Category Archives: humor

A Prohibition on Bald Dogs? It’s Non-Sequitur Thursday!

While I am stealing others’ ideas for my blog posts, I thought I might try for a Throwback Thursday today.  After all, I had fun making my Wordless Wednesday post.  Why not stick with it?  I think I have some pictures of the past in my Media Library.  If I mix them up a little, maybe this can be a Non-Sequitur Thursday as well.

When your cute little dog wants to take over your yarn basket for a bed, you let him.

First I strike a melancholy note with a picture of our dear, departed Spunky.  I was just thinking about Spunky earlier today.  Once when a four-year-old girl met him, she called him “Skunky.”  As a matter of fact, he was not the nicest smelling pooch ever, but we loved him.  Now I am feeling sad, so I will find a picture of a different sort.

Now there’s a nefarious bunch!

Here is the cast for Rubbed Out at Ruby’s, the interactive murder mystery that LiFT Theatre Company put on at the Overlook Mansion in Little Falls last February.  It was set in the 1920’s. I was just thinking this morning that I am having a kind of a craving for more 1920’s.  I want to find a new ’20’s outfit, dress up in it and go somewhere.  Maybe just to a party or a prohibition theme night at a bar (I went to one of those once).  I wonder if I still have that picture…

The real hottie on the left is my friend, Kim. I’m wearing the tiara and the red boa.

I’ll tell you what I really miss is my short hair!  I want to do another St. Baldrick’s Day event and shave it all off again.  I just love the look of hair growing back from bald.  I think it looks so sophisticated.

I just love doing a St. Baldrick’s Day.

I last did a St. Baldrick’s Day event in the spring of 2016.  I think I’m due for another one.  My only problem is, I hate asking people for money.  I know it’s not for me, but it’s still money they might prefer to spend on something else.  Well, I am not currently signed up for one, so I do not have to worry about it yet.  I’ll keep you posted, by writing a blog post about it, of course.

 

Wordless, Witless, and William Castle

I was thinking I would have a Wordless Wednesday instead of my usual Wuss-out Wednesday, and I thought calling it “Wordless or Witless?”.  I am feeling witless.  I’m not feeling particularly wordless, but since my words are mostly whiny, we’ll go with it.  So I need to look for some pictures.

A book I must look for.

I’m in a group for William Castle aficionados, and somebody shared this picture of a book they recommend.  Full disclosure:  I include it because my husband reads this blog and I want to give him gift ideas.  William Castle, for the sadly uninitiated, was a producer and director of horror movies in the 1950’s and ’60’s.  I’m a big fan.

“Lie right down here, dear. This won’t hurt a bit.”

Here is Vincent Price and Patricia Cutts in The Tingler.  He is a dedicated doctor, not to say a mad scientist, and she is his no-good wealthy socialite wife.

He’s not asking her if he can have this dance.

This is Carol Ohmart, who plays Vincent Price’s no-good wife in House on Haunted Hill.  Vincent Price does not have good luck with wives in William Castle movies.  I’m thinking he does not do much better with Roger Corman.  Ah, Roger Corman.  There’s a topic for another blog post.  I have some more cheesy horror movies to watch.

 

Another Tuesday Trudge

Apparently I am always tired on Tuesday.  Other days as well, but Tuesday offers the charm of alliteration.  I am going to begin living a healthier lifestyle in hopes of having more energy and being less annoying.  Then again, I think energetic me can get pretty annoying as well, if I recall my young and bouncy days.  Well, I can’t worry about such things.

As part of my healthy plan, I am trying to exercise more.  I went for a long walk today after work.  I would have liked to run, but the puddles were enormous.  It rained all night and into the morning, and was warm enough for snow to melt all day.  There are flood watches all around, but my basement is dry so far, knock wood.  Anyways, I didn’t feel up to splashing through the puddles, especially as I suspected some ice would remain underneath.  I came home and put on my flood boots.

I put my Tablet in a canvas shoulder bag, thinking to take a few pictures, as I neglected to take pictures for a previous Pedestrian Post.  Then as I walked, I didn’t feel like taking any pictures.  I plodded along, wading through puddles, stepping around snow banks, and appreciating patches of dry, bare pavement.  I didn’t look up much, because I was keeping an eye on where I was walking.  Some of those puddles looked deep enough for “turn around, don’t drown,” till you got right up to them.

Since I was walking so slowly, I don’t know how much exercise I really got.  A good, brisk pace would have burned more calories.  Well, one can only do one’s best.  I’m sure some readers are currently saying, “And that’s the best blog post you can do?” (You know who you are.)  I guess it is.  I tried for a real post yesterday. I’ll try again tomorrow.  As always, I hope you’ll stay tuned.

 

About that Wine…

The first stop my friend Kim and I made on our Scattered Saturday adventures was Valley Wine and Liquor in Herkimer for a wine tasting of Swedish Hill Winery.  I had promised Kim some sweet wines, because I have been to Swedish Hill in Romulus and tasted sweet wines there.  Well, what a surprise to me, they were sampling two dry, one sweet and one semi.

We tried the Mooscato first, which was sweet.  I absolutely love the name, which probably comes as no surprise to anyone.  I liked the wine too, even though I don’t usually drink the sweet ones.  I liked the Vidal Blanc, the semi dry, better.  I am not real familiar with the vidal blanc grape, so I may have to try a few more.  I bought a bottle of Swedish Hill’s to start with.  I did not take any tasting notes on the Dry Riesling or Dry Rose, but I remember liking them.

After tasting, Kim and I walked around looking at other wines.  I  love to look at the different labels.  Yes, I confess sometimes I choose a wine based on the cool label.  I’ve found some good wines that way.  And if you don’t like them to drink, you can always cook with them.  Waste not want not.

So, how was this for a blog post on a Monday?  I bet you thought I was going to do a Monday Mental Meanderings and never mention again the cool stuff I did on Saturday.  Oh, OK, I’m the one that thought that.  Only now I can’t come up with a good conclusion.  It’s Monday.

 

Film Noir, Blog Post Dull

As I type in lead after lead and backspace it out, I realize, it IS Wrist to Forehead Sunday.  I know, I ended yesterday’s post with several places I wanted to give a better shout-out to.  Did anybody seriously think I was going to do that today?  I didn’t.  I thought I might write a little something about shoveling the driveway this morning, because I felt like much woman, as my sister Victoria would say.  I also thought I might take a walk with my Tablet and take some pictures of the lovely gray sky. Well, I didn’t, so just excuse the hell out of me!

I did a little bit of writing on my murder mystery, Secrets at Suiter House.  It is practically finished, but not quite there yet.  I’ll work on it.

In the meantime, I need to make a blog post.  Maybe a few pictures would help (oh WHY did I not take that walk with the Tablet?).

Can you feel the sex in the air?

Earlier today we watched Double Indemnity, a favorite of ours.  Film noir at its best.  If only I had had some Pinot Noir to drink with it.  Well, you can’t have everything.  I did have a little wine, because I saw on Facebook that it is National Wine Drinking Day.  According to Facebook, that seems to come more than once a year, but I won’t complain about that.  I don’t think you HAVE to observe these things.

A little venom in the air over here,

Since I said pictures, plural, I include a photo from another film noir we enjoyed recently, Sudden Fear.  I do like murder and mayhem, as Steven calls it.  Speaking of which, I think new episode of Snapped is about to start.  That, regular readers may recall, is my real Sunday staple.  Once again, sorry for the sloppy blog post.  I hope to see you all on Monday for whatever kind of a post I can manage.

 

Scattered Saturday is Back!

Today I went Mohawk Valley adventuring with my friend, Kim, and I will attempt to give a brief overview of our gyrations.  I may try to write more blog posts, detailing individual stops, but for now I must just type off the top of my head and try to hit Publish soon.  I have more Saturday I’d like to enjoy.

She picked me up at one and we went to a wine tasting at Valley Wine and Spirits. I may have mentioned yesterday that Swedish Hill Winery was going to be there, and they have sweet wines, which Kim likes.  As it turned out, they also have dry wines, so everybody was happy.  We couldn’t think of any other place to go in Herkimer at the time, so we headed to Ilion, NY.

Our first stop was Beer Belly Bob’s.  Kim wanted to purchase some Ubu for a friend.  I found out after she got it that Ubu is from Lake Placid,NY, so I heartily approved that purchase.  I wanted to go further afield and buy some Corona but decided to delay that purchase.  From there we went next door to Moose River Coffee, because I thought a cup of their especially smooth brew would revive me.

Our next stop was Cornerstone Consignments, where Kim found an adorable purse and two pair of earrings.  Then I suggested we go to New 2 You Consignment Shop, where Kim bought several sweaters.  That woman is always cold.  We hit Young’s General Store and Ace Hardware on our way out of town. They were having a luau, which they have had before but I missed.

As I type this, I am inclined to type more about each stop.  However, I feel these places would be better served by individual blog posts.  I hope I can follow through on such a thing.  In the meantime, I’m going to call this an acceptable Scattered Saturday post.  I hope you were somewhat entertained.

 

Wine on a Friday

In lieu of my usual Lame Post Friday, I shall offer a brief shout-out to a local liquor store and a California winery.  I went to a wine tasting at Valley Wine and Liquor in Herkimer which featured Michael David Winery of Lodi, California.

I often go to Valley Wine and Liquor on a Friday, because they often offer a tasting.  I often take notes, thinking I might make a blog post, then don’t.  Today I will.  Steven was off work, so our friend Kim picked both of us up at five, and we made our way to Valley Wine and Liquor.  Kim was disappointed when we found out they were sampling four dry red wines, because she likes sweet, but I said, “I will try them all!”

The first one we tried was the Earthquake Zinfandel.  I pronounced it “yummy,” which regular readers know is my highest accolade.  We also tried Petite Petit, a blend of Petite Syrah and Petit Verdot; 6th Sense Syrah; and Ink Blot, a Cabernet Franc.  Steven liked them all.  My favorite was the Zinfandel with the Ink Blot  in second place.  We decided to purchase the Petite Petit, because the label featured two elephants.  My sister, Diane, collects elephants.  I said we would buy it and save it till we got together with Diane.

“We’d better get together with her soon,” Steven said.

Kim and I plan to return tomorrow afternoon, when they are sampling Swedish Hill Winery, a New York State winery I have been to more than once.  Most of their wines are sweet, so Kim will be happy.  If I don’t like the wine, at least I can write another blog post.

 

Good Walk, Dull Post

Today I decided I would do what I should have done yesterday: put on my flood boots and walk instead of run.  Then I thought I could write a Pedestrian Post.  For one reason, I realized after I hit Publish that I did not even mention the weather yesterday and it was WONDERFUL!  I should have waxed rhapsodic on nature’s Preview of Coming Attractions.  OK, I have never waxed rhapsodic in my life, but I have always wanted to use that phrase in a sentence.

I second-guessed myself a I left work, because the walk to the parking lot was so dry and bare.  If the sidewalks of Herkimer were similar to that, I would feel bad for not running.  Then I thought there would probably be plenty of ice and puddles to walk through.  I was right.

The weather was even a little warmer than yesterday’s mid-40s.  Oh, it felt good.  I really, truly believed that spring is coming and will get here, and that is something that is often hard to believe in the middle of February.  I had on a raincoat and my crazy old lady hat.  I put a knitted headband in my pocked in case my ears got cold.  On the other hand (in fact, in the other pocket), I also carried my prescription sunglasses, in case it got too sunny.  Neither was needed, but I like to be prepared.

Right in front of my house was one of the iciest, puddliest patches.  That happens sometimes when you shovel a narrow path between snow banks, but what else can I do?  We are supposed to keep our sidewalks reasonably clear.  I try to at least do a shovel-width.  I walked slowly and carefully and was happy to get to a snowier patch further on.  I like walking in the snow.  I used to hate it, when I was always walking to get somewhere, sliding back a little for each step forward.  Now I appreciate the extra effort, because it may burn a few more calories.

I did not look around a whole lot at the scenery while I walked, because I had to be careful where I stepped.  I did not bring the Tablet to take pictures, because I felt there was too great a chance of me dropping it in a puddle.  I am quite clumsy.  So I guess that makes this a kind of a boring Pedestrian Post.  Sorry about that.

I walked for 35 minutes and feel pretty good about exercising two days in a row.  I’m going to go for three, and try to make it a daily habit.  I think it is good for me.  Eventually I hope to have more energy, so I can have more Mohawk Valley adventures, and write better blog posts.  I hope you’ll stay tuned.

 

Lousy Run, But I Petted Pudge

I thought of a better headline at the beginning of my run, but I do not remember it.  Perhaps I could if I really thought about it, but I am strangely disinclined to do so.  I like the headline I used better.  For one reason, it kind of tells it all.  Now I don’t have to write the post.

Oh, OK, I’ll write the blog post.

This afternoon I got a graphic demonstration of why we are not supposed to run twice in four days then not at all for ten.  Of course I already knew this, but what else could I do?  It was too late to go running on the ten days past.  As I ran, I thought it would have been a better idea to walk.  For one reason, the roads and sidewalks were TERRIBLE with puddles and ice.  For a walk, I could have worn my flood boots and waded through the puddles.  And it probably would have felt a lot better than my shuffling run. However, by the time I thought of this, that ship, too, had sailed.

Some of you may be thinking, “Hmm, blogger’s sick day yesterday, going running today, was she goldbricking?”   I assure you I was not.  In fact, I wasn’t feeling a whole lot better for most of the day, but I thought a little exercise might help.  Also, I needed something to write a blog post about.

I spent most of my run on the roads, avoiding deep puddles by running practically in the middle of the road.  I tried to stick to quiet streets, but there was still traffic.  At one point, I tried to run around a car stopped at a stop sign and almost ran right in front of a truck turning left onto that street.  I put both hands on my head in a gesture of distress, as an apology to the stopped car, which I was directly in front of at the moment.  I don’t know if you can picture it, but I laughed at myself.  I can only hope the drivers were similarly amused.

My legs did not thank me for the exercise, but I was not looking for gratitude.  As I walked my cool-down walk, I felt only a kind of a dull satisfaction that I had done it at all.  That was when I saw a lady ahead of me on the sidewalk, and it looked as if she was walking a dog.  I felt that petting a nice dog would make the whole thing better, but she was far ahead of me.  Luckily, the dear little doggy (as I thought of him) stopped to sniff enough that by walking quickly, I was able to catch up.

It was my friend Pudge the pug!  I was delighted to pet him again.  I have not seen him in a long time.  I chatted briefly with his person, wished her a good day, and finished my walk.  Oh, I was tired, and when I stretched, I was stiff.  Well, these are the runs we must live through to get to the good ones.  Sorry about this dull post, but I’ll make sure I write about the good runs, too.

 

Here’s Yesterday’s Post

Yesterday I took a bloggers’ sick day.  It is now 4:27 in the morning and I am going to publish something, as has been my habit at these times.  As I lay in bed earlier this morning, I composed in my head a much better post than what I am now typing.  I can see some of you shaking your fingers or your heads at me, saying, “THAT is why you must always keep a notebook and pen by your bed!”

Frankly, I am not too regretful about it.  For one reason, waking up sufficiently to write something down would have woken me up for the day, and I certainly need my beauty sleep.  For another reason, it was probably only better in my head.  Any time I dream a “perfect” idea for a novel, I find on waking that it made much more sense in the dream.  Anything I thought of in the night, rolled over and wrote down, I later thought, “Why did I bother?”

Be all that as it may, here is what I typed in last night (as Truman Capote once said, “That’s not writing, that’s typing), before I found myself quite incapable of typing another word:

I think this post is going to be time-stamped Valentine’s Day, but as I type this, it is Feb. 13. I just returned from Little Falls, NY.  I went to Huckleberry Letterpress Co.  to purchase a Valentine for Steven.  I felt very fortunate when I saw on their Facebook page that they were open at the beginning of the week for Valentine’s shopping.  Now I feel bad that I did not plug them yesterday, so local readers may have had a chance to go there today.  No matter.  You can go there another day to get a different kind of card.  They have an excellent selection.

I wrote about Huckleberry Letterpress for the February issue of Mohawk Valley Living magazine.  They were also featured on the Sunday Mohawk Valley Living TV show.

(Back to present time): I decided to share those paragraphs, because, you know, waste not, want not (ooh, I do remember thinking, “waste not, want not” earlier, that was worth remembering).  Also, I had linked to the shop and the magazine.

After I typed in what I could, I felt really bad for not doing more for Valentine’s Day for my husband (I had declared we would celebrate it on Fat Tuesday, because Steven works later today), so I bestirred myself to go out to the kitchen and bake brownies.  I used a mix and added chocolate chips.  Steven liked them, and he liked the card.

So I guess this is yesterday’s post.  I see it is clocking in over 450 words. Yay me.  Kind of.  Happy Valentine’s Day.