Marty and Moose

May we discover through pain and torment,
the strength to live with grace and humor.
May we discover through doubt and anguish,
the strength to live with dignity and holiness.
May we discover through suffering and fear,
the strength to move toward healing.
May it come to pass that we be restored to health and to vigor.
May Life grant us wellness of body, spirit, and mind.
And if this cannot be so, may we find in this transformation and passage
moments of meaning, opportunities for love
and the deep and gracious calm that comes
when we allow ourselves to move on.

- Rabbi Rami M. Shapiro

Prepare For Landing

Following Concourse A to reach Concourse B, I sense I've been transported to an airport terminal. Strangers maneuver quickly and decisively down long glassed corridors toward their specific destinations with their newspapers and bags and large coffees. The cryptic messages arrive over intercoms that only the trained ear can hear and understand. Cell phones are everywhere, all disseminating urgent information - happy arrivals, sad departures, delays, updates, directions. Security checkpoints are replaced with sanitizer checkpoints. I am feeling lost.

Once I arrive at my assigned gate, I find it is full of family, friends, conversation and laughter, everyone recalling their own brush with flight. The once visible facial tensions are starting to relax, yet we eject from our upright positions at the slightest hint of a turbulence report that might require our oxygen masks. Reminder: I put mine own then help you with yours.

She has been on the bypass machine for twenty minutes, they said. She was sanitized and shaved and wrapped in a blue fitted hat taped to her head and wheeled to the surgical suite for coronary artery bypass grafting. She remained strong for the people who love her, not one complaint passing her lips. We waved goodbye until we could no longer see her, praying the magical mystery drugs would fly her into the wild blue yonder but bring her safely back to us.

May you be happy
May you be well
May you be free from suffering
May you be safe.
Goodnight, Moose.

Sunday Reflections

The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart. ~Elizabeth Foley

Two true friends made the journey to Linn Park for Magic City Arts Connection 2009 on a very, very hot day in Birmingham. There was so much to admire. My personal favorites were anything that reminded me of being cooler - fountains, iced beverages, shade. Our favorite piece of art, Winged Victory, was outside Linn Park at the Compass Financial Center but then we are somewhat prejudiced where the artist is concerned.

The fountains were a delight except for one reluctant German Shepherd. He seemed to prefer thirst to water where dirty feet had been!

Winged Victory / Stainless Steel Sculpture by Brad Morton

The following caught my eye. I failed to get the artists' names. If anyone knows, please post.

American Pie

Carlotta

Okay, so I saw this 'art' on the drive home. Art, as beauty, is in the eye of the beholder, right?

This is a work of art I call Inspiration. Who would guess my friend is two days away from having coronary artery bypass surgery? What a (nosy) trooper she is!

RIP: Beatrice Arthur

The beloved actors of my youth are reaching their 80s now and are starting to leave us. Don't you feel like you know them personally? Of course we don't but still they were part of our history.

While she was wonderful on The Golden Girls and on Broadway, I remember her best from Maude. Finally a real television female some of us could hold up as a heroine.

"And, then there's Maude.... And, then there's that old compromisin', enterprisin', anything but tranquilizing, Right on, Maude."

(file photo)

Weekend Cat Blogging #203

From a barn to Calvin Klein

Judi: Hey, guys! That's MY pillow and MY clean pillowcase and MY side of the bed!
Jules and Vincent: ZZZ-Zzzz-ZZzzz-hngGGggh-Ppbhww- zZZzzzZZ . . .

This week's Weekend Cat Blogging is hosted by Salome at Paulchen's FoodBlog?!.

NFL Draft 2009

Feel Good Friday - Part II

Feel Good Friday

Marty and Moose

There is no evil like hatred,
And no fortitude like patience.
Thus I should strive in various ways
To meditate on patience.
~ Translated from Shantideva's "Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life"

Breathe, breathe, breathe.....

Earth Day 2009

The Gathering Storm - Hallelujah

Here's their one last gasp..... NOM - Gathering Storm video

And, the parody..... Stephen Colbert's Anti-Gay Marriage Ad video

And, another parody.... A Gaythering Storm from FOD

And, the other parodies too numerous to mention here.

This is what I think of when I see these ads..... Hit it.

Hallelujah.

420: A Day Later

Support legalization with regulation and repeal prohibition.

Norm Stamper, retired Seattle police chief and member of LEAP (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition) discusses alcohol versus pot in 420: Thoughts on Pot vs Alcohol from a Former Police Chief.

Alcohol
Alcohol-related traffic accidents
Unaware of alcohol impairing psychomotor skills
Excessive alcohol consumption is third leading cause of death in US
Negative economic impact of extreme drinking: $150 billion a year
Long-term negative health consequences (cirrhosis of liver, variety of cancers)
One of the worst drugs for pain management
Three millions cases of reported violent crimes last year (particularly domestic violence, sexual assault, and date rape)
Offender threat to police officers

Marijuana Only (not mixed with alcohol)
No traffic-reported linked deaths
Aware of impaired psychomotor skills and more careful
No direct evidence of lung cancer by pot-only smoke or other negative health consequences
One of the best drugs for pain management
Decreases aggression

Stamper writes:

All of which begs the question. If one of these two drugs is implicated in dire health effects, high mortality rates, and physical violence--and the other is not--what are we to make of our nation's marijuana laws? Or alcohol laws, for that matter.

Anybody out there want to launch a campaign for the re-prohibition of alcohol? Didn't think so. The answer, of course, is responsible drinking. Marijuana smokers, for their part, have already shown (apart from that little matter known as the law) greater responsibility in their choice of drugs than those of us who choose alcohol.

For those who only see dollar signs, think tax revenues in a crumbling economy like repealing alcohol prohibition during the Depression.

Concerned about crime? Good! There will be more time and more space in prisons to house the true criminals.

Even Family Guy knows.......

36 Hours in Birmingham, Alabama

I am always delighted to read something, anything positive about my heart's home, Birmingham. When your congressman is publicly claiming he knows - or, more accurately, he imagines - 17 socialists in the U.S. Congress, you are ecstatic to see anything published that is unrelated to Alabama politics.

The New York Times lists 10 of Birmingham's finest, plus two of their best hotels:
1. Vulcan Park
2. Highlands Bar & Grill
3. WorkPlay
4. Continental Bakery
5. Mountain Brook Village
6. Miss Myra's Pit Bar-B-Q
7. Birmingham Civil Rights Institute
8. Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum and Park
9. Hot and Hot Fish Club
10. Little Savannah

11. The Tutwiler Hotel
12. Renaissance Ross Bridge Golf Resort and Spa

Check out Birmingham's "special ability to surprise" as documented by Jim Noles in The New York Times: 36 Hours in Birmingham, Alabama.

Recipe: Spiced Cocktail Nuts

Meetings and a hospital waiting room visit are on my schedule this week so I wanted to find something easy to prepare that I could share with co-workers and friends. Catching up on my recorded programs from Saturday, I watched Giada De Laurentiis prepare this on Food Network's Giada at Home and thought this would be the perfect snack.

Ingredients

Vegetable cooking spray
2 egg whites
2 cups roasted and salted almonds
2 cups roasted and salted cashew nuts
2 cups walnut halves
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoon Madras curry powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 1/2 teaspoons garlic salt
1 1/4 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Place an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet, liberally, with vegetable cooking spray. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites until frothy. Add the nuts and stir until coated. In a small bowl, combine the sugar, curry powder, cumin, garlic salt, cayenne pepper, cardamom, and cinnamon. Sprinkle the sugar mixture over the nuts and toss until coated. Arrange the nuts in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 45 minutes until golden and fragrant. Cool for 1 hour.

3. Using a metal spatula, remove the nuts from the baking sheet. Break the nuts into bite- sized pieces and place in serving bowls.

The nuts were packed in Chinese take-out containers so they're ready for the week's first meeting. Think peanut brittle texture but spicy. I left some in larger sizes for those who might prefer more than one nut at a time.

Sunday Reflections

A Cloudy Day In The Magic City

A View From The Deck
Courtyard / Private Residence / Loft District
Birmingham, Alabama

Art by Magdalene Odundo and Brad Morton

The Sloss Furnace & Hope Project Fountain Design, an Odundo and Morton collaboration

Peace and Tranquility Garden (my description)

Courtyard / Private Residence / Loft District
Sculpture and Table by Brad Morton / Brad Morton Studios
Birmingham, Alabama

View from the Deck
Sculpture and Stair Railing by Brad Morton / Brad Morton Studios

Sculpture by Brad Morton / Brad Morton Studios

Sculpture and Stair Railing by Brad Morton / Brad Morton Studios

Ceramic Sculpture by Janice Kluge
Private Collection

Metal Door / Courtyard and Private Residence / Loft District
Birmingham, Alabama

Note: You may double-click on the photographs for clearer images.

Weekend Cat Blogging #202

Jules will now demonstrate how to catch an apartment mouse in three easy steps:

1. Block the exit while reinforcements haze the prey.



2. Dive in with gusto to attack then pause for celebratory photographs.



3. Emerge the victor, mouse in mouth.


This week's Weekend Cat Blogging is hosted by Mr. Tigger & The M-Cats Club.

Feel Good Friday - Part II

I had wanted to use the Susan Boyle video as my Feel Good Friday post but ran into two problems: 1) embedding the video had been disabled, and 2) I was embarrassed. Nineteen million plus hits on You Tube and I was embarrassed. Why? Because I had wept when I watched it for the first time. I literally wept and I was embarrassed by my reaction. Until today....

Letty Cottin Pogrebin is a founding editor of MS Magazine and numerous books; her entry on The Huffington Post this morning was titled, "Why Susan Boyle Makes Us Cry". Some of the reasons she suggested:

"Ageism Be Damned".

"Women of a certain age" should be forgiven for finding vicarious satisfaction in Susan's victory. In plain words, it's an up-yours to the cocky youth culture that often writes us off.

Then, too, we were weeping for the years of wasted talent, the career that wasn't, the time lost -- both for Susan Boyle and two generations of her putative fans. If someone with a voice like Julie Andrews' spent decades in a sea of frustration and obscurity, how many other women (and men) must be out there becalmed in the same boat? I believe we were crying for them and for whatever unrealized, yet-to-be-expressed talent may lie within ourselves.

"You can't tell a book by its cover." For such extraordinary artistry to emerge from a woman that plain-spoken, unglamorous, and unyoung was an intoxicating reminder of the wisdom in that corny old cliché.

She continued that the judges and audience were...

.....blinded by entrenched stereotypes of age, class, gender, and Western beauty standards, until her book was opened and everyone saw what was inside.

I think we cried because her story appears to be en route to a happy ending, but also, perhaps, for all the books whose covers have never been cracked.

She'll come to the United States and we will probably try to ruin this person with makeovers and offers of reality shows. Something tells me Susan Boyle may be smarter than all that.

If you are one of the few who has not seen this performance, here is Susan Boyle on "Britians Got Talent 2009" singing "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Miserables.

Feel Good Friday

Marty and Moose

At The Parlour

On my way to The Parlour today, I had to drive by my favorite local restaurant, The Globe. As I drove by, I glanced in to see nothing left but stacks of doors and/or walls. While not considered a "regular", The Globe gave me seventeen years of great food, drinks, friends, celebrations, and memories. I was certainly a regular every chance I got.

Writes Mark Hughes Cobb of The Tuscaloosa News:

Wilson started the restaurant at 430 Main Ave. with friend Gary Wise, another local actor with restaurant experience. They named the place after the Bard’s Globe Theatre, as well as to reflect the idea of eclectic cuisine from various cultures. The theme was also carried out in Wilson’s culinary creations, such as the Twelfth Night Trout, Winter’s Tale Lamb or Salmon Caliban.

The two took a dusty, junk-filled space and, over three months, cleaned and rewired it and updated the plumbing. They painted and decorated it with poster-sized etchings Wilson created, illustrating each of Shakespeare’s plays.

(TUSCALOOSA NEWS/photo by Jason Getz)

Cobb writes:

(Jeff) Wilson ran the restaurant as downtown Northport invested in streetscaping, Kentuck moved to the area and storefronts began to fill up with new and eclectic or art-related businesses.

Business began to slide around 2004, Wilson said. Summertime was always a slow period at The Globe, but fall and winter made up the difference, bringing in football fans and holiday celebrations. Last year, however, the plunging economy and a football season with a succession of night games left the restaurant nearly empty.

“Our customers basically lost their savings,” Wilson said.

The Globe was literally the cornerstone of our downtown area. We'll miss it.

A Majority of Two: Interview

Call it a meme, if you must. Jo at A Majority of Two and I call it an interview.

1. Have you ever been influenced by a work of art – music, painting, book – and if so, how?

A Girl With A Watering Can, Auguste Renoir, 1876, was the first original painting I saw that brought tears to my eyes. It was truly a spiritual connection and I found it healing. I was not influenced to paint or create but I was changed.

I would have to say, however, that the book that had the most influence on my life was the the Holy Bible, not because I chose it or found comfort but it was my father's profession. It dictated my life physically the first 18 years and psychologically for many years to come. Music was my "comfort food".

2. If you were a chocolate bar, what type would you be?
I don't really see myself as a solid or total bar (yet) so I'd have to say I'd be Peanut M&Ms. There is something strong inside that is still developing. Plus, I like the idea of melting in one's mouth, not in one's hands.

3. What is your secret weapon to lure the opposite sex?
I don't think there is a secret. Most of the time you just have to show up.

4. What, in your opinion, is your greatest accomplishment?
I've always been proud of working my way through college. Otherwise, I consider surviving with my sense of humor intact a pretty good accomplishment.

5. How many friends do you have on your Facebook account?
I know I have at least two because of the two invitations I've received recently to join. I need one more reason to sit at my computer.

Thanks, Jo!

This Is All I'm Saying

Attention Tea-Baggers (giggle): I applaud your desire to participate in democracy by speaking up about what you believe in. What I don't understand, however, is the fact that people much richer, I imagine, than those of you protesting get to hide their money offshore to prevent paying their share. That makes me angry. To continue to rant "no new taxes" makes me believe that: 1) you're recycling old protest posters, or 2) you continue to watch FOX News.

Arthur Delaney of The Huffington Post writes this and provides the state-by-state breakdown of the cost to states of those who use offstore tax havens:

A Senate report estimated in 2008 that the United States loses up to $100 billion a year in tax revenue to offshore tax havens (PDF). In a report released Wednesday, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group offers a state-by-state breakdown of the cost to taxpayers of tax revenue lost to "shell companies and sham headquarters" in places like Switzerland and the Cayman Islands.

The practice soaks dutiful taxpayers in every state for hundreds of millions of dollars, according to U.S. PIRG. The citizens of New York and Texas shoulder over $8 billion a year, and the good people of California are on the hook for an extra $11 billion.

He continues....

The tax day release of the report coincides with protests at post offices across the country coordinated by the Campaign to Rebuild and Renew America Now, a coalition of groups supporting the president's budget priorities. Obama's budget calls for reigning in offshore tax havens.

In a speech on Tuesday, Obama talked about "shutting down loopholes and making sure everyone pays what they owe."

John Krieger says similar efforts by U.S. PIRG last year brought attention to tax evasion by major defense contractors like Kellogg, Brown & Root, ultimately leading to legislation to make sure contractors pay their share. Continued here...

Protest that... please.

Extended Family Dogs

I understand cats. I understand their aloofness, their satisfaction with being left alone, their good hygiene and grooming, their preference for privacy, their need for long naps, their desire to feel just a little bit superior, and the fact that they can just up and move out with no regret or guilt if things start to get a little too messy.... I get it.

Dogs, to me, are more like babies. They yelp out loud when you least expect it, slobber and drool on you, are always underfoot, they smell, they're loud, and they require you to take them out, walk them, play with them...it's just too much. I like to watch quiet dogs and babies, but I don't think I could live with one.

Dogs always seem happy; cats just seem content in the moment. And, did I mention that cats are quiet?

These are some of the dogs in our "extended family".....

Chance and Max
Casper, Wyoming

Tybee with Baby Addison

Nashville, Tennessee

While I remain a cat person, there are still a few dogs (and babies) I hold in my heart.

Sunday Reflections: Outdoor Sculpture

Private Courtyard and Sculpture Garden, Loft District
Birmingham, AL

Two Figures (Title Unknown)
Private Courtyard and Sculpture Garden, Loft District
Birmingham, AL

Boogy Woogy
Brad Morton, Artist / Brad Morton Studios /Birmingham, AL
Shidoni Foundry and Galleries
Tesuque, New Mexico


The Seminar
Brad Morton, Artist / Brad Morton Studios / Birmingham, AL
Arlington School
Birmingham, AL

We The People
Brad Morton, Artist / Brad Morton Studios / Birmingham, AL
Arlington Public Art Collection
Arlington, VA

Although quite different from his usual style, Morton said this was an important project to him. Commissioned by the Army, Fourth Infantry (IVY) Division, this sculpture was dedicated in 2000 in Arlington, Virginia.

Army, Fourth Infantry (IVY) Division Memorial at Avenue of the Heroes at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia
Brad Morton, Artist / Brad Morton Studios / Birmingham, AL
(More photographs may be viewed here.)

Weekend Cat Blogging #201

Easter eggs look loads of fun, LB, but we are celebrating our 2nd birthday this weekend! We don't know much about our first five months, but we get a lot of praise from Judi; she says we must have had a good mother.

Here we are at five months and the first day in our new home......


At six months, Jules and I still stayed pretty close to each other......




Jules explored....


I got a big brother and a role model, Butch....

Happy 2nd Birthday, Jules and Vincent!

This week's Weekend Cat Blogging is hosted by Breadchick and LB at The Sour Dough.