how long???

let's talk about snakes. i know they have value and some people enjoy them as pets. i don't really care for them. i've always been terrified of water moccasins, probably because of mis-information when i was young, and rattlesnakes surely have a good side.

regardless, i'd rather live some place that didn't have snakes, than i would some place that did. take florida, for instance. i wouldn't want to live there at all, but then i saw this picture which went with this article and then this one.

and now i think, florida? no f-ing way in hell.

how does he do that and keep himself secret?

so, you've heard of banksy, right? i have seen his name lately, as i scroll past this headline or that, but finally i decided to check him out and see what the buzz was about.

go here to get a quick view of the guy. you can also go to google images to see more of his work. it sounds like he's quite the character and some of his stuff is really great. some of it left me wondering what the deal was, though. regardless, now you know about him and may even know more than your friends do.

there are many paths to success.

which one is the good guy?

we used to watch a lot of movies. i've gone to reading all the time, the last few years, and don't watch movies as often although the husband still watches them all the time.

yesterday he said he had one i would enjoy so we sat down with supper and watched Knight and Day. it was pretty entertaining, but i thought cameron diaz was wrong for the part. well, she was probably right for the part because she played her character well, but she's gotten too old, or had too much face surgery, or something because i kept being distracted by the look of her face. it was lumpy, or fat, or old, or something. i never could put my finger on it and hey, i don't have anything against age, but if an actor's appearance detracts from the role he/she's playing, maybe another person would be better. after all, there's no dearth of actors.

the little things

dear diary, i've probably never told you this before, but getting old sucks. it's not just that you're getting older but it's the little things. a new wrinkle to mar your soft skin. unexplained skin tags and moles that turn up. age-spots that aren't nearly as cute as freckles. your gorgeous hair thinning out in a most horrifying way. a hair on your chin getting coarse and obnoxiously long. your eyesight playing pranks. your legs not wanting to lift up your body after you've bent down. your teeth getting discolored which must be from the pop you drink since you've never smoked.

it's just sad, i tell you. sad and bad. and figuring out ways to handle the little things is a challenge extraordinaire, although i suppose a person does best by just accepting it and dealing with the reality. so, where's the instruction guide?

my brood

MOS and his family visited us last weekend. it was soooooo nice. the grandaughter is almost 3 1/2 and the grandson is14 months. they are so cute and smart, of course, and delightful handfuls to have around. we enjoy their parents too, it goes without saying, and their visits always make me wish we lived closer to them.

at the same time i wish we lived closer to MYS. it's a tough deal for a parent who enjoys her kids so much.

i know! they can all move in on my block! that'd work! well, for me, anyhow.

which color do you like?

MYS's fiancee is wanting to buy a motor scooter. it's an  inexpensive option for them and, in their small town, should work out well.  they told me where a dealer is and i checked out the website. too fun!! seeing the scooters again reminds me that we had considered getting one years ago and, really, it might be nice to have one now. after all, we live in a small town, too.... what? oh, yeah. we have quite a bit of rain. oh well, it's a neat trip down fantasy lane to check them out.

here it comes and there it goes....

oh, this is cool! from up in the air, watching a shuttle launch -- what a great perspective! it got me excited about the space program all over again!

these drugs don't make you look better

do you know anyone who needs to be warned away from drugs? the multnomah county, oregon sheriff's department has made a new documentary which they're hoping will make an impressions on kids. and believe me, it's yuck. i am soooooooo glad i never wanted to get in on the drug scene. take a look, but not while you eat.

what's that red mark?

i forgot to mention the drama that MOS had a couple of months ago. he has to fly to north carolina every-once-in-a-while for his job and after he came home from one trip, he awoke one morning with bites all over.

with all the hype about bedbugs, super-defense and pro-action took place immediately. they called a number of exterminators before deciding on someone who sounded like he knew what to do, then proceeded to clear out possessions and clothing. i drove down and took care of the kids while son and dau-in-law worked to get things under control, then she took the kids and evacuated to her parents so the exterminator could come in the next day.

when i got home, i took off my clothes in the garage and stuffed them into the trash -- jeans, shirt, shoes, socks, coat, everything. the husband vacuumed the car, then we figured we'd done what we could and left the rest to nature.

as it turned out, the exterminator couldn't find anything at all to confirm the worst and eventually MOS decided it was a false alarm. the husband thought maybe our son had gotten  into a nest of spiders somehow, and that the bites were from them. all i can say is, thankfully it wasn't bedbugs. that is strictly a nightmare scenario!!

those were the days...

the husband said, "i was watching some old commercials on a video i got at the library, and they had a commerical with ozzie and harriet advertising a gas air conditioner." "gas," i said, "how the hell did they fill it up?" "it was natural gas," he said. "oh," i said.

the better to see you with, my dear ....

nothing changes in the world of vision except the shape of eyeglasses frames, right? well, maybe not right. this article talks about a new type of glasses which YOU focus depending on how far away your chosen object is. interesting concept and hey, i totally love the shape! bring it on!!

it's the force ....

and now .... some outtakes from little darth vader's ad.

where does the violence come from?

you know, i just can't help wondering, where did we go wrong? what is it with the crass, hateful, hurtful stuff that's going on with our society these days? i don't watch t.v. and it's probably a very good thing or i'd always be throwing up. i used to think all this brainless stuff started with roseanne, but the husband and i talked the other day and decided it really started with all in the family.  archie was a jerk. and people loved watching his show. *sigh*

so have you seen the commercials from the superbowl? there are a couple of sites you can go to and check them out. i like this site, probably because you can rate them. and believe me, there are A LOT of zeroes there. go check it out. the lowest of the low (according to me) were Pepsi (several were violent, WTF?!!), Doritos (just gross! except i like the fish food one), GoDaddy (they were about sex. and were stupid), Teleflora (disgustingly dumb!), Snickers, Staples, Chatter.com, Mini, Homeaway.com (encouraging infant abuse?), Stella Artois (puh-leeze), Fox, and Wendy's (slapping strangers??).

but be watching for these which (i thought) ranged from pretty good to great: E-Trade (cute), Bridgestone (the beaver, but not reply all), CarMax (pretty darn good), Best Buy (droll), Careerbuilder (so silly), Chevrolet (eco and tommy, but not glee), and the best - Volkswagon's little Darth Vader.

i wonder about the age group of the people (in their respective companies) who made the decisions to go forward with these commercials. were any of them older than 55? i'm just curious.

grand kudos to google!!!

OMG! google has completely outdone itself today!!! you know how they have their logo done up in a particular style every once-in-a-while? well, today it's jules verne! quick! before the day gets away! go to google.com and see it! it's even interactive!!!

what to watch for ....

gnomeo and juliet!!

new fun!

i'm so excited for MYS!! they found a great apartment and have moved in. his car made it down there just fine and they have it now, too. he's getting things squared away at work and will soon be up-to-his-elbows in projects. they're having fun learning about life in los alamos, and i love hearing them talk about it. such an exciting adventure!!!

darth has the force

the superbowl's not my thing except maybe for some of the commercials, after. but this one's out ahead of time -- very cool!!

sooooooo soft!

i just had a nice experience with an online shopping company! i once bought a set of towels which were made from bamboo -- they are sooooooo soft and have become my favorite towels. so i went online to see if i could find more (they're kassatex) and i ended up at cassadecor. so i ordered a set and while i was at it, i ordered a set of sheets (because they were on sale) which were also bamboo, plus some pillow cases.

the box arrived today -- all seven things. PLUS an eighth! i thought, oh no -- they accidently got something else in my order, and then worried about needing to contact them and tell them about it. as it turns out, when i was unfolding and clipping the tags off things, i saw that the two pretty little kitchen towels which i hadn't ordered were a gift from the company for shopping with them!! well! how nice! and you can bet i'll shop with them again! here's the link to the wonderful towels.