Milk, Bread & Eggs

There was a cute article in the Washington Post: Milk and Bread Are Actually Pretty Terrible Survival Foods.

We all joke about the French Toast Alert System and rushing to the store before storms, stripping the shelves bare. The Washington Post article takes all that on and wonders why we do it.

I believe a big reason we do what we do goes back decades.
What three staples used to be delivered to homes because they were perishable and we ran out of them?
Yup. Milk, Bread & Eggs...

Robin Williams

He inspired me, taught me much and always made me laugh.
Peace...

Livin’ On A Prayer & Sweet Dreams

This is great!
It made me smile, laugh and applaud!
Enjoy!

Storytelling

Storytelling at its best can be found at The Moth. You may have listened to it on your local Public Radio station. I am certain it is a major cause of “driveway moments”. This particular story by Tristan Jimerson “A Dish Best Served Cold” is a wonderful story, wonderfully told. They describe it as “a case of credit card fraud sets an amateur sleuth on a crime-solving caper.” (Chuck had a "driveway moment" with this story and then brought it to me. Thanks Chuck!)
Sit back and enjoy.

Silly

Two minutes which made me laugh:

Pachelbel Rant

Loved this!

Drive Baby Drive

Starting October 1st, I spent nine days driving.

It began at Logan Airport and Greater Boston here in Massachusetts. Then there was a trip back and forth to Rhode Island for a funeral. Then Brookline, Massachusetts to New Jersey, driving back and forth to New York City, wrapping up at JFK airport.

I’m a mediocre passenger and a middlin’ navigator for another driver - even with a GPS unit to assist. So for nearly 1,000 miles I was at the wheel, Chuck served as navigator and his sister Carol was the passenger. With Carol being from the land of very polite drivers, along with the very well signed and very well marked roads of Greater Seattle, she was sometimes “unsettled” by the driving in Greater Boston. (Yeah, we’ll go with “unsettled”!) But with this being Carol’s first visit east in seventeen years there was much to see and do, along with family to visit and catch up with.

In advance of the trip, I had been concerned about finding parking when needed in any of our city destinations and especially about driving in New York City. But it was all perfectly fine. Well, there was a certain amount of swearing, mostly by me (with occasional echoes from my companions) at a a few drivers who had apparently escaped from a NASCAR track or were perhaps fleeing the police. And there was one close call on the Lenny Zakim Bridge in Boston, in a torrential downpour, when a Subaru Forrester spluttered to a crawl right in front of us while in the passing lane. The parking in New York City, specifically in The Bronx, was easy peasy - except for that pesky $115.00 parking ticket we found on the windshield upon our return from visiting a family friend. (I thought “No Standing” meant no loitering. Lesson learned, sigh...)

But I was never worried about the driving. Maybe it was my two season foray into Autocross racing in a previous lifetime, which, while not wheel-to-wheel racing, does sharpens one’s skills on and off the track. Or perhaps it was just that driving was what needed to be done. The nice thing was that while I was enjoying my stint behind the wheel, my traveling cohorts were happy as well. Carol paid me great compliments, repeatedly using the word “guts” - and she assured me that she needed neither dramamine nor tranquilizers.

So at the end of nine days and nearly 1,000 miles I managed to get us and the car home safe and sound. But I have to tell you that the best driving moment of the trip came on day nine. I overshot the turn for the Midtown Tunnel which I needed to take in order to get Carol to her flight out of JFK. I evaluated the relatively quiet Sunday morning traffic conditions, paying no heed to the line of police vehicles parked curbside to my right, and pulled a U-turn on E 34th Street in New York City. It was just a couple of blocks down from the Empire State Building. It wasn’t like a scene out of “Sleepless In Seattle” nor “An Affair To Remember”. It was just ridiculously empowering and a whole lot of fun!

Two Years

My father-in-law’s yahrzeit began at sundown this evening. Dad passed away two years ago tomorrow, at the age of 94. This photograph was taken in the 1950s, on a trip from Missouri to Colorado. He looks like the king of the mountain in it. What I love is that even through the grainy, haziness of the image, Dad’s smile shines through. Milton could be tough, serious and sometimes more than a little intimidating. But he and I found our way via humor. I took great pride in making Dad laugh. He would first give me a look which said : “O.K., that was pretty good.” If I could keep going, being both smart and funny, my reward would come as he lost it and gave into the laughter. It was a lot like watching Harvey Korman lose his composure on the Carol Burnett show.

Zichrono liveracha
His memory is a blessing...

NSFW

Many months ago our niece Kate told us about a YouTube video by Cee Lo Green. We had been talking about break up songs - I can’t remember why - and she said Cee Lo Green had a “classic”. Ever thoughtful, she did warn us about its content. Then she told us the name of the song was "F*ck You". We looked it up and found the following (absolutely NSFW!) video - which I thoroughly enjoyed:



Then today I followed a link from Ten Pounds Of Awesome to the ASL (American Sign Language) version of the song. It too is totally NSFW, but I loved it. In fact I sent the links to my sister-in-law because our nephew, her son, is studying ASL in high school. Enjoy!

This & That Round-Up

: : She’s back and she’s still very funny - “earthy” this time, but very funny.

: : She flew practically from one pole to the other to meet Father Christmas in Rovaniemi, Lapland in Finland.

: : He has spent the last quarter century as a non-smoker. Coincidentally, so have I.

: : I wish I could turn back the clock so you all could go see what was, hands down, the best Revels ever.

: : Isabella weighs 7 lbs, 10.5 oz / 3.47 kgs and is just dandy!

: : This is the same way our relative met & married his new wife - minus the coverage in People Magazine and the chateau in Switzerland.

Just A Typical Conversation

I speak with my 87 year old mother just about every day. Sometimes it is a brief call; other times the conversation can pinball around for more than an hour.

So I’m on the phone with my mother this afternoon and she’s rattling off various tidbits of news. She’s telling me about her card group and their going away luncheon for Margie - a big success.

Then she tells me of a couple of kindnesses done for her by two neighbors.

Then she says: “Oh and Rosie (name changed to protect the innocent - and others) is getting married!” “Oh my goodness!” I exclaimed because Rosie, a friend of my eldest sister, is in her 60’s and has never been married before.

“Yes,” says my mother, “she’s been sober for quite some time now.” Had I been drinking, I would have done a spit-take!

I laughed and told her I wasn’t quite making the connection between the two statements of apparent fact.

Undaunted, my Mom breezed on to say: “And there was also some news about Rosie’s brother. But I can’t quite remember now if he’s gotten sober as well or if he died.”

I suggested we might need just a few more facts before we broadcast any news updates about Rosie’s brother!

What Worked

I was lucky. I knew I would be hospitalized and having surgery several weeks ahead of time. As a result, I was able to prepare and figure out what I needed. Besides finding a brilliant, compassionate surgeon, here’s what worked for me:

: : I purchased and read quite a bit of Peggy Huddleston’s book “Prepare for Surgery, Healer Faster”. I did not follow all of her advice, but I found it very useful. I did listen to her companion relaxation CD - a lot - (which I loaded onto our iPod) and found that to be tremendously helpful throughout the entire process. I listened to it when I felt my anxiety begin to rise in the weeks leading up to the surgery and in the hospital at night when I couldn’t sleep. (Both are available on Amazon here and here.)

: : I created a folder in iPhoto called “Favorite/Special People & Places”. I dragged in photos of family, friends, Bar Harbor, Acadia, favorite digi-scrap layouts and so on. I loaded that folder onto our iPod. Many, many times I flipped through those photos, each of which made me smile. Connecting visually with the people, places, memories and moments I love made me feel good and calmed me down. It also helped me think ahead to what I would like to do after my recovery.

: : I reached out to the people in my life who I could count on. Chuck was naturally and rightfully at the top of that list! I knew I needed kind, well intentioned and funny people pulling for me, each in their own unique way. I sent out the call and the responses bowled both of us over.

: : As soon as I went into surgery, Chuck began sending group e-mail updates to those close friends and family members who were part of my “team”. That kept them informed and their responses were tangible support to Chuck while he waited. When I was out of the recovery room, Chuck continued the updates and the responses cheered us both immensely.

: : I remembered to be me. I made sure to engage positively and with good humor with every person I came in contact with. I wanted to be sure that I would not be just another number. I wanted to connect with the people responsible for my care. Coping with life’s challenges through laughter is one of my favorite strategies. Kidding around with my surgical nurse on the way to the operating room; joking with my nurses over profoundly embarrassing personal moments - that guaranteed I was not a number! I was Lee.

: : I walked. Before surgery back in 1987, my sister Gail advised me to get up and walk as soon as I was able. It was good advice then and now has become the gold standard for post-op recovery advice. This time I would emerge from my room, wrapped in my robe, one hand on my IV pole, the other on my incision and slowly but surely travel up and down the hallway. I did so at any hour of the day or night, always encouraged by the nurses and Chuck.

I was lucky.
I remain filled with gratitude for extremely good health care, fine health insurance, excellent nurses, generous friends and family and my understanding husband.

“Nazi Tourette’s”

Comedian Lewis Black is spang on as he describes Glenn Beck on Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show. (Thanks to Countdown with Keith Olbermann.)

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Back in Black - Glenn Beck's Nazi Tourette's
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

Problem with the video? Here’s the link to watch it on The Daily Show’s website.

May I Direct You To...

The cutest cat pictures - ever. A complete peaceable kingdom.

A laugh out loud post on exercise meets strippers. Seriously.

Food and photos to make you, well, drool.

Have a lovely day...

Red Robin

On our trips to Washington state we discovered the Red Robin restaurants. They began in Seattle during the 1940s. The food was always good; not terribly expensive. The restaurants were clean, bright, with interesting posters, photographs and artwork on the walls. And the staff was unfailingly cheerful. I’ve mentioned in previous posts that the helpfulness of many employees in Washington state initially took us by surprise. So it was easy to assume that the positive vibe we experienced at Red Robin was simply part of the cultural fabric of the Northwest. Then Red Robin opened a restaurant in Millbury and we gave it a whirl. With the exception of the southern New England accents, we could have been back in Greater Seattle!

Last night we stopped at Red Robin on our way home from Rhode Island. Friday night found them busy and bustling. The gal at the desk told us we would have about a twenty minute wait. It turned out to be closer to twenty-five, but that was close enough. While we waited, Chuck and I entertained ourselves by watching the Red Sox game on the television sets and listening to the names of diners being called when their tables were ready. When I was a kid, my Dad always gave our last name to the host. Nowadays, folks tend to give their first name, us included. (The exception would be when we call and make a reservation or use a service like Open Table.) As the names were called out, we began pretending famous people were in the house. We would hear “Taylor, party of two.” and one of us would exclaim “Taylor Swift is here!” We kept this up with rapid conversions from ordinary people to mostly young, hip celebrities including Matt Damon, Lindsay Lohan, Kenny Chesney, Josh Beckett and so on. The one that stumped us was “Julie, party of four.” We wracked our brains for a contemporary celebrity named Julie. Chuck finally offered Julie Harris and I volunteered Julie Andrews. At that point we felt really, really old! But the time sure had flown by!

When we were comfortably seated in a booth, Chuck noticed that the staff had something embroidered on the sleeve of their polo shirts. It read “Honor, Integrity, Continually Seeking Knowledge and Having Fun”. Turns out that’s what Red Robin describes as their core values. No wonder we like Red Robin!

Granite State of Mind

If imitation is truly the sincerest form of flattery, then Jay-Z and Alicia Keys must be feeling honored. You probably have to live in this area in order to appreciate all the fun the Super Secret Project has packed into this video, but here goes...



This link will take you to the YouTube page where you can read the lyrics (expand them just below the video screen).

: : Update: Christian Wisecarver and Holly Winchell perform in the video. Wisecarver also wrote the lyrics.

Tea Partay Redux

I first posted this video back in 2007, long before the sturm und drang of last summer’s town hall meetings and the relentless rage of the tea party-er types.

I sometimes long for such simpler, sillier days.

For the time being, this is the only Tea Partay I want to think about. Enjoy!




Tell Buffy to chirp me!

LOL!

Her name is Stephanie.
Her blog is called: “I Know It’s Here Somewhere...”
Her post made both Chuck and me laugh.
It’s short, sweet and has photographs to illustrate her points.
The chop saw & the square dog put it over the top.
I already ReTweeted it (thanks to Cathy Zielske).
Now you can enjoy it as well!

Unhappy Hipsters

A few days ago Morgan pointed me to a clever and witty website. They take photos from Dwell magazine and caption them. It’s called Unhappy Hipsters. In some ways it is the uber-modern, angst-ridden, minimalist, home decorating equivalent of Awkward Family Photos.

I had you at angst-ridden, didn’t I?
;o)

The (Sentimental) Geek That Is Me

Friday evening, the “Celebration of a Life” in honor of Ted Kennedy was broadcast on television. It was in the spirit of an Irish wake, but on a much larger scale. Held at the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Library in Boston, with Teddy’s flag draped casket right in front of the podium, there was singing, stories, laughter and tears. It truly was a celebration. And it was exactly the sort of thing that Teddy would have loved. All of the speakers did a good job of revealing additional facets of Senator Kennedy. It’s hard to say, but I think the funniest moments came from Senator John C. Culver. He and Teddy were on the Harvard football team together. Let’s just say the story of the salmon salad sandwiches coupled with a storm tossed sea was priceless. The singing was great, including the finale of “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling” which no one wanted to stop singing. But the most touching was when Nick Littlefield, an attorney and former senate chief of staff for Teddy, sang “Love Changes Everything” from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Aspects of Love”. Mr. Littlefield explained that it was a favorite of Teddy’s and that Teddy sang it the last time they were together. We all could understand the relevance of the lyrics because of the way Ted’s life had been transformed by his wife Vicki.

Today, we went to iTunes to see if we could find a recording of “Love Changes Everything” that we liked. There were versions by Sarah Brightman, Michael Crawford and myriad other artists. But none of them had the heart, the passion, nor the personal connection to Ted and Vicki which had captured our hearts. Then I remembered what I had done in a similar situation last January. So I began hunting for a video clip of Mr. Littlefield’s performance. Sure enough, it was already available on YouTube. I went back into the archives here on Pink Granite and found the post where I explained how I stripped a video down to just the audio for a song. (It’s a good thing I turned it into a post because I didn’t remember all the steps!) In just a few minutes I had Nick Littlefield singing “Love Changes Everything” playing from our iPod.

Here’s the video:



Thank you Mr. Littlefield.