Month: January 2008

Alert! Frosty down! Repeat, Frosty *down*

Yes, folks, the mother-of-all-storms, or rather, the middle of three mother-of-all-storms has passed over the Bay Area today. Oh what havoc it has wrought!

Accidents! Solo spin-outs! Semis toppled on the Richmond San Rafael Bridge. Flights delayed! Manhole covers overflowing! Karen and The Cute Boy™ trapped in the bowels of Burlingame as parts of El Camino were flooded! Power out at the Casita Bonita!

And most telling of all, over at the Mediterranean restaurant two blocks over, the six foot plastic Frosty the Snowman, lovingly displayed out front, was torn asunder, carelessly tossed and laying face up on the front porch, top hat rudely ripped from his head, carrot nose cranked to one side, and little twiggy arms reaching toward heaven as though to proclaim “Oh the humanity!”

And at this sight, after a harrowing drive in furiously pounding rain and violent winds, amid the sound of sirens, The Cute Boy™ proclaimed “Frosty down! We have a Frosty down!”

It’s been a hell of a day.

We had to take the Cute Boy’s automobile in to be serviced. For making me get up early. In the inclement weather. And drive with the Bay Area loo-loos, I made him buy me breakfast.

Meanwhile, The Feline did this:

Extended coverage of Storm Watch is all over the local news. The news went an extra half hour in breathless anticipation. For the local meteorologists, THIS is the World Series.

Click here for photos of the utter devastation (except for Frosty. I shoulda taken photo but didn’t….)

Where I come from, they’d call this a certified frog strangling rain….(or the less couth would call this a turd floater, but I’m not so coarse as to say such a thing…*wink*)

This is supposed to blow over by Sunday. It’s gonna be a wild weekend……

Image via SFGate.com

The Little Prince. I don’t get it.

So a few weeks ago, The Cute Boy™ and I watched a movie, “My Dinner with Andre” that The Cute Boy™ (who is much smarter than me) had seen before and wanted to watch again. The movie is basically a long conversation between two friends having dinner. The conversation covers a lot of ground including theater, spiritualism and to some extent, existentialism (here’s where I get bogged down and need The Cute Boy™ to help explain).

In the movie, Andre discusses at some length the story “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. I’ve stumbled across this book before in my life but have never read it. I recall that my best friend in High School loved it and reread it with some frequency. I have a friend I work with who is from Russia and she says it is her favorite book. In fact, her home is decorated with prints of artwork from the book (done by Saint-Exupéry).

I’ve taken a few “woo-woo” classes in my adult life and find that many of the women I’ve met in those courses quote the book and consider it to be an impact on their lives.

Ok, so after watching the movie and thinking on it, I went to my local library (which, I may have mentioned, rooooocks) and found a copy. I took it home quite expectantly and dove right in, ready to get my “wow” from it and my spiritual impact.

I read it through. I read it thoughtfully as I did. And when it was done, I closed the cover and said to myself, “huh…okay.”

It think my favorite part was when the Little Prince described that on his planet (which is quite small) you can watch the sunset every hour, just move your chair. And I liked that notion. I do enjoy sitting in a chair and watching the sun go down (especially over the ocean).

But I don’t consider that a “wow” moment. Or life altering. I just found it an amusing bit of imagination.

So, what am I missing? I consider myself fairly intelligent (six years and two degrees from higher education. Granted, from NMSU, but still, it’s a fully accredited college!). I’m sort of well read. Ok, I do tend to like throwaway fiction better than the classics, but I’ve read enough to know what I like. I’ve even read some fairly complicated stuff.

I just don’t get it? What does that say about me?

I’m going to read it again and see if I get something on a second read. Am I trying to hard? Or not trying hard enough? : shrug :

Maybe it’s just as The Little Prince says…that adults are just like that, they don’t understand. Hmm……

(meanwhile, in my Google searches I found a guy who got a Baobab tree tattooed on his arm?)

Here it is!

As promised, a photo of the New Mexico float in the Rose Bowl Parade, winner of the “Grand Marshal’s Trophy for excellence in creative concept and design”. w00t!

Here she is, the ‘Passport to Our World and Beyond’:

Image via.

More photos can be found at Only In New Mexico.

Happy First Day of the New Year

I’ll start off the first post of 2008 with what I believe to be a profound quote from an unlikely philosopher.

“The first step in creating the life you desire is stating just what it is you hope to accomplish and be willing to fail miserably in the pursuit of it.”

Yeah. I like it. I posted my obligatory resolutions list and have been thinking on them muchly since. The twist (pardon the pun) that Monk puts on it helps me calm down (the part about failing). So ok.

Onward.

Congrats to the team of New Mexicans (Jim Baca’s wife Bobbi, included) for putting together a humdinger of a Rose Bowl Parade Float which won the Grand Marshal trophy for creative concept and design (as reported in the ABQJournal)! Go New Mexico! Kicking the pants outta that parade! I did a quick Google but couldn’t find a photo online. Hope to see it soon. It makes me proud to be a New Mexican!

Hats off to the Las Cruces pecan farmers who are finally in full swing harvesting this year’s crop (as reported in the Las Cruces Sun-News). This is an “on” year for the trees, so they are expecting some 71 million pounds in-shell to be harvested. This is a late harvest due to weather so they are out there hauling tookus to get ’em all in. Hats off to my many friends who are making their living right now. I did my part, ordering way too many chewy pecan pralines from Stahmann’s and eating them with an evil cackle. The pecans of New Mexico, second in volume to Georgia but number one in my heart.

And finally, the Iowa caucus is but a few days away and I’m dying to see how our intrepid Governor Bill Richardson fares in the fight. He’s working it, really working it hard and I’m curious to see how this all goes. It’s just the beginning but sets a tone….just what note remains to be seen.

If for nothing else, Oh Fair New Mexico is in the national spotlight. Salud!

Well, the holiday decorations came down today. The Cute Boy™ and I sadly packed up the tree and ornaments and our rockin’ train and put them away. The living room seems so…empty. *sigh*

Time marches on.

As a final farewall, a photo of the train in motion. I adore it.

Photo by Karen Fayeth.