dual personalities

Category: Weekend

October 29, 2018

Postcards from the weekend

by chuckofish

What a joy to have two daughters home for the weekend! The sun shone all weekend. We did all the things.

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Margaritas at Amigos

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Muny Mochas at Ted Drewes

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Wee babes getting ready for Boo at the Zoo

IMG_1466.jpegIMG_1464.jpegSo much fun AND we even went to church! My BFF Carla gave the Stewardship talk and it was an amazing testimony about church community. I was reminded that no matter how irritated I may become with my denomination, it is important to have a church home.

Screen Shot 2018-10-29 at 6.50.08 AM.pngI am taking daughter #2 to the airport this morning and then it’s back to the salt mine and my usual routine. Have a good week!

5 Comments
October 22, 2018

“Let us with a gladsome mind, praise the Lord, for he is kind”*

by chuckofish

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The weekend turned out to be busier than anticipated, mainly  because the weather was so beautiful.

After my estate sale adventures proved uninspiring, I convinced the OM to take an autumnal drive to Washington, MO in Franklin County (about an hour’s drive)…

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Despite a wrong turn and an unnecessary 20-minute detour, we found our destination and enjoyed a yummy lunch which was definitely a step above our usual weekend Steak ‘N Shake indulgence. I will note that the OM appears to have forgotten all his Boy Scout orienteering skills in his embrace of and subsequent dependence on Google Maps and his iPhone. Then again, it must be admitted that we were looking for The Blue Duck restaurant as opposed to The Green Duck. (Blue Duck, you will recall, was a bad guy in Lonesome Dove.) Zut alors! Life is so complicated.

On Sunday I went to church and read an odd lesson from Hebrews wherein I had to say Melchizedek twice. Later that afternoon I had to go to a work event (the 2nd annual “Hootenanny”) held at the Ethical Society…

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The Sunday School room wall at the Ethical Society–God love ’em

…where old hippies sang protest songs and promised to Resist Authority.

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This is my life

Of course, seniors singing protest songs is akin to Episcopalians singing gospel music…so I was not uncomfortable. When I got home it was nearly time for the wee babes to come over for Sunday tacos with their parents and I barely had time to vacuum up the crumbs from their last visit.

IMG_1061.jpegIMG_1062.jpegSo you can see that my weekend went by in a flash. I did manage to watch Signs (1999) as well as a “quirky” English spy thriller, Q Planes (1939) which starred Laurence Olivier, Valerie Hobson and Ralph Richardson (always a favorite of mine.)

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It is definitely worth watching.

I am presently working my way through season 2 of Miami Vice, which in retrospect, is decidedly not the great show we thought it was back in the 1980s. (Except episode three–“Out Where t he Buses Don’t Run”–which is great.) Now I watch it mainly to see this guy…

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…and remember/chuckle at the 80s fashions…Screen Shot 2018-10-21 at 12.52.15 PM.png

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

La di da, la d i da.

Have a good week!

*Hymn #389, John Milton

8 Comments
October 19, 2018

“My, my, hey hey”*

by chuckofish

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I got flowers delivered at work yesterday for my anniversary. How nice–and just the right size to be enjoyed on my desk.

Meanwhile it is finally fall here in flyover country. Screen Shot 2018-10-18 at 9.09.18 AM.pngWe are far from peak in the fall color scheme of things, but why rush it? Screen Shot 2018-10-18 at 10.37.57 AM.pngScreen Shot 2018-10-18 at 10.39.42 AM.png

Screen Shot 2018-10-18 at 11.33.12 AM.pngI am looking forward to a lovely fall weekend, how about you?

I plan to dig into this old chestnut…

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…and reading some newer books…IMG_3507.JPG

Miss Lottie got tubes in her ears yesterday. Hopefully we’ll get to see our brave girl on Sunday!

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And since Halloween is approaching, it might be time for an M. Night Shyamalan movie fest–at least a few of the good ones!

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Signs (2002)

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The Sixth Sense (1999)

Have a good weekend!

*Neil Young

5 Comments
October 15, 2018

“How doth the little busy bee Improve each shining hour”*

by chuckofish

How was your weekend? Mine was nice and mellow. I watched two really good movies, went to a good estate sale, and my special program at the County Library was not bad. I find that the St. Louis Genealogical Society does not offer much to me personally as the members are mostly interested in researching their German and Irish ancestors. I really need to belong to the Kansas City Genealogical Society (if there is one) as that is where my ancestors made their mark. I learned some new things, however, and it was not a waste of time.

On Friday I moved all the plants in the Florida room into the dining room, because the outside temperature had plummeted. On Saturday I moved the plants to all corners of the house. Some of them have gotten to be pretty big, so it is not so easy to find space for them. Also they have to be placed where they are not overly accessible to the wee babes.

I found a couple of treasures at the one estate sale I went to.

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Very large, like-new chinoiserie pillow–great fabric!

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Needlepoint rescue/antique chair for $18

I convinced the OM to take me to lunch at the Sappington House, a nearby historic site, which I have never visited.

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Only the restaurant in the barn is open on the weekend, so I will have to visit the house, built around 1816, on a weekday.IMG_3495.JPG

The food was very good and I will definitely return.

We watched two good movies: The Chalk Garden (1964) starring Deborah Kerr, Hayley Mills, John Mills, and Edith Evans.

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[Once again the poster is way off.]

Based on the play by Enid Bagnold, this  movie was always a favorite of mine, but I had been unable to find it for years and years. When I saw the DVD on the TCM.com site, I bought it. I was not disappointed.

The second movie we watched was To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), which daughter #1  had watched earlier in the week, prompting me to consider it.

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Truly, you have to be in the right mood to watch this great, great movie and I was in the mood on Saturday night. It is definitely a top-ten movie. Everyone is perfect and the music is just the best. Gregory Peck was never better. He deserved every award he received that year.

And those kids…wow.

Screen Shot 2018-10-14 at 3.02.23 PM.pngThe wee babes finally were able to come over for Sunday night tacos. They were in fine fettle. They have come a long way in three weeks! Lottie can count to 10! The wee laddie weighs almost 19 lbs! His favorite word is “Go!”

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Lottie and her friends Annie and Andy.

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Oops!

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Have a good week! Eat your veggies!

*Isaac Watts

8 Comments
October 12, 2018

“Je maintiendra.”*

by chuckofish

Friday has arrived and Fall too, it would seem. The temperatures dropped yesterday and I must say I am enjoying the cooler temps and all that goes with that.

Talk about God rays…Is this photo cool or what?

Screen Shot 2018-10-11 at 11.41.58 AM.pngWell, I have no Big Plans for the weekend. I am hoping to go to a program co-sponsored by the Missouri Historical Society Library and Research Center and the St. Louis Genealogical Society. Who knows? I may learn something.

Screen Shot 2018-10-11 at 9.17.23 AM.pngI will catch up on puttering and house projects and reading.

Meanwhile the wee babes have been enjoying their little Lutheran pre-school/daycare…RenderedImage.jpeg

Screen Shot 2018-10-11 at 3.17.38 PM.png…but they have caught every bug out there, and are frequently home with a temperature.Screen Shot 2018-10-11 at 8.52.08 AM.pngSo we have not seen them in two weeks! Our regular Sunday night dinners are regular no more. C’est la vie. Here’s hoping (🙏) we see them this weekend!

The OM and I watched a good movie the other night which I recommend to you as my weekend movie pick.

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As usual, this poster in no way represents the tone of the actual movie or, indeed, what it is actually about.

One of Our Aircraft Is Missing! (1942) is an early film from “The Archers,” the terrific team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, who wrote, directed, and produced the film.

Screen Shot 2018-10-11 at 10.07.24 AMMade during the war, it is an exciting tale of six downed British airmen in German-occupied Holland, who are all very different, but all determined to get back to England and fight again. They are aided in their escape by stalwart Netherlanders, including some bright children and very brave women. [Sidebar: I couldn’t help wondering how the brash young women of today would fare against real Nazis.]

The filmmakers knew how to make all the characters distinguishable and real with just a few lines of dialogue. I was impressed.

Do check it out. It is available on Amazon Prime. Have a great weekend!

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7 Comments
October 8, 2018

“What are human beings that you are mindful of them?”*

by chuckofish

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A busy weekend precluded doing much of a blogpost today. We did get pumpkins at the Methodist pumpkin patch though.

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Score.

And at church, our rector, who is actually in the process of getting a divorce, had to preach on the day’s gospel lesson, Mark 10:2-16:

Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate…

He met the challenge head on though and owned it. It made me think of Martin Luther saying, sin bravely, meaning, do the best you can.

Same goes for all of us.

*Psalm 8:4/Hebrews 2:6

2 Comments
October 5, 2018

“I’m going out to get some popcorn and pink lemonade.”*

by chuckofish

Yesterday I started off the day with a two-hour torture session at the dentist. I know there are worse things, but as I lay there defenseless, I kept thinking of Dustin Hoffman being harassed by Laurence Olivier

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in Marathon Man (1976) and Steve Martin working on Bill Murray in Little Shop of Horrors (1986).

Ye gods. My dentist is very sweet and ladylike and a perfectionist, but, still, fear and loathing of the dentist must be a universal thing.

Well, thank goodness it is Friday!

I don’t have any big plans for the weekend. Daughter #1 is coming home as she has a three-day weekend. I do not, but c’est la vie.

Tonight I plan to watch some feel-good movie that will de-stress me. What do you think?

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1964

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1963

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1959

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1937

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1963

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2006

You can see the direction I’m taking…any suggestions?

*Jerry Warriner in “The Awful Truth”

 

 

4 Comments
October 1, 2018

Release one leaf at break of day*

by chuckofish

I watched 21 Jump Street over the weekend, and, as usual, I laughed.

You know that I detest vulgarity, but there is something about this particular avalanche of vulgarity that always cheers me up. I couldn’t say why exactly. It must be Channing Tatum in AP Chemistry.

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I also got to see the wee babes when I went to cheer on the boy at the Pedal the Cause bicycle race on Sunday.

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They enjoyed running around on a hot morning waiting for him to cross the finish line.

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And they were proud of him when he did! I was too!

I had a good weekend puttering around. I also read quite a bit of Alistair McCall Smith’s 18th book in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, The House of Unexpected Sisters. This suited me just fine. Precious Romotswe and I have always been on the same page.

Mma Romotswe was usually very even-tempered. She rarely allowed matters to rile her, and only very occasionally expressed a strong opinion. She could see the world as others saw it–she understood if people took a different view of things–but there were limits, and Mma Potokwane had just described one of them. “These people,” she said, with a note of irritation creeping into her voice, “what are they thinking of? They spend all their time criticizing the good things we have–the old Botswana morality, for example…but what do they say should be put in their place? They have nothing to offer, Mma. They say that life will be better if we get rid of our traditions, but what if we did that, all that would come would be selfishness, Mma. It would be every person for himself, or herself. People would forget about other people because there would be nothing to bind them together; none of the memories, songs, greetings, or customs that make people into a nation. We would have plenty of shiny cars, Mma–plenty of Mercedes-Benzes–but inside we would be as empty as an ant-hill…

And now it is October!

*Robert Frost, from “October’

5 Comments
September 24, 2018

Listen to your life

by chuckofish

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Well, we had a joyful weekend, how about you? We celebrated daughter #1’s belated birthday as planned.

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References to donuts abounded.

We also went to a couple of estate sales, but were unsuccessful. We returned something at J. Crew and resisted buying these gold leggings for Miss Lottie.

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Daughter #1 hung a picture up for me.

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Try as I may, I have never been able to drive a nail into a wall. Luckily my children are all handier than I am.

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The weather was glorious all weekend, so we opted to take a walk through the nearby Powder Valley conservation area instead of going to church.IMG_4291.JPGIMG_4293.JPG

After daughter # 1 headed back to mid-MO, I gabbed on the phone with daughter #2 and caught up on my household chores and the OM gassed up my car. An excellent weekend, don’t you agree?

Now we are off to the races at work–a very busy week ahead. We’ll take it one day at a time.

“Listen to your life. Listen to what happens to you because it is through what happens to you that God speaks… It’s in language that’s not always easy to decipher, but it’s there, powerfully, memorably, unforgettably.”

–Frederick Buechner

4 Comments
September 21, 2018

Tout va bien

by chuckofish

Oh, what a week! And, yay, Friday!

I am happy that daughter #1 is coming home this weekend to celebrate her belated birthday.  Celebrations are important. Life is too short not to recognize milestones–no matter how minimal–with presents and good food and drink and dance parties. I highly recommend doing so whenever.

If you don’t have a birthday or a PhD oral defense to celebrate, there are plenty of other things  about which to party today.

For instance, today is the 81st anniversary of the publication of The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien.

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Today is the 37th anniversary of the day Sandra Day O’Connor was unanimously approved by the U.S. Senate as the first female Supreme Court justice. Unanimously!

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Bill Murray turns 68 today.

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So whatever you’ve got going on (or not) have fun this weekend. Seize the day.

As for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it…

–2 Timothy 3:14

4 Comments