THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

T.G.I.F.

Thank Gandalf It's Friday.

(and I've never even read any Tolkien)

At any rate it's time to go into the Chuckle Box once again and see what we can find to get us all through the weekend.

O.K. folks, the Chuckle Box is empty.  Oh, wait!  I almost forgot the obligatory kitty picture.

O.K.  That's really all she wrote.  Have an extremely amusing weekend, folks, and, as always, thank you to my contributors.

MOONLIGHT SON-OF-A-NATA*

Seven years of piano lessons.  (I think this is about the time I quit.)  I could read music but I hated to practice.  End result?  I could play Sentimental Journey.  Badly.  Now I can't even play that.

* I didn't coin this phrase.  The great Danish pianist and comedian Victor Borge did.

CHILLING

Meet Mister.  One of the BRD's menagerie.

VETERANS DAY

Thank you.

THAI-ING ONE ON!

I believe I have mentioned before that SWMBO (She Who Must Be Obeyed) and the BRD (Beautiful Rich Daughter) have lunch together most Fridays.  It's a great opportunity for them to catch up on each other's week.  Unlike me, they both love Thai cuisine and this past Friday they dined* at the new Tara Thai restaurant on Cortez Street in Prescott.

(Explanation of the * above: they like to take their time at these luncheons, sipping a cocktail or glass of wine or two, eating casually, and chatting leisurely.  Often they have to tell to tell their waitress that they are there not to eat . . but to dine.  So slow down the service . . they're going to be there for awhile.)

I'm told the restaurant is beautiful, with a long reflecting pool running the length of the dining room and a large Buddha anchoring one end of it.

But.  On to the food.  The BRD dined on sweet and sour fish, which was good but a bit too sweet for her taste.  She ate it but said she wouldn't order it again.

SWMBO chose Thai Phò, the traditional Vietnamese noodle soup. But she wasn't expecting this.

Understand.  These are ladies.  With somewhat delicate appetites. And they had already shared an appetizer plate.  Suffice it to say that SWMBO brought home enough for her to have at least two more meals at her own table.  She DID say it was delicious.

So, if you like Thai food, Tara Thai comes highly recommended.

By "The Ladies Who Lunch."

PROGRESS?

AUTUMN: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

The front yard maple tree is fully afire now, its leaves having changed from green to red.

Of course, accompanying the change of color is the tremulous nature.  The slightest breeze sends dozens of those pretty red leaves to the ground.

They will have to be picked up and put in trash bags by someone.

Meantime, in the back yard, the redbud tree that provided welcome shade to my den window and a leafy abode for birds has lost most of its foliage and is looking more and more bare and bereft.

Autumn truly is the season of change.

FRIDAY FUNNIES

And finally . . . the kitties.

Have a fun-filled weekend, folks; stay warm; thanks to all of my contributors; and keep laughing.

THROWBACK THURSDAY: ACTING

In the 1950's, in college, playing Ejlert Lövborg in Henrik Ibsen's tragedy, Hedda Gabler.

Taking that fatal drink.

He has come to no good.

ELECTION DAY PLUS ONE

At least, that's how I see it.

DID YOU VOTE?

Well?  

Did you?  

Because if you didn't you won't ever have seen anything like the wrath of this "peace" dove.

So?????

I was just reading yesterday's post from Val the Victorian about her son's clothing habits.  I paused for a trip to the bathroom and caught this glimpse of myself in the mirror.  And I thought, so?????

INTERNET DIFFICULTIES

In case you hadn't noticed, most of our lives have changed, thanks to the Internet. Here is one of my biggest gripes.

Because I seem to spend an inordinate amount of time working (playing) on my computer, some of my friends and relatives tend to ask me for help when they have problems.  My standard answer for years has been "do you have a 12-year-old in your neighborhood?"

But lately, it seems the age of computer wisdom has dropped.

So my general advice is . . always ask someone much younger for help.

Happy Sunday!

TEXTURE

Some times it is good to slow down and take a closer look at one's surroundings.

Just as long as it doesn't "bug" you.

FRIDAY FUNNIES (Halloween Edition)

Have a great night and a fun weekend, folks, and keep grinnin'. Thanks to all of my contributors and especially to the BRD's Jet for posing for that final photo.

THROWBACK THURSDAY

If you live in the United States and watch television you may have caught part or all of the 14-hour series The Roosevelts on PBS.  It told the life stories of three prominent members of the family, Presidents Theodore and Franklin Delano and Franklin's wife Eleanor.  Theodore, or Teddy as he was more commonly known, had a long history with the state of North Dakota, where I grew up.  Just 60 miles from my childhood home, in the city of Minot, the largest park is known as Roosevelt Park, named in honor of Teddy.

There is a large statue of Teddy in his Rough Rider uniform and once back in the 40's or 50's, my family's camera caught me paying a visit.

A RED MAPLE

The maple tree in our front yard is growing redder and redder as the temperatures at night go lower and lower.

More of the leaves are changing (and falling) every day.  It seems like one could stand in front of the tree and watch the red creep in.

The color offers a nice contrast to our brilliant blue sky.

If you look at this picture carefully, or perhaps blow it up by clicking on it, you'll spot a crescent of an early-rising moon up and to the right.

I CAN'T IKEA

I've never been inside an IKEA store, the Swedish furniture giant. But when we lived in Phoenix my wife and her daughter made a visit to the big store fairly near where we lived. SWMBO said it was the most confusing place she had ever gone to shop and she had to ask an employee how to find her way out of the place.  I suppose it's good marketing, thinking that people will spot other stuff they just have to have while they're working their way through the maze.  But I know the two gals never made a second visit.  Herewith, then, is a diagram of the typical IKEA store.

Talk about rats in a maze.

On a gentler note, here's a place beloved by the thousands of children who have been dragged through one of those many arts and crafts fairs on "The Square" in Prescott on a hot summer day.

The fence that surrounds the fountain keeps youngsters and dogs out but it's low enough to allow arms to reach in and touch the water.  A blessing in Arizona.