Cerulean Time Travel

From Hampshire to Derbyshire, Highclere Castle to Kedleston Hall... Highland Park Ford Plant to
100 Renaissance Center... we use our particle accelerators to access cerulean time travel.
Oh dear, I think I'm getting things all mixed up by watching 'Real Steel' last night.

Downton Abbey has more cerulean wallpaper than... Kedleston Hall?
Hard to say!
Robert Adam forged decorative motifs in repeat patterning as evidenced by the sofa for Kedleston Hall, which, also, has coordinating wallpaper behind it. 'Robert Adam (1728-1792), approached decorating with the concept of an interior and its furnishings as a coordinated whole.' (exerpt from essay 'History of Interior Design.')
Downton Abbey, set in time... over 100 years later than 'Adam style,'  borrows a current trend... 100 years into the future,... of the setting of the show which begins in 1912,... of coordinating fashion and interior design.
Time travel borrowings is the currency of being 'in step.'   
Simmy had been perusing the time worn treasures at the Dutch Dime Store when she spotted a shock of blue velvet drapery. She had inspected the drapes for damages and, amazingly, they were intact.
'Just the thing for my 'Downton Abbey' crush,' she murmured.
After two rounds in the washing machine, the dryer lint was respectably coloured to suggest, Ahem!, that these beauties had never been washed.
A piece of cerulean satin became the cover for a cushion and the damask chair, circa 2010, was a current showpiece of ancient damascus or damask.
Now, that brings us back to the future movie 'Real Steel' where damascus steel morphs from sword to robot in choice of weaponry. Shining blue eyes glow through da mask of the robot called 'Atom.' Born futuristically, we must use our mental particle accelerators to enjoy the 'Atom smasher.'
So,... a very strange world of time travel we live in,... yes?
Like I said, 'Time travel borrowings is the currency of being 'in step.' Quote by El

Mama is Fancy

Simmy needed to pick a vase for the flowers she had made for her mothers' 80th birthday. She tried this and that but nothing seemed right.
Then she tried a big, chunky crystal vase... she snapped a few photos and then, nodded slowly as she uploaded the pictures.
Yes... that was Fancy.
She replayed Rainy Day People and oldest construction son said, "Could you turn that down a little? You've got music playing upstairs and downstairs."
Simmy chuckled as 'The Best of Tchaikovsky' mingled with rainy day people don't talk they just listen till they've heard it all.
That was a perfect depiction of Mamas' personality... she listened... and she was a very formal woman so the two pieces of music, together, were a really good synergy.
Simmy looked at the wall behind the floral vase and chuckled. It was marred and scarred from the rambunctious behaviour of raising sons. That would never have been allowed in Mama's house. Things needed to be kept nice and hands were to be kept off the walls. That way you didn't have to wash them as often.  
Yes, Mama is fancy!

The Last Time I Saw

...Paris was a song that was released in 1940. It was composed by Jerome Kern with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II.
Joni James sings a version that is sweet and clear. Unhurried, her voice is as pure as a perfectly cut diamond.
As Simmy read the email, telling of the death of a woman... Simmy had only one conversation, ever, with this lady, and yet,... tears welled up in her eyes as she remembered... Mae.
The last time Simmy had seen this lovely lady, Mae, she had been wearing a summer yellow dress, sitting in the living room of Simmy's brother. A glass of wine gently cupped in her hand as she conversed with family and spoke of her diagnosis. A lovely, ageless aura was her blessing, so becoming she was in that... gentle summer yellow dress.
And so, I remember her that way...

Cape Diamond Rose

Simmy put the finishing touches on the 'Cape Diamond Roses' that she was making for her mothers' 80th birthday.
'Not bad, not bad at all,' she said as she looked at the collection of faux roses that she had been making this week.
Jacques Cartier thought the glittering Cape Diamond to be a treasure trove of diamonds but, alas, he found it was only quartz.
So, Simmy was hoping the fake roses would also be a good enough semblance to pass for the real thing.
 

'Navy Lady' Rose

Chapter 42...
Date: March 8, 2010
Location- CFB ( Canadian Forces Base) Esquimalt
and Grandma Tilley's house
'Grand-mama, what are you getting all dressed up for?' Mattie asked her Grandmother.
'Well, today is a very special day, Mattie.'
Grandma Tilley sat down on her bed to put on her freshly polished serviceable black shoes.
Mattie quickly knelt down and handed Grandma one of the shoes. While she watched Grandma place the shoe horn into the back of the heel, she asked, "What's so special about today?"
'Well, your Great- grandma was something we call a WREN. During WWII the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service were a feisty bunch of women who volunteered to go to England for about, oh, 3 years or so. We went to help fight in the war.'
'Woah, I didn't know that,' Mattie's eyes looked as round as saucers.
'Do you know that your name and mine are really the same name?'
'Tilley and Mattie are the same name?'
The young 8 year old forehead furrowed into a puzzled look. 'Are you sure?'
'Oh yes, dear. I'm very sure. The proper name is Mathilda and it means mighty in battle,' Grandma Tilley pushed her other foot into the shoe and before she could lift her head up, little Mattie butted her forehead against Great Grandma Tilley's and said, 'We're warriors, Grandma!'
'Yes, we are, lovey!'
Grandma sat up and patted the bed next to her and Mattie didn't waste a second as she jumped up and looked into the handsome, strong face of Tilley.
'I think we have time for a little story before we have to go to the planting of the rose bushes. It was 1942...'

'Navy Lady' roses were planted at CFB ( Canadian Forces Base) Esquimalt in March of 2010. The rose bushes were planted to honour the Canadian women who served in the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service. These WRENS played an active part in the fight against the Axis forces in WWII.

Collaborator or Cohabitator

Mug gift from a sister

..anthropology or anthropologie? birds or byrds? pedigree or pedigree?
Well, I just can't get away from reading about Charles Eugene Bedaux... in Americans in Paris. I pinball from occasional feelings of respect, begrudgingly acknowledged, to disparagement to what would any of us do in situations of war... to... coming up with adjectives to describe this man.
Socially, he and his wife Fern were quite willing to do things that placed them in a separate category of intrepid?, outrageous?, behavior.
Bedaux the explorer, started an expedition in Edmonton, Alberta that was to cross the British Columbia wilderness. It is said that the expedition was partially a publicity stunt, as a movie was being made along the way. Hollywood cinematographer Floyd Crosby,  went along on this expedition.
Floyd Crosby is father to David Crosby of singing groups:
The Byrds, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, and CPR.
During WWII, it seems that Bedaux did not look upon anyone as an enemy, per se. Every person and situation seemed, to him, to be... an opportunity.
Born in Paris but buried in United States, where did his loyalties lie? He committed suicide, while awaiting trial for treason... and, ultimately, only he knows the reason.
Rogue Valley roses sells a climbing rose called the Pompon de Paris and says it was introduced in 1939.

I wonder which countries, that Bedaux mingled with, consider him to be a rose and which ones, a thorn.

  The folksy song 'Teach your Children Well' belted out its message as Simmy created the fabric rose (above).

Follow the Money

Today is a 'grey or gray area' day.  I crafted this flower and then put it on a black fabric, for display, so it would stand out nicely. Really works well, doesn't it?
Wikipedia is staging a black- out protest to oppose the SOPA and PIPA bills.
Any correlation?
BBC news has a good interview that is worth watching, and or, reading at...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16604990
Most people would agree that pirating is wrong. So, as one individual who uses the internet and also offers a personalized form of information, currently for free, I would love to see a list of pirating sites that have caused all this hooplah.
I try to give credit where credit is due and put links to websites where I have found information that I have used. This, then, serves to place accountability on me and the website where I have gathered information.

One way that people can make money, on the internet, is through advertising. I was approached by a very large and wealthy on- line e- commerce company and asked to create a little advertisement for them. In the self- crafted ad, I was required to put a link to their website... in two different places.
In return, I was offered a $30 voucher to spend in any of their on- line stores.
Well, I decided to do the ad, just to see how it would go, what I would learn, and if I would do it again.
I put my best foot forward; created what I thought was a very good artistic ad; was rewarded by a few good words of compliment; and sent a voucher via email for $30. I did not use the voucher because, at that time, I did not have a separate mailbox address to send the item to and I did not know how much money I would be on the hook for with shipping costs, which were my expense.
A few months later, the same company asked me to do another one. This time they were offering $20. I said, 'Last time you offered me $30.' Response- 'Okay, you can have $30.'
After thinking about it for a few days, I decided not to do it.
A short time later, this same company, that is now moving toward being a multi- billion dollar company, contacted me and asked if I would like to have a button placed on my blog so my readers could just click it and enter their world of shopping.
I asked what the incentive would be, for me, if I were to agree to this.
'Well, some of our bloggers are asking if we could do this for them and they want it,' was the response.
That was a rather weak answer. I declined the offer.

Why would I advertise for someone who is supremely wealthy and successful if they are not paying me to bring more attention, vis- a- vis, business to them?
Was it a business transaction I was being offered?
Was the company asking for a favor?
Was the company thinking that their great wealth would make me desire to have their logo on my blog just so people could see who was attracted to my site?

I can only guess at the reasons why... motive often remains hidden. An interesting thing has happened, repeatedly, since that first offer from the multi- million dollar company. Many small and larger companies have also contacted me, hoping to place an ad on my blog. Not one of these other companies offered any remuneration. When I asked questions about remuneration, more than one of these companies used 'belittling' verbiage to try to put me in my place?; let me know I'm really not that important?; bully me into saying 'yes.'
I cannot know what they are thinking when they give me an offer...
'Look, here's a blog with no ads and almost no followers... she'd be an easy mark. Send her a request.'
'This person hasn't even had anyone offer to place an ad on their blog. We can get this for nothing.'

I'm only surmising... I don't know what people think when they email their offers to me... but I do know one thing...
a law is a double- edged sword of justice...
one edge is meant to protect the innocent- those who cannot protect themselves;
... and the other edge is meant to punish wrongdoers who are benefiting from their own wrongful actions.

Jimmy Wales- '...we should come together in a peaceful, thoughtful way to craft legislation that actually carves out the real problems here and avoids burdening everybody else. For me, one of the biggest issues here is the question of 'follow the money.' If we can look into 'who are these major criminal pirates? How are they profiting and so forth... Go after the money... don't go after freedom of speech...'

Michael O'Leary- '...everybody who plays a part in the internet has a responsibility in making it safe and legitimate.' 'There are literally tens of millions of American workers who are harmed by piracy and they deserve some of the attention and response that they're, frankly, not getting in this debate.'

Here is a possible solution- "Find the people who stole what wasn't theirs, require them to make financial restitution and give this financial restitution money to the people from whom it was stolen."
Don't tie everything up in court, for years, paying lawyers endlessly, so that there is no money left for the ones who did the work but didn't get the pay. That would be piracy of a similar nature.

License to Drive

Simmy had just poured herself a cup of coffee when the phone rang.
'Hello?'
'This is the dental office calling. Sam has an appointment at...'
Simmy tuned her out and when she stopped talking, she said politely, 'Thank you. Have a lovely day!'
She hung up the phone and replayed the telephone call from 'Horn' the day before.
'Hello?'
'Vat are you doing?' The Dutch accent was firmly in place.
'I'm making flowers,' Simmy answered simply.
'I thought you would come here today to drive us to the grocery store."
There was silence on the line as Simmy tried to decide what to say... it wasn't their weekend to come out; it wasn't even weekend anymore, it was Monday; she thought...
'No, no, you don't have to come,' he said when the silence became too long. The happy laugh gave him away.
'Didn't Mom call here last week to tell us you got your license back? She hung up and didn't leave a message but I got an email later that said you passed your drivers' test.'
'Yes, that's right! You know, I just told the examiner that if I didn't hear everything right, it was just because my hearing aid was acting up. He said, 'Oh, don't worry! My Dad lives in Texas and he is always complaining about his hearing aids too. He's about your age.'
'Did you pass your parallel parking too?'
'Yes!'
'I was a little worried about that part,' Simmy said.
'I wasn't because I read in the book that you can have 3 chances... so I wasn't worried about it. I bumped the curb the first time so I had to try again but I made it the second time.'
'That's really good,' Simmy replied.
'You know what he said to me when we were going to go back in to the building? He said I should make my face look very sad when your Mom and Aunt saw us.'
Simmy laughed, delighted that the examiner had been willing to make the whole experience a positive one.
'And?'
'Well, the examiner couldn't even keep it in and he laughed and gave it away,' Horn said.
'I was going to make you a card with an old man sitting behind the wheel of a car with a big grin on his face,' Simmy suggested.
'That would be nice,' Horn said diplomatically.
'We'll see you for the big party in two weeks then,' Simmy said with a chuckle.

Simmy hung up the phone and relayed the story to Sam... who laughed as well.
'Well, at least things turned out better than that 1988 movie... I'm just not in the mood to bust the old guy out of prison for illegal driving. You get your teenagers through all that driving stuff just in time to do it all over again for the old folks.'
Never a dull moment with sandwich generation hoo- hah.

Winter Songbirds

Sam and Simmy went cross country skiing for the first time on Saturday. The softly fallen snow had put down just enough padding to cover some of the ice and it was necessary to get out and try to enjoy some winter. There were dogs, dogs, and more dogs being given the chance to run and play. As usual, Sam and Simmy were informed, multiple times, by some dog owners that their pets had never seen skis before and so found them very interesting. It was kind of funny to see this bassett hound try to get on the back of Sams' skis. I guess Loretta the Bassett hound wanted to have a little ride. Loretta was wearing mitts on her ears that were adorned with two pink heart barrettes.

It was funny!
The songbirds were busy getting into the bird feeders and it was delightful to watch them. They move lightning fast and can really give one a happy feeling just watching them.
Even though the sun wasn't shining, all the animals seemed quite happy in the park.
The black- capped chickadees sang the sweetest song as they darted from the sunflower seed bird feeder to the trees.
There was no indication that they had any worries at all.

Efficiency Expert

... a colourful millionaire.
There had been a lot of change going on where Sam worked. A few months ago he had come home grumbling and complaining that the efficiency expert had been in town and implemented a whole lot of new rules. These rules were meant to tighten up timelines of productivity so that the bottom line would look a little better.
Ah, Charles Eugene Bedaux lives on... sort of...
In Mt. Auburn Cemetery, inspired by Paris' Pere Lachaise Cemetery, he rests now.  The Egyptian Revival Gateway, on Elm Avenue, has Ecclesiastes 12:7 inscribed on it and the irony is that... the preceding verses of Ecclesiastes are all about... "In old age, your body no longer serves you so well.
   Muscles slacken, grip weakens, joints stiffen.
   The shades are pulled down on the world.
   You can't come and go at will. Things grind to a halt.
   The hum of the household fades away.
   You are wakened now by bird-song.
   Hikes to the mountains are a thing of the past.
   Even a stroll down the road has its terrors.
   Your hair turns apple-blossom white,
   Adorning a fragile and impotent matchstick body. (The Message)

I have a suspicion that the scientific management, also called Taylorism probably didn't account for the above problems.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_management- 'Early decades: making jobs unpleasant...'
Reading the outcome of the experiment in Watertown... the Senate banned these methods until a more reasonable alternative was sent back into the factories to test again.

It is now 2012 and we are still dealing with efficiency experts and their methods... and yes, it is still making employees hostile to management... just ask Sam.
I suppose it would be ever so much more helpful if the ones making the scientific rules were first to try to adhere to them... be the test pilots, so to speak.

In a little experiment of my own, I try to make things, instead of just buying them and I have found that it opens up a brand new or is that new brand of empiricism. The experience becomes rationalism as I work. Idealism fades away. Historicism becomes personal.
Your experience is the evidence.
Working on making the flowers (above), I found I had to find the best way to make them... faster... if I was to try to sell them and earn a meager living... which I have yet to experiment with.
The first one took half an hour to make. At minimum wage (in Canada), I would have to ask $6 for one flower (just wages and material), without tabulating overhead costs such as a 'studio' and the cost of running it, and the cost of shipping, advertising, et cetera, etc., etc.
Any takers?
...or should I just work faster?
Check out the 'I love Lucy' show entitled 'Efficiency Expert!'

Uncertainty New Certainty

'Uncertainty is the new certainty.' Governor Bob McDonnell says in his 2012 State of the Commonwealth Address.
Rightly spoken... we concur.
This uncertainty can bring about mental depression in any leader... page 62 'Americans in Paris' by Charles Glass... 'Mental depression did not impede Bedaux's characteristic passion to get things done.'
FYI- He made millions as an efficiency engineer.

'Bedaux blamed the collapse on the people (of France), rather than its politicians and military officers, for being 'slothful and unbridled and in need of discipline and organization.'

Do you think he ever tested his 'efficiency' ideas on himself or just others?
I don't think it is normal to be able to 'get things done' while suffering from mental depression... but,...

it is sometimes possible. 

Another quote from Governor Bob McDonnell in his 2012 State of the Commonwealth Address.

'We serve all Virginians when we run a wise and frugal government, defend individual rights and the rule of law and care more about enacting good policy than making a good quote.'

Ironically, that is a good quote and something each of us wants to hear from our leaders... and then, as the next statements of the speech unfold, we want the proof that they, too, are walking the walk and not just talking the talk.

Another quote from Governor Bob McDonnell in his 2012 State of the Commonwealth Address.

'The budget does not raise taxes. Rather, it forces state government to set priorities, live within its means, and plan for the future, something I wish our federal government would do.'
That is a statement everybody would love to hear... and see happen.
Now, the next couple of statements asking for large sums of money for contingency funds for when the federal government cuts state funding for ( what is yet to be disclosed), kind of nullifies the previous statement. Doesn't it?
This is what I'm hearing... 'We want the federal government to live within a 'sharpened pencil' budget but, because we get some of our money from them, we need, as a state, to find that money (when they stop giving it to us), Ahem!, once again, from you, the lowly taxpayer so we, Ahem!, don't have to trim anymore of our personal spending.
'Don't forget, 'The budget does not raise taxes.'
Whew!
Well, a few paragraphs later, Governor McDonnell asks the people to put 30 million dollars into mental health.
'We are now moving forward with the statewide adoption of care coordination.'
Redeeming himself, let's hope that care coordination works as well as it sounds.

Dream Attitude

Just nine hours earlier, Simmy had been reading 'Americans in Paris...', before bedtime.
She heard a skirmish outside with the neighborhood dogs... lots of barking. She had ignored it and kept reading. It was the outdoor doggie doo-doo ritual that each neighbour performs before nightfall to ensure that doggie don't do anything nasty in the house at night.
Barely twenty minutes after falling asleep... Simmy awakened from a bad dream... she got up and went to look out the front window. The wind had picked up and there was a van paused at the end of the street... that didn't need to be there.
Moving the drapes, deliberately, Simmy made sure said van would know that the neighborhood watch was on duty. Not five seconds later, the van drove away... 'Hmm, don't think they belong in the neighborhood,' Simmy mumbled.
The dream had been a bad weather one and she looked to see if their tree was still standing upright on the front yard. It was! She went back to bed but it took a while to get back to sleep.
At 5 a.m. Sam got up and half an hour later, so did Simmy.
"I woke up at 3 a.m. with very unsettled feelings," Sam said.
"I guess that was your watch. I was up shortly after we went to bed. Bad weather dream."
After Sam went to work, Simmy tried to set up the photo op for the day. One of the julep cups full of roses got bumped off the fireplace mantel spraying water droplets all over the micro fiber sofa.
The 'attitude sign,' she was taking a picture of, arched its eyebrow as if to say, 'How are you going to handle it?'

With unhurried aplomb she gathered the roses and plopped them on the mantel without the vase. Then she dotted the 'i' by balancing the polyhedron star in between the mocking eyebrows... 'C'est la guerre,' as Bullard says on page 59.
The war to master self gets up early and stays up late... all in the battle to develop a dream attitude.

Pen and Ink

"... but I would rather not trust them to pen and ink." 3 John (NT of The Jerusalem Bible)
There are things that should not be said... and, reading the above scripture... there are things which should not be written.
What and whom do we trust? I think it is a good idea to develop 'anti- gossip' strategies. Now, there are rag mags that do nothing except print gossip and they have such a large customer base that... we cannot deny... there must be a lot of people who love to read or listen to gossip.
Have you ever met someone and said to yourself... 'Wow! That person is real!'
Now, how do you know they are real?
I'm guessing that everyone has met enough people who are not real to know the difference.
First, I think we need to agree that gossip is:

• lies disguised as truth
• rumor or talk of a personal, sensational, or intimate nature (the free dictionary)
• trivial chatty talk or writing (the free dictionary)
• a person who habitually spreads intimate or private rumors or facts (the free dictionary)

This blog is not for those who enjoy gossip. It is for those who want to live in a 'gossip free zone'... which is very different from a 'free gossip zone.'
I'm going to borrow a history list from 'RealPlayer' to demonstrate a reasonable system for running a 'rumor' through a test in order to decide if it is worth putting into an inform...ation file.

• developers
• initial release
• stable release
• preview release
• development status
• operating system
• platform
• available in
• type
• license
• website                                                                                                         

Exercise: Apply this 'RealPlayer' history list to the first rumor that you hear this week.
1. Who were the developers of the rumor?
2. Where was the initial release? ( i.e. coffee room at work; text message; telephone call; media...)
3. Was it a stable release? (i.e. were the developers angry or emotional when the rumor was released?)
4. Was the rumor run through a preview before it was released? (i.e. a think before you act kind of system)
5. Development status? (i.e. text to text; phone call to phone call; whisper to whisper; has it grown larger as it spreads? )
6. What is the operating system of the developers or even the person you/ I heard the rumor through? (i.e. are they trustworthy? Do they have a reputation of being part of the rumor mill? )
7. What platform was used? (i.e. political?...get it out there as fast as possible; ask a few questions instead, first. )
8. Is the rumor available in anybody's language? (i.e. is it being spoken in a public platform in a foreign language? no translator present? )
9. What type of information is it? (i.e. something personal? maybe not my business... something world effecting? maybe my business )
10. Does the developer of the rumor have the license to speak on the subject? (i.e. my girlfriend once apologized to me... after a fierce and short debate about something Biblical... saying, 'I should never even have said anything. I was speaking to someone who has done so much studying in this area and I have not.'
11. Should a rumor be posted on a website? (i.e. run through the list again and by the time you can satisfactorily answer each question...
you will know if the rumor is from a real player or if the person is just a real player... and, ironically, what you or I do with it also proves whether we are a real player or just real players.
Information should come with a sticker...
                                                  Handle with care!

Kittens and Mittens

... whose in charge anyway?
The weather outside was stunningly beautiful! It was a no mittens required kind of day. As Simmy was just finishing an hour long walk, she noticed a neighbor working outside taking down Christmas decorations. There was a flash of movement and Simmy saw their cat nimbly climb a ladder and sit on top as if he owned the place. Obviously, they weren't the only people in this fine neighborhood whose cat was trying to rule the roost... challenging them for authority.

It had been a bit of a hairy night for Sam and  Simmy, as well, because their cat was thinking that the unseasonably warm temperatures meant that he could go play outside... at 3 a.m., 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. Well, that didn't go over quite so well with Sam and Simmy.
It is always funny to see life's little annoyances from the other side of the fence... so to speak... but, not always so funny when it is your own little authoritarian kitty challenging you.
The cat went and sat down right by those little letters... he'll do anything to try to be good.
Oy!

The Old Abbey

... headquarters helped to set the table as Sam and Simmy gave their first dinner party of the new year. Oldest construction son had told Simmy to ask for something really expensive at Christmastime.
So... with hesitant shyness... unsure of what qualified for really expensive... Simmy asked for some glasses by Villeroy and Boch. Now, there is a company steeped in history.
"With the acquisition of the former Benedictine abbey in 1809, Jean-François Boch laid the foundation stone for progressive ceramic production in the region. Since 1842, the Old Abbey has been the main headquarters of the international group."  This quote taken from the following website...
http://www.villeroy-boch.com/en/afr/home/the-company/discover-villeroy-boch/place-of-interest.html
As she set the table, the Kerios roses were a lovely, vibrant, fresh, real (real flowers are my favorite), addition to all the German offerings.
Even the wine, brought by the guests, was of German origin... Simmy loved Riesling so it was definitely a well received gift.
Deep appreciation for the work of many hands can come from a simple investigation of the origins of... crystal, roses, and wine.
Kerio is said to be the rose of Kenya but the strong German accent in this little youtube video is a bit of a surprise... http://www.batianflowers.com/
... so, the evening was a very German dinner party... all around...

... but the key to a good time is the conversation.

Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves

Simmy was a little bored so she decided to send construction son a text in German. This is how the conversation went... please forgive any errors.
simmy- 'Hast du deine arbeit fur diesem tage fertig gemacht?
Simmy waited impatiently but when no reply was forthcoming...
simmy- Ru good?
There was still no reply so...
simmy- ?
Finally, she received a text back...
construction son- 'Yes we are done for the night.'
To which she replied...
simmy- 'That is exactly what I asked u. Ur german understanding is great.'
construction son- 'I guessed a couple of the words then I just copied it into my translate app.'
simmy- 'U cheated. I am just brushing up on my German for when Rammstein comes in may.'
construction son- 'Haha that's funny.'
simmy- 'U don't think I can afford the tickets either, huh?'

This little round of 'gotcha one- upmanship' ended there. Construction son was either not sure that Simmy was considering going to the concert or she had just been better at her comebacks.
Truth be told... Rammstein was not going to be any poster image Simmy had a strong appreciation for, sorry guys,... but, in an odd way they had been some inspiration for the scene she was currently writing for her novel... in a
Then and Now space- time reversal... or is that parallel?
Glass writes in 'Americans in Paris'... (1942?) 'Miss Baker smuggled documents out of France between the pages of her sheet music...'
Now, Simmy was thinking that Rammstein could be that group... (2012) their presentation was definitely one of a bold nature... and who really wants to rifle through the valise to see if all that pink phallasy is a fallacy?
Beware the snake oil salesman...


Answer to yesterdays' puzzle-
snakeskin shoes

Eden Project

Today's Puzzle- Guess what the picture is!

Mega Engineering aired a program called 'Dome over Houston.' The scientific information in this program is, of course, based on past historical design/ invention... Buckminster Fuller's geodesic dome... of which, he likely got some ideas from Da Vinci.

My favorite quote from the one hour episode is by George Elworthy, Eden's Phase Five Director of the Eden Project in Cornwall, UK... "To build the Eden project, we had to build a building to build a building."

I love science. I always have. It is exciting! When an experiment worked... in Grade 11... I thought, 'How absolutely marvelous and exciting!'
Science is all about experiments... always has been... always will be. Now, scientists already know how the earth works to keep us all alive... to live another day.
In a small irony, the Eden Project was used as a filming location for the movie 'Die Another Day' starring Pierce Brosnan as 007.
And really, if we all admit it, the project is designed to see if it would actually be possible to die another day... postponing the inevitable for all mankind...
or, at least, the people inside the 'Dome over Houston.'
Now, I got a very uneasy feeling as I watched this program. Let's say, just for vanity sake, that the project could work.
Question- Who gets in and who stays out?
When that category 5 storm that is seen on the horizon... is looming over said Eden, will there be people desperately trying to get into this city and will they all be allowed in?

Somehow, it doesn't seem like a social architecture project... does it?

Question- If it takes years to build it... if there should happen to be an unforeseen problem... when that problem arises (always remembering that the problem the dome is meant to fix is the destruction left by a category 5 hurricane), so the problem may arise during the storm, ... who would be brave enough to get inside one of those handy little dirigibles, during the storm, and fly outside the dome to fix something...

Would you need the hardy survivors, who have been left out in the storm, to rescue you? Is it likely that the social behaviour of leaving them out of the safe zone will engender a let's try to save those inside the dome attitude from the unprotected group?

... or will the words 'Houston, we have a problem...' be a chilling reminder that when mankind screws things up... it's not so easy to fix... 

Answer to the picture puzzle in tomorrows' blog.

Glass Bird

Glass bird, Glass bird sitting in yon tree
From that highest perch... what doth the Glass bird see?

A little glass bird ornament had been tied to the birthday gift that Lovely One and Husband had given to Simmy.
"It's a garlic!" Simmy had exclaimed.
"No!" Lovely One said with a tinge of aversion, "it's a bird!"
"Oh! Why so it is!" Simmy said as she took a closer look.
Artistry sometimes disguises an article and one must take a closer look to see what was intended.
A little more research for the novel was needed and Simmy was reading 'Americans in Paris' by Charles Glass. She had even listened to the reading on youtube... which is 15 minutes long... 
Today though, she had put that glass bird on the door inside the feathered nest that had replaced the Christmas wreath.
As she took a photo of her art...

she could hear the birds tweet tweet in the trees and it sounded more like spring than winter.
Oh yes, don't feed the birds garlic... apparently it's not good for them.

Tweet Street

up on Tweet Street
you may find some bitter twitter
a few words here... a few words there
swift words... make kindness rare
so if this road you choose to travel
tie tight your shoes for niggling gravel
works its way under souls of feet
and soon that street may feel less sweet
the tiniest stone can seem like boulder
to any a careless, hapless soldier
thoughts that you... choose first to sift
may cause your tweet to be less swift
but sword of tweet has double edge
so careful where you plant your sedge
for likely as not the road you make
will someday be... the road you take
would better path each one desire
that salted one that has no brier
if that street becomes high way
tis flavored salt replaces my way
a favored life you will then be planting
    with little need for much recanting

Sparkly Wishes and Dirty Dishes

Sparkly silver stockings and sparkly red... or is that ruby slippers? Princess was, once again, the technicolor belle of the family gathering. There was no competition for those shoes but one little feisty fellow fetched some attention for creativity, for sure.

Wearing different socks,... on purpose, seems to be a family trait.
We won't tell you which of his relatives that particular habit has also been noted in.
Ahem!
It was a New Years' Day Christmas gathering that was well attended and...
blessed... yes, blessed.
... a good start to a new year full of possibilities and dreams and wishes.
Sparkly wishes and dirty dishes, when reversed,  requires food aplenty to satisfy the gentry.