Category: Life

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It’s so bright here on the outside….

Wow! I didn’t actually plan to take four days of break from posting here; I had a nice little streak going there, too! But, that’s what happens. Truth to tell, I spent four days in jail for faking my car’s registration and inspection stickers with a Sharpie. Oops!

OK, no, that wasn’t me. But what a story, eh? As President Josiah Bartlet once noted, “Some of the stupidest criminals in the world are working right here in America. I’ve always been very proud of that.”

Anyway, yes, I’m still kicking with a pulse and everything. Nothing major, just the usual stuff of “Busy at work, quite a bit to do at home”. Not that anyone asked, which come to think of it, I now find a little rude!

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What’s blue and white and poofy all over?

Me this past weekend, that’s what!

Because it was wonderfully crisp and cool out all weekend, I decided to fully embrace my favorite look, poofy shirts paired with overalls, during both days. And that’s probably a big reason why it was a really good weekend indeed. When you’re at maximum comfort, both in terms of just physical comfort but also just plain looking the way you want to look, it’s hard to have a bad day. And I had two pretty good days: trips to the farmer’s market and our favorite bakery and a different library branch where I checked out too many books (in terms of “will I get through them before they’re due”, because really, that’s the only actual context in which “too many books” is a concept that makes any sense at all). Then the next morning it was off to the Outer Harbor for some photography, and then it was off to Knox Farm for a little more photography (and some video footage shooting) because it was just too darn cold at the Outer Harbor! When those winds come off the lake on a cool fall morning, it can be downright chilly.

Let’s see, what else…there was cheese for dinner Saturday, and pork chops with corn on the cob last night. Yeah, not a bad weekend at all. I mean, sure, the weekend ended with the Buffalo Bills getting clobbered at home by the Baltimore Ravens. Bummer, but it happens. I went to bed when the score was 40-25, and, well, sometimes you don’t win…[listens to voice in earpiece]…OK, I have some new information here.

Anyway, here are the weekend’s outfits! Yes, this is two different poofy white shirts. Saturday’s overalls were dark blue Levi’s. Sunday’s overalls were vintage Lee Hickory-striped.

There’s something to be said for how life improves when you finally figure out what your real “look” actually is….

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Goodness! (And an ABC quiz thing)

Wow, I haven’t posted here since last Tuesday? Oh noes!!!

Nothing major or nefarious or bad is going on. In fact, it’s going pretty well. I’ve been on vacation since I left work on Wednesday, and I don’t return to work until Thursday. Also, my sister is visiting from out of town and we made our annual trip to the Erie County Fair on Friday. I’m swamped!

As far as this site goes, I didn’t make a conscious decision to take a posting break, it just happened. I’ve been active on Teh Socials, so if you follow me there, you’ve seen a few of my shenanigans. Just a few, anyway. More to come, especially a bunch of photos; I took a ton at the Fair, and I have others that are still awaiting editing from last week, and I am hoping to go on an all-day streetscape photography binge on Wednesday, weather permitting. (Oh, on the subject of weather? This summer has been loaded with hot-and-humid, and I’m rather tired of it. Also, this summer has not been loaded with rain, and we need some of that, too.

Anyway, let’s do the Sunday Stealing for this week, shall we? It’s a list of alphabetical prompts.

A. Auto: Buick Encore (2019). It’s in pretty good shape! Earlier this year I had to get all new brakes and tires; I could have done without those things needing done at the same time, but so be it. I also have a somewhat busted passenger-side mirror, from an errant backing-in incident.
B. Bed size: At home, Queen. When we go to a hotel, we try for King.
C. Cats: Three: Remy and Rosa, whom we adopted a few years ago, and we have added Daisy, my mother’s cat who was left behind when Mom died.
D. Dogs: Two: Carla, our pittie mix, and Hobbes, our greyhound.
E. Essential start to your day: Coffee and feeding Hobbes breakfast. Hobbes is usually up first.
F. Favorite color: If pressed, I say purple, but really, I love all colors. Brown isn’t one I tend to wear a whole lot, but I don’t dislike it at all.
G. Gold or silver: They each have their places, to be honest.
H. Hand you favor (righty or lefty): Right.
I. Instruments you play: I used to play the trumpet (very well!) and the piano (less well, though I wasn’t terrible). I have not touched either instrument in many years, sadly. My musical life is purely as a listener now.
J. Job title: Facilities Technician. 
K. Kids: One. (Not by choice. Those stories are sad.)
L. Live (rural, suburb, city): Suburb. I wouldn’t mind living farther out, in a decent-sized house on a nice lot with tons of trees…but then, I also wouldn’t mind living in a nice apartment in a vibrant city, either.
M. Meal plans: Right now? As I write this, I’m not sure what we’re doing for dinner!
N. Nicknames: None, really. “Hey you,” I suppose.
O. Overnight hospital stays: For me, as of now? None. I suppose I can’t dodge that bullet forever, but I’m trying.
P. Pet peeves: Ohhhh, we do not have time for that conversation right now! Let me name just one: People who don’t utilize right-of-way properly when driving, and then do shit like sit at the STOP sign and wave at me to go when it’s their turn, or worse, when they stop at a YIELD sign while I have a stop and start that “No, you go!” shit. GAH.
Q. Quote from a movie: “I don’t know, I’m making this up as I go.” –Indiana Jones, Raiders of the Lost Ark
R. Regrets: I’m not a big fan of regrets…but the one I wonder about most is leaving my music studies in college for Philosophy. I’m not sure that was a great idea.
S. Siblings: One. She’s actually visiting right now!
U. Underwear: Yes, I’m wearing some. Why are we asking? What are we asking? (And where is ‘T’?)
V. Vegetable you love: Corn. Though technically it’s not a vegetable, it’s a grain. Tomato! Which is a fruit. Asparagus? I’ve come to like it a lot, though not steamed, which for years was the only way I knew it. Brushed with olive oil, dusted with salt and pepper, and grilled? Oh yeah babe.
W. What makes you run late: Panicking over if I have everything. I really try not to run late, though.
X. X-rays you’ve had: Teeth and my collar bone when I was in 7th grade.
Y. Yummy food: Chicken tikka masala. We discovered Indian food this year! Why only this year? Who knows…I think we were a bit skittish to try it ourselves without someone along who was “in the know”. That turned out to be my brother-in-law. Now we love it.
Z. Zoo animal: I don’t really like zoos anymore; I find them depressing, even though I know that most of them really try to do the best they can by the animals in their care. That said, I always love seeing elephants.

 

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Twenty-eight

One memory from my youth that I’ve been kicking around is the day after my first date with this one girl in college. We had kinda-sorta met the previous weekend, and then I asked her out on an official date. We went to see Edward Scissorhands. (This was February 1991.) I didn’t know this girl at all well and I wasn’t terribly sure if the date went really well or just nicely enough, but it went well enough that I was hoping there would be another. Luckily, a mutual friend had already sought her out and picked her brain so she (the mutual friend, that is) could assure me that yes, this girl did in fact want another date. Securing a second date was, at that time, quite the accomplishment for me.

Six years and a few months later, we got married. Specifically, on this very date in 1997. Which means that today we are celebrating our 28th wedding anniversary. What are we doing? Errands! Going to the Farmers Market and maybe another produce market and returning some books to the library and dropping by our favorite bakery and then picking up a prescription or two, and then coming home to do laundry and walk dogs and later on we’ll have cheese for dinner and drink some adult beverages while watching a movie. Romantic? Yeah, absolutely. You kind of get to a point where everything’s romance, it’s all just at a low simmer, that’s all. (Except for times when it’s not!)

Twenty-eight years, wow. Oh, I think she just got up. I have to go make her morning coffee.

Drinks before tacos, Kensington Market, Toronto, April 2025
Niagara Falls (Canadian side), April 2025
Rochester Lilac Festival, Rochester, NY, May, 2025

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The bathroom quiz!

Well, why not! Roger did it, after all.

1. Do you shampoo once or lather, rinse and repeat?

Once. The “Repeat” business was inserted to get people to use more shampoo, and thus need to buy new shampoo more frequently. It’s not unlike how the directions on the toothpaste tell you you only need an amount the size of a pea, but all the marketing shows this giant glob of toothpaste running the entire length of the brush. Marketers, I swear!

2. Do you use conditioner a) daily, b) when you need it, c) never?

My hair routine is: Wash and condition twice weekly, usually Sunday and Thursday. Condition only, Monday, Tuesday, Friday. Just a wet-down on Wednesday and Saturday.

3. What’s your shaving cream preference: foam or gel?

Shaving cream? Away with that nonsense! On the one hand, I rock a fine beard and have not shaved in more than twenty years. On the other hand, shaving cream makes for terrible pies to be hit with. Ewwww! *

4. Is your toothbrush manual or electric?

Manual.

5. Dental floss, soft picks, neither or both? 

Floss, but I have been known to take a soft pick with me when I go to the movies.

6. Do you use mouthwash a) daily, b) when you need it, c) never?

Never, really.

7. Are there magazines in your bathroom?

No. I take reading material in as needed and bring it out again. I never sit there reading very long, either. I do not get how many dudes will sit for long periods of time on the toilet.

8. Is there bar soap or liquid soap on your bathroom sink? 

Liquid. It’s lavender-scented.

9. What kind of soap is in your shower?

Liquid shower gel. 

10. Now for the most important question: does the toilet paper drape over or under?

Over, because we’re not heathens. But there’s also a roll right on the counter, because in our bathroom’s configuration, accessing the spindle from the toilet can be a bit…not easy.

Aren’t y’all glad you asked!

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“What’s the meanings of this?!” –Squirrely Dan, LETTERKENNY

A startling development from yesterday morning:

Yes, that is the Sun, rising in the east like it is maintained is still the protocol for this sort of thing, behind Casa Jaquandor, and its rising is visible and not obscured by the April cloud-cover in The 716 that can only be properly described as “Venusian”. Our last sighting of direct sunlight was February 27*, and normally this time of year we would not expect any hope of such a thing happening again until the day after Mothers Day, at the earliest. And yet, there’s the Sun, in the sky, being all bright and stuff.

Someone needs to answer for this, I tell you what.

  * This date may not be accurate.

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A few notes….

Here are some Notes from some recent goings-on in my world!

Note the First: We are in the midst of a typically awful WNY spring. Longtime readers or followers on social media will know that spring is my least favorite season by a large margin, because in this region spring is mostly a two-month slog of cold and dreary damp weather, and this year is no exception. I can’t even get out to do any real photography because the weather has been typically ghastly, and poor Miranda, my Lumix camera, has no weather sealing. Climate change hasn’t yet done anything to improve springtime in Buffalo Niagara.

Note the Second: The weather forecast for yesterday was an all-day soaking rain that might cause flooding, so for that reason I did not go downtown to the big protest. I hope to make the next one. And I’m sure there will be one, I mean, just look at what these nitwits in charge are doing!

Note the Third: Still kvetching about weather: I’m tired of having to dress like this.

Note the Fourth: I saw a gorgeous photo on social media someplace that someone labeled “One of the best views in baseball”: it’s a shot from the upper deck at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, behind home plate. If you’re familiar, they really nailed the aesthetics of that ballpark when they build it. Not only is the park itself supposed to be very nice (I haven’t actually been there), but the view takes in the entire skyline of downtown Pittsburgh. Sadly, with the Pirates themselves off to their typical start, I left the comment: “That is definitely one of the best views IN baseball, but it remains a shame that it is also one of the worst views OF baseball.”

Note the Fifth: The NFL Draft is coming up. I always find the build-up and learning about the players fun. No real point here, just that.

Note the Sixth: One of my worst habits is my refusal to buy things like socks, shoes, and underwear until at least 90 days after I first think, “Huh, maybe I should replace this.” I have already addressed two of those, and I’m planning a shoe purchase…soon. Ish.

Note the Seventh: In the most bizarre social media kerfuffle I’ve experienced of late, a whole lot of people got mad at me on Threads because I pointed out that the movie Double Jeopardy, the potboiler from 1999 or so with Ashley Judd and Tommy Lee Jones, gets the central legal concept behind its title very, very, oh so very wrong. I found this really surprising. People weren’t just wrong, they were confidently and belligerently wrong. (And yes, I looked up my position and provided receipts, like this.

Note the Eighth: And last note! I added to the overalls collection. I hope this embeds, but here’s a video I made; they’re white Hisea overalls (that’s a new brand I don’t know much about), and I got them because I like the styling of the bib pocket. Most white pairs have a “painters” overalls vibe, with a triangular pocket that I don’t much care for. I like this a lot. Carla got mud on them already, though. Just around the cuffs, but sheesh! (Maybe I’ll just start reviewing overalls. That would give me content for…quite a while.)

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Everything depends on a ceramic bunny

When I was very young, my mother gave me a ceramic bunny. It looked just like this one. In my memory, it looked exactly like this one…only for some reason I really think the one I had was a bit bigger. Not much, but a bit. I may be wrong about that. I haven’t seen that bunny in years. I suppose it might still be hanging around in some box or the back of a drawer someplace, nestled safely enough to be forgotten over however many years and however many moves, but more likely that poor bunny just got lost at some point along the way.

Like I said, that’s not the bunny my mother gave me. I know this because anyone who has ever gifted a three- or four-year-old with something ceramic knows what inevitably happens to such things: I dropped the bunny one day, and he broke. I don’t remember dropping it, and I don’t remember being upset, but I know that I would have been heartbroken by this development. I know this not just because I know how I am and how I get upset to this day when I break things that are meaningful. I also know this because Mom fixed the bunny.

She did the best she could. I don’t know if she didn’t really know how to use superglue, or even what such glue options would have been available to her in the early 1970s when this would have happened, which might be why she didn’t glue it. She taped him back together with masking tape. And honestly? She did a fine job, and that tape held. For years. And years. And years. The joints were tight and my bunny was solid, even when he shouldn’t have been.

After Mom died, I found myself missing my little brown ceramic bunny. Surely there was no chance of ever finding an actual replacement for something that she had to have bought cheaply nearly 50 years ago…but I went searching nonetheless. I did the best I could: I searched eBay for “brown ceramic rabbit”.

I found him almost immediately…and I found a few friends for him.

It was not a hard choice to make. There were a number of sets of these bunnies available at the time (this was a little over a year ago), and it turned out that they were made by a company called Goebel, a German outfit that makes porcelain figurines and which also owns Hummel, a more famous figurine maker. I chose one set of three and bought it. A week or two later, I had my bunny again…along with two friends.

The three bunnies all sit now atop my desk just in front of the Four Musketeers. This seems fitting, in some small and odd way.

I never asked Mom if she remembered the little brown ceramic bunny or her fixing him with masking tape. Add that to the list of conversations that went unspoken, I suppose.

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