tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38586369455604892012024-03-14T10:47:06.169-07:00.........Living Imperfectlyquidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06954222271507913856noreply@blogger.comBlogger568125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3858636945560489201.post-62321630047036887622016-10-09T09:54:00.000-07:002016-10-09T09:54:41.568-07:00My Bro is a FloridianFor my adult life, since the age of 24, I have lived 1200-1500 miles away from my nearest relative.<br />
I am fortunate that both my kids are in Tampa, so I have the next generation close at hand. Still, living alone and with no close relatives to depend on tests your resilience.<br />
<br />
So, I'm ecstatic that my brother and his wife retired to Palm Harbor, about 15 miles from me. Thus far, we have shared meals and football, but I'm looking forward to concerts and holidays. They got here via the movers from hell, and so far have experienced 2 brushes with hurricanes. The former problem should keep them here, never to move again... the latter makes Florida transplants think twice. But I'm hoping they'll be here a long, long time. <br />
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Here's Gary and Denise with my little granddaughter:<br />
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Somehow, Florida seems more like home now. <br />
quidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06954222271507913856noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3858636945560489201.post-72707168881822473502016-08-05T16:49:00.001-07:002016-08-05T16:49:37.263-07:00Waiting for Godot...I mean Zika<br />
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I am pummeled, both in my personal email and my work email with attorneys and safety organizations (I run the worker's comp desk) and healthcare organizations and the like... all giving me the CDC guidelines. <br />
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Why? I'm within 250 miles of Dade and Broward counties the area of first incursion for Zika. <br />
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This map is close to accurate in demonstrating the areas where the <em>Aedes aegypti </em>mosquito is known in the U.S.<br />
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You will probably not have to worry above the far southeast and outside of Arizona in the west. <br />
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We are likely to see some action on Florida's west coast. I'm risk adverse in my job, so my early emails asking us to think about purchasing mosquito repellant for our employees outdoors (home health and home hospice... 80% of our employee population)to get them to start taking precautions BEFORE the virus spreads west...they've pretty much fallen on deaf ears. I have three pregnant moms on my leave of absence slate this summer. I'm worried for them, too. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn391VQj6xuYe6aFEzntHtkuo_1RBi-pyhLGcvyr5wHaOPcXnMnEtV98gD6YszG-BQlgp3HFSqnJdWhgxeFYomLbrY7YyEiqBG-Vazv_4MI40NwYchxSITTKG48GB47Nzb9eVBsvRcAi8/s1600/_87953765_c0093043-feeding_mosquito-spl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn391VQj6xuYe6aFEzntHtkuo_1RBi-pyhLGcvyr5wHaOPcXnMnEtV98gD6YszG-BQlgp3HFSqnJdWhgxeFYomLbrY7YyEiqBG-Vazv_4MI40NwYchxSITTKG48GB47Nzb9eVBsvRcAi8/s320/_87953765_c0093043-feeding_mosquito-spl.jpg" width="320" /></a>I haven't seen the pesky <em>Aedes aegypti...</em>but I've been in Florida a long time. I'm not like the transplants from the last five years who still get a kick out of spending their summers outdoors. I limit my time out, spend a lot of time in, in the cool, and use the months of November-March for my outdoor activities. I stay away from the lakes and standing water and don't hang out near the sluice behind my house. I have no mosquito bites at all this year. Let's hope it stays that way.<br />
<br />
But if you do want to lay some odds, I have the week of August 30th in the office pool for when Zika arrives in Hillsborough county. Just send me your bets and I'll make the pool bigger. Prize is a mobile mosquito netting poncho ...very fetching. <br />
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quidquidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06954222271507913856noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3858636945560489201.post-53313579226924409342016-02-27T15:50:00.000-08:002016-02-27T15:51:09.396-08:00Remembering PamPosting is sad today... but when I came to post, I discovered a December post draft that I had never finished, published... it made me smile. So at least I got that posted prior to this entry....<br />
<br />
And on to today....<br />
<br />
I loved Pam Patterson. I loved her writing on our departed meeting ground, Pearlsoup. I visited the PS nearly every day online in 2003-2005. PS was a writer's website that saw a good deal of of my poetry when I had revived my voice and was writing nearly every day.... some of my editorial and joke posts, and way too much of my comments and personal opinions! It may be that latter part of the comments and opinions that bonded a few of us together, so that when the website went dark, we were still able to email and to follow each other's blogs.<br />
<br />
Pam and I got together for the first time with her sister Kelly and a writing friend of mine that I had met in a Yahoo group, the delightful Marion. We were all living in the south and spent a girls weekend at a beautiful cottage on the river in Louisiana in 2008. I flew to Dallas and Pam and I drove there, meeting Kelly, who had driven in from Arkansas and picked up Marion along the way. The weekend was a delight.<br />
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Pam was a special poet...not afraid to pursue dark and lonely thoughts in some poems, along with witty repartee in others. <br />
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Pam had a love for family, for her dogs...a penchant for decorating her beautiful home, and a compelling need to clean that house like a whirling dervish! Having been a devoted caretaker for her two grandsons while her daughter worked, Pam incredibly, late in life, found a career teaching/aiding special needs children in the Dallas school system. I last saw her on a visit to Dallas in 2009. I got to see Bear Bear, too, on that trip, my favorite of her pack of "furkids". Bear Bear passed on in 2010, but Pam continued to run with her pack of "furkids". I think her pup Spanky replaced Bear Bear in the pack. <br />
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Last pic that Pam sent to me, shows her in her classroom, with a student... a real illustration of how devoted she was to the career that came along late in life:<br />
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<br />
As her life got busier, Pam's time to devote to blogging became less and less. So, while I could continue to follow Ms. Marion's active blog and to live text and stay in touch weekly, with Kelly, I did not have as much interface as in the past. We reduced to following each other on Twitter, although I got an amazing email from Pam just a few months ago. <br />
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More's the pity that I did not take more time. That I didn't let her know how much I cared.<br />
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~~~~~~~~~~</div>
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Pam passed away after a short bout with a terrible illness on February 24. My heart breaks at having not called her in her final weeks. But I know she knows I was thinking about her. I always will.<br />
<br />
<br />quidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06954222271507913856noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3858636945560489201.post-19310401605950707822015-12-06T15:09:00.000-08:002016-02-27T15:10:46.091-08:00A real appreciation for books?My granddaughter Grace comes over and spends the day with me every Sunday.<br />
She's a fan of the chewable Sophie the Giraffe... a much too much expensive ($20+) teether that was/is fashionable for babies. A silly, too expensive baby item --- that, of course, I bought for her before she was born.<br />
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We have a number of baby books we read at my house (and yes, I confess that we watch some Disney Junior as well!). The only book that Grace finds satisfaction in chewing on is the Sophie the Giraffe book. Each and every time she comes. See below:<br />
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Is Grace already such an intellectual that she equates the book with the "chewable" Sophie, and so, in turn, makes this the only book she chews on?<br />
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Probably not. But a Gramma can dream.quidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06954222271507913856noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3858636945560489201.post-29350026851873856862015-09-26T10:07:00.000-07:002015-09-26T10:07:17.710-07:00I'm Jazzed<br />
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I'm not a particularly religious person. The time I spend with my God, I spend in my car, in my home...rather than in any one church. When the spirit moves me, I go to a church that is close to me. <br />
So far, I think I've been in 10-12 churches in Tampa. I'm not a congregant. For most of my church going years, I attended the Catholic church, although I was baptized in an Eastern Orthodox following. I despair of Catholicism. I love its pomp and circumstance, but I find little about it connected to God. I view it as a church of men. With men's rules.<br />
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So it is with surprising feeling that I'm somewhat overwhelmed by Pope Francis. For as long as he leads the church, it is possible that he will help it find its way. He has already done so with his kindliness to the poor, the earth, the family. I hope he will help it find its way to open to the leadership of women, to a welcoming experience for the divorced, for the gay community, for those who use contraception.<br />
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I find him humble and gracious, inspiring and a beacon of hope in such a troubled world. I really believe he lives a life of joy as well as service. <br />
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Just one woman's opinion. <br />
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quidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06954222271507913856noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3858636945560489201.post-84754064052975713632015-08-22T13:13:00.000-07:002015-08-22T13:13:33.584-07:00Rain is over but here we are in a storm of stupidity<br />
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Last half of August in Florida is, this year, the best part of summer. Still enough rain to water our lawns, no sprinklers, but not so much as to cause the kind of deluge and flooding we've had this summer. Football season is starting, so I'm starting to salivate. Work is just as frenetic as ever. I tried to switch jobs earlier this year, and had an offer, but the counter offer to stay and a promotion was too appealing. So I'm at peace with my decision, even though the craziness of my small health care company is sometimes too much to bear...and we have two vacancies that are tripling my workload.<br />
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Tough thing about this year is the stupidity that we Americans show the world.<br />
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We agree with most of the world on a treaty, but wait for final vote and ratification. Instead, our Congress takes a month long vacation.<br />
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Despite the fires, despite the torrential rainfall... we, many of us, continue to ignore climate change and profess that man's way of life has nothing to do with how we are changing the world for the worse.<br />
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The infrastructure crumbles. All due to political gamesmanship on both parties part.<br />
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Calls to make significant change to immigration, to the cost of college and the profit the government makes on the backs of student loan holders, to the lopsided dispersion of wealth in this country, the need for tax and entitlement reform, to the errors we've made in the criminal justice system that have erupted in protest, all of it, seemingly ignored while people spend billions to advertise a buncha politicians and entertainers that want to "lead us". (Is it possible that what is spent on the election in a single day could feed all the hungry in this nation for a month... yes, sadly, it is.)<br />
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And then, having not exacted much change in the past years, although we have allowed the economy to recover far better than the rest of the world, the summer is spent making stupid statements about wasting money on women's healthcare (can it ever be a waste?), repealing the right of someone born in this country to have birthright citizenship, and harsh racial and ethnic rhetoric that sets people against each other.....<br />
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To the world, we look and sound, Stupid. I hope at some time we stop this madness. <br />
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Illustrating Stupid:<br />
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quidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06954222271507913856noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3858636945560489201.post-90070490515512955502015-08-03T04:46:00.001-07:002015-08-03T04:47:26.077-07:00Yikes! More rain<br />
Pretty much home-bound this weekend while I listened to the rain assault, yes assault, my windows.<br />
Big rain, torrential rain, day-long rain. Too bad it is Monday and I actually have to go out in it, on a morning where I have been awake since 5:30 and the rain has not stopped, not even once. Reports of a sinkhole north of here... and vivid images of South Tampa underwater. Will need to be careful going through "puddles", which are the size of small ponds on the road.<br />
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quidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06954222271507913856noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3858636945560489201.post-29976714013870875572015-04-08T19:39:00.000-07:002015-04-08T19:48:04.651-07:00How Can I Get So Emotional???????<br />
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Down side risk of technology.<br />
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The loss of your cellphone. A 4 year friend, left in the women's toilet at the Arena during the finals of Women's March Madness.<br />
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The dearly departed<br />
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I didn't trust Google when I started with the phone in 2011. I wasn't going to give them my location, my contacts, my photos. So I didn't back them up.<br />
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And now, they are gone. I am bereft. Literally. Today, a day of trying to recover, was totally sad for me. There were one of a kind pictures I never stored anywhere else. There are phone numbers from people who used to work with me...my only remaining link to them. Crummy. <br />
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And my silly, often sentimental chains of text messages. How I will miss them.<br />
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I have a new Galaxy 4 Notebook. I gave up hope after 12 hours with no phone. It is wonderful, I'm sure. But it will take about 15 hours of downloading to recapture all my tunes from the Amazon cloud. <br />
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So, send me a text message. Or a photo I once sent you. That way I can recover them. <br />
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Silly, isn't it? How much we value our phones. Just possessions........<br />
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My good son decided to send me my first phone pic. A new one, not one I have resurrected. But it IS her first time in a chair. Gracie....<br />
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quidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06954222271507913856noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3858636945560489201.post-2888516240264649972015-04-07T23:00:00.000-07:002015-04-08T19:30:31.167-07:00IT WAS MADNESS<br />
<br />
I'm always tired at this time of the year. I play so much spectator basketball for nearly 3 weeks, that I am exhausted and my remote control thumb is sore. <br />
<br />
After an ugly loss by my beloved Sconnies (also known as U Wisc Badgers) on Monday to the evil team of Duke, I needed my spirits restored.<br />
<br />
Luckily, Elizabeth and I had tickets for the Women's Final Four in downtown Tampa. It was a repeat of our adventure in 2008, but that year my friend Charlie was an usher and got us down from our 3rd tier perch to the "good seats" near the floor. And, somehow, the Connecticut women lost to Stamford in the Semi-Finals. So that adventure ended up with us listening to an awful lot (91 or 92) choruses of Rocky Top....while Tennesee took the crown.<br />
<br />
This year, CT's Geno and Muffet of ND (aka the Evil Empire, where Duke is just Evil), bitter bitter rivals, <br />
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squared off in the title game. CT had dominated Maryland on Sunday night, with E and I watching. ND just squeaked by a really feisty South Carolina team. </div>
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Our presence was justified when the CT ladies took their THIRD national title in a row, and Geno's 10th. 63-53. That despite the bitchy woman from Notre Dame wearing a pink sweater and seated within fisticuff distance of the excitable Quid and Elizabeth.</div>
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Double and triple teamed all night, CT's star Breanna Steward dominated the boards late, but her scoring production was off by about 1/2. The game's dominant player turned out to be Moriah Jefferson, all 5'7" of her.</div>
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My favorite 2015 Husky was in the band:</div>
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A great nite. Women's first round will be here next year. 2019..the finals return. Elizabeth and I may be too old to climb to the third tier of seats, we may have to splurge for the floor!!! </div>
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quidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06954222271507913856noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3858636945560489201.post-90348748418529983222015-03-28T14:46:00.000-07:002015-03-28T14:46:00.873-07:00Grandma got in the way<br />
Being a grandma since February 10 has definitely gotten in the way of my blogging.<br />
We had a weekday birth, far, far into the night. <br />
All is well with our little girl, named Grace Isabel, who has frankly, conquered my heart. <br />
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I'm hoping to be called... Mia, which, in Italian and Spanish is loosely "mine".</div>
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But I guess she'll call me what she wants. If she ever stops sleeping!</div>
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Seriously, 6 weeks into this thing, she has some good 2 hour episodes of wakefulness. </div>
quidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06954222271507913856noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3858636945560489201.post-74023503341834694552015-01-10T15:59:00.002-08:002015-01-10T16:03:20.049-08:00Starting the Blog for 2015, Decided to Go With Iconic<br />
<br />
<a href="http://bit.ly/1HrCpNk"><span style="font-size: large;">http://bit.ly/1HrCpNk</span></a><br />
<br />
<span style="color: yellow;">If you try the link above, you'll be treated to a list of the 50 Most Iconic restaurants (1 per state) as summarized by the writers of Thrillist.</span><br />
<span style="color: yellow;"></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow;">I've traveled in 33 states. But I've only eaten in 4 (and only restaurants that have survived for decades need apply).</span><br />
<span style="color: yellow;"></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow;">From my really great places to eat lists: The Commander's Palace in N'Awlins</span><br />
<span style="color: yellow;"> Katz's Deli in NYC</span><br />
<span style="color: yellow;"></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow;">From my really obscure lists: Matt's Bar in Mpls (home of the Juicy Lucy)</span><br />
<span style="color: yellow;"> The Red Pepper in GF, Nodak.</span><br />
<span style="color: yellow;"></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow;">I almost wept from hunger at seeing the Red Pepper again. I hadn't remembered its name, but I never forgot those delicious grinders and garbage plates no matter what the weather in college. </span><br />
<span style="color: yellow;"></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow;">Here it is (whoda thunk it would survive for nearly 6 decades?) I'm not sure I was ever there before midnight, but maybe.........</span><br />
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<span style="color: yellow;">Enjoy the list and see if you agree for your state, or, how many you have eaten at!!!!!</span> quidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06954222271507913856noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3858636945560489201.post-67815676374421220382014-11-16T11:14:00.001-08:002014-11-16T11:15:30.223-08:00Emmylou and MeFrom the press:<br />
<br />
It'll be a night to remember for Harris fans in Florida, where she has rarely scheduled concert dates in an esteemed country-music career that began in the early 1970s.<br />
"Listen, it's not me," Harris said with a gentle laugh in a phone interview from her home base in Nashville, Tenn. "I don't know why we don't get booked down there. It's not that far and it's a good bus trip. This time, we're coming off a working cruise [Grammy Festival at Sea] and we land in Miami, so why not do a few shows on the way up?"<br />
A 13-time Grammy Award winner, Harris has consistently blended country elements with different styles, starting with her association with Florida-bred country-rock pioneer Gram Parsons in the 1970s.<br />
Her 1975 major label debut, "Pieces of the Sky," featured covers of the Beatles ("For No One"); country icon Merle Haggard ("Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down"); and traditionalist duo the Louvin Brothers ("If I Could Only Win Your Love").<br />
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</aside>She later recorded bluegrass-flavored albums, a well-received 1987 pop collaboration with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt and the genre-bending "Wrecking Ball," a moody 1995 release produced by Daniel Lanois (U2, Peter Gabriel). The latter was ignored by country radio stations as it earned Harris followers among alternative-rock fans.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY0mOaefdAg5eQlc5VCR8_S4GzQ7ox05x9v3qqqgM9Byyd4mnmvEywefgsyt6sKE2YRhdzdF2mlpnfA9gCtxl5lxXv6tmuLd7tz_aPXND3lxEdO2SHhJJ2V8q-tGXmrN_gGo934ZI2KRk/s1600/untitled+(4).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY0mOaefdAg5eQlc5VCR8_S4GzQ7ox05x9v3qqqgM9Byyd4mnmvEywefgsyt6sKE2YRhdzdF2mlpnfA9gCtxl5lxXv6tmuLd7tz_aPXND3lxEdO2SHhJJ2V8q-tGXmrN_gGo934ZI2KRk/s1600/untitled+(4).png" /></a><br />
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In recent years, that affinity for a variety of musical styles made Harris one of the most visible ambassadors for the emerging Americana genre, an umbrella category that embraces country, rock and roots music.<br />
In keeping with her stature as one of the most revered singers in the music business, Harris, 67, performs almost exclusively in the nation's most beautiful concert halls. Her Florida swing, for instance, also includes a stop at the historic Tampa Theatre, a 1926 building with an interior designed as a Mediterranean courtyard. <br />
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No matter how striking the architecture, Harris has another yardstick for any performance hall:<br />
"It's nice that it looks nice, but the only thing that matters is that it sounds good," Harris says. "It's funny how in the old theaters, I've never, never had a bad sonic experience. I don't know why. The new buildings are nice, too. If I have an audience that's into what I'm doing, I'm a happy girl."</div>
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<br />
From The Tampa Bay Times:<br />
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<em><strong>"Believe it or not, there are even critics who say that her voice isn't quite what it used to be.</strong></em><br />
<em><strong>At this point, the last of those shallow criticisms is on par with some schmuck giving Jesus a hard time for turning water into a house chianti instead of a 1969 Bordeaux. Ask anyone inside the Tampa Theatre Wednesday night, and they’ll tell you -- Emmylou Harris still has it. In fact, she probably has plenty more of it to go around.</strong></em> "<br />
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From Lynne Quido, Emmylou fan extraordinaire:<br />
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Wednesday night, November 12 was one of those heartbeat nights you have every now and then. Something you're doing brings back a wave of nostalgia that sweeps over you like the ocean and you find yourself lost in the wonder of this thing we call life.<br />
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Emmylou Harris doesn't have the voice she used to. Probably because you can have an extraordinary voice at the age of 26 and then life sets in and does what it does to your body, to your voice. Probly about the time of the watershed "Wrecking Ball" album (yes, Miley Cyrus stole the name from her)... which arrived on the scene in 1995, Emmylou's strategy has been to replace that incredible, ethereal voice by backing it as it began to change with what one writer called <em>"her formula has been to match a crack crew of left-of-center country players with an assortment of tasteful tunes".</em> <br />
<br />
I first saw her in 1975 with my best friend and roommate, another EH devotee, at St. Paul's Orpheum theater. It was in November, I believe, and we were recent country converts and stayed to see her, since we'd worn out her "Pieces of the Sky" album...one Friday night. We were supposed to drive 175 miles home that night, and we did, but we forsook decent weather for the concert, and when we came out, we faced a nailbiting trip in a hail of hard snow. My dad met me at 4 a.m., when the 3 hour trip had turned into 5 hours, and boy was he mad. "You stay and take a terrible risk on getting lost or getting in an accident, and for what...some long haired hippie chick in a fringed suede jacket! What were you thinking?"<br />
<br />
I changed my dad's mind at Christmas time when I gave him all 3 of her albums and he, in turn, wore out the vinyl listening to what he admitted was the best female voice of his time...even forsaking Patsy Cline. He became an ardent fan.<br />
<br />
(I did see Emmylou again, fleetingly, at the 1998 New Orleans jazz festival.)<br />
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But Wednesday night, in the Tampa Theatre, where she breezed through 20 of her songs and changed guitars about 13 times, was incredibly bitter sweet. My best friend this time was not a fan, but enjoyed herself. The audience was incredibly old (but still tappin' and clappin') and the beautiful theater was packed and once again, yielded the best sound money could buy. The funky, old Emmylou once again had a crack team of musicians and she adds some funky instrument each tour...this time, the accordion! Yes, the accordion. The lead guitar player, from Australia, sounded as good as the young Eric Clapton. I sung along to the 6 old songs she played and enjoyed the music from her last 3 albums, which I don't own or have memorized. She hit Lucinda Williams ... "Sweet Old World", "Save the Last Dance for Me", and my all time favorite was her encore...<br />
"Boulder to Birmingham". If you have not heard it, pull it up and listen. Probably one of the most beautiful heartbreak songs of our times, and you'll hear what I heard in the 70's.<br />
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It's the last time I'll probably see Emmylou. She'll give up touring (she's 66) at some point and just write and pursue her work on rescue animals. I'll save my meager concert dollars to see someone of significance (last year, the Eagles...the year before Smokey Robinson) who means a lot to me once a year. I'm on my once a year farewell tour of concerts, you might say. <br />
<br />
But Wednesday would have been my dad's 95th birthday. And somehow, it felt like he was there with me. What a night!!!<br />
<br />quidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06954222271507913856noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3858636945560489201.post-86590252823298733602014-11-02T12:55:00.000-08:002014-11-02T12:58:10.834-08:00Not Wanting To Act Grandma Like<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
Well my soon to be granddaughter, Eden Grace, is showing off all 10 fingers in the 23 week ultrasound above. Pretty cool, huh?<br />
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Not wanting to be grandma-like, when my lease was up this week, I acquired a brand new Jetta. My 6th. But I didn't get it in a grandma color. Here it is, below.<br />
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I will miss my stick shift (but not my clutch). I went upscale this time with cornsilk leather interior, sunroof and connectivity. It's a fun little car to drive. quidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06954222271507913856noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3858636945560489201.post-45764032031465527402014-10-18T21:39:00.000-07:002014-10-18T21:40:41.104-07:00Some memories<br />
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My first trip to Europe... a college charter...we landed in Copenhagen and departed from there some 5 weeks later. I slept my first 12 hours in Copenhagen from jet lag, but then spent the day at Tivoli, where my guy and I met two great Swedes and quaffed a lot of beer with them. We took a junket to Malmo, in Sweden, the next day, on their recommendation. At that time, travel was by hovercraft:<br />
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Where you see the bridge drawn in used to be an intrepid junket on a boat that traveled half in and half above the water. Still jetlagged, and feeling the effects of too much Carlsberg "Elefunt" beer, I was pretty sure I was going to big sick on the trip across the water... in this mode of transportation:<br />
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Luckily, I reached land on both legs of our journey without having to dip into the seasick bag stock.<br />
It was in Malmo that I first admired Malmo light... leading into a lifelong love of lighthouses and lots of side trips on vacation, just to see a local lighthouse. When I searched for my pics of Malmo light I discovered with dismay that I no longer could locate them... and offer a stock picture of what charmed me so many years ago.<br />
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What brought on all these memories? I caught the Amazing Race episode this week and got to revisit modern day Copenhagen (so beautiful and so amazingly green and energy efficient!) and to see the bridge that replaced the hovercraft as the primary mode of transportation. What a beautiful example of modern architecture it is:<br />
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All those memories... called up by a reality TV show!!!!quidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06954222271507913856noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3858636945560489201.post-44412314292838628712014-10-07T06:47:00.002-07:002014-10-07T06:49:23.465-07:00Did I Tell Y'All?????<br />
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That I'm gonna be a grandma in February? An unplanned, unexpected surprise!<br />
I got this card for my birthday:<br />
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I'm searching for the right, cutting edge handle for my grandmotherhood. "Nona", the Italian version, just doesn't fit. Nor does NeeNee or Nana. I'm kinda partial to GMom. Sort of a youthful grandma.<br />
QMom? I just don't know. Give me your ideas!<br />
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Here's our baby girl at 12 weeks:<br />
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<br />quidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06954222271507913856noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3858636945560489201.post-76867338854630191572014-09-15T20:06:00.000-07:002014-10-05T10:41:23.098-07:00The Radisson group..... staring into the face of entitled athletes. And Not Blinking.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Spielman....craven GM of the team I used to love, the Minnesota Vikings, got the task of telling the world that the Vikings are once again going to play Adrian Peterson, despite the child abuse charges pending in TX against the football-star-pretend-daddy.<br />
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Note the wallpaper behind him.... a press banner. It features the "Radisson" chain as the sponsor. Radisson hotels are owned by a former alma mater of mine, Carlson industries. Very, very big in Minnesota. Imagine tuning in and seeing your name splashed behind a guy who is putting football star idolatry and $$$$ in front of common decency. This just in. Radisson is suspending sponsorship of the Vikings for further review. Let's hope other sponsors join. Because until the NFL gets beaten in the pocketbook, they will do just as they please to protect their stars.<br />
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In suspending Peterson, the Vikings were NOT following their own precedents. <br />
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The Vikings sat out lesser stars. Last year they dropped AJ Jefferson one day after a domestic abuse incident. And they cut Caleb King on the practice squad in 2012 when he was jailed for fighting and causing a man serious injury. Most famously, they sat out Chris Cook in 2011 for 10 games. Cook was aquitted and went on to play 2 more years in Minnesota before going to SF. <br />
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But after a single, horrific loss without the star, the Vikings decided to renege. They decided to follow the "innocent until proved guilty" line for Peterson, even AFTER seeing the horrific pictures of the cuts on the boys legs and torso. A 4 year old. Yeah. His daddy will show him how to behave.<br />
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Peterson is rumored to have fathered 5-7 children with different mommas. One of his children was beaten to death last year by the boyfriend of said momma. The league mourned with Peterson until they learned that Peterson did not even meet the child until he was hospitalized and died.<br />
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Adrian Peterson is a great football player and a lousy human being. The Vikings have lost me forever.<br />
<br />quidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06954222271507913856noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3858636945560489201.post-9769107336936793742014-09-14T19:27:00.000-07:002014-09-15T19:28:15.696-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Wow it is hot and humid in Florida this summer. And now, halfway through the month where football starts ( :) ) it was 95 degrees right before today's Bucs game. Which we won't talk about. We have rain every day. My lawn is lush and green and I don't think the sprinklers have been on more than 2-3 days this summer. We have had some spectacular lightning and thunder and not a sign of hurricane. There have been better summers, and there have been worse. But, like most years, I am melting into a little puddle and can't wait for the real autumn. Today I actually got my satisfaction from a good chat with an RN candidate from Massena, NY...right up on top of the Canadian border. It was 57 degrees there. I can only wish. <br />
<br />quidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06954222271507913856noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3858636945560489201.post-43791566479314343422014-05-31T11:44:00.002-07:002014-09-15T19:24:12.197-07:00Last day of May.. can't be over soon enough<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's been a rough month.<br />
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As evidenced by the hail (hail? in Florida?) above... which fell in as much as 1/2" diameters on my home the Sunday before Memorial day. In general, the last two weeks of weather here have brought deluges of various durations... all around the 5-7pm timeslots. In addition to the hail, I have left work soaked to the knees from the depth of the water as I'm walking (the drainspouts just can't handle sudden, heavy downpours and parking lots and roads flood). I'm driving a rental car (more on that later) that is larger than my own. Lucky thing as I found myself driving through an intersection near work on Thursday night, and as cars hydroplaned through the intersection I could look out my driver's window and see the water rise nearly 3-4 inches below my side window. If you get caught indoors when it starts, it is best to stay trapped and not try to go outside. Currently, the rental has elements of the trees (from my work parking lot) trapped in the wiper wells. I'll need to clean them out today. The rain comes so hard and fast that it denudes a lot of the growth from the trees.<br />
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It is an unusual May. Generally in this part of Florida in May we have drought and brush fires, followed by flooding rains in June. Not so this year. When not raining, the greenery is lush and fine and we have seen literally dozens of rainbows.<br />
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Those rainbows are the good things about May in my life. Otherwise.... nothing dreadful, nothing drastic, but just one of the most "down" months I have had in a long while. <br />
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Started with the death of a love affair. Ended with the death of a close friend.<br />
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At my age, you hesitate to say, "my relationship". And I prefer love affair. Started with a good friend about 5 years ago. Worried that by entering into it, if something went wrong ... would our friendship not re-engage? Would I lose a good friend by trying for more? And so, that has happened. And I must lean into my loneliness, no voice on the phone or the voice mail, no funny texts, no shoulder to lean on. I must say that I don't expect to love this way again in my life. <br />
And while I want it back, the mind tells the heart that it probably will not find another situation that I term <em>bashert</em>... English has no word for the sense of rightness, the feeling that you have a sense of landing where you're supposed to land with someone. But sometimes you are meant to leave a partnership, and so I guess I have. But I wish I could have the friendship back. <br />
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Followed the breakup about a week later ... on Mother's day, with having a large floater appear in my left eye. Eye issues are scary for diabetics. I breathed a little easier when my retinologist pronounced it a PVD... something that happens to most of us when we age. Told me within 1-3 months it would most likely sink with gravity, to the part of my eye where it wouldn't be so pronounced in front of my retina. And little by little I've gotten used to it. When I crack my never ending stream of self-deprecating jokes at work, I blame my "floater" for my goof ups and forgetfulness. We laugh....but we worry a little about aging and the changes it will bring.<br />
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Topped off the month by having a somewhat minor car accident in the middle of a work day. My fault I got ticketed. So I've had a rental Malibu for about a week and a half now. My car is a lease, but there is only about $4000 damage, so they will repair. Not a scratch on me or the other driver... just an endless stream of time wasters filing claims, going for a work comp analysis, peeing in a cup (yes, the ultimate indignity). Flash. I wasn't drugged or wasted at 9:30 in the morning. Just careless. Frankly, I was lucky. <br />
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So when my good friend succumbed to breast cancer on Thursday night, it did stun me. Too many little shocks in one month. And, we all choose to believe it is completely curable now, since we have come so far with the treatments. That it won't be caught too late to metastasize and cling to one's lymph system or spread to one's other organs. But sometimes, it still does. I came to expect that she would die. But it doesn't make it any easier. Nope. <br />
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June will be better. quidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06954222271507913856noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3858636945560489201.post-75159387033855888862014-05-10T14:36:00.000-07:002014-05-11T14:39:53.029-07:00Past - Due Post of Poetry<em><span style="color: yellow;">Note: I have fallen away somewhat, as I do from time to time, from the language and the kiss of poetry. I keep up with Maya Stein and have her posts sent to my email box, and also continue to enjoy the poetry blog, "rooted" by Indian poet Gautami Tripathy (you can find it in my links below). I had really missed out on National Poetry Month, and did go back on 4/30, to close out the month with one of her poems that had buried itself in my brain. Coming back to blogger today, I realized I had kept it in draft and had never fininshed the post. So, here it is, belatedly:</span></em><br />
<em><span style="color: yellow;"></span></em><br />
Hanging from the Buckle to Dance<br />
<em><span style="color: yellow;"></span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="color: black;">I have nailed a buckle or two on the wall<br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">and hang my
poems on those.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I have
heard my poems humming songs,</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">with much
dignity and grace.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I take the
visions in my stride.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">when my
muse goes to sleep</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I do not
miss it.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I take down
one of the poems,</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">rearrange
the words to gain a new one</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">my buckle
too gets heavy</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black;"> ~<em><span style="font-size: x-small;">from the "rooted" blog, G. Tripathy</span></em></span></span>quidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06954222271507913856noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3858636945560489201.post-13569194650339140002014-04-10T21:05:00.000-07:002014-04-10T21:05:19.927-07:00Will the real Sxxxxxx Cxxxxxx please stand up???<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Fallon is a favorite of mine, and while I don't watch the 11:30 (EST) shows very much, he's a breath of fresh ADD type air after the laid back Leno.<br />
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But today's announcement of Letterman's replacement even topped Fallon...yes, the frenetic Stephen Colbert will be facing off with Fallon in the not too distant future.<br />
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Many people think that Stephen Colbert IS the character he plays on Comedy Central. They are in for a treat because Colbert has been trapped in his character and he is really a much more versatile..but still full of ENERGY guy.<br />
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Torches passed. <br />
<br />quidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06954222271507913856noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3858636945560489201.post-73902723301103054552014-03-29T21:41:00.000-07:002014-03-30T09:44:13.561-07:00This year's early "Voice"<br />
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<strong><em>Feel free to listen to the songs and then tune out the patter from those judges.... I do when I watch on DVR!</em></strong><br />
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My early favorite to win "The Voice" this year<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/OZeSrRGAA4s" width="560"></iframe><br />
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38 years old and just getting his first big break. What a fantastic song. Makes me remember what great moments George Michael had in music.<br />
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And, she won't win, but she's gonna give a lot of people in the audience great memories this year, singing Aretha in her audition:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/BQqGBODhtIk" width="560"></iframe><br />
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I can't miss this show. So many great people performing and learning. <br />
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<br />quidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06954222271507913856noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3858636945560489201.post-39190764324405192652014-03-28T23:54:00.000-07:002014-03-29T11:44:51.649-07:005 Freshmen???<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZflTMw42UugGMhoqmUNUWa6PemHk-khWy73MUWWuLzNCbobbsNHOKOXjA4JuTZ6OfSuRb1OnM0gsdpkm9OMd_tzoGOBY0UL39KlOGg9UcI2Wm2NKfYsao6l-xmdPmX-zohA8kGlsuCxE/s1600/n-KENTUCKY-large300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZflTMw42UugGMhoqmUNUWa6PemHk-khWy73MUWWuLzNCbobbsNHOKOXjA4JuTZ6OfSuRb1OnM0gsdpkm9OMd_tzoGOBY0UL39KlOGg9UcI2Wm2NKfYsao6l-xmdPmX-zohA8kGlsuCxE/s1600/n-KENTUCKY-large300.jpg" /></a></div>
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When is the last time 5 freshmen looked this good during March Madness?? I despair. KY wiped out Louisville last night to my chagrin. My chagrin was mostly due to the fact that I didn't even have KY in the Elite 8. But my final 4 (Florida, Arizona, MSU and Louisville) were all in there. <br />
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Going into the Elite playoff on Thursday, I was in pretty good shape with 13 of the 16 teams (in addition to KY, I didn't have the remarkable Dayton, nor Tennessee). Two days of bball later and I am down to 5 of the 8 teams, with only Arizona and Wisconsin playing off... two of my picks. I now have one of my final 4 teams wiped out with the demise of Louisville at the hands of these 5 frosh.<br />
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Despite the fact that I want Florida to win the tourney, I actually picked MSU as the winner in my betting pool. I'm doing pretty well there, but that pick might lead to my demise. All 6 other participants have Florida. It was not a good time to be contrary. <br />
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More power to KY, they've given us some great basketball. On to Saturday!!!!!!!quidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06954222271507913856noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3858636945560489201.post-40709893149602791532014-03-15T20:56:00.003-07:002014-03-15T20:58:03.190-07:00Thirsting for Water in the Desert or "Long Time No Blog"Wow... <br />
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Went back to blog today. Can't believe it has been 5 months since I've lurked in these quarters.<br />
Good winter in Florida, and I got a new computer and am working my way out of the "no recreational computer" mode. I am well. My endocrinologist has me on some new med (she's got me up to 4 now) in an effort to bring my A1C3 level down from 7. Because it is so much improved (it was over 10 when I started seeing her....pretty dangerous), I am sleeping well, have a lot of energy, am a lot less worried that I'm on a downhill slide.<br />
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Work, as usual, is challenging and rewarding at the same time. This week took me on a 180 mile round trip to our operation in Sebring... truly country Florida. I had an unfortunate employee "errand" there. On my way back, on a stretch of road that is really rural, a guy in a pick up truck pulled right out in front of me when I was going 50; he apparently didn't see me. I had no choice, without checking, I careened into the right lane, downshifted to third and managed to slow and straighten the car out and stay on the road. Scared some Herefords in a north pasture pretty bad...they went running. I was fortunate there was no one in that lane. As I told a buddy of mine... "I'm probably the only woman you know that can tell the type of cow she almost hit."<br />
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Caught a Yankees-Blue Jays spring training game with my bro and Denise when they were here. It was at the Blue Jays spring field in this cool little Florida burb called Dunedin. We touched down at a couple of pubs there and also had a field trip to see the manatees at the electrical plant in Apollo Beach. In the Florida winter, the manatees congregate in the warm waters surrounding electrical plants. It is late in the season, so we only saw a half dozen. I didn't get any good shots, so here's a great picture from last year from photographer Jennifer Kennedy:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOhrke3mNtMTOUApBx4sv8L_DlqWT6JyIrT2PqzZdFv0FOKkMIUwCX3EscwHev9UkEr18ZtGwagc39cqlRn8ofrdthtOa5OcYteqOebzaFGAAqZGoWE4_zDKJ7E3jz8875x_2PO9wzv4Y/s1600/manateesapollobeach500x375.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOhrke3mNtMTOUApBx4sv8L_DlqWT6JyIrT2PqzZdFv0FOKkMIUwCX3EscwHev9UkEr18ZtGwagc39cqlRn8ofrdthtOa5OcYteqOebzaFGAAqZGoWE4_zDKJ7E3jz8875x_2PO9wzv4Y/s1600/manateesapollobeach500x375.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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Only a year and a half until my bro retires and is planning to settle around here in October 2015. As an adult, I have never lived around family. So looking forward to it. </div>
quidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06954222271507913856noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3858636945560489201.post-31025986454841144552013-10-15T16:58:00.001-07:002013-10-15T17:01:00.354-07:00Closing Time<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIE5uwoxPKLfOosEnXvsSGNtoFx1lf9N7TARJzt2AutjXxLKfu32MFTKOmif07VPOgq8_XayL8PE-mwzt8cutvkipp_6td2dV2fPMJqPCdvoTWVQbgtqlWVfmEb0phVFevQieaT4EAMn4/s1600/daves%2520sign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIE5uwoxPKLfOosEnXvsSGNtoFx1lf9N7TARJzt2AutjXxLKfu32MFTKOmif07VPOgq8_XayL8PE-mwzt8cutvkipp_6td2dV2fPMJqPCdvoTWVQbgtqlWVfmEb0phVFevQieaT4EAMn4/s320/daves%2520sign.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I get tired of things closing.<br />
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Two months ago, my favorite Thai food joint. Last month, the little Italian bakery in the area where I worked.<br />
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Then, just heard one of the truly elegant venues for live music in St. Pete, the venerable "Dave's Aqua Lounge"... a dive bar of the highest standing. Sigh. Breathed its last. <br />
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Not a lot of unique places I love to haunt in the Bay Area any more. Not recession proof. Plenty of chain resturants, naturally. Still, I can get tickets to the Bucs games (because no one else wants to see them) and tickets to the USF Bulls games (because no one else wants to see them; bad football juju in the TB area). <br />
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But, I can go to 3-4 days of the Clearwater Jazz Festival this weekend. And see Tower of Power. And Amos Lee. And Brandi Carlisle. That'll do. <br />
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quid<br />
<br />quidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06954222271507913856noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3858636945560489201.post-18678253274202563792013-08-15T16:22:00.000-07:002013-08-15T16:23:32.718-07:00Kids and Grandkids<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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LONG DRY SPELL WITH NO POSTS!! SO LET'S MAKE THIS ONE A LONG RAMBLER!<br />
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If you have been with me for 4 or less decades, you probably don't know about "mylittlebrotherGare".<br />
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It was all one word in our youth. The kid could not escape the tie-in that he had to the legend of greatness. Which was me, of course. Our youth. Which, from the look of my brother's hairline, is slowly fading away.<br />
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MylittlebrotherGare beat me to "grand-hood". That's Gare and the woman who keeps him sane, the lovely Denise. Also, front and center, is two month old Liam, son of Gare's Carl and his wife Becky, who live in Chicago. I swear, that baby has my eyes. Kinda popped open and googly. <br />
What a cutie!<br />
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I like to think that life will be less complicated for us with grands.<br />
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I know that my own parents, and my ex-husband's mom (who was mother in surrogate to me for the last 20 years of her life) died too soon to see grand teenager-hood and the harder knocks of life that were presented to their adult kids. For them, Frank and I had almost unlimited success and the sun shined on us throughout the lives they lived with us (primarily 20's, 30's). They didn't have to, as parents, worry about the loss of jobs, the divorce, the serious bouts with diabetes and mersa (me) and a couple of serious health issues Frank has had in later life. They didn't have to wring their hands over the uphill battle their grandkids have had with this economy in their 20's and 30's...fighting as hard to be/stay employed in this economic morass. They didn't have to wonder/worry about their grown up and grown old kids suddenly facing.... dating again, or finally going to the last funeral of all their "elders". <br />
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I'm experiencing something different, and it was a good week to think about coming out on the other side. Andrea's been marooned in Louisville, her contract expired, looking for another position. She landed one with a firm in Boston and will be on a two year project as a project manager for software installation in Philadelphia. She can live anywhere. She'll figure it out. I don't need to harangue her about making her home base Tampa again. In fact, I have to relax and let her make the choice that's right for her (hard). Because she's had to struggle for a few months, she doesn't have that golden glow about all things going right in her life that I had in my early 30's. Maybe that's a good thing... make her take fewer risks, have bigger nest eggs, stay on the employment safe side, finish her degree.<br />
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Tom, who has my father's mechanical skills and his love of working on cars, finished his two year apprenticeship and promptly took an ASE cert test, and passed. That opens a lot of doors for him. He's contemplating the fact that he can do something he loves, stay with this national company that has him on a fast-track, maybe run a store or a region for them someday. Tom was going to do some studying with me to make sure he was ready for the test, much like we used to do in homeschool. He didn't have time to make any sessions and had to study on his own. Naturally, I worried. Or maybe I just still wanted to be needed. He didn't need me. <br />
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So, maybe that is where I am as I muse through this right now. They really don't need me. Soon, the days of the mom-cash-infusion may be gone as well. Or maybe, Mom will need to get a cash infusion from them. I think I'm supposed to be glad for all the independence and success. My parents were for me. I guess that's a good plan, and I'll stop worrying. For now, anyway. quidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06954222271507913856noreply@blogger.com4