Category Archives: personal

My New Wednesday Thing?

Posted on June 30, 2021 by mohawkvalleygirl

I am thinking of making Wednesdays at Fratello’s Pizzeria in Frankfort a regular thing. Last Wednesday I discovered another talented local musician: Gary Johnson.

He was excellent.

I was sitting at my favorite spot at the bar. I ordered a large antipasto salad, so I would have something for lunch for the next couple of days. A gentleman sat a couple seats down from me and ordered a calzone.

“Rome Calzone!” I said, quoting a local commercial. This guy is auditioning to be a spokesman for Rome Pre-Owned and can’t quite get it right. “Oh, sorry,” I said to the gentleman at the bar, hoping he knew the commercial.

“You’re fine,” he said.

Not many people were there when Gary Johnson started playing.

“That’s OK,” he said. “I’ll take quality over quantity!” I felt flattered.

He kept asking what we wanted to hear. Being unfamiliar with his repertoire, I told him to play his favorite. He responded with one of his favorites: “Tiny Dancer.” I love that song!

My view.

I enjoyed the music very much. When I left, I gave him a little wave and called, “Thank you!” I enjoyed my antipasto as well. Good Music, good food, why wouldn’t I make this my usual Wednesday thing?

Fratello’s Pizzeria is located at 158 E. Main St., Frankfort, NY, phone number 315-894-8484. They are open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 1 to 9 p.m. Sunday. They don’t only have music on Wednesdays. You can follow their Facebook page to find out more.

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More Wine for the Melting Blob!

Posted on June 29, 2021 by mohawkvalleygirl
Point taken.

My problem is I finished my glass of wine and I am no closer to Tuesday. At least, I guess I am a little closer. After all, I didn’t gulp the wine down all at once. But it’s no use. I’m not going to make a better blog post, as I had hoped to do. I don’t even feel like making a bad blog post. Quick, find another picture to lighten the mood.

I’m about this green, but my teeth are not as white.

This is part of my problem: the heat and humidity continue. I know other parts of the country are worse. There is a reason I do not live in those areas. I am sure there are other people more uncomfortable than I am. They have all my sympathy. But I still feel like crap.

An even more accurate self portrait.

No, THIS is me! The Blob! Shapeless, slimy, and getting bigger all the time! Where is Steve McQueen to put me in my place? Come to think of it…. Spoiler Alert! … at the end of the picture, they dumped the Blob in Antarctica or some such place. It should happen to me!

Well, I still feel hot and uncomfortable, but now I’m laughing at myself. That is not bad for a Monstrous Monday.

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I’m a Little Random

Posted on June 28, 2021 by mohawkvalleygirl

So Jon Bonjovi says it doesn’t make a difference if we make it or not, then in the next stanza says “take my hand, we’ll make it I swear.” So which is it? Doesn’t matter, or we’ll make it I swear? How can I take comfort in these late ’80s philosophies if they are not consistent?

me on Facebook in 2011

There I was, all set to make a post about how I did not make a post all weekend, but first I logged onto Facebook and found the above in my On This Day. I thought it might amuse my readers. Or do I flatter myself.

We are having a period of heat and humidity in the Mohawk Valley. I cooled off in my sister’s pool yesterday with other family members but foolishly did not take any pictures. Earlier I bought donuts at the Friendly Bake Shop in Frankfort, NY, and beer at Beer Belly Bob’s in Ilion, so there are a couple mini-plugs of local businesses.

Where was I going with this? Non-Sequitur Monday? Or does this count as Sunday since it is prior to 5 a.m. (for me, anyways; I don’t know what my WordPress Timestamp might say). No matter. I see I am over 200 words. I’ll try for a better post later, but no promises. After all, it is Monstrous Monday.

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Not Feeling Friday

Posted on June 26, 2021 by mohawkvalleygirl

I am pretty sure I used that headline before, but it fits so well.

That’s the face!

I stole this image from Dracula’s House of Halloween, one of my favorite Facebook pages. Just look at Herman Munster’s face. That is the face of a person who has to work on Saturday. I tell you what: being gainfully employed is not all it’s cracked up to be.

Yes, I am whining in a most unbecoming fashion. After all, I don’t work EVERY Saturday. And they would let me off the hook if I had something important going on, like the Pride Stride 5K in Little Falls, which I recently ran (perhaps you read my blog post about it).

What I am saying is, my life is not that bad. In fact, having to work tomorrow is the least of my worries. Never mind what the most of my worries is; I would have to take the time to rank them and give you a Top 10 list, and nobody wants that.

Somebody tell that ant: When a lady says no, it means no.

See, some people have dates on Friday night, although Joan Collins does not seem to be enjoying hers. Just kidding. This is a shot from Empire of the Ants, which I need to see again. I was scrolling through my Media Library looking for another picture, and this was the only one that caught my eye.

That last bit of silliness got me over 200 words, so score! I say good enough for Lame Post Friday. I may not be feeling Friday, but I have no problem with lame!

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Strolling to Sidewalks to Skeleton

Posted on June 25, 2021 by mohawkvalleygirl

How about a Throwback Thursday Post? I do not know how far back I can throw, given my difficulties navigating my Media Library (do other bloggers have these problems?) but I’ll do my best.

A woman and her grandson.

I somehow found one of my favorite photos. It is my sister Cheryl with her grandson Sheppie strolling through Root Glen in Clinton, NY. I just love a nature walk.

I also love a good pun.

I could not find another picture involving a nature walk, but I also like to walk on sidewalks, making the above headline kind of sort of related. Or am I veering into Non-Sequitur Thursday territory?

Never mind the sidewalk, look at the sky!

Here is another sidewalk (to continue a theme). This is from the rainy Halloween night of 2019. I love the colored trees against the grey sky.

Your dose of cuteness for the day.

I wanted to end with a monster. The utterly adorable skeleton is sitting in a mug which celebrates my last murder mystery, Fabulous and Fatal. I only hope it is not my Last murder mystery, if you see what I mean.

Looking at the headline I just typed in, I realize I should have included a picture of my husband, Steve. Maybe on the next Throwback Thursday.

Or maybe right now.

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More Good Music!

Posted on June 24, 2021 by mohawkvalleygirl

Last Wednesday I decided to treat myself to dinner at Fratello’s Pizzeria in Frankfort, NY again, because I had enjoyed good food and music there the previously. I sat at the bar, ordered a glass of wine and perused the menu. I noticed a musician setting up but did not know who he was.

“It’s Matt Grainger,” the bartender told me. “He’s phenomenal.”

I soon found out that she was right.

He was awesome!

I was amused that he opened the set with “Tequila Sunrise,” because Phil Arcuri (perhaps you read my blog post about his performance at Fratello’s) had opened with “Margaritaville.” I like boozy songs.

I enjoyed White Pizza with the music. I will need to eat out a lot more often in order to work my way through the menus of my favorite restaurants. I guess I don’t have to try EVERYTHING on the menu, but I could come close.

My view while I ate and listened.

One song Matt sang which especially resonated with me was “House at Pooh Corner.” I first heard that song many years ago after working on a play about Winnie the Pooh. I’m still humming the tune a week later!

Full disclosure: when I was writing this post in my head, I had a lot more to say. No doubt I will write more in the future about Fratello’s and Matt Grainger. For now I will say, great music, great food, what’s not to like?

Fratello’s Pizzeria is located at 158 E. Main St., Frankfort, NY, phone number 315-894-8484. They are open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 1 to 9 p.m. Sunday.

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More Bad Blogging

Posted on June 23, 2021 by mohawkvalleygirl

OK, I am having a bad blogging week, not to mention my work and personal life. Of course I will not talk about my work life, because this is not a work blog. I categorize it as a personal blog, but what I really meant was my personal experiences of businesses, attractions and events in the Mohawk Valley. Not a litany of my trials and tribulations, which I daresay are not as bad as what many people suffer.

Yesterday, I actually got through a paragraph of a post about a Mohawk Valley Adventure (it was the fun time I had at Fratello’s Pizzeria in Frankfort listening to Matt Grainger) (to give another preview of coming attractions). And my brain just wouldn’t let me do it.

I know, I KNOW the advice is Write It Anyways. Sometimes that is the way to go. Sometimes you write a few words, you write a few more, and before you know it, you are off and going. Yay! Only sometimes that doesn’t work. Sometimes you drag the words out one and two at a time, you know they are no good, and you are hating every second.

Judge me if you are so inclined, but I can only take so much of the latter situation before I give up. I might have tried again later, but it was late already, I had gone running earlier, and I fell asleep. Other writers neither let these petty excuses stop them nor offer such excuses as a blog post the next day. They are much better writers than I am.

I was about to end this post there, but I prefer to end on a more positive note, or with a monster picture. I see I am over 250 words. That is more than respectable and proves to me that I Can So Write. Next I will work on improving my content. As always, I hope you’ll stay tuned.

He never wrote much either, so I’ve heard.

And here is a monster, justfor good measure.

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I Would Kill for a Blog Post

Posted on June 22, 2021 by mohawkvalleygirl

As I sit here looking at Cops Reloaded, I am more than ever committed to a life of law and order. When they arrest you, they handcuff your hands behind your back. I couldn’t reach my handkerchief! With my sinuses, I would be dripping snot in no time. Yuck!

Some of you may have read that first sentence with some degree of scepticism. With all the people I have killed or had killed theatrically (I have only rarely done the dirty deed myself), one may be forgiven for questioning my commitment to law and order.

In fact, at work I have something of a reputation as a murderess. Ask one innocent question a out strychnine in the lunch room, and they think you want to poison everybody! Sheesh!

All this nonsense is by way of trying to get myself writing something, anything again. Regular readers may have noticed that I missed posting both Saturday and Sunday. Before that, I had indulged in a spate of late, foolish posts. What the hell, me?

In my defense… never mind my defense. Everybody has problems. Some people manage to write in spite of them. I must strive to do the same. That is what today’s foolish post is: me striving to Write Anyways. In doing so, I have discovered that I can write, even when that voice in my head says I can’t. I wonder if I can write something other than the preceding nonsense. Maybe another murder mystery. Hmm…

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You Can Complain About This Post

Posted on June 19, 2021 by mohawkvalleygirl

Well, his is awkward. I am just not up to making a chatty, fun blog post, and there is no chance of my getting up early enough to make one tomorrow morning (although that would be a record for me: three days in a row of late blog posts). I work overtime tomorrow, 5 to 11 a.m. Yuck! (YES, I am grateful to have a job and for the opportunity to make extra on overtime! Sheesh!).

That last parenthetical comment is because I KNOW at least a few of you out there are Just-Be-Grateful-Thats (should that be hyphenated or is just the capitalization enough?). You know how it is. You just want to let off a little steam with a perfectly legitimate gripe, and some Holier Than Thou sort has to tell you you have nothing to complain about. As if they never complain! And don’t tell me you never do, because I will not believe you.

You know, I think that little digression counts as half-baked philosophy. That makes this a Lame Post Friday post! I had not meant to celebrate Lame Post Friday, because it does not really feel like Friday when I have to work Saturday (not complaining, just an observation). Yet here we are. Happy Friday, folks!

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Just Get to 200 Words

Posted on June 18, 2021 by mohawkvalleygirl

So much for a better blog post on Thursday. In my defense, I had a headache. I don’t know if it was a migraine or a sinus headache, but the decongestant I took in case it was the latter knocked me out. The headache is gone now, so at least I have that going for me.

However, I lost a whole evening of Getting Things Done. Truth be known, if I had not had the headache, I may well have spent the evening knitting and watching true crime television (both Dateline and 20/20 were on), and my blog post may have been a similar rambling to what I now offer. What’s a blogger to do?

I guess what I always do: try to get to 200 words, hit Publish, hope for the best, and drive on. Maybe throw in a picture for good measure.

He was awesome.

Hey! I was able to add a caption! Yay! Anyways, this is in the nature of a Preview of Coming Attractions. It is local musician Matt Grainger. I recently enjoyed hearing him at Fratello’s Pizzeria in Frankfort, NY and intend to make a full post about it.

In the meantime, I am just about at 200 words. Score!

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