At the head of my book queue. . .
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I love this paper
Our last two libraries have carried this free monthy review of books. I'm happy when each new addition hits the rack.
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Happy Birthday, Dad
So Dad's birthday was today. He died a couple of weeks ago, so he wasn't celebrating with us. Maybe he was celebrating in ways we can't even imagine.
At any rate, we took Mom out to dinner so she wouldn't have to hang out all alone on Dad's birthday. "Took out" is stretching the truth a bit. She picked up the tab, but the kids ably handled the tip.
Big sis brought along a birthday cake. German Chocolate, one of Dad''s favorites. As we finished eating, she asked our capable waiter to bring a knife. He obliged and hung around a minute clearing dishes while she cut. Like any normal person would, he asked, "So, who's birthday?" The men at the table hem and hawed a bit, leaving Ann to step up and reply, "We're celebrating my father-in-law's birthday. He died recently." Again, like any normal person, our waiter was left pretty much speechless. We felt bad for him, but glad that we were not at the kind of place where they gather the whole staff to belt out some stupid rendition of happy birthday at the first sight of a celebrant. That would've been awkward. But Dad would have chuckled.
In case you're curious, we ate at Amazing Joe's (http://www.yelp.com/biz/amazing-joes-grill-muncie). I liked it a lot. Yummy food, odd re-purposed old house feel, and a very nice local vibe. Plus, I saw two different sets of people that I knew.
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book thought: The Neclace
I read a review for a book this morning that has me thinking. It's called "The Necklace." While it will not likely endure over time as Guy de Mapussant's famous short story has, it does raise some interesting questions.
The book tells about 13 women who band together to buy a $37,000 diamond necklace. The leader of their forming pack talks the store owner down to $15,000 and recruits his wife to be one of the purchasers. Each women gets the 118-diamond necklace for four weeks a year. The book details how owning the necklace, and the collaborative effort necessary to purchase it, affects the life of each women.
It makes me wonder: Is there anything that I want, that costs way more than I would or could pay, that would be worth having a 1/10th ownership in, so much so that I'd recruit a dozen people to join me? Maybe a car? A boat? Certainly not jewelry. It would need to be something who's value is not diminished by limited availability. Something that's not consumed by it's use, like a non-real estate time share. It would also need to have the same value year round. A nice hunting rifle that's only used during the late fall would cause nasty scheduling issues. I suppose super nice clothes would be precluded by that difficulty of forming the purchasing cadre.
I've always liked the idea of doing this with less exciting items such as lawn mowers and ladders. But what about really cool stuff that's out of my current economic reach? Hmmmm, maybe that professional quality croquet set could be mine. At least for one month a year!
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yearbook yourself
This is me in 1982, courtesy of yearbookyourself.com. I found it via good buddy, Marti at Telling Secrets (http://tellingsecrets-mks.blogspot.com/2008/08/circa-1968.html) Check it out and let the rest of us see your best.
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New friend, same name
I met a new friend from India this afternoon. Amazingly his name is the same as one of the main characters in a novel I'm reading about India. The guy in Shantaram is a big time gangster. My new friend works at a gas station. I'm guessing they're not related, but look forward to telling him about this connection when we talk again some time.
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shaky face
My friend Matt told me about a cool and sophisticated photographic technique called "shaky face." Simply relax, waggle your head, and snap away. You get some faces from the motion that you could never simply make.
You kids get offa ma lawn or I'll spit my chaw on ya!
I couldn't run fast enough to get away from the bees. You got some benedryl I could have?
You're never too young to try narcotics!
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