Wednesday's Guest - Slim Randles

Here is another offering from humorist, Slim Randles, and his "Home Country" syndicated column. 

By the time we saw Dud, of course, the damage had been done.

It was Steve who spoke first.

"I don't believe it," the tall cowboy said.

We all turned then, and the full impact of the deed struck us almost simultaneously. There, on Dud's head, was a sculpture of such blasphemous proportions as would silence all of us in attendance at the Mule Barn truck stop's philosophy counter and world dilemma think tank. It was beautiful, of course, but it was also tragic.

"They call it feathered," said Dud, turning red. "A razor cut."

We just stared at the haircut without saying anything. It curved gracefully around his ears, it waved softly in sculptured layers over the top of his head. It fell in gradually decreasing thicknesses down the long back slope of his head toward its tapered termination at the neck.

"It was Anita's idea," Dud said. "She gave me the money for it and everything."

Finally, Doc spoke. "What's Kelly going to say?"

"That's the worst of it, all right," Dud said. "I know he's going to be hurt."
  
Kelly hadn't really worried too much about the future of his barbershop when Fantasy Fantails set up shop. He assumed it was a haircutting place for women who didn't want to take the time to go to the beauty parlor, and for guys who came to live in our small town from the city.

Kelly's has always been the stronghold of local manhood. The magazines had nothing to do with decorating a house or how your investments are working out. The magazines had everything to do with what kind of bait to use on catfish and how big an engine your pickup needed to pull a large boat. You wouldn't find a single advertisement showing a guy wearing a sweater tied around his neck. Not at Kelly's. In the past, when magazines were magazines, you could read how some guy captured Gestapo headquarters with his headhunter brides.

"Well," said Doc, shrugging. "That haircut of yours is a work of art, without a doubt. But there's at least one good thing about getting a really expensive haircut, Dud. Sooner or later, it'll grow out."
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Brought to you by Slim’s new book and great stocking stuffer “A Cowboy’s Guide to Growing Up Right.” Learn more at http://www.nmsantos.com/Slim/Slim.html

Monday Morning Musings

Actually, this is Monday afternoon musings. We have been having a lot of work done on our house - a new deck and sun room - and the workers came this morning to finish it up. Just when I thought I could come back to my office to get some work done, there would be a knock at the door - another question needed an answer.

The work is all done now and the men are gone, so I thought I would get to this an hour ago, but I had to take the cats out to the new room and introduce them. Then I decided it would be a good idea to sweep out there... and....

Plus it's Cyber-Monday. While I don't participate in Black Friday sales, unless they are online, I do like to see what kind of deals can be made on Cyber-Monday. That ate up another hour, but I did get a nice chair at a good price.

Then my husband came into my office with a cat on his shoulder. Had to get this picture when the cat decided to play with the pulls on the ceiling fan. 

So here I am finally, well after noon, with only one rant to share. I read an interview with Robert Mann, author of a new book Daisy Petals and Mushroom Clouds: LBJ, Barry Goldwater and the Ad That Changed American Politics. He was asked about the ad that some people think scuttled Goldwater's run for the presidency and was the root of negative ads on TV, and he said the ad was "almost entirely about exploiting fear."

He went on to explain that the firm that developed the ad had a reputation for developing ads that were sometimes humorous and "generated emotion more than rational thinking."

While that may be a sound approach for marketing cars and computers and Cheerios, I hardly think it appropriate for marketing the next leader of the U.S. - or any other politician for that matter. I want people to use rational thinking when they consider casting a vote. Forget the spin, the good looks, the eloquent oratory, and focus on the issues and a candidate's plan to address those issues.

Book Review - Glass Halo by Colleen Smith

Glass Halo
Colleen Smith

•  Publisher: Friday Jones Publishing (September 1, 2010)
•  Language: English
•  ASIN: B004YEZ9FY


Glass Halo is a thoughtful and well-written book that deals with the relationship between Nora, a stained-glass artist and Father Vin DeMarco, a charming Catholic priest. They are literally thrown together when a tornado suddenly touches down, and he pulls her to safety in the nave of the church. When the terrible storm subsides, they emerge to discover that the wind destroyed many of the beautiful stained glass windows.

Nora was raised in a family of stained-glass artists and worked as a glazier until the terrible accident  that left her severely injured and a widow. Emotional and spiritual recovery is harder than the physical. Nora's marriage was not a good one and became worse the more Liam drank and did drugs. Nora was glad when he died, and that type of response is always fraught with guilt.

When Nora finally accepts the job of restoring the Cathedral windows, she brings that guilt, as well as considerable other emotional baggage. She is as broken as those windows, and so is Father DeMarco, who drinks too much and struggles between the goodness of his priesthood and the limits.

As the work progresses on the windows, the work of putting themselves back together sometimes progresses and other times goes backward. Nora is obsessed with wanting Vin DeMarco, the man, not the priest, and he struggles to hang on to his vocation. Together they discover what is most meaningful in their lives and their relationship with each other and with God. On some levels this is a story of the romance between a woman and a priest, and on another level it is the story of a spiritual journey through the healing power of art.

Readers will enjoy the exquisite use of language and allegory. There are also rich details about the art and craft of stained glass, along with well-researched touches of history and the Roman Catholic religion. An added bonus is the use of beautiful pictures throughout the book. They could be renderings for  stained-glass pieces and the imagery depicted connects to the story.
~~~~~~~~~~~
FTC disclaimer: I bought this book of my own free will. I was not bribed or coerced in any way to buy the book or review it. The author probably doesn't even know I bought it, and while she gained the pittance of royalty from the one sale, I have not gained monetarily. I have, however, gained from the experience of reading such a terrific book.

Friday's Odds and Ends

This will be anything but the ordinary Friday post. First of all because I'm getting to it so late in the day.  Mainly because I slept in this morning - gosh that felt good - and had a lot of other things to take care of this morning.

No Black Friday shopping for me, unless it is on my computer. I have never been a fan of this ritual for a lot of reasons. "I'm not a shopper" is probably the main one. Some people love to wander through shopping malls and can spend entire days doing that. I'd rather spend days wandering through the woods behind our property. I also really don't like the sense of desperation that seems to lead to unfortunate occurrences like shoppers getting trampled. I have not checked the news yet, so I don't know if that happened today, but I remember in happening last year. So sad.

We spent Thanksgiving at our son's house. It was his first year to host the dinner, and I was quite proud of how well he did. His older sister helped with the food preparations, but he was very much into making the stuffing and getting the turkey just right. He even asked me for my stuffing recipe, and when I arrived at his house, he had it almost finished. It was just as good as mine.

He was also a very gracious host, making sure everyone got plenty of food and responding to every request of, "Paul, do you have....?"

It is almost a three-hour drive from our place to his home in Denton, Texas, so we spent almost 6 hours driving yesterday. Now you know why I slept in.

So, how was your Thanksgiving? 

Happy Thanksgiving

I know I don't usually post on Thursdays, but this is a special day and I couldn't let it go by without an acknowledgement.

My regular weekly blog piece for Venture Galleries.com expresses my sentiments about this holiday, so I won't repeat it here.  Hop over there if you have a moment.

Wednesday's Guest - Tom Turkey

This time of year, turkeys are the most popular birds in the United States, so I thought I would go try to find one to see what he, or she, thinks about all this attention.

ME:  Um, excuse me. Are you a turkey?

TT:  Hey, keep it down. I'm trying to hide here.

ME:  Why?

TT:  Oh, you're not from around here, are you?

ME:  Actually, I am. Why?

TT:  Don't you know what tomorrow is?

ME:  Of course, it's Thanksgiving.

TT:  And what is the centerpiece of every Thanksgiving table? Yeah. You got it. Me. So that's why I'm hiding.

ME:  So... I'm guessing you are not too fond of the holiday.

TT:  Not unless it's being held at a vegan's house. Then I might even stop in for a bit of the corn.

ME:  Do you think they'd let you in?

TT:  It was a joke, already. As in that is the only house I'd willingly go to.

ME:  I see. I'm sensing that you would rather something else be the main dish at the Thanksgiving dinner.

TT:  You think? I'd suggest chicken, but they're my cousins. How about steak.

ME:  But a turkey was part of the first Thanksgiving dinner.

TT:  Yeah, but so was a lot of fish, and venison, and ducks, and other food. It's not fair that we are the only ones sacrificing for modern day celebrations.

ME:  You do have a good point there. Maybe you should hold a demonstration to protest.

TT:  Oh, that's a brilliant idea. Expose myself to the very people who want to eat me. Go on. Take your silly ideas and get out of here before I end up at some non-vegan house.

Monday Morning Musings

The Romance Studio is having a Thanksgiving Party, with lots of prizes, a Nook and free books. Lots of authors participating and I am sharing my pumpkin pie recipe. 

Today I'm over at the Blood Red Pencil with a post about thankfulness. Hop over if you have a moment and let me know what you are thankful for.


An update from last Monday's musings. The Stock Act bill first introduced by Brian Baird and Congresswoman Louise Slaughter which would make it illegal for members of Congress to trade stocks on non-public information and require them to report their stock trades every 90 days instead of once a year has gained momentum. It was reported on Sixty Minutes last night that the bill now  has 25 sponsors and is scheduled to go to the Senate floor.

A study for MIT states that "the environmental record of shale gas wells is for the most part a good one." In one of his columns, David Brooks interpreted that to mean the the risks of fracking can be managed if there are reasonable regulations and if the "general public has a balanced and realistic sense of the costs and benefits."

So, according to Brooks, all we need  to do to ensure that fracking is safe and environmentally okay is to buy into all the PR from companies doing the fracking as well as those who benefit from selling the gas. While we are at it, we should ignore the fact that the downside of the fracking method of extracting gas from shale is still being investigated.

People in Texas and Oklahoma, where a lot of the gas is being extracted, have been experiencing earthquakes at increasing rates, and there is a link between the drilling method and this increase. Even the companies doing the drilling admit it.  That report is from a company in the UK, and here in the States it appears that people are ignoring the dangers. A recent ruling in West Virginia allows fracking in and around one of the major cities in that state.

An article on PlanetSave.com, not only shows the connection between fracking and earthquakes, it has an alarming report that the recent quake in Oklahoma occurred on the proposed path of the XL Pipeline.

These are serious issues and energy companies and car companies need to be moving us away from our dependence on oil and gas as swiftly as possible. Instead of playing chicken with our safety and our planet, we need to put our best efforts into finding alternatives to fossil fuels.

And consumers need to do their part, too. Car pool. Consolidate shopping and errands and try not to drive every day unless you absolutely have to. Keep thermostats low in winter and high in the summer.

What are you doing to save on energy?