Into The Arugula

At the top of the news today is the story of SueAnn Wade-Crouse, who was found dead in her garden last night. Her husband of 20 years said that this photo was taken shortly before she walked into her garden, for the last time, carrying nothing but a gallon of balsamic vinegar.

Obviously shaken, he said that he suspects that an autopsy, ordered by the Travis County Medical Examiner, will reveal that she died from an arugula overdose. “She knew it was lethal in large doses,” her husband said, “but she just couldn’t seem to stop herself.”

One source that declined to be identified, said that SueAnn had recently been feeling overwhelmed by her arugula, and spoke of wanting to go into the arugula and never come back. “One day I went over to her house and found her just standing in her garden, staring at her arugula, tears in her eyes,” said a close source. “Now I wish I’d taken some of her arugula. This will haunt me forever.”

Bright-sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America by Barbara Ehrenreich

I had to start Barbara Ehrenreich’s book Bright-sided twice because at first, her negative attitude put me off. But then I realized, Duh!, that’s the crux of the book – her raging against what she calls the "cult of optimism." So, I decided to give her another chance, and I’m glad I did.

Ehrenreich is probably best know for her 2001 best seller about the working poor, Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, which I found to be a startling eye-opener, and the 2005, very good, and yet less-well-received, Bait and Switch, which was about trying to find a white-collar job at mid-life. As a quick aside, I saw an interview with Ehrenreich in which she was asked, “You seemed to make much closer ties with your fellow workers in Nickel and Dimed than you did on the white-collar job hunt. What was different this time?.” Her response rang true, but really bothered me. She said, “There's a lot of camaraderie in the blue-collar world I entered in Nickel and Dimed. People help each other and look out for each other; they laugh together--often at the managers. The white-collar world doesn't encourage camaraderie, far from it. There it's all about competition and fear--of losing one's job, for one thing. Other people are seen as sources of contacts or tips, at best; as competitors or rivals, at worst. And among the unemployed add shame and a sense of personal failure, the constant message that it's all your own fault. All this discourages any solidarity with others or real openness.”Click on Read More...

One Hundred Things My Mother Taught Me A Million Times – Chapter 34

#34 – “Always wear a slip. You don't want anyone seeing through your skirt. That looks cheap.” (Photo - Me, my sister Honey and mom. Mom and I in suits and hats, gloves and corsages, on our way to Europe - 1958)

Admonitions to not “look cheap,” is a reoccurring theme in the one hundred things my mom taught me a million times, but I have a little trouble wrapping my head around the concept of "cheap." Is that like prostitute cheap or like Wal-Mart cheap. I’m not sure, but knowing mom, I think that looking cheap is the antonym of looking classy. But then do we all define classy the same? I define classy as self-assured, smart, accomplished, courteous and respectful in all situations. I suspect that others, including mom, define it more by the way someone dresses.

So, if not wearing a slip and therefore revealing what’s under your skirt is cheap, let’s examine that. The evolution of my underwear-wearing is very upside down, and circular. When I was young and solid and would have looked good in a burlap bag, I wore just about every piece of underwear available – bra, panties, girdle, hose and slip. Now, when I need all the help I can get to keep it all contained, I do good to put on a bra. Except of course when I want to look better than I really do. In those instances, I have an arsenal of garments scientifically designed to contain and smooth out virtually everything from the tops of my shoulders to my ankles. So what the hell? Click on Read More

One Hundred Things My Mother Taught Me A Million Times – Chapter 33

#33 – "When you are sitting around reading, rest each elbow in a half of lemon. It will bleach the skin and keep your elbows from looking brown and scruffy." 

Honestly! I don’t have time to groom things I can’t even see. It’s all I can do to keep the really obvious stuff in decent order, hair, makeup, nails. When was the last time you checked your elbows?   

As I stroll through my memories of the one hundred things my mom taught me a million times, grooming techniques pop up frequently. Believe me, you’ll hear much more on this topic before I’ve cleared the full one hundred. I can’t wait to talk about Vaseline, but not today. Today the topic is lemons and elbows.  Click on Read More for the full story!

GALS GRAZE

The common denominator between the women at last weeks (April 8th) Gals luncheon was the fabulous Center for Child Protection’s Event, PlayBingo. After a few Q’s & A’s we discovered that although not all of the gals  knew each other, they’d all attended PlayBingo, loved it, and vowed to go again this year. Click on PlayBingo to see what it is they won’t miss and what you shouldn’t miss.

What a fun bunch of gals! Although it was tempting to sit and gossip with my former San Angelo cousin-in-law, Patty Sue Chandler, rancher and a wonderfully sharp gal (she’s a mathematician for gawds sake) who I recently reunited with at Yoga, we focused on the positive and laughed a lot! Debbie Kern, founder of the PlayBingo fundraiser, and scary smart gal, is always fun to be around. She reminds me of the Energizer Bunny, but is much more energetic and infinitely cuter too. If you need a really, really cool, exceptional event planned – here’s your gal! Check out her i3 Event Planning website here.

Mary Wright is a childhood and forever friend who was always smart and still is as she was recently recognized by TX Monthly Magazine as a 2009 FIVE STAR Wealth Manager for the Austin, San Antonio and Central Texas Region. So…..if you have money and want more, Mary is the gal to contact. Click on Mary Wright here. Cathy Crabtree is the Executive Director of the Children's Advocacy Centers of Texas, a member of the National Children's Alliance, the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children, and one of the smartest gals I know, as evidenced by the fact that she and I seem to love the same books! Actually Cathy’s a lot smarter than me, and although I can’t tell you about it right now, she’s going to be headed to the top!! Think Washington DC!

Gal howdy we had fun at lunch and it was really great to see everyone!

One Hundred Things My Mother Taught Me A Million Times – Chapter 32

#32 – “During the summer you should always pack your woolens with mothballs and store them in a cedar chest.”

(My kids, Colt, Cuatro and Jolene with Mom)

Mom’s #32 of the one hundred things she taught me a million times presents a bit of a mystery because although I have a cedar chest and woolens, never the twain do meet. Why? Because I just don’t see moths as a threat. 

This begs the question, “Where have all the moths gone?” Is this one of those ecological disasters that we just haven’t heard about yet? I remember there being lots of moths in my childhood, but I honestly can’t remember the last time I saw one. Were they a West Texas thing where I grew up? Do I simply not see them now, their existence blurred by the priorities of my complicated life – deadlines, bills, allergies? Are they out there? Are they hiding in my spare closet, covertly munching holes in the beautiful wool suit that I once wore to a tea at the White House? Click on Read More Below..

Rolling With The Homies

(Hell Marys Teammates Roughing Up Rachel)

When Rachel Muir snatched up my offer for a VIP ticket to last nights Texas Rollergirls, I was surprised, but not. I knew Rachel was quick, but I didn’t know how fun she was. I do now! We had a blast.

I must admit that I went into this whole Rollergirl thing with some trepidation. What if it was like wrestling, all show no dough? What if it was seedy? What if there weren’t any other women my age there? Questions answered: 1. It’s a whole lot more about competition than sex, 2. It wasn’t seedy, it was good clean fun, and 3. There were lots of soccer mom’s there! Women of all ages, lots of them, dressed in everything from JC Penny’s to Prada.

The beer was cold, the Rollergirls were fun and Rachel was a killer date!

Neanderthals, Potty Training, Global Warming – The Soap Opera, Science Bars and Galileo

Since I took yesterday morning off to read my most recent Discover Magazine, you’ll have to suffer my ramblings about science – which I will try very hard not to make too boring.

Neanderthals - Scientists have decided that Neanderthals may have received a bum rap as the Homer Simpson’s of Homo sapiens. They base this on the fact that Neanderthal jewelry and abodes with functional spaces have been recently discovered, indicating intelligence capable of symbolic art, abstract thinking and organization. Well hello! There were women Neanderthals!

 Click on Read More...

One Hundred Things My Mother Taught Me A Million Times – Chapter 31

#31 – “Don't ever admit your age or that you have children because people will automatically categorize you and deprive you of opportunities.”
(Mom and my Brother JS)

When I was young and had children this one of one hundred things my mother taught me a million times really made me angry. I told her that was outdated thinking, old fashioned. My generation was a lot more sophisticated. Employers wouldn’t dare discriminate against a woman because of her age or the fact that she had children. That was before I became an employer, blinded by a misguided sense of duty and the bottom line. Click on Read More...

THREE THINGS - ARUGULA, ROLLERGIRLS, ARTIST NEEDS HOME

TEXAS ROLLERGIRLS
For some crazy reason I bought VIP season tickets for the Texas Rollergirls. This Sunday night it's the Hell Marys versus the Honkeytonk Heartbreakers, and I can't find anyone to go with me. If you've seen the movie "Whip It," directorial debut of Drew Barrymore, and staring Ellen Page, you know this can be fun stuff, so step out of your safety circle and go with me. Loud music and beer are probably part of the equation. If you're interested, let me know.

CUTE ARTIST NEEDS HOME
My artist friend Noah Leaf Mendelson wants to spend two months in Austin and needs a place to live. He is willing to rent and would like to be central, preferable close to Clarksville. If you've ever wanted the title of Art Patron, here's your chance. He's a really nice, quiet, sober responsible guy, and one heck of an artist (click on his name above to see his art).

Here's a photo of him at an art show that Mary Wilbur (left) and I did for him last year. That's Maxine Roberts (Lexus of Austin) in the center of the photo.

 THE ARUGULA THAT ATE AUSTIN

Would you please come get some arugula and lettuce! We are turning into bunnies trying to keep up with it. It is 100% organic, taste fabulous and I really, really need to share. Just pull up in our driveway, get out and clip off as much as you can eat! Seriously, the faster I cut it the faster it grows! These photos do not of course do justice to the abundance, so please do not be shy! The garden is on the front of our lot, easy to find. Please just help yourself.

GALS GRAZE

After having lunch with six Very Smart Gals on Wednesday, March 24, I went home, curled into the fetal position and sucked my thumb for an hour. Not really. I went home and wrote grants, but I guarantee you that I did it with more zest than usual, having gotten my batteries supercharged by the energy buzzing around in that back corner of Cipollina Restaurant! I sent this photo to the gals and told them I thought it turned out really nice considering that we had to get six women to hold it in, smile and look 25 all at the same time! Here’s the line- up, left to right. 

Kelly Laudenslager, found her way to me through a long-time ranch country friend, whose daughter went to school with Kelly. Blog, blog, blog, and here we are! Kelly graduated from Wake Forest, then came down to Texas to get her masters. Any you gals got a son looking for a future Ms. Perfect! Here she is! I always say that Loralee Martin is who I want to be when I grow up. She’s just dang near perfect. She’s from NY, but she’s got that California girl look, blond, bronze and svelte, and she’s scary smart. Loralee is personal chef/assistant to an important local mover/shaker power-couple here in town who I'll bet would be lost without her. Jane Dixon Swan is a cherished childhood friend who recently retired as the librarian in Fredericksburg. I can honestly say that I’ve more great childhood memories of Jane than anyone. We were always off to the river, or building forts, or playing summer-long monopoly games. She’s a great gal. Julie Williams is the best facialist in the world, a naturalist extraordinaire and a long-time friend. The woman has better arms than Madonna, eats fish for breakfast and won’t drink cold water because it “kills your Chi.” When I go for her long. lovely, luxurious facials I know I’m going to get a bonus lesson in natural health and beauty. Annie Taylor is my neighbor and co-owner of JBird & Co. Landscape Design, Maintenance, Construction, and of Annie’s Omnium Creative Services (illustration, interior design, and visual merchandising). I just met Annie but knew I liked her right away by the looks of her house and the way she dresses and the glow of her face. I think this gals got a lot of creativity up her sleeve and I’m looking forward to knowing her better. Lovely and lovable Toni Schmid, formerly worked in the mortgage lending business, is currently Tour Director for the Commemorative Air Force, B-29/B-24 Squadron,  and we worked together at Keep Texas Beautiful during the late 80’s or early 90’s. She and Kelly sat next to each other and once they discovered that they had a mutual love of horses, they completely bonded.


Thanks Gals for Making My Day!

One Hundred Things My Mother Taught Me A Million Times - Chapter 30

#30 – "Always eat the parsley they put your plate at a restaurant, it is packed with vitamins, and freshens your breath."

This one of one hundred things my mother taught me a million times reminded me that I never saw my mother take a vitamin. Of course this was a woman that would only take one-half of an aspirin if she had 105-degree fever. I recall her giving me one baby aspirin when I was in high school. Seriously! 

She wasn’t the stereotypical naturalist though, she just believed in doing things, as she put it, “the natural way," such as eating parsley instead of taking vitamins.

I remember as a kid feeling very special and somehow superior when, on those very rare occasions that we went out to eat in San Angelo or Odessa, and my plate arrived with a “sprig” of parsley, placed just so. Perhaps it was the small-town hick in me or the child, but that beautiful, frilly-leafed bouquet of deep green just somehow made me feel that there were many more things “out there” to be experienced.  Mom  spent a good bit of my childhood trying to instill in me a wonder of the world, but not just any world, the world that offered privilege, prosperity, parsley. Click on Read More for More About Parsley.

Little Bee by Chris Cleave

I read Little Bee at the recommendation of Very Smart Gal, Kelly Loudenslager, Realtor, and loved many things about it, and disliked a few. Interestingly, that seemed to be the response of many readers/reviewers. Of the reviews I saw, there were almost as many who loved it as didn’t, and even the ones who loved it disliked some things about it, and those who didn’t particularly love it nevertheless loved some things.

I listened to the book on my iPod, as it seems the only time I have to “read” anymore is listening to them in my car driving to and fro, and listening to Little Bee was one of the things I loved. Reader, Anne Flosnik, did such a lovely job of portraying the various dialects, Nigerian, Jamaican and the “Kings English,” that I occasionally found myself enraptured by her voice and loosing track of the story. Click on Read More For the Full Review...

My Bountiful Organic Garden

Behold our dinner last night, which we plucked from our beautiful, organic garden just moments before this photo was taken - arugula, baby spinach, lettuce, carrots (tomatoes from the store – little early for tomatoes!)   

Holy greenery was it good! Nothing quite as satisfying as harvesting from the sweat of your own brow! Just kidding, I don’t garden but I do pay for my gardener extraordinaire, Jason Minshew, JayBird Landscaping.  Want a fresh salad tonight? Please feel free to come by and trim off a plateful! EGO perussi proinde EGO sum

First person that correctly translates this gets to go see the Texas Roller Girls with me this Sunday night (I have VIP season tickets)!

Gals Graze

You’d have thought we were saving the world Wednesday when MariBen Ramsey, Michaelanne Hurst and Lulu Flores and I met for lunch - and perhaps we were!   
(Pictred left to right - MariBen Ramsey, Michaelanne Hurst and Lulu Flores)

I swear there’s just some chemistry that happens when women that don’t know each other very well, but who are all smart gals, get together and there’s no real agenda. I wouldn’t be surprised if the paint started to soon peel off the walls at that corner table at Cipollina Restaurant,  from the sheer power thrown off by the gals that I lunch with there. 

MariBen Ramsey, who has been Vice President and General Counsel/Grant Director at the Austin Community Foundation since 1995 cracked us up with her stories of how many times the Austin Community Foundation has moved – always chasing the free rental space.

Since Lulu Flores, attorney and former Assistant Director for Intergovernmental Affairs of the Railroad Commission, is the current President of the National Women’s Political Caucus, we inevitable got into a spirited discussion of the recent elections. I am the former President of the Texas Women's Political Caucus so I was particularly interested in a very controversial issue – whether women’s political organizations should endorse male candidates. The National Caucus has just determined to enforce a previously allowed infraction of its basic charter, the endorsement of male candidates by state and local affiliates. MariBen, Lulu and I have been around long enough to have seen how this issue can inspire unbridled passion in women – on both sides of the issue. May sound simple, but it's not.

Michaelanne Hurst, Executive Director of Communities for Recovery, which provides volunteer peer support services for persons suffering from alcoholism, chemical addiction and an addiction/mental disorder combo, listened intently to the political stories, and then made a wonderful statement. She said that as the mother of a three-year-old daughter, she has a renewed interest in equality for women. 

I believe we all left feeling inspired by the intelligence of our gender, and fueled to tackle another day! Thanks to MariBen, Lulu and Michaelanne for reminding me again, why I am so glad that I am a woman.

SueAnn

One Hundred Things My Mother Taught Me A Million Times - Chapter 29

#29 – “Old towels make great dishtowels when they get thin and ragged.  Old dishtowels make great dishrags when they get thin and full of holes.  Old dishrags should be used for working on cars and washing machines when they get too thin for washing dishes.  Never throw away old towels.”

The above lesson that my mom taught me a million times could be a little confusing without some interpretation – or perhaps a glossary:
The towel in question is that with which you dry your body after a bath or shower, or rather “dab” your body, which helps preserve those oh-so-precious natural oils that we so assiduously scrub off.
A dishtowel is that with which you dry dishes, if you live in the stone age and don’t have a dishwasher that dries them for you.
 A dishrag, not to be confused with the dishtowel, is that with which you wash your dishes. Again, this is assuming that you have neither a dishwasher nor the ScotchBrite Heavy Duty Sponge Scrubbers, which I prefer, but which my daughter claims are a harbinger of deadly and nasty germs.
A rag  is so lowly it doesn’t even rank a name, but that being said, we all need them. I’ll bet you have rags! I have rags. We all got rags.

So, the evolution of the towel, according to Willie (mom), is bath towel to dishtowel to dishrag, to something with which someone (not me), would use to wash their car or work on their washing machine. I honestly don’t recall the last time I worked on my washing machine.

This maximum utilization of the bath towel from birth to death is but one other example of the frugality and lack of  what we’ll call “squeamishness” that are the hallmarks of mom’s existence. You’ve heard me mention before the “natural resistance” bred into the Wade family genetics. The basis of which being, always make sure you're "dirtier" than the threatening germs. Our germs will kick your germs butts! Click on Read More  - I'm getting to the point quickly - I promise ...

INTERNATIONAL WOMAN'S DAY EVENT - THURSDAY, MARCH 4

Some of you may recall my rave review of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn’s book “Half the Sky” in my Dec. 23 blog post. Well, I want to make you aware of an International Woman’s Day event/movie, inspired by the book, that is being featured at various theaters across the country, Thursday night, March 4, 7:30 pm - Featuring musical performances, celebrity commentary and the world premiere of “Woineshet,” a short film by Academy Award® winner Marisa Tomei and Lisa Leone. Also with appearances from, India.Arie, Maria Bello, Diane Birch, Michael Franti, Dr. Helene Gayle, Angelique Kidjo, Nicholas Kristof, Marisa Tomei, Sarah, Duchess of York and others. Here’s the link for additional info, including the other locations for the screening.
http://www.ncm.com/Fathom/OriginalPrograms/event/Half_The_Sky.aspx
Please check it out. If it is as inspiring as “Half the Sky” it will be fabulous!
SueAnn
 

The Last Train from Hiroshima: The Survivors Look Back by Charles Pellegrino

I am fascinated by the science of atomic bombs (read American Prometheus), yet a devout pacifist. I would like to believe that if The Last Train from Hiroshima by Charles Pellegrino was required reading in high school history classes, we’d never have to worry about atomic war again. But I know that’s not true. War isn’t about what makes sense, it’s about power, or if you’re so inclined, standing up against tyranny, but whatever the motivation, it will never go away.

Aside from the following facts, I loved this book: (1) The author has, under huge criticism, admitted that he was duped by one of his information sources. The books were supposedly recalled and edits made (about 5 pages). (2) The stories are horrifying, graphic and soul crushing. FYI, James Cameron has optioned this book for a movie....

How could I love a book like this? Because I loved the way that Charles Pelligrino clinically broke down the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to nano seconds, dissecting the mechanics of the bombs in a way I’ve never heard before, i.e., “One ten-millionth of a second later, a sphere of gamma rays escaped the core at light speed.” Click on Read More.

One Hundred Things My Mother Taught Me A Million Times - Chapter 28

#28 – “Always compliment a man on his tie.  That will start the conversation on him and he will be flattered.”
(Mom - with Bruce Todd - totally busted! Bruce was Mayor of Austin, then County Commissioner and my boss.)

My mother was a shameless flirt, even when she was 85-years-old, even when she was 95! I vividly recall one particular incident at Las Palomas Restaurant in Westlake. We were celebrating her 80-something birthday and she was so “involved” with one of the waiters that we could have left the table, gone shopping, returned an hour later and no one would have noticed. I thought we were going to have to tell them to get a room.

Mother’s flirtations were never ever crude though. You may recall my saying that the naughtiest thing I ever heard come out of my mom’s mouth was “d-e-e-r-n,” which I suppose was a throttled-back damn or dang. Her flirtations were more like a Sally Rand fan dance, no flesh revealed, but plenty of titillation. I cannot tell you how many times I saw some hunk lured into the dance. You could see the evolution of attitude on their faces:
1. Ah, what a sweet old lady. I should be nice.
2. Gaud, is this old bitty flirting with me?
3. OK, so she’s a pretty funny ole’ gal.
4. Un huh, well, I got some stuff too. Take that!
5. Woo hoo, this is fun, but I sure hope that no one I know is watching.
6. OK, I’m blushing. Uncle!
Click on Read More.

One Hundred Things My Mother Taught Me A Million Times - Chapter 27

#27 – “Put a dishtowel on the kitchen counter when you're making coffee in the morning so you won’t wake up other people.”

 (Photo is of my sisters Gloria, and Dot, my mom, my sister Honey and me - 1979)

This one of one hundred things that my mom taught me a million times nearly makes me tear-up. If I could only use one word to describe my mom it would be “considerate.” So many of the things she taught (tried to teach) me were about being extraordinarily considerate. I’d like to think that this lesson “took,” and from a very specific point, I know it did. To this day, I don’t make coffee in the early morning without tiptoeing around, taking care not to clang dishes or silver, and yes, placing a cup towel on the counter to absorb sounds. Click on "Read More" for the full story.

I Just Want to Play – An interactive, Practical Guide for Parents and Coaches by Debbie Lantz

Anyone who has experienced organized youth sports knows how crazy it can get, so millions of copies of Debbie Lantz’s book, “I Just Want to Play” should probably be dropped from airplanes over every American suburb!

Lantz has been coaching business leaders at Fortune 500 companies such as Hitachi, Nokia, and TI since 1991, has a master’s degree in exercise physiology, and is the single mother of a teenaged son actively involved in sports, so she has credentials. Check her out at http://crazysportsmom.com/

She says that she wrote “I Just Want to Play,” “…to help parents and coaches reclaim the culture of Youth Sports in leagues and schools from an overly competitive adult culture.” Although that sounds mighty lofty, I think this may very well be the “little book that could.” Click on "Read More" to see why.

Gals Graze

I cannot tell you how stimulating, interesting and surprising my Very Smart Gals luncheons always end up being. There’s really nothing quite as dramatic as the real lives of the people we most often swish by nonchalantly each day.  Wednesday was no exception.  
(Left to right, Mary, Sandra and Paula)
 

Mary Moore Harper, whom I love, is my daughter’s sister-in-law, a 5th generation San Antonio rancher and commercial property owner, former Wilhelmina model and rodeo queen, and currently a partner with her husband in the Austin Capitol Chevrolet dealership and a precious nine-month old daughter.

Paula Disbrowe is a chef and a food and travel writer, famous for her fab cookbooks, Cowgirl Cuisine, Crescent City Cooking, co-written with chef Susan Spicer, Down Home with the Neelys (Food Network fame), co-written with the Neelys, and for her magazine writing for New York Times, T Living, Food & Wine, Spa, Health, Cooking Light, and Saveur. In spite of the fact that she and her husband have two young daughters, they’ve launched a new, ubercool business with some Amsterdam-ians (ites?) called "Feather Down Farm Days," which is like eco-tourism, but farm-y, fun and luxurious. Check this out! Click on Feather Down Farm Days.

Sandra Martin is a long time friend, mentor, and icon of ethics and professionalism. She is also the founder of CASA Austin, founding and current CEO of the Kozmetsky Center for Child Protection, and an Austin Woman Magazine cover-gal! Her PlayBingo and Dancing With Stars fundraisers raise more than half a million dollars a year to help abused children in Central Texas. She and I raised more than $10,000,000 a couple of years ago to build their new beautiful center. Check out their website. Click on Center for Child Protection. Click on Read More.

Let the Great World Spin: A Novel By Colum McCann

I didn’t want to like this book, which won rave reviews in 2009, and I’m not sure why. Perhaps I had this preconceived notion that it would be about Philippe Petit, the young French tightrope walker who in 1974, illegally rigged a wire between the World Trade Center Towers, and walked, hopped and toodled his way back and forth for nearly an hour. If you haven’t seen the Academy Award winning documentary, “Man on Wire,” which includes excellent film footage of everything from Petit’s youthful days of tightrope walking, to the blow-by-blow of the harrowing and historic walk that made him famous, go rent it. It is really very good.


Let the Great World Spin is rather about the lives of ordinary people who walk the tightrope of life every day, just like us. McCann begins the book with stunned crowds on their way to work, stopping to marvel and gawk at Petit, just a tiny speck in the sky, weaving back and forth between the towers, above the fray of life, but McCann then quickly gets to the spectacles going on below.

FAVORITE HALLOWEEN COSTUMES

In the process of going through a bunch of photos today I came across a few from Halloweens past! Corky Hilliard, Aralyn Hughes, Crouse and I, and about 10 or so other crazies, used to throw the best Halloween Party each year. They were always held at the hottest clubs in town, Antone's, the club above Katz's, some place on Lake Austin that I can't remember the name of, etc. Tons of people came (250-400), people really went all out on their costumes, and we always had a killer band. Someday I’ll post photos of some of the outstanding costumes that our friends came up with, but here are just a few of ours.

Costumes included, Homer and Marge Simpson, Rambo-ette, Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, "Cow-man" Miranda, "The Morality Police" and a Deadhead.

One year we were the cover of a romance novel (see photo on
left above). The signs say, “Passion On The High Seas,” and “Taken captive by the dreaded she-devil pirate, scourge of shipping and the terror of the V-birth, he became her cabin boy & love slave.” I also had a jeweled eye-patch and a scary whip!

We went as Marilyn Monroe and "Just Another Dead" Kennedy" (that 's my mom in the mysterious outfit), and "Nurse Naughty" and Watermelon Girl.

ALERT - DON'T CLICK ON 

"READ MORE" 

UNLESS YOU'RE OVER 21!

One Hundred Things My Mother Taught Me A Million Times - Chapter 26

#26 – “Always turn the lights off when you leave a room. It saves electricity and helps keep the house cooler.”
(Photo is of my San Antonio Grandkids, Cassie, Will & Syd)
People often ask me, “Do you really have a hundred things, or is that just a catchy title.” I really do have one hundred things. Actually I think it’s right around 103, but who’s counting. Sometimes though I can’t decide which lesson to write about. I just read through them waiting for my muse to jump out. This morning I guess my muse slept in, so when Crouse-y-poo (the husband) wandered through, I said, “Pick a number between 26 and 103.” He picked 87, and #87 on the list became #26, and today’s topic.

You know how when you were a kid and your mom would say things so many times that you just wanted to run out of the house screaming? Well, that’s my #26, “Always turn the lights off when you leave a room. It saves electricity and helps keep the house cooler.” And you know how one day you’re just tootling along and all of a sudden you realize that you’re going room to room, turning lights off, and you get wide-eyes and shriek, “Oh my gaud! I’m turning into my mother!” Yep, I thought so.

The Unnamed by Joshua Ferris

Loved it, hated it, loved it, hated it, hated it, hated it.

“It’s back,” says the main character, Tim, referring to his mysterious, sporadically reoccurring illness (real or psychological – we never find out), that causes him to walk out of anything and everything, and walk until he drops from exhaustion, suffering frostbite, malnutrition and other physical disasters.  Tim’s a high-powered attorney, wealthy, healthy and smart, until all of a sudden he’s not. Due to his “walking thing” which no amount of Dr.’s worldwide can diagnose or cure, he looses his position in the firm and an important case, which causes one of his clients to eventually kill himself. His illness all but kills his wife. And I found that I wanted to kill him myself about halfway through the book just to be done with it all.  It’s sort of hard to explain, understand, or swallow, but honestly I think it’s more like a metaphor, but I’ll get to that in a minute.

Gals Guzzle

Not only do “Gals Graze” (reference previous posts of Gals – Very Smart Gals luncheons), they also sometimes, “Guzzle”!  Thursday night was one such instance as I met Very Smart Gals, Angela Tharpe Guillen and Nancy Weiss Coplin for drinks at Red’s Porch.

(Nancy left - Angela right) 

Nancy is the Music Coordinator at Austin-Bergstrom Airport, has sold music posters at the Armadillo Christmas Bazaar forever, manages several musicians/bands in Austin, is very good friends with Marcia Ball, knows more music people than anyone I know, and is very involved in lots of musician support groups. I met Nancy around 1983-ish through the Women’s Chamber of Commerce, which was just being formed.

Angela created and owns the Flamingo Cantina on Sixth Street (a successful music venue for close to 20 years), and is one of the masterminds behind the Austin Reggae Festival.  I knew her long before she became the “Bob Marley” of Austin as she worked for Bob Honts (County Commissioner and Developer) in his private business while I worked for him in his public office.

This And That

The Continuing Saga – My Husband the Housekeeper
Remember my posts saying that my husband Crouse decided that in his retirement, he would come our housekeeper? And then I posted that the “Thrill was gone,” and that he was slacking off? Well, he was a little hurt at my comment that he wasn’t doing such a great job cleaning, and really is trying harder. Can you believe it! I adore my hubby, and he knows it!

OK, this is precious and priceless. Guess what he said right after I returned from a five-day trip to New Mexico? “Did you notice how clean the house is?” Then he rattled off a list of the cleaning chores he’d done. It was so adorable!

My Kitchen Cabinet
Crouse always says that when work gets slow, we start renovating, and he’s right. Over the holidays we renovated and redecorated our front bathroom – not to worry friends, it’s still full of the nudes I’ve collected over the years – it’s just a little less “bordello,” and a little more “museum!”

Also, when we were camping in Fort Davis over Thanksgiving, my Friend Deb Harrington and I saw some bookshelves, the insides of which were painted bright red, and it look fabulous, so I decided that I wanted to paint the insides of my kitchen cabinets (which are open – no doors) a bright color. So, after my husband came down off the ceiling and warmed to the idea, we went to Home Depot to look at paint samples, and ended up with a completely unexpected choice – stop-sign iridescent orange-yellow.

Also – I’d recently, for what reason I can’t account for, purchased a couple of vintage TV lamps, but couldn’t figure out what to do with them. Well, one thing led to another, and a couple of forays on eBay, and next thing you know we owned a number of TV lamps and they were lighting my kitchen cabinets. AND I LOVE IT!

Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime, by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin

I tend to launch right into my opinion, forgetting to tell people what the book I'm reviewing is about. So before I get carried away – Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime, by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin is sort of a behind-the-scenes look at the 2008 presidential race, but with an "opening of the kimono" twist, revealing the candidates as we rarely see them,  people just like us – sometimes stupid, sometimes smart, capable of fear, insecurity, profanity, love, pain and plain ole' meanness. So on to the good stuff.

I loved Game Change. I couldn’t put it down. It was an interesting, cleverly written and fun story about a historic time in America. That’s not to say that some of the things about it didn’t tick me off, or that it was completely accurate, but I’ll get to that in a minute. Read on...

The View Out My Window

This is what I saw when I woke up this morning. I drove to New Mexico a few days ago, sick as a dog, but went to the Dr. and got some antibiotics.

So now I'm lying in bed working, blogging, and watching it snow! Beautiful.

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
Robert Frost
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village, though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

One Hundred Things My Mother Taught Me A Million Times - Chapter 25

#25 – “Don't wear too much makeup. It will make other women distrust you."
(The photo of me and my youngest son, Colt has nothing to do with this blog post - I just like the picture)

This one of one hundred things that my mom taught me a million times, is one I’ve purposely put off talking about because I have such mixed feelings! Just reading and thinking about it makes me feel a little on edge, irritated. Why? Because I don’t want to believe it and intellectually know that it is not an absolute, but in a deeper place, I think it is true, sometimes, and that really, really bothers me. It bothers me that I think it is true, and it bothers me that it could be true. OK. Breathe, breathe. Now, let’s just back up and try to take a little less emotional look at this issue. 

Makeup has a sordid and deadly history. We know Cleopatra wore it - you saw the movie with Elizabeth Taylor, right?  Well, what Cleo/Liz didn’t share was that her lipstick was made from finely crushed carmine beetles mixed with ant's eggs.  This sounds pretty disgusting, but then I strongly suspect that my favorite 99-cent Walgreens lipstick is made out of ground up kittens, by a 4-year old in some 4^th-world country.