March 25, 2006

A modern fairy tale...

Montana wildflowers © Janelle Meraz Hooper

3-25-06- The latest talk about immigration rules has me irked. I hope the government doesn’t think I’m going to roll my wheelchair up a ladder and pick all that fruit!

The Big White Hen
A modern fairy tale (with respect to The Little Red Hen)
by Janelle MERAZ Hooper

I have raised the fruit and vegetables. Now who will help me pick them?” said the big white hen. “Not us,” said the white chickens, “we have good jobs in the city.”
“Not us,” said the young white chickens, “we have good jobs at the mall.”
“Not us,” said the black chickens, “we have too much pride to work that hard.”
“Whatever shall I do?” asked the Big White Hen. “Without pickers, the crops will rot and I’ll lose everything I have.”
“Senor, we will help you pick your fruit and vegetables,” said the brown chickens.
“Oh, thank you,” said the big white chicken. “And because no one else will help me, I will treat you fairly, give you good pay, and not harass you at the border. I will inoculate and educate your children. I will build clean, safe migrant housing using the millions of dollars of social security funds my government has been collecting from all of you for years because you have to forge a social security number to work for me...”

Well, I said it was a fairy tale. I smell a movie!
(Oh, I'm going to get in trouble for this! )

Quote du jour:
“I will master something, then the creativity will come.” Japanese proverb, courtesy of OWFI The Report

March 24, 2006

He didn't say which week!

© Janelle Meraz Hooper

3-24-06- Okay, we're moving into greener photo subjects. At last. I'm sick of photos of mud! Notice that I didn't show you tulips--I didn't want your eyes to go into shock!
News-If a cigarette smoker really did start that cruise ship fire, I hope they drag his/her sorry ass off that ship and beat the you-know-what out of him/her. Whoever it was put a lot of people at risk. Isn't amazing that more weren't killed?
The quote today is from a Blackhawk song. I've always loved song lyrics. Remember that TV show titled: Name That Song? I used to love that. My family could never figure out how I could know all the lyrics to the songs in Fred Astaire movies, and yet not be able to remember simple math equations. I had an uncle who felt my mother's pain. Once, he promised that he could make a math genius out of me in a week. He didn't say which week (it hasn't happened yet--still waiting!).
Duh! There’s a study out now that says kids are better off when their depressed mothers get medical help. Oh, wow. How many thousands of dollars did they get for that research?! When my daughter was a toddler, some researchers got a huge grant to study why children fell off tricycles. Good grief! Oh! And in the middle of the Adelle Davis craze, there was that doctor who announced to the press that candy was good for childrens' brains---but it turned out he worked for a chocolate factory. No lie.
On my bed table- I'm still reading Leap of Faith, Memoirs of an Unexpected Life by Queen Noor of Jordan.
On my DVD-I’ve been watching Our Puyallup, a DVD produced by my home town. It’s full of wonderful old photos and set to the tunes of the time. It’s a joy just to listen to the music!
On my TV-Keith Olbermann on MSNBC (Countdown). Like the rest of it, he’s lost patience with the Bush regime, and is hitting them pretty hard.
He’s not heavy- Are you a gardener? Are you thinking about planting an extra row for the food bank? We’re on it here, although the plan is a little late. When our neighborhood kids were small, they would have gladly given away their share of the garden's vegetables. Even strawberries lost their allure in mid-season. I used to have to run after I put a big bowl of strawberries on our neighbor's porches. Those were the days. I used to grow enough food to have four more kids. Towards the end of my gardening days, I wised up and began growing fruits and vegetables that the slugs couldn't get to, like cherries, pears, apples, berries, and tomatoes. Although we have had reports in Puyallup of slugs who climbed tomato plants, completely oblivious to the hairy stalks.
Custer Report-Spanish translations are back from my daughter. It sure is great having in-house help!

Quote du jour:
“Your blue might be gray, your less might be more, your window to the world might be your own front door...”- Blackhawk at 1996 Puyallup Fair

March 21, 2006

Horny toads and wild desert elephants...


© Janelle Meraz Hooper

3-21-06-The photo is just for fun. I think I'm becoming senile. I used to just inject one little piece of fantasy or humor in our home. Lately, pieces of humor are in every room and they're getting larger (like Bud). Speaking of Bud, I've misplaced the cables for my digital camera. He's been sitting in the same pose for weeks. Poor guy. He's a victim of poor organization and unfullfilled promises. Just like the American people (ouch, did I say that?!).
Yesterday- was the first day of spring, and what? The beginning of the third year of our war in Iraq? I’ve lost count. We’re a good people. We’re kind, giving, and compassionate. So why is it we keep electing greedy, war-mongering leaders? I just don’t get it…
Birds-Did you ever think we’d look at a sweet little bird and cringe? Bird flu is moving closer and closer, and I’m beginning to wonder if I should stop refilling my bird feeder. Children play in my yard. My husband mows that yard (for myself, I rarely get off the deck with my wheelchair).
Rant-Well, actually an anti-rant. There’s a movement asking gardeners to plant an extra row of vegetables and give the produce to the food banks. How great is that?! And so doable. Actually, I think in the case of some vegetables, like zucchini, just planting one extra plant would be plenty.
Custer- Custer and His Naked Ladies is still coming along. Years ago I asked a newspaper editor how long he wanted my assignment to be. His answer was, “When it’s done, it’s done.”
On my bed table-I’m still reading A Leap of Faith by Queen Noor. If you like autobiographies, and are interested in the Middle East, I highly recommend it.
On my DVD-A baseball movie: Angels in the Outfield. Danny Glover, Christopher Lloyd, and Tony Danza. Also, Ernest Goes to Camp with Jim Varney--I've had young company. They're both pleasers.
On my TV-Channel 68, HGTV is my new addiction. I especially love the House Hunters International show. Last night, they had a couple looking for a home in Prague, Czechoslovakia. How interesting to see how other people live. Wouldn’t it be fun to be able to sit down and talk to someone continents away? I wish they'd email me. Other locations I’ve seen: Florence, Italy; Barcelona, Spain; Paris; and London. This show is beyond cool!
Whatcha readin’?- Let me know! I’ve misplaced my emails about your books—I’ve been switching my equipment around. While I was at it, I rearranged my office, and am lucky if I can find my keyboard. Research for future books has overflowed my expansive book shelves and files. I’ve shoveled pages and pages of loose notes out of here in the last few days. Stubbornly, I’ve held onto my favorite National Geographic books and tapes. Who knows? I may write a book about baby horny toads and wild desert elephants someday. Ya never know.
Quote du jour:
"Education is the path from cocky ignorance to miserable uncertainty." -- Mark Twain, courtesy of Ginger Foglesong Guy, author

March 09, 2006

Nigerian spam from Canada?

Yellow cherries, © 2005 Dick Hooper

3-09-06-Dick took this photo of yellow cherries in Portland--eventually, they were to become marichino cherries. Wouldn't this photo be great in a kitchen?

Gone-I’ve been gone for awhile. I was working on a project for charity that didn’t pan out. I’ll think of another one…I did, however, get a kick out of discovering that, for once, it wasn't my brain that was holding up the parade, but my computer equipment.

On the web- An ad suggesting that if I add $50 more (?) I could get free next business day delivery (office depot)...
ReNew Orleans-Have you ordered your ReNew Orleans tee-shirt yet? Come on, never too many tee-shirts!

Whatcha’ Readin’?-The Da Vinci Code-I was so proud last weekend. The Sunday paper reported that, on the Pacific Northwest Best-Seller list, The Da Vinci Code was way down to #5! My little heart could hardly stop thumping…on the New York Times Best-Seller list, it’s #3. I’m beginning to wonder if it’s the only book they have in New York City…
Rant-Summer styles- In the Sunday paper, I found another photo of tacky clothing that could destroy a girl’s esteem: a tee-shirt on a boy proclaiming: Sister missing her brain—No reward! She’s beyond help! Ha-ha. Thank you. JC Penney, for that insensitive message.
Nigerian Spam- I don’t get much of it anymore, most of it is automatically filtered out now. I miss it. Before they stopped, they began to get comical. I received Nigerian spam letters from Spain, England, and France. The last one, from Canada, was hysterical. Do they think we’re too dumb to check out the address? Anyway, I kept imagining this roly-poly Nigerian woman with a multi-colored turban, big earrings, and a gaily-printed dress sitting on a big pile of snow in the Yukon…her laptop propped up on a pair of moose antlers…with the moose still wearing them.
Dana Reeve-We lost Dana Reeve this week. We all know that life isn’t fair, but Dana didn’t have a chance. She deserved better. Oh, could that girl sing!
Quote du jour:
“It’s not the doing of things, but the being that counts.” Christopher Reeve