New post, old times

A friend of a friend rehomed her cat to my house - she is my new old cat.

MamaM's post has inspired me to write a post that I have been thinking about for a while. This blog has been part of my life for longer than I can remember and I have encountered some remarkable folks here.

First and foremost, the late, great Chip Ahoy. He has been gone for years now but his work, both here and IRL, sticks with me. He was as creative and productive a human as I have ever encountered. When his brother posthumously posted links to works Chip had not posted here I was blown away - what a wide range of interests and what a remarkable set of skills he had. I am sure he is greatly missed by everyone who knew him.

Next, of course, The Trooper - now there is a guy who has been shouldering a mighty load here. He needs to pop up and post more of his writing, and I am sure he will in his own good time. I want to know how some of those stories turn out!

The other day I read about two new super heavy elements - 119 and 120 - ununennium and unbinilium respectively. I would have named the latter unobtainium, but that name is already taken. That story reminded me of our resident chemist and grammar genius, Chicklit. I miss his writing and I hope he is doing well with his new venture and in his new location. Every time I saw some aromatic White Oak or apply some Waterlox to a finished product I am reminded of him. 

Evi L. Bloggerlady, the floofy red cow who got his name from the sobriquet that Trooper applied to a certain communist blogger still comments and blogs. He's a funny guy. 

Various commenters here have popped up on other sites - I used to see RicPic's comments over at Instapundit, but I haven't seen his name over there in a year. Michael Haz still shows up occasionally, which is good. The woman from Colorado who is now known as Hunter'sHooker still comments over there - she's pretty funny. 

Others have disappeared into the ether of the internet. TT Burnett - gone. The woodworker up in Maine, no trace of him. 

And so it goes with life. 

One of my classmates just returned from a visit to Minnesota and she brought me some wild rice that is produced up in Bemidji - guess what I am having for supper!

*Update - I forgot to mention that I have now met two people associated with this blog in real life - as you might imagine, they are awesome people. Carry on!

Overheard: ricpic

Ricpic: "Rossini's great great great great great grandchildren. Which kinda makes sense seeing as how his operas were 1840's rock."

Rossini wrote the William Tell Overture. Who knew? Thanks, ricpic!

Poet Laureate Corner

"You blew it"
The man said to himself
While checking another meaningless book out of the library
And then went on his way
Still - needless to say - full of self-love.

(Ricpic ...Our Poet Laureate)

ricpic made me do it

Overheard

Ricpic, after viewing this 1:53 trailer about Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzFoJyCFbM8

"Nothing special about those two. You'll find their sisters all over Larchmont. I ran away from that world forty years ago. Life reduced to the low horizon of comfort. Glad I escaped with every free breath I take."

From St. Nick To Eartha Kitt In One Fell Swoop Across 18 Centuries

Something goes off inside my head every year at this time and this year is no different.

Two years ago, I wondered about the disconnection between St. Nicholas gift-giving and Christmas. Chip Ahoy provided some answers in the comments to that post. This year, reading about the Saint, I learned what may be the origin of the chimney and stockings tradition. I quote Wiki at length:

In his most famous exploit, Nicholas aided a poor man who had three daughters, but could not afford a proper dowry for them. This meant that they would remain unmarried and probably, in absence of any other possible employment, would have to become prostitutes. Even if they did not, unmarried maidens in those days would have been assumed as being a prostitute. Hearing of the girls' plight, Nicholas decided to help them, but being too modest to help the family in public (or to save them the humiliation of accepting charity), he went to the house under the cover of night and threw three purses (one for each daughter) filled with gold coins through the window opening into the house. 

One version has him throwing one purse for three consecutive nights. Another has him throwing the purses over a period of three years, each time the night before one of the daughters comes of age. Invariably, the third time the father lies in wait, trying to discover the identity of their benefactor. In one version the father confronts the saint, only to have Nicholas say it is not him he should thank, but God alone. In another version, Nicholas learns of the poor man's plan and drops the third bag down the chimney instead; a variant holds that the daughter had washed her stockings that evening and hung them over the embers to dry, and that the bag of gold fell into the stocking. link

What does this have to do with Eartha Kitt?  Ask ricpic:

ricpic said...

Santa baby, just slip a sable under the tree for me,
Been an awful good girl,
Santa baby, and hurry down the chimney tonight

Santa baby, a '54 convertible too, light blue,
I'll wait up for you dear,
Santa baby, and hurry down the chimney tonight

Santa baby, I want a yacht and really that's not a lot,
Been an angel all year,
Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight.

The immortal Eartha Kitt!

December 6, 2014 at 9:40 AM

Overheard At Lem's

link to original

 

 

ricpic wrote... 

 

Look Out, Far Out

In the rigging
Where it's all rigged
I found some peace of mind
By climbing to the fo'c's'le
And scanning the horizon line.

July 5, 2016 at 12:50 PM 

haiku youku canyou?

"a frog floats
face up -
dead silence."

-   Michael Garofalo, Cuttings

http://www.egreenway.com/months/autumn.htm

Whose that girl?

She liked a laugh and was the first to use sock-puppets on TV so to speak. A favorite on the Love Boat and Love American Style she was a statuesque funny girl with a rock em sock em punch. Never at a loss for words on the Hollywood Squares, Match Game or Password. She loves animals but is not a whore like Betty White.

Here she is with ricpic at his bar mitzvah.

Whose that girl.

Crowdsourced solutions: overheard: ricpic

"Whenever I see these microscopic photos I always wonder if there is a smallest unit of matter beyond which smallness cannot go. Physicists tell us the universe is continuing to expand, so I guess that means bigness is infinite, potentially. But is the smallest smallness unit of a butterfly's wing infinitely small?"