. . . Poems are made by fools like me,/ But only God can make a tree.

Review of Old Gazette Story

While cleaning out a drawer, looking for something else, I came across a slightly yellowed article from the Billings Gazette of January 9, 2004 by a good and friendly writer from the Gazette, Donna Healy. Not surprisingly, the other people mentioned in the article seem much more interesting.

Sadly, Bill Drum has cashed in his chips. I would hope the others are doing well.

If I had the chance to do the interview over I would make the following changes: The current read is almost always about 3-4 books at a time. I just never know when one will bite me badly and hold on ’til I finish it. And, though I hate to admit it, I simply can’t remember The Nice and the Good. Iris Murdoch I remember but not that title. By the way, Donna, if you read this please note the spelling of her last name—not Murdock. A great lady, writer and philosopher.

I think I would have put in more pictures too. How many words is a picture supposed to be worth. A thousand? Ten thousand? Granted, many pictures are not worth much but some are priceless.

The thing about a library is that it changes. Just as your bedroom table has to juggle all the books you are currently reading, so too must your whole library keep the books moving, else they will become heavier and heavier ’til at last you will be unable to carry them to their final resting place.

As I age, I see that I am starting as many books as always, in fact, now that I am not working, perhaps more, but I finish quite a few less than I used to. I suspect that is because a great many books are simply not worth finishing. Perhaps that aging thing is the reason we like to see more plays than we did when younger. Even if it is bad it is over in 90 to 120 minutes. As long as you know something will eventually end, and you are sharing your misery with friends, then it is surprising how much awfulness one can put up with.

Independence Day 2011

Independence Day 2011

 

Borrowed from Netright Daily

From the world of Mallard Fillmore

Turtle Sex

This is the image to attract your attention in case you are a visual sort of person. It comes from a peculiar website called Grist. The website is dedicated to environmental things including the whackos who are attracted to that sort of thing. It looks very interesting. The story had to do with mating turtles disturbing air travel somewhere on the East Coast. It was written in an amusing way. I wonder, are there animals, besides ourselves, that mate face to face?

El Barbudo Graciously Relinquishes Power

[I must have been commenting on some article I read in one or another paper that I read, but I see now that I forgot the reference. Oh well, things may improve or not. It obviously needs a picture too. I can add that a picture from a trip to Havana in 2004, when El Barbudo was in better shape. As I recall it, he talked for almost 4 hours straight.]

Now that our man in Havana has turned over the reins to his brother Raul, will he travel to Hollywood for his lifetime achievement Oscar, or to Stockholm for his Nobel Peace Prize?

My guess is both.

[I may have been wrong, ironically, I suppose it can still happen.]

The Crypt of the Capuchins

I forgot to mention one of our stops in Rome on our recent Italian adventure. This is on the via Veneto and gets a lot of tourists. But I think it was actually put together before tourism became all that big a deal. Well, now that I think about it, I suppose touring Rome has always been the thing to do in Europe. They used to call themselves pilgrims.

Anyway the Capuchins have been here since 1631. I am not sure when they got started with the bony artwork. One source says after they moved earlier burials to this place in the 17th century. Another says that the arranging of bones started after 1870. They say they came to pray here before retiring for the night: the message being perhaps that death closes the gate of time and opens that of eternity. Of course, we moderns have completely forgotten about the long history of the RC cult of the dead, the skull on the desk, etc. “What you are now, we once were; what we are now, you shall be.”

When the Last Trumpet sounds there is going to be a lot of confusion at this spot, as the bones of any one individual are pretty much scattered around, and I suppose the mice have carried off a few as well.

I am in the process of sorting through shoeboxes, I mean literally shoeboxes, filled to the brim with old pictures, in no special order. Some of these go back to the 60s and before, like in “the olden days” as our kids used to say about any time before they were born. The one to the right is a faded, poorly exposed snapshot taken sometime during the 40s. The girl on the right is Carol and I think that is her sister on the left

To the left is one from another life, now closed off completely by virtue of advancing age. Fortunately we didn’t take so many pictures in the pre-digital age. We still throw away as many now as then.

Carol had the wit to label it, otherwise we would still be guessing. I don’t care what they say, I liked those big hairdos.

Then there are a ton of scrapbooks from my mother’s basement. There are some real prizes here. I am trying to get these in shape before the 2nd Mueller Melee this summer.

A chocolate heart for friends of St Valentine

I meant to post this a few days ago. Only in America. I was walking down an aisle in our local drug store when I was attracted by this giant chocolate heart. Three (3) pounds for $24.99. That is about three times the size of the normal heart. Probably because I am on a diet I immediately thought: how long would it take me to eat the whole thing? And then, how long before my first coronary occlusion?

Kind of looks like it is going to drip down on the text, doesn’t it?

I am searching for a word

Does anyone have a good word to describe the miming of greeting friends in the adoring and cheering audiences that national politicians seem to need. It usually includes some pointing, and eyes widening, and mouthing endearing words. Thanks in advance for your efforts.

Ostia Antica: Communal Crapper

The wide-awake among you may have noted that this blog has been culled of at least a few travel entries, most recently of our trip to Italy. The notes and pictures on that trip have been moved to web.mac.com/kmueller40/muellertravel_Over_There Just click on this address and it will get you there.

Of course I couldn’t resist puttting the name of the now abandoned Roman seaport on the title because when I googled it, I found a reference to my blog right up there with the really helpful ones. Which surprised me.

And I couldn’t resist posting a picture of a communal crapper I found in Ostia Antica. I wonder if this was the equivalent of our “smoke-filled” committee rooms where important decisions were made before going to the forum. These are some references to hygiene in ancient Rome.

Touring Ostia Antica is a really nice website by Caroline Lawrence, who has written some good stuff for kids on the BBC.