Sunday, October 28, 2007

lunch time

Flippy Goes Pro For BlogWorld Convention

Oh, I know what you’re thinking, and I’m just way too tired to go into that line of work.  That’s just too much exercise and negotiation.  No, it’s something better.  I bought myself some business cards.  It was time that my blog had non-cyber proof of its existence, and now it does.  Hmm, and as soon as I put the picture up, I’ll probably notice that the colors don’t even match.  But, we won’t know until I show you the screenshot from my Vista Print account.  I don’t actually have them yet.  What a surprise - I procrastinated so long that shipping cost a lot more.  250 cards should last the entire life of my blog, so I’ll consider it an investment into my pseudonymous lifestyle.  That sounds mildly dirty.  Well, I did say I was going pro…

 

Friday, October 26, 2007

lunch time

Are You Watching “Samantha Who?”?

Are you watching it?  Huh, huh, huh?  It’s sooo good.  Easily becoming one of my favorite shows, and there have only been two episodes.  It even has a Wikipedia entry now.  Please try to find the episodes to watch.  If you have TiVo, you can watch them for $1.99 through Amazon UnBox, you can also rent or buy movies, but I loves mah tv.  I love UnBox, it’s saved our butt when our horribly unreliable Cox Cable dvr screwed up recording AGAIN.  We were able to download “Reaper”, “How I Met Your Mother”, and “Chuck” to our TiVo.  Figures that the dvr would screw up on some of our favorite shows versus, say, “Bionic Woman”, which just isn’t impressing us.  We’ve seen two episodes, and maybe we’ll give it a third, but then we’re done.  Oh, and since Unbox is focusing on “Heroes”, let’s talk about how the show got off to a pretty lousy start in its second season, but Veronica Mars, er, Kristen Bell, saves the day again.  This last episode was SO much better than the previous ones this season.  I wish Sylar would kill Molly, Maya & Alejandro - ugh, how many times can I hear, “Maaaatttt, I’m scared” and “Alejandro, help me, my eyeballs are flooding black gunk again and I’m killing people…again”?  Okay, I’ll tell you how many more times…none.  I am, however, enjoying Micah’s trip to New Orleans and his cousin, Monica’s, new cool powers.  The actor who plays Micah has grown up so much since last season.  He’s really adorable.  And, I’ll bet he could make our damned TiFaux dvr work all the time, so we don’t have to buy tv show backups from Amazon.

Oh, poopy.  I just discovered that Unbox doesn’t have “Samantha Who?”; however, all is not lost.  ABC is showing the premiere episode on their website, and the third episode will be on Monday, so you can catch up.  I promise that you’ll laugh.  My favorite tv critic, Doug Elfman, isn’t in love with the show yet, but he likes it.  Since he writes better than I do, here’s his description of the show.

 

Friday, October 19, 2007

lunch time

Hilda Collins (1915 - 2007) - Give Our Regards To Uncle Al

My mom called me last night to tell me that Auntie Hilda (my dad’s big sister by ten years) had passed away.  She had a stroke a few months ago and wasn’t doing well.  Until then, she was still visiting us in Vegas, and playing the blackjack tables with the youngsters in their seventies and eighties.  Auntie Hilda wasn’t just one of my favorite relatives, she was one of my favorite people.  Since I was little I always thought she was so cool.  I don’t know, maybe it sounds weird, but Auntie Hilda & Uncle Al always seemed like an old-time movie star couple.  They were always spiffily dressed (Auntie Hilda used to own a dress shop) - Auntie Hilda was always wearing an “outfit”.  Not just a pair of pants or a skirt and blouse, but an outfit.  Uncle Al was always wearing the latest in country club casual, with a variety of cool hats.  While I think cigar smoke is one of the most disgusting smells on the planet, Uncle Al used to smoke the occasional cigar, and now when I smell the first tiny whiff of cigar, it makes me nostalgic, thinking that Uncle Al might be sitting on a bench somewhere, hanging out.

While I’m not a big believer in an afterlife, I like to think that happy couples are rejoined…somewhere.  I hope Uncle Al quit smoking during his wait for Auntie Hilda, and maybe took up Sudoku or knitting or metal sculpture or something.  Oh, who am I kidding, he probably napped in the most comfortable chair he could find while waiting for her.  Why should the afterlife be any different?  Anyway, they’re now probably going out to a fancy dinner with their friends.  Auntie Hilda showed up a little early for their dinner reservation, but they’ll all be happy to see her.  And from now on, I’m sure she’ll be in charge.

 

This is a picture of Auntie Hilda & Uncle Al’s 50th wedding anniversary. They were married on Valentine’s Day, 1937. It never seemed right that they weren’t Auntie Hilda & Uncle Al anymore…now they’re back together.

Blowing out the candles at her 90th birthday party at N9NE at the Palms in Las Vegas.  Afterwards, we “youngsters”, including my dad and Auntie Hilda (our ages were from about 35 - 90, averaging over 50), partied at ghostbar.

I don’t even really know how to explain this, but when I told my brothers, they understood.  We have an African Grey named Blackjack, and she has a pretty large vocabulary.  One of the most interesting things she says is “Helloooooooooo!” because she sounds just like Auntie Hilda when she says it.  In the olden days, when it was safe to leave your front door open while waiting for guests to arrive at a party, I always remembered Auntie Hilda saying, “Hellooooooo!” when she walked in the door, to let us know that she and Uncle Al had arrived.  Blackjack says it just about daily, so it sounds like Auntie Hilda & Uncle Al are always on their way in to the party.  Auntie Hilda to mingle and be where the action was, and Uncle Al to schmooze a bit, go outside to have a cigar, then come back in and find a comfy spot to sit for a nap.  Yep, he was always napping sitting up.  I’ll miss Auntie Hilda, but she definitely left behind a lifetime of memories for me (Balboa Island, Nin, Hanukkah parties, etc.) and was a presence that no one who met her will ever forget.  GrAuntie Hilda & GrUncle Al (my cousins and I decided on new names for them once, because it was always difficult to call them by name when we were together because they were my aunt & uncle, but their grandparents), I hope you’ve already settled back into your usual routine together.  Auntie Hilda is busy doing things…and Uncle Al is sitting in the den, watching a USC ballgame.

I’m so sorry that Leigh-Ann and I weren’t able to go to the service.  Leigh-Ann really liked Auntie Hilda - she reminded her of her grandmother, so she always enjoyed seeing Auntie Hilda when she was here visiting.  I’m sorry that she never got to meet Uncle Al - she would’ve gotten a kick out of him.  (I can still hear him calling me “Slugger” and asking David about his arm)

terribly early in the morning

They Call Me *Grandma* Moses (say it like Sidney Poitier)

Several weeks ago, Leigh-Ann and I went to Dick Blick to buy some art supplies for my nephew’s birthday.  I drooled over all the cool pens, pencils, crayons, and crafty things.  Over the years, I think I’ve told her several times that I can’t draw, but that I wish I could.  I suppose that I never really tried very hard, I just figured that it was a natural talent and that I would know by now if I could draw anything but stick figures.  She informed me that it takes practice.  Practice?  Seriously?  Anyway, I guess so I would stop complaining that I couldn’t draw, Leigh-Ann bought me this book -

I didn’t start drawing right away because I procrastinate even if it’s something fun.  However, Leigh-Ann bought a new box o’ pencils, and I can’t resist a new box of pencils.  Tonight, while we watched the Leafs beat the Panthers in a shocking come-back win (it’s usually a come-back loss), I worked on my very first drawing.  When I was a kid, I drew the regular box house with green grass and flowers and big ol’ sun in the corner, but it never looked better than anything a three year old could draw.  I chose my first picture carefully, and decided on Fred Flintstone.  I think Fred would be very happy with my first attempt, as I put him on a bit of a diet.  I followed the directions, and lo and behold, it actually came out looking like Fred Flintstone.  My second drawing was a bit less accomplished, although also a bit more complicated, but it still looks like a creature.  Here, before your very eyes, the beginning of my art career.  I think I’ve mastered my initials.

 

My goal?  To draw like this.  I always dream big.

Monday, October 15, 2007

the wee hours

Are you right-brained or left-brained?

No matter what I do, I can’t make her spin in any direction other than clockwise.  What direction does she spin for you?  And, do you think the right/left brain descriptions are accurate for you?  It seems semi-accurate for me, although I don’t generally think of myself as a risk-taker, I suppose being mostly self-employed for the past eight years counts as a risk, huh?  Speaking of that, we just bought a cool Brother sewing machine that does all kinds of fancy things, so we’re going to learn how to use it to make cat toys filled with the very best organic catnip.  The catnip has already been tested on our cats and it makes every single one of them go nuts.  It must be similar to the catnip that the Mutts people use for Little Pink Sock, because we’ve had some of those for years, and the cats still love them.  However, we’d like to make some fun new shapes and maybe even make some of them refillable.  We also want to learn how to do some needle felting - I’m especially interested in Amigurumi.  I think that I was probably meant to be born Japanese.  I like the food, the electronics, and the wacky obsession with cute.