Kitteh! With Thumbs!

So, I'm back in Ohio for a mini vacation hanging with the fam.  Mum has a feral moma cat who had kittens in the yard.  In the interest of getting her 5 babies homes someday, we snagged them to get the socialization process started. Here's a few pictures of the one straggler who was the hardest to catch.  He's special since he's polydactyl! And his milk-name is Dumbledore.

Project Womanhood: Solar Delights

Today I thought I would make some enchiladas (gringo style, of course) to celebrate Cinco de Mayo . One of the more important things for me is the sauce.  I still have some hatch chiles from the ristra and I started my sauce by soaking them overnight. In the morning I got up and added some magic (e.g. I am too lazy to write down the recipe in my head).

But as you can see the enchiladas didn't last long. Below are some of the devilishly hot spices we used

I got started with the solar cooker around 9am:

Overall, I like it for it's lightweight and portability. Being a person without a backyard made this a little tough, but in the end, the sun returned and my sauce finished at about 3 pm.  Just in time to get the enchiladas together and ready for when the Philosopher of Science came home.

The Alchemy of Religion

So there is this fellow named OSHO who has some really interesting, and funny videos.  He's controversial to say the least, but some of his insights regarding the mind I found comforting.  Especially as he puts it: "Just by being a simple witness to your thought processes is a method of meditation" and "The moment you judge you have lost the pure witness."

The Spoken Word

About 10 years ago or so, I used to write a lot of teen-angst-y poetry.   I never had the intention of reading it aloud for anyone but my closest friends (who did not give a crap, but were nice and pretended). And then there was Brady's Cafe.  A locally owned coffee shop where once a month people would gather and do the spoken word poetry.  People of all ages came to perform their works. I performed there too.


Brady's is now a Starbucks, I live in AZ,  and I haven't written for years.

But then there was light.

A few months ago I signed on to help in a spoken word poetry class for high school kids in Phoenix (through my Free Arts of Arizona volunteer relationship). I dug out all my old journals and saw the angst, frustration, and hormones that had flavored my writing so many years before.

For the most part, these young people are not writing the doom/gloom stuff, but interesting pop culture bemusements.  I'm learning a lot from them and I cherish that. So, today in class we worked on Odes, here's mine :

An Ode to the Moon
You are smiling down from the dusty remainders of a sunset sky
Red harvest moon or gray goddess, you hang low
as though you are eagerly awaiting my invitation.
Your pock-marked face troubles me not,
as the pull of your gravity rocks oceans and hips.
Good night sweet moon
mistress
confidant
lantern.

Everything can be personalized!

When I think back to my younger days, as in, still-in-high-school, I remember fondly the Lillian Vernon catalog. It was a fixture in the throne room (if you get my drift) and I always got a chuckle out of the “personal massagers” they used to sell (The Vermont Country Store has taken over that product line as I’ve found out). Delighting in receiving the newest Lillian Vernon in the mail, I had to immediately leaf through this catalog of wonderment and mostly useless-to-me stuff. But let's fast forward a few years.

Since I have begun my journey of sorts to figure out what to do with my life (like to go to grad school or not) I’ve been de-cluttering my life and home, but I still felt that itch. I wanted to revisit the crap of yore... and yes it still interests/entertains me. So, I ordered the catalog and here’s what I’ve found to be of interest/disinterest to my life as it stands.

There was one thing I found that might be useful, if I needed boots in Phoenix:

And now, on to more stuff:

I actually owned the above lipstick, but they used to
market it as a mood ring for your lips.  I begged, Mumsy caved, and I had green lips.

 And honestly, if you need a plaque to declare it, it's not really your "Man Cave"

I would have enjoyed this stool after some taller people re-arranged my kitchen,

 but at nearly $20 bucks, it's a no-go.

A fake alligator for your garden and a slumbering hobo child, 

where's David Sedaris when you need him?

As the little old lady across the street would say, "That's just hideous". Draw out the "e" sounds and pop a cheap cigarette between your lips and you've got Mrs. C down to a "t".

Now on to Lillian Vernon's rival in being the purveyor of strange.

Looks like Vermont Country Store is trying to give CVS a run for their money.

Here's where all the good stuff from Lillian Vernon went.

If anyone out there is still reading, howdy, thanks for coming back. 

 I've got a surprise for my readers who comment.

***Spoiler alert***

It's crap, but cool crap, and possibly useful.

Grandpappy's War Years

Introduction

This is the war story my granpappy told me.  It doesn’t involve a whole lot of war, but is mainly a story about his life in the mid-late 1940‘s. 

Basic Training

Grandpappy started out his military career by being drafted.  His first stop was infantry basic at Camp Adabary, Indiana. It was basically a reception center to determine where troops were best qualified.

Grandpappy then went on to do his basic training at Fort McClellan, Alabama (an infantry training center), in August 1945. At the time there were 1700 troops at that base. 

During basic training grandpappy learned to use 30 caliber machine guns, and 30 caliber M1 rifles. He did 18 weeks of basic training and did well on his marksmanship with the M1, also the carbine..he even hit the bullseye. Grandpappy got an "expert" badge.

VE day had already come and went, but it was when VJ day happened, while he was still in basic training, that he was assigned to the occupational forces in Europe.  He went on to serve his country at the 25th base post office in Wurzburg, Bavaria, Germany. 

Journey to Europe

Granpappy travelled to Europe via boat.  He sailed the seas on the USS Benville to reach Germany, and returned to the states following his tours of duty on the USS General CH Mur.

Duty

That base post office handled all mail for the soldiers in northern Europe and then shipped off packages from home to the smaller post offices via railroad. At the post office there were 100+ GI's, and POWs worked their too.

Grandpappy was a dispatcher for the incoming trains carrying mail for soldiers, and he was also responsible for sorting cargo. According to him, it was usually a train from Bermerhaben to Wurzberg.  

After putting in some time with the railroad cars, grandpappy was transferred to guard duty. When grandpappy was on guard duty he used an M1 rifle.  Guard duty consisted of ensuring that no mail was stolen by POW’s or other workers.  But when it was, the culprits were arrested. "Everyone was hard up," said grandpappy. He knew what it was like to grow up without a lot of food around and he had compassion for the people of Wurzberg.  The Sgt. of the Guard would give the culprits a lecture, then turn them loose.  Once they caught some civilian workers in the re-wrap section, which was where all damaged packages went, grandpappy said, “you had to watch them there”.  

The people of Wurzberg were war beaten and most homes were bombed. About 92%  of the City was laid to the ground by the RAF, and everywhere there lay big piles of rubble. Most of the surrounding area was bombed out too. Nazi daughters worked in the post office along side POWs, and grandpappy says they were forgiven.

His favorite part of working in the post office? Good people on the team and good supervisors. And the worst part? Having to pull KP - it was harder in basic though, "they worked the shit out of 'ya. A 5am to 10pm shift.”

As part of his guard duty he and other guards went with a tank and picked u
p prisoners to work in the post office.  The POW’s had to do manual labor - lifting, cleaning, loading coal, unloading mail, etc.

One of Grandpa's jobs was transporting prisoners to and from the post office.  About 3 or 4  guard per 65 POWs.  POWs were treated well and liked the post office, they got to eat well while there.   “Change of addresses were a pain in the ass.  Packages would sometimes come back 3 times,” but they worked hard to keep up with soldiers frequent transfers.  

Shenanigans

Classified as Corporal, grandpappy earned the rank of Staff Sgt. twice; however, he messed around and was demoted due to shenanigans that included drinking and getting caught with women. Those women were forced by the MP’s to be tested for diseases.  They let grandpa go with some extra guard duty or KP, he had his choice. Grandpappy took KP so he could eat extra.  For this particular incident he had to peel potatoes.  But everyone had to do Kitchen Police, everyone had to take a turn. For KP one could peel potatoes or be a table waiter.

In his off-duty time he hung out at local bars where the brewery never seemed to close and the ladies were plentiful. It was Bavaria after all.

Friends

After the war, grandpappy went back to work in the coal mines in West Virginia where he had worked prior to being drafted.  After three years there were a round of layoffs.  Granpappy and some friends signed up for jobs in the steel mills of Cleveland, Ohio.  Republic Steel paid for his train ticket and he worked for them for until conditions for workers were so bad he deliberately messed up in order to get fired. He left that job for one with J & L Steel where some of his friends had gotten jobs.

But he never forgot the friends he made during his time in the service - especially the Sgt of the guard. Years later granpappy would spend a whole day, while on a vacation with the family, looking up the whereabouts of said Sgt. of the Guard. in North Carolina. He hadn’t seen this person in nearly 50 years and yet, by asking around at local auto mechanics and diners he was able to reconnect with his old war buddy.

Earl G. West in Dayton Ohio (passed away a few years ago), was his best buddy and they spent a lot of time drinking and fighting together. Not on the record. They were a part of a rowdy bunch, like young people are...and they spent a lot of time together going out to clubs and they were allowed to take the german girlfriends.

Advice/Conclusion

Grandpappy was honorably discharged from the Army as a Corp. Technician 5th Grade after serving 2 tours of duty in Bavaria. 

Did you want to work in the P.O. when you came back from the war I asked him, "No,"he went back to his job with the coal mines in West Virginia operating a funicular up top. I guess the idea of making a career out of changes of address made him weary of working with the U.S. Postal Service.

Grandpa's advice for current soldiers was simple: keep from getting court martialed.  Don't do anything bad enough to get a record.  Go to bars, drink booze, have girlfriends. Remember that friends are important and don't let fights amount to much.  Rank is important.  Achieved Sgt. once, for 3 days and lost it all because of drinking and fighting and girls.

I love this song

Oh, and this one too, even though Jack White is looking a little to Edward Scissor Hand-sy for my tastes:

Project Womanhood: Baby Blanket Part III

This time my workspace does not double as a cat bed:

Project Womanhood: Baby Blanket Part II

Hand-sewing is a lot like making pancakes:

The first few stitches come out weird.

Then you get into the groove and things come along much more smoothly.

Don't worry Mrs. Smallbread, L's blankey will be finished by next week and on it's way you in no time. Those goofy stitches will be replaced by a machine as soon as I get Miss Canada to show me how to thread it. So, just like goofy pancakes (which I eat before anyone sees), this blankey will look and taste feel fabulous.

Artsy Stuff

I used to have some pieces at Loveland, but who knows where they are now. 

Book Review: Ideas Of Their Own

Ideas Of Their Own by Joyce Guion Shipley with Photography by T. Simon

I can across this book whilst at a convention in Columbus.  On the table there was a note saying "Free-Please Take" so I did and was happy.  Going through the black and white photos alone was a pleasure.  My grandfather (not grandpappy) was a whiz with his camera and I always wanted him to teach me how to compose a nice photograph...all the elemental things, the physical nuts and bolts of photography.

Maybe someday he will.  My goal with my next Ohio trip is to spead a little more time on the lake then I did the last go 'round.

Ok, on to the poetry...A first edition, copy-written in 1984.  This book is as old as me. I'm so careful when I read it due to the delicate spine. I hope the author doesn't oppose me sharing a favorite poem in this space:

Dignity in Disguise

Dressing

For the day

Donning

A starch-stuffed coat

Upon

A delicate soul

With all movement

Under control

He is ready for the role

Of a dignified man

But what can be perceived

Slowly staining the sleeve

Is the passion

Of a wildly beating heart

Straining to be free

Dissolving the stiffness

With human dignity.

Apparently there are a couple more books by Ms. Shipley.  I really like the way she has painted this mental picture, and like a Rothko, it became something more when you actually sit down with it.

Other Mothers (the good kind, not the Neil Gaiman kind)

Everyone has (or should have) someone in their life like my Auntie D.  Auntie D is grandpappy's oldest daughter and is helping Mumsy with his companion care.  Without Auntie D, my childhood would not have been so awesome. Here's why:

• Never ending supply of Pepsi and M&M's
• Trips to Geauga Lake amusement park and Sea World in the summers
• Blasting the radio so we could all sing along in the Thunderbird
• Painting Ceramics together
• Making Christmas/Easter cookies and chocolates together
• Telling my Dad off when he treated me poorly
• Watching Mary Poppins and Bednobs and Broomsticks over and over again
• Letting me sleep in her room when Mr. Boogedy freaked me out

This shit scared the crap out of me as a kid, and somehow
we always managed to watch it at night after dinner.

Auntie D is awesome still and she keeps it real, just like me.  I can call her for advice day or night and she is always there to answer, even though Uncle Harley gets up at 4am or some such ungodly hour.

I hope someday when all my friends' children are grown that they'll think back about me with the same joyfulness as I do when I think about Auntie D and her wonderful husband Uncle Harley.

Just a taste of those summers riding to Geauga Lake

And here's what it was like when Uncle Harley was driving

The First Time I Watched Pulp Fiction

It must have been 1995, it was Spring, and as I got off the school bus I realized no one was home.  No Grandpappy, no Grandmammy, and no Mumsy.  And I didn't have a key to get in.

Someone ran up to me saying my mother was taken away in an ambulance and that my grandparents went to the hospital too.  I don't know where Mario was, but I think he went to the hospital as well since he was in middle school and I was still in elementary and he always got home before me.

I had an idea, why not ask the next door neighbor, Ivanka, who knew our family quite well, if I might stay until someone came home.

Ivanka was happy to see me and sent her adult son to get some Taco Bell for us.  She also asked me if I wanted to watch a movie she had just rented.  The movie was Pulp Fiction.  I was hooked.

Ever since that fateful day I had the secret wish to be a movie director.  Now, the software and cameras are so cheap in comparison to the way it used to be...anyone can make a film.

Here's my favorite scene:

But this one is a close second Ezekiel 25:17

I think I want to make a short subject documentary about Grandpappy and his life. 

Other films I watched as a kid

I admit, I actually loved the Coneheads movie...

But the only movie Mario and I could agree on was Ghost Busters 2

The Blues Brothers

My brother Mario and I used to watch The Blues Brothers as kids.  In fact we wore out the VHS tape, in addition to some other great films such as The Last Unicorn, The Land Before Time, An American Tail, Willow, and of course Labyrinth.

and of course...we must not forget the awesomeness that was the Blues Brothers!

Highlanders..but not the syndicated version

On Saturday, the Philosopher of Science and I went to the Polish Festival of Phoenix.  The food was amazing, the singing and dancing in the traditional Highlander dress was really cool.  And to top it all off, we met up with some family friends we haven't see in a while.

Dancing with axes is kinda their thing.  Their beer garden was packed to the point where they were starting to restrict because they were at maximum capacity.  I stayed away from the beer garden, but I did check out the interesting Polish History exhibition.

Here's some fun photos to give you an idea of the goings on at Our Lady of Czestochowa Catholic Church in Phoenix:

Our Lady of Czestochowska, for whom the church is named.

Keeping it real

I know everyone loves a good shit show, but what's healthiest for me is to use this blog for talking about the coolest guy I know (grandpappy) and tell jokes or post awesome videos.  I hope to get my pageviews back up in a more holistic way then I did in January.

and now time for something else:-)

My brother Mario and I used to watch the above fine film until we wore out the VHS tape.

Granpappy's Best Advice

Grandpappy told me that the best advice he was ever given was from his mother on his wedding day back in the 1950's.  She said, "Remember, your mother is a woman."

He said he had ups and downs in his marriage to Grandmammy Ruby, but he always remembered his mother's words to treat his wife with the greatest respect and love, just as he would his own mother.  Grandpappy and Grandmammy Ruby were married for over 40 years.

And in the twilight of her life, Grandpappy was a caregiver for his beloved wife.  Love comes in many forms, sometimes it's in the form of insulin injections at odd hours, or changing the dressing on a wound from a surgery, or finding her the latest romance novel from one of her favorite authors.

Grandpappy never remarried.  He told me once upon a time that he had found the best wife a man could ask for and there was no way any other woman could take her place.

Bloodsport was a movie they loved watching together. Grandpappy loved the action and Grandmammy loved the shirtless JCVD. Just my two cents, but I think having the same taste in movies also keeps a couple together.