May they ride forever

I watched Gunsmoke this evening and the episode featured Festus Hagen, the big-hearted, somewhat scruffy, illiterate deputy. I Googled his name (Ken Curtis) to find a picture of him without his Gunsmoke getup. I found out things about him I never knew.

I've seem him in many westerns and never recognized him. He looks much different without the scraggly beard and half squint.

He started out as a singer. A good singer. I don't think I ever heard him sing on Gunsmoke, but he sang with the Dorsey band and was a singing cowboy in movies and sang with the Sons of the Pioneers. For you young kids that don't know good music when you hear it, thems impressive credentials.

While I was searching, I found a site for Bob Nolan. According to this site, Bob Nolan created "Western" music. He wrote Tumbling Tumbleweeds, a classic. He also wrote Cool Waters, a haunting story about a mirage and a desert and a yearning deep in the soul. It's still being recorded today and you can hear dozens of recordings here from recording artists. To name just a few - Gene Autry, Burl Ives, Roy Rogers, Randy Travis, Willie Nelson, Joni Mitchell, Fleetwood Mac, Patti LaBelle, Bob Dylan, The Foggy River Boys, Red River Dave and Sula's Texas Ranger. And don't miss Walter Brennan's rendition. (You can skip Bob Dylan and Patti LaBelle though. They were never meant to sing cowboy songs. Even Tom Jones did a better job.)

It's me again

While searching through a box of important papers today, I found my old pocket harmonica and the diskette that contains the lessons that were supposed to teach me to play. I don't know where the book went, but I'm sure it's around here somewhere.

I don't remember ever listening to the diskette which may explain why I still can't play a harmonica. That and I can't carry a tune in a laundry basket.

I can't imagine why I thought an unplayed harmonica was important enough to put in a metal box with my birth certificate, original social security card, and Grandma's watch.

I guess I put it there for safekeeping though I can't remember why it needed to be kept safe. Maybe I should leave it to someone in my will.

And to my favorite relative, I bequeath my beloved pocket harmonica. Keep it safe and it will serve you as well as it did me.

Past my bedtime

I watched the show last night about the old farts mentioned in the previous posting. It was an episode I had never seen before and I thought I had seen them all.

It was a good episode. Brian "Memory" Lane was under treatment for alcoholism in a rehab facility and thought he'd uncovered an old unsolved murder. To make sure Brian continued his treatment and didn't begin sleuthing, Jerry entered the facility as a sex addict. That left Sandra and Jack on the outside to interview the witnesses (i.e., suspects). Not to mention Brian's long-suffering wife, Ester, who joined in the investigation by stealing a book from Brian.

I fell asleep about 10 minutes before the end and missed the unveiling of the murdering culprit.

So who's the old fart now?

Same old stuff

Guess what? It snowed today and it's going to snow tomorrow and maybe the day after that. Then it's going to get cold. Sorry. That's all I have to talk about. I think my brain is frozen.

There's nothing to do but sit around and watch TV. I can't even get to the store to buy some books.

There's a new TV show on called Undercover Boss. I heard them advertising it last week and thought it was called Undecover Blond. Compared to some other "reality" shows go, that might not too bad.

Ellen is going a great job on American Idol. She's not as sweet as one might think.

I've been watching old detective shows from the 50's and 60's since Christmas when I got 150 shows on DVD. If I don't stop watching them, I'm going to take up smoking. About 90% of the detectives and cops on TV in the 50's and 60's smoked cigarettes. All the time.

I saw Mary Tyler Moore on one of the shows today. She was a suspect. But innocent of course.

I made berry cobbler for supper tonight. It's not supper time but I ate it anyway.

I haven't watched much of the Olympics this year. There's so much snow outside, I don't want to see any more. Ever again.

One of my favorite shows is on tonight. New Tricks. It's about retired detectives re-hired by the police department to solve cold cases. I like watching old farts close to my age do something besides sit in a rocker and drool.

Not that I'm not looking forwarded to that myself in a few years.

Happy, Happy,

Happy Valentine's Day!


May your heart's true desire come true.

Wake me when it's over

I mean winter, of course. This winter started late, sometime in the middle of December, but started with a Look At Me assault of frigid air and arrogance and it hasn't taken a rest since then. This has been a long-johns type of winter all winter long.

I'm tired of cold and snow and ice. This afternoon I ventured outside for the first time in 4 days. "This isn't so bad", I thought to myself on the way to the trash receptacle. "The sun is shining. It's almost warm out here." On the way back, I thought to myself, "HOLY CRAP! That wind is cold." I still have a headache from it even though I wore my old lady scarf over my head and face.

I shouldn't complain about the amount of snow we have though I know it will take a month to melt between me and my car. We got a few inches Tuesday and were expecting 2 - 3 inches more that night when I got an email from my aunt who said her granddaughter in the east had over 2 foot of snow and her grandson to the west was expecting 2 - 3 feet of snow. Really, when you think about it 2 - 3 inches isn't all that bad.

When is spring anyway - isn't it about time for it to make an appearance? I know it's still a month away, but girl can dream, can't she? Just wake me when it gets here.

(Sour Cherry Tree - Picture courtesy of Wikipedia)

My Rememberer Needs Fixed Again

Last weekend I work up with a short story in my head. It was a great story and in my sleep I had sketched out the whole thing from beginning to end, in order. I know it was a great story, but I can't remember anything else about it.

Not the plot. Not the characters. Not the beginning. I remember it was great and it was simple with a twist at the end. Not much to go on, is it?

Reminded me of a comedian who told a story about dreaming the world's funniest joke. He woke up and wrote in on a notepad he kept next to his bed just for that purpose. He went back to sleep happy in knowing that he had the world's greatest joke to add to his routine. When he awoke the next morning and eagerly read what he had written in the middle of the night, he said, "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard."

Sigh.......

Time has a way of getting away from me. It seems like I posted something only 2 or 3 days ago, but I see it was a week ago. I've been very, very busy. No, really I have.

I had to "redo" a presentation for work. By redo I mean start over from scratch with a new topic and do all the work myself. Of course.

I did the draft last weekend (no overtime, just my time) and thought I could get somebody to offer to help. Nope, Nada, Zilch. It's not that they wouldn't help if I asked, I just don't want to ask. So I worked 2 - 3 hours every evening rounding it out and then another 4 - 8 hours this weekend polishing it off. I think I'm done. Till somebody else comes up with a big bright idea for me to do.

And I mean only done with that project. I have a ton of other stuff piling up on my work list. It would help if my work computer worked half as well as it should. But it doesn't. So my frustration with work grows. And grows.

Big sigh.
Big, Big sigh.

On another note, this evening I perused my Amazon.com recommendations for things to buy and saw they had recommended an exercise DVD because I had put a cookie baking machine on my shopping list. Somebody at Amazon must think that's funny.

On still another note. I have arthritis in my left wrist. I only mention it because it really hurts today. Maybe that means a change in the weather.

It snowed here last Friday. At least 6 inches. I haven't been outside to see it. I can get a good enough view by squinting through the slats of the mini-blinds on the front window. I'll probably go to work tomorrow, but there is already a winter storm advisory out for Tuesday. We're supposed to get even more snow than we did Friday.

Big sigh.
Big, Big sigh.

Another month

It's February 1st. Tomorrow is Groundhog's Day when we're suppose to find out if it's going to be winter 6 more weeks or not. The Farmer's Almanac says not and today I'm going to believe a farmer over a fat rodent that's been sleeping for several months and doesn't want to get up anyway just for the mayor of Punxsutawny, PA.

I used to know somebody that lived in Punxsutawny but I don't know where she lives now. Her name is Connie and we went to grade school together. When I first went to that school somebody said, "You and Connie will be good friends" and we were, till we graduated from 8th grade and her family moved to Punsxutawny. We collected Trixie Belden books and made paper doll furniture and learned the twist from our 3rd grade teacher and were co-valedictorians at graduation. But I don't know where she is now.

Tomorrow is also Jinian's 20th birthday. I can't figure out how she got to be that old. I'm sure her grandmother is only 29.