Thank you. It's time to resume life.

And I'm #1!

The problem with the Tulip Library are those dang overdue fees.

And the constant shushing. The "No Talking" fetish. Makes me wanna scream sometimes.

Sultan Magnificent lost, three falls to two, to Gorgeous George, IIRC.

:-)

Why I do declare! I had no idea about the tulip library here, in our fair city.

BPH-Lunch meet up at the Tulip Library?

Frosti, Mostlylurking, Nelson! Other dotty-for-flowers peeps....Oh, I wish you were here!

JA!, JA!...I don't think Henry Mitchell mentioned this gem! I am so happy. Thank you.

Almost everything I know about tulips, I learned from Johnny Fever while slumming on "Head of the Class."

Wow this is like my dream kit. It mentions Einstein and free food!

Joel, if the speed of light were not constant then the symmetry of the electroweak force would be violated. And this would be bad.

Plus, magnets wouldn't work right. This would be bad too.

But you knew this.

What you are asking is not what would happen if this weren't the case, but, rather, why it is the case at all.

This is a toughie that not even Al could fully answer. My guess is that those universes in which this wasn't the case didn't stick around very long.

Or, in other words, the universe is just made that way.

Thanks for starting my weekend on such a great note.

I'm always up for a lunchtime BPH.

College Parkian,
//Why I do declare! I had no idea about the tulip library here, in our fair city.//

Everyone knows that "ahh fayah city is Cambridge, MA.

says Click and Clack, who have been saying it for over 30 years.

From the last kit snippet:
(No Einstein tulips that I know of, besides, daffies increase and resist deer.)

A bulb catalog came early this year. Wow. But I guess we should think about buying daffodils and tulips while they bloom, to be ready. Achenbuddies may like to know that we can buy a tall, Class II daffodil, named "Professor Einstein." Entering the market in 1946, this daffy sports a huge red-orange center cup and paper-white collar.

See him in bloom:
http://shop.gee-tee.co.uk/349527F1A021110B802572B40040B229!OpenDocument

I planted pink tulips next to orange ones. I really wish I hadn't.

How that DCI ended up disguised as a bookcase I'll never know.

Jumper, it won't last long, I promise. Then you can try again with, say, impatiens.

I am pretty sure that the fomer Director in question was not George H. W. Bush. He would have simply used a parachute.

JA, if you make that name change you can probably expect to receive some Phlemish diplomats as well.

I'm oot th' door and off to the BPH...

As always, photos to follow!

Have a great weekend, all! *waving*

"More or less agog" would be a good boodle handle

Thank you for this lovely, thoughtiness, Spring-like kit!

Reposting from last Boodle:

Alas. My brief but productive tenure as shop steward must end prematurely. This afternoon I travel to a lovely state resort (truly, this place is gorgeous) for a weekend of sport and debauchery. Okay, you caught me. How about a weekend of discussion, consideration, poetry, and hiking? Plus wine. At any rate, there's not good Internet access, so I'll be away from the Boodle. I hope Cassandra shows up, and good luck Martooni.

Raysmom, please step in for the remainder of Friday. And remember folks, the puppies 'n butterflies aren't my fault.

AND, to fall in with the spirit of the Kit, a repeat of another comment: I just ran across this Einstein quote yesterday, and if it is apocryphal don't tell me: [On being shown his infant sister] "Yes, but where are the wheels?"

Could gardening and flower-observing boodlers far and wide give an occasional bee report? Last article I saw on the bee shortage stated that the US east coast had lost 70% of the bee population, and they were researching whether cell phones were the cause (apparently bees won't re-enter a hive if a cell phone is placed near it, which is a good indicator that they're right).

I spotted a lone bumblebee two weeks ago, but the nearest (wild) hive I know of was dead last year, there are no bees out in the yard right now, and I'm getting worried. The redbud and peach trees bloomed without even one lone buzzing exploration. I hope it's just that my area has been cold and rainy for a week or so - but they should be out there now, and they aren't.

More Or Less Agog : MOLA

Hum, I see people leaving this building that weren't around when I came in at 07:30. Time to hop on the bus and go enjoy a refreshing beverage on the patio.

dr, SoC and Yoki: you're paying the poetic price for the warming brought about by the tar sands operations. Don't despair, spring will come, eventually.

...and thus, da birds post about da bees (and the flowers and the trees)

:-)

I recall reading about declining bee populations when we were still farming. A quick google search seems to tell me that wild bee populations are down by 90 %. Trust me it ain't cell phones. The ones you are hearing about now are the commercial hives.

The problem probably is pesticides. You can't kill a harmful bug without doing something to its relatives and its predators.

MOLA

http://www.panart.com/mola_gallery.htm

I posted to quickly. Someone else posted about this a while ago. Mo, was it you? Anyway, its fibre and yarn and I don't forget these things.

Sevenswans, the loss of bees is a concern in my region as well, the Niagara area has many wineries and orchards, here's a link to a recent article.

Personal report saw a large bee, perhaps the queen dead on a deck box in my yard yesterday. It is the only one I have seen so far, but until yesterday too cold for them to be out.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2007/04/17/science-honeybees.html

Now there's a gunman inside NASA in Houston. Shots fired, building evacuated. Maybe it's something in the water.

OK, here is something I learned a couple of years ago and never had the opportunity to bore others with, until Joel's kit.

Did you know that the world's stock exchanges are called that because the first such speculative market was on the tulip bulbs (stocks) traded and sold in the Netherlands and Vienna and Spain in, tah dah, the mid-1550s? And that the first speculation in the market was on what colour the blooms from said stocks would be (obviously the bulbs were shipped dormant, so nobody really knew)

And further, did you know that the reason stock exchanges are measured in points rather than currencies of whatever sort is based on Spanish dubloons and ducats? A sort of base-8 system, IIRC.

It looks as though I introduced this as a joke without a punchline, but it is all true. Cool, in a geeky historical/botanical way, I've always thought.

Yoki, that's interesting! Chances are they knew the parent color for each crate of bulbs, but never knew exactly which other bulb provided the cross-pollination, so colors were always a big surprise. Sort of like the people who create hybrids in their backyards now, and CONSTANTLY post pictures of the neat new colors they have achieved.

Thanks for the link, dmd, that's exactly what I was thinking of.

dr, I hope it isn't cell signals, but I also hope they do find out why and what. Although the loss of wild bees seems (to me) to be more important a factor than commercial apiaries. (Where's the boodle's biologist? Wilbrod? Help?)

Flies, we got. Also gnats.

*swats, then goes out to look at the flowers again*

A lot of us have wondered about that speed of light thing. When I took Physics 101 in 1947, our text--published prior to WWII-- plainly stated that the Michelson-Morley experiment was inconclusive. A little further on that author was telling us that, while he acknowledged the existence of the "New Physics", it would never be of any practical use--for building bridges and that sort of thing.

Since, I've drifted to the view that we live in a very funny world. God's little jokes are everywhere. If we think we understand, we don't understand. Thank you Richard Feynman.

I don't think that the light speed constancy thing has ever been proved. It's just that accepting it makes more things simply describable. Much like heliocentricity in that respect.

I seem to recall doing a "mola" limerick, in response to the challenge to do a joke about Panama.

Anyway, since Ottawa summers ain't all that either, here's my ode to SD (Camptown Races):

Civil servants sing this song, doo-da, doo-da
Bytown summer, two weeks long, oh de doo-da day

Going to sweat all night
Swat mosquitoes all day
I wish I was in Alberta now
Somebody find me a way

Well, Sevenswans just went outside and found another dead bee in the same spot, I know its not the other one as it is now on the ground - I presume they are wild.

Keeping fingers crossed that everything is OK at NASA in Houston.

That is very funny SoC.

When you mentioned flies and gnats, Sevenswans, I started thinking about other creatures who can pollinate plants instead of bees, and I realized that in the last few years I have seen *so* many more hummingbirds - more than I have ever seen in my life before this. Perhaps it's global warming and they like this place more now, or perhaps their population has increased to fill the niche partially vacated by wild bees. Though I have to say we still do see an awful lot of bees here in the Midwest.

lowen, the speed-of-light-is-a-constant thing is (so far) as well-proven as pretty much anything in physics. Meaning, you can't prove it, but you can show that every proposed alternative is inconsistent with experiment. LOTS of experiments. Maxwell's Equations are relativistically invariant (don't ask me to show it, however -- that was a math problem that always threw me) and they do a good job of describing lots of phenomena. Quantum Electrodynamics depends on that relativity stuff, and it is widely reputed to be the most well-demonstrated theory in physics. Time-dilation has been used in practical engineering projects. The entire GPS system would fail within about a half-hour (so I'm told) if it did not include corrections for General Relativity, in which the constancy of the speed of light is a fundamental postulate.

Your textbook author was what bicyclists call a retro-grouch ("back in my day, we had only 10 speeds, and that was 3 more than I needed"). Relativity was completely accepted by all sensible physicists, well before WWII.

Dr, it's parasites-- that's why they were mixing African bees (which are immune to honeybee mites) in with the domestic honeybee, hoping to get the immunity of one and the sweeter disposition of the other.

Instead we have africanized killer bees invading America.

But colony collapsing disorder is real, and it indeed could be related to the proliferation and use of cell phones in foraging habitats.

Although it sounds like the bees are losing their appetite and not eating near the end, which would seem extreme for directional confusion-- do flying bugs get nauseous by anything?

http://honeybee.tamu.edu/hot_topics/colonycollapse.html

Regarding c (and gravity, of course), we're not smart enough to know Why Things Are, REALLY.

We're barely smart enough to grasp "It is what it is."

To those of you enjoyng the Falls Church BPH, have fun, and hoist one for me.

bc

Just got back from reading Walter Isaacson's writing in his Einstein book at Costco. Free food! I didn't use the air conditioning unit but rolled down the window since there was a nice breeze and had a great view of the circle of green hills, if, sadly, a slightly obstructed view of I-10. The cheap eats. But it was a full house, and the gal behind me in the checkout line was a former (fill in the job of your choice) and buying a towering chocolate cake.

It's "Solly," by golly.

You can find a picture of Daffodil Hill near California's Volcano (city) here.

http://www.geocities.com/thedaffodilgarden/g-40s-daff_field.jpg

*Spring has made me silly. That'll be the day when Wally ever comes *here*. But I was at Costco and glanced at the book for far less time than I would have liked and it certainly is thick (much to my surprise)! The sun is out in full and it's probably in the low 80s. What to do in the next 10 days--which parades, which art and craft shows, what music to listen to, and what food to eat, whose head should I break a cascarone over?

I'm stopping at costco on the way home. I hope they have that book in but I'd bet not.

further to yoki's tidbit, the first stock market crash? Also tulips. The European tulip stock got a kind of bug/virus/fungus, and showed much striping and odd multi colours. After a couple seasons from the onset of colourations the bulbs died.

Which ties in really neatly with the bee information.

Wilbord, the bee mites? I recall that now. Sevenswans, it is possible that cell signals do interfere, but its happening in places where signals are not a big factor too. Cell signals, TV, these are all radio signals of one kind or another. (Ok, I only think I know this. Please correct me if I am wrong and they are different waves). Its probably more than just signals.

Since I'm surprised nobody else brought up the natural link between Einstein and tulips... (please forgive me, Tiny Tim)

Speed of light is keeping
my heart valves flapping
Other physicists are sleeping
Silver stars are gleaming
All alone I'm scheming
Scheming to get you out here, my dear, come
Come on out and (see) light
Come o Relativity
Tease me and calculate life for me
Let me Romeo you, I just want to show you
How much I'm willing to do for you, come

Tip toe into my math, by that old math
That is where I'll be, come
Tip toe thru the tulips with me
Tip toe from mystery
To the shadow of history now
And tip toe thru the tulips with me

Knee deep in flowers we'll stray
We'll keep the showers away
And if I kiss you in the garden
through the moonlight, please energize me
Come tip toe thru the tulips with me

Well since the boodle is quiet, I have a chance to ask a question that has been on my mind all day.

If you are serving a salmon wellington accompanied by wild rice for dinner, what would you serve for desert?

Obviously the table center piece will be tulips and daffodils.

'It's dead Jim'

I am posting this because immediately after posting this, someone else invariably shows up and posts. Obviously everyone but me has snuck out early, and I am calling you on it. 4:58 and counting.....

dr - that sounds lovely. What *is* a salmon wellington?

I usually serve a richer dessert with lighter meals, and vice versa. Not knowing what your entree entails, I couldn't help.

Personally I'm probably going to hit McD's in between painting the orange wall and the lime green wall in my daughter's room. I'll save the two yellow walls for later. Did I mention I had no say in the color scheme?

Flower in the crannied wall,
I pluck you out of the cranny.
I hold you here, root and all,
And all in all
I know what God and man is.

Well, something like that. c may be constant, but memories are like whatever Barbara said they were (I've also disremembered that).

There's no beesiness
Like show beesiness
Now there's no beesiness
at all.

I apologize to those who take the bee disease seriously. But, c'mon--it's just another ecological disaster, after all. Can't you take these things in stride yet?

Spring fever spring fever spring fever spring

Oh, honey...

:-)

(it had to bee said)

See?

Its a salmon filet topped with a cream cheese and herbed mix, wrapped in phyllo pastry and baked. It says to serve it with dill, but I don't care for dill except in pickles, so something creamy saucy. Possibly rich, but I don't know. Its a recipe from one of my cookbooks books (I have 60 and NEVER use them for cooking from, just reading). I am going to unknown territory in several ways here. My cooking disasters are legendary and the world should be worried. I know I am.

So maybe a lighter desert. Maybe a lime or lemon granita?

Granita would also be an unknown territory.

I am aiming for complete and total failure, obviously. Making a new entre, and a new desert?

Inconcievable.

dr, I love lemon desserts, I used to make a lemon type mouse, lemon pudding with egg whites folded in, very light and tasty.

dr, I'm with you - I *believe* I know what a granita is (quiescently frozen fruit juice and fruit concotion?) - sounds too fancy for my family. The salmon sounds good - I really like dill, add it to scalloped potatoes because I like the flavor. Sorry this is all over the place - I was just cleaning brushes and roller from one color to get ready for another color.

How about a chocolate mousse - they're easy and fun and light (usually!)?

SCC that would be lemon mousse, because a lemon mouse would just be wrong :-)

The salmon entree sounds wonderful, but I thought granita was a Mediterranean dance... (...that a Ford car was named after in the 70s, right?)

My cooking is limited (for the purposes of safety and sanity) to throwing a random group of ingredients all at once into a single pan, pot or cauldron, turning on the heat and putting on the lid. This works great for beer, chili, stew and soup. Anything else, not so much.

Beer is cooked in a pot?

Well I have just seen my official welcome to spring, the city truck is currently washing down our streets, no more crap left over from the salting and sanding. Unfortunately my joy is tempered by the dog who is going insane with the truck going up and down the road.

I got to Tim's 12:47 on the previous boodle. That's my point, the ridiculous video that was so important to Mr. Curmudgeon wasn't the story; how this poor lost soul got to this point was.

As a society, bullying and intolerance still exists in schools at a level that is totally inappropriate. I know there is only so much parents and educators can do but it is like a sort of cultural disease (i.e., don't be different, don't kiss up, don't try too hard, and don't accept anyone who doesn't follow the prior three rules). No wonder we have the education system we have. We are an intolerant nation led by an intolerant man.

Sorry for this further rant.

I just googled "ScienceTim." The third hit is in Korean -- the translated page appears to have nothing to do with me. The fifth hit is a reference to Tim Berners-Lee. The sixth hit is in Chinese, it seems, but a translated page is not offered. The seventh link is to a page of comments about a pro wrestler (Lex Luger). That page has several homophobic and racist comments. Still not me, thank you.

Just saw the headlines from Houston, sad.

Oh, yes, I should have mentioned that the other hits are me -- right here on the Achenblog. StorytellerTim also is mostly me, except for a few references to Tim Burton.

I don't mind appearing in lists of Google hits with either Tim Burton or Tim Berners-Lee. Not bad company.

bill, I would go one further it is not just bullying that can hurt children simple teasing can be difficult as well, some children are affected by it more than others and if not taught coping skills they can have difficulty dealing with it, just get over it, is not an appropriate coping skill to teach a child.

dmd, agreed. I think of teasing as just verbal bullying.

dr, I think it depends on the side-dishes you serve with the Wellington. The salmon is light, but the puff-pastry is not. So think in terms of light/heavy/light/heavy/light.

If your main cover is salmon-wellington (maybe served with a nice mustard-dill sauce?), asparagus, and no starch other than the pastry, you could get away with a beautiful apple pie/cheddar slice/creme freshe/a la mode dessert with coffee.

If your main is s/w, with a green and another starch, you might want to reflect and mirror the main by having a light lemon sorbet with a berry coulis (and perhaps a wee puff-pastry hat, about 1/4 inch square).

If I did that, I think I would encourage my guests to come into the family room by the fire and have a snifter of brandy and chocolate petit four after clearing the table.

Or, you could serve the s/w, a green, and a starch, and then serve a small green salad with a light vinegrette, which would allow you to go back to the apple pie dessert.

Balance and reflection. In any of those three ways, that is a fantastic meal.

OK, I spend way too much time thinking about menus. Prolly your guests are going to have a wonderful time no matter what you feed them, because you are funny and warm and wonderful.

Yoki - bowing to the master!

And whilst I was composing that very boring treatise, dr said she doesn't like dill. Say goodnight, Yoki. Goodnight Yoki.

Have I mentioned that I love dmd?

Yoki- you ARE the culinary master as far as I'm concerned.

LOL! Kim, thanks.

Have I also mentioned how glad I am that Kim posts here?

Love you all!

I'd go with some homemade lemon bars on a green plate, surrounded by chocolate covered strawberries or homemade truffles. Of course, this is a far simpler dessert than the dinner! Perhaps Yoki is right.

OK, confession time. I've had to give up actually eating all this wonderful food I used to actually produce, because of health concerns.

So I find myself *dreaming* about perfect menus, perfectly served. *Imaginary food*

mmmmmmmmm

Oh, dbG, can I come to your house for dinner? Lemon bars on a green plate, the red of strawberries and the dark of chocolate, and truffles.

Bliss!

Absolutely. Weren't you talking about coming to Philadelphia anyway?

Maybe Error can join us. He's not all that far away.

dr, I too have many cookbooks. I too love to read them but seldom cook anything fancy. I have one big one which feels the need to instruct in how to cook *anything* - from a newly killed rabbit (ugh) - it tells you how to gut and skin it - to caviar, to pickling and canning your own produce. My kids are vegetarian, and I have a hard time getting excited about building meals around beans or tofu.

Yoki, you sound like you're the consummate hostess! If you're dieting how can you think about food - I can't do that. I have to pretend I'm a medieval nun to diet - I think only of higher things. Course, it never lasts long, either ...

I've finished the orange and green walls (and the ceiling) and the room looks hideous! It's no fun to paint when you don't like the results. Tired now - going to vegetate.

Orange and green? Do tell Wheezy.

Frosti, I gave the ghastly details of this brainchild of my youngest up above. One orange wall, one lime green, two yellow. I didn't mention above that her (new) curtains have a wide hot pink border, and the material is red, yellow and green polka dots on white. It's going to require sunglasses. I tried to convince her to tone it down, but I decided it wasn't worth a battle royale. She'll learn.

Had to back skim to catch that. It must have been a Freudian thing to absorb your menu advice heavy main/light dessert and miss that color scheme. Or as they say, "It's not a color scheme, it's a conspiracy."

It could be worse, Wheezy. YOU could have to live in that room!

It's a wonderful gift you are giving her self esteem though Wheezy. Its lime green and purple in our house, I live in fear of what the younger one will pick, her outfit to play with the neighbours the other day (first warm day), t-shirt, flowered skirt, lime green socks, white dress shoes old and scuffed, pink polar fleece housecoat - it was quite the look, she was skipping with joy.

Dr--I don't like dill either-- parsley or something low-key would be a fine substitute.

I wouldn't be too adventurous and go overboard by using too much of a strong-tasting spice, since you don't want to smother the salmon.

Although I happen to have the firm belief that Italian seasoning can't harm any recipe, I would go light in this case.

Wild rice, salmon, sounds tres north country, and it makes me think of fruit-- blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, or because it is the season--strawberries
I can think of a few dessert options that can be done without cooking.

Strawberry shortcake
Store-brought strudel
Cheesecake (bought from store)-- especially glazed with some fruit goop and covered with real fruit.
Plain fruit, tons of 'em.
Ice cream, italian ice, etc.

I've learned that I prefer to entertain with as little time in the kitchen as possible.

The funny thing is this child (my difficult one) has always had a very keen fashion and interior design sense. I think maybe I've complimented her *too* much on her good taste. Now she thinks anything she can conceive of is gold.

dmd - that outfit sounds like about 5-6 years old? I remember when the old pink patent leather shoes with a bow were worn with shorts, jeans, everything!

dbG, I wouldn't live in that room for a pile of money! I'm going to have to convince her to keep her door shut, I fear.

This in my e-mail from Prince William County schools. I'm beginning to have more than theoretical concern about copy cats.

"Manassas, VA....A suspect in the Gar-Field High School bomb threat this morning has been
apprehended and arrested by the Prince William County Police. The announcement was made by
the police and Schools Superintendent Steven L. Walts at the school moments after students
were given clearance to re-enter the building. Police evacuated Gar-Field High School about
10:30 a.m. after officials received a bomb threat. The bomb search was completed and
students began safely entering the building shortly before 1 p.m. today. Classroom
instruction has resumed.
Earlier this morning Hylton High School also had been evacuated because of a bomb threat.
Students returned to class after a police team searched the building. An active
investigation by police is continuing.
School Division officials have kept parents and the community informed through email,
telephone, and Web announcements. Parents of the students at the two schools were informed
of the situation by telephone. In addition, parents who are subscribers to text message and
email service were also informed."

Yes 6, if only we could maintain the joie de vive/creativity throughout life. She is also normally outside the house in nice weather selling something, last week she wanted to sell kool-aid for $4.00 a glass, I mentioned it might be a tad expensive. In the end only her sister and I bought some, and her sister only did it because I requested it.

I hate to say this but for a girls room your daughters colours sound like it could work for me, perhaps the cheery colours will help her mood?

>Maybe Error can join us. He's not all that far away.

Indeed. I'll be in town Monday. Gonna stop by South Street and get a cheese steak for Mudge.

Philly is really a great town, I don't get there enough. I suspect that may change.

Hmm, maybe the orange isn't the right kind of orange-- too dark-- if it's clashing with the lime-green. That said, orange doesn't normally go with hot pink.

Oh well, it's her room. She may have in mind adding yellow borders and other items that will split up and balance the colors a little more.

It is very interesting to me to hear you all talk. I grew up with just brothers, and never explored my own femininity until I was an adult.

Being the mother of girls was/is a revelation. I love seeing them dress each other, and then stand up for themselves and each other, and be strong. And then do each other's hair. And then cuddle the cat, and then tell their boyfriends where to get off and get over themselves.

I don't take credit, but I feel it a privilege to witness these young women who know what they know, and also what they don't know. They're just fine.

dmd, I actually thought this color scheme might work, but the actual colors on the wall are too dark. I'm afraid she's going to be disappointed - lighter would have been better. If she's upset I'm going to suggest sponging on some white paint, which she can do herself. A thin layer of thinned white might help a lot. She's at a sleepover and won't see it till tomorrow.

How did you convince your older child to spend $4 on kool-aid? Did you give it to her? Come to think of it, my youngest used to love to set up stands to sell things. Occasionally a neighbor would come and buy something - I was not as kind as you are. The drinks, yes, but I refused to buy an old headband or a doll from her which I had purchased for her in the first place!

A very late good evening, friends. My computer was messing up this morning, and I could not get online. I hope you did not worry too much. It could not be helped. I am just getting in from a Women's Conference and will not talk long, just too tired. If I can't get on, I will try to make contact from the library. I have that test with the light Monday, so I am on a liquid diet starting tomorrow. I have a banquet to attend tomorrow evening, and I know that is going to be torture. Sheer torture.

Martooni, I hope you're okay, and thanks folks for looking out for me. I really do appreciate all of your efforts.

God loves us so much more than we can imagine through Him that died for all, Jesus Christ. Peace.

Wilbrod, I think she's planning even further changes to this room, yes. She plots and calculates and looks up websites with decorating ideas for hours. It'll work out.

G'nite all. I'm going to crash.

Oh, Cassandra is here. Sleep well, dear one.

'night, Wheezy.

She hasn't thought of selling toys yet, usually just food and drinks from our home, we did not pay $4.00, she is not fully aware of money yet so any type of coin works (sometimes our 1.00 and 2.00 coins are a blessing).

Frosti those copy cat threats are scary, even if false they must cause so much fear in the school, very sad.

dmd, that sounds exactly like what I wore to work today! Great minds . . . of course, my version was cleverly disguised as a grey suit.

Sponging with white AND more orange (mixed with yellow for a brighter color) sounds good to me. Maybe thats what she had planned. Oh well, nice of you to let her pick and fix the colors how she wants.

*laughing*

frostbitten, that was hilarious.

Good article on pet food recall and why it should not be forgotten by Dr. Fox.
http://tedeboy.tripod.com/drmichaelwfox/id74.html

Yoki, I must be channeling you. I picked up asparagus for the meal. Its a go except for the dill. I never thought before about the light heavy light. I know how to start, but never feel I quite get it right when I put things together. I think I start at rich tastes, and cannot get beyond that. Masterful madame, simply masterful.

wheezy, I know of a house decorated by a bunch of guys that went with at least one wall of primary colour in every room but the kitchen. The sunset red walls of the living room work with the deep blue and orange of the bathroom and the orange and yellow hallway walls. Wait till its all together. I'd bet it's going to be young and fresh, and entirely her. think of it as a box of crayons. they look just Fine together in a box, and so will this.

My personal colour is green. I am convinced that all greens work together at some level. Not really, but I think its the tone of the colour that matters. If the tones are of the same family, you can do almost anything.

Which is why the pink of hello kitty is just right with the blue walls in the office. Is Mudge back Sunday? Do you think we should tell him the slipcovers are reversible to a very manly plaid and leather? And that on the backside of the Kincaids is Bateman?

Cassandra so good to see you. Martooni has been thinking of you, and mentioned really appreciating your prayers. He popped by earlier today.

You said something about mercy and forgiveness a long time ago, that I have never forgotten. I've thought a lot about that in the course of the last few days.

With Cassandra's permission, I have a plan for the conn tomorrow.

G'night, all.

Thos of you lucky enough to do the BPH, I hope you had a good time, and I hope there are good (and repeatable in the Boodle) stories to tell.

Walter Issacson's been everywhere lately, hasn't he? The Daily Show, NPR, features in the MSM...

A quick thought about the speed of light.
Spacetime is a medium through which light travels. One could say that light (aka photons "wavicles") only goes a certain speed in "normal" or "relative" spacetime, but that light is subject to all aspects of spacetime as well. Where spacetime is warped by something with significant mass and gravity like a star, light rides the warped space around the star's gravity well and changes direction, just like anything else would. As an interesting side note, the reference frames for warped space near a high-mass high-gravity object is slower than "flat" spacetime, though anyone within that warped spacetime would measure c and time as if it were flat spacetime.

My point, or rather, Einstein's: it all looks relatively the same from your little corner of spacetime. We're all stuck in it like ants in amber. Even light.

bc

bc, thanks for that on spacetime and speed of light.

Chocolate Mousse may have a chalky undertaste - especially with Salmon Wellington. Rosemary,instead of dill, baby.

On topic, the Strobe Constant may explain why the train is always late.

A chalky undertaste! Ha!

"As long as she ate the mouse she can't see nor hear, now sing!"

La la la la la la la la la la la la . . .

IN other words, sometimes light sprints, and sometimes it tiptoes through the tulips, bc?

;).

Bumble bees can really drill. I have a little extension at the back of the house. The bees have drilled a dozen holes on one of the 2 x 4s. I've tried spraying insecticide on the wood to discourage them but it didn't work. I have contemplated plugging the hole but was afraid I might suffocate the bee if it is inside. So I did nothing more and just hoping they'll stop the drilling. Sure hate it if the roof collapses on me.

Morning all! *waving*

I must apologize, no BPH pics this time. *hanging head*

'Twas a somewhat subdued affair, although we were honored to have mostlylurking and sisterofmostlylurking grace us with their presence. It seems Friday evenings aren't the best for porching. TBG met the ladies at the Four Provinces (which we all recommend highly!), and I wandered in a short time later. pj joined us, and the usual BPH cameraderie ensued. We also did our poor best to honor Liviu Librescu and the other VT victims with a toast.

We were WONDERING where you were, mo!!! *HUGS* mostlylurking and sis had to get over to the State Theater by 7 for the Leon Russell show, so we wrapped up around 6:30. You work too much, mo!!!

No pics?!?!? InconCEIVable!!!!

Good morning, friends. Well, I'm on it, and hopefully I can stay on it. Starting out with coffee, that's always good. I do hope all of you have a lovely weekend. The weather looks really good here, bright and sunny, but a tad chilly.

Last night I met a minister that prayed for me, and my loss of hearing. She advised me to say that I am healed, and not to think or say otherwise. I heard her sermon after she prayed for me. God is good.

Forgiveness is the only way to heal. We can't live with or in hate. Hate destroys. We are human beings, and when we act other than humane, it is not a good fit. Look around, and one does not have to look far to see what happens when man acts as the beast. Oh, the hurt we bring on ourselves and others when we don't love one another, and love Him that made us.

It has been a rough week, and still rough, but I have prayed for you my friends here, and for our country. God is good, He answers prayers and we will heal.

Morning, Mudge, Slyness, Scotty, and all.*waving* Martooni, thinking of you.

Have a good weekend. Give God some of your time, show your family you love them, and try to get some rest. God loves us so much more than we can imagine through Him that died for all, Jesus Christ. Peace.

Mornin' all...

Sounds like the BPH went off well. But no pics? Scotty, Scotty, Scotty... tsk, tsk, tsk. How am I supposed to live vicariously through all you party animals without pics?

Stella the Bus update: I almost had her running yesterday -- new plugs, points, condensor, cap & rotor and even a new battery -- but no go. Finally got her to start, but then Mrs. M. asked whether oil was supposed to be squirting out all over the driveway. A leak of massive proportions in a spot that will probably require pulling the motor to repair. Grrrrr... Maybe it's time to pass Stella on to a younger person with more patience and time on their hands.

The day wasn't a complete loss, though. Mrs. M's mom agreed to buy me a power washer and paint sprayer if I paint the exterior of her rental house I've been renovating the past several months. I'll do just about anything for power tools. (I wonder if there's a 12 step program for that?)

Cassandra... glad to hear it was only technical difficulties keeping you away. Missed ya.

(btw... made my little slashy tic mark in my notebook last night, so that makes 25 miracles in a row -- not counting all the other ones, big and small, that have been coming my way lately. Life ain't easy, but it's good.)

Peace, my friends...

Quiet boodle porching is nice, I expect. Were plants spoken of?

Good morning Cassandra. I hear birds everywhere. I think that the warmed air makes their spring duties easier. A pair of cardinals moved into the upper Holly Condo. Last time cardinals occupied this apartment, crows in the white oak out back dined on their nestlings. A murder of crows! The crows are making a come back, after the West Nile dip in numbers. I am of mixed feelings, but nature is nature. So it goes.

Rain forest: could that bee be a carpenter bee? The live solo, in wood.

All that food talk last night, courtesy Yoki and buddies, was so delish. Have had asparagus, a spring treat, but have not yet sighted rhubarb. Any day now.

Will drink coffee and look at the the lady tulips. Today, I expect most tulips will open their faces full to the sun. Hey, Martooni, fairies sleep cupped in tulips. I will need a door for their winter abode.

Truly a delightful morning out there! The very picture of spring, as luck would have it! *L*

CP, I believe plants were spoken of.

Tom Fan, martooni, I abjectly apologize.

rain forest... those are carpenter bees. The only non-lethal way to keep them away is to paint the wood -- they'll bore into any exposed wood (even pressure-treated lumber). If you want to keep the wood exposed, there are several products you can spray or dust the area with that will kill the ones who've already taken up residence and keep new ones away. Here's one: http://www.doyourownpestcontrol.com/delta.htm

You are right,CP. It's a carpenter bee. Now you know why I'm not a entomologist.

SCC: an entomologist

the 8:18am was me. I'm deliberately making mistakes so that I can correct and increase my post count.

CP... I hope to get to building magic doors soon but there's a Jackson Pollack Adirondack chair that needs to be finished first.

Morning all.

Much more very welcome rain last night. Spring's "green wave" of tree leaves will find its way to Minneapolis this weekend. Traveling north at about 17 miles a day it will be here in two weeks. Dandelions are on the advance party so many bouquets went home from the school playground yesterday. I bought a bare root peony (Shirley Temple) yesterday and am ready to pot up my tomato, basil, and flax seedlings.

Signs of life in the shade garden. Native sedum up, as well as leaves of a plant I wasn't able to identify last year. Whatever it is, it tolerates transplanting and appears to be a vigorous spreader. When I do make an ID I'll probably also find the warning- INVASIVE, plant in a concrete trough.

You are right martooni. They all look somewhat alike to me - hairy and alittle overweight.

Martooni, the fairies will be fine until the doors appear. They can take up in a carpenter bee hole....glad you are doing so well. Ain't ordinary good?

Rain Forest: So when Martooni gets to Indonesia, he can fix up your place and tour the sights....fun.

Eventually, we boodlers will enjoy a pic of the wildly-decorated JP chair in a deer-free lawn, with the fins of a red Caddy in the background.

I expect Little Bean will be spring-frisky soon. The sap is fully arisen here -- finally! I submit this improbable scene: Saturday before 10 and three 14-year dudes are skate boarding, by choice, rather than sleeping. We have waiting so long for such sun and soft air. I would love to haul a tarp to the front yard (the back is damp and shady), roll up in a quilt, and bath in the sun till my bones unhinge from winter. But, I am already a bit of a character, and my son is starting to wish to be transported, say to Martooni's house in Ohio. Last night, he said, "Mom, can you not sing your show tunes in the car? Whatda' I have to do to trade."

I am contemplating a response. He does his laundry, the trash, dishwasher, etc. His room is already an allergen-free zone. He cannot mow the grass due to pollen-problems. 'Mudge, Yoki? Can I send him to food-boot-camp? I would love a personal chef. Besides, a boy who plays guitar, sports Breck-girl hair, does laundry AND cooks? Such a catch, that man.

Martooni, thanks for the link. Can't get those products here. Have to call pest control.

Would someone who researches the origin of insect names be an entomological etymologist?

I came close to making the BPH, but the schedule thing didn't quite work out. Am still up for a lunchtime BPH at the Tulip Library or elsewhere. Perhaps someplace that serves salmon with asparagus and dill. I hear that rocks.

Today I shall be celebrating spring with yard work. I always start the season filled with giddy optimism as I anticipate the many compliments I will soon receive from envious neighbors over the pristine state of my property.

I suspect pollen makes me delusional.

Frosti -- blue flax, the thin stalks with improbable blue tiny flowers...that dance in the wild?

A field of flax is the most beautiful sight. Some winter wheat fields in MT, back in the day, would be fallowed with such a crop. I had a plant here, but it waned due to heat after two years. I could start one today, plant it the summer and hope for next year! Thank you.

The painted fern croziers are done but the bracken is starting. I don't think they are safe to eat. I better not die this spring....so I won't try them. Rhubarb, o where art thou?

Good morning all. Delighted to hear from Cassandra, and Martooni. 25 days! Would you have imagined, six month ago, how that feels?

And a power washer! I bought one for Himself's Father's Day present two years ago (that's my story, and I'm sticking to it -- it belongs to Himself!). What a fabulous tool. However, it is still too cold to use the outdoor taps, so my power-washing jones goes unsatisfied. The windows are desperate for a good blast, the garage floor is filthy, and my car too. Happy days will soon be here. When we first got it, #2 decided she wanted to power wash for a living.

I was appalled when I entered the command post this morning. Ivansmom and Raysmom did good service trying to haul out all the figurines and doilies, but that Hello Kitty wall hanging is really the limit, and the beaded curtain hanging over the door is over the top.

Because my design sensibility runs more to wood/leather/glass/stainless steel, I've ordered up a little surprise for 'Mudge for when he gets back. The van will soon be here with a large plasma screen HD television, a complete boxed set of all the 007 movies on DVD, a new beer fridge and a leather recliner. Oh, and there is a big pot of chili in the fridge, ready to go into the slow-cooker when Cassandra turns off the lights tomorrow evening. Cassandra, can you remember to start the chili on low?

I heard that Bali in Indonesia is a nice place to visit. I've never been there and don't know if it is safe. After martooni visits Indonesia, he can come to Brunei and fix up my place. I can show him around. If he is the foresty type, I can show him where he could go. Me? The edge of the forest is the furthest I'll go. Not a fan of mosquitoes and creepy crawlies.

RDP;

You were thought of at the BPH, never fear.

Yoki;

You still have time to replace the Bond DVDs with nautical derring-do (Das Boot, Midway, Sink the Bismark!, The Enemy Below, etc.), yanno. I kinda think 'Mudge would prefer those.

:-)

Too right, Scottynuke. Consider it done.

Because their current queen was born in Ottawa and Canadian troops liberated Holland during WWII the Dutch so love Canada that every year they send thousands of tulip bulbs. I'm not sure whether someone decided to plant the tulips near a beer tent or whether the beer tent was raised next to the plantings but when these two elements were brought together the Canadian Tulip Festival was born.
http://www.tulipfestival.ca/en/index.php

CP-it is the delicate blue flowered flax I've started. Even here it is relatively short lived, but self seeds freely. I have a sunny well drained spot which I have named the prairie garden.

I miss winter wheat. The forest is fine but golden wheat dancing in the wind with cloud shadows racing from west to east-that is a thing of beauty. Thank you for reminding me to stop by the Seed and Feed. They will laugh when I only want a handful of this and that-wheat, oats, barley.

Good morning, all.

Scotty, do you think Mudge would appreciate the complete DVD box sets of "McHale's Navy" and "Petticoat Junction?"

bc

SCC: "Operation Petticoat." Dang me.

bc

I don't know, I think Mudge would secretly love to have the DVD set of Petticoat Junction. He always had a thing for Meredith MacCrae.

Would *Waterworld* be considered a nautical film?

I always wanted to have gills and webbed feet.

The Falls Church BPH was great. mostlylurking and her sister are delightful and were excited about seeing their beloved Leon later that evening. mostly's sister has a few boodles of her own, so she was quite at home meeting imaginary friends in a bar in a town far from home.

On a sadder note, have you read the Cho family's statement? It is just heartbreaking. His sister actually names every victim, bringing a completely personal and sincere feel to the apology. I just can't imagine what that poor family is going through and will live with for the rest of their lives.

Yoki, nice shelves. Solid wood, too. I put my incomplete set of paperback Patrick O'Brian _Master and Commander_ series. Do I make ammends for my fipperies and swags, eyelets and shears, pleated chintzes and stenciled geese, etc.

EF -- are the Rita Hay flicks in B/W? How can you tell she is auburn? Remember the first colorized Maureen O Hara flicks? The hair nearly leapt off the screen.

Am digging and trimming, etc. My neighbors wish I was a little more focused on shrubs shapes, etc. Very nice people who dip sans clothing into their hot tub, YET prefer perfect geometrical shrubbery shapes. Perhaps, the hum of the electric trimmer shall commence soon.

That is an excellent point about the Cho family's apology, TBG. It is heartbreaking and sincere. I can't remember ever seeing a family's apology, afterwards, that named everyone.

So much to catch up on, so little time...

Petticoat Junction? Gag. Operation Petticoat? Sure. Always had a thing for pink submarines. Scotty and bc know my tatstes very well.

dr, I'm probably way too late on the recipe problem, but I'd recommend a simple lemon sorbet with two Milano or Mint Milano cookies per serving.

Alternatively, if you want to get your guests nicely blitzed, try a Sgroppino (one per guest, rinse and repeat). In a tall fluted glass place a melon-ball-sized scoop (or two scoops) of lemon sorbet. Add half a shot of vodka. Fill to top with Prosecco (sparkling Italian wine similar to champagne or Asti Spumante--which will also work).

Dave Barry's speech last night was nothing short of hilarious, which of course is what everyone expected and he delivered in his typical consumate fashion. Since this was a room full of 400 editors, he addressed them from the point of view of the writer, with the preliminary remark, "My speech isn't done yet. I'll get it to you in about an hour." It was of course downhill from that.

Then he told the editors there was a classic joke about editors that all reports knew but editors didn't. It went like this: "An editor and a reporter were lost in the desert and had run out of water. They were crawling across the sands dunes, dehydrated and almost dead of thirst. Suddenly on the horizon they see an oasis with palm trees and a pool of cool water. They make it to the oasis and the report jumps in the pool, splashes water in his face, drinks, etc. Suddenly he notices the editor isn't also in the pool. He looks up to see the editor standing at the edge of the pool and urinating into it. "What are you doing?" the reporter exclaims to the editor. 'I'm making it better,' the editor replies."

This pretty much explains the reporter/writer's view of the editor, Barry said.

He talked a lot about Miami and Florida, and was very funny. Of interest to us on the boodle was the large part of his speech that described how he had first come to the Miami herald to work for its then-editor, now our own beloved Gene Weingarten, as many of you already know. Dave told the infamous story of what happened on the day that the new Knight-Ridder executives went to the Miami Herald for a tour. Unfortunately, I'm not sure I can tell the rest of the story on this boodle due to the...um...delicate nature of the central punchline. Suffice it to say it brought the house down.

He also told the anecdote of his now infamous column when he wrote a throw-away line about how Neil Diamond's lyrics ("and no one there...except the chair," etc.) might not have been the world's best. He got a storm of protest letters, which led to a second column and a storm of counter-reaction from people who hated Neil Diamond, and this led to the creation of his book on awful song lyrics.

Prior to Barry's speech, the conference had a day-long silent auction. I bid on a copy of one of Barry's books, with the intention of having him autograph it for me, but I was outbid on it. However, I did win an autographed copy of Carl Hiaasen's "Nature Girl," so asked Dave to autograph it for me, which he very kindly did. In the inscription he wrote: "I did not write this. Dave Barry." Needless to say, a very emotional moment for me. An now I own a book autographed by both Dave Barry and Carl Hiaasen. Maybe I can get both Joel and Gene to sign it, too.

Hey, gotta run.

TBG, DBG -- I felt similarly about the apology. In todays' print WaPo, the word autism was mentioned early in the article. I had flashed on that, as had two friends familiar with Asperger's and the autism spectrum disorders. Now those families cringe about that condition named in the mix.

I hate to use the metaphor, however, perhaps a perfect storm of illness, family stresses, isolation, school pressures, transition to young adulthood, cracks between law enforcement/mental health criteria, tensions between rights and risks, boundaries between privacy and protection....no one factor is to blame.

Perhaps our definitions of adulthood will shift. Perhaps colleges will reconsider the in loco parentis stance that used to guide how we interacted with young adults.

I pray for the safety and comfort of Cho's family.

I am reminded of the embrace of the Amish for the family of the man who shattered their lives.

Dahlia Lithwick of Slate gets it right -- by which I mean, she gets around to agreeing with me on the interpretation of the Gonzales testimony that I formed the instant I heard him speak on Thursday. Far from proving that Gonzales is an incompetent dolt, Gonzales proved that he is willing to placidly accept any amount of abuse and insult in order to protect the Bush administration's internal machinations from interference by Congressional oversight.

http://www.slate.com/id/2164751?nav=wp

I am amused by the contention during the hearings that this shows that Gonzales really is an incompetent and dimwitted manager, rather than a scheming hack. If that were true, then he might actually have the good grace to appear a bit sheepish in repeating his mantra, "I don't recall." No, he recognizes that you can't be charged with perjury for being stupid, but you can be so willfully stupid that you can obstruct investigation. Every scrap of circumstantial evidence, testimony (by Kyle Sampson), and refusal to testify (Monica Goodling taking the Fifth) points toward the conclusion that the firing of the 8 US Attorneys was absolutely and only a petty act of political payback for insufficient willingness to abuse legal power for political gain. These people have no shame. They are scum. I look forward to January 20, 2009.

Very sad, CP. He obviously did not get properly diagnosed for the full extent of his problems until 2005, if even that.

And Tim... the blatant corruption that is known as No Child Left Behind is another reason to look forward to the end of the Bush era.

The horrible thing is how many children have suffered under poor policy because these folks wanted to make money.

Worse than claiming to be a born-again Christian just to be elected president is to claim to be looking out for our children, only to really just help your friends increase their financial worth.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/20/AR2007042002284.html?hpid=topnews

January 20, 2009 feels TOO LONG for me. I say impeach 'em all and move up the elections-- heck, everybody's already running.

>He always had a thing for Meredith MacCrae.
Well I sure did. :-)

CP, the Rita Hayworth pic (the first one at least) was in glorious Technicolor. I really did buy the poster too!

CP, make no amends for the fripperies. We cleaned out the fridge. What's a few fripperies and a little mould between friends I always say.

I found a copy of the Shipping News in the slightly upscale homeless book store on Thursday, and finished it this morning. I freely admit to being entranced. So many people I know have opined that the movie is better than the book, but they are twin sons from different mothers to me.

There is still snow on the deck and the sun is hidden behind some heavy gray clouds. I'll go back to sweater making, warm and heavy, for those cool summer nights and for fall. Home is thankfully, a doily free zone.

Hey all, just got in from outside, had to stop as I had hit the wall. Raking completed, some new plants in, got the first garden store visit in, and have spent most of the morning and afternoon outside in the sunshine and warmth. Noticed the first forsythia blooming today.

I must now sit before I fall over, what ever you weather may be hope you are having a great Saturday.

I had no idea what "fripperies" were, so I did a Google search.

Oh my.

I fear the red blush on my cheeks is not due solely from working in the sun.

I don't know (don't *want* to know) what sites you went to for "frippery", RD, but here's Webster's:

Main Entry: frip·pery
Pronunciation: 'fri-p(&-)rE
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -per·ies
Etymology: Middle French friperie, alteration of Old French freperie, from frepe old garment
1 obsolete a : cast-off clothes b archaic : a place where old clothes are sold
2 a : FINERY; also : an elegant or showy garment b : something showy, frivolous, or nonessential c : OSTENTATION; especially : something foolish or affectedly elegant

Nothing to make one blush, unless one blushes with shame for bad taste! 2b is the most commonly used meaning.

dmd, sounds like a wonderful day. I'm happy you had it!

I've done the math - it turns out that "mass murderer" is not a viable niche!

I know how you feel dmd, a few days ago it was blowing about 25, the thermometer was stuck in the 30's and the rain was coming down sideways. I assumed all the plants would be late to bloom. I cannot believe what happened today. It was as if the rotten weather had somehow energized everything so that the minute the temperature went above 60 and the sun came out, everything burst into leaf or full bud. I thought I was watching a nature show with the time-lapse cameras. "S" has the yard raked and we bought two new shrubs, my daffodils are starting to bloom, just a glorious day. The granddaughters are coming for an overnight visit and we will cook out and eat on the porch.

Martooni, I am so pleased to see how well you're doing. I think of you often and you are in my prayers as well.

re: "After Adopting Term Limits, States Lose Female Legislators"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/21/AR2007042100792.html?hpid=topnews

Well, to slightly misquote Lady Bracknell -- To lose one female legislator is unfortunate. To lose several smacks of incompetence!

My apologies - I don't usually do long quotes, but I really DO like Oscar Wilde:

----

JACK
I have a country house with some land, of course, attached to it, about fifteen hundred acres, I believe; but I don't depend on that for my real income. In fact, as far as I can make out, the poachers are the only people who make anything out of it.

LADY BRACKNELL
A country house! How many bedrooms? Well, that point can be cleared up afterwards. You have a town house, I hope? A girl with a simple, unspoiled nature, like Gwendolen, could hardly be expected to reside in the country.

JACK
Well, I own a house in Belgrave Square, but it is let by the year to Lady Bloxham. Of course, I can get it back whenever I like, at six months' notice.

LADY BRACKNELL
Lady Bloxham? I don't know her.

JACK
Oh, she goes about very little. She is a lady considerably advanced in years.

LADY BRACKNELL
Ah, nowadays that is no guarantee of respectability of character. What number in Belgrave Square?

JACK
149.

LADY BRACKNELL
[Shaking her head.] The unfashionable side. I thought there was something. However, that could easily be altered.

JACK
Do you mean the fashion, or the side?

LADY BRACKNELL
[Sternly.] Both, if necessary, I presume. What are your polities?

JACK
Well, I am afraid I really have none. I am a Liberal Unionist.

LADY BRACKNELL
Oh, they count as Tories. They dine with us. Or come in the evening, at any rate. Now to minor matters. Are your parents living?

JACK
I have lost both my parents.

LADY BRACKNELL
To lose one parent, Mr. Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness. Who was your father? He was evidently a man of some wealth. Was he born in what the Radical papers call the purple of commerce, or did he rise from the ranks of the aristocracy?

JACK
I am afraid I really don't know. The fact is, Lady Bracknell, I said I had lost my parents. It would be nearer the truth to say that my parents seem to have lost me . . . I don't actually know who I am by birth. I was . . . well, I was found.

LADY BRACKNELL
Found!

JACK
The late Mr. Thomas Cardew, an old gentleman of a very charitable and kindly disposition, found me, and gave me the name of Worthing, because he happened to have a first-class ticket for Worthing in his pocket at the time. Worthing is a place in Sussex. It is a seaside resort.

LADY BRACKNELL
Where did the charitable gentleman who had a first-class ticket for this seaside resort find you?

JACK
[Gravely.] In a hand-bag.

LADY BRACKNELL
A hand-bag?

JACK
[Very seriously.] Yes, Lady Bracknell. I was in a hand-bag - a somewhat large, black leather hand-bag, with handles to it - an ordinary hand-bag in fact.

LADY BRACKNELL
In what locality did this Mr. James, or Thomas, Cardew come across this ordinary hand-bag?

JACK
In the cloak-room at Victoria Station. It was given to him in mistake for his own.

LADY BRACKNELL
The cloak-room at Victoria Station?

JACK
Yes. The Brighton line.

LADY BRACKNELL
The line is immaterial. Mr. Worthing, I confess I feel somewhat bewildered by what you have just told me. To be born, or at any rate bred, in a hand-bag, whether it had handles or not, seems to me to display a contempt for the ordinary decencies of family life that reminds one of the worst excesses of the French Revolution. And I presume you know what that unfortunate movement led to? As for the particular locality in which the hand-bag was found, a cloak-room at a railway station might serve to conceal a social indiscretion - has probably, indeed, been used for that purpose before now-but it could hardly be regarded as an assured basis for a recognised position in good society.

JACK
May I ask you then what you would advise me to do? I need hardly say I would do anything in the world to ensure Gwendolen's happiness.

LADY BRACKNELL
I would strongly advise you, Mr. Worthing, to try and acquire some relations as soon as possible, and to make a definite effort to produce at any rate one parent, of either sex, before the season is quite over.

Since nobody's paying attention anyway, I feel compelled to give you the last two lines of that scene.

--

JACK
Well, I don't see how I could possibly manage to do that. I can produce the hand-bag at any moment. It is in my dressing-room at home. I really think that should satisfy you, Lady Bracknell.

LADY BRACKNELL
Me, sir! What has it to do with me? You can hardly imagine that I and Lord Bracknell would dream of allowing our only daughter - a girl brought up with the utmost care - to marry into a cloak-room, and form an alliance with a parcel? Good morning, Mr. Worthing!

[LADY BRACKNELL sweeps out in majestic indignation.]

>I had no idea what "fripperies" were, so I did a Google search.

Robert Fripp?

Bob S. that was great. Thanks.

I promise, I'm finished now!

: )

Error - I definitely remember Mr. Fripp and a certain red-hued "King"!

Bob, I picked up a few of the King Crimson albums last year - well worth it.

20th Century Schizoid Man... In the Court of The Crimson King... they've kept their power across all these years.

Thank you for the Wilde quote, Bob S. The problem quoting "Earnest" is that once you start it's hard to find a place to stop!

Last afternoon's BPH with TBG and Scottynuke representing the regulars was most enjoyable. As usual, we had good food, good drinks, and good company. It was great to meet mostlylurking and her sister and I hope they enjoyed the Leon Russell show and sightseeing in DC today. They had great weather for their trip.

When I googled "cripperies" a site for fancy women's unmentionables called "fripperies limited" came up at the top of the list. So, naturally I assumed that you ladies were leaving exotic lingerie around the bunker.

Not that Mudge would necessarily mind.

SCC "FRIPPERIES" sheesh. I don't even want to know what cripperies are....

RD, I'm with you. I'll leave "cripperies" to the younger (and more energetic) folk.

Rd, Cripperies are fripperies for chaps.

Scottynuke had quite a few catalogs of those lying around before we cleaned the place out.

Likewise "blooderies".

fripperies/Fripp is a great catch. Thanks.

Those King Crimson records are great, Error. There's also a box set from them that was released at least a dozen years ago that was excellent. Don't know if it is still in print.

cripperies - crossdressing members of a gang in L.A.?

Good evening, all.

Herein is a mother's love, that I spent the first nice Saturday of spring peeling wallpaper off the bathroom walls at my elder daughter's condo.

Yes, peeling. With my fingernails. This stuff is definitely not strippable. The good news is that it's a small room; the bad news is that the ceiling is nine feet high.

Slyness - Amongst my many occupations of the past decade-and-a-half, I was a residential house painting kinda guy. "What to do?" with old wallpaper came up from time to time. As you point out, sometimes, it just isn't strippable.

"The Helvetica Medium lower-case 'a' ... is the most beautiful two-dimensional form ever designed. Its luxurious sensual curves are balanced by points of crisp tension. Its lovely counter makes me think of Mozart."

Why is Helvetica praised like this? Certainly no one is singing from the rooftops about Times New Roman. But Helvetica is more than simply a popular typeface. Many consider it the official typeface of the 20th century.

http://www.thestar.com/sciencetech/article/203181

pj, I'm so glad you were able to go and meet mostlylurking -- I think of the two of you as the boodle's music buffs, so it was great that you had the opportunity to chat face to face and give m.l. a good send-off before the Leon Russell gig.

Plus, I'm Achenjealous that you NoVa BPHers now all know what mostlylurking looks like and I don't. I'd been so looking forward to getting a look at her gorgeous mug! (I'm sure she looks FABulous, though.)

[Sorry Scotty -- I don't *really* want to make you feel bad.]

This article indicates how you can identify Arial from Helvetica.

http://www.ms-studio.com/articlesarialsid.html

Now that they show it, that "R" IS familiar.

In the bottom examples of "Rates" you additionally can also see that the Helvetica typeface has the e hook absolutely level with the bottom hook of the s, and the other typefaces don't. Arial looks like the e and s hooks are concave, while Grotesque has them uneven.

I guess the point is that one typeface is designed for simple graphic display with as much symmetry and balance as possible, while the computer typefaces are not.

I use Arial for its blocky clarity at low font sizes, but I much prefer New Times Roman for general appearance.

Fripperies really struck an chord. I also like the word "furbelow':

Word of the Day Archive
Saturday February 9, 2002
furbelow \FUR-buh-low\, noun:
1. A pleated or gathered flounce on a woman's garment; a ruffle.
2. Something showy or superfluous; a bit of showy ornamentation.
QUOTE:
Gilt. Red velvet. Brocade. Flocked wallpaper. Swags, frills, furbelows and ornamentation beyond comprehension. We're talking rococo loco.
-- Liz Braun, "Time Flies When You're Having Fun", Ottawa Sun, April 3, 2000

--
I first encountered the word in the 8th grade musical _Oliver_ I sang the part of Bet, who sang this verse of "It's A Fine Life" (with Nancy, the heroine)

[BET]
No flounces, no feathers
No frills and furbelows
All winds and all weathers
Ain't good for fancy clo'es

---
I am looking around the locker, lounge, and office. So we have a Scandinavian sleek style going? Yoki, you really nabbed some fine pieces. You are ahead of the curve, retro-wise. I hung a non-floral Marimeko wall treatment over 'Mudge's sofa, moving the stuffed moosehead (bc, I think) to the locker room. Last I checked, some silly had placed Rocky-the-Squirrel pilot googles on the moose...next thing you know people will be imitating Boris and Natasha, and referring to 'Mudge behind his back as "Fearless leader."

DR and others: I donated the doilies and assorted fripperies to the activities room at RiderWood Assisted Living. The little ladies and gents look at home amid the Rococo Loco.

Slyness - You are such a good person. I, like, feel your pain. I too have engaged in mortal combat with uncooperative wallpaper. It's like trying to remove a sticky label from a glass jar. And if you choose to paint it becomes even worse. For even the most minuscule remnant of paint will have unholy repercussions.

Your walls will look like they have an infectious skin disease.

CP, thanks for your donation to Riderwood. My aunt and uncle live there. They are quite elderly but it would be a hoot if they saw your handiwork.

Dreamer, it was nice to meet another music lover. Unfortunately, as these things happen, we didn't talk about music! That's okay, though. We can share notes (so to speak) here.

Our last house was 130 years old and its 80 year old bathroom had unstrippable wallpaper. I finally rented a steamer to get it off. Only to find that underneath was old chipped paint and MORE WALLPAPER under that. At first I decided to paint right over the old chipped (firmly adhered) paint. After a few weeks of "name that continent" on the bathroom walls, I couldn't stand it and put on some thick, textured wallpaper which covered it up quite nicely. But really, it looked like a relief map of a different planet, and it was fun, if odd, for a few weeks.

I would Google "furbelow" but after the "fripperies" experience I am kind of nervous.

I mean, we have children in the house.

Slyness,

I can sympathize with the wallpaper. Before my parents sold their house, my dad and I removed the wallpaper from their dining room. It took us much longer to remove the paper than it did to put it up about 25 years earlier. And that's even after someone lent us a steamer to help us get it off. That was such a pain.

PJ -- So many of my friends' parents and aunties/uncles live at Riderwood. My dottirs' dear old piano teacher lives there and plays in the activity room, piano that is.

One dear lady is now in the "double play pen," meaning the ward with two fences on the outside. She has dementia and is an escape artist. For years, she was the excellent secretary/girl Friday for Bobby Kennedy. She constantly talks about his schedule. She types on a typewriter many days, his memos and letters, you know.

I don't see how I will have money to live thusly. I hope I can pull off what my granny and grandda did: mid 90s in their tiny rambler. He exited by stroke, she by heart attack. Quicklike.

A neighbor who is a shuttle-parts chief engineer is sick about the NASA shooting. The man who was killed was Dave Beverly. Among many things said about Mr. Berverly what that he was able to talk to everyone: managers in suits, machinists,astronauts, engineers, cosmologists, starry-eyed kids on tour....he also survived a horrific motorcycle accident a few years back, rehabilitating himself back to work in three months, when docs predicted six or more.

Someone has coined a word for when you goodle two words and get just one result. I have on rare occasions "scored" under 100. Frippery furbelow = 945. Darn those online thesauruses, thesauri?

By the way: Sometimes the answer is, "Paint over it!" Sometimes the answer is, "Steam, scrape, chisel, then refill, then start again!" Sometimes the answer is, "More wallpaper!" And occasionally the answer has to be, "You know, it's time for a new wall" and the semi-serious deconstruction begins!

CP,

My folks are in a similar place to Riderwood. There are people with great stories, like Kennedy's secretary. Many of them are still in good shape mentally, but some of them, unfortunately, are like the dear lady you mention.

I'm with you regarding your last paragraph.

Frosti, A package arrived today, unmarked by sender, that included three Lily speciosum, var. rubrum bulbs. I planted them in a good spot overrun by Vinca minor. I believe they will poke through and be themselves.

A friend walked by with a little red wagon full of Aquilegia babies. Fun to adopt.

RD -- and how are the moonflowers going?

Bob S, can you put drywall or plaster over wallpaper? There has to be something short of knocking the pre-existing wall out...

RD, a furbelow is that skin drape an overweight cat or bunny has below the torso.

You are probably wise not to google the term.

Wilbrod! I am so dense but is that true? It should be!

Wilbrod - Absolutely, you can drywall or plaster over the existing wall. But throwing up new drywall is actually pretty cheap and quick, and tearing down a wall doesn't take very long with people who are enjoying their work!

We will make it true if it's not already true, CP. But I did find a reference (probably joking) to a similar definition.

http://www.katmac.cncdsl.com/AllTheParts.htm

Also, "Fanny Furbelow" is a feline character in this Midnight Louie novel.
http://www.crescentblues.com/2_2issue/indigo.shtml

CP - I have five of them in little pots. They have all sprouted. I am attempting not to worry them to death. I have a spot by my picket fence cleared of weeds and ready to receive new residents. Based upon your earlier posts, I have penciled in Mother's Day for transplant.

I boodled a while ago about how hard it is to have your parent's get old. Fortunately, dementia does not run in my family (insert jokes about my posts here), but I am still dreading what is to come.

SCC: spurious apostrophe use on parent's. I'm tired. My aging muscles are sore from yardwork. And the Nats are losing.

Time to sleep and dream of fripperies.

Both sides of my family tend to be rather long in the tooth, and the occasional dementia hasn't surfaced until late-80's/early-to-mid-90's for those that got that far (which is a bunch of folks!)

Alas, I haven't treated myself well, and I also fear what's to come.

And for those who caught the brief conversation a couple of weeks ago:

Beginning this coming Thursday, I'll have medical insurance!!

('Nuff said!!)

CP-Lilies with a vinca minor understory. I will steal your idea and execute it with lamium standing in for the vinca. Queen Anne's Lace has broken out of hibernation. Love those umbelliferous plants. (Umbelliferous furbelow = 81 google results BTW)

Wilbrod-My first thought about furbelow was that it does seem like an appropriate term for what we call feline udders here at Chez Frostbitten North. All of our cats look a bit bovine in the tummy.

Good for you, Bob. As in very, very, very good for you.

Yes, RD, worry about parents is very real. Especially on opposite coasts. My dad is hale so far but now tends to fish in isolated places and does not tell us when and where. And, he who championed the buddy-system for the wild places! But given how my mom died -- lupus crisis that went on for six months -- if he has a heart attack while fishing and coyotes spread his bones, well, there are worse things. I say this, but when the time comes, such hard work or sudden loss.

Wilbrod: great on the word capture. You are funny, funny, funny.

Check on the moon before bed everyone, as Venus is under a horned moon...here the moon is furry with reflected light....foglike but I am sure that is not technically correct....poetically, right on.

"furbelow fatcat" = 39 hits.

You're seeing a moonbow, CP? Or a halo? Will go look for the moon. Back to the show about what Earth would be like without a moon to anchor its moods. (Answer: not very good- maybe like Mars or Venus).

Frosti - funny,funny on the kittie ventrals. Laminum -- someone here (about 76) calls that Sweet Nancy, which she likes to plant with Busy Lizzie, aka impatience. In the morning, when I am not so bleary, I will type out a love poem about Queen Anne's Lace, and the beauty of imperfect skin....William Carlos Williams....some ibuprofen and bed.

Bob S. -- start now to take care. Yoki would prescibe good food, in small portions. You know the drill. But, enjoy something simple and free every day....nature fits perfectly.

Wilbrod - I left out an answer:

Sometimes, you get to working with a mechanical sander, ya' grinds everything down real smooth, then you start over!

C. Park - Without much conscious volition, my food tastes have started veering toward the healthy over the past decade or so.

Now, I gotta work on a couple of other bad habits!

Sorry about fripperies. It's one of those words grandmothers use. A lovely elegant old fashioned way of saying show off.

Ma Frostbitten, fatalist Finn that she is, wants to be "put out on an ice floe." I have chosen to interpret this as a metaphor. This is the woman who was being taken away from work on a Friday in an ambulance and directing Frostdaddy to fed-ex theater tickets to her cousins she was supposed to meet in NYC. Monday she was back at work with pacemaker installed. I'll start worrying when she no longer remembers more poetry than I've read. I'll say this, she has sisu.

dr - Just last week, I was feeling just a bit highfalutin', apparently, and used the following in a conversation with some co-workers:

"The sheer effrontery of this a**hole leaves me just a tad slack-jawed!"

The response was mixed, and I definitely left a couple of people convinced that I make it up as I go along.

Bob S.-been there. Use flummox and nonplussed on the same day and people will start avoiding you.

sisu furbelow= 3 My lowest score ever!! The boodle rocks for yet another reason.

To follow up on a post by Tim earlier, I have this vision of Republican legislators desperately trying to rid their necks of the desperate grip of the Bush administration as it slowly sinks in the quicksand:

"Bush expressed "full confidence" in Gonzales through a spokeswoman and praised his "fantastic" service, in hopes of quashing speculation that the attorney general would be pushed out. But a wide array of Republicans described Gonzales with phrases such as "dead man walking," and even some White House aides privately voiced hope that he will step down on his own."

"Dead man walking" probably ought to stay off the resume. Maybe Bush was being sarcastic in his use of "fantastic;" as in "unbelievable." You think?

Slack-jawed h