Weird Stuff - But Something You'll Win Trivia Competitions With

I love these crazy Mental Floss goodies.

Witness something you've always wondered about, but never knew who to ask:

the Real Names of 44 fictional characters, from the Cookie Monster (whose name is Sid) to Mr. Clean (Veritably - really) and the Pillsbury Doughboy. (Real name, Poppin' Fresh - and he's got a wife and kids, too.)

And I get a share of anything you win.

Tell Us A Yarn About the Warhol Bridge...

More than 1800 knitters have covered Pittsburgh's Warhol Bridge in yarn. Panels and panels of knitting are strung along the bottom of the bridge. A "yarn bomb," they're calling it.

Full story here. (Photo's from the story.) They've got plans to cover the bridge in fabric next.

Unusual, perhaps...but pretty!

Ageless Wisdom from the Mama

As I've mentioned before, The Mama will be staying with us all this month, plus a part of September, to help out. (She's also minding shop while we go to Ireland. Considering her record at spoiling pets rotten, Charley and Abby can hardly wait. The chickens are less interested.)

     She definitely runs on a different schedule than the Brick and I normally do. Up much earlier. (She lives in Michigan, after all -- 2 hours later.) Meals much earlier, as well, and your standard meat/potatoes variety. She serves fruit in fancy salads -- I tend to plop it on the table, in a bowl. And although she'll eat food made with more out-of-the-box ingredients (nasi goreng, and Indonesian food, for example), she doesn't cook that way herself.
     The other issue is stamina. She is having increasingly more trouble walking. Dealing with our thinner air (6,250 altitude) is no joke, either.
     Fortunately, she's wise enough to plan for her limitations. If we go to the park or museum, she walks for a while, then sits down on a bench and waits. Or she'll stop periodically for a rest. I need to be careful not to push her too much, so she enjoys this visit, instead of thinking back on it with dread.

     The Mama has watched me doing weekly stint of articles: Midlife Finance and Penny Thots, primarily, as well as here. "Why don't you try some writing, too?" I asked. After all, she writes great letters. So, while the dogs napped and she had her morning coffee, she wrote this:

     "In the Spring, when starting our garden, we thought of planting one zucchini plant. That would take care of us -- and maybe some for the neighbors. Wow! What a surprise! We had zukes coming out of our ears. Enough for us and all our neighbors, plus the whole street and just maybe the whole town -- at least that's what we felt like. 
     "So if you're thinking of putting in several plants -- think again. Just how many zukes are you willing to throw to the birds -- or if you're lucky -- to the chickens.
     "Everyone will like you. After the zucchini stops, that is."

Thanks, Ma. Looking at the massive zucchini plants out in the garden, who have just started bearing dozens of cute little vegetables...
     You're probably right.

Don't let those sweet, innocent flower faces fool you -- this plant's a killer.

Monday Stuff On the Way to Other Stuff: Sunny Daziness

Sun's out, the Mama is busily sweeping, and the week's towels and sheets are churning away in soapsuds. (Like the Days of the Week dishtowels, I grew up being taught that Monday was also Washday!) The dogs are just plain happy to have everyone home, and follow us all around. Charley, the Golden Lab/Chesapeake mix, has had a heck of a time with allergies, snuffling and scratching himself raw. We finally had to take him to the vet's for a steroid shot and antibiotics. Thankfully, his fur is starting to grow back in, and he seems much less miserable.
    I'm still working on catching up...but the pile of 'done' projects is growing. Meanwhile:

Don't forget about the annual Perseid meteor shower. It's at its peak Aug. 12 -- today!


Get a free meal this month at IKEA -- just for requesting a catalog. This is a great way to fund a night out, and maybe pick up a bargain or two, as well.

Ten Ways to Save Money...without even thinking about it much. (From The Simple Dollar)

A U.S. family decides that they're going to go live on an island. (They don't like government interference, they say.) They buy a boat and sail it out from San Diego (no prior experience, of course), only to be disabled after a series of storms. They drift for weeks, gradually running low on food. Eventually, they're rescued and flown back to the U.S. Now they're planning on rethinking this whole experiment -- and trying something else.
    Oh, and guess who paid for their plane tickets home?
    The U.S. government, of course. Not to mention us, the taxpayers.

An Illinois golfer is playing through...and a sinkhole opens up underneath him! (Guess the course got a hole in one.)

Somebody swiped the keys to the Tower of London. Fortunately, the authorities noticed right away, and locks were changed. (Or did something 'disappear,' and they don't want us to know about it yet?) Suspicious minds are welcome to chime in here. Or Sherlock.

Granny Jordan's chicken casserole. Bake it hot, or eat it cold as a salad, plopped on lettuce leaves - it's delicious either way. (From Southern Plate.)

More weird stuff about Steve Jobs than you'd ever care to know. Wonder how he acts at a yogurt shop, or a football game? In public? Out of public? This website is obsessed with the Apple founder.

A centuries-old box of silver coins found, while clearing for a parking lot in Jamaica. (The worker was breaking up some ruined concrete columns.) Could they have come from a monastery that is thought to have been there, originally? Finders are not always keepers, though -- in the Jamaica case, the coins belong to the landowner, not the 19-year-old wielding the sledgehammer.
    (If you enjoy reading about treasure troves, don't miss this long and involved explanation of the Staffordshire Hoard, found in a vacant field in England in 2009. Some scattered pieces were found years later.)
    Or these gold coins, just found recently on Florida's Treasure Island (Sebastian shore) by treasure hunters:

Visual Catnip -- several minutes of "small, very fast birds" for you and  your favorite cat:

Charley isn't the only one in the Brick house struggling with allergies. We all have fussed with swollen eyes and scratchy throats the past few days. (What in the world has suddenly bloomed, to cause us so much trouble?)  Better that, than what Johnny Rivers has...

Have a great week.

What A Week!

Thank God it's almost over.

This week, I:

*drove ANOTHER 1300 miles or so to get home from Michigan and Indiana.
   (I'd already driven 1200 miles in a day or two the week before.)

*somehow got two guest bedrooms cleaned and tidied up

*brought the Mama back, to stay through August (bedroom #1)

*had our nephew come to visit (bedroom #2)

*somehow managed to get a birthday dinner out, plus presents, for Daughter #2

*got way less sleep all week than I needed, and...

*slowly started to catch up on put-aside business matters

There's much more to go, but at least I'm making progress.
Hopefully, you are too.

Monday Stuff On the Way to Other Stuff...Yes, I Know It's Thursday

Exhaustion. Being pulled in several different directions.
     I drove 18 hours Tuesday, starting at 3 a.m. (You have to leave early, to get through Chicago -- rush hour traffic there would drive anyone crazy.) We stopped three times to sleep for 30 or so minute, and pushed on, even through a crazy rain/hailstorm that took up the sky with one big black square, shooting out lightning. We raced around its edge, catching only a few brief showers...but it was close. Really close.
    Being home is wonderful. Having The Mama here is nice, too, if only she'd stop doing the Mom thing. ('Pick up your cup, why don't you put that away, did you know you had a big stain on your shirt?' This said, by the way, after we'd been out in public for quite some time, and I could do nothing about it. 'There's a hole in your pants, I really think you should do this/that/whatever a different way, there's a car pulling out! [muffled shriek].' etc. etc.) She means well, and she's already helped a lot, putting away things and washing dishes. She'll be a big help in the long run...I just need to grow up and handle the variety of comments. (I tend to revert back to the sulky kid who doesn't like to be bossed around. Pathetic.)
     Today is Daughter #2's 27th birthday. She and The Mama are sewing up a Forties nurse's uniform for a costume party this weekend -- but with a Steampunk/Goth twist. (Think gray and black with a bright red cross.) The Mama is one of the best seamstresses I know, so Jess is getting her class from a master.
     Now, if I could only figure out how to get completely caught up on appraising stuff, PAAQT stuff...and somehow put together a nice birthday supper (with presents). Really, really fast.
     Only a few bits this week -- but they're interesting ones. I'll be back talking again shortly.


$53 million in jewels was stolen by an armed robber...at the Hotel Carlton, which was used for the backdrop for Cary Grant's inspirational To Catch A Thief. Talk about film copying reality, or vice versa.

Five things that signal you're watching a Steven Spielberg movie. And they're right on the money, too! I'd add a few more: something happens that is not quiiite normal, and kids (or people with a childlike attitude) are the ones who discover the truly wonderful things.

Some fascinating pieces from Ancestry.com:

Guess what surprise nationality Mario Lopez has?

Vanessa Williams takes a good long look at her family tree, and also finds some surprises therein.

This subject has been of great interest to me ever since the PBS special, African American Lives, hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. that traced famous people's roots. He has another series, Faces of America, that looks just as interesting. (Gates is famous for another less positive incident that led to a beer summit with President Obama...go here for that report.)

"I have always believed that what brings us together is stronger than what pulls us apart. I am confident that has happened here tonight..."
                       President Obama, after the meeting with Gates

Meanwhile:

Hopefully you're having a great week.

Shipshewana

After a night of driving, and a few hours sleep at a rest stop, I made it to Shipshewana, Indiana, a charming little town known for its Amish and Mennonite communities.
    Shipshe has an amazing flea market two days a week -- plus an antique market regularly, as well. And both just happened to occur during the PAAQT appraisers conference this week. Darn...

The only bad part is that it's been raining. A lot. We've had to duck between the raindrops crossing the street, and going on tours.

So far, we've gone on a trip to Lansing, MI, to see Michigan State's great textile collection, had classes on the Quilter's Hall of Fame, regional differences (and similarities) in Indiana quilts, and a long and varied report on Ely & Walker, whose calicoes have influenced American quilting for more than a century.
   The food's been homestyle and outstanding; mashed potatoes, crispy chicken, fresh green beans. And a piece of chocolate peanut butter pie. Oh, the torture...
 
   Oh, and I also got a ripping turn-of-the-century Crazy quilt top that incorporates some pieced blocks, sampler-style. (Thanks, Rebecca Haarer.)

We're having a great time at Shipshewana. Wish you were here, too.