Kodachrome...They Give Us Those Nice Bright Colors...

I'm working on a special project...well, I will be for many months to come. I plan to scan in tons of old photos for my folks because years ago most of their photo albums got destroyed in flooding. (Long story, stupid reason, but gone nonetheless.)

Anyway, I thought it would be the ultimate Christmas present to take what I have at least and select some of the best photos of them before me that I have (not too many unfortunately) and many of my childhood photos and those of our family members and scan them in to build new photos albums. (They don't know about this of course and aren't online travellers, so mums the word if you happen to see them!)It will be quite the undertaking but I know it will be worth it in the end, not to mention I'll have so many great memories scanned onto my PC later.

Recently, I organized our 19 books of photos that Lar and I have taken since we've been together (August '94). That was a project - I had kept up until book 13 but the rest was just waiting for some fool to come through and sort the poor pics. And I was that crazy nut.

I did it because I'm also building some new photo collages for different rooms in the house while I work on my scanning projects, including one collage of the baseball parks Lar and I have visited so far and another of the European sites from my 1989 European humanities study tour.

That one will go in the "A Room with a View"/Italian art-themed guest room, of course! And the ballparks? Probably the baseball-themed fitness room - or at least just outside of it in the guest hallway.

I'm having a ball seeing all of these great memories...it's just amazing the fabulous gift ideas and home decor projects digital photography enables all of us to do now. Just amazing...

IDon'tThinkSo Phone

I'm sorry...

But $400-$500 for a phone?! I don't care what else is does, unless it will drive me to work or clean my house too, forget it!

And if you happen to know me, you know exactly how many times a day I drop my phone on the ground. This would be my greatest fear with any phone $200 or more.

Here is a list of things I've done to my phone since I've had it...

Spilled perfume on it.

Spilled perfume soda on it.

Dropped a whole bowl of soup on it.

Watched it fall off the top of the car as I backed up.

Drenched it in rain.

Dropped it.

Over and over.

Yeah. I think the IPhone would be perfect for me.

Don't you?

She's Mad As Hell and Not Gonna' Take It Anymore...

I'll admit. I think I've emailed this link to just about everybody I know. A news anchor protests any further talk about Paris and takes her own measures to extremes.

It's unbelievable to see someone carry their disdain for Paris and all that she stands for this far, even possibly jeopardizing their own job.

Wow.

Penny For Your Thoughts, Paris?

This is absolutely hilarious...no one wants Paris Hilton's story? Too funny...

And no surprise at all, CNN's Larry King ends up the victor. How can you not talk honestly to a man in suspenders, I ask you?

You just can't lie. It's not humanly possible.

Don't Stop Believin'

Okay.

If you've been reading my blog lately, you know that I've been a little - how shall we say - OBSESSED with The Sopranos finale. Now Hillary Clinton spoofs the mysterious series finale and shows she has real style and a great sense of humor to match.

Cool democrats and my favorite hoodlum show ever, along with an awesome cameo from Johnny Sacks himself, all rolled into one.

Sigh. This completely rocks my world. Enjoy!

Fathers A Plenty And Forty Big Years

Sunday afternoon we had another very special Kuhn family gathering. Sure it was Father's Day and we had three very cool dads to celebrate. But the day marked another big occasion.

My folks' 40th wedding anniversary. (Everybody, awwwww...)

The group met up at nearby Remington's because, well, beef is just about everybody's favorite. Yep, this veggie didn't have your typical steakhouse fare but that veggie quesadilla sure was yummy. And who doesn't like a place where you can drop your peanut shells on the floor. Or just about anything else for that matter. I'm actually surprised Mom didn't try to tidy up the place. This is my kind of living but must have driven my Mom bonkers.

After a yummy meal, we headed back to our place and fortunately, Mom Cantos wanted to visit the ladies room before leaving, so it gave all of us the much-needed excuse to exit early and get everything ready for their entrance.

Kool n the Gang's "Celebration" cranked up in the background, the balloons and decorations set all around and everyone ready to honor the day's special dads and special couple this very sunny (and humid) Sunday afternoon in the Tampa suburbs.


We chatted about first dates and proposals as our soon to be newlyweds got pointers from the anniversary couple, opened gifts and enjoyed cake and each other's company.

And built incredibly intricate Lego architectural feats. (Okay, not really but I did make an interesting Human Tractor Trailer, wheels, flatbed and human head...where was my camera when I needed it!)

Interestingly enough, I just realized today after some seriously heavy math (I don't exactly use it much in my daily wordsmith profession)...we'll now have 1967, 1997 and 2007 anniversaries in our family, meaning we'll always celebrate milestones in the same year.

So when we turn 20, Mom and Dad celebrate 50 and Derek and Misty will reach 10. Pretty cool.

Wow. 2017. Now that's going to be an AWESOME year.

But I'm going to be 47. Yikes.

Happy Dad's Day

Happy Padres Day to all of you great dads out there.

I know one pretty cool one who enjoyed the many spoils of fatherhood as he unfurled the wrap around his bounty and shared his loot with the Powershot.

Elvis may be the King to some but we know who wears that title belt in this Copybird's world...

James Mc-who?

And who needs Mr. Spock when you can have Mr. Weiner? You gotta love it...

Happy Father's Day, everybody! Live long and prosper...

Sopranos History...in 7 Minutes

Are you having Sopranos withdrawal, too? I just can't get over that finale.

So for those of you like me who are still not completely finished with everyone's favorite Mafia family, I found this hysterical summary of all of the past Sopranos seasons. It was released on to YouTube just before this year's season started.

Enjoy this lovely look back at The Sopranos up to this season...

Did We Just Get Whacked?

David Chase is a genius. It’s what everybody’s talking about this morning. Yep, he’s a friggin’ genius.

I’ll admit it. Last night, I was mad at him. Angry that he didn’t “finish” the show the way Gilmore Girls and Sex and the City so neatly tied up loose ends and gave viewers closure about their favorite characters.

But that’s not what the show is about. It never has been. The show has been about a day in the life, about how someone so tough, so menacing, so larger than life can have the same complexities and trivialities in his everyday life…one kid that talks back, another with pie-in-the-sky ever-changing ambitions; a wife who knows what he does but chooses to look the other way and enjoy the lifestyle; a love-hate relationship with his sister; a mother who doesn’t love him; a relative with Alzheimer’s slowly fading; addictions that overtake him, emotional issues that overwhelm him; yada, yada, yada.

So why shouldn’t the last episode be – just that? A little bit of everyday life and a whole lotta nothing? Didn’t we get enough excitement after last week’s episode with two big cast casualties? And we did get to see Phil bite the bullet not once, but twice in a memorably gory yet amusing exit.

I’ve had the most fun checking out people’s theories online: the black screen represents Tony getting whacked and the very last things he sees and hears; their lives continue as we leave them with Tony paranoid but business as usual, the whole family gets knocked off by the guy in the bathroom and the seedy-looking fellow in the booth; the two guys are feds and arrest him abruptly; etc. My particular favorite theory is that music lover Chase built the show as a tribute to the Beatles’ last recorded album Abby Road by cutting his “masterpiece’s” final scene abruptly as the tension builds in much the same way “She’s So Heavy” ends right after the song rises to a crescendo but immediately cuts to silence. Hmm. Interesting. I think I may go back and listen to Abby Road and see if there are any other correlations to that album. I could completely see Chase weaving some Beatlesque symbolism throughout the show. He’s all about the music.

But think about it. Chase did the only thing he could do to deliver the unexpected – absolutely nothing. He’d be accused of being too predictable if he sent Tony to jail, enlisted him in a witness protection program or whacked Tony or the entire family in that serene restaurant setting. It was too easy to do that. He had to throw us off and the only way he could do that was to leave it so open-ended that we’d finish the show however we saw fit or speculate to no end. Again, he’s a friggin’ genius.

So what’s your theory? What really happened after the scene cuts away?

Take Your Final Hits

Larry and I tried this game this morning. It's called the Sopranos' Ultimate Hits Challenge and what started out fun, soon consumed over 90 minutes of our time as we scoured the internet for clues and information to solve these Soprano mysteries.

We did finally solve them all - after about an hour and forty minutes. The best scores are a little over a minute. Had we just noticed the pause button sooner, maybe we would have ranked, too. Sigh.

And if you can solve it without help, power to you. This stuff is hard!

Enjoy!

Loud And Proud

My rocker friends will get a real kick out of this. I just saw on my favorite pop culture blog, Pop Candy, that Paste Magazine has released their Top 15 Rock Screams of All-Time. Check it out!


See anyone noticeably missing? There are definitely some groups I'm not familiar with on the list, but I was surprised that Prince didn't make the cut. But something tells me that he'll make the Best Moans list.

Real Or Advertisement?

Don't you just laugh when the fast food restaurants showcase their new exciting product and it looks nothing like what you receive when you order it? I can't tell you how many times this has happened to me with Taco Bell and Pizza Hut.

I found this really interesting link that takes a closer look at several different fast food places and the power of advertising. It's fascinating stuff. (I can certainly vouch for the egg and cheese croissant at Burger King. It tastes great but always arrives squashed, just like the picture!)

The Search Is Over...For Right Now

I had an epiphany this morning.

It was strange. I don’t normally make a habit of making life-altering decisions in the span of a few hours just before lunchtime. But this morning I did.

I decided I’m tired of looking, always looking.

I’ve got a job. It’s not that bad. Things are actually picking up and I’m finding more ways to make myself useful and to stay creative. I’m not having nearly as much fun as I did before and it definitely lacks the human interaction I enjoy so much, but it can work. And this morning, I made the decision to make it work.

I had forgotten a few things. I had forgotten to make up my pros and cons list. I was taught that years ago and though it sounds cliché, it really does work. The pros for staying definitely surpass the short list of drawbacks for staying.

I had forgotten that I had a job. I was still shopping the employment listings like the same person who knew in three weeks I’d be unemployed. Well, I’m not anymore. It’s one thing to shop for a position with a future or better yet, a company with a future, but I’m not desperate. I’m not simply looking to find any kind of employment anymore. As strange as it sounds, I had neglected this very important piece of information and was still operating on automatic pilot.

I’m still keeping my eyes and ears open, scanning the Sunday paper every week and checking the online job listings regularly, just not as intensively. If both the position and company really intrigue me and there aren’t other factors working against it (like its geographic location or starting salary), I'll consider applying. But I’ll be more selective when pursuing opportunities, because for right now, I feel like this is where I’m supposed to be.

Last week, I cancelled plans for a final interview that was taking me pretty close to an actual job offer. Once I was honest with myself and realized that I wasn’t willing to take the job even if it was offered, it was easy to withdraw my application.

It’s hard to ever feel fully settled if you’re working out of a box. So that’s it. I’m moving in. Okay, maybe I’m not bringing in the fridge or hoisting a flag, but I’m making an effort to make this new job my home, at least for a little while.

I’ve got nothing to lose.

A Little Sunday BBQ

It was grillin' time with the boys on Sunday. Larry and I headed over to Derek and Misty's to meet some of the family early since in just 3 months we'll all be joined in holy matrimony. Well, sorta.

Larry, Derek, Brandon and Tiffany added their insight and expertise to the meat charring while this vegetarian looked on in amusement (knowing my veggie burgers would be safe and sound in the microwave).

And then...HE arrived.

Master griller Freakin' Deacon, with plate in hand and appetite to accompany it.

Okay, no, he didn't actually help the cause but he sure is cute and offered some much-welcomed entertainment after the barbecue fires and ditched patties.

That is, when Larry wasn't amusing Brandon with his own barbecue tales of disaster.

We sought refuge indoors.

When Deacon finally figured out how to open it...

And with our melting pot of families, ate, drank, did somersaults (see below), and enjoyed an afternoon together.

Derek's Mom Linda enjoys the entertainment at center stage.

And a future flower girl shows off her dance moves.

Sundays are wonderful, aren't they?

Ballpark Action

Unfortunately, it was a night of bad pitching, lackluster hitting and mediocre promo items (see below) but as always, we made the most out of tonight's Devil Rays game.



The dazzling official Tampa Bay Devil Ray bandana. Ooh. Aah.


Behold, the magical, non-descript wonder beads.

We were amused by the on-field entertainment.

Truly the coolest mascot in MLB.

ARRRR, methinks it was Pirate Night.

But I didn't like the way that Pepsi was looking at me.

We made some new friends.

Definitely a man who still loves coming to these games.


Yep, that really is a cow. Hey kid, get that finger out of your nose.

Oh goodie, free chicken nuggets for our section. That'll really come in handy for veggie me.

And we just enjoyed the scenery.

Aah. Say what you will about the Trop, but it was raining off and on that night, and we still got to watch a ballgame.

Sigh. Not one homerun came our way tonight but I got to check out the shiny yellow foul pole.


More than just a game. It's snack time, too.

And when we stepped outside after the game, we were greeted by nearby fireworks off the downtown St. Pete pier. Of course, to my digital camera they looked like this.



Still interesting though.

The Rays got a much-needed win the next day. Oh well, there's always next time.

Our next game? Sat the 21st when infrequent guests, the LA Dodgers, come to town. Should be interesting...albeit painful.