Is this a.....What Day is This?

So - I have been having some fun this week!  We went to visit family in the Bay Area and then to San Francisco. 

 I am going to share a few pictures today- and that will be that.  

Morning Glory is leaving tomorrow and then life will be back to normal?

My nephew's daughter and Morning Glory in the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park.

Pineapples, also found in the Conservatory of Flowers.

Coffee plant - imagine that!

Some hanging flowers - there were LOTS of those in the Conservatory.  Beautiful place!

And last but not least - a family of turtles crawling up out of a very slimy pond.

Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA.

Trivial Tuesday

My friend Morning Glory has come to visit - so blogs may be few and far between.  Here she is at her recent wedding.  She is dancing the father -daughter dance with her dad.  It was a great party!

As for trivia - let's go Hollywood this week.  More deaths, of course - 

The first was Miss Kitty - Amanda Blake - she played Marshall Dillion's madame girlfriend on Gunsmoke.  She died in 1989 from AIDS, supposedly contracted from her bi-sexual husband.

YouTube - Gunsmoke clip * Chivelry

The second death was Sonny Bono of I Got You Babe fame.  He died in 1998 when he crashed into a tree while skiing.  Watch out, Sonny!

YouTube - SONNY & CHER - I Got You Babe (rare clip)

The final Hollywood death for Trivial Tuesday is that of Ashley Wilkes (of Gone with the Wind fame - Scarlett's crush of many years & Miss Melanie's cousin/husband) real name - Leslie Howard, died in 1943 when his private plane was shot down by German planes in World War II.

YouTube - Scarlett to Ashley: I don't like your Girlfriend

This a lovely montage of the love triangle set to punk - ish music - check it out!

And this, my wonderful virtual friends, is my Trivial Tuesday offering for this week.

Monday Musings

Well - other than being too hot,  the weekend was good.  I spent Saturday on a lake with friends - the non drinking Christan lady kind of friends.  My camera was almost out of batteries so here is the only photo I took - 

Bullards Bar - Nevada County, CA

Looks like a hell-ish kind of place, doesn't it?

And I would like to tell you my recycling story - with photos!

I collect plastic at school - and I had bags of it left from the end of the school  year.  Usually I beg some poor sucker here at the Casa to take it to the recycling center - but I have pretty much gotten everybody (except Joe-Ash) to take one load for me - so it was my turn. 

I sorted it all out - took me awhile in the sun (and you may or may not know how much I do not like being in the sun) - stuffed it in the car and went to the recycling center.

Sat in a car line - kinda cute little place they have - cute stuff - see here?

And after all that sorting work all I got was 39 dollars.  Hardly worth my time - but it  is worth getting all that plastic back to it's mother so it can be remade into more bottles or bags or clothes.

Also Mildrid had another show - 

Mildrid @ Bloom's Coffee on Roseville

and they have their shirts now.  

And of course they had a Myspace all along I just didn't know it - but Hold See told me not to share the link with you.  He wants you to hear the finished project - not the work in progress.

Also - speaking of my sons' music - DanDu has suggested that my blogger friends check out Drinkin at Your Funeral on iTunes.  Feel free to buy a song or two.  Would help out a good cause.  Music!

Apple - Search Results for 'drinkin at your funeral'

And there you have it, my friends!  Monday musings.

See ya on down the road.

Saturday Scavenge - Summer

Summer is hard for Crazy Sunny - Boo Hoo.  I do not like being hot and I have trouble without structure.  When I am off work (not teaching) there is less structure in my life.  I have imposed some structure on myself this summer - I make a to do lists for myself.  I'd have to say this is the best summer I have had in a long time, despite the lack of a summer vacation (traveling).

Despite the lack of a traveling vacation this summer, I have been on Summer Vacation in the past - so I will share a few of my favorite recent summer vacation pictures.

But first I will share what summer sometimes feels like for me.

Sort of like being stuck on Venus.

And here are pictures that represent the better side of summer - vacations -

Mendocino, CA

Columbia River Gorge, OR

And my favorite summer picture - taken at my friends' ranch. 

Ellensburg, WA

So ends my Saturday Scavenger Hunt - and it is still Saturday!

Lebowski Friday (A Tad Bit Early!)

Today's post is probably my last Lebowski post.  I lost the San Francisco photos in a computer crash.  (There is a Fest in San Fran this weekend - but I am not going.)  

I have run out of photos - so sit back and enjoy, what may well be, the last Lebowski Friday!

This is Shut the feck up Donny!  Cutie pie, huh?

This is a beeper dude - I love the beeper dudes.  I was carrying a beeper back then - I can relate!

You can't really tell (click on the photo & you can see clearly), but these guys have beaks and wings ~ Yes, they are the fu##ing Eagles (as in I hate the fu##ing Eagles)  And proud we are of all of them!

And this is two thirds of Autobaun.  They were so cute - it took them awhile to compose themselves - the posture, the facial position.  They were adorable!

See you on down the road.  The Dude abides!  

Thursday's Victory Reports

Hold See's band Mildrid had a show last night at Pistol Pete's.  

It is really a bar, but I guess they needed more business, so they got the shop next to them, put in a pizza oven and viola ~ families welcome!

The show was fan-fecking-tastic.  I kid you not!  Still no Youtube - but OMG - they have arrived. I will share their music as soon as possible.  Instead of the music, I will share some of my experience in photos.

Here is Mildrid - in the flesh:

 

and on Jesse's drum head~

(Caleb photo shopped a picture of Mildred and that is now the band's logo)

This is the bouncer who tried to card me - 

I just stared at him  (probably with my lip curled up -and he then got a better look at me and rescinded his request).  

These are Hold See's friends who asked him, "Your mom is so young, is she 40 yet?"

And since Hold See does not know exactly how old I am, he just told them I was in my 50's. Heavy sigh.  Not that it's not true, but heavy sigh anyway.

And here is Air Horn Guy - he worked the door for awhile.

As for moderation in drinking, I am not sure how well I did on that end - and although I did not have the foresight to take photos of what I drank, I will share with you - Cuervo Gold, three slices of lime, Corona and Negra Modelo (not my favorite, especially since it was not cold enough).  Three drinks, $16.00 with tips.  Good thing I am independently wealthy!  (Not!)

So the band was a hit, people thought I looked much younger than I am (probably 'cuz of the black Lebowski shirt with black flow-ee skirt that I wore), and I didn't get stopped driving home ~ all in all ~ a great night!

Thanks for stopping by!

Wandering Wednesday

I have decided to change the name of Wednesday's post - I am done with Wacko Wednesday (until something else interesting happens on that front).

So as Wednesdays wander into the middle of the week, I will wander into the middle of my post, like a child, like Donny.

It has been a hot week here.  I do not enjoy heat - I am an opposite Seasonal Affective kind of person.  I get depressed in the summer, not the winter.  The winter is a good season for me - but I have never lived where it snows so much that I have to shovel it - so I really don't know winters at all - I realize this.  

Summers have always been difficult for me.  First problem with summer is: - - wait!   I just realized I should be sharing my summer problems on Saturday - the scavenger hunt word is summer - so no more wandering around in summer until Saturday.

I guess I will share a few pictures and then be done with the wandering.  I wonder as I wander.....

This is the cannon on the lawn in front of the Veteran's Hall here in town.  It's good to know that we are protected (on a side street in town, above the freeway).

These are sequoia trees - in the Avenue of the Giants.   We had a picnic here.  I would love to go camping in one of these groves someday.  I haven't been camping since forever ago.  Deep sigh.

This picture was taken on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe.  We climbed down from the road and sat on some very big rocks.  The water was very choppy that day.  The guys and gal went swimming, sunned themselves and drank, while I sat on rocks and took pictures.  The husband and Joe-Ash were back at the rented house sleeping.  

And allow me to add a chicken picture - no Wandering Wednesday would be complete without one.  The ladies are still not laying - but after further research I discovered that it take 6 to 8 months for them to become sexually mature.  I did not remember that from previous chickens.  

And this concludes this week's  Wandering Wednesday post.  Have a marvelous day as you wander through your week!

Trivial Tuesday

Here are some trivial facts you never wanted to know and still don't - 

1.  In 1964 Mark Maples was the first person to die on the Matterhorn at Disneyland.  (He did not follow the rules, stood up and was thrown off.)

2.  Keith Relf of the Yardbirds, was electrocuted in 1976 when he tried to play the electric guitar in the bathtub.

YouTube - The Yardbirds-Shapes of things

Check this video out - I think they were playing in Germany - anyway it gives a face for the name.

Bathtubs, dude.

3.  Howdy Doody has a twin brother named Double Doody and a sister named Heidi Doody.

(Howdy Doody Cookie Jar)

(Heidi Doody Marionette)

He really does have a brother named Double, but I crack myself up!

4.  Here is a trivial fact about me - Crazy4Coens at Raising Sunny - I loved the Three Stooges when I was a kid.  I would rush home from school and watch it whenever I could.  My much older (15 years) brother thought it was bad for me.  Ha!  What did he know?  I turned out just fine!

YouTube - The Three Stooges: Moe larry curly cats in a piano

And there you have it for Trivial Tuesday!  

Is this uh???...........What day is this?

Monday Musings

In consideration of the 40th anniversary of the first USA moon landing, I think I will muse on New Moon Festivals.

In the Old Testament, they celebrated New Moon Festivals.  I started to research it and came up with the verse below :

 

(Num 28:11 NASB) 'Then at the beginning of each of your months you shall present a burnt offering to the LORD; two bulls and one ram, seven male lambs one year old without defect,

I am not up for killing animals (although I do enjoy me a BBQ - I just don't want to kill the meat - which is kinda psychotic and worthy of a blog all its own!), so I guess I will have to make up my own New Moon Festival celebration.

When it is a New Moon maybe I should run outside, hop on one foot and say amen!

(NASA new moon picture - not mine)

But really, what I was going after was having fun with people I like on a regular basis. So maybe New Moon Festivals aren't what I was looking for.  But New Moons are a bit mysterious, aren't they?  And somewhat freaky.  Like there is a chance for a new beginning, which can be a bit frightening.  

This does seem like something to ponder further - so I will work some more on my New Moon Festivals and when I come up with something, I will let you know!

Happy 40th Moon Landing Anniversary to you!

Saturday Scavenge - Obsession

What a word!  Talk about truth in advertising.  Is it just me (and quite surely it could be), but isn't blogging a bit obsessive?  I think all week about what I'll do for the Scavenger hunt.  If I have time, I check my email throughout the day to see if anyone has commented on anything.  I talk about blogging when I'm not blogging.  Shessh, I've got to find a new interest.

This first photo is a fragrance by Calvin Klein.  The first Calvin Klein fragrance was Obsession. I have worn Klein fragrances since then.  My latest Klein fragrance is Secret Obsession.  It smells like Obsession with a hint of Hawai'i - perhaps ginger.

What about America's obsession with stuff?  We gotta have more stuff.  Even in this economic climate, advertisers are still calling out to us - you gotta have our stuff!

This is a print ad for Fry's.  I have only been there once and swore I would never go  again.  When I was there I bought a load o' crap, including a tiny live fish in a tiny fish tank for my office (back when I had one).  The fish died right away.  The printer and the home theater sound system are still in operation, though.

The next picture has to do with crafting.  I don't do anything half way - so here is a bag of yarn - one of those big bags they give you when you have purchased a load o' crap - full of yarn and strips of knitting that I am making into a blanket.  I don't know who I am going to give it to, but I like giving people things I have made.  It's like a legacy.

And scrap booking - OMG - what can be more obsessive than scrap booking ? - Again this is all about me - I am sure there are others who can scrapbook without obsession (actually, not really - but what do I know?  I look at and process everything through my own brain - so I am allowing for system mistakes and saying - oh yeah, there are those who can scrapbook without being obsessive).

I have shared this picture before, but am sharing it again because it is a good example of a combination of two obsessions - paper and material.  I covered Joe-Ash's scrapbook - which contains within lots of paper - with material.  In this photo you will also see a tablecloth and napkin that I made with material that I purchased.  (JoAnn's is my new Fry's)

Okay - I am a purchasing junkie - this I see clearly now, thank you Ananda Girl.  Looking back on all that time we spent at the mall buying books and albums, I should have known.....   

Now I have to get obsessive about moderation (and fitness and writing).  

Thanks for the new objective!

Happy Scavenger Hunt to you.  I can't wait until our next obsessive outing!

Lebowski Friday

And a good Friday to you, sir.

Today, as promised, I will share the winning costume for the Lebowski Fest in LA in 2007.  And the winner is, I Am the Walrus - seen here with my husband, Marty Ackermann.  He wasn't even really a Walrus - the costume was actually a beaver (I think he added the face piece). Given how the Coens are pretty relaxed when it comes matching the actual animals to what they are called - eg ferret for marmot and terrier for fecking Pomeranian - having a beaver win for a walrus actually makes perfect sense.

The second picture for today is the bumper sticker that I proudly sport on my car - here showcased by my son, Hold See, on the left and Drinkin at Your Funeral fiddler and harp and vocalist (he has grown musically in these past years), Herpes, on the right.  (Just to let you know - I do not normally condom the purchase and consumption of cases of beer, but we were on vacation - celebrating the 3 August family birthdays, and who am I to smash others' vacation joy?) 

I really wanted to put - "I'm sorry I wasn't listening" - on my car (I own the bumper sticker), but I thought that would bad, MUM-K? to have on a teacher's car that students walk past everyday.  Not the best representaion of my professional expectations!  (But actually true of me on a personal level - auditory processing is my least favorite way of garnering information - and I do have a story about using that phrase - I'm sorry I wasn't listening - that I will share next week.)

Last, and certainly not least, for this Friday's installment of Lebowski Friday is a family picture with Liam - as in "Liam and me, we gonna f*** you up."  Joe-Ash asked him to do his dance - and he did!  I cannot tell you how much fun it is to see Liam at a Lebowski Fest.  It sounds pretty ho hum, but when you are there and see Liam in the flesh - well, it is numero uno exciting!  (BTW - my current profile picture is Liam's son - or so the rumor was - dressed as the Dude's landlord doing his dance cycle.)

Stay tuned for next's week's installment of Lebowski Friday.  

Is there a Ralph's around here?

Ananda Country

The state of California, in all their wisdom, yesterday granted me a clear credential to teach Special Education.  To celebrate I would like to share some photos that I took last summer.

And a good day to you, sir.  (Larry, you're killing your father)