Shoe Fetish

One of my favorite blogs is Go Fug Yourself. Today's posting is sort of a tribute to the ladies of Go Fug Yourself, who post extremely witty remarks about bad celebrity clothing choices. I care next to nothing about celebrities and their idiotic behavior, but Heather and Jessica can brighten even the grimmest day with their hysterical commentary. And they aren't mean. Yes, they can cut their victim to ribbons, but they do it in such a nice way, and the silly twit deserved it. And they are so funny. Did I say that aleady? Just go there and read some of their stuff.

What do you think of my new shoes? What, you were expecting a whole body photo?

Book Review

I have just finished, and thoroughly enjoyed, A Broom of One's Own by Nancy Peacock. The subtitle is "Words on Writing, Housecleaning, and Life" and that is exactly what this book is. Ms. Peacock worked as a housecleaner for a number of years and this is a collection of essays describing that life as it merged with her writing life. She is a good writer, easy to read, with a style that makes you want to keep reading even when your eyes are slowly closing. I read at bedtime almost every night so I often jerk awake when the book flops on my chest. I sometimes have trouble falling asleep once the light is off, so I try to read as long as I can, even with all the eye closing and book flopping, just to make sure that this is really it for me, time to really, really go to sleep. I am looking forward to reading one of Ms. Peacock's fiction works, Life Without Water. I recommend A Broom of One's Own and I will let you know about Life Without Water.

Another book I'm falling asleep with right now is Beware False Profits by Emilie Richards. This is one of a series of cozy mysteries set in Emerald Springs, Ohio, where Aggie Sloan Wilcox and her minister husband Ed unintentionally get involved in untangling murder mysteries. These are fun, light reads that I recommend for times when your brain can't handle any heavy lifting.

Another book I've got going on is The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton. I keep it in my car for times when I have to wait on someone or just need to pass some time in my car. I admit it, I do eat lunch in my car sometimes. Just the other night, my nutty husband went into the grocery store and I opted to stay in the car reading my car book. My husband can take a very long time getting just a few things. He sees a lot of folks he knows in the grocery store and reads a lot of labels. It really is best that I stay in the car. I like Edith Wharton quite a bit but is is hard to pick up where you left off as her writing sytle is so unlike today's writers. She writes the heck out of a story. So much detail and nuance. Your brain really has to be fully engaged when you read a real writer like this. Finishing this book could take some time.

Anyone out there reading anything good?

Beach Week

In a few hours, our baby will return from Beach Week. This is the week when high schoolers go to the beach to see if they can bust out of the stranglehold their fascist parents have imposed on them all these years. It's just not a successful beach week unless someone (or many) gets arrested, gets wasted, gets assaulted, gets heartbroken, gets horribly sunburned or maimed. How can you prove to your parents that you are ready for college unless something really dreadful happens to you and you survive? See, mom, it's no big deal when I nearly get killed.

Here at the Nest, I suppose this has been good practice for when the real empty nest gets here. I don't like it much. Oh, it's been nice not to worry about feeding the young man. But I don't like all this silence. And I thought there'd be more sex.

I am looking forward to laying eyes on my baby, tanned and rested and ready for .... more rest? What on earth do high schoolers need with a beach week? When is the last time I had a beach week with no responsibility for children? Oh say, 28 years ago?? Now I am beginning to feel bitter and cranky, when I really need to be thinking about the groceries I need to go buy so the young lad can eat.

I'll get my beach week one of these days. I hope the grandkids can come too.

White Teeth

My new's year resolution was to make my teeth whiter. I don't believe in new year's resolutions, but I saw a picture of myself and didn't like the way my teeth looked, and it happened to be January, so it seemed like a good fit. Since then I have not done much toward gaining whiter teeth, but my fascination with white teeth in other people has grown. I stare at especially white teeth and pay no attention to what the person is saying. I am too shy to ask how they do it, and anyway that will draw attention to my un-white teeth, so I stand in silent awe of pearly choppers. I find as I grow older I have become distressingly shallow.

A few days ago, my favorite news source, The Onion, sent me an Onion radio news report that helped me come to terms with my obsession. Thank God for The Onion as they give it to you straight.

There are a couple of swear words in this clip; I hope this is not offensive to anyone.

Get your White Teeth here.

Father's Day 2008

Today all three of our sons called their dad to wish him a happy day. The baby, who still lives with us, called from his beach vacation. I am so glad he remembered. These phone calls made me wonder what I would say to my dad if I could call him, or go visit him. He died in 1994 and would be 85 now. Since I am out of the habit of talking to him, but do recall that he was a man of few words, having a chat with him might be tough. I spent the morning looking at photos for a slide show for him. I know that if I could, I'd take some of these photos to him so he could tell me who the people are and what they were doing. His last months were not happy as his health declined very rapidly. To make him stay engaged, I'd ask him all kinds of questions about the past, which was much more pleasant for him to talk about than the current status of his life. So remember, to get an older person to talk, ask him or her something about the past.

I added captions to this slide show, which you can see if you click on a slide to open a larger window. The photos range from 1927 to 1993. In the first photo, my dad is 5 and in the middle, with his big sister next to him. I hope you will know which one he is in the others. He is wearing the R sweater in the 3rd photo.

Happy Father's Day to my dad, Jack Cooke

December 14, 1922 - January 24, 1994

Art Appreciation

One of my favorite bloggers, Lance Mannion, recently wrote that he enjoys the art of John Singer Sargent. He included some of Sargent's art, including this one that I was not familiar with:

It is called Light and Shadows, Corfu, and Lance probably wouldn't mind that I lifted it from his blog. Isn't it lovely?

I have always enjoyed this one:

It is a portrait of Mr. and Mrs. I.N. Phelps Stokes. I really like her bold stance. Here are some details of this work:

Sargent painted this double portrait in 1897. Isaac Newton Phelps Stokes (1867–1944), the son of Mr. and Mrs. Anson Phelps Stokes (see 65.252), was then an architect and author. His wife, Edith Minturn Stokes (1867–1937), was born in West Brighton, Staten Island, a daughter of the heir to a shipping fortune. The Stokes were married on August 25, 1895, and the portrait by Sargent was a wedding gift from James A. Scrimser. Sargent's first intention was to paint a single portrait of Edith during the summer of 1897 in Venice. After numerous posing and preparatory sessions, the artist decided to paint her as if she were just returning from a brisk walk outdoors, with a greyhound at her side. After the portrait was finished, however, the greyhound was no longer available and I. N. Phelps Stokes suggested that he take its place. Sargent agreed, and the single portrait became a double portrait.

I think we should take a break every day to look at some art. Consider yourself covered for today.

It's Go Time!

While I am glad that we can all rally around our man Obama, I am sorry that my plan isn't going to work out: 8 years with President Hillary, followed by 8 years of President Barack, then 8 years of another worthy Democrat. I believe our country does better with Democratic leadership.

My son was quite indignant that I could be a Hillary supporter right up till the end. He would sputter and grouse about how awful she is. I just think she'd make a good president, that's all. So shove it, son.

Today I gave money to Obama, a small amount, even though Hillary owes 11 million dollars or some outlandish sum like that. She will have to send Bill out on the lecture circuit to recoup that, after he rests for a while. Wasn't it nice to see Chelsea all grown up and proud of her mom? She's right, her mom would make a better president than her dad. He is so distractable and volatile.

So in the words of Mandelbaum on Seinfeld, it's go time now. Let's buckle down and elect a good, smart president. For a change.

Just allow me one last bit of space for the other candidate, old what's her name, and then I really will move on.

Thank You, Birds

On Saturday I misplaced my favorite glasses. This is not the first time. I think I need to make these my least favorite glasses and then they will never get lost again. These are only inexpensive magnifiers, so it is no great loss when a pair goes missing. However, my favorite glasses add to my personal sense of feng shui, therefore they are very valuable to me. And they are cute.

This morning (Tuesday) I was going to stop at the grocery store where I purchase all of my fashion eyewear and get another pair. But first I had to fill the birdbaths.

Look what I found:

thank you birds!

Birthday Greetings

Happy Birthday Barbara. I made this for you:

Congratulations to the Class of 2008

Wow, that was a good graduation. Easy parking, great seats, great student speeches, happy kids and parents. Woo hoo. We're done.

Based on the nearly 400 names called out yesterday, I believe that Christopher was the most popular boy name in 1989.

Here is a slide show for you to enjoy.

Today is the Day

Today our youngest son graduates from high school. It is a nice feeling. I hope he knows how proud we are of him. And that he has so much to look forward to. It has been a weird week for the old folks at the Empty Nest. I have suffered through my first case of poison ivy and have had a couple of bad sleep nights due to itchiness. My nutty husband has been too busy with work to do anything nutty. He broke a tooth and had to make an emergency visit to the dentist. It seems that just about every time I go to leave the house, I discover that whatever clothes I am wearing have food spots or other defects; you know, I really do try to keep up with the laundry. I have had time off from work, so I can't complain about being too busy to enjoy being at home and tending to my extensive grounds. We are having a graduation party Saturday night for both of our graduates, so we will have fun seeing people we don't see often enough. All in all, not a bad week after all.

Here is a photo of today's graduate, celebrating Christmas many years ago. I hope to make a slide show of his graduation and post that later, and maybe get around to posting the video from the baby shower too.

Welcome Little One

Today I enjoyed attending a baby shower for my daughter-in-law who will be having her third baby in July. Baby showers are fun for looking at all those precious baby things, but what really makes them special in my opinion is that this is often that last time the mommy will enjoy a party once the baby is born. It is also my opinion that first birthday parties are really for the parents more than for the oblivious, cake-coated baby. Parents deserve a big party for surviving the first year, especially with a first baby.

I made a video with my new Flip video camera, which turned out very badly due to the flood of daylight coming in the windows. But the audio is amusing, so I will share it here. Maybe you can hear the sound of children playing in the background - the 2 older cousins were having a blast with my 2 grandsons and there is much thumping and squealing overhead. It reminded me of when my children were young and they would make the house shake with their spirited hi-jinks.

Here is the poor quality video of my beautiful daughter-in-law opening baby gifts. It is about 3 minutes long. I promise that the next video will be extremely high quality to make up for this one.