What's the Blog About, Alfie?

Do I really need to figure out what this blog is supposed to be about? I hope not. My poor little grey cells would have too difficult a time with that task...instead, for the nonce, I will continue on in my willy-nilly way, typing whatever comes into my pretty little head. For me, it is a great way to get some writing done, which gives me a sense of accomplishment, no matter what else I do or don't do during the rest of the day. Like yesterday.

So I didn't get much of the stuff I wanted done yesterday accomplished. Oh well. Life is that way. One of the things about not getting stuff done, is that it will, most likely, still be there when you want to try again. And if it isn't, huzzah! Win-win! And if you do it - win! Win-win-win! Hurrah!!

What did I do instead of the things that I had outlined? Well, it took longer at Sam Bonney's than I thought it would. He is a very nice guy - just speaks a little deliberately. His secretary, Kathy, puts up with a lot, I am sure. :) Then we went to a camera store - wow - that place was totally cool! I dropped off a video of a) a movie I made and b) some home videos that I collected. They are going to transfer it to digital for me. Yippee! Next we stopped at Church's to ask them to come get the bumps out of the carpet. They said they would! Phew!

But wait, there's more! We lunched on sandwiches and then went to see Cars 2. Not as good as Cars, but still fun. We went 2D because that is the way mom likes it. Then Rite-Aid for mom's prescriptions and Wegman's for a few veggies for the evening's "breakfast for dinner." Next, I walked downtown carrying all of my change, only to get to the bank 6 minutes too late to change the coins for bills. Sigh. Went to Ed O'B's and chatted with Morgan, met Kyle and Sully (Morgan's father). See, no room to get the things done that I had planned. Maybe today.

And even more! I went to Ventosa - a winery - to see if I could run into Karynn - and I did! It was great to see her, albeit briefly. I also went to Beef and Brew. On the way, I ran into the Turkish Women. Gulsun had bought a bicycle! Or maybe the three of them chipped in together. I don't know for sure yet. And I went to Dana's Time Out for the second time. Wow. All in all, a busy day. Yippee for busy days!

Photos from July 6, 2011:

It was hard picking just three today...


Mom saw this wall first - I thought it was cool enough for a photo - in Waterloo, NY, near Sam Bonney's office.


This was breakfast for dinner - a sauteed vegetables and cheese omelet, bacon, home made hash browns, and an english muffin. Yum!


Karynn is the one on the left in this picture. :)

Sleepy

Or tired rather. I went to bed late and was up early. Five hours of sleep. And I don't really think I can go back to sleep just now. Mom and I have to go to a lawyer's office and sign papers at 10 am. Woo hoo.

My whole plan yesterday was to do laundry. Just laundry. Ok, a little food shopping as well. And make lots of calls. All of which happened. One of the calls was to the doctor for mom. She is having rib pains. Dr. Ryan wasn't in the office in the afternoon, so she saw a Nurse Practitioner. "Find yourself a nice nurse practitioner and settle down!" He sent her for an x-ray. I think we were only in the medical center/hospital for an hour, but it seemed a lot longer! A lot of very attractive women work in the medical field in Geneva...I'm just sayin'...

I was shocked that the woman that I had a huge crush on sent me an email. Sure it was brief and not timely. But it was a note. Not that I am harboring any hope that she actually likes me. I am sorely, sorely, sorely tempted to write a very honest letter in response. I am hoping that feeling will pass. We shall see.

The Turkish Women wanted to go to the Outlet Mall last night. I picked them up, we did their banking and then I dropped them at the mall. Where they stayed for almost 6 hours! Glad I didn't hang out with them! :) They were very sweet and bought me a lovely shirt - I might even try wearing it tonight!

I need to actually accomplish something today. Like clean the room I am living in here in Geneva. And the container cabinet in the kitchen needs to be cleaned out. And maybe I will move the pile of boxes from the study alcove to the basement. Something has got to give. I did at least print out my copy of Diary of a Plate Addict last night. And today I will give instructions to my proofreaders. Yippee!

Speaking of books - if anyone knows of any brewpubs that I ought to check out for possible inclusion in the book (should it come to be), please comment or send me an email or something. Thank you!

Someone else now knows that I am running for President in 2024. She didn't say she would vote for me. :(

Pictures from July 5, 2011:


McDonald's is supposed to open July 14 - the first 100 people get free Big Macs for a year. I don't think I am up for that...


Ozge in front of the bank - her earrings were red white and blue!


I just couldn't think what to cook for dinner, so made hotdogs and baked beans. Good thing mom isn't a picky eater!

More Fireworks

Mom says that my father would also drive out of his way to see Fireworks. What is it about them that fascinates me? If I were younger, I might think about a career in fireworks. They are so cool! Though I never really gave a thought to firecrackers and little backyard fireworks. I like the big ones. The majestic ones. What I would like to do is to be the designer for the show - the choreographer or whatever it is called in their specialized lingo which I am sure they have. Last night's at Canandaigua Lake were pretty good. Well choreographed. I was a little far away for my druthers, but close enough to enjoy them thoroughly. Yay fireworks!

Not a lot happened yesterday. I did make the easy Alfredo sauce again. It was yummy! Not sure what I am cooking for dinner tonight. I do need to go food shopping in any case. I didn't go out yesterday except to go to the fireworks.

Oh, I don't know if I mentioned, but Carl the mower came over the day before yesterday and the three of us walked around the property and asked him what he could do for $200. We shall see what happens. I like to hope that he will wow us. Anything is possible.

Heather came through and the newest draft of Diary of a Plate Addict is in my dropbox! Huzzah! I am going to print it out later today. And give it to the four people who said they were interested in proofreading it. And send a hard copy to James (my high school roommate). The Saucer people have had their chance and they didn't provide any feedback. Very sad.

And I started work on the brewpub book. Well, I don't know if 200 words and a few notes really counts as starting. Then again, it is a start. :)

Lots to do today! Errands galore! Lots of phone calling for which I have to wait until 9 am I guess. A person's home - after 10 in the morning and not after 10 at night, unless you know the person to be a night owl...

Ok, here they are - pictures from July 4, 2011:


Beautiful Canandaigua Lake!


My provisions - originally wine was included, but alcohol was prohibited at the park.


One of my neighbors kindly took this shot of me.

Happy Fourth of July, 2011

Woo hoo! Yay America! Rah! You know that song/march that goes through your head (if you are American) when you think of America? Well, I guess it is different for different people. For me it is the Sousa March - Stars and Stripes forever.

Yesterday was the traditional celebration at the American Legion. At one point the guy hawking raffle tickets (I never did hear them draw for the grill) mentioned that they had been doing it for 65 years! I hope they break even!! It was not the most exciting time on the planet, but it was certainly enjoyable. And great fireworks! The food was ok - mom and I had sausages and Hilal, Gulsun and Ozge had pizza. That looked really sad. Cold and icky. :( Oh well. Later I had a hamburger which was ok. The sausages were decent. I also had some Molson's - how un-American of them to be serving Molson's on the 4th of July! The midway was teeny - four rides, maybe five games and a couple of food concessions. The Turkish women rode a couple of rides and spent some time with friends from their work. I hope they enjoyed themselves. I know I did. The fireworks display made the whole event worthwhile to me! I think mom enjoyed herself as well. Yippee!

Other than that, I did make coleslaw yesterday. Turned out pretty well. I would like to add some dijon mustard to the mix - but have trepidations about it as well. Maybe I will add some to a portion of it and see how it tastes. Or maybe some horseradish...Oh, I also neatened the lazy-susan under one of the counters and threw away a couple of pans that had seen better days.

Mom put the kibosh on having the Turkish women come live here. She felt invaded when I mentioned hiring them to help me around the house a little bit. So them living here would be anathema, I am sure. Oh well.

I am starting to think that writing the brewpub book would be a good idea. Similar in shape and style to Diary of a Plate Addict is my initial thought. We shall see.

Today is the actual Fourth. I am planning on going to see more fireworks tonight. I don't know if anyone is coming with me, but I am not attached to anyone else's presence. Though a girlfriend would be nice, if one were to magically drop from the sky!

Pictures from July 3, 2011:


The lazy-susan had been bugging me for a while - now it is all neat and happy. Yippee!


Mom in her throne!


Gulsun, Ozge and Hilal using my iPhone while waiting for the fireworks to begin.

RPO Red White and Boom

Overall, an enjoyable event. It had its difficult moments and its great moments. Like much of life. But I am getting ahead of myself.

Mom is having all sorts of pains and stuff to complain about. And it is fairly constant. Her current worry is that because her ribs ache, she might have breast cancer. Luckily, mom is not a full blown, over-the-top hypochondriac. Just a low level carper. And sometimes it is valid. Sorting the wheat from the chaff is a challenge though.

I went shopping by myself, which is always nice. Sadly, I went to Wal-Mart. Poop. Oh well, at least it is inexpensive! My trip was to find glasses that I could take in my picnic basket. For the fireworks on Monday I am planning on taking a little picnic. Wine, cheese, Triscuits and grapes. I needed some pretty glasses that would travel well. I found four on clearance - pictures eventually. I got everything, except the wine, at Wal-Mart. Wine is sold in liquor stores here in NYS. (I was a tad overwhelmed with all of the wine choices - I always am...)

Does everyone live in something of a fantasy land? I mean, philosophically, and perhaps scientifically, what we experience isn't real. Sure, it is real for us (and that is enough) but is it really objective reality? Anyway, that is a slight digression. What I was thinking was that I live in a bit of a fantasy land. Fantasies about selling lots of copies of Diary of a Plate Addict, getting Bar Dreams on Oprah - oh, wait, Oprah isn't Oprah any more - how about on QVC? - relationships (finding a life partner), Sirius Theatre, etc. My latest one is this: having the Turkish women come live here in Geneva for their last six weeks. They mentioned the other day that their rent was expensive and that they were looking for someplace else to live. A little income for us, some mental stimulation for mom...doubtful, but anything is possible. Mom meets them tonight. Fingers crossed...

I made eggrolls last night for dinner. Froze a few. I think we now have twenty or so in the freezer. Yippee? Today is coleslaw day! Mom likes coleslaw. A lot. Moving on...after dinner we went to Canandaigua for the Rochester Philharmonic's Red, White and Boom. We got there and parked fairly easily (but we had to pay for parking - I hate to pay for parking...). Walking up to the lawn seating was a bit of a challenge, but we made it without too much difficulty. Got a good space for the chair and blanket. The first half was lackluster. Nothing too thrilling. The second half was much better. Bernstein (Overture to West Side Story), Gershwin (Rhapsody in Blue), Tchaikovsky (1812 Overture (Boom)) and Sousa (Stars and Stripes Forever). All performed decently!

The fireworks were ok at best. Unfortunately, the venue turned on all their lights as soon as the concert was over, making the viewing a bit poor. Then the show just wasn't spectacular. Not very long and not very well choreographed. They had an orchestra for goodness sakes, couldn't they do something to music? Or at least pace what they had better? Oh well. I am still glad to have seen them. And there are two more Fireworks shows to go. One tonight at the American Legion here in Geneva. And tomorrow night back in Canandaigua! Yippee!

Are my posts getting longer or am I hallucinating that?

Pictures from July 2, 2011:


I am always impressed by how much spinach cooks down with a little sauteing.


Mom lounging, waiting for me to return.


The CMAC - not really sure what all the letters stand for...

Fireworks

I can be a little obsessive. For instance, I did a search for fireworks in the area and found that there were some last night, tonight, Sunday and Monday! And I decided I wanted to go to them all. Well, I didn't end up going last night. The fireworks were at a Speedway - which to me seems to be a misnomer, since the track is dirt and short and well, I can't imagine that the vehicles are really going all that quickly. Then again, I haven't gone to a Speedway - though I would like to go. One day. Really! But it wasn't last night. Mom and I are planning on going to the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra's Red, White and Boom tonight. That ought to be fun! We bought her the most awesome-est of folding chairs for the eventuality of sitting outdoors. Yippee! Then we are going to the American Legion on Sunday night. And I am planning on going to some fireworks in a park on the 4th even if I have to go alone! Yippee for fireworks and obsession! :)

What else happened yesterday? I got up at a decent time and made lots of phone calls and got a few things checked off of my to do list. Always a happy-making thing. It was also coin rolling day! Every six months or so, I like to wrap coins that I have collected. I love coin rolling. Weird, but true. I don't like the machines that take the coins so easily. Sorting through the coins, counting them, wrapping them. I like it all. I ended up with $56 dollars!

Oh, I went to the movies with the women from Turkey. It was their first movie in America! And sadly it was a piece of dreck called Bad Teacher. I like Cameron Diaz. I really do. But this was a terrible, in my opinion, movie. Bad acting, silly predictable plot, bad dialogue. Just ick. I hope that they liked it more than I did!

Mom and I have decided to go help my brother Karl change houses. Every extra pair of hands is helpful, I guess. It is in a couple of weekends and will be a quick trip. I am planning on going to a couple of beer things - one brewery and one brewpub. Maybe I will write a book about brewpubs. That would be fun to research!

By the way - I just published a post from last year - it was a summary post about a road trip I made. Not scintillating, but it is more words... :)

Pictures from July 1, 2011:


The socks contain change that didn't get rolled last time - pink for quarters, white for pennies and the blue sock contains nickels and dimes.


Ta da! Some change was left for the next time. Yippee!


Not a great representation of the view from the park at the foot of Washington Street in Geneva...

More Guilty Pleasures

What a great phrase, "guilty pleasures." Anyway, I do have a bunch of them. Like playing games on the computer and on xBox. Yes, I do play xBox and would play other game machines if they happened to appear before me. On the computer, I play a lot of bridge. Much more fun to me than solitaire. True, I am playing alone (I have had some less than optimal experiences playing online bridge and other card games) so it is still sort of like solitaire. And I am playing a Facebook game called Garden of Time - a hidden object game. For which I need to harass my friends to join me in the game so that I can continue it. Or fork out money, which, as many of you know, can be a challenge. And there are other guilty pleasures, but those are all I am going to fess up to at this point. (So, if any of you are a) on Facebook and b) like hidden object games, please become my friend and neighbor - soon. Thank you.)

Mom and I had errand day again! We went and picked up the mail, most of which was pretty useless. I did get the three Wheel of Time Audio Books that I had ordered. Yippee! That brings the total that I have to 8 (of fourteen, I think). What is very, very weird is that one of the books costs way more than any of the others. Book 9 costs $120 while the most any of the others cost is around $50. What is that about? Anyone? I sent a message to the company, asking them, and if I hear anything, I will probably post it. We went to the library and got out a book that Marlo Thomas wrote. Then to the supermarket where we spent quite a bit on groceries. Our supply of vegetable matter was quite low due to our recent trip. Lastly, we went to Lowes to look at composters. I am not sure what to do about that. Any suggestions are welcome.

At one point, while checking my mail, as I do fairly frequently when I am procrastinating, I found a message from one of the three young Turkish women that I met a couple of weeks ago. Yippee! We ended up meeting out and discussing various subjects, including their desire to do more than hang out in Geneva. I am hoping I can help them to explore some of the attractions around the area. We shall see.

I am looking for 5-10 people to proofread the next draft of Diary of a Plate Addict - these need to be people with attention to detail - who will notice when there is a missing space in a sentence, when a graphic looks badly cropped or just doesn't seem to fit correctly on a page, when a sentence is too mangled or bizarre or out of place and needs to be fixed. Anyone?

Can anyone believe that I have made it this far, taking a picture a day and posting every day for 181 days! Woo hoo!

Pictures from June 30, 2011:


Aren't they pretty?


Oops, still haven't gotten 'round to neatening my room after emptying the containers of stuff from Clayton.


Aren't they pretty? No, wait, I just said that. I meant, um, oh, right, that is what I meant...