A NEW HEALTH REGIMEN

Lo and behold, I discovered that I had been putting on weight over the holidays, what with cakes and pies and cookies and candy.

So on Super Bowl Sunday I stopped drinking alcohol and cut down on my other caloric intake.

I've lost a little over 6 pounds in the week but I'm down about 9 pounds from my heaviest weight.

I've been too heavy for years.

When we lived in Mexico back in the 1980's and 90's, I lost a lot of weight when we first went there due largely to a severe case of Montezuma's Revenge.

Then as I got used to a different type of food, I gradually gained back some of it.

But I maintained a weight which was good for me, maybe a trifle thin but perfectly healthy, for the rest of our years south of the border.

That may be somewhat curious, considering the amount of beer and full sugar Mexican coca cola I drank while there.

Rarely was I seen without a glass or a bottle in my hand.

When we returned to the U.S.A., with all of those tempting fast food outlets, I soon gained back what I had lost and more.

I'm nearing 78 years of age now and I figure it was finally time to settle down and lose some weight.

For years I've said "Oh, what's the difference, I haven't got all that much time left anyway."

But, you know, however much time there is, I might as well enjoy it.

Better weight and health would go a long way towards that.

Wish me luck.

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

Oh yeah, baby, THAT'S what it feels like!

It's been kind of a dull week around the old Catalyst's fortress so it is way beyond time to cut loose and have some fun.

I don't know if we can achieve that level of wonderfulness taking place in Pyongchang or Pyeongchang or wherever the heck it is.

But we're gonna try.

So let's get started, Gentle Readers. 

Lessee, one for the cat lovers, one for the dog lovers, one for the baby lovers, . . . . oh, how about one for the LOVE lovers.

Man, do I know the truth of THAT one!

Well, I think that ought to hold you for another week.

Now, you budding hedonists, I want y'all to get hot if you're cold, get cool if you're hot, but above all get out there and have yourselves a weekend that gets a perfect 10!

And always remember to keep laughing!!!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

(Oops, sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you.)

(p.s. Yes, I do know the gnomes spelled "exercise" incorrectly up above.  It's hard to get good help these days.)

Uhhhh . . . .

I know.

I've gone missing.

But actually I'm here, perhaps having a bit more energy than for quite awhile.

Staying tuned in to the circus we residents of the Yewnighted States of Americee call "politics".

Floating between amazement and apathy.

But I figure if you're gonna write a blog post every day you'd better be damn sure you have something to say.

I'll be back when I do.

And, of course, with the Friday Funnies.

Be well out there, Gentle Readers.

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

First the bad news, Gentle Readers.

That evil swine, er, groundhog Punxatawney Phil saw his own shadow today and has predicted six more weeks of winter!

However, going back to 1877, Phil has only been accurate 39 percent of the time.

So handle that bit of news as you will.

On the other hand . . .

It is time for the week's hodgepodge of humor.

And you know what this weekend holds.

All right, on those happy(?) notes, I shall bid you a fond adieu, wish you good luck with your favorite or least-hated team in the big game, and encourage you not to repeat yourself on this Groundhog Day.

Anything else?

Oh, yes, remember to Keep Laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

Well, at least nobody's crying.

IT'S CALLED LEFSE

If you are of a Scandinavian family . . .okay, a Norwegian family, you probably know about lefse.

(It's pronounced LEF-suh and is occasionally misspelled lefsa.)

It's a very thin flatbread made of potatoes, flour, butter and milk or cream.

When the dough is combined it's then rolled out as thin as possible and baked on a grill.

I have an old friend named Carsen Aasen who is known to his family and friends around Rapid City, South Dakota as the Lefse King.

Every year he makes a big batch which he proclaims are thin enough to read a newspaper through.

Looks like he consumes quite a bit of it too.

But I'm sorry.

His efforts do not compare to those of my nephew Larry Taylor of Minot, North Dakota.

He hosts a family reunion at Thanksgiving every year.

The next day every one gets involved in his garage in what is known as "The Lefsepalooza ".

These pictures were taken a few years ago.

When it was over, Larry posed with the finished products.

194 Lefses!

The custom made aprons everyone wears proudly state "Taylor Lefsepalooza"!

The way I always ate lefse was by buttering the surface and sprinkling sugar over it, then rolling it up and eating it like a burrito.

I have heard some people lay the piece out flat and cover it with mashed potatoes and meatballs and gravy.

Or perhaps lutefisk, about which I shall say no more.

Skoal, Norskes!

THE BIG SKY SHOW

5:30 this morning.

Prescott Valley, Ariona.

My driveway.

Brace yourselves.

That's the moon being eclipsed.

A little later.

Turning bloody.

By 7 a.m. as the sky was beginning to lighten it was totally eclipsed, just a rosy orb heading for the horizon.

It was much more impressive with the naked eye.

I don't WANT to do that!

"Oh, all right, I'll do the dusting if you want me to but I'd rather watch you do it."

...Muggles, the older cat, speaking to the photographer SWMBO.