dual personalities

Month: October, 2012

October 9, 2012

This and that

by chuckofish

On Sunday morning I was the second lector in church and read the second lesson which was from Hebrews and included the following:

But someone has testified somewhere,
“What are human beings that you are mindful of them,
or mortals, that you care for them?
You have made them for a little while lower than the angels;
you have crowned them with glory and honor,
subjecting all things under their feet.”

I love the vague attribution by the writer. The quote is, by the way, from Psalm 8. You may remember the less politically correct and gender-neutral version:

What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.

6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet…

King James Version (KJV)

And while we’re on the subject of humans being crowned with glory and honor, let’s give a big shout out to Mike Matheny, the new skipper of the St. Louis Cardinals.

You’re doing a great job, Mike. And you’re cute. But I’ve always been partial to catchers.

On a side note, the rhododendron bush in our yard has thrown out a few flowers. It normally blooms in early April. What a crazy year!

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October 8, 2012

Embarrassing picture Moday

by chuckofish

Well, it’s that time of year again when the old Halloween pictures come out, much to the chagrin of some people. Here is a picture of daughter #1 (age 5) and the boy (not quite 3) in 1989. Daughter #1 is (yet again) a witch, wearing the costume my mother made for her a few years earlier. The boy is (of course) a super hero. He is happily wearing his sister’s leotard and tights and her old white snow boots, which he loved and wore frequently–and why not? They were the next best thing to cowboy boots. He is also wearing the Batman kerchief (as a cape) that he wore every day to school that year. Yes, the boy always displayed a unique personal style.

P.S. I also want to let you faithful readers know that the concert I went to on Friday night was possibly the best ever.

I have seen Dylan, Springsteen, Sting, Haggard, Knopfler, Lyle Lovett (several times), and Guster (to name a few), but Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives were awesome. It didn’t hurt that I was sitting in the fourth row of a smaller venue. But it was wonderful. Great musicians all, they were in fine voice and having fun. Priceless.

And earlier that evening the Cardinals beat the Braves!

10 Comments
October 6, 2012

Historic House of the Week

by chuckofish

Since I can’t go to Saturday morning estate sales with my dual personality, I have to comfort myself by visiting one of my favorite web sites, Historic Properties where I peruse the many wonderful old houses for sale. This week I was in the mood for a nice Midwestern brick Italianate and quickly found one in Champaign Illinois.

all photos from Historic Properties website

The house was built in 1867 and remodeled in the 1950s. It does need some work

but you can buy it for a mere $250,000. In the dining room there are nice built-in cupboards, although the pink walls would have to go.

Some unspecified room (judging from the pink walls, perhaps the dining room) has a cool marble fireplace,

and the staircase looks solid:

I like this house. It’s spacious without feeling like a hotel; it has excellent architectural details without being ornate and it’s not oppressively gloomy. With a little fixing up it could be a great family home. I just hope someone out there wants to live in an old brick Italianate in Champaign Illinois — it would be a shame to let the house deteriorate further. What do you think? Would you live in a house like this?

2 Comments
October 5, 2012

It’s Fat Baby Friday!

by chuckofish

This photo of my eldest son, James (not Jim) was taken last week over twenty years ago and for obvious reasons has been a family favorite (perversely, we enjoy getting laughs at Dad’s expense). Although never really a fat baby, James could sure pack a punch.

Enjoy your weekend, but beware of deceptively cute babies and their squeaky toys — they’re both more powerful than they look.

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October 4, 2012

Fabulous Superlatives

by chuckofish

My ship has come in. An email from a co-worker came around asking if anyone wanted 4 free tickets to see Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives on Friday night. I jumped. No one else probably knew who Marty is.

BUT YAHOO.

He’s been touring since he was twelve years old, and I’ve been a fan almost that long. For awhile Johnny Cash was his father-in-law. How cool is that?

Besides being a country music star and famous musician, Marty is a renowned collector of artifacts that represent the history and cultural heritage of country music. As such, he donated a treasure trove to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville. “The costumes, the guitars, the set lists, the manuscripts that the Country Music Hall of Fame couldn’t get to out in the hinterlands, I simply bought and stored,” he said. “I still see it as American culture-and our culture, as country musicians.” A collector and a generous one. My hero.

Rock on, brother! I can’t wait to see you on Friday.

Here’s Marty on David Letterman’s show…Watch the whole thing and notice who the drummer is–Harry Stinson!

9 Comments
October 3, 2012

It’s the Great Pumpkin, right?

by chuckofish

Despite the fact that I visited Eckert’s Farm on Saturday where there was a cornucopia of fresh produce for sale, including pumpkins, on Sunday afternoon I ventured to our neighborhood “pumpkin patch” at the Methodist Church.

This is where I always buy my pumpkins, because, well, I like to support the Methodists. This year they had a huge supply of orange beauties which were surprisingly reasonably priced.

I only bought one (not three as I used to), but I picked a doozy.

“I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion.”
–Henry David Thoreau

(This pumpkin would not really be good for sitting on, but Thoreau’s point is well taken.)

P.S. The Cardinals clinched the wildcard spot! Hello, post-season!

7 Comments
October 2, 2012

Just stop all that

by chuckofish

Despite the spelling mistake and questionable grammar, I think Joyce Meyer is right on, don’t you?

So here is the thought for today: Embrace the life you have!

4 Comments
October 1, 2012

A weekend adventure

by chuckofish

On Saturday three friends and I took a little road trip and crossed the Mighty Mississip into the Land of Lincoln and went to an art fair.

There were some very interesting booths–even a “mobile” vintage store. Quelle great idea, right?

There was everything from handmade baby shoes (cute!)

to holiday yard decorations made out of re-purposed pan lids. Even though I try to be green whenever possible, I passed these up. Great idea for you DIY-ers out there though!

It was a beautiful day for strolling around

and there were lots of exotic food choices. I chose the vegen rice bowl–yummy!

I collected lots of business cards from different artists, most of whom have Etsy shops to check out (at my leisure) later. Isn’t the variety of cool cards amazing?

Carla, our driver, had the super idea of going down the road to Eckert’s Farm in Belleville, home of pick-your-own apples. Becky, armed with her smart phone, navigated. Clearly lots of people had the same idea as there were hundreds of cars there on this beautiful Saturday and men directing traffic, but we got the Bomb Spot right by the door!

We did not pick apples, but we went to their huge country store and garden center. There were pumpkins galore

and apples by the bushel

and gooey butter cake!

I can’t believe I have lived (almost) my whole life here and never made it to Eckert’s before this Saturday. It’s always fun to do something new! What did you do this weekend?

8 Comments