What is that? Velvet? (033/365)

TIME: 8:30 pm

PLACE: Living room
SUBJECT: Velvet painting

*~*~*

I went over to my dad's again tonight to help him register for a COVD vaccine clinic given out to people 75 and older in our county. He is all set for tomorrow.

We were upstairs printing out information regarding his appointment and I mentioned that I really liked the velvet painting that was on the wall.  It was a wedding gift given to my mom's parents back in 1934.

He said, "You want it? Take it." So I did.

I hung it here to take a photo; then took it up to my home office for its permanent spot.

Empty (081/365)

TIME: 5:59 PM
PLACE: Edwardsville
SUBJECT: Martini glass & reflection

The Annual Meeting for our institution was on the agenda tonight.

Traditionally, co-workers go to dinner together prior to the meeting.

I may or may not have had 2 beverages with my meal.

Circles (099/365)

"Nōlī turbāre circulōs meōs!" 
"Do not disturb my circles!"
Reportedly the last words of Archimedes, said to a Roman soldier who, despite being given orders not to, killed Archimedes during the conquest of Syracuse; as quoted in World Literature: An Anthology of Human Experience (1947) by Arthur Christy, p. 655.

TIME:  5:45 PM
PLACE:  Downtown
SUBJECT:  Bank building windows

I always liked this building’s windows.
My kids always called it the “Bubble window building”
I do not know when it was originally built.
However I know that it’s been around since at least 1965.
I found it in that year’s city directory as a listed as Citizen’s Bank.

Again, The Moon (064/365)

“I never really thought about how when I look at the moon, it's the same moon as Shakespeare and Marie Antoinette and George Washington and Cleopatra looked at.”
― Susan Beth Pfeffer, Life As We Knew It

TIME: 6:40 PM
PLACE:  Outside (duh!)
SUBJECT: Moon

I wonder how many times the moon has had it’s picture taken?

Cereal Circles (015/365)

TIME:  7:06 PM
PLACE:  Kitchen
SUBJECT:  Cocoa puffs

Looks like the aliens are moving from farmers’ fields to my cereal bowl.  I’m not sure what this means to the human race.  Probably nothing.

Ready For Mistakes (207/366)

“The average pencil is seven inches long, with just a half-inch eraser - in case you thought optimism was dead.”

Robert Brault

TIME:  9:14 PM
PLACE:  Home
SUBJECT:  Pencil erasers

HH brought home all of these pencils for the kids.  He said he never wants to hear them utter the phrase “I can’t find a pencil!” during the upcoming school year.  Want to bet they still do?

Tiny (096/366)

“Sometimes you can tell a large story with a tiny subject.”

Eliot Porter (1901-1990), U.S. photographer. Quoted in Guardian (London, November 6, 1990).

TIME:  10:13 PM
PLACE:  Kitchen
SUBJECT:  Nonpareils sprinkles

I took an inventory of cookie decorating items in anticipation of a Saturday baking session.  Gosh, the sprinkles are really tiny, aren’t they?  And, the horror!  My finger is really wrinkly, isn’t it?.

Buttons (038/366)

"Summoning spirits isn't 'Button, button,/Who's got the button,' I would have them know."
 
Robert Frost (1874-1963), U.S. poet. Two Witches (l. 7-8). . . The Poetry of Robert Frost. Edward Connery Lathem, ed. (1979) Henry Holt.

TIME:  11:46 PM
PLACE:  Kitchen
SUBJECT:  Assorted Buttons

Last week, StellaDella was asked to bring “100 of something” for the 100th day of school.  One stipulation was that the “something” had to fit in a brown lunch bag.  Then SD had to write 3 clues about her “something” and the rest of the class had to guess what it was.  We went with buttons.  Somehow, I have a ton of them.

Illinois Power Company (163/365)

HEY YOU GUYS!
We're gonna turn it on
We're gonna bring you the power
We're gonna light up the dark of night like the
brightest day in a whole new way
We're gonna turn it on
We're gonna bring you the power
It's coming down the lines, strong as they can be through the courtesy of The Electric Company
The Electric Company
The Electric Company!

Electric Company theme song, PBS, 1971-1973

TIME:  4:35 PM
PLACE:  Little League Fields
SUBJECT:  Power company logo

Not much to say – my cast hurt all day and really bothered me.  SD had a good ball game this afternoon; she had three hits and almost caught a fly ball.  This old power company logo is a little larger than a quarter and was on a rusty electrical box hanging on a light pole by the ball field.

Turn Lane (052/365)

“It's better to be last in the traffic lane than first in the funeral procession”

~Author Unknown

TIME:  9:35 AM
PLACE:  Center for Advanced Medicine, St. Louis, MO
SUBJECT:  View of turn lane on Euclid Ave from 10th floor

Today was rainy and much colder than the weather  we had yesterday.  HandsomeHusband had a doctor’s appointment early this morning over in St. Louis and I tagged along.   It went quickly and we were back in town before lunch.  Then MonkeyBoy had an eye doctor appointment at 3pm for some new contact lenses.  Before I knew it, it was time to make dinner..Why do the extra days off (specifically, President’s Day today) go by so quickly while work days creep so slowly?  Obviously there is something wrong with the space/time continuum when it comes to this.

Balloons (017/365)

“Nobody can be uncheered with a balloon”

Winnie the Pooh

TIME:  8:09 PM
PLACE:  Home
SUBJECT:  Water balloons

StellaDella found a white, plastic, round container of water balloons in the basement last month and after blowing up many, many “baby” balloons, she abandoned it in the upstairs hallway.  As I was walking by it for the umpteempth time today, I realized how bright and colorful they were - in marked contrast to our gray, depressing weather.  So, before I put them away (finally!), I decided to take a picture of the balloons at the bottom of the container.  I don’t know why, but this photo makes me smile.

Hoop (301/365)

“To win, you've got to put the ball in the macramé.”

Terry McGuire..Dick McGuire's (American professional basketball player and coach, 1926–2010) wife, explaining the strategy of basketball.

TIME:  4:42 PM
PLACE:  Back yard
SUBJECT:  Basketball hoop

Grade school basketball season is in full swing now.  MonkeyBoy had a game this evening at 5:00pm – Our team lost by about 18 points but…MB actually made some baskets this game and he did not foul out – hooray!  That’s progress.

Soap Bubble (220/365)

 
“In all our quest of greatness, like wanton boys, whose pastime is their care, we follow after bubbles, blown in the air.”

John Webster (English Jacobean dramatist and playwright, 1580-1634)

TIIME:  6:52 PM
PLACE:  Backyard
SUBJECT:  Soap bubble

While I was at Wal-mart last night, I bought StellaDella yet another 128 ounce container of bubbles – they spill so easy you know - along with a nifty battery powered bubble gun.  She played with them this morning (that girl does love her some bubbles) and I attempted to get some photos, but I wasn’t satisfied with the outcome.  So, this evening, after spraying ourselves liberally with bug repellant, she and I tried again.  I’m sure our neighbors thought that I am completely looney, what with me directing SD on bubble making and then chasing them around the yard with my camera.  Luckily, out of the gazillions of snaps I took, I was able to capture at least one bubble fairly decently.

Button, Button, Who’s Got the Button? (240/365)

 
Gold Hat: Badges? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges. I don't have to show you any stinking badges.

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (Alfonso Bedoya-actor, John Huston-Writer, B. Traven-novel, John Huston-director, 1948)

TIME:  8:40 PM
PLACE:  Kitchen table
SUBJECT:  Badge pinbacks

I hit the Badge-a-Minit jackpot at the thrift store today.  I stopped by there briefly after paying HandsomeHusband’s union dues this afternoon.  I noticed the badge maker sitting on the check-out counter with a $17.00 price tag.  I didn’t buy it then, but gave it some serious thought on the way home.  I have been contemplating making “TEAM EDNA” badges for our family reunion in October.  “Edna” being my paternal grandmother and one of the siblings of the reunion family (the Tedesco side of the Tedesco-Mercurio reunion).  I thought these would be fun to wear and distinguish our line from the other sibling’s lines in addition to the navy shirts we will be wearing.  On our way to dinner, I drove by the thrift store to see if it was still open and if the badge maker was still there.  It was open, the badge maker was still there and so I bought it.  It came with two boxes full of pin supplies, a circle cutter, additional assembly rings and a hand press!  Looking at the “Badge-A-Minit” website, I’ve got about $210-$330 of badge making stuff (2-1/4” Bench press system, Hand press starter kit).  Not too shabby!

What Is It? (203/365)

 
I do my work at the same time each day - the last minute.  

Unknown

TIME:  9:39 PM
PLACE:  Somewhere in my house
SUBJECT:  ???

I was a slacker today and did not take any pictures until 9:30 this evening.  And this is what my procrastination gets you…do you know what it is?  The first correct answer gets the satisfaction of being the first correct answer!  How’s that for an incentive?

Would You Like To Buy A Yard? (166/365)

 
"Is it true that the only difference between a yard sale and a trash pickup is how close to the road the stuff is placed?"

Unknown

TIME: 10:00 PM
PLACE:  My basement
SUBJECT:  Yard sale stickers

This is what I was doing today.  Attempting to cull the crap treasures located in our basement.  I am feeling suffocated by the amount of stuff that we have.  I had a yard sale last July and suckered people into buying sold quite a bit.  How is there STILL so much piled in the basement?  Good gravy, I think that it must breed down there.  That has to be the only explanation.  Last year, I took a bunch of the remaining items to the Goodwill (thrift shop).  The rest of the trash goodies I placed on the front strip of grass between the sidewalk and the street and posted a Craigslist notice for "free stuff" - it was all gone by Sunday evening.  I plan to follow the same protocol for the yard sale next weekend.  If it doesn't sell, it ain't coming back in to the house, it's going!

Oh Oh Domino (136/365)

 
"Family love is messy, clinging, and of an annoying and repetitive pattern, like bad wallpaper.”

Friedrich Nietzsche (German classical Scholar, Philosopher and Critic of culture,
1844-1900)

TIME:  8:13 PM
PLACE:  My sister's house
SUBJECT:  Dominos

My sister decided to have the family (Dad, my oldest brother and his wife and my family) over tonight just because.  I made a salad and she had hamburgers and hotdogs, cheesy potato casserole, and chips.  After we ate, we played a game of "Chicken Foot".  The game became quite loud with much shouting, grumbling and other carrying on.  This is par for the course when my family gets together and plays any game.  HandsomeHusband did not participate in the raucous goings on.  Instead he sat himself on the couch and got acquainted with his new cell phone.

Give Life a Push (127/365)

 

“A wise woman puts a grain of sugar into everything she says to a man, and takes a grain of salt with everything he says to her."

Helen Rowland (American journalist and humorist, 1876-1950)

TIME: 5:36 PM
PLACE:  Concession Stand, Little League Field
SUBJECT: Push Pops

Monkeyboy's Little League requires that team parents man the concession stands during the baseball games.  Tonight was our team's turn to volunteer.  I worked between 5:30pm and 6:30pm, so it was just for an hour.  It brought back memories of my early foray into the work force - working at a Wendy's fast-food restaurant. 

Looking Down The Wrong End of The Barrel (116/365)

 
"ECONOMY, n. Purchasing the barrel of whiskey that you do not need for the price of the cow that you cannot afford.”

Ambrose Bierce (American Writer, Journalist and Editor, 1842-1914)

TIME: 3:28 PM
PLACE: Looking out the Little League Fence, Monroe St.
SUBJECT: Pyramid of barrels

Another T-ball game this afternoon.  It was very warm (82 degrees)and windy.  The wind was picking up the dirt from the infield and blowing and swirling it all over.  The ballfield was definitely not a place you would want to be inserting any contacts today!  It didn't bother the girls though. These barrels were on the other side of the fence that surrounded the diamond.  I liked the rust and the colors covering the bottoms of them.