I love this song

Oh, and this one too, even though Jack White is looking a little to Edward Scissor Hand-sy for my tastes:

Project Womanhood: Baby Blanket Part III

This time my workspace does not double as a cat bed:

Project Womanhood: Baby Blanket Part II

Hand-sewing is a lot like making pancakes:

The first few stitches come out weird.

Then you get into the groove and things come along much more smoothly.

Don't worry Mrs. Smallbread, L's blankey will be finished by next week and on it's way you in no time. Those goofy stitches will be replaced by a machine as soon as I get Miss Canada to show me how to thread it. So, just like goofy pancakes (which I eat before anyone sees), this blankey will look and taste feel fabulous.

Artsy Stuff

I used to have some pieces at Loveland, but who knows where they are now. 

Book Review: Ideas Of Their Own

Ideas Of Their Own by Joyce Guion Shipley with Photography by T. Simon

I can across this book whilst at a convention in Columbus.  On the table there was a note saying "Free-Please Take" so I did and was happy.  Going through the black and white photos alone was a pleasure.  My grandfather (not grandpappy) was a whiz with his camera and I always wanted him to teach me how to compose a nice photograph...all the elemental things, the physical nuts and bolts of photography.

Maybe someday he will.  My goal with my next Ohio trip is to spead a little more time on the lake then I did the last go 'round.

Ok, on to the poetry...A first edition, copy-written in 1984.  This book is as old as me. I'm so careful when I read it due to the delicate spine. I hope the author doesn't oppose me sharing a favorite poem in this space:

Dignity in Disguise

Dressing

For the day

Donning

A starch-stuffed coat

Upon

A delicate soul

With all movement

Under control

He is ready for the role

Of a dignified man

But what can be perceived

Slowly staining the sleeve

Is the passion

Of a wildly beating heart

Straining to be free

Dissolving the stiffness

With human dignity.

Apparently there are a couple more books by Ms. Shipley.  I really like the way she has painted this mental picture, and like a Rothko, it became something more when you actually sit down with it.

Other Mothers (the good kind, not the Neil Gaiman kind)

Everyone has (or should have) someone in their life like my Auntie D.  Auntie D is grandpappy's oldest daughter and is helping Mumsy with his companion care.  Without Auntie D, my childhood would not have been so awesome. Here's why:

• Never ending supply of Pepsi and M&M's
• Trips to Geauga Lake amusement park and Sea World in the summers
• Blasting the radio so we could all sing along in the Thunderbird
• Painting Ceramics together
• Making Christmas/Easter cookies and chocolates together
• Telling my Dad off when he treated me poorly
• Watching Mary Poppins and Bednobs and Broomsticks over and over again
• Letting me sleep in her room when Mr. Boogedy freaked me out

This shit scared the crap out of me as a kid, and somehow
we always managed to watch it at night after dinner.

Auntie D is awesome still and she keeps it real, just like me.  I can call her for advice day or night and she is always there to answer, even though Uncle Harley gets up at 4am or some such ungodly hour.

I hope someday when all my friends' children are grown that they'll think back about me with the same joyfulness as I do when I think about Auntie D and her wonderful husband Uncle Harley.

Just a taste of those summers riding to Geauga Lake

And here's what it was like when Uncle Harley was driving

The First Time I Watched Pulp Fiction

It must have been 1995, it was Spring, and as I got off the school bus I realized no one was home.  No Grandpappy, no Grandmammy, and no Mumsy.  And I didn't have a key to get in.

Someone ran up to me saying my mother was taken away in an ambulance and that my grandparents went to the hospital too.  I don't know where Mario was, but I think he went to the hospital as well since he was in middle school and I was still in elementary and he always got home before me.

I had an idea, why not ask the next door neighbor, Ivanka, who knew our family quite well, if I might stay until someone came home.

Ivanka was happy to see me and sent her adult son to get some Taco Bell for us.  She also asked me if I wanted to watch a movie she had just rented.  The movie was Pulp Fiction.  I was hooked.

Ever since that fateful day I had the secret wish to be a movie director.  Now, the software and cameras are so cheap in comparison to the way it used to be...anyone can make a film.

Here's my favorite scene:

But this one is a close second Ezekiel 25:17

I think I want to make a short subject documentary about Grandpappy and his life. 

Other films I watched as a kid

I admit, I actually loved the Coneheads movie...

But the only movie Mario and I could agree on was Ghost Busters 2

The Blues Brothers

My brother Mario and I used to watch The Blues Brothers as kids.  In fact we wore out the VHS tape, in addition to some other great films such as The Last Unicorn, The Land Before Time, An American Tail, Willow, and of course Labyrinth.

and of course...we must not forget the awesomeness that was the Blues Brothers!

Highlanders..but not the syndicated version

On Saturday, the Philosopher of Science and I went to the Polish Festival of Phoenix.  The food was amazing, the singing and dancing in the traditional Highlander dress was really cool.  And to top it all off, we met up with some family friends we haven't see in a while.

Dancing with axes is kinda their thing.  Their beer garden was packed to the point where they were starting to restrict because they were at maximum capacity.  I stayed away from the beer garden, but I did check out the interesting Polish History exhibition.

Here's some fun photos to give you an idea of the goings on at Our Lady of Czestochowa Catholic Church in Phoenix:

Our Lady of Czestochowska, for whom the church is named.

Keeping it real

I know everyone loves a good shit show, but what's healthiest for me is to use this blog for talking about the coolest guy I know (grandpappy) and tell jokes or post awesome videos.  I hope to get my pageviews back up in a more holistic way then I did in January.

and now time for something else:-)

My brother Mario and I used to watch the above fine film until we wore out the VHS tape.

Granpappy's Best Advice

Grandpappy told me that the best advice he was ever given was from his mother on his wedding day back in the 1950's.  She said, "Remember, your mother is a woman."

He said he had ups and downs in his marriage to Grandmammy Ruby, but he always remembered his mother's words to treat his wife with the greatest respect and love, just as he would his own mother.  Grandpappy and Grandmammy Ruby were married for over 40 years.

And in the twilight of her life, Grandpappy was a caregiver for his beloved wife.  Love comes in many forms, sometimes it's in the form of insulin injections at odd hours, or changing the dressing on a wound from a surgery, or finding her the latest romance novel from one of her favorite authors.

Grandpappy never remarried.  He told me once upon a time that he had found the best wife a man could ask for and there was no way any other woman could take her place.

Bloodsport was a movie they loved watching together. Grandpappy loved the action and Grandmammy loved the shirtless JCVD. Just my two cents, but I think having the same taste in movies also keeps a couple together.

Hiring a lawyer

anyone interested can email me at pricklypear27 at gmail dot com