HEY!

In response to my post of yesterday and all of the comments . . . I am well!

I am alive!

I am not depressed!

Just to prove it to you, I made a loaf of bread (well, the bread machine did it) this morning to please my darlin'.

Whole wheat studded with dried cranberries.

Her fave

And, let's see, I washed some dishes and I took a shower and shaved with my last blade.

And tossed on some Bay Rum aftershave.

And later I tried a new "recipe" and made my darlin' a New York Egg Cream.

Which, as some of you may know, doesn't contain either egg or cream.

She liked it.

And so did I.

We're about to dine on Brie cheese, tuna salad, mango salad, the bread I baked this morning, and who knows what else.

Life is good!

In spite of Washington.

Keep the faith, my friends, and remember to always keep laughing!

MY PULSE IS STILL BEATING

This mini-post is just to let you know I'm still alive and well.

Just lazy and inspiration-less.

But don't worry.

I have a couple of baking projects I'm tossing around and I'll have to bore you with photos of the results.

That is, if I ever get off my . . . butt.

I did do some vacuuming today.

But most of the rest of the time I'm just doing enough to keep from turning into an amoebic blob.

According to the Almighty Google, that's another term for a slime mold.

I need a nap.

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

 Now that we've all conquered that Pepperoni Pizza Bake from earlier in the week we can get down to things more serious.

Maybe I should say we can seriously get down to things more humorous.

Of course by the end of this post some of you may by in high dudgeon.

Let's see, shall we?

Or . . .

I think SWMBO wrote that one!

But I know how to get her back, said the Merry Punner!

So, fellow pun-lovers and pun-haters, that is the sum total of my humorous outlay for this week.

Now save up a couple of those for your weekend dinner party and see if the groans and sneers don't make your day.

At any rate, have a grate one . . oops, of course I meant a great one!

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

( . . . ah, I'll bet you know which one is mine, don't you . . . )

DO YOU LIKE PEPPERONI?

After a couple of cancellations from both sides, the BAD finally made it over for a visit with her mother and me today.

And a recipe for which I had all the ingredients ready last Friday finally emerged.

It's from Aaron Hutcherson at the Washington Post and it's called Pepperoni Pasta Bake.

It combines tomatoes and sauce and spices and pasta and a lot of  diced pepperoni.

After that has baked, it's topped with a copious quantities of mozzarella cheese and broiled for a few minutes.

Here's what came out of my oven when it was done.

It was a little wet, a little soupy, but everyone pronounced it wonderful.

And I don't think that was just for me.

I liked it too and went back for seconds.

SWMBO said it's a keeper recipe and not to lose it.

Coming from her, that's the highest praise I could receive.

HERE ARE SOME JOKES, FOLKS

Many times I have mentioned the Humor Elves that keep my Friday Funnies going.

But they keep coming out of the woodwork.

Today I got a passel of puns from an old friend of mine who will hereby go by the sobriquet Raucous Rajah.

I added them to the Humor Bank (Banque to you Brits) but I couldn't resist sharing a couple of them with you ahead of a Friday.

So brace yourselves.

I sincerely hope you all won't hang up on me.

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

I don't know why I punish myself this way but I'm writing this on Thursday.

Yesterday to you Friday Folk.

And that morning I was at the eye doctor for a routine examination and had my eyes dilated.

As I'm typing this on a white screen, it's glaring at me.

And this is the time I decided to give you an all words post of The Pre-Weekend Hilarity.

So, just don't call the guys in the white suits on me.

I'll be okay by the time you're reading this.

Just enjoy.

Okay so that's a toughie.

Just say it out loud and it'll come to you.

Now while you're doing that (people are staring at this strange person talking to himself) take a break and painstakingly plan yourself a plumb pacesetting weekend.

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

( . . . uh, and kitty and kitty and kitty and . . .)

RAGTAGGERY

I thought I had made up the above word to describe my post today - some seemingly disconnected thoughts.

But I see (thanks, Google) that it has been in use fairly widely for some time.

This all started with a meme sent by Comical Carol down in the Big Valley and it so hit a chord with me that I had to use it today.

With sincere apologies to the Physical Therapists who *plagued* me after my tumble last July, that froggie's thought perfectly describes my daily regime.

So where does the "ragtaggery" come in, you ask.

And I'll tell you.

Quite a few hours later, my wife and I were joking about how I looked in a pair of sunglasses I purchased at the Phoenix Art Museum years ago.

Now she didn't use any words that have become un-P.C. but she did end her critique with the word "dahlin'".

My response was to say "You don't have to call me dahlin', dahlin, you never even call me by my name!"

And that great line comes from a favorite country-and-western song sung by David Allen Coe.

Here goes.

For those of you who don't like Country and Western wailers, I apologize.

But you really ought to give it a chance.

Dahlin'.