February 28, 2007

Talking to the local chickens...

JMH, all rights reserved

2-28-07-Judges in this country are approaching the IQ needed to run for president. For heaven's sake, bury that poor girl. Even her silicone is beginning to sag*.


On my bed table-The Great Hobokan Chicken Emergency by D. Manus Pinkwater-I found this book in my daughter’s room. I’ve always meant to read it and today was the day. Cute book. I’m sure it’ll come up in any conversations I have with the local chickens. In my business, I call this research. Tee-hee.


On my TV-The Turner Movie Channel. I've discovered they run real movies--with a plot, characters, and everything! Who knew? I'd almost forgotten what watching a real movie was like. The junk they call movies on the regular channels makes me yearn for hockey (and I hate hockey).


*For those of you lucky enough to be living someplace else: Anna Nicole Smith


Quote du jour:
“Only nut cases want to be president.” A Man Without a Country, Kurt Vonnegut




February 26, 2007

Save the giant squid!


copyright 2000, Janelle Meraz Hooper

02-26-07-The photo is the cover for a collection of short stories. Love the title (it's a secret) and cover--someday, I should write the stories to go with it...
New Zealand fishermen-I think I know why everything except, possibly, common household flies, is ending up on endangered lists: whenever we discover a new, rare creature, we kill it and send it to a laboratory somewhere. We know we have giant squid, why do we kill every one we catch? Didn’t science get the memo: Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints?!

Quote du jour:

"The bottom line is in heaven." Edwin Herbert Land

February 23, 2007

Blood On the Wheel!

It's so dreary out that the weeds I have indoors are looking good to me!
copyright, 2007 JMH

02-23-07-It’s tax time in my area. Between the county, state, and federal tax reporting, the season runs longer than Christmas. It’s not that I mind writing the checks, it’s that the check I write is so small. I'm thinking of writing a new book in the horror/suspense,romance/disabled genre--something for everybody! I'll name it something classy like: Blood On the Wheel or Lipstick On the Gun.

The judge-I’m trying to pretend that whole hearing about where Anna Nicole Smith will be buried didn’t happen this week. What a nightmare!

Custer and His Naked Ladies-Permissions are in, and now I’ll tweak until I decide what to do with it. Any Hispanic agents out there?

Save the AFLAC Duck!- He and the Geico Cavemen are the only bright spots on my TV.

Google’s Font Fairy-I’m still struggling with the font sizes in Google’s new format. One is too big, the other, too small. Or maybe it’s just my laptop. Or my eyes. Can ya’ll read it?

Having failed to get an attractive space between margins on the left and margins for the quote that are centered, I give up. Just pretend the quote is centered nicely on the page, okay?


Quote du jour:
“It is justice, not charity, that is wanting in the world.” Mary Wollstonecraft

February 20, 2007

Save the duck!

JMH, all rights reserved



02-20-07-The photo is from my collection of doors. The sign said: Don't even think of parking here!

AFLAC Duck-No more AFLAC duck?! Say it isn’t so! I’ll never forget my grandson’s comment—he was about 5—when he ran over to me and said, “Gramma, I know how they do that. They teach that duck to say that!”

Words-The rescue of the climbers on Mt. Hood yesterday brought into focus the definitions of two words that we all know: rescue and recovery. How different they are! By the time the day was over, I was even glad to see that skinny black dog! We’ve had far too many recoveries lately—and way too few rescues. Good job, guys!

On my TV- Cabin in the Sky, with an all black cast that I could watch over and over (and will). Ethel Waters, Lena Horne, and all the other greats are tightly packed into a movie that is a treat for the ears, a feast for the eyes, and a gift to the mind. Don’t miss it! Thank you, Comcast On Demand!


Baseball-The players reported to spring training this week. Ask me later on if that’s a good thing. I’m having trouble being enthusiastic about players who make millions being unable to catch a ball—even when it hits them in the hands. Even so, it is baseball—and this is America…play ball!


Quote du jour:
“Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball, the rules and realities of the game—and do it by watching first some high school or small-town teams.” Jacques Barzun

February 15, 2007

Still looking for the Font Fairy...

Quanah Parker's House, copyright JMH

2-15-07-This is my new plan: if I don't have anything to say, I'll just throw up an interesting picture. This is the house that used to belong to Quanah Parker, a Comanche chief.
What I'm really doing- is looking for an acceptable size font for this blog. They say this is large.
Quote du jour:
"Some of us are becoming the men we wanted to marry." Gloria Steinem

D. C. is full of monkeys!

copyright JMH
2-15-07-The photo is from a trip to St. Thomas years ago. It reminds me of that saying about when God closes a door he opens a window. Here, windows abound--pick one!

Font Fairy-My Font Fairy deserted me yesterday. After I'd signed off, I realized that Google's new format shrinks fonts smaller than usual size. This font is labeled huge--I'll be the judge of that!

Custer and His Naked Ladies-The book is still waiting for permissions. Meanwhile, I've started the first novel with a Northwest setting. It has no title yet, but I'm calling it Ralph, for reasons I can't explain. It's going to be difficult for me to change settings, but I imagine my relatives are breathing heavy sighs of relief that I've finally stopped writing about them!

Quote du jour:

An example from the monkey: "The higher it climbs, the more you see of its behind." Saint Bonaventure

February 14, 2007

Listen to your Font Fairy!

copyright, JMH


2-14-07-The photo above was taken from my files. I used to be an organic gardener. The berries were in my back pasture.
Kids- What's wrong with our kids? So far, this month, we've had Gonzaga University basketball players--on a full ride scholarship--caught with drugs! Now that's got to warm the cockles of their parents' hearts. Then, there were the students from the Air Firce Academy who cheated during a test using the text messaging feature on their phones. Somebody needs to be slapped--on their way out the door. McDonald's is thataway, podner...although, I don't even think McDonald's would want these guys.
Font Fairy-Some of you are still not reading your messages from the Font Fairy. This is cyberspace, folks! You can use a font bigger than a size two!
More later--I'm out of time! I spent all morning converting to the new Google format. Oy! I swear, the Internet Gods are playing with me...

February 05, 2007

Ya can't make a baker from hash browns...

Missin' Oklahoma, JMH, all rights reserved
02-05-07-
Spinach-
So now the produce industry wants us to set up federal oversight to assure buyers that fresh produce is safe. How pesky of consumers to be unwilling to forget that spinach contaminated with E. coli bacteria killed three people and sickened nearly 200 last year!
Why don’t they just do their job? Grow healthy food. Why does our government have to bail out every sloppy businessman who screws up?
If this goes through, I want a government overseer in my office the next morning, to make sure that I am conducting my business with integrity.
C’mon! Those people knew they had a serious problem and they tried to cover it up…at the expense of innocent people. Now, it’s hurting them in their pocketbook, so they’re taking notice. I’d rather eat cake.

Presidential hopefuls-I’ve lost track of the Hopeless Hopefuls. Except for Biden. I remember him from last time. He’s definitely not an Idaho baker! He is small potatoes all the way. Heck. He’s beyond that—he’s hash browns.

Custer and His Naked Ladies-It’s finished and is in the permission stage at the moment. Ya’ll don’t miss it! It’s a winner!



Quote du Jour:
“I’ll never be strong like Popeye…my mom refuses to buy the spinach that comes in the can.” My organic gardener friend’s son at six.