Month: July 2007

  • Fine Art Friday

    Five Boys on a Wall
    Eastman Johnson c. 1871
     
    For a larger view of the picture,
    go to The Athenaeum and click on the picture

    I like the contrast between the sharply defined edges of the boys' figures,
    and the fuzzy lines at the grass and sky.
    Also, the wide parallel chunks across the picture
    contrasted with the vertical images of the boys.

    Aren't you glad that we don't have to wear all those clothes when it's hot? 
    I saw a picture of a fair in St. Louis taken around 1910. 
    Every man wore a suit and hat; every woman had volumes
    of dark dress and skirts gathered close to her body.
    Long sleeves on every man and woman.
    And the temperature was 105°!!
    They made them tough back then.

  • Loathsome List

    We are culture full of mooing affirmations.  We accentuate the positive and avoid the negative.  However, what you deny is as important as what you affirm. 

    Think about it. 

    If you ask a friend what she loves, that will tell you something about her. 
    But ask her what she hates. The answer to that question will reveal a different side.

    The Proverbs illustrate this, don't they?  In one verse you see the antithesis: A false balance is abomination to the Lord; but a just weight is his delight.

    In the spirit of affirmations and denials I've been compiling a Loathsome List.  Strictly speaking, some of the items are more irritating or annoying than loathsome.  And just because it lands on the list doesn't mean that I've banished it from my life (particularly # 1 and #11).  And what may be loathsome (can you tell I like how that word rolls off the tongue?) to me may be acceptable to you.  So we allow each other a measure of quirkiness. 

    So what about you, my friend?  What do you hate?

    Carol's Loathsome List

    1.  Standing-overnight
    dishwater

    2.  Bitter cucumber
    taste

    3.  The demise of
    favorite shoes

    4.  Hearing harmony
    sung off-key

    5.  Deer-devoured
    tulips

    6.  Screaming, kicking tantrums in the grocery store

    7.  Quiet tantrums held within my head.

    8.  Any email with a
    promise postscripted if you forward it to five people

    9.  A mosquito’s buzz
    near the pillow

    10.  Racist comments,
    gestures, acts

    11.  Produce I’ve let
    spoil in the fridge

    12.  Cut-off telephone
    conversations without a proper farewell

    13.  A good book with
    the last pages missing (not theoretical)

    14.  An unreconciled bank statement

    15.  A listener to gossip

    16.  Litter (written the day after July 4th)

    17. 105° without air conditioning

    18.  Used gum in inappropriate places (underneath tables, on the street)

    19.  A stain on a favorite white tee shirt

    20.  Interest paid for consumables - like throwing $20 bills out the back door

  • What My Brother Taught Me Today


    My brother, the tenor

    For those of us who are sight-impaired this is such a cool thing.  If you've read this blog for a while, you are familiar with my embarrassing gaffes because I didn't see clearly.  Like the time I thought the little boy had breeches on and he was buck naked on the bottom.   Or when I added a picture of an elderly woman reading to illustrate how-I-want-to-be-when-I-grow-up and didn't realize that she was reading a book of dirty jokes.  Ay-yi-yi!!

    So I just hung up from a lovely mid-day phone call from my brother Dan.  In the midst of our chit chat I mentioned a blog I liked but complained about the font being so small. 

    "Here's how you fix that," my helpful brother-who-lurks suggested. "Hold down the control key and move the scroll-wheel on your mouse. Moving down makes the print larger, moving up makes it smaller."

    Control-Scroll makes print larger or smaller. 

    Go ahead!
    Try it!
    Right now.

    Who knew?

    Thanks, bro. 

    This was a much easier entry than
    the book review I was going to write. <wink>

    [Addendum: I was showing this to my co-workers
    at the pharmacy and it didn't work at first.
    It won't work with graphics at all, only print.]

  • July 4th

    On this Fourth of July in 1826, fifty years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, two of our country's former presidents died.  Thomas Jefferson died in the afternoon at home in Monticello.  John Adams died in the evening at home in Quincy. 

    John Adams' words to his grandchildren as quoted in John Adams by David McCullough:

    The Lord deliver us from all family pride.
    No pride, John, no pride.

    You are not singular in your suspicions that you know but little. 
    The longer I live,
    the more I read,
    the more patiently I think,
    and the more anxiously I inquire,
    the less I seem to know...
    Do justly.
    Love mercy.
    Walk humbly.
    This is enough....
    So questions and so answers
    your affectionate grandfather.

  • My Favorite Book


    You are my P.G.
    Wodehouse    .

    You make me snort
    with laughter.

     
    You are my Conan
    Doyle    ;

    A mystery until the
    end.

     
    You are my C. S.
    Lewis    .

    You see how beautiful
    truth is.

     
    You are my Hank the
    Cowdog    ;

    Silly fun with a
    clever twist.

     
    You are my Wendell
    Berry    .

    You take pleasure in
    provisioning.

     
    You are my Martin
    Luther    ,

    Famous for good table
    talk.

     
    You are my David
    McCullough    ;

    Decent, insightful,
    articulate.

     
    You are my Anthony
    Trollope    ,

    Warm comfort on a
    cold evening.

     
    You are my Shakespeare,

    Full of quotes worth
    memorizing.

     
    You are my Matthew
    Henry    .

    “Look at this,” as
    you point to a verse.

     
    You are my Chilton.

    You keep our cars
    running.

     
    You are my A.A. Milne,

    A good citizen of the
    100 Acre Wood.

     
    You are my Dostoyevsky;

    Complex, difficult,
    but worth the read.

     
    You are my Jeremy
    Burroughs    .

    You model the rare
    jewel.

     
    You are my
    Chesterton;

    An original thinker
    without the bulk.

     
    You are my Fish and
    Game Regs    ,

    A calendar of high
    holy days.

     
    You are my Dickens.

    You understand human
    nature.

     
    You are my Dante.

    You write poems of
    love.

     
    You are my Cabela’s
    catalog;

    Treasures waiting in
    the warehouse.

     
    You are my favorite
    book to read.

    Word by word;

    Page by page;

    Chapter by chapter.


  • Best Local Restaurants

    Ruthie has tagged me to do the restaurant meme.  All photos in this post are from the restaurant websites.  This food quote is my little addition.

    To have conversation at meals involves a special
    kind of hunger.  The great French philosopher of
    gastronomy Brillat-Savarin made a distinction
    between the pleasures of eating
    and the pleasures of the table,
    the latter meaning convivial talk
    about     subjects worth talking about.
    Shared food can contribute a sense of well-being
    and friendliness, but also a great deal more...

    Our meals are making us think about the
    callousness of our habits.  Cooking has
    become part of the visual arts.     Shopping
    for food is a game of hide-and-seek,
    with packagers concealing their secrets
    in small print.     The time will come, I hope,
    when those who     influence our ideas
     about food, the writers     of newspaper
    articles about restaurants,     and the
    makers of TV cooking shows,    will begin
    to discuss the quality of conversation
    which their delicious meals induce,
    and not concentrate only on the decor
    of restaurants, or the technicalities of recipes.
    We need to invent a new poetry of food,
    as our ancestors invented a language of flowers.

    ~ Theodore Zeldin in Conversation

    1. Add a direct link to your post below the name of the person who tagged you. Include the city/state and country you’re in.

    Nicole (Sydney, Australia)
    velverse (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
    LB (San Giovanni in Marignano, Italy)
    Selba (Jakarta, Indonesia)
    Olivia (London, England)
    ML (Utah, USA)
    Lotus (Toronto, Canada)
    tanabata (Saitama, Japan)
    Andi (Dallas [ish], Texas, United States)
    Todd (Louisville, Kentucky, United States)
    miss kendra (los angeles, california, u.s.a)
    Jiggs Casey (Berkeley, CA, USA! USA! USA!)
    Tits McGee (New England, USA)
    Joe (NE Tennessee, USA)
    10K Monkeys (Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA)
    Big Stupid Tommy (Athens, Tennessee, USA)
    Newscoma (Weakley County, Tennessee, USA)
    Russ McBee (Knoxville, Tennessee, USA)
    Atomictumor Mrs Eaves (Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA)
    Oh Really? LissaKay (Oak Ridge, TN, USA)
    Mark Steel blogitude.com (Knoxville, TN, USA)
    Fracas (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada)
    Jersey Chick (Atlanta, GA, USA)

    Magistra Mater (NE Oregon, USA)

    2. List out your top 5 favorite places to eat at your location.

    Heavenly's - Home of the Heavenly Hamburger, Enterprise, Oregon

    If you want to take a wonderful vacation, plan on a trip to Wallowa Lake.  Go ahead, click on that link; I guarantee you'll be wishing you were in Eastern Oregon!  When you come, you will drive by this little roadside eatery.  Best hamburger, made from fresh (not frozen) beef.  No, really! Best Philly Cheese Steak sandwich west of the Mississippi. 

    RimRock Inn - Dining on the Edge

    Oregon Bounty plate

    After you've had the best hamburger in the USA for lunch, plan on dinner at this fine restaurant sitting on the edge of the Joseph Canyon.  The vista is stunning.  It would be worth the trip just to sit and sip tea and look at the changing light. However, the interior setting is comfortably elegant, the food is exquisite, the staff is friendly and congenial; it has all the elements for a fabulous dining experience. Go to their website and look at the photo collection. Save room for a delectable dessert made by their pastry chef. They also have tipis that you can sleep in overnight. 

    Foley Station

    As famous for their elegant breakfasts as for their lunches and dinners, this is the restaurant of choice for many friends.  It is a good place to celebrate, to enjoy a  relaxed evening, or to have a treat.  My absolute favorite item is the Ultimate Chicken Salad.  Grilled chicken, avocado, blue cheese, candied pecans, red onions on a bed of greens with a tangy house dressing. I'd rather forego four fast food meals in order to dine here once.

    Yia Yia Nikki's

    Whenever my sister picks me up at O'Hare airport (Chicago) she drives me to the closest gyros stand for some messy lamb, tomato, onion and tzatziki sauce cradled in pita.  The problem is, I only get to Chicago every other year or so.  In our rural area, ethnic eating means a few good Mexican restaurants and a handful of American Chinese eateries. Thai? No. Indian? None.  Peruvian? Dream on. Southern? Y'all must be touched. Italian? Go to Italy! Polish? Not a chance. Alas, we offer Denny's and McDonalds.  Sigh.

    So you can imagine my delight when this little stand opened by a Greek relative of a local resident.  Gyros, Greek salads, keftedes, pastichio, baklava and kourabiedes always available?  Here's the funny thing - right above the door to walk in is a small sign: God.   What does that mean?  I get as much delight from the Greek accent and honest open face of the proprietor as I do from the food.

    West of Paris  restaurant français

    Canard a l'Orange

    I'm including this Moscow, Idaho restaurant because it served me the best meal of my life.  The. Best. Meal. of. My. Life.  Très Bien!  It's hard to describe what was so wonderful because the flavors were subtle and no one taste jumped out, flashing and screaming. The chef, a native of France, was trained in Lyon. Bite by bite, course by course, it was the culinary experience of my lifetime.  The dessert, Crème brûlée with a berry topping, capped an extraordinary evening. If you love food quotes, check out the link.

    3. Tag 5 Others

    If you would like to do this meme,  please leave a comment saying so.  If you want to be part of the world wide effort of locals reviewing their own favorites, check out Chronicles of Nicole.

    There is a fabulous response from all over the world and categorized by country by Nicole here.

       

  • 29 Years Ago

    His banner over me is love.

    It was very hot in Wheaton, Illinois. From my journal:
    "I will never forget how Curt sweat like a thunderstorm." <g>

    Ten years along in our journey.

    From the 14th century poet, Christine de Pisan

    Dolce chose est que mariage,
    Je le puis bien par moy prouver

    Marriage is a sweet thing,
    I know that from my own experience.