Weekend Assignment - Highway Sign

John Scalzi invites us to make our own highway sign.  If you would like to also, visit By The Way for instructions.

Closer to the Moon

   A few days ago I showed a picture I snapped while trying to get a silhouette of a plane against the moon.  It was remarkable that I got them in the same frame. 

   Last night I snapped another as a  plane passed the moon much closer. I astound myself.  The picture is very fuzzy being magnified so greatly.

                                       

 

Lost Art

Believe it or not, I am the repository of a lost art. 

Our activity director wants to celebrate up coming Fathers day by having the whole staff wear neckties, the traditional gift for father.  So she went to Goodwill Outlet and bought their complete stock of ties...twenty. 

But the staff members are young folks, and no one knows how to tie a tie.  LOL. Call in the old folks who lived in the early part of the twentieth century when you had to wear a tie to work.  Another resident and I each took ten ties and pre-tied them, so the staffers could simply put them on over their heads, like sweaters.

Who would have guessed that a "four in hand" would be a lost art?  I wonder if I can still tie a "Windsor".

Joomba

The Shaw of Ireek and the Shaw of Uran were neighbors, but that didn't mean they got along.  Protocol and custom demanded that they be civil to one another even though there was no trust or friendship.

The Feast of Dummyrum was coming up and custom demanded that they give one another gifts.  The giver of the least lavish gift  would "lose face", so they raided their treasuries to provide a gift with much embellishment and show.

The Shaw of Ireek sent the Shaw of Uran a beautiful scarf wrapped around a myriad of gems and jewels.  The gorgeous package was put on display in the center of the Taj Me Hall to be admired by the populace.

And the Shaw of Uran sent the Shaw of Ireek a sacred beast to be worshipped by the multitudes: a huge while elephant carrying a festooned Howdy on her back displaying dancing girls and muscians playing Hagbags, the national instrument of Uran.  The elephant was named Joomba.

The multudes roared their approval and bowed down in worship to Joomba, the sacred white elephant.  The Shaw of Uran basked in his new found "face" as giver of the most Lavish Gift, and he smiled at a secret he knew

The next day, the Shaw of Ireek discovered that Joomba was hungry and thirsty, the dancing girls were cranky and the musicians were off-key and their Hagbags were sour.  What does one feed a white elephant.  He discovered that Joomba ate tons of green grass, and juicy fruits from gum trees that had to be imported at great expense.

He raided the treasury to pay for imported grass and fruit.  And the next day he had to do it again.  Meanwhile Joomba tromped around the Taj Me Hall pooping and trumpeting in ill temper when not enough worshippers were there to bow down.  More worshippers had to be hired.

On the fourth day, the Shaw of Ireek was bankrupt, and his Shawdom collapsed.

End of that story and beginning of this:  I am giving my grand daughter, aged twenty, her first car.  It is a used Mercedes Benz 300-E. It has 229,698 miles on it.  It uses premium gas in the age of sky high gas prices.  It has a power sun roof and even has windshield wipers on the head lights.  It is a wonderful luxury car. I love my grand daughter, but I wonder if she will have to name the car Joomba.

Moonshot

Close, but not close enough.

Last night, seeking some quiet and something to do that took no energy I sat out at twilight, staring at the moon with camera ready.  Ready for what?

For a one in ten-thousand chance that a passing airplane would pass directly in front of the moon and make a silhoutte.  A few birds came by but they were too fast for me.  Finally an airplane came NEAR.  In desperation I snapped a picture.

The result is above: a half moon and way...way down in the lower left is a speck that was the airplane.  I had to blow the image up immensely to capture even this...

It was not a bad way to spend an evening, and remember, even all of NASA's moonshots didn't work the first time.

Mega M&Ms

I like the new Mega M&M's.  As near as I can tell each one is one and half grams.  The televsion ads say, "You wouldn't want 'em any bigger."

Wrong.  I would.  The bigger the better for me.

I even like the subdued colors: Beige, Teal, Maroon, Gold, Brown, and Blue-gray.

Yay for the one and half gram M&M's.  can't wait until the three gram babies come out.  Mars candy, take note.

What would it take

What would it take to make you stop writing?  Just wondering. I have no intention of stopping, nor do I have any idea what it would take to get me to stop. 

Just finished The Lust Lizard of Melancoly Cove by Christopher Moore.  Have reviewed two of his books here before: Lamb and Fluke.  Liked em both, BUT Fluke stunned me.  Changed genre in mid-story.  Started as science, about whales and dolphins, and suddenly shifted to science fiction. Once I understood what I was reading, I was all right.  Lamb is fantasy...what Jesus youthful life migt have been like.  Lust Lizard also fantasy, but you can sort of tell that going in.