Category Archives: Lame Post Friday

Still Haven’t Found the Stone

Posted on May 20, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

Ah coffee, that magic elixir that makes things possible.  Not all things, but many.  For example, making a Late Lame Post Friday post.  Sorry about that.

It is not a defense, but I did spend over a half hour doing strenuous yard work when I was too tired to do so.  I am tired most of the time these days.  Perhaps I need to eat more fruits and vegetables.

This was probably the best year.

This is not the current state of my rhododendron.  This was May 2017.  Perhaps it will bloom late this year.  I can only hope.  Anyways, I just wanted to throw in a picture to pep things up.

I actually felt sort of pleased with myself for getting something done out there.  It has been a couple years since I really concerned myself with the back yard, and it shows.

My session was not without a little Cindy-generated humor though.  At one point, toward the end of my session, I was carrying a bag of non-yard-waste garbage (long story) out to my garbage bin and felt a painful stone in my sneaker.  Three times I took that sneaker off, shook it, felt in it, checked my sock, and found no stone.  Three times I put my sneaker back on and felt that stone.  Finally I gave up and stomped out to the trash bin one sock foot, one sneaker foot.

That was when I decided to call it quits.  But where were my hack saw and clippers (yes, some of the growth was bad enough to require a hack saw)?  Ah, there was the hack saw, but the clippers were not to be found.  I stomped around the last area I was clipping, still one sock foot, one sneaker foot, at least five times.  No clippers.  I even grabbed a rake and spread out last year’s leaves, in case it had gotten buried.  Damn!

I had the clippers here!  I was never over there.  Or there.  It took some time to convince myself to give up.  After all, I argued, the clippers were old and quite rusty.  I could buy new clippers. I said that to myself many times as I continued to look. At last I convinced myself.

And found the clippers on the steps to my deck, next to my water bottle of water.

Sometime I make myself laugh.

 

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Lame About Me

Posted on May 13, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

I got up this morning, having slept in till the for me late hour of six, with two thoughts vying for supremacy in my foggy head:  “Coffee first,  then run,” and “Run first, then coffee.”  Coffee won.  Hello, and welcome to another Late Lame Post Friday post.

I delayed making this post until I had a few sips of that magic elixir that renders almost any morning less hideous.  Thus I indulge in a little hyperbole. Is that an oxymoron?  Since hyperbole is exaggeration for effect, can you, in fact, have only a little hyperbole?   Points to ponder.

One problem with a personal blog: I tend to start all my paragraphs with “I.”  Because it is All About Me (ooh, that just gave me my title).  I have to watch that.

By now I think it is quite clear I have nothing whatever to say and am only rattling on in hopes of reaching 200 words before I run out of coffee.  I’ll throw in a picture to pep things up.

Who, us? Be silly?

This was taken at the H.A.L.O. Hoedown, a fundraiser for the cat rescue group, Helping Animals Live Organization.  It was some years ago and never became an annual thing, much to my disappointment, because I had a blast.

Yes, that is my late beloved husband Steve in the picture.  I’ll never be over being sad that he is gone, but I can smile at all the memories.  On that melancholy note (sorry about that; I know this is billed as a “totally fun blog”), I see I am over 250 words.  Score!  Thank you for tuning in.

 

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My Cinco de Mayo

Posted on May 6, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

Yesterday I inadvisedly decided to do something for Cinco de Mayo, a holiday which for one reason or another I have never marked.  One reason was that I read that Matt Grainger was playing at the Saalty Dawg Saloon.  I have not heard him in a while.

I started out in some trepidation, because I have been to the Saalty Dawg once, and that time my cell phone told my friend Kim where to drive.  I no longer have a cell phone and I have never had a very good sense of direction.  Hoping for the best, I drove through Ilion till I got to the sign that said “Saalty Dawg” and pointed up Barringer Road.

And drove and drove.  I had it in my head that the Dawg was not actually on Barringer Road, but I had foolishly not written down the address.  I took two wrong turns, turned around in some dumb places, and had just about decided that I had gone too far when I found it.

Imagine my disappointment when I found out Matt would not start playing till eight.  I had a margarita and some chips with queso dip while I was there.  I admired the view and worked on a letter to a friend.

I didn’t mention that the Saalty Dawg is next to a golf course.

By this time it was after six (still too long to wait for eight), and I remembered that the Phil-Ins were playing at Fratello’s Pizzeria in Frankfort.  This is a band with Phil Arcuri and friends.  They would start at seven.  I drove there with no false starts.

Geno the bartender greeted me as I came in. I sat at the bar and ordered Sauvignon Blanc and a slice of cheesecake.  I never have room for dessert so thought for once I would get some.  I did not have long to wait for some good music.

They were great!

Unfortunately, my stomach soon let me know that the queso dip was a big mistake.  I confess to having some fears when I saw the peppers but of course I ate it anyways.  In my defense, yum.  I hoped the cheesecake would help.  It sounded soothing.

I fear it is a symptom of getting old that my stomach did not settle down.  I enjoyed some music but felt forced to head home.  I stretched out on my bed (by this time it took some effort to get there) and proceeded to feel miserable for a few hours.  That is why I did not make my Lame Post Friday post on Friday.

On the brighter side, before I left Fratello’s, Geno read me some of their upcoming musical entertainment.  Matt Grainger plays on Wednesday!

 

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Still Flustered, No Longer Friday

Posted on April 29, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

As flustered as I was on Thursday, I remained so on Friday.  So much so that I did not make a blog post.  Part of me says, why call attention to my failings?  Just make the blog post.  No one will care if it is late.  If they do, as a co-worker of mine used to say, they’ll get over it or they’ll get therapy.

Once again making this blog  All Shooting at the Grange All The Time,  my mission, if I chose to accept it (just to throw in a ’70’s television reference), was to print out and photocopy programs for our murder mystery, which goes up today, April 29 at Salisbury Grange.  A cast member has revised the program I had first typed up, a mere one page outlining the setting and characters.  She had also made up little forms for people to write their guesses on.  My cast members always go above and beyond!

I love my cast.

My problems were mostly of timing.  I wanted to go to Basloe Library in Herkimer to print them.  They close at five and I believe like to shut down the computers a half hour before closing.  I get into town just before four, filthy dirty from my job (I add, in case anybody thinks I am complaining, that it is a perfectly good job and I am washable).  I prefer to shower and change before inflicting myself upon places.

As the great philosopher Mick Jagger said, you can’t always get what you want. I went to the library dirty. Nobody complained.  They are always very nice there.  I found out they also make copies, charging the same that they charge per sheet for printing.  In hindsight, I wish I had just printed out 80 copies and had done with, but I wanted to get fancy.

Back home I contacted a couple of retail places that do copies, hoping I could also purchase colored paper to copy on.  Did you know you cannot just call a store and talk to a person any more?  Your call has to be “directed” and sometimes you have to listen to an automated voice and press a bunch of numbers first. Technology! Sheesh!

After that annoyance (yes, yes, I know it is a first world problem!  Once again, Sheesh!), I found out that the places I called charge as much or more as the library! I decided to give my money to the library.  A quick look at Facebook told me Frankfort Free Library was open till seven.  Sweet!

I took a fast shower and hurried to a store which does not need a plug from Mohawk Valley Girl for fancy colored paper.  Feeling I now had plenty of time, I stopped at Valley Wine and Liquor, where they were doing a tasting of Apothic Wines.  I’ll have to write a blog post about that (preview of coming attractions).

In Frankfort I discovered that Facebook had betrayed me.  The library had closed at five.  Alas!  I gave up the mission till Saturday morning.  Since I was in Frankfort, however, I went to Fratello’s Pizzeria for some food and relaxation.

Wow, look!  I am over 500 words!  If you have read to the end, I offer you my most sincere thanks.

 

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Up the Hill to a Late Lame Post Friday Post

Posted on April 22, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

I do not know what possessed me to not make my Lame Post Friday post on Friday.  Yes, I do.  Tiredness and laziness.  It’s a thing with me.  Now it is late Saturday morning (almost 9 o’clock!) And I feel ready for a nap.  In my defense, I took a long run up College Hill this morning.

A word (or more) about College Hill.  I previously referred to it as “up the hill to HCCC” (which, by the way, is pronounced “H-triple-C” or “H-trip-C”).  Or “up to HCCC the front way” (long-time readers may remember that there is a back way, longer and less steep). I am sure many locals will stubbornly continue to refer to it as HCCC.  However, it is now Herkimer College, and I can’t help wondering if some people might take it amiss if I continue to refer to it as Herkimer County Community College.

Additionally, I have heard said hill referred to as College Hill.  I am guessing about the capital letters as I have only heard it called thus in conversation.  I suppose other colleges are set on hills but do not know of any myself.  The army language school in Monterey, CA sat on a considerable hill, but that is not the same thing.

So, in future Running Commentary Posts, I shall refer to that hill as College Hill.  I believe this qualifies as a Lame Post Friday post, because after I got home from my run and inadvisedly sat down for a while without stretching, I did, indeed, feel lame.  I just don’t imagine a nap will help, but I may try.

 

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April Lame!

Posted on April 15, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

OK, I said I was going to make my Lame Post Friday post on Friday and here I am.  Unfortunately,  I got nuthin’.  That should not matter on Lame Post Friday, but somehow it does.

Remarkably similar, yes?

I thought a picture might spark more words and found this one from April 2021.  I confess it does not look a whole lot different from more recent pictures of crocuses,  yet I cannot stop from taking pictures of what they look like this year.

J’accuse!

Here is a different April shot.  I just SEARCHED through my posts from April 2019 to find that the title of this murder mystery was Murder by the Book.  I am not inclined to also do a Google (or even a Duck Duck Go) search to see if “J’accuse” is the proper French spelling.

Earlier today I went to a wine tasting at Valley Wine and Liquor in Herkimer.  I also spent some time sitting on my front porch, enjoying the weather. I sipped a little wine while I did so.  I also spent some time planning my Mohawk Valley Adventures for tomorrow.

I need to get such a short ‘do again!

Just to give another picture from April, here are my friend Kim and I at Gerber’s 1933 Tavern in Utica in April 2017 for their Prohibition Party.  I love to dress up!

Ooh look, I have gotten myself over 200 words.  Not bad for a Lame Post Friday post,  I say.  Thank you for tuning in.

 

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Is It Unhealthy? At Least It Is On Time

Posted on April 1, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

I am totally going to make my Lame Post Friday post on Friday.  I do not have much to say, but why should that be a problem on Lame Post Friday?  Oh well, I guess it could be a problem any day for a serious writer, and here we come to the ugly truth about me. Never mind, on with the post.

Not my current view.

I throw in a picture to pep things up, looking at March 2022 in my Media Library.  My crocuses are not blooming yet, but I hold out hope for the future.

No pumpkins or corn stalks right now.

I just spent a ridiculous amount of time looking through my Media Library for a picture of Salvatore’s Pizzeria and Restaurant in Herkimer, but I can only find one from the fall of a previous year.  I had an excellent dinner there with excellent service earlier this evening.  My friend Kim joined me.

Right now I am once again looking at a DVD of Columbo.  I must get over this obsession.  Here is some half-baked philosophy for you (regular readers know I like to indulge in half-baked philosophy on Lame Post Friday):  sometimes the thing you are obsessed with is unhealthy,  but obsession  is always unhealthy, even obsession with healthy things.

Is obsession always unhealthy?  An additional philosophical question:  Is Columbo a healthy or an unhealthy thing?  Discuss amongst yourselves.

 

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I Try to Make a Lame Post Friday Post

Posted on March 25, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

This is the point on a Friday evening when I usually say to hell with it, I’ll make another late Lame Post Friday post.  That may yet happen today.  However, I am sitting on my couch, episode of Columbo on the television, glass of wine nearby, Tablet in hand, trying.

That is another trick I try on myself.  I have talked about the trick of doing Just One Thing.  For example, just wash one dish, put away one thing, write one journal entry.  A trick I may not have mentioned is that of Just Try.  For example, when I say, I can’t wash the dishes! I can’t go running! I can’t write anything!  I say to myself, Just Try.

Sometimes it doesn’t work.  Of course sometimes it does.  I mean, when it comes to the dishes, I can usually manage to get them organized, fill the dishpan with hot, soapy water, wash one dish… and it goes on from there.  Full disclosure:  often I get the dishes washed but do not scrub the sink afterwards.  And I quite frankly never dry them. I say why waste effort on what patience will accomplish.

However,  in most cases, washing dishes and writing are two disparate activities with very little in common. Once you wash a dish, it seems a very easy action to wash another.  Just because you write one word or even sentence is no guarantee that more words will be forthcoming.

On the other hand, I have gotten over 200 words with this nonsense.  I say Happy Lame Post Friday.

 

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Blog Before Run, Or Am I Too Lame?

Posted on March 18, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

Last week I hoped I was ushering in a new era of Not Late Lame Post Friday posts.  Alas, it was not to be.  Here it is Saturday morning, and I sit on my couch (lounge, really), listening to what I think is some kind of pigeon (maybe a mourning dove? It sounds pretty sad) and wishing I was already out running. One thing I love is running or walking in the morning and hearing the birds sing (or is it a morning dove with no emotion attributed?  I don’t know from birds).

One reason I am blogging before my run is that I am waiting for it to be light out.  I just can’t trust the sidewalks and roads this time of year.  I have wiped out on the ice too many times this year just walking (one hideous incident on my uneven concrete front steps).  I emphatically do not want to do it while running.  At my age I could break a hip.  Well, maybe not a hip, but something.  At least I would bruise my body and damage my fragile self-esteem.

My day stretches before me in a fairly threatening fashion.  That run to take, post cards to write, a house to clean, a murder mystery to write AND this afternoon auditions for murder mystery actors.  It is a general audition;  I want to develop a pool of actors to draw from as murder mysteries arise to be cast.

Now I feel threatened, because there is a something inside me (my depression?  the aforementioned fragile self-esteem?) strenuously insisting that I CANNOT POSSIBLY do a murder mystery at this time.  I MIGHT be able to write it (low self-esteem aside, I rarely admit to being unable to write something) (yes, yes, there are times when I say I CAN’T write a blog post, but I just mean I can’t write it right now).  But print it out, get a cast, schedule and go to rehearsals…

What am I saying?  Of course I can do all that!  The voices in my head are full of beans!

Talked myself right into that, didn’t I?  Guess I’ll go for my run now.

For local readers interested in theatre, auditions are today, March 18, at 1 p.m. at Ilion Little Theatre,  13 Remington Ave., Ilion, NY.  For more information,  you can visit the theatre’s Facebook page.

 

 

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Not Late, Just Lame

Posted on March 11, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

I thought I’d try something different: making my Lame Post Friday post ON Friday.  Of course here I sit with not much to say, but when has that ever stopped me?

Tangentially related illustration.

I wanted to throw in a picture to, you know, pep things up.  I just spent a ridiculous amount of time searching my Media Library for pictures I was sure I used at some point relating to this evening’s cheesy viewing.  Alas, they were not to be found.  So I share the above, because it is a movie in the same DVD collection as the one I am currently watching, The Atomic Brain.

Previously I watched The Vampire Bat.  I am SO in the mood for old, low budget horror these days.  Bring on the cheese!  Incidentally,  the Brain one just ended, and I put in Carnival of Souls.  This one is low budget but not really cheesy.  It is almost a masterpiece of atmosphere, creepy and weird.

Found the right picture!

I cannot remember what I shared about my television trials and tribulations.  I know I talked about getting rid of cable, but did I mention that I could not even watch DVDs?  Well I couldn’t, but now I can.  Unfortunately,  it is not the ideal DVD situation.  All I can do is put the DVD in and hit Play.  So I can’t arrow over when, for example, there are two movies on the same DVD. No pause or rewind either.  I KNOW!  First world problems!

Ah, here is a bit of half-baked philosophy,  in which I like to indulge on Lame Post Friday:  why are all my problems either of the first world variety or operator error?   Discuss amongst yourselves.

 

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