Category Archives: humor

Do I Do the Weekend?

I feel it is unbecoming when I do not have the mental wherewithal for even a Lame Post Friday Post on Friday. Additionally, I am out of bed prior to 5 a.m. on Saturday after five days of strenuously wishing I could sleep in. In other words, I am not doing this weekend thing right.

However, self-recrimination is tiresome. I watched a couple good episodes of Dateline, finished knitting a scarf and started another, and generally relaxed myself.

Oh, and I did a load of laundry and spent a very little time tidying my living room. Every week I have a plan to do at least a little cleaning every day, thinking I will eventually attain a clean house. Then I do a very little not every day and feel stupid. Still, I continue to hold the hope that this week will be different.

So maybe this week my week begins on Friday. I did a little yesterdaym I can do a little more today. It! Could! Work! (That is Gene Wilder in Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein, one of my favorite movies.)

I see I am approaching 200 words. I believe this post is sufficiently lame to qualify for a late Lame Post Friday Post. I’ll try to make Saturday’s post on Saturday, but no promises.

I Don’t Have an Alibi

I am spending the evening watching 20/20 on OWN, and apparently it is New York State Murder Day. First we saw an episode about Cal Harris, accused of killing his wife in Owego, NY, and now it is an episode about Nick Hilary, accused of killing his ex-girlfriend’s son in Potsdam, NY. I lived in Owego as a very little girl, and I lived in Potsdam as an adult, so these episodes are of great interest to me.

I have seen other shows about both cases, but you never know when one of them will show something new. I don’t always remember everything anyways. Of course I share my opinions and questions with Steven as we go. “Why did that witness wait so long to come forward?” “What about those fingerprints?” and my usual, “He totally did it!”

Mostly, I am happy the episodes specify the towns involved. So often these true crime shows talk about “a small town in upstate New York,” as if there is New York City and the rest of the state.

So this is my Thursday blog post. If only I could think of a punchy but not quite related headline, I could bill this as a Non-Sequitur Thursday Post. Think, Cindy, think!

A Little More Little Falls

I am going to attempt a Wordless Wednesday Post, utilizing some recent photos I took but did not use. After all, waste not, want not. I do not expect to be particularly successful, because one thing I rarely am is wordless. No matter. I just want to make a blog post.

It’s nice to plug a local business.

I took this last Saturday at Ironrock Brewing Company in Little Falls, NY.

Cheers!

Yes, I usually do take a picture of my friend Kim on our outings, which often involve wine.

Ironrock is located near the canal, so Kim and I walked across the road to admire the water.

You can see the antique shops.
I don’t know what this building used to be.
Is this a retaining wall?

We did have a fun time in Little Falls last weekend. As for this blog post, I guess it was not wordless, but perhaps it was not a waste.

A Very Little Yard Work

I took a short (very slow) run, thinking I might make a Running Commentary Post. Then I came up with something better. In lieu of my cool-down walk (I just love that expression “in lieu of”), I mowed the front lawn with my non-power mower and pulled up a few weeds and unwanted items.

In the course of doing this, I noticed I have a Johnny Jump-up! It is only one little bloom, but I was delighted to see it. I immediately decided to take a picture, although I finished my mowing and pulling first.

I hope I get more!

Naturally I took a few more pictures.

These are tulips, which is very exciting for me, because we have not had this many previously. We usually get one and feel happy with that, because we did not plant it.

Any guesses?

I was not sure if this was a flower or a weed, so I let it live. Does anybody know what it is?

I hope they are OK!

I spent a little time pulling up green stuff surrounding my peonies. I believe I sacrificed some daisies, but I also believe we have plenty of daisies. Last year something ate my peonies before they bloomed, or somebody came and took them all away. I hope for fragrant blossoms this year.

I did not do a whole lot, but I thought it was not too bad for after a run on a Tired Tuesday. No doubt I will share more pictures as the season progresses.

Monday Mug Memories

Lately I have been pouring myself a travel mug of coffee to sip on my 20 minute commute to work. I like to drive up through Ilion Gorge, admire the scenery, enjoy whichever CD I am listening to, and have a sip or two. Usually there is enough left over for me to bring in to my place of employment for a few more sips while I wait for my shift to start and, for example, start to write a blog post (see what I did there?).

Today I am using my favorite travel mug. I do not remember where I got it. It was probably acquired from a long-ago roommate. The logo of the business it came from is not quite peeled off, but I am pretty sure I did not get it directly from there. These are the mysteries I ponder on a Monday morning.

I do have one story about the mug that I can share. The mug came up missing at one point. This did not worry me unduly, because I have many travel mugs. I could always pick another favorite.

Then one Thanksgiving at my parents’ house in Rome, NY, I spotted it. My Uncle Tom, who had also been a guest at dinner, was filling it with coffee for his trip back to North Syracuse, as my parents had invited him to do.

“THERE’S my coffee mug!” I exclaimed.

Uncle Tom was immediately sorry he had selected that mug from the ones in my parents’ cupboard, but I hastened to reassure him. I was, in fact, delighted to have him use my mug to make his drive more enjoyable. It was also very fitting that he should take my mug, as I pointed out to him, because my husband, Steven, and I had acquired not one but two travel mugs from his daughter, our cousin Mary Beth, when in a similar situation.

Eventually I got my favorite travel mug back, so I was not forced to pick a new favorite. It would be OK if I did, and also if another relative or friend ended up taking it away with them. I feel travel mugs, like coffee, should be shared.

And that is my coffee in a travel mug story for the day. I am making the post late for a Monday blog post, but I am calling it a Monday Memories post anyways, just to be alliterative.

Two Walks, a Few Pictures

I just took a short walk to the post office, to mail a letter to a friend but also to wake myself up. I had my phone with me and took a couple of pictures. I did a similar thing yesterday, so how about a Sunday Snapshot Post. I just made that category up. Do you like it?

I gotta plant a flowering tree in my yard.

I hadn’t meant to take pictures, but then I thought, blog post. Then I saw the flowering tree. I also tried to get a shot of the delicate green tree behind it.

I love trees.

It was on my way home that I went for a shot of a downed branch.

We have had a few windy days.

Further down the street I admired a magnolia tree.

I want one of these, too.

My other two pics are from yesterday’s walk. Again, I had not meant to take pictures, but the lone dandelion among the growing cultivated flowers caught my eye.

This guy has more peonies than I do.

Another flowering tree caught my eye too.

It’s pretty!

I like making these Pedestrian Posts with pictures. And I L9VE going for a walk. It certainly brightens my day.

A Little Wine on Scattered Saturday

Just a fast Scattered Saturday post, although I did not do a whole lot. I went for a run this morning. I wrote a couple of post cards. I washed my sheets and hung them out on the clothesline.

the highlight of the day was a trip to Ironrock Brewing in Little Falls with my friend Kim.

Best seat in the house.

They do not have outdoor seating yet, but we had the next best thing, sitting next to the open door. We enjoyed a little wine and a lot of laughs.

Just to re-emphasize where we were.

One annoying thing came up. It seems a mutual acquaintance made a catty remark about how there are always pictures of Kim drinking in Mohawk Valley Living magazine. As if Kim spends a preponderance of her time hanging out sipping wine! For heaven’s sake, can’t we have a little wine on a weekend without being lushes? I guess not, in some people’s opinions.

But, really, I write one or two articles per month for the magazine. They print three or four of the photos I submit. One need not spend a whole lot of time raising wine glasses to have pictures of it appear in print.

Oh dear. I just remembered one of the questions in those Are You an Alcoholic? quizzes is Do you get defensive about your drinking? Was I being defensive? Points to ponder.

In the meantime, I’m over 200 words. Happy Saturday, everyone!

Striving for Words on Lame Post Friday

Can I make a Lame Post Friday post or should I try again in the morning? A little suspense adds interest to my Friday.

Full disclosure: I do not have much to say. I am sitting on my couch, pecking one letter at a time with the stylus on my Tablet. Mostly I want to call it a night and go to sleep. Partly, I want to keep looking at Dateline: Secrets Uncovered on Oxygen. It is a pretty good episode.

I have had quite the uneventful Friday evening, That really is OK. I have found that there worse things than boredom. Additionally, I have found that sometimes you can choose not to be bored. I have never had much success with choosing happiness, as the Facebook memes say you are entitled to do. But for some reason, I seem to be able to choose interest.

Now that would be a useful faculty when it comes to loans. Choosing low or no interest, I mean. Credit cards, too. But perhaps I am becoming silly. These things happen, of course.

I am approaching, but have not yet achieved , 200 words. I think I will make do with a partial post. After all, it is Lame Post Friday. Happy Friday, everyone!

PS that last paragraph got me over 200 words.

I Ran In the Wind, Not Like the Wind

Here is the thing about running on a windy day: no matter which way I turn, the wind is never at my back. It is kind of a metaphor for life, but let us not wax philosophical. My purpose right now is to make a Running Commentary Post.

I had not gone running since Sunday. I usually let myself off the hook on Monday, I was auguring my toilet on Tuesday, and I have no excuse for Wednesday. I had not planned on running today. Then when I was driving home and saw it was not raining, I thought maybe I ought to. This, of course, is my usual cue to come up with all kinds of good reason not to.

After pretty much deciding not to, I got dressed in running gear and went. It was colder than I had thought, so in addition to leggings and long sleeves, I put on a hat. As I started out, I realized the wind was the real culprit. No matter. Once I get those sports bras on, I’m going.

And it was rough going. My body did not want to move. Even without the wind dead against me (and sometimes it was at an angle), I was moving slowly. I felt sluggish and thunky (yes, thunky, not thinly, autocorrect, sheesh!). But that is to be expected. The important thing is to do it.

It did get a little easier. At least it got a little less onerous. One thing I have learned is how to persevere. I ran for just over 20 minutes, which I felt was OK for a mid-week run. I saw some lovely daffodils in various yards. I petted one sweet dog on my cool-down walk.

The beauty part is, here is a Thursday blog post ON Thursday and NOT whining about how I can’t make a blog post. OK, maybe I whined a little about the run. Judge me if you feel you must.

Crawling Through a Creepy Week

How about a Mid-Week Monsters post? I could use a few creepy-crawlies to cheer myself up. My only problem is, will I be able to find some good ones to share?

It’s creepy! It’s crawly!

This is only a shadow, but it is The Tingler (1959), a terrifying creepy-crawly from the brilliant oeuvre of William Castle. I love that movie, but Steven is less of a fan. We have it on DVD, which is a delightful thing for me.

“It creeps, and leaps..”

This is more of a creepy than a crawly, The Blob (1958). I think you need feet to be a crawly, and the more feet you have, the creepier. I should do a study of these things. Maybe a master’s thesis. I could get a PhD in Monster Theory.

Incidentally, we do not have this movie on DVD, although we would like it for the collection. It is a classic. I am especially fond of the theme song.

EEEEEEEE!

Here is a definite crawly, using all six legs to terrorize Joan Collins in Empire of the Ants (1977). I have not seen that movie in years. This is why I miss movie rental places.

As this week continues to creep and crawl towards Friday, I guess I have cheered myself up somewhat. I hope my readers have found my monsters equally as cheering.