Antici …. pation!
Archive for April 2013
A traditional ‘five day cake’ Leave a comment
Antici …. pation!
It’s A Big World Out There Leave a comment
So there I was, sitting on the driveway painting boards. I had laid out plastic, and I was brushing away.
I have been here before. Many times. Applying finish to wood is something I do, and building projects that outgrow the garage workshop is a common thing. I build big things, which often test limits … like the 80% complete gardening shed you can almost see behind the gates to the right of the house.
I heard the neighbor across the street taking his daughter to cheerleading practice, and I realized that I had never seen him painting boards on plastic sheets spread out on his driveway.
I stopped & thought. He’s lived there for … more than a decade. And I have never seen him doing work in the driveway. Wow!
And then I realized that I was the weird one. I was the one pursuing an idea that apparently makes no sense to my neighbors.
But I’m not alone.
I worked with a lady that is a serious adult figure skater. She travels, competes and judges.
I know a guy that’s got a collection of every 45 record ever to appear on Billboard’s charts. His house is a museum to music.
I know another guy that’s worked in Africa almost his entire adult life. He works for the UN, helping people learn better agricultural practices.
And then there’s the guy that’s done 3 tours in Iraq/Afghanistan.
Velda cooks meals from scratch several days a week. A complete meal from scratch in 60 minutes? No big thing. Feeding 2? Feeding 8? No big thing. Oh, and she’s got a very demanding job, too.
I’ve traveled to Nashville just to run 26.2 miles.
It’s a big world out there.
And isn’t that wonderful?
The Tick Problem 5 comments
I hate parasites. Blood sucking parasites. Hate’em.
If you’re tromping through the outback enough, you’ll eventually get bitten by a tick.
They are a blood sucking parasite.
Growing up on a farm, I was bitten. Our dogs were bitten. It wasn’t a common thing, but it happened. If you had blood … they were looking for you. And ticks were ugly, ugly, ugly things after they’d been sucking your blood for a while. And come to find out, I had no idea what to do.
The first thing to do, is to avoid getting bitten. Here’s how you do that:
- Apply insect repellant with DEET to your clothing, shoes, socks and skin.
- Walk in the center of trails. Avoid overhanging brush and long grasses as much as possible.
- Wear tightly woven clothing, long sleeves, and light colors when walking through woods and overgrowth. They will make the ticks easier to spot, and expose less of your skin.
- Keep your shirt tucked in.
- Check your clothes and skin after you’ve been in an area that might be tick-infested. Wash everything as quickly as possible to make sure ticks are gone.
- Ticks like folds in the skin (like behind your ears) or under your waistband.
- Check your kids! Check your pets!
If you are bitten, you’ll need to remove them. Once they’re hooked into your skin, they are an extremely difficult thing to remove.
Luckily, there was no Lyme disease when I was a kid. That particular malady wasn’t discovered until 1975, when an outbreak in Lyme, CT was found to be infecting kids that lived near tick-infested woods. When I was a kid, though, ticks were just bad. They were annoying. But they were nothing more than a temporary problem. Now, if you are bitten by a disease-carrying Deer Tick, you might catch life-long health problems. And a Deer Tick Nymph is only the size of a “.” Even fully engorged, it’s only the size of a “o”. Good news: most ticks do not carry Lyme disease. In every case, though, you want to get the tick out of your skin as soon as possible.
Vaseline
One theory you may have heard is that you coat a tick that’s bitten you with Vaseline – totally cover them in petroleum jelly. Eventually, they’ll unhook from your skin rather than suffocate. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work.
Burnt Matches
Another old theory was that you light a match, blow it out, and then touch the tick with the hot match head to convince it to leave for a cooler place. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work.
The Tick Key
What does work is removing the tick with tick removal tweezers, or a tick key. If you’re going on hikes, you need one of those in your first aid kit. Tick Keys are on sale at the Placerita Nature Center here in Santa Clarita. See how they work in the video on their website; the link is below.
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Lady Bug, Lady Bug, Fly Away Home! 1 comment
Lady Bug!
John Lennon Made The Cyrkle 2 comments
It was the first record I bought.
The band was called The Cyrkle. That was the name given them by John Lennon … well sources are a bit conflicted, actually. It appears that the name came from Nathan Weiss, who managed them … and he was the partner of Brian Epstein, who managed The Beatles. Weiss had signed the band when they were working the club circuit as The Rhondells. Weiss decided their new name would be The Circle, and it was John Lennon, apparently, who came up with the idea to change from The Circle into the infinitely more interesting name, The Cyrkle.
The Players
- Don Danneman, guitar & vocals
- Tom Dawes, bass guitar & vocals
- Earl Pickens, keyboards
- Marty Fried, drums
Chronology
September 6, 1965, discovered playing in Atlantic City on Labor Day
1966, opening act on 14 dates of The Beatles tour, including the August 28 date at Dodger Stadium
1968, the band broke up
The Hits … not quite a one hit wonder
1966, “Red Rubber Ball,” # 2 Billboard … written by Paul Simon and Bruce Woodley (of The Seekers)
1966, “Turn Down Day,” # 16 Billboard
The Albums
1966, Red Rubber Ball
1967, Neon
1969, The Minx (movie soundtrack)
After The Music Stopped
Well, it really didn’t stop. Dawes and Danneman both wrote advertising jingles.
Dawes wrote one of the most famous jingles of all time: Alka-Seltzer’s “Plop plop fizz fizz.”
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12 Ways To Know You’re Taking Facebook Too Seriously 1 comment
1. Y
ou’re searching the internet for cat images so you can make your own memes.
2. You keep threatening your friends that you’re going to stop using Facebook.
3. You get all of your information from your Newsfeed.
4. When you get an email, you are frustrated that there’s no like button to push.
5. You’ve had serious discussions about the need for a dislike button.
6. You always update your movies section after you see a movie.
7. You get angry with yourself when you go out and don’t check in.
8. You instantly like any post that agrees with your political thoughts.
9. You think that everything “the other side” does is stupid.
10. You know what you think about national news stories before you actually hear the national news story from “real” media.
11. You have more self portraits taken in the bathroom mirror posted than anything else.
12. You’ve never met most of your friends.
Meet My Other Blog Leave a comment
I am now the proud father of two blogs.
This one, as you know, is the personal blog that I share with MrsMowry. We write about family, photography, food, education, Presidents and other topics that we’re passionate about. Thanks for reading, truly!
My other blog is on Smarts Broadcast Systems’ website … I’m interviewing successful broadcasters as a part of my company’s 30th anniversary celebration. These blogs are published both on our site, and in a weekly radio industry email publication, Small Market Radio Newsletter.
The first 5 Small Market Stories are now up:
- Roger Gelder/Cody, WY
- Brett Paradis/Alexandria, MN
- Henry Royse/Glasgow, KY
- Paul Tinkle/Martin, TN
- Roger Utnehmer/Sturgeon Bay, WI
Portraits: John Adams 8 comments
Edgar Parker painted the portrait in 1878 based on an original by Gilbert Stuart.
John Adams (1735 – 1826)
The 2nd President of the United States, 1797 – 1801
AKA: His Roundity, The Atlas of Independence, The Colossus of Independence, Bonny Johnny, The Duke of Braintree
From: Massachusetts
College: Harvard
Married to: Abigail Smith
Children: Nabby, John Quincy, Susanna, Charles, Thomas, Elizabeth
Party: Federalist
Previous Job: Teacher, lawyer, Colonial legislator to the Massachusetts General Court, Delegate to the First Continental Congress, Delegate to the Second Continental Congress, Ambassador, Vice President
In His Words: “Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.”
“There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with the power to endanger the public liberty.”
This 2 cent stamp was introduced in 1938.
“There is something very unnatural and odious in a government a thousand leagues off. A whole government of our own choice, managed by persons whom we love, revere, and can confide in, has charms in it for which men will fight.”
“Yesterday the greatest question was decided which ever was debated in America; and a greater perhaps never was, nor will be, decided among men. A resolution was passed without one dissenting colony, “that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States.”
“Since the decay of the feudal system, by which the public defense was provided for chiefly at the expense of individuals, the system of loans has been introduced, and as no nation can raise within the year by taxes sufficient sums for its defense and military operations in time of war the sums loaned and debts contracted have necessarily become the subjects of what have been called funding systems. The consequences arising from the continual accumulation of public debts in other countries ought to admonish us to be careful to prevent their growth in our own. The national defense must be provided for as well as the support of Government; but both should be accomplished as much as possible by immediate taxes, and as little as possible by loans.”
“Thanks to God that he gave me stubbornness when I know I am right.”
“I must study politics and war, that our sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy.”
“Old minds are like old horses; you must exercise them if you wish to keep them in working order.”
Not true: It’s a quote often attributed to John Adams:
“I have come to the conclusion that one useless man is called a disgrace; that two are called a law firm; and that three or more become a Congress!”
Just one problem: John Adams didn’t say it. It’s a line from the 1969 Broadway music comedy, 1776!
True:The Continental Congress appointed a committee to draft the Declaration of Independence. Members included Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Robert R Livingston and Roger Sherman. The committee apparently wanted Adams to write the document, but he persuaded the committee to have Jefferson write the first draft. In later years, Jefferson would say that Adams was “the pillar of [the Declaration’s] support on the floor of Congress, its ablest advocate and defender against the multifarious assaults it encountered.”
Adams was appointed our first Ambassador, traveling with his son and future President, John Quincy Adams, to France in 1777.
In our first Presidential election, George Washington was unanimously elected by our electors. The race was for 2nd place, and 11 candidates split the 69 available votes. Adams received the most, so he became our first Vice President.
Unfortunately, Mr. Adams didn’t like his position, saying, “My country has in its wisdom contrived for me the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived. . . .” However, he did win the 1797 election, only to lose in 1800 to his Vice President, Thomas Jefferson. Adams thus became our first one term President.
Adams kept a horse named Cleopatra.
The Official Portrait: Portrait of John Adams by John Trumbull, c. 1792-93.
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Invaded! 2 comments
I have no idea who this interloper thinks they are, but they’ve grown out of the base of our rock wall to claim a piece of the undeveloped part of the north slope.
Who is this guy? Where is he from? A little help, please???
UPDATE
This invader has been identified as Nicotiana Glauca, or Tree Tobacco. Read about it here.
A Great Photo Blog Leave a comment
If you haven’t discovered the Denver Post‘s photo blog, you need to find it.
The latest post is here. Photography by Heather Rousseau.
I get the RSS feed so I am notified every time they do a new photo essay. I love to see a genuine for-profit journalistic enterprise that is committed to photo journalism!
Photo by Heather Rousseau, Denver Post.
