioners in 3 rooms of this house, the room I reside in has none. This morning the thermometer reads a "cool" 82 ! Hey, I'll take it!

Scalzi's Monday Photo Shoot

Your Monday Photo Shoot: With photo editing tools, take a picture of yours and turn it into a negative. The idea here is not to take just any picture, mind you, but one that you think will look particularly striking with its colors inverted.

I looked thru my folders of past pictures I've used and started making them negatives.. the first two I thought were nice.. but boring.. only "blue" lions ! So I continued until I found some that showed some "color" other then just blue.. this is what I came up with.

Nice Surprise..

In my last post I mentioned a man named Gregg Hunter, who did a call in radio show out in California. The talk was all about old movie stars and movies. I also mentioned that I searched the web and found his name and email, and that he did some writing for a newspaper of some sort.

Well.. much to my surprise he responded to my email. I am posting it below because for anyone who wants to hear him.. you can! Unfortunately, for me, it's still from the west coast, so 9 pm their time is midnight here... and this old fart doesn't stay awake late!

But just the same I know a few readers are from the west coast and if they are interested in hearing his talk show all you have to do it go to CRNI.net, choose channel CRN1, (across the top) then choose, How to Listen (on the left) and then (on the right) under Now Playing, Listen Live, choose CRN1. That will load the cable radio and buffer it and then you will hear live radio. Remember: 9 pm Monday night WEST COAST TIME (midnight East Coast Time).

Here is the email I got from Gregg:

What a nice surprise to hear from you. Yes, the last I heard Turhan is very much alive -- and so am I. His attempt at a comeback was not very successfully as Hollywood has a very short memory. Coincidentally I just did an interview with the biography author of actress, Patricia Neal. She's alive, 80, and doing medium well.. Caught a glimpse of her on he TONY awards marking 60 years since she was the first winner. Time marches on!

Though KIEV was sold and then totally obliterated, I was only off for a week or two and am still at the microphone with the familiar format. Even on the east coast, you can catch my current CRN network show on Monday eves at 9 PCT -- midnite in your area. Just log on to CRNI.net channel one and there I am doing the same sort of thing I did alll those years on KIEV. No more 6 nites a week -- I had to get a life while there's some left in me. But old habits are hard to break! If you have a problem downloading CRN you can your nearest station or cable connection; for CRN by calling 818 352-7152. And if you'd like to talk Hollywood and more with me 'on the air' dial 1 800 336-2225 and just tell my producer you're an old friend of 'Gregg Hunter's World". If I'm doing an interview, either listen by phone or leave a call back number. Thanks again for getting in touch. All best -- "COUSIN GREGG"

Times gone by..

Way back, last November, I wrote about When I was 10 Years Old, and a radio show that led me to write to "my first Hollywood love", Turhan Bey.

Gregg Hunter

If you were to hear that radio show today, one might think it would be just "old folks" calling in and talking about the "old movies and old actors", but to tell the truth there were quite a few Movie Buffs of all ages that would be regular callers.

I know I touched on the fact that I wished there was some sort of radio or television (with all the cable channels anything is possible) that still covered the older movies and especially the growing number of older actors, that seem to be leaving us left and right.

I can remember that on occasion, on Gregg's radio show, one of the actors or actresses would call in their self and talk to Gregg. ( I even tried to get DeForest to call in since he loved the show so much, but he never did. He always had a hard time talking about himself... many times he stated that the reason he didn't write a Biography was because he couldn't deal with "I, I, I" all the time. He was just a shy, very private person).

Now that we seem to be having another group of celebrities passing.. I find myself wishing there was a real radio or television show where they told some of their fabulous stories, and people could call in and ask questions, or just plain speak to someone they admired for oh so many years. I know it would excite the caller... and I feel sure the celebrity would feel really good inside knowing that they aren't forgotten.

With this in mind I have a request for anyone reading this: (make that 2 requests!)

Name one of your favorite actors or actress's that you would love to meet. Then tell me what question you would ask of them. Leave your answer in comments or do a post about them and come here and leave a link so we can all read it.

Red Buttons...

Red Buttons dies, age 87.

Born: 5 February 1919
New York, New York, USA

Birth name
Aaron Chwatt

I remember many of the movies Red Appeared in.. and most of all I remember his television show "The Red Buttons Show", with him cuffing his ear and singing the "Ho Ho Ho" song!

Every time we seem to hear of our actors and actresses passing I get sad.. I also get upset. I go to autograph shows and meet many actors past the age of 60 and I look at all the wonderful photo's of them "in their prime" and I stand and listen to the fans telling them how much they meant to them during this movie or that and grinning from ear to ear to have a few precious moments to meet them. And I see the expression on the actor or actress, and what I seem to see is happiness, for being remembered, and for feeling they had purpose in their life.

The next thing I know, I blink... and they are gone.

And each time I get more upset and don't understand why there isn't some sort of television or radio shows for these people, where many more "fans" could call in and ask questions of them and meet them and have their own special moments with them. For surely it's a "win -win situation" for the actor or actress and for the people who still think of them when they see one of their old movies and wish they knew what has become of them, for without agents.. it's a hard road to find an address to be able to write to them and tell them... that they surely aren't forgotten.

From the NY Times... Red Buttons, a Borscht Belt comic who rose to instant television stardom on his own variety show in 1952, descended to obscurity three years later after his program was canceled, and then rebounded to win the Academy Award as best supporting actor in 1958 for his dramatic performance in “Sayonara,” died today at his home in Los Angeles. He was 87.The cause was vascular disease, his publicist Warren Cown told The Associated Press.

(more from the NY Times here.)

IMDb Bio... Although Red Buttons is best known as a stand-up comic, he is also a successful song writer, an Academy Award-winning actor (and has been nominated for two Golden Globe awards) and an accomplished singer. Born Aaron Chwatt in New York City's Lower East Side, Buttons (who got his name from a uniform he wore while working as a singing bellhop) started his show-business career singing on street corners as a child. At 16 he got a job as part of a comedy act playing the famed Catskills resort area in upstate New York (his partner was future actor Robert Alda). Buttons worked the burlesque circuit as a comic and even landed a role in a Broadway play, "Vicki", in 1942. He soon joined the U.S. Marine Corps, and in 1943 was picked for a role in Moss Hart's service play "Winged Victory" on Broadway, and soon afterwards journeyed to Hollywood to make the film version. After his discharge from the service he returned to Broadway, both in plays and as a comic with several big-band orchestras. He was successful enough that he got his own TV series, "The Red Buttons Show" (1952), on CBS. It lasted three years and won Buttons an Emmy for Best Comedian. He worked steadily for the next several years, and in 1957 got his big film break in the drama Sayonara (1957) with Marlon Brando, in which he played an American soldier stationed in Japan who struggled against the societal and racist pressures of both American and Japanese cultures because of his love for a Japanese woman. His performance garnered him an Academy Award, and more film roles followed. He was nominated for a Golden Globe for Harlow (1965/I) and again for They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969). He had a part in the TV series "The Double Life of Henry Phyfe" (1966) and has done pretty much every kind of TV show there is, from variety to comedy to soap operas. He gained further renown in the 1960s for his appearances on the "Dean Martin Celebrity Roast" where he performed his "Never Got a Dinner" act to great acclaim. He has played Las Vegas for years, has a star on Hollywood Boulevard (corner of Hollywood and Vine) and has appeared in numerous telethons andcharitable events, for which he has been honored by such organizations as the Friars Club and the City of Hope Hospital.

(Read this and credits at IMDb.com )

Feline Friday...

Hey! It's Feline Friday again! lol... I actually managed to get a picture of Stinkey.. and he's not asleep! Woo-hoo! Mark your calendars! hahaha.. Of course he was somewhere he wasn't supposed to be so he didn't stick around long.. I was lucky to get one photo... and it wasn't too bad.

And just for extra credit .. here's one of Peanutchew playing..

Another Loss..

June Allyson dies at 88.....

June Allyson, the sunny, raspy-voiced "perfect wife" of James Stewart, Van Johnson and other movie heroes, has died, her daughter Pamela Allyson Powell said Monday. She was 88.
She died of pulmonary respiratory failure and acute bronchitis after a long illness, Powell said.

The full article of June's passing is found here at Hollywood Reporter.

We, of the older generation, (and movie buffs of all ages) are loosing our most famous actors and actresses. June Allyson is the latest to leave us. Many who read this will not even know who June Allyson is, but if you don't know her.. you've missed another one of the fine actresses of our earlier movie days.

One of June's more famous appearances was in Little Women A really great movie. If you have never seen the first version of this movie you should watch for it on TMC and make it a point to see it.

TV? or not TV?

I've noticed many of the journals I read, at one time or another, talk about "television" and how bad it is for kids because they don't go out and play, and for adults because they should be doing chores, or reading or writing or anything but television.

I think some of this reasoning stems from the age at which we are now. For some reason how things used to be sits in the backs of our minds and then tells us television is bad. Re: Before television I read more, I was outside more, I did this or that more,etc.

Whelp, I thought on this today. And though it's true I did more of those things too, the fact is we change every minute of everyday. So what we did once doesn't mean we should be doing it now. Is it really so bad to be a couch potato? Hmmm... there is something here that needs looking into. Agreed, it's not healthy to be a couch potato but, if you are enjoying the television, then I think it can't be all bad.

You don't think about the things you "have" to do.. they somehow get done. What is in question is, the television. If you sit and think about how many times you put off or don't do something you enjoy, you wake up and find you had very little enjoyment in your life. So, if you are enjoying the movie or show you watch on television... can it really be so bad? If you can't afford to travel or to buy something that makes you happy, you have to get enjoyment where you can. And television is about the only affordable enjoyment most can get.

I've read some journals of those who are writers (and hoping to be writers) who claim television deters their creative thoughts or it takes them from time that they should be writing. Oh really? hmmm. It would seem to me that if those creative juices were flowing you would be typing and not watching television, there should be no thoughts of "I should be". And if they truly feel i should be writing, and i take that to mean, i should force myself to write and not watch television, well... forced writing would not be good writing. If the ideas are there, then you are not going to be needing to make a choice.

For anyone who feels they should be doing something other then watching television, my answer would be ...don't force the issue. Those things that HAVE to be done or even NEED to be done..eventually get done. The body and mind need down time, rest time, enjoyment time. Life is too short..WAaaay to short.. to not enjoy a movie or a show.. or even alot of them, since most can't afford other means of enjoyment.

Yep, I grew up in a time when there was no television and little television, and yes I may have used my imagination more ..but i'm not sure on that note, since television and the computer both can also stir the imagination. It may actually be more "even -steven" then we think.

The same could be said of the computer. Both the television and computer when I think of them... a bane? or a revelation? good? bad?..or both. I think: both. Time spent on or watching them? Good or bad? (both) Good if you are getting enjoyment, bad if you are not.

I think I'm about to change subjects here.. partly from reading a post in Aurieleta's journal about the use of computers and writing, and part just thinking of my computer and how I came to have it.

Before any means of typing, I never kept a diary or a journal like many did. When I learned how to type (only 1 yr in hs) we somehow managed to get a cheap electric typewriter, and I loved it! It was a Smith-Corona... but as we all know (well any who ever used one) typewriters don't do "spell check" ..and boy did I ever need it! heh.. From there I went to a Word Processor, with a tiny screen and spell check!.. and a dictionary! Wow! was I ever impressed?! You bet I was! Back then I wrote lots of letters.. loooooong letters! It was a great machine, because it had all of that plus you could put a few pieces of paper in the back of it and it printed out what you wrote and you didn't have to feed it one page at a time. The funny part of it, now that i think of it, is listening to it print out... you heard the sound of a very fast typewriter!

From there I went to a "hand built" computer with a very small hard drive, nearly no memory and a version of windows that no one would remember ..heh.

Since then I've had 2 more computers, each "bigger and better" then the last..naturally. Not necessarily because I wanted it that way, but because you had to buy them that way. Interesting isn't it? That although some people don't want or need more... that they are forced to buy more then they want or need? The so called reason behind that is because they will no longer support "older versions" of anything.... hmmmm, so freedom of choice is quickly taken away. But that's a whole other discussion.

I guess my bottom line of thoughts about time spent watching television (and the how much time is spent on a computer) is a simple one. Most of our lives are actually spent on what has to be done or needed to be done. (re: work to pay the bills/ the hours spent sleeping..which is necessary) So, I don't think being a person who enjoys television or their computer (maybe even too much) is all that bad. There's enjoyment in both. There's learning in both. And there's escapism in both.. all of which makes life bearable and hopefully more enjoyable.

The time we have is short. Something we don't really realize until we are old. And you can't get time back again. I think at times we try to rationalize everything too much. Don't let yourself think you don't deserve to stop and small those roses. When the time is gone... it's gone. No going back. We shouldn't keep telling ourselves I should be or need to be doing this or that... you deserve better then you let yourself have... everyone does.

Feline Friday

It's Feline Friday once again! I read that Julie of Stately Barrett Manor would guest host Feline Friday, but she hasn't posted all week, so I hope everything is ok.

Meanwhile, BooBoo Kitty just hams it up anymore, sheesh. First he lays claim to the scratching "stick".. and then with a simple touch of his paw he let's the others know that the new scratching post is his whenever he wants it! (it's good to be king! heh)

40 Questions Meme..

40 Questions

I got this Meme from over at Patrick's Place.. if you play along remember to leave a link!!

1.Have you ever been searched by the cops?
ahhh, nope.. i think i woulda remembered that!
2. Do you close your eyes on roller coasters?
I don't do roller coasters.
3. When's the last time you've been sledding?
ahmmmmmm...i think it was right after sleds were invented!
4. Would you rather sleep with someone else, or alone?
That would depend on how cold I am. heh.
5. Do you believe in ghosts?
not particularly.
6. Do you consider yourself creative?
a little, yes.
7. Do you think O.J. killed his wife?
yeah I do.. but then I wasn't privy to all the information.
8. Jennifer Aniston or Angelina Jolie?
I like men better.
9. Do you stay friends with your exes?well.. we no longer kiss hello or goodbye..
10. Do you know how to play poker?
Yes but i'm not good at it.
11. Have you ever been awake for 48 hours straight?pretty sure I did that once... if not 48 hrs ..darn close!
12. What's your favorite commercial?
probably the Aflac commercials
13. What are you allergic to?
nothing i know of.
14. If you're driving in the middle of the night, and no one is around do you run red lights?
don't drive. but when I did I didn't run red lights.
15. Do you have a secret that no one knows but you?
probably, but one isn't coming to mind.
16. Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees?
not into baseball.
17. Have you ever been Ice Skating?
yes, as a kid I did.. not real well though.
18. How often do you remember your dreams?
Most of the time.
19. When was the last time you laughed so hard you cried?
sheesh, my memory is fading on this one.
20. Can you name 5 songs by The Beatles?
yep, but i won't
21. What's the one thing on your mind now?
hating that i am hearing firecrackers and cherry bombs going off from the kids around here. I worry about fire every year when i hear them.
22. Do you know who Ghetto-ass Barbie is?
can't say that I do...
23. Do you always wear your seat belt?
Yes. unless I forget.
24. What cell service do you use?
don't own a cell.. and don't plan to.
25. Do you like Sushi?
I can eat raw fruit but I like fish cooked thanks.
26. Have you ever narrowly avoided a fatal accident?
I don't think so.
27. What do you wear to bed?undies and a t-shirt. (you learn to be covered after you live in earthquake country for a while)
28. Been caught stealing?No.
29. What shoe size do you have?
8
30. Do you truly hate anyone?
No. There are maybe one or two people I will never forgive, but I don't hate them.
31. Classic Rock or Rap?
Rock.
32. If you could sleep with one famous person, who would it be?
ONLY ONE?... DAMN!..(eeny-meeney-miney-moe...) ummmmm.. Harrison Ford, but only because you made me choose ONE!
33. Favorite Song?
nearly any John Denver song
34. Have you ever sang in front of the mirror?
I avoid mirrors... and singing!
35. What food do you find disgusting?Patrick had a great list that i have to agree with! A three-way tie: Liver, Okra, Chitterlings.
36. Do you sing in the shower?no, one could drown that way.
37. Did you ever play, “I'll show you mine, if you show me yours?”
if i did it's long forgotten.
38. Have you ever made fun of your friends behind their back?
nope.
39. Have you ever stood up for someone you hardly knew?
Yes.
40. Have you ever been punched in the face?no.
************************************************

7 Quick Minutes...

Can I say that I nearly dirtied my pants yesterday? Heh, probably more than you wanted to know huh?
Well... lemme tell ya sumpin'... I was scared!
Just about the time I was finishing up putting my last post in about the shuttle, I could hear thunder off in the distance, so I do what I always do when I know lightening is coming and I shut down my computer, turned off my tv (I was still watching the "after news" on the shuttle) grabbed the book I've been reading and sat on my bed to read. I try to distract myself, as lightening scares the heck out of me. Ever since my X phoned me when a storm came up to remind me the cellar windows were opened so that I would close them... and this little blue "lightening" went from my lip to the phone... yep I got a fat lip! Since then.. me and lightening do NOT get along.. and yesterday was Nooooooooooo Exception!
Within moments of grabbing my book I glanced out the window and could see the rain coming down in sheets! I got up to look out another window.. in which I could see NOTHING it was coming down so fast and the wind whipped up within seconds!
The next thing I saw was a big part of a tree pass my window on its way to the ground! I yelled down to David that I thought a tree came down! The very moment I yelled that my brother yelled that there was a big bang outside but on the other side of the yard.
I looked outside and ran out of my room! First off you couldn't even see outside! Secondly, I thought the tree that is within feet of my window was going to come down!
By the time I went down 12 stairs (rather rapidly for an old woman!) and called David again and we went to the front door the rain was almost stopped! Totally unreal! We opened the door to the storm door and a big branch lay on the walk to the door and looked like it was over the car in the street also! Then we looked to the other side.. good grief Charlie Brown! A really huge chunk of that tree by my window had come down! Right across the fence (breaking it naturally) and all the wires coming to our house were torn from the house and laying under the branch! Miraculously, we still had power!

Something I love about Summer..

Summer does one good thing... it brings down the prices of fruit!!

I love Kiwi fruit... though I have to admit, it is one ugly looking thing. If one were to see it for the first time and not know about it, I doubt they would ever even try it.

Our food ranking system also qualified kiwi fruit as a very good source of dietary fiber. The fiber in kiwi fruit has also been shown to be useful for a number of conditions. Researchers have found that diets that contain plenty of fiber can reduce high cholesterol levels, which may reduce the risk of heart disease and heart attack. Fiber is also good for binding and removing toxins from the colon, which is helpful for preventing colon cancer. In addition, fiber-rich foods, like kiwi fruit, are good for keeping the blood sugar levels of diabetic patients under control. Kiwi fruit also passed our food ranking test as a good source of the minerals potassium, magnesium, copper and phosphorous.

Yeah.. whatever it says... all I know is that it tastes good!

(Ugly.. ugly.. ugly!)

(but ohhhhh sooooo good to eat!)

The other fruit that comes way down in price that I love is Blueberries!

Pterostilbene (pronounced TARE-oh-STILL-bean), a powerful anti oxidant compound found in blueberries, which is already known to fight cancer, may also help lower cholesterol.

Blueberries are literally bursting with nutrients and flavor, yet very low in calories. Recently, researchers at Tufts University analyzed 60 fruits and vegetables for their anti oxidant capability. Blueberries came out on top

Right,...whatever.. but they are yummy in my tummy! (Winnie the Pooh has nothing on me!)

It does this old heart good when I finally see Blueberries displayed in the bigger containers instead of a slim layer that can't even hold 20 berries! And we won't mention that in the dead of winter those 20 Berries can be priced at 4.99!! (that nearly gives me a stroke even saying it!) Right now the bigger containers are 2 for 5.00... they go on sale for 1.99 each... and before the summer is over they will hit an all time low of .99 a box! I think my eye color goes from Hazel to bright blue during these months of abundance! heh. Oh how I wish they were more affordable during the winter!

I also eat way too many strawberries in the summer, but then who doesn't?

Is it just me? Or do you have a favorite food that is as seasonal as the ones I love?

Remind me again why I watch the news..

I had the news on the other night.. (at my age you'd think I'd know better!). They were talking about the banning of Gay people to adopt children.

I realize the church views on this matter and in this particular instance I really think that they are wrong!

Do we really need to ask the states that are banning this the questions that are so obvious?? Like, "you want a Father and a Mother" in order to adopt... well, what about how many kids are raised with only one parent? Where there is only a mother or only a father .. these children do not grow up "knowing a Mother and a Father"... but they grow up still being loved.

What about children who live with "a Mother and a Father" that are alcoholics?

or a Mother and a Father that are abusive??

.. Hello?...

do you really think these children are better off because they are with "a Mother and a Father" who don't care about them, rather then to be with two women or two men who love them and give a damn about them?????

Pahleeeze tell me you don't really think they are better off because they have "one of each sex".. duh.

I don't know about anyone reading this but I'll tell you something... if I had to give my child up for adoption, I'd want someone to love and care for them, and I don't give a hoot what sex they are, as long as they raise that child with love, take care of all their needs, and don't do anything to harm them.

There are far too many children needing to be adopted (and many are special needs children) that I don't think they should give a darn about someone's preference of a mate.

They should look at things they do with any person trying to adopt. They make sure they have a good income, that they have a loving home to bring them to, and do background checks to be sure they aren't child predators or abusers.. THAT'S what you look at..... and be glad for any child who is adopted by someone ( gay or straight) who cares !

I've been around for 62 yrs and the last I've heard being Gay or Lesbian isn't "catching"... so what are they afraid of?