In my weaker moments…sometimes, not often…but there are times…when I think that Dean Martin is actually just as good Frank Sinatra. But that can’t be, because Frank Sinatra was the Greatest Entertainer of the 20th Century. But Dino…well, it’s hard to call him “second best.” Surely Frank is First Among Equals. But like I said…sometimes my brain seems to recognize that Dean…nah, that’s crazy talk, isn’t it?

dean martin family frank sinatra Musically Personally

Everybody, it’s time to wish Jen a very happy 18th birthday! Although her blog is still not quite ready for prime-time, leave a comment here for her and wish her a happy b-day!

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So I was at a local store last week, and I happened to walk by the aisle that contained silverware sets. “Hm…we are getting a bit low on forks…and where on earth do all of those spoons disappear too, anyway…? Maybe it’s about time to buy some new stuff…gosh, when is the last time we actually bought silverware?” I thought, thought harder, and just couldn’t remember how long it had been since we bought new forks, spoons, and knives. So what the heck…I splurged on a $33 set, serving for eight. Nifty, eh? So when I got home that evening, I placed the box triumphantly on the counter, ready for the Missus to be pleasantly surprised.
About 15 minutes later, she walked in, carrying - you guessed it - a brand-new set of silverware. She had stopped at a store on the way home from work to buy new pants, but finding none suitable, she chanced upon the silverware aisle, and her thought process echoed mine. Amazing. No communication, no discussion, just a happy little coincidence. Cool, eh?

Consumer family marriage Personally silverware

Here is a link to the Sharp County Master Gardeners blog!

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“The fact remains, however, that there are reasons why I might pull the plug on blogging…”

And then one day she did. Hang in there, Margi…and come on back to us whenever you can.

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What if…I decided to get a tattoo? Here are some possibilities: an outline of the state of Montana; the words “Great Falls”; something from a Tarantino movie (but what?); or…? I’m not saying that I definitely will get one, but all this discussion lately about the hows and whys of people getting tattoos has really got me thinking…

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Oh, wait…sorry, wrong word. The word I was actually looking for is “johari,” which I vaguely remember from some long-ago undergrad class. The point is, some dude named Johari created a little box with four smaller boxes, and one of the four smaller boxes is where I tell you what words that I think describe myself. One of the other smaller boxes is where YOU get to tell me what words describe me. I’m a bit fuzzy on the other two boxes, but I’m sure they’re important too. You know that old saying: “…but enough about me, let’s talk about YOU! What do YOU think about me?” Yeah, kinda like that. Hey, the blogosphere is nothing if not self-loving.
(first seen at The Duck’s)

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Found an interesting discussion about tattoos over at Objectivism Online. I have always been somewhat repulsed by tattoos — they baffle me…it is so hard to understand why someone would choose to permanently “brand” himself. But the last couple of years, I have tried to understand WHY I feel this way, and have come up with a few thoughts: first, the design of the vast majority of tattoos are just hideous. Can we just all agree that the ‘mystical’ symbols (Japanese? Chinese? whatever…) are pretty stupid and mean probably absolutely nothing to anyone, and are, quite frankly, ugly? And the standard-issue rose on the ankle, or butterfly on the back, etc, are so completely overdone as to be laughable. And did you ever wonder why the term “tramp stamp” was created?

But. A friend that I greatly respect revealed several months into our friendship that she had a tattoo. I was shocked; she seemed so conservative, so “normal,” that it never occurred to me. Then she explained: she had a small tattooed heart right in the center of her chest, to symbolize her love for her brother who had passed away at a very early age. Now THAT struck me as a very reasonable explanation for having a tattoo. So lately I have become somewhat less judgmental about tattoos, and continue to weigh the reasons and explanations.

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The lovely Viking Zen posted a lengthy (but fun!) movie-meme, and I’m gonna play along. You should, too… (more…)

family meme movies Personally

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CARLA!
(note to Greg: be super-nice to her today and buy her some flowers and stuff)

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Decar, our older cat, suffered a bout of “idiopathic vestibular” syndrome a few weeks ago; it made her pretty dizzy, and her back legs (especially the left one) became very weak. She spent a few nights at the hospital, and came home with some meds, and slowly got a little better each day. She half-walked, half-pulled herself up & down the stairs, even navigating around a barrier we erected to keep her from the stairs! Nothing would stop her - she even managed to leap onto the couch (her favorite spot to sleep in during the day), and when trying to jump down, she did a flip that would have made Mary Lou Retton proud. That is one strong kitty! And so this week, with both of her back legs functioning somewhat better, we figured that she was going to be OK.
But this morning, our daughter noticed that one of Decar’s beautiful blue eyes had turned brown. Beige-sandy-brown. Her right eye. So back to the vet, who declared after a brief exam that she had a detached retina. Whoa. Never occurred to me that a cat could have a detached retina, but I suppose any creature with eyes is susceptible. The kindly vet then drew some blood to check on her thyroid function and determine if diabetes is the cause (results tomorrow). The bottom line: she can’t see out of her right eye - at least for now. So she’s still pretty wobbly, but she’s getting around OK and eating & drinking. Here are two pix from her adventure today: one picture of her beautiful eyes, and the second picture occurred as she snuck off of the exam table and found a corner behind the sink to catch a quick cat-nap. She was pretty tired and confused; when I get that way, a nap is first on my mind, too!

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NOTE: her name is Decar and it is pronounced “Decker” — we found her on our back deck back in 1999, and our daughter (then 7 yrs old) named her and spelled it D E C A R. We certainly couldn’t argue with that!

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Haven’t participated in a “Day Of The Week” meme in quite a while, but Leesa offered up a pretty tasty one, so let’s do it:

Appetizer: About how many times per day do you check your email? My personal e-mail, probably between three and ten times each day, depending on the day and the amount of traffic/comments on my sites. My work e-mail is always open when I’m at my desk, and about 50% of my work is done via e-mail, so it’s a non-stop thing when I’m at the office.

Soup: If you had the money to collect something really valuable, what would it be? Ummm…money? Heh. Actually, if I decided to collect something, it would probably be miniature things, like Cow Parade figures and such.

Salad: Write a sentence using the letters of your favorite beverage. Consider Ostrich Farming, For Enjoyable Entertainment

Main Course: If you could be on a game show, which one would you want it to be? There is only one: Jeopardy! OK, one other possibility: Match Game, if I could go back in time to 1975.

Dessert: Name 3 computer programs or web sites you would hate to be without. Good grief, how to narrow it down? Um…can I cheat and just say BlogLines, which includes feeds from all of my regularly-visited sites?

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