What's for supper...Ma?

Sigh -it was a race out the door this morning. Dontcha hate that feeling?

It's a blustery, cold day here and my yard is full of forlorn tree branches, ripped from their rightful places. Seems like a good day to work from home and sip tea. or bourbon.

This house is over 100 years old. It does not care for the sudden swerve of autumn to avoid hitting winter head on. AIr conditioners must be moved, radiators drained, mice welcomed with tiny doormats and soft beds. (Remember in Tom & Jerry how nicely appointed Jerry's home was? Something like that.)

It feels melancholy in here, but not in a bad way...perhaps I'll watch the Donner Party DVD later today. (She's wearing it out. -Ed.)

Welcome to the fall, Lone Reader.

Home again, home again, jiggedy jig.

Home as of yesterday from the Chequamegon Fat Tire Race, where my brother-in-law came in 50th in his division. (1,740 riders finished the race.) Yay - that was super exciting to watch and really an amazing feat. I also shot some tasty pix at the event, which was pretty kuhl 2.

Sadly, I am now ill. I think it's just a cold that sounds bad, but let me tell you - when you're in the Norske Nook, enjoying some delicious pie and you're sneezing every few minutes, people tend to look atcha a lot. I felt like screaming, "H1 N1! Protect yourselves!!"

I didn't. I don't have swine flu...it's just a poorly-timed cold.

More soon, love.

Velma

I'm so outta here...

Off to the Chequamegon National Forest for the big Fat Tire Festival. My bro-in-law rides in it every year, and normally it's the same weekend as my big fundraiser at work. This year, the Jewish calendar intervened, the fundraiser got moved et voilå! We can go. Today the car gets packed and we take off to the woods.

I'll catch you on the flipside, Lone Reader. Stay classy, San Diego!

Love, Velma

P.S. The pic is apropos of nothing. Jeremy Messersmith posted it on his facebook awhile ago and I thought it was funny.

P.P.S. If you're an artist who recently made a bet with me, you owe me a drink, my friend. A $9.90 drink, at that. Don't think I'll forget either.

P.P.P.S. You look really great today!

Best Stranded on Tarmac Moment

Well Lone Reader, one time when I was flying to Cheyenne by way of Denver, we got stuck for awhile on the runway. (Not really news there. -Ed.) It was close to the Fourth of July. It was hot. The flight attendants were scrambling to entertain us.

This was interesting to me. I've been on stalled flights a zillion times. (Exaggeration, given that the woman never leaves a 15-mile radius of her house. -Ed.) Since when does the flight crew feel the need to perform for us? And yet...they told jokes, played a trivia game, asked us questions via intercom. At one point a flight attendant said, "I know! A bottle of booze to the first person to sing the National Anthem!" (Her exact words.) Two different people stood up and tried but stumbled a few lines in. I stood in the aisle and belted out a respectful, yet soulful version of the world's worst example of nationalism in song.

I received a large bottle of fairly bad champagne. It tasted briney and sweet at the same time, especially not recommended for pairings with tiny pretzels or Biscoff cookies. I was the superstar of the plane though, the girl who sang the national anthem on flight 1283 to Denver.

From My Mom & Dad's Bookcase

When I was a kid I was a voracious reader and, after reading all the Nancy Drew/Tree Grows in Brooklyn/Judy Blume books that were available at school, I raced through my parents’ bookshelves as well. Adult books I loved as a child included: Dummy. Alive. Sybil. Coma. Night.

My parents also owned books with more than one-word titles. I read The Autobiography of Malcolm X when I was 10. I loved it so much I carried it with me around for about a year. My conservative grandparents were visiting once when I asked my mom, “Hey – what’s a doobie?” because I had read it in that book. (Grandma didn’t seem to get the reference either, but then again, she’s the same woman who once told me that “Gay was still a good word and I should let anyone tell me otherwise.”)

My dad wasn’t much of a reader, but we always had copies of the Whole Earth Catalog and a lot of the Foxfire books. (If you want to learn how to build a dulcimer or butcher a hog, that’s where to start.)

Our Bodies, Ourselves taught a young girl a hell of a lot more than she would need to know for many years yet.

There were some real dreck on those shelves - I read some horrid books about Merlin called The Crystal Cave series. (They were horrible to me even then.) I read the Amityville Horror when I was 10 and Mommie Dearest when I was 12.

The moral is this: Read whatever you can get your hands on, kiddies. Even the liner notes from Herman’s Hermits Greatest Hits could feed you nuggets of information that you’ll draw from for the rest of your days.

What's Goin' On?

Lone Reader! It’s been so long! What has happened since our one-sided dialogue went on hiatus?

Hmmm…a visit from a dear friend, another friend bought a house and yet another adopted a baby. School started, I learned a few new acronyms, went to karaoke birthdays, work, work and more work.

I read Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks, a novel about a 17th c. plague village in England. Good, not great. I’m currently reading Loving Frank by Nancy Horan. Jury’s still out, since I’m only 40 pages in.

I saw numerous movies including Chicago & Little Shop of Horrors (karaoke puts one in the mind of movie musicals) Frozen River (LOVED it), Mama Mia, 500 Days of Summer, Up, Funny People and A Perfect Getaway. Back to Little Shop of Horrors, I adore Ellen Greene. Sigh.

Karaoke songs sung:
River Deep, Mountain High (Tina Turner)
Tempted (Squeeze)
Fever (Peggy Lee)
What’s Up (4 Non Blondes)
Joey (Concrete Blonde)
Voices Carry (Til Tuesday)

My sister, brother, brother-in-law and niece all rode bikes in a fundraiser last weekend, raising money to fight pancreatic cancer. I’m proud of them, and consider myself part of the team, but will not be getting on a bike anytime soon. (Bring back the dance marathon and I’ll do it.)

Now the kids are back in school, the fundraiser is over at work and I’m back to a semblance of my normal self. This weekend I’m driving to the Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival with the kids. Should be fun and a much-needed break.

What’ve you been up to, Lone Reader? Has summer crept to a close for you or are you still going full-tilt as we head into the brief MN autumn?

You know I’ve missed you so. More soon and we’ll get back to where we once belonged. (from a facebook friend: “How many times am I expected to buy THE SAME DAMN Beatles songs on CD?”)

Stay the course, sweet baby!