Sunday, May 10, 2009
More Weird Art
But about her taste in art. Here are some photos of her back yard. As you can see, she's fond of "gazing balls". But if you look at the lower part of the first photo, you'll also see some bowling balls. She started buying them at yard sales a few years ago. Some she half-buried in her yard and told people they were growing there. Now, they just lie on the surface.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Mayer Daze
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Surf's down!
The Granite Dells.
Blue sky and a very calm day. Not even a ripple on the water.
Of course, if this boulder rolled down into the water, there might be some waves, for a time.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
A visit
While showing them around our area, I got a chance to snap a few pictures. Here are a couple I took on the courthouse square in Prescott of the statue dedicated to the memory of "Bucky" O'Neill. Taking the photos from different sides of the statue shows the different effects one can achieve.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Happy Birthday, Pete!
Friday, May 1, 2009
My Sweet Love
She is my love slut.
Nearly any time I sit down in the chair in my den she is soon in my lap. Especially if I have the Mexican blanket across my legs. It's getting too warm now for the blanket but still she comes.
She is my lover.
She looks at me with her large green eyes, wondering . . . what is he thinking?
Does he love me as I do him?
I wonder, too. What does a cat think? Does it think like we, as humans, do? Does it SEE, as we .. like humans..do. I have heard not. I wonder, as she lies upside down, staring at me, what she sees.
I wonder . . . does she love me as I think she does?
SWMBO brought her home from the animal pound a few years ago. She said Jazz was not pretty, not near as pretty as the other cats. But she seemed so grateful for her attention that she couldn't resist her.I have always defended Jazz. I think she is beautiful. Perhaps she has heard me and appreciates my love for her. She has seemed to me for these few years to have responded with love for me.
My sweet Jazz.
My love.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
A lazy day
Today it's sunny, calm and near 80 degrees here. A perfect day to loaf around by a lake.
This is Willow Lake, one of several lakes in our immediate area.
I saw only one woman heading out from shore in a kayak. If I had a kayak I'd be out on the water too.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Big. Bigger. Biggest!
As I gazed at it with wonder, I couldn't help thinking - - is it
a. Advertising . . a banner designed to lure folks in to the store and gas station,
b. A sign of the patriotic fervor of the store owner,
or
c. A stick it in your eye display that says "Mine's bigger than yours!"
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Life is curious
Friday, April 24, 2009
YeGods, another birthday!
SWMBO and I have just returned from a wonderful Italian repast at a local dining establishment, provided in part by the generosity of a friend who supplied me with a gift card. We both dined on something called Lasagna Rollatini in a sauce . . . mine with Italian sausage, hers with chicken breast. And at my insistence, we topped off the meal with more than enough Zeppoli . . . which SWMBO describes as fried dough. Coated in sugar with a chocolate dipping sauce on the side, I found it quite salutory. My companion complained throughout (while devouring one or two of them!) A too pricey bottle of Kendall Jackson wine completed the feast. And now we're safe home to begin the search for yet another year of survival. So it goes.
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I snapped a photo in our neighborhood the other day of a resident Roadrunner. He was a fair distance away so when the picture was cropped and blown up, he becomes a bit hazy. But for those of you who have never seen one of these strange creatures, here he is.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
The BRD loves weird art!
But it's just the latest in a constant menagerie of rather strange objets d'art that fill and overflow her home.
This is, after all, the home of the infamous Blue Monkey.
And there's this rather dopey but lovable looking dog . . one of two.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
I read a lot, as SWMBO was delighted to show.
You will perhaps notice that I appear to be wearing two pairs of glasses. SWMBO was even more delighted to photograph that oddity.
You see, I recently had cataract surgery on my right eye. While we're waiting (and waiting) for the follow-up doctor appointment and new vision prescription, one eye works great, the other one sucks. So I am wearing my reading glasses, topped with a pair of simple magnifiers from the drug store. The combination allowed me to actually make out the words on the page.
Let me tell you, there is truth in all those bromides about "old age ain't for sissies", et al.
Well, let me tell you, there is nothing in such times of woe as the love of a good . . . . . . cat! My pal, Jazz, who cannot allow me to be seated without seeing (there's that damned word again) advantage of a warm lap. I like to say she loves me. But warmth and comfort may be the true meaning of her closeness.But it doesn't matter to me. At my advanced age, I'll take what I can get.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Back. At last!
But you know what? After the first couple of days with the knowledge that nothing was going to be done about it for awhile, I slowly adjusted to it and to a slower, quieter time in the past. Before electricity and running water. When we used to go down to the stream and fish away the days, hoping against hope that we'd get a bite. When we used to go down to the park and toss the old baseball around the field. When we used to play something involving a chant of Allee-Allee-Oxen-Free or something like that.
In short, it was ten days of stifling boredom!
But now, I'm back. Mostly. I know the more technically savvy of you, my readers, will be happy to know that I went to the store today and bought an external hard drive that reportedly will hold 500 gigabytes of information and thus back up everything I have written or stored on the various computers I've owned over the last 20 some years and will write or store until the end of time. Better to be safe than sorry. Again. Of course, it's still sitting here in an unopened box but I'll get to it.
I was just wondering one thing as I was driving home and I forgot to ask the young whelp who sold me the thing. What do I do if THAT hard drive crashes?
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Further Update
The service man said "We'll try again Friday."
So begins week two with me computerless at home.
Thanks to the town for the use of Internet computers at the public library.
Stay tuned.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Update
Woe is me.
But I shall survive and hope to be back soon.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Oh sh . . . . . ucks!
IT IS IN THE SHOP FOR EXPENSIVE TREATMENT AND REPAIR.
ODDBALL OBSERVATIONS WILL THUS BE DOWN UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.
(BEHAVE YOURSELVES)
Thursday, April 9, 2009
The continuing saga
For example, Miss Kitty asked today if I was using all of my eye drops. So I just wanted her to be assured that I was. SWMBO assisted by taking a picture during a brief nap.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
I have survived!
I have lived on. My right eye is that of a newborn babe. I can see small objects at a great distance. I see the ancient kduru grazing on the mountainside. I see gnats around the flanks of cattle in the distance. I see naked ladies through the walls of their houses. (Well, okay, that might be a bit of a stretch.) But my ripped and torn eye is working better than ever. (It's the right eye here, slightly reddened, probably from trying to see through the walls of houses in my neighborhood.)
Here's the best part: The doctor and his nurses told me not to bend or stoop, not to lift over 20 pounds, to take care of myself. And all of this FOR A WEEK OR MORE!!!
Do you realize what that means?
No nasty duties for old Catalyst. SWMBO has been doing stuff that she hadn't even thought about for years. Because she is so caring and doesn't want poor Cat to hurt himself.
Heh-heh-heh.
But I don't know how long I can keep this "oooooooooohhhhhhhhhh" moaning getting its money's worth.
In the meantime, here's a photo of the Rajah to tide you over.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
By the way . . .
But I tend to spend way too much time expending crap about myself.
So, today is different.
In 1971, I was a young radio news reporter in Indianapolis. Well, not so young. I had about 11 years experience in the business. But I was pretty naive. I had dreams of being a writer. I mean, a big writer. Like Hemingway. So I answered one of those ads in magazines that said something like "Famous Writer's School" will teach you to become one of the greats!
Some time later, I got a call from a young woman who said "I'm from the Famous Writer's School and I'd like to talk to you!"
Wow! I thought.
But. I said (thinking that this woman had come all the way from Connecticut or somewhere to sign me up) where are you?
She said she was at a local hotel.
I said "that's a coincidence because a friend of mine is playing drums with his combo at that very hotel tonight and I was planning on coming there." So, uh, can we get together there?
Yes, she could. At 8:00 or there abouts.
Well, I hadn't told her that I was working something like 4 to noon at the radio station so I slept in the afternoon so I could go out at night.
I overslept.
But...I got to the hotel about 45 minutes late . . . or so.
She was wearing a black turtleneck sweater and a blue topcoat.
I was wearing a black turtleneck sweater and a blue topcoat.
We recognized each other immediately. We spent an hour or so while she pitched me. AND let me know that she hadn't come from Connecticut to recognize my talent. She was a local representative.
But I was captivated by her beauty and her intelligence and her charm.
.
.
.
89 days later I married her.
And she has been my love ever since.
Judy (SWMBO) . . . 38 years ago today . . . I love you.
My new look
I'm not so happy but then this is the first day and here is how I look.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Happy Time is here!!!
Winter is over. Joyful days of baseball are here once again. And my Arizona Diamondbacks won at home on Opening Day - 9 to 8 over the Colorado Rockies. Two Diamondbacks - Felipe Lopez and Tony Clark - hit two home runs each and Chad Tracy added a fifth round-tripper to provide the winning margin.
It's a great day! Now everybody sing along!
Friday, April 3, 2009
Windy!!!
Prescott Valley has a spring tradition. Wind! Today was one of those days as it has been windy all day.
And when one lives in a desert environment, high winds mean clouds of dust. See if you can see this duststorm in the distance.
I tell ya - it's enough to make a person just want to . . . . . sing!
- - - - - - - -
On another subject, we have another new restaurant coming to the neighborhood. It's taking over the site formerly occupied by the Apple Pan, and before that by Uncle Sal's. We'll just have to wait and see how this one works out. It's apparently related to CB's Cowboy Bistro in nearby Chino Valley so maybe that will help.
Oh, yegods! Am I getting old or what? Tombo corrected me (see comment below) and I checked it out and I was totally off my rocker on this. The restaurant in Chino Valley is actually CD's Cattle Company, formerly the Ugly Green Restaurant, and not CB's Cowboy Bistro. Sheeeeesh!!!
On all future postings on this blog, wait a day or so for the corrections before you tell anyone else. Blast!
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Happy 4th!
This time they included She Who Must Be Obeyed (SWMBO) and I in the fun. While we didn't accompany them to the licensing, we did join them for breakfast. As the expression goes - a good time was had by all.