MIZMARILYN'S MISSIVES

MIZMARILYN'S MISSIVES... THE MANIACAL MUSINGS ON THE MEANDERINGS, MISADVENTURES, AND MISHAPS OF A MISGUIDED MISCREANT...

Thursday, October 30, 2008

You mean they don't LIVE in those little tanks??


Dang... this thing looks prehistoric! (and, admittedly, not very bright)

Another food story from my Nephew-in-law ... you know, that's a odd phrase. There ought to be some sort of better word for the husband of one's niece... like.. oh... I don't know... Niecephew? Nephret?

oh...

Chris? you say?? naw... too easy .. (grin) we need a new word!


  • <Click to read foggy foggy lobster story
  • Monday, October 27, 2008

    Shaq, LeBron, Dwight Howard All-Star Dance-Off

    This just put the biggest smile on my face!

    Go figure for Shaq! Such a big man with such smoooooth moves!

    Monday, October 20, 2008

    Speaking of Beasties...

    My Nephew in law has a new sideline. You remember him, he was the Spago Chef??

    Anyways, he's writing some food stuff and stories for an on line website. This is his first!

  • <Click to read about This little piggy


  • Pretty cool, but not nearly as cute as my elephants..



    Oh.. and bonho? I apologize... (grin)

    Friday, October 17, 2008

    My New Friends...



    I forgot to show you what I got in Big Sur... Instead of a long trip, I got a couple of new friends!

    What I want, someday, is the Loet Vanderveen herd... a bunch of these little elephants all running together.



    Waaay beyond my means...

    But, if I get another next year, it will be the panda and cub... (smaller than it looks)




    I love this one....

    Monday, October 13, 2008

    The Hills Are Aflame...



    Again...

    sigh....




    It was broad daylight when the above picture was taken...


    We may not have hurricanes or tornadoes, but we've got our devils...

    and so many of ours are purposeful...



    and these guys are the best of the best...




    just look at them...

    and all the people donating time and LAND for the very many animals (a lot of horses).

    I just want to be the first one to find the guys who start these things...

    just once...

    no


    really...

    Sunday, October 12, 2008

    Signs of Winter at My Brother's House....




    Filling up on crab apples before it gets really cold!

    Wednesday, October 08, 2008

    Great Expectations.... and a song...




    I borrowed this from bonho, who borrowed it from someone else.

    The quote comes from another blog..

    See how we all strive to help?


    "Adrienne sez, "We've created a 'live' Banned Book Display at our library [Twin Hickory Public Library, Glen Allen, VA]. We have volunteer readers who sit in the display and read (silently) banned and challenged books. So far it's gotten a lot of attention – we hear a lot of 'Mom, what are those people doing in there?' The best part has been hearing parents explain to their kids what the display is all about which is exactly what we wanted to happen!" Twin Hickory Public Library, Glen Allen, VA "


    Some of the more RIDICULOUS banned books..

    I want to go and sit and read The Very Hungry Caterpillar or Where’s Waldo? or Shakespeare or Little Red Riding Hood or Huckleberry Finn or Alice's Adventures in Wonderland or...

    Some of the most provocative books, aren't they.. good thing someone's working to ban them.. specially the Hungry Caterpillar.

    Forget the economy for a moment folks...

    This is the real enemy...

    And, of course, this sets me on a tale.

    When I was teaching, they had me sub for music class. 4th grade. One of the songs they were learning (a folk music lesson, I recall) was..

    wait for it..

    the Big Rock Candy Mountain.

    For those of you too young to know, it tells of a time when hobos rode the rails and times were tough and it was about a 'hobo heaven'

    Here are the original lyrics.

    One evening as the sun went down and the jungle fire was burning
    Down the track came a hobo hiking and he said boys I'm not turning
    I'm headin for a land that's far away beside the crystal fountains
    So come with me we'll go and see the Big Rock Candy Mountains

    In the Big Rock Candy Mountains there's a land that's fair and bright
    Where the handouts grow on bushes and you sleep out every night
    Where the boxcars are all empty and the sun shines every day
    On the birds and the bees and the cigarette trees
    Where the lemonade springs where the bluebird sings
    In the Big Rock Candy Mountains

    In the Big Rock Candy Mountains all the cops have wooden legs
    And the bulldogs all have rubber teeth and the hens lay soft boiled eggs
    The farmer's trees are full of fruit and the barns are full of hay
    Oh, I'm bound to go where there ain't no snow
    Where the rain don't fall and the wind don't blow
    In the Big Rock Candy Mountains

    In the Big Rock Candy Mountains you never change your socks
    And the little streams of alcohol come a-trickling down the rocks
    The brakemen have to tip their hats and the railroad bulls are blind
    There's a lake of stew and of whiskey too
    You can paddle all around 'em in a big canoe
    In the Big Rock Candy Mountains

    In the Big Rock Candy Mountains the jails are made of tin
    And you can walk right out again as soon as you are in
    There ain't no short handled shovels, no axes saws or picks
    I'm a goin to stay where you sleep all day
    Where they hung the jerk that invented work
    In the Big Rock Candy Mountains

    I'll see you all this coming fall in the Big Rock Candy Mountains

    Only that's NOT what they were teaching in that 4th grade class... OH NO! Those lyrics were too... too... too..

    well..

    wrong.

    Not Politically Correct..

    wrong..

    So they changed some things...

    More like this (I don't have the one from school, but this looks right, except the school one substituted wooden legged cows for cops somewhere)

    In the Big Rock Candy Mountains
    There's a land that's fair and bright
    Where the handouts grow on bushes
    And you sleep out ev'ry night
    Where the boxcars are all empty
    And the sun shines ev'ry day
    Oh, I'm bound to go where there ain't no snow
    Where the rain don't fall and the wind don't blow
    In the Big Rock Candy Mountains.

    Oh, the buzzin' of the bees in the peppermint trees
    'Round the soda water fountains
    Where the lemonade springs and the bluebird sings
    In the Big Rock Candy Mountains

    In the Big Rock Candy Mountains
    You never change your socks
    And little streams of lemonade
    Come a-tricklin' down the rocks
    The hobos there are friendly
    And their fires all burn bright
    There's a lake of stew and soda, too
    You can paddle all around 'em in a big canoe
    In the Big Rock Candy Mountains.

    Oh, the buzzin' of the bees in the peppermint trees
    'Round the soda water fountains
    Where the lemonade springs and the bluebird sings
    In the Big Rock Candy Mountains

    WHY BOTHER TO TEACH THE DAMNED SONG and talk about it as a FOLK song... what the hell is a FOLK song if you change the words and...

    well..

    You all know me...

    So, of course, my class got a history lesson that day instead of just music.

    We learned the original.

    We discussed WHY those men might want whiskey and no jails and what a railroad bull was and why you'd want a rubber toothed dog and a wooden legged cop.

    And no one was hurt by the explanation that THINGS WERE WHAT THEY WERE!

    so there...

    now see what you started!?

    1920's Big Rock Candy Mountain...

    Perfectly fine the way it was...

    Saturday, October 04, 2008

    Hometown Fair

    View from my deck.. over the garage. I'm kind of in the middle of it all!

    Friday, October 03, 2008

    Waiting For the Faire....

    So I came home early. Surprised? I'm not (grin)

    I still have the ability to 'wake myself up' when I need to. I'm not an early riser anymore, but I knew I would have to get up early to get down the Big Sur road in advance of

    1. The sun.. It's difficult enough driving down the winding road without having the sun blind you every few turns.

    2. The road crews. As I said, because of the fire, they are working on the road, and the delays would have been several, up to 1/2 an hour each time. They don't start until 8 AM, and by 8 I was almost to the bottom of the road. Ha!

    3. The new fire. As you can see, it's burning toward the road and could be seen easily. I figure if they didn't stop it, the road would have closed sometime soon after I left.

    The new fire...

    Looking down the road. You can just see the sun peeking through. This is a new thing my photo application can do (the halo effect) and I'm having fun with it..





    After I passed the fire, I stopped at the lower campground and looked back. You can see the flames, not far above the highway.



    The last night I was hoping to get some sleep, but several things interrupted my respite.

    At first I thought there was a mild earthquake. Maybe in San Francisco (which would NOT have been mild, but would have been felt that far south). The bed shook a couple of times. I thought "great, now I'll NEVER make it down the road" as any earthquake sends bunches of rocks down on the road.

    I went to the door to see if anyone else gave an indication that they felt it, when I saw several of the people who work there coming out of their cabins. Running... I asked what was happening, and they said "fight!". I went to the other side of the bedroom to look out the window and couldn't see the fight. I COULD, however, see into the window of my neighbors, who were making love like rabid bunnies...

    Hence the shaking... (grin)

    OH.. and, apparently, if you wish to remain in Big Sur this winter, you have to take a course in first aid, neighbor rescue and survival.

    Seriously..

    If you won't take the course, you won't get to stay!

    That's how often they think the fire will affect the road this winter.

    Loss of power and the ability to traverse the road and rain and mud and... well... not a happy winter ahead.

    But..

    Tomorrow is the Hometown Faire, and I'm safe and sound and cozy and still on vacation as far as Mom's concerned, so I'm fine!

    Wednesday, October 01, 2008

    ....

    I'm bored...

    I just can't sit somewhere, even if it's purty.

    Plus, it's gotten hot..

    But I took a couple of pictures and will share them.

    One was taken at Nepenthe, which is a little gifty shop restaurant place, looking out the door. The view down the coast is now unpretty, having been obscured by the still growing fire.




    The other is of a little couple and their teardrop trailer. Not as big as the one in Missouri, but cute nonetheless.





    and that's all I know.

    My kitty (big kitty) has taken over my sister, even though she's allergic. She can't resist petting her, as big kitty sits and leans into Sheila and rubs all over with her head.. too many hers in that sentence, but you can figure it out I'm sure.