to the Moon

Consummate Tourist that I am... I forced, I mean suggested to the Husband that we stop to take a few snaps of the Neil Armstrong First Flight Tribute in Warren, Ohio. It was on the way home from the Rib Burn Off. The World's Largest Ball of Twine it is not - but it was next to a McDonald's and we'd not yet had breakfast so... While the Husband munched on his Sausage McMuffin and Hash Brown, I took a quick visit to the surface of the moon. Actual life-like moon boot prints folks! A totally sweet small scale lunar module! Awesome! But the numerous signs indicated I should not climb aboard. Still, a very cool stop for the moon shot aficionado if you're in town! (The website they had posted sadly is a dead link. Just in case it wakes back up - here you go! www. firstflightlm .com)

A nice shout out for a local boy done good.

I wanted to stop at the Cannibis Society storefront as well... but the Husband drew the line. No fun at all I tell ya!

So where have you been traveling? Seen any good sites?

Rib Burn Off

So after it quit pouring down rain long enough to load up the car Saturday night, we took a lovely drive down through Trumbull County to the Mahoning Valley Rib Burn Off in Niles, Ohio. Lots of tasty food and interesting people watching. And I do mean it was interesting. That's all I'm saying. After this beautiful sunset...

We were treated to the awesome music of Blue Öyster Cult - the true purpose for the excursion!

The whole band above, and Eric Bloom with Rudy Zarzo below. Buck Dharma seems to have avoided my close-up shots... but he sure can play guitar! I'm quite amazed any of these came out since I basically just stuck the camera up and clicked.

Listen closely... Can you hear them? Godzilla... (Don't Fear) The Reaper... Burnin' For You... We were also treated to a rarity: Then Came The Last Days of May. The Husband was very pleased. Strangely, no E.T.I. though...

Okay - my real reason for going was the funnel cakes. After a few yummy bites I handed mine to the husband and it was never seen again. MEN! But then again, he did use his manly skills to win me this awesome lion at the water gun race on the midway, so I forgave him... By the way - the lion told me his name is Leo. Leo Tolstoy to be exact. Welcome to the crazy family Leo.

...all in all a pretty good night!

Got a bead on it now...

So I've been busy with my beading tools! A few more projects under my belt. I entered them to the Show and Tell contest over at Embellish and actually won a $10.00 gift certificate for originality! Check them out! This is probably the one that started it all, at least in my head! I bought these cloisonne beads over a year ago... I had to have the owls, and then of course I needed the other shapes to go with them! Where would we be without the ability to purchase such things any time of the day or night? Thank you eBay! Bought some bulk bags with lots of colors, but I decided to go with the green for this project.

I saw these millefiori beads and of course had to have them too! What is a girl to do when faced with 40% off all beads and 30% off all findings? JoAnn may be worse for an addiction than the corner bar let me tell you...

Soon I will find a project worthy of these nifty vintage beads - another eBay find... It's not wrong to pillage these poor earrings to make something new is it?

Such possibility!

Holy Hail Balls Batman!

Ah yes...

A sure sign that Summer has arrived in the Midwest! With the anvil shaped cumulo-nimbus cloud often comes thunder, lighting, and our (not so much) friend: hail!

No tornadoes today thankfully... If my sister Deb was here, I do believe we would have scooped them up, added some flavor, and turned them into a tasty frozen treat. Instead we went to DQ in between downpours.

Hope the weather is safe where you are!

Freakies Baby!

So we were having a conversation today at work (no really - we were working too). We had all received one of those email quizzes asking you trivia questions like: "What tag line follows 'Brill Cream...' "? Answer of course is "...a little dab 'll do you!" or maybe you are more familiar with "Which Pro Football Player wore women's pantyhose for a commercial?" and of course we know it's Broadway Joe Namath right!? "Who played Peter Pan before Robin Williams?" Correctly displayed answer was "Mary Martin", but I maintain that TECHNICALLY right before Robin, at least in terms of popular culture, was Sandy Duncan. (Sometimes people don't understand my need to share this type of correction! hmpf!) Over all I got 19 out of 20 correct (My apologies to Chet Huntley and David Brinkley for not recognising their sign off... Apparently we were Edward R Murrow fans.)

Well one of the questions was "Complete the following... I wonder, wonder, wonder..." and I jokingly said "Who grew the Freakies Tree!?" Now I must say I knew they were going for "Who wrote the book of love?" but was otherwise inspired to give the answer I did because I am just that kind of a fun gal!

Mostly folks seem to think I'm a bit nutty though when I come up with zingers like that. Especially Liz. She also thinks I'm spoiled, but that is a post for another day.

For all Freakies Fans everywhere - you know who you are! This one's for you! Thanks so much to the faithful fan who posted it to YouTube. Ah yes! The joyous memories of Childhood! (The Book 0f Love section comes in at just after 3 minutes...)

Enjoy!

Feel free to comment if you too remember this fine Breakfast Cereal. I was also a MAJOR fan of King Vitamin. Although I'll admit I did spend an inordinate amount of time selecting cereal based on the toy inside as well. A fine young consumer in the making. Trained me for studying on those nutrition panels later in life!

For a Blue Lady

I want some red roses for a blue lady

Mister florist take my order please!

Send them to the sweetest gal in town

I hope these pretty flowers chase her blues away...

Remember that little ditty from Vaughn Monroe in 1949? Sort of? How about Vic Dana in 1965? Still too early for you? Wayne Newton? It must have been playing on the radio at our house (in between the Black Sabbath and Judas Priest - not likely!) My dear, sweet husband decided that I was in funk that would only be cured by receiving roses and chocolates. Even sent more colors than just red to be certain it would work. He is a very, very good man.

Here they are so that we can all enjoy them!

I'm diligently saving the chocolates for special treats... Thanks Honey!

Good Fortune

The Universe is apparently uninterested in assisting me with my procrastination problem - although does appear to be encouraging my artistic side...

Interesting.

It's just not Sunday without you...

By now everyone has heard the news. Please visit the link for more information from MSNBC and further credits for the photos below. It is just not Sunday morning today. I like to pretend I'm informed about the world and it's events. Without NPR and Meet The Press, I would be completely ignorant. Thank you to Tim for asking the questions I wanted answered.

My condolences go out to his family - It was much too soon. His love for the news and the Bills was only surpassed by his love for you it seems.

Tim - with you up there, there will be no choice but for the Bills to win it all this year... and that's okay. Once.

Blessings to all on this Father's Day.

L is for Limbo

You didn't think it stood for LOSER did you?

Check out the definition below pulled from the Merriam Webster's Online Dictionary- pay particular attention to the "b" entry:

Main Entry: 1lim·bo

Pronunciation: \'lim-(,)bō\

Function: noun

Inflected Form(s): plural limbos

Etymology: Middle English, from Medieval Latin, abl. of limbus limbo, from Latin, border

Date: 14th century

a: a place or state of restraint or confinement

b: a place or state of neglect or oblivion

c: an intermediate or transitional place or state

d: a state of uncertainty

I think that pretty much sums things up for me and my little blog here don't you!

I have never been one to keep a journal or diary. I really like the idea of a blog though. More pictures - less words! I absolutely love to read the blogs of others. I only have 162 in my GoogleReader at last count! I thought if I got into the rhythm of blogging (almost) daily during lent that it would be a cinch to keep it up.

Not so much I guess.

I would get those lovely, girly, pink books with the secure lock and key (that NO ONE could get past I'm certain!) in my youth and just never write in them... I'm not sure which excuse I preferred: "What if I make a mistake and have to scribble out?" (the horror!), "I don't like my handwriting", " What if I say something silly?", "What if there isn't enough space", "What if I miss a day?", "What if my MOM finds it?" (actually a really good reason back then!), "What if it is not PERFECT?"

Probably the last one is the closest to the heart of it. What if it's wrong, boring, stupid, spelled incorrectly, poor grammar....What if no one wants to read it? What if no one gets me?

So I'm trying again.

Using artistic license I have back filled some of my thoughts and images captured over the last two months (the last official post was March 31st). You can read them if you want to - I don't mind. I suggest pinging through the archive on the side bar if you're interested...

Then I plan to move forward and complete some future posts. On my own schedule. If I want to. Because I'm Good Enough, I'm Smart Enough, and Doggone It, People Like Me! (Thank you Stuart Smalley - I'll say it every day!)

So watch out for Flashback Friday where I plan to start sharing some of my scrapbook pages, and also for Wavelength Wednesday set aside for some image color studies... you could even play too if you want!

...and remember "L" is not always for Loser or even Limbo. Sometimes it is for LAUGHTER, LOVE, and LIFE too!

For My Dad

Inherited traits, pearls of wisdom, and a few undisputable truths acquired through observation of my father:

* "Measure twice, cut once" (aka there are a rule and a level in your tool box for a good reason)

* All the words to The Battle of New Orleans: Sing it with me now! "In 1814 we took a little trip..."

* Sometimes you've just got to take an old, cold 'tater and wait

* That weird thing where you stick your tongue in the corner of your mouth and wiggle it while concentrating hard

* Some people are just idiots

* How to fish

* Hard work always pays off, just not the way you might expect

* Racing skills like going fast and keeping close

* Green Bay Packers RULE!

* Be sure you can trust the guy watching your candy when your eyes are closed

Happy Birthday Dad!