Farewell, Leonora Carrington

Good journey, Leonora, and say hello to Remedios and Frida when you meet up in that big studio in the sky. Peace out.

Auction Day Is Near & A Short Addendum

Hola Folks, just a reminder of the up and coming auction over at the lovely, Rebecca's, at http://corazon.typepad.com/recuerda_mi_corazon/2011/05/postcards-from-paradise-1.html. The auction dates are now available, plus you get a little peek at some of the talented people participating, including moi! Many have blogs and/or their own sites, so take a look-see.

Other than that, I hope everyone's doing well and gearing up for the summer. I'm actually looking forward to this summer since last summer was a royal bummer. For those of you who remember, I was going off a some strong meds. I'm excited about starting my Dia de los Muertos art work for the gallery...have everything ready to get started. As for vacations, I don't see any in the near horizon. I will have my youngest son, Ian, staying the entire month of June up to the 5th of July and my daughter and grandson, Sammy, are coming at the end of June to spend time with me and her boys who will be with their father for the next 6 weeks. I'm hoping he will allow me to spend some time with them while they're here in town. My stepdaughter, Jessi, and grandson, Aiden, are coming in Oct. and I'm looking forward to their visits too. Maybe SM and I can do a little getaway in the Fall up to Albuquerque/Santa Fe and one of our favorite wineries a bit north of Belen, NM.

Well, this is a short one, but want to get my arse back into the studio and finish some fun stuff I'm doing for my daughter and s-i-l's wedding gift. I'll post when I've completed it. I'm also working on my "Bird Is The Word, " projects, completing one for my sister who asked me to make them in her kitchen colours. I'll post all that together next week. Again, don't forget to go to the auction site and please, please consider bidding on one or some of these wonderful shrines. Have a great and very safe Memorial Day weekend and don't forget to set up a designated driver or just get hammered at home!! LOL Peace out.

ADDENDUM: I thought I'd share the news I received this morning from my daughter, living in Austin, TX. She is giving me one helluva birthday gift...my birthday is Feb. 1 and her due date is Feb. 3rd!!!!!! This crazy person is doing it again, or a-hem, she's done it!!! She and Michael are expecting their 2nd child, she has the 3 boys from the previous hubby and Sammy from Michael. They hope for a girl, so do I, but if it's another little apple with a stem, I'll be thrilled anyway. So I won't be buying cute girlie tutu's or hairbands or dolls, but I'm already conditioned for a little guy anyway. So my gift next year will be taking a trip to Austin to care for 4 little boys while she's in hospital. Mind you , she had one ovary removed last Oct. so she's operating on half strength!! I told her that her eggs are just plain "hoes!" I can just see those little swimmers making their way to the Ova Hoe House!! Who-hoo!! Peace out.

Good News/Bad News & More on Phoenix

I shall continue on my usual "stream of conciseness" narrative on my trip to Phoenix, AZ last week. Let's see where did I leave off. Oh yes, the actual graduation. My niece recieved her B.A. in communications after her failed attempts at pharmacy. The girl is just not wired for such things, and I knew it. My sister wanted her to consider engineering when she was in still in high school. At the time, my sis was working here at the university in the engineering department and discovered these people make mucho cash! She then moved on to ASU at their engineering department and and after graduation, my niece received a scholarship from ASU so the incentive for my niece was REALLY something to consider. She knew she didn't have the stuff for that, hell, I knew it from the start, but my sister wanted what was best for her kiddo, what parent doesn't, but let's be realistic, folks!! When my oldest son was in high school, his father insisted he look into computer engineering. My son, wanting so badly the approval of his father, made it his major when he began his freshman year at Texas A&M. I knew he didn't have the "stuff" either, but then, I'm a woman...what do I know!!!?? He ended up majoring and graduating with a degree in environmental something-or-another, basically, an architectural degree but with a fancy-shmancy name.

I digress, but then I always do that!! So she has this degree and fortunately, was offered a job and accepted it with YELP. So the graduation was this long, overly wordy, boring sceanario mixed with many overtures for it's $$ patrons, giving them large, gaudy medallions for their large contributions to the university. All I could think of, is hey, how about all those people sitting below the stage in the folding chairs wearing those very hot, uncomfortable, itchy caps and gowns, melting in the AZ sun...enough with the all those money bags who need their egos stroked!! One in particular, was this old couple who pledged bazillions to the school, only to have to go into bankruptcy, hence, not honoring their pledge, according to my sis and her friend, both ex-ASU employees, this was just a little reminder from the university prez that they still owed!! LOL

One thing I found fascinating at this commencement that I had never seen here, was the number of Native Americans wearing their traditional tribal clothing. I recognized Zuni, Hopi and Navajo, mostly Navajo. Many of the women wore their hair in their ceremonial fashion, thus making it easy for me to recognize their tribal affiliation. They wore beautiful turquoise and silver jewelry, wrapped moccasins and some of the clothes...amazing!!

My mother and I left about 11 a.m., MST (AZ is the only state with any balls to refuse that daylight saving time crap) that Sat. and headed back to El Paso. The traffic was a little heavy, as usual between Phoenix and Tucson, but they have a very nice 6 lane stretch of I-10 between the two cities, making the drive lots more comfortable. We enjoyed the beautiful AZ landscape with all those Saguaro cactus.

A little side here about these cacti, they only grow in the Sonoran Desert which is in AZ and only in AZ and the state of Sonora, Mexico....NO WHERE ELSE! It seems that people think that when they have to paint a Texas scene or need a logo for Texas, it's the good ol' Saguaro cactus...wrong, they don't grow out here....we live in the Chihuahuan desert....nothing like the Sonoran Desert! We've got barrel cactus, prickly pear, Spanish Dagger, Cholla, Yucca and so on and so forth...they have the neat-o cactus, not us!! There's this Mexican brand of food you all back east and mid-west might have in your grocery stores...it's call "Ol' El Paso," and they have, I believe, mountains and a Saguaro cactus as their logo. I live in ol' El Paso and we have the mountains, but don't have Saguaro cacti out here, except for a house about 5 blocks from mine, where they probably illegally dug it up in the still of the AZ night and sneaked it back to TX, avoiding the Border Patrol stations along the way!!

Sooo, back to the trip back. My mother and I decided to have our lunch again at the Texas Canyon rest stop. It was always our favorite spot to have lunch when we were kids. My parents actually had an agenda...let them crawl and climb the rocks to let off a bit of energy, then they'll sleep for a while...which we did.

Thankfully, it was a gorgeous, breezy, not too warm day so my mom and I opted to eat out in the open picnic tables under a Mesquite tree. We enjoyed the view, breeze and all those little pesky sparrows waiting for us to throw them a crumb...actually, that was quite entertaining. While we were eating, I spotted a scorpion, trying to outrun a hawk, from what I could tell from my vantage point.
This sign was a bit upsetting to the couple from NYC, taking their first trip out west. I assured them they're more afraid than us....yea, right, but I grew up with these critters and I know when it's time to run or stand still!! So we left Texas Canyon and my mother thought it best we gas up at the next exit, which took us to the very famous, THE THING! The Thing has been around as long as I can remeber. The big sign advertising it starts just outside of El Paso, at the Vado exit I think, and ends right before you approach it, at the Dragoon exit #322.


My father always refused to stop and let us investigate this desert wonder, said it was fake whatever it was and a waste of time. Fast forward to 1990, in my other life, my ex and the 3 kids were on our way to CA to attend my little brother's nuptials and we made a vacation out of it, stopping at Old Tucson, which burned down a few years ago, Disneyland, Knottsberry Farm, Lauglin, NV, for us grownups, and lots more. The kids wanted to stop at the Thing place and I told the ex, I too was inquisitive about it, since my old man never wanted to waste our time...the man was very focused on getting us to our next destination a.s.a.p...traveling with 4 kids, I understand now. So we stopped, we paid, we saw and my father was right, it's fake and a waste of time! LOL I won't tell you what it is, but you can Google it and find out for yourself. Upon our return, I told my Pop that we had stopped to see the Thing. He wanted to know what it was but I refused to tell him and threatened the kids with just this side of their tiny lives not to tell their grandfather!! However, Joel, my oldest, told his grandpa...I think he was promised something for the information....a random visit at Toys R Us!!! Snitch!!

Now for one of my major pet peeves, truckers. Now I don't mean to step on anyone's toes if you or yours are in this business. When I was a child, we were always told that truckers were the safest, most polite drivers on the road, they were considered the "Kings of the Road." However, it all changed back in the 70's sometime, when Dennis Weaver did a cheesy movie for television about an innocent guy, driving on the road and encounters a possessed trucker, or in this case, truck. The whole show was about him being chased by the deranged, driver less, truck, finally out smarting the demon by making it drive off a cliff and at the instant of impact, there is this big ball of flames and an ungodly screech rising form the fire....he sent ol' Beelzebub or whoever back to Hell until it returned and took possession of my ex's current wife!! Ok, cheap shot...just couldn't help myself!!! My bad!!

Anywhooo, these guys can really haul ass and I'm sure other goods, but why is it, on an incline, one truck is going maybe 70 in the right lane and the other truck/trucks think they can pass him up, slowing the passing lane traffic from 75-80 mph, to 60-65?????? Grrrrrrr!!!! It's getting to the point that the cruise control on your vehicle is almost impossible to utilize since there's no point as long as the truckers have their way. Then there are the ones that speed up on the left, passing up maybe 10-15 trucks on the right, going faster, obviously, than that convoy, but still, it's back down to the 60's for the rest of us!!!!! WTF!!!!!!!!!!!?????????????? Again, I hope I haven't stepped on any toesies and I know the importance of our truckers, but I just have to vent!!

Then my mother began counting the curves on that stretch of I-10 from Deming to Lordsburg, NM, and the other way too. It was supposedly the straightest line in the world back in the day before the Interstate, but she was curious if it was still straight...nope...many curves!! Five of them to be exact!!!!! Oey vey!!! All in all, it was really a very pleasant time, except the night my sister got wasted on Tanquery and tonic and admonished me for being, well, for being "me!" Quite frankly, the woman needs to get laid!! I'll end it at that!!

I sent in some pics of my dolls in hope they would get published in Doll Quarterly for their Fall issue. I sent the information with a CD and pics back in early March and never heard from them. I emailed my friend, Anne, since she had also submitted work to another publisher. At the same time, I also wrote the magazine. I will say this much for Art Doll Quarterly, they're very quick in replying. When you submit work to these publishers, it's agreed you can not post them anywhere nor put them up for sale, so I complied like a good little sheeple. I emailed them to see what was going on. As I said, I sent off the email yesterday late afternoon, and bright and early this morning, I received my reply. They do not have an October issue, oh, sorry my mistake, and that the work had already been chosen for that issue and I wasn't among them, so basically, I'm S.O.L, but "we encourage you to try again." The only reason I submitted anything because I've seen some of the dreck they publish and I know my work is by far better than that. Yes, they do have some very talented doll artist, no doubt, and many I admire, but it seems their view of doll artistry and mine must not be on the same level. My stuff is kind of kitschy and strange, but hey, that's what makes this world go round (don't get ally "physics" on me)...we're all uniquely hand made from the same ball of clay!! Will I try again, maybe, but not anytime soon. I need to go off somewhere, and lick my ego-torn wounds and move on. So here are the dolls I submitted.



I also wanted to show you a pic of the tamales de elote and bowl of my homemade chile con carne we had last night for dinner...delish!! The dishes are also new...got them in Phoenix at Ikea...my favorite colour in the world!! My daughter calls it "beaner" green...hmmm, wonder why I like it then!!?? LOL

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Peace out.

Green Corn Tamale Recipe

I've had a few of you asking for that tamal recipe, so I shall comply, but take note, unless you're a tamal master, this is very time intensive and there's a rhythm you need to develop in order to make them, just lettin' ya know. Like I said, it's never going to happen in my home...we've got Joanne in Tucson!! LOL

GREEN CORN TAMALES

2 doz. ears of white corn
2 lbs. yellow longhorn cheese or queso blanco (white cheese), Mennonite if you can find it, grated finely
2 lbs. shortening
3 lbs. roasted fresh green chiles (Long greens or Anaheim, whatever they're called in your region)
1 T. salt
1/4 c. sugar

Cut ears of corn on both ends with a sharp knife so that corn husks will be square and even. Remove the husks with care, being sure to save the ones that are more intact. Clean ears, removing corn silk. Into a large pan, cut kernels from ears from ears of corn. After all kernaels have been removed, they must be gound very fine, either on a meat grinder with the cylinder over the front, a food processor, or they can be taken to a molino ( where they make corn tortillas). Cream shortening, salt, sugar, ground corn and 1 lb. of the grated cheese. Mix well until blended.

Mix remaining cheese and green chile in a separate bowl. Place one serving spoonful of corn dough in a corn husk; on top, add a tablespoon of the green chile and cheese filling about half of the husk. Fold top down; use a second husk to wrap over open end. Place in a steam roaster with folded end down. (an ordinary roaster is adequate, but the steaming time is a bit longer.) steam tamales for an hour. The dough should be firm, but if still runny, steam a little longer.



Ok, folks, there's the recipe taken from Joanne's church lady cookbook, "Tasteful Treasures: A Fundraising Cookbook for our Diocesan Vocations Project, Catholic Daughter's of The Americas." If you have any questions, I'll try to answer, after all, my mother knows how to make these little pillows of pure delight, so I can ask her. If you would like a copy of this cookbook, contact the Tucson, AZ chapter of the Catholic Daughter's of the Americas...must be listed somewhere. If not, I can always contact Joanne and get the info.

Bon Apetite! Will write the 2nd installation of my vacae later this week. Peace out.

Back from Phoenix Part 1 & Other Stories

I just returned from Phoenix, AZ, after attending my niece's graduation from ASU, Arizona State University. My mother and I made a 6 1/2 hour road trip, stopping once outside of Las Cruces, NM at one of those tourist places, like Stuckey's for those who remember those little lovely, sweet rolls of nugget in pecans....ahh, those were the road trip days! It was called Akela Flats, selling the usual cliche tourist item to large, evil cookies packed with nuts, chocolate chips, or raisin-oatmeal or my favorite, white chocolate chip with macadamia nuts. Actually, the reason for stopping was that I needed to visit the little girl's room...that one cup of coffee I had right before I left my house to pick up my mother finally found it's way into my bladder. Will, I didn't want to be rude, so I purchased a couple of really touristy and tacky shot glasses....love that kitsch, and I succumbed to the "cookie!"

Our first destination was Tucson, about an hour and some minutes east of Phoenix. There we did the major "tamale" exchange. Tucson was a crossing place for many Mexicans escaping their country during the Mexican Revolution, 1910-1920, especially those from the state of Sonora, my maternal grandparents home state. Of course, many crossed and just stayed, bringing with them their own particular regional cuisine, which, I grew up eating. One in particular are their "tamales de elote." If you recognize the word "elote" meaning corn, and yes, many tamales are corn based, except a few from the southern end of Mexico, wrapped in banana leaves, another story for later and only for those readers of iron stomach status, but these are made with white corn and filled with long green (Anaheim peppers as so many people call them) chile strips and queso blanco or white cheese and in some, cheddar. My mother used to make them when we were children by first shucking the corn kernals, then she would put them all in a large bowl, mix with lard (later, Crisco) and cheese, give the bowl to my Pop or the maid, who ever was around, then took it outside, where the the large heavy metal grinder was attached to an old nursery room table. My Mom would then add the flour, salt, baking powder or soda, don't really recall, then mix all that and began spooning it into the slightly moistened dry husk, adding the Mennonite cheese, my grandmother and mother's preference, chile, close them up, standing them up and lining the huge olla (pronounced, "oya") or pot, then steam them till they were cooked through. DELISH!!

Needless to say, the secret will go to her grave since that's just not going to happen here at the Autrey/Diaz abode or any of my siblings abode either, but we have Joanne in Tucson to retain when we get our cravin'! So we met Joanne at the Fairfield Motel parking lot, she gave us our 8 doz. freshly frozen tamales, plus, I purchased her church ladies cookbook, filled with all sorts of Sonoran recipes, and we went on our way. We arrived in Chandler, one of the many little cities within the Phoenix metro area, and my sister had her roast cooking in the crock pot because that night, we were going to feast on tamales de elote and carne con chile colorado, meat in red chile sauce. Here we can buy the red chile already prepared and packed in plastic bags, so all we had to do was to enhance it with saute garlic and onions and a few chunks of the round brick like disc of Abuelita Mexican Hot Chocolate, used to cut the bitterness of the red chile sauce. My gorgeous niece came over and all 4 of us enjoyed a wonderful Sornoran meal...yummers!!

That night, I slept on the floor of my sister's small living room on a fancy air mattress, never had anything like that when we used to camp as children!! I admit, I'm a mushroom! I prefer to sleep in dark, cool place or is it a vampire, whatever, I like it dark even when it's 8 o'clock a.m. However, her lovely, top-o-da-line mini-blinds just didn't have that "black-out" effect at 5 a.m. when the that warm Arizona sun came streaming in through all the friggin' windows!! Takes the saying, "Good morning sunshine, " to a whole new level!!! So there I was, awaken by the sun and Posha, my sister's adorable feline. She was happy to see someone conscious, or in my case, half-way, that early in the a.m. I tried desperatly to fall back asleep, but the later it got, the brighter the sun, so I lay there, listening to the stereo-snoring coming out of my sister's room and the guest room, where my mother lay slumbering. I gave up, got up and prepared coffee and thankfully, I took my book for bookclub, which is tomorrow evening, and began reading, Posha next to me purring as she slept, the teasing bitch!

Thursday was graduation day, at 7:30 p.m. in the Sun Devil Stadium. So we had all day to just relax or perhaps, sleep in my case. We did nothing, remaining in our night shirts (that sounds so much classier than old, torn, old lady night gowns) and my mother made one of her favorite chicken guisados, kind of like a stir-fry, but not, or a goulash might be the closest thing to that. Anyway, after she was done, she wanted to lay the dish on a bed of rice or noodles, however, as I told her, never assume anything about my sister's kitchen. The woman does not cook nor does she have the usual fair we might have in our kitchens. Her pantry, luckily, had flour, salt (a large box of Kosher salt I purchased for a dinner I made for her back in September when I visited her), packages of raw nuts, beans and "wild hickory nuts," just kidding...how many of you will admit to remembering that Grapenuts commercial with the ol' nature dude?? Anyway, her pantry is full, but not with the good stuff! Well, it is the healthy stuff, but is that necessarily "good?" My mother was appalled and surprised and even more so when she asked her if she had any bread rolls or canned biscuits!! I had to laugh when she asked my sis that question! We ended up eating my mom's delicious dish with a side salad and I will admit, it would have been lots tastier on a bed of rice or egg noodles, but that's just how my sister is. Funny, I have all that good, healthy/unhealthy caca in my pantry and dim sum, and yet, she's fluffy like me!! She doesn't eat out and especially no fast food, she has this top-o-da-line elliptical machine in her office, or rather the guest room, but she had to move it to make room for the blow-up bed for my mom, numerous sets of weights, every friggin' Zumba tape ever made, rubber bands...hell, that place is equip like any 'spensive gym! So what's with the weight thing!! She says it's a metabolism issue...YEA, YA THINK!!! Oh well, I love her anyway!! LOL

In the next installment of my trip, I will discuss, graduations and the administrators that run them, I-10 construction, speed markers, f'n truckers, the Southwest landscape, The Thing, and of course, other stories. Peace out.

Happy Mother's Day

I want to wish you many mothers and muthers a very happy day. I had mine last week since my 25 year old baby was visiting, so this weekend will be just another lovely weekend, without my 25 year old baby!! I always remember my ex-father-in-law on that day. Many years ago, when I was a Baptist (yea, can you see me as a Baptist...wasn't a very good one as I wasn't a very good officer's wife either), and we all attended the Mother's Day service. The preacher was up in his pulpit, doing his preachy thingy when he asked "Will all you mother's please rise." Well, my mother-in-law and I were ready to rise when we noticed my f-i-l was making the motion to stand!! As you can imagine, we never got up because we were on the floor, wreathing in hysterical laughter! So to you, Dad or Big Bill, I salute you...the world was a funnier place when you were around!

I've posted one of my favorite comedic acts by Bill Engval. This guy is a member of the Blue Collar comedy team and this skit just about made me "make water in my drawers!" The reason I picked this particular video was due to something really funny. The other day, my hubby was in the kitchen and yelled out "dork corn!" I ran over to look to see what he was yelling about and sure enough, there it was, a dork corn. So here is a photo of our dork corn...wonder if I could catch a dork fish with it!!!! LOL


The other day after coming home from a day shopping with Miss Daisy, I was exhausted and just wanted to get into my ol' lady house dress and sit in front of the oscillating fan and watch some television. I usually don't watch daytime tv, so I really don't know what to expect when I turn the boobtube on. I put on the Bravo channel and I just couldn't beleive what I was watching. It's a show called "Pregnant in Heels." It's about this little skinny blond living in NYC, who is a clothes designer for the very preggers. I'm not sure if this woman is English and losing her accent, or has a speech impediment, but I can't believe some of these women she services. They seem to be overly-indulged, spoiled rotten, clueless little bimbos who are procreating...God help us!!! There was this one young woman who actually hired a "team" of women to guide her through her pregnancy. Even Little Blondie was puzzles as to why she was called in since this woman had more than enough opinions to go around. Then there was this other idiot who demanded diamonds because she was having her husbands child...really??? I was knocked up 3 times and the only thing I ever got from my husband was a coffee maker and toaster to replace the ones that had bitten the dust a few days before!! That's a mother's day story I'll save for later. The only thing these women worried about was having to push Jr. out and hope they didn't lose a nail in the process!! Aaaahhhhhh!!! Has the world gone crazy!!

Then came the "Housewives of Orange County!" Holy moly!!!! Ok, so I do make it a point to catch them when I can, along with the "Housewives of NYC and NJ." I'm sorry, but I can't maintain my intellectual demeanor for too long!!! LOLOLOLOLOLOL I need a break now and then. I know there are other housewives shows, but these are the only 3 that interest me. Why?? Hell if I know, but they do. The one thing that I do know concerning all these women, the bimbettes of Orange County, the pseudo-sophisticates of NYC, and the total train wreck of NJ, is that "money don't buy class!" Around here, we have our fair share of secondary drug lords that live in the country club areas, buying old, beautiful houses and then tearing them down to put up their horribly gaudy, brash homes with their towers and gates. I'll see the wives and children at the stores, dressed just as equally bad as their homes, minus gates and towers!! They drive their Escalades, Mercedes, Jags, and Hummers, calling much attention to themselves...helloooo, we know who you are and what you're daddy does!!

I also wanted to show you a pic of a painting I made my mother for Mother's Day. My dear mommy is 88 and really doesn't want for a thing, so we, her chillin'," need to come up with something very creative or just send her a card! My mother loves her St. Patrick Cathedral and is very active in the Christ Child organization, donating time and moola to the church. We were all baptized there, received our First Holy Communion, confession (that was traumatic) and confirmation. Speaking of confession, I remember my first time. When your a 7 year old, what can you really confess, well, now a days, maybe kids have lots more to confess, but back in the late 50's, there wasn't much to say. So it went like this:

Me: Bless me father for I have sinned, this is my first confession
Priest: Please recite "The Act of Contrition."
Me: Ok, if I can remember it.
Priest: Try
Me: I'm nervous, father, so I'll say what I know....(I said the whole thing, stuttering and stumbling the entire time).
Priest: What are your sins?
Me: I twisted my little brother's arm and made him say"uncle" because he called me a caca. I spit in my sister's milk because she made me mad and she didn't know about it till I told her after she finished it...
Priest: Wait, you spat in your sister's milk and told her?
Me: Yes, father, at least I told her, so that shouldn't be a big sin.
Priest: (sigh) Georgina, is there anything else?
Me: Yes, father. I went into my closet after my mother got mad at me for spitting in my sister's milk and called her a "caca" because she yelled at me.

Sooo, that was my first confession...I got 10 Hail Mary's and 10 Our Father's for my sins and I really never learned...I confessed the same sins for a few more years! When I turned 17, I went into the confessional and told the priest, who I had the royal heats for, this would be my last confession....didn't see the point of the middleman!!


So here is our church and there's a school next door, which I attended from Kinder-7th grade. My parents were upset that they were hiring non-certified layman to teach...the penguins didn't count since they were certified....some were certifiable!!!! My 7th grade teacher was still in college and teaching, so they used that as an excuse to yank me out of what I had known all my academic life and sent me to a brand, spankin' new middle school for my last year...hated it!! After that, they sent me to Loretto Academy, named after the Sister's of Loretto, for high school, again, yanking me out after my sophomore year to another public high school, this time the reason was that I wasn't doing well academically...I left there with a 3.2 average. The real reason was that they were spending oodles of cash-o-la sending my older sis to a private college, so pennies needed to be pinched. However, I have always maintained my friendships with my Loretto friends, only associating with one of my public school buddies now. I even go the reunions and we see each other once a month, either at book club or the class of '70 dinners now and then.

Well, I really need to get my butt into the studio and get going on my "Bird is the Word," projects. I am not a fan of the feathered beasties, as Anne will attest to that, but I found all these little wooden bird houses and want to do something with them and birds just felt fitting!! Again, have a wonderful Mother's/Muther's Day. Peace out.

A Very Funny Movie

Happy May Day all!! Today will be celebrated not for it being the first of May in this household, but will be "Georgina's" Mother's Day!! My son will be with his father next week, so we decided to have my own personal Mother's Day today instead. Da Guys have some plans, which I am not privy to, but should be fun, or maybe the plans are for me to just continue having fun in my studio...don't know, but have already enjoyed a delicious breakfast, 2 eggs over-easy and 2 peices of wheat toast. So that might not sound ,"Mother's Day" worthy, but hey, I'm easy!! Besides, I'm not big into breakfast. My breakfast usually is either a piece of toast with a glass of milk or a diabetes quick drink.

While enjoying my breakfast, I tuned into the Turner Classic Movie station and found this flick. It is one of the funniest, silliest movies I've ever had the pleasure of seeing, but this one brought back a very special memory. My parents took me to see it without my younger brothers. This was the first time I was treated, even for just a few hours, as a real bonafide grown-up!! My sister had already taken off to San Francisco to begin her university studies, leaving me as the oldest among the sibs. My parents used to enjoy going to the movies alone, making it an evening of dinner and a movie. Sometimes, it would become a family affair, depending on the film. I recall we all went out to dinner then to see "My Fair Lady," "Around the World in 80 Days," "The Sound of Music," and I'm sure others which escape me now due to this feeble thing in my head called a brain!

We went to this restaurant close to the Plaza Theatre, where the film was showing, then we went to the movie. I loved Zero Mostel, who originally was a Broadway performer and made his character, Psuedolus (a play on words), famous in the Broadway production of this film and the Broadway production of "The Producers," another hilarious film. The make-over with Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderwick was alright, but the original with Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder, is a classic. My parents and most of the audience in the theatre were roaring at lots of the dialog, which was beyond my appreciation for sexual innuendo at 14. However, I got the over all meaning of the story, thankfully due to a review I read in Time magazine.

Years later, I saw it again on television and I got it!! LOL But today, as I watched it again for the umpteenth time, I got even more, or was it a case of just forgetting what I had gotten the first time around?? Again, blame it on this poor feeble cluster of gray cells!! So, my friends, if you have never seen this film, I highly recommend it for a good laugh along with the "Producers." As you can tell, I'm a big fan of the late and great Zero Mostel.

Hope you all are having a lovely weekend. The winds have ceased their howling today, so it's a nice thing to look out my window and see my Franklin Mountains, not just the outline and I don't have to worry about having any part of my body slammed whipped by blowing dirt! Peace out.