Monday, August 30, 2010

Odds & Ends, Mostly Odds

Okay, folks, you really got to me this time with your comments on A Life Lived. I say comments, but they were more like testimonials. Or damned good eulogies. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were praising Caesar. But I do know better: I’ve never ever worn socks with sandals.

I admit to being inspirational at times, but I’m far from the only one who tries to stay high on life. The Good Cook recently lost her husband quite unexpectedly, and her post On, On is an inspirational masterpiece. Please take time to read it.

* * *

Dumb. Occasionally, I do something really dumb. Take last night, for example, and the simple act of taking two Advils for a headache. I took a BIG drinka water, swallowed it, and then popped the Advil in my piehole and swallowed ‘em dry. It’s a good thing they were gel caps because they slithered right on down my drain. It’s also a good thing Martha didn’t see it:

“Dumb shit,” she would have said, snorting at my dumbity.

* * *

Thank you, Jan (or DJan) for introducing your sister and BIL to my blog. And welcome, Norma Jean and Pete.

I notice that Jan and I have a lot in common hobby-wise. She jumps out of airplanes. I collect stamps.

* * *

Tchaikovsky's grave. Are you in there, Pete?
From the “Eerie R Us” department.

Murr Brewster, one of my favorite storytellers, said that she was air conducting Tchaikovsky's “Violin Concerto in D” while driving through the Columbia River Gorge. A spectacular and perfect setting, I suspect, but conducting with one hand often leads to carpal conductor’s conundrum (CCC).

CCC aside, two whole hours later, she read that one of the little pleasures in my life is air conducting Tchaikovsky's “Violin Concerto in D”.

Now what are the chances of that happening? Huh? Huh? Would the same thing have happened if I were conducting rappers like M&M or Snoopy the Dog?

Eerie.

* * *

I travelled around reading blogs yesterday, but I left few comments on them. By the time I get to a two- or three-day-old post with anywhere from four to seven thousand comments on it, there isn’t much left for me to say. I’m not the type to comment just to hear me comment, so I content myself with reading the meat and potatoes.

Similarly, I used to respond regularly on comments made on my own posts because people like acknowledgement and enjoy witty repartee. It’s a time-consuming process, though, so my responses have fallen by the wayside. (If you look closely, you’ll see my fallen responses strewn along the wayside with the other rubbish and plastic Walmart bags.)

I’m giving serious thought to experimenting with the Disqus commenting system, which is similar to the Wordpress system. If any of you have had experience with it, please let me know.

Uh, you should know that I have a rather dismal history of experimentation. An explosion or two, a couple of small fires, electricity on when I thought it was off—nothing too serious, but enough to make me wary and wear safety goggles.

* * *

For those of you who are interested in Leahy’s (Ragtime) concert DVD, it’s available in their web site store. The concert was recorded in 2006 in Gatineau, Quebec.

* * *

So there you have it, dear friends, all my odds for August. See you next month.

 

17 comments:

Robert the Skeptic said...

Keep posting, Charlie... that way we are assured that you weren't rear-ended again by yet another uninsured driver with a suspended license or corn-holed by one of your many medical specialists. You blog; therefore you IS!

Library girl said...

ROFL!(I always want to write ROLF but my kids tell me that's NOT it) Nice follow-up piece, Prof :)

Eryl said...

Great 'odds', now I'm off to visit the cooking lady, thank you.

Pat said...

Thank you for introducing me to the Good Cook. Like you she is an inspiration.
Bye for a while.xox

mapstew said...

You make me laugh Charles! :¬)

savannah said...

you're always a good read at 5am. thanks, sugar. xoxoxo

Syd said...

It would be great to be able to post some global comments to those I subscribe to on Google Reader. It takes a lot of time to read and comment. I spend a couple of hours a day and am getting crunched for time now.

DJan said...

You are welcome, Charlie; it's Norma Jean and Pete who are the beneficiaries of your witty repartee. (I just can't call my BIL anything but Pete.) And you're so right: our hobbies dovetail... somehow. Certainly made me laugh out loud.

It was Robert the Skeptic who pointed me in your direction, and he also used to have a bad habit of exiting airplanes in flight but he broke himself of the practice.

Barbara Bruederlin said...

Glad we got all those odds and ends wrapped up. Now how about dropping by my place and helping me sort all those odd and ends that are lying all over the house?

Warden Files said...

Socks and sandals my dear fellow? How very British.

Bill Lisleman said...

socks with sandals - good to know about you.

Ok here's an "eerie" thing. I just posted about comments and their setup. Actually a blogger called BLOGitse has written some good stuff on it and DISQUS (as you know I use it)
I dropped the link here at the bottom of the comment but if you were using DISQUS that would automatically turn into a clickable thing.

Anyway you can find a comment on ICB from me about a month ago regarding installing DISQUS. It's easy.


http://www.blogitse.com/2010/07/28/disqus-on-blogger/

hope said...

As long as you post, I'm happy. :)

Claudya Martinez said...

Snoopy from Peanuts is a rapper? I need to get out more.

CiCi said...

Hey Charlie, I just like to read your posts. You don't have to go around to the blogs and try to comment. Just write in your blog. That's what I come here for.

Tiffin said...

Can't believe it's September already. That summer just flew by! I am so grateful to you for introducing me to Murr's blog, Charlie and I did read the Good Cook's post too. It all makes the world feel a good deal kinder and less stupid than I perceive it to be a lot of the time. But you, for me, remain the sine qua non.

Murr Brewster said...

I don't think it's a coincidence, Charlie. I think odd minds blink alike. Hey, it's also not a coincidence, but I was thinking about going Disqus too, and things always blow up when I try something new, so I'll be waiting to see how it works out for you. Thank you, Oh Great Pioneer.

Murr Brewster said...

Can I be your sine qua hog?