Thursday, August 8, 2013

Monday Stuff On the Way to Other Stuff...Yes, I Know It's Thursday

Exhaustion. Being pulled in several different directions.
     I drove 18 hours Tuesday, starting at 3 a.m. (You have to leave early, to get through Chicago -- rush hour traffic there would drive anyone crazy.) We stopped three times to sleep for 30 or so minute, and pushed on, even through a crazy rain/hailstorm that took up the sky with one big black square, shooting out lightning. We raced around its edge, catching only a few brief showers...but it was close. Really close.
    Being home is wonderful. Having The Mama here is nice, too, if only she'd stop doing the Mom thing. ('Pick up your cup, why don't you put that away, did you know you had a big stain on your shirt?' This said, by the way, after we'd been out in public for quite some time, and I could do nothing about it. 'There's a hole in your pants, I really think you should do this/that/whatever a different way, there's a car pulling out! [muffled shriek].' etc. etc.) She means well, and she's already helped a lot, putting away things and washing dishes. She'll be a big help in the long run...I just need to grow up and handle the variety of comments. (I tend to revert back to the sulky kid who doesn't like to be bossed around. Pathetic.)
     Today is Daughter #2's 27th birthday. She and The Mama are sewing up a Forties nurse's uniform for a costume party this weekend -- but with a Steampunk/Goth twist. (Think gray and black with a bright red cross.) The Mama is one of the best seamstresses I know, so Jess is getting her class from a master.
     Now, if I could only figure out how to get completely caught up on appraising stuff, PAAQT stuff...and somehow put together a nice birthday supper (with presents). Really, really fast.
     Only a few bits this week -- but they're interesting ones. I'll be back talking again shortly.


$53 million in jewels was stolen by an armed robber...at the Hotel Carlton, which was used for the backdrop for Cary Grant's inspirational To Catch A Thief. Talk about film copying reality, or vice versa.

Five things that signal you're watching a Steven Spielberg movie. And they're right on the money, too! I'd add a few more: something happens that is not quiiite normal, and kids (or people with a childlike attitude) are the ones who discover the truly wonderful things.

Some fascinating pieces from Ancestry.com:

Guess what surprise nationality Mario Lopez has?

Vanessa Williams takes a good long look at her family tree, and also finds some surprises therein.

This subject has been of great interest to me ever since the PBS special, African American Lives, hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. that traced famous people's roots. He has another series, Faces of America, that looks just as interesting. (Gates is famous for another less positive incident that led to a beer summit with President Obama...go here for that report.)



"I have always believed that what brings us together is stronger than what pulls us apart. I am confident that has happened here tonight..."
                       President Obama, after the meeting with Gates

Meanwhile:



Hopefully you're having a great week.

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