I think I'm becoming allergic to winter. We had a pleasant time until right after Christmas when things turned colder. About the same time my sinuses started acting out their displeasure. I'll spare you all the symptoms, but suffice it to say there have been a couple of days where I've taken OTC medication and then put a warm, dry compress on said sinuses.
Now we've got a cold front moving through. It's been lightly snowing for a portion of this afternoon and this is projected to continue through Wednesday morning. I'm not too worried about that, I don't have to be anyplace this week so can stay home if need be. What does worry me are the temperatures for the next several days. The Weather Channel is predicting that on Thursday our high temperature will only be 17 degrees and that we'll get down to -2 that night. Yikes! In the 20 years I've lived in the Albuquerque area, it's never gotten into minus numbers. You can bet I'll be leaving several faucets dripping so I don't end up with frozen pipes. And my outdoor faucets have insulated covers on them. Now I can just think positive thoughts about everything coming through OK. (And hope for nicer weather soon.)
Note: I do realize anyone living on the east coast of the US is sneering. You have my sympathy for having to endure this winter's weather.
Stay warm!
Papillon
Monday, January 31, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
Laura Ingalls Wilder
I grew up reading the 'Little House' books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I even progressed to the series of books written by Roger Lea MacBride which takes up the story after Laura's last book and tells about the years the Wilders spent on Rocky Ridge Farm in Missouri.
As mentioned in previous blog entries, I love looking through secondhand books. There's the $3-a-bag sales that the Albuquerque main library holds twice a year. About once a week I cruise the book section at Goodwill - which can sometimes prove to be a gold mine. I have found several books signed by the auther, including an autobiography by Hollywood gossip columnist, Hedda Hopper.
My most recent find (not signed) is called Little House in the Ozarks. Laura Ingalls Wilder starting writing her 'Little House' books when she was 65. However, that was not her first attempt. About twenty years before she started these books, she was writing articles for regional newspapers and magazines. The articles were written between 1911 and 1925 and covered topics ranging from everyday life on Rocky Ridge Farm to concerns about World War I to visiting the San Francisco Exhibition (around 1915).
Finding this book was a very pleasant surprise and an interesting read. (FYI: the book was edited by Stephen W. Hines, a lifelong fan of Wilder's.) It doesn't include all of her articles, but it does contain a majority. Fun to see the woman behind the author.
Papillon
As mentioned in previous blog entries, I love looking through secondhand books. There's the $3-a-bag sales that the Albuquerque main library holds twice a year. About once a week I cruise the book section at Goodwill - which can sometimes prove to be a gold mine. I have found several books signed by the auther, including an autobiography by Hollywood gossip columnist, Hedda Hopper.
My most recent find (not signed) is called Little House in the Ozarks. Laura Ingalls Wilder starting writing her 'Little House' books when she was 65. However, that was not her first attempt. About twenty years before she started these books, she was writing articles for regional newspapers and magazines. The articles were written between 1911 and 1925 and covered topics ranging from everyday life on Rocky Ridge Farm to concerns about World War I to visiting the San Francisco Exhibition (around 1915).
Finding this book was a very pleasant surprise and an interesting read. (FYI: the book was edited by Stephen W. Hines, a lifelong fan of Wilder's.) It doesn't include all of her articles, but it does contain a majority. Fun to see the woman behind the author.
Papillon
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Incorrect Attribution
Here is a quote that is usually attributed to John Lennon:
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."
While Lennon probably said this at some point - it turns out he was not the first to have done so.
I love books. Love 'em. Have them all over my house.
Twice a year, the Albuquerque main library has a $3-a-bag book sale. You take a bag
and stuff as many books into it as you can. You can buy as many bags of books as you want. Love it! One of the books I bought in November 2010's sale was Bennett Cerf's Laugh Day. It bills itself as a "treasury of over 1000 humorous stories, anecdotes...."
At one point in the book, Cerf mentions that he loves to collect quotes. (Me, too!) One of the quotes is:
"Life is what happens to you while you're making other plans." Cerf attributes the quote to a Robert Balzer. (I haven't looked him up so am not sure who he is.) As you can see, other than Lennon's use of the word 'busy', the quotes are identical.
Cerf was not ignoring Lennon since the book was published in 1965, right about the time that Lennon was rising to enough prominence to be quoted. Cerf does not say when he first noted the quote from Balzer, but considering the amount of time it takes to compile and publish a book, it had to have been at least several years before 1965.
It's likely that Lennon (who was NOT a stupid man) saw or heard the quote someplace and used it. People who didn't know about Balzer then gave Lennon all the credit.
It was just interesting to be reading a 45-year-old book and run across the quote.
-------------------------
Also seen in this book is a list of words that are now obsolete. (Note: the list is from another book, Your English Words by John Moore.)
Example:
Quockerwodger - it's a puppet.
Skilligolete - a soup served sometimes to prisoners or sailors (now there's an odd combination).
Calibogus - a mixture of spruce beer and rum (eew?).
Jobbernowl - a blockhead.
Rumblegumption - a Scottish word for common sense.
All for now.
Papillon
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."
While Lennon probably said this at some point - it turns out he was not the first to have done so.
I love books. Love 'em. Have them all over my house.
Twice a year, the Albuquerque main library has a $3-a-bag book sale. You take a bag
and stuff as many books into it as you can. You can buy as many bags of books as you want. Love it! One of the books I bought in November 2010's sale was Bennett Cerf's Laugh Day. It bills itself as a "treasury of over 1000 humorous stories, anecdotes...."
At one point in the book, Cerf mentions that he loves to collect quotes. (Me, too!) One of the quotes is:
"Life is what happens to you while you're making other plans." Cerf attributes the quote to a Robert Balzer. (I haven't looked him up so am not sure who he is.) As you can see, other than Lennon's use of the word 'busy', the quotes are identical.
Cerf was not ignoring Lennon since the book was published in 1965, right about the time that Lennon was rising to enough prominence to be quoted. Cerf does not say when he first noted the quote from Balzer, but considering the amount of time it takes to compile and publish a book, it had to have been at least several years before 1965.
It's likely that Lennon (who was NOT a stupid man) saw or heard the quote someplace and used it. People who didn't know about Balzer then gave Lennon all the credit.
It was just interesting to be reading a 45-year-old book and run across the quote.
-------------------------
Also seen in this book is a list of words that are now obsolete. (Note: the list is from another book, Your English Words by John Moore.)
Example:
Quockerwodger - it's a puppet.
Skilligolete - a soup served sometimes to prisoners or sailors (now there's an odd combination).
Calibogus - a mixture of spruce beer and rum (eew?).
Jobbernowl - a blockhead.
Rumblegumption - a Scottish word for common sense.
All for now.
Papillon
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Happy New Year!
Courtesy of http://www.icanhascheezburger.com/
I think somebody needs to cut back on the catnip!
Papillon
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