Hair Commentary

Saturday Night Live's Amy and Seth cover the topic of Illinois Gov. Blagojevich's hair.

Veggies Growing on the White House Lawn?

It may become reality that Barack, Michelle, Malia and Sasha will be eating veggies from an organic garden right outside their White House door! Learn about The WHO (White House Organic) Farm Project and sign the petition if you'd like.

Enjoy

WIZARD of ID

From Laura's Garden

...picked on Thanksgiving day.

Close Enough

"For reasons he cannot explain, these columns are particularly popular with 69-year-old women in North Seattle."

I guess since I'm 71 and from south of Seattle, I could qualify to fit into Ron Judd's tongue-in-cheek category as a fan of his columns. (The above quote is from his homepage.) If you want to check out his The Wrap column in today's Seattle Times, click here. It'll make you chuckle and smile a bunch. However, he can get serious as shown in my Friday's blog entry, Makes Sense. Also, when you look at his website, check out his photography.

Did you Know?

Iowa is the third or fourth largest producer of wind energy in the US, just behind California and Texas. Minnesota may have taken over third place.

Makes Sense

Read this: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/ronjudd/2008439874_nwwtrailmix27.html In fact, I told Dave a few days ago before I read this article that this concept should be instigated again! This article is by Ron Judd, one of my favorite Seattle Times columnists.

Quarters

Here's Washington state's quarter. Check out the others.

Behind the Scenes

Check out this link for a bunch of photos taken behind the scenes of Obama's path to the presidency - which includes the above photo taken just before he announced in Springfield IL that he was running for President.

A BARBIIE STORE!

Little girls can get their nails done or get their hair done in "Butterfly" or "Princess" styles or buy all kinds of Barbie things! Click here to read more!

Funny!

F R A N K & E R N E S T

Did the 1950s Atomic Tests Affect You?

Maybe they did, partly depending on when you were born. But those tests certainly left a marker on trees and their fruits. Check out this article.

Amazing!

Read this article White House job application leaves no stone unturned - about a 63 item questionnaire for those interested in one of the 7000 positions to be filled in Obama's administration!

In the Seattle Times!

This photo's caption: "Morningside College student Tessie Cook walks across the snowy campus in Sioux City, Iowa, on Tuesday. Wintry weather across much of the northern Plains caused fatal accidents in Minnesota and left a layer of ice and snow in parts of Nebraska."

I was certainly surprised to see this photo of my alma mater in the Seattle Times today - and could almost feel Iowa's very familiar winter nippiness.

Recent Weather at Rod's House

R A I N Y !


S U N N Y !

Creative Recipes Website

On this WHFoods.com site, click on the ingredients you want in one list and then click on ingredients in another list that you don't want. After clicking "submit," you'll have a list of recipes with your chosen foods! How cool is that!

Kasey & Mouse-Fan Toy!

Dave drilled a hole in a toy mouse, attached it to a long string and then looped the string over a ceiling fan blade. Turning on the fan provides endless (almost) fun for Kasey!

The Two "K"s

Kara and Kasey enjoying each other!

The "Ducks"

During Neal's visit, we took him on a WWII renovated amphibious "duck." Besides touring downtown Seattle in this open-air vehicle that holds up to 36 tourists, we heard lots of corny jokes and loud thumping music. Also we went in Lake Union - the best part of the trip as far as I'm concerned! Anyway, Neal thought it was great, and we're glad he enjoyed it as a part of his vacation in Seattle!

Have a Laugh

Shoes!

Sales of red Naughty Monkey peep-toe 3 1/2" heels shot up dramatically after Sarah Palin wore hers at the Republican National Convention! (No word yet on whether MaCain's black shoes are selling like crazy!) And there's Sarah's hairstyle, glasses and lipstick to think about. Check out these photos!

Bento Box

Above is my Veggie Ban early-birthday lunch that I enjoyed today at the Dragonfish. Dave, Laura, Justin and I ate "Asian" downtown Seattle before we attended the fantastic production of the Phantom of the Opera at the Paramount Theater - a fun, fun day!

Earworms!

Read about them here. My current and very persistent earworms are from the Phantom of the Opera - the play that Justin and Laura are taking Dave and me to this Thursday.

Talking About Debuts

How about these new Nano iPods!

Juicy Blackberries On Their Way

Next to the trail behind our house, it's now blackberry pickin' time!

IT BLOOMED!

It's an Angel's Trumpet, and I'm so happy to see this blossom since I killed the last plant like this - during the winter in the garage! It must be 5 or 6 inches across!

Color

Prior to Hillary's speech last night, I happened to see on TV her aides holding up several different colored pantsuits to see which color looked best with the stage backdrop at the Democratic convention. - Just wanted you to know that I approve their choice of "apricot." (I didn't notice if they did the same for Chelsea's suit!)

Our Neighbor

Mannix and his alpaca family and friends live about a mile from our house at the Morning Mist Alpaca Ranch. I guess alpacas can make loud screeching warning sounds, but when we visited them, they hummed quietly.

drbenkim.com

Take a look at an excellent health information website that I recently found. It's very readable and written for non-medical people like me. The author Dr. Ben Kim writes with sincerity, and I feel he truly wants to share what he's learned to help people be healthy and to take care of themselves - without resorting to some objectionable "mainstream" solutions. His newsletter is free, and he's currently writing a series of articles for the web that explain the organ systems of the body. Check it out soon! After Jen read one of his posts, this was her comment: "Jeese that Dr Kim site just sucks you in ... very interesting."

Guess What We're Looking At?

The above photo was shot by Jen. And right after, I took her photo (below) - which lets you see what Dave and I were looking at ...the Emmons Glacier in Mt. Rainier National Park

Goldie

I discovered that the chickens at Rod and Ivana's place cluck beautifully - they make soft and soothing music as they enjoy pecking for tidbits in the lawn. The picture above is Goldie, one of the four hen-house mates

A Lotta' Spaghetti & Dessert!

Laura and Rod hosted a great 75th birthday party for Dave on Saturday at Buca di Beppo in Seattle. And Jen surprised us all by flying in for the weekend. Lots of food! And Dave said it was the best spaghetti sauce he'd ever had! And, WOW, how about those desserts - the Dolci Platter!

Guess What's In These Photos!

What do you think the symmetrical round grey thing is?


And -what do you think the orange, liquid-looking stuff is?

Answers (sort of): The grey thing is a casement made by the Moon Snail that contains snail eggs, sand and mucus. It sure looks like an old tire to me. Amazing. There were oodles of these at low tide at the Des Moines (WA) Beach on Puget Sound yesterday when Dave and I took advantage of having beach naturalists show us the teeming life under our feet and in tide pools! The green stuff is called Sea Lettuce. In the second photo, the orange stuff is colonies of some organisms of which neither Dave nor I can remember the name. I did touch a star fish and some of the vegetation, but not this orange stuff!

Amusing!

ROSE IS ROSE

A True Story!

My friend Rebecca checks in people for Princess Cruises. Here's a little story she shared from this past weekend:

I had one butt-hole passenger. He made a point to come back 15 minutes after I had checked him and his family in to tell me that he didn't like someone half his age calling him by his first name. "His generation" called people Sir. I noticed he put PhD on his health form. He probably wanted me to call him doctor. I asked him how old he was because he didn't really look that old. He said he was 60. I said I'm 43, thanks for the compliment.

Campaignin' (Jib Jab style)

Send a JibJab Sendables® eCard Today!

A Laugh

LOLA

Food for Thought: Letter from Airline Industry Leaders

An Open letter to All Airline Customers:

Our country is facing a possible sharp economic downturn because of skyrocketing oil and fuel prices, but by pulling together, we can all do something to help now.

For airlines, ultra-expensive fuel means thousands of lost jobs and severe reductions in air service to both large and small communities. To the broader economy, oil prices mean slower activity and widespread economic pain. This pain can be alleviated, and that is why we are taking the extraordinary step of writing this joint letter to our customers. Since high oil prices are partly a response to normal market forces, the nation needs to focus on increased energy supplies and conservation. However, there is another side to this story because normal market forces are being dangerously amplified by poorly regulated market speculation.

Twenty years ago, 21 percent of oil contracts were purchased by speculators who trade oil on paper with no intention of ever taking delivery. Today, oil speculators purchase 66 percent of all oil futures contracts, and that reflects just the transactions that are known. Speculators buy up large amounts of oil and then sell it to each other again and again. A barrel of oil may trade 20-plus times before it is delivered and used; the price goes up with each trade and consumers pick up the final tab. Some market experts estimate that current prices reflect as much as $30 to $60 per barrel in unnecessary speculative costs.

Over seventy years ago, Congress established regulations to control excessive, largely unchecked market speculation and manipulation. However, over the past two decades, these regulatory limits have been weakened or removed. We believe that restoring and enforcing these limits, along with several other modest measures, will provide more disclosure, transparency and sound market oversight. Together, these reforms will help cool the over-heated oil market and permit the economy to prosper.

The nation needs to pull together to reform the oil markets and solve this growing problem.

We need your help. Get more information and contact Congress by visiting www.StopOilSpeculationNow.com.

I Was Slapped With A Summons!

Yesterday, I laughed when Dave told me he received a summons for jury duty (he had just done jury duty a couple of years ago) - and he "slapped" me with his summons letter!

First Bloom

It was a pleasant surprise yesterday to see our newly planted Passion Flower vine (Passiflora caerulea) with a blossom. The vine is only about three feet tall!

Got a Lawn Chair, Balloons & a Chihuahua? Dream Big!

You'll enjoy this article.

Snowing in July?

Our blooming Japanese Snowbell tree (Styrax japonicus) is now "snowing."

In Our Neighborhood, July 4 2008!

Kasey Bein' Mellow

Sarah!

Rod happened upon one-year old Sarah and Robin and Peter at the Fremont Summer Solstice Parade last weekend and got this great photo!

Liz & John Visit

Liz & John on their trip to the west coast stopped at our house. It was fun to see them, and good that Laura's family, Rod and Tim & Katie could all be here for yummy pizza and great conversation. The photo shows Dave describing a family photo to Liz and John.

Add a Caption!

Yes, it's Roscoe. :-)

She's from Iowa

And she's a Johnson. :-) Shawn Johnson, from West DesMonines Iowa, finished first in the vault, balance beam and floor for a place on the six-woman Olympic team by taking the points lead in the two-day trial in Philadelphia.

He's Ready for High School

After being acknowledged for being on the honor roll all three years at Hughes Middle School, Dustin is being congratulated by his principal in the first photo and with his proud dad Patrick in the second photo - on a sunny California day! Super cool!

He's Graduated!

As of June 10, Justin is a Tahoma High School graduate and headed toward a local community college to learn more about - yah, you guessed it - computers! Way to go, Justin!

A Quote

We don't see things as they are, we see things as we are. – Anais Nin

Miho & Diego Duo

Today at the opening celebration of the new Black Diamond Library, the Miho & Diego Duo provided some fascinating music. Miho, from Tokyo, is the marimba player and Diego from Colombia plays guitar, quena (an Andean flute) and several other instruments. Their music is a blend of Latino, Japanese, African and American. Listen to them here.

A Couple of Cute YouTube Videos

Watch this one first:


And then this one:

Meet Kasey, Our New Kitty

Yesterday, Dave and I officially named our new adopted kitty Kasey after the NASCAR racer Kasey Kahne who's from the neighboring town of Enumclaw. (Kasey won the race yesterday.) Jen thinks Kasey's coat looks like a Rorschach Test! Laura and Kara brought him some toys - mice, of course. (Kara also brought over her nifty new white MacBook for us to see!) And, Kasey's birthday is the same day, February 5, as Dustin's. Back to his name - he "races" all over and has "racing stripes" on his back. Plus, he's cute like Kasey Kahne! Oh yah, I'd say we have about 30 photos of him - that's after deleting all the "tail," blurred and partial-cat photos. :-) Also, we're giving thanks that during his first two nights at our house he didn't "cry" all night and make us feel guilty.

Our 2004 Visit with Mary & Duane - Slideshow

(I posted this on WebShots in 2004, and I'd llke to know how to get it to show correctly on my blog. Help!)

Cosra Rica - We Were There!

Behind Dave and me is one of the five waterfalls in Costa Rica's La Paz Waterfall Gardens north of San Jose, the capital. Besides hiking to see these waterfalls, we took lots of photos in the La Paz apiary starring noisy toucans, the butterfly observatory, the frog exhibit (they were all camouflaged in the foliage, but the attendant placed sign pointers near each frog - thank goodness, or we wouldn't have found one!), and a serpentarium. And they had monkeys too! A really cool place, and I know we'd never have been able to see all this wildlife 'in the wild." Although, we did see "in the wild" a sloth hanging from a telephone cable, a coatimundi having bananas for lunch, several iguanas beside the road, some crocodiles far below us in the river, and a pecary (wild hog) a few feet from us in the rain forest. Oh yes, we observed a long, long line of leaf cutter ants (all females) toting their cuttings to their fungus garden. (Although the female leaf cutters do all the work, they live longer lives than the "lazy" males!) I hope you too, dear reader, will someday take a trip to Costa Rica where they have 95% literacy and are one of only two countries with no military. Their favorite expression is PURA VIDA! which is Spanish for "pure life" and is used in many forms, from a greeting, to a synonym for "excellent." Also, Pura Vida is a synonym of "hakuna matata" which means Life is wonderful; enjoy it.

And speaking of "hakuna matata," enjoy this YouTube clip from Lion King:

A New Tie - and Suit

As Oscar Wilde said, "a well-tied tie is the first serious step in life." When Justin donned his new suit and tie to go to his senior prom, along with two guys and seven girls, in a stretch limo - Laura told me that he went to YouTube for some help in how to knot his tie!

FINALLY!

A perfectly beautiful spring day! This photo is at Nolte State Park where (even though Dave and I have hiked the trail around the lake many times) we yesterday discovered a delightful side trail with interpretative signs! Go figure!

It's Blossoming

Woo-hoo, our Star Magnolia (Magnolia stellata Magnoliaceae) is beginning to put on its 2008 show. It's one of those spring plants that has flowers before it has leaves. I've just learned it has tepals (which to me looks like a misspelling of petals). What's a tepal you ask. Here's the botanical answer: a tepal is a segment of the outer whorl in a flower that has no differentiation between the petals and sepals. Oh well.... And here's some info about its fantastic flowers:

• 3" to 4" across
• white to pink-tinged
• 12-18 tepals per flower
• each tepal is 1.5" to 2" long
• tepals are narrow and strap-like
• blossoms lightly fragrant
• very showy in bloom

Here a peep, there a peep....

I'm wondering what the cats at Rod's house are thinking about the newest additions there. Ivana now has five future suppliers of eggs that are pretty cute. Current chick names that may be changed are Fuzzy, Delaware, little Blacky, Cleopatra and Bronze head. Well, that is, there are five future egg producers if all five turn out to be hens rather than roosters. And I think this picture must be of Bronze head.

UPDATE: I just learned from Ivana that this is a photo of Cleopatra!