Happy Hour II

Don't have much time this morning, but last night was HHII. Another smashing sequel. Women had plans to go to an art show, men "watched" the kids while sitting around telling stories with a drink in hand. Beautiful evening, and very relaxing and enjoyable. Mission accomplished!

Lunch Box

Lunch boxes aren't as cool as when I was a kid. They just lack imagination. First of all, there are a million different designs, and most are made of like a nylon type material, forming a soft pack. Even the inside of the lunch box is departmentalized for the drink, the token fruit, and the departmentalized lunchable. How boring! Just prior to my generation, was the "old man" lunch box. Looked like a barn painted in solid black, red, or silver. You opened up the lid, and your thermos full of coffee fit inside the lid. They were durable metal boxes though. Every hard working man took one to his job, and it withstood time and abuse. Still boring! Then my generation of lunch boxes appeared on the scene:) Still a durable metal, but not that unattractive black barn. This was an actual box, which may or may not have had a matching thermos, with a theme on it! I think my first one had Hot Wheels, and I know I had a Peanuts comic strip box also. I remember friends having Happy Days, and Dukes of Hazzard lunch boxes, that I coveted. And inside the box was pretty much open space for whatever you wanted. You could cram as much food as possible (of course the apple ALWAYS smashed your peanut butter and jelly), along with elementary school contraband. I remember buying candy at the Kwik Shop, taking it to school, and selling it for a profit. Usually, Now & Laters, gum, Life Savers,... whatever small, black market, sweets I could sneak into school. When you got a new lunch box (some kids got a new one every year... a little jealous) you kept your old one for storage. Toys, rocks, snakes (real or plastic), or whatever your imagination could conjure up. If I remember correctly, my cousin even used his to sled down the hill in the snow! It just boggles my mind that these are such hot collectors' items now. I think lunch would be more enjoyable if we could resurrect the old lunch box. Everything these days is theme based. There's no lack of subject matter to throw on a lunch box. American Idol, are you interested?

What's in a Name

Have you always been satisfied with your name your parents gave you? Sometimes, it seems the parents didn't give much thought to picking a name for their children. I've often thought my first and last names don't really mesh. I have an Irish first name, and an Italian last name. With that combo, you could really get some killer heartburn. I wish my parents would have agreed on one nationality or the other. I'm obviously saddled with an Italian last name, so logically, an Italian first name would be appropriate. Nope, my mother insisted on a first name that isn't even translatable into Italian. In fact, there's not even a letter "K" in the Italian alphabet, so I can't even come close to an Italian name. And my last name contains the letter "Z". Try to find a good Irish first name that has a "Z" in it. If I were playing Scrabble, my word score would blow my opponents away! Some folks, I must say, are much worse off than myself. Their parents were either clueless to what can be construed as offensive, or they were just plain cruel to label their child with such a horrible burden. You know children can be rather ruthless when it comes to poking fun at each others' names. For instance, there's a young man in our neighborhood, whose first name is "Phenis". What in the world was in your crack pipe to want to name your child "Phenis"!? This kid is going to grow up, by far, the toughest kid in the neighborhood. And what about names that are phonetically stretched to the imagination? More vowels or syllables to a name do not make the child smarter or more popular, it just makes the parents look uneducated. It's alright if you want your child to be an individual, and not another face in the name pool, but please give it some thought (and not while you're on the toilet), before you hinder this innocent little person with a defect, such as a ridiculous name. If you have one of these names, I'm sorry. Just remember, you can rise above your parent's stupidity, and your name is what you make of it. For the record, Phenis seems to be a nice kid.

Teenagerism

I have to laugh, there's a teenage boy that lives across the street from me. You can just tell he's going thru that awkward stage of his life. He really likes to skateboard, and has been doing it religiously for about the past 4 or 5 years. It's been rather amusing because he just doesn't seem to get any better. There are a few moves and tricks he's picked up, but overall, he still hasn't mastered the stuff he was attempting 3 years ago. Once in awhile, I catch myself watching him, because I grew up with a skateboard. I'm really not one to criticize, the tricks the kids are pulling off now, were not even in existence when I was in my boarding years. Lately, his friends come over, and we'll have about 4 or 5 awkward, zit faced, smelly feet, voice cracking, teenage boys, in front of our house all practicing the same moves, and failing miserably. It's fun to watch, and I don't have the heart to go out there and tell them they shouldn't quit their day job. They don't cause any trouble, and they seem to be respectful of others property. Occasionally, one them will tackle another in the grass and give him a kidney shot, but that's just that male bonding thing going on, in its early formative stages. Well, just this year, the boy across the street has acquired a drum set. So his little group of merry skateboarders will come over, he'll open up the garage door, and bang on the drums for awhile, before they all take their positions in the street. (Remember, a teenage boy's attention span is only about as long as this sentence.) Once again, no harm, he's actually a better drummer than he is a skater. Every once in awhile, you here him break out into "angry white boy" lyrics, screaming unintelligible words into a cheap microphone. It's all rather amusing, and who knows, someday he could be in a famous band. It's just rather refreshing to see young boys outside moving around, goofing around, getting some sunshine, figuring out the pecking order within the pack, and not holed up in their basement for 20 hours a day, playing video games, and the only interaction they have is with their computer with someone else online. So, if you have this scenario in your neighborhood, cut the boys some slack if they're being a little loud, or if they accidently step on the grass. They could be gang bangin' or lighting your grass on fire! These years are fleeting, and it'll all pass quickly until the next generation of young men take that step towards manhood.

Penny Farthing

Any idea what a penny farthing is? It happens to be a bicycle. You've probably seen the old bicycles with the big, huge wheel in the front, and the smaller one in the back. That is a penny farthing. It was originally built by a Frenchman, but really became popular in England. The bicycle received its name from two English coins, the penny, and the farthing, or quarter penny. The front wheel was built rather large so you could get more speed from a single geared bicycle. Safety wasn't really a concern, because it wasn't uncommon to do a "header" from your perch on one of these bikes. Hitting a pothole, or having to come to an abrupt stop, usually launched you over the handlebars. These bicycles were rather difficult to master, and it was said, these bicycles were meant only for strong, young men. Well, my whole reason for rambling on about bicycles, and the history lesson, was to inform the world of the news about my daughter learning to ride her bike today! It was glorious! She just wasn't getting it for so long, it was rather frustrating for me and her. Then, she had a couple of moments where she rode aways without my help. I would stop, and when she finally stopped, she realized  there was quite a distance between her and myself. All she needed was a little taste of success and I knew she would hurdle it. She has no idea who the Wright brothers were, but it had to be that kind of moment when you finally accomplish some monumental task, that has failed time and again, and then you're on top of the world! And as a parent, you're just as ecstatic, because you hate to see your child struggle and fail over and over. But, I guess that's what growing up is all about. She's not 21 yet, so I can't take her out for a drink, but we are going to have a celebratory milk and graham crackers. 

Barguments

Here's a nice addition to anyone's happy hour.Blue Ribbon General Store: A Modern General Store: Barguments

Six Legged Arthropod

The one drawback for this time of the year is insects. Bugs don't bother me too much. It's mostly the biting ones that are a source of irritation, plus a source of an occasional case of malaria. There's nothing quite as fun as being bit in the back of the leg, while you're holding something heavy, or while you're talking to someone, have an unidentified flying object zoom up your nose. I understand the purpose of most insects, but what about mosquitos or gnats? Flies actually do serve an important purpose, so I'm going to cut them some slack. Even though they fly into the computer screen while I'm typing, I'm not going to chase him down with the fly swatter... just yet. Not only are they nature's little waste management operators, but they also pollenate more than bees. You could say, "they're busy as bees". And for obvious reasons, I don't mind bees at all. Wasps and hornets, on the other hand, outside of scaring everyone in the car while driving, what purpose do they have? The dragonfly happens to be our friend. They eat mosquitos, but not nearly enough. I'm OK with ants, as long as they remain outdoor pets. Butterflies, yes, moths, no. I was wondering, if you drove from New York to California, this time of the year, and never stopped to wash your windshield, what kind of collage you would have? You know, other cultures eat insects. Maybe there's an over abundance of mosquitos because we're neglecting one of the four food groups. Chase it with a beer!