If You Seek A Pleasant Peninsula...

...you're out of luck, buddy...this is Michigan on April 10th, and it's cold and snowy.  Still trying to remember why I live in this state.

Watched a pretty good flick this weekend... 

Well acted, fast paced, interesting movie...recommended...especially liked Laurence Mason as Earl, Matthew McConaughey's driver...not a big part, but well done and a great screen presence.

Picked up that Philco console radio yesterday from Bob Chase in Lowell...

Bob did a great job of getting it back in shape and working again.

 
Is it really possible we've blown through another weekend?  Back into the salt mines tomorrow...

Later, mcm fans...

Happy Resurrection Day...

...He is risen...and for that we give thanks to God in heaven.

A couple of hopeful signs of early spring:

This is a conflicted weekend for me, because after a long battle with cancer, my older brother Ken died on Friday evening.

That's Ken within the last year, showing the effects of his fight.  He was a life long LSU fan, thus the T shirt and truck decal.

Above, Ken's preparing to go out and get the mail...during the winter where he lived in Maine, getting the mail could be an adventure...note the boots and farewell salute, just in case.

These are his five sons and stepdaughter.

Note the son on the far right...that's how Ken looked in his youth...the second one from the left looks a lot like Ken, too.

I won't pretend we were close...that's a long story not worth repeating...but we were family, and he was my last living family member...Mom, Dad, Phil and Ken are all gone now, leaving li'l ol' me.  Strange feeling.

Ecclesiastes says "the heart of the wise is in the house of mourning," so I will pause and reflect on the things of eternity this weekend.

As I do I will keep in mind the amazing truth Jesus conquered death when he rose to life again.  From defeat and despair on crucifixion Friday arose life and hope on Resurrection Sunday.  We press on.


There is no coherent segue from the significant to the mundane, so I won't attempt one here.

Later, mcm fans...

Funny Thing...

...about this pic...when Karen posted it on her Facebook page, no one commented on it at all.  She got lots of likes, but not one person said anything like, "So that's why they call it Facebook?" or "Who's the guy with the book in front of his face?"

A few years ago I saw a phone I liked for sale on Etsy, so I bought it.  It was from the 1980's I believe...shaped like a piano, and you dialed by pressing the numbered keys...and the keys each played a musical note...seemed kinda fun at the time, but I decided I'd rather have it be a light than a phone...so I contacted Rodger Thomas of BenclifDesigns on Etsy about my project.  This is what he came up with:

I love the design...cool, unique phone turned light...a delightful objet d'art.

This is Super Bowl Sunday, but I don't have a dog in that hunt, so I'm not watching it.  I know; for that sin I could probably be stripped of my citizenship in the United States of Entertainment.  Scandalous.

Found a 1956 Thunderbird I need to buy:

How cool is that?  All I need is $25k...I'm currently checking for loose change in the sofa and emptying my piggy bank.

Later, mcm fans...

From Merry Christmas...

Christmas Day, 2015

...to Happy New Year...

New Year's Day, 2016

What a difference a week makes...not only did we change years, it looks like we finally changed seasons as well...winter has arrived.

Snowing lightly this morning, which I have to admit is pretty, if still a little unwelcome.  I suppose if I didn't have to work for a living, I might be more excited about it...but alas, I forgot to be a millionaire so in a few days it will be hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work I go...and driving in the winter in Michigan is a pain in the hind end.

Driving Mr. T...on New Year's day, 2016...

Ok, I admit I won't be driving Mr. T in the winter - much - but either way, driving in the snow is not fun.

Our New Year's Eve celebration was the usual...Karen prepares lots of good things to eat, her kids come and go throughout the evening, we watch When Harry Met Sally...

...the best New Year's movie ever, then at midnight we pop the champagne, watch the ball drop, share a kiss and toast the new year before collapsing in bed.

Yeah, I know...pretty lame, but as I approach six decades topside of planet earth, it's about as racy as I care to get on that night.

This morning it's mimosas and moderation...

orange juice and champagne...

...later today will be pretty low key as well.  Work is ok...it was month / quarter / year end, but unlike some years in the past, this one went off without a hitch so far...very nice.  We'll also get started on the de-Christmasing of our home...take down the trees, wreaths, decorations, etc, and get the place back to normal.

Looking ahead to 2016, one of my goals is to work hard at writing and try to build a readership.  I started publishing on Amazon for kindle readers in late November, and have had modest success...hoping to get that snowball rolling downhill in the year ahead and have at least four books planned:

Long Count (book 2 in the Frank Johnson series), On Being A Man (In A Metro-Sexual World), When A Cardinal Appears (Volume II of selected short stories), and my first children's book, Bapa's Model T.

All of them will have a paperback version available as well as the e-reader version for Kindle.

Not ready to quit my day job, but hoping to make real progress on this new venture during 2016.  We'll see what the year brings.

In the favorite things department, a couple of recent Ronson lighter acquisitions:

1930's Ronson Cigarette Dispenser

Got this from Bob Adams of Ronson Repair   Bob is the best in the business, and this is a spectacular example of what I love about art deco objets d'art...the incredible combination of form and function, of the pretty and the practical.  It's not just utilitarian, it's a work of art.

the cigarette box

press the lever to get a cigarette

...then use the touch tip wand to light 'er up.

Thank you, Bob!

Here's a more midcentury modern lighter...a beautiful, cobalt blue Ronson varaflame:

Happy New Year, mcm fans...

Merry Christmas Eve...

...and God Bless Us, Every One!

Got the above from my son Benjamin, a former Navy Petty Officer...a humorous but stark reminder we live in a world that is ruled by the aggressive use of force.  As much as we all wish there could be Peace On Earth, and Good Will Toward Men, that remains a goal to be achieved rather than a present reality.  In this Christmas season we turn our eyes toward God in heaven and thank Him once again for the gift of His Son as we look forward to the time when Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done On Earth As It Is In Heaven.

Until then, we remain ready to cross as many frozen rivers as necessary to protect our God given rights of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

Merry Christmas, y'all....

We were shopping in a department store the other day and they had bunches of these little silver Christmas trees all over the store:

That's the one item I might have bought there, but it was a store decoration, not for sale.

Karen has been busy cooking today, and tonight we'll stick with tradition and watch Scrooge...best movie adaptation of Dickens' A Christmas Carol ever.

Hope whatever your traditions are on Christmas Eve, you take time to give thanks to God in heaven for the gift of His Son.

A Christmas Eve Haiku

Full moon, Christmas Eve,

Heralding the wondrous gift:

Christ our new born King.

Merry Christmas, mcm fans...

'Twas The Week Before Christmas...

...and every mouse,

had fled frozen fields

for the warmth of my house.

My wife found their droppings

and said “I'm not pleased,

to think that these varmints

are taking their ease

“inside my warm dwelling;

this outrage won't stand!

What will you do?”

Then I raised my hand...

“These mice, they are finished!

Kaput and kersplatz!

No way they'll survive,

for we have three cats!”

And then we beheld

our fat felines, all three:

Kitty,

and Zoey,

and the useless Smokey.

Disciples of Garfield,

were these pointless creatures,

with sleeping and eating

their most prominent features.

No help would be coming

from those worthless saps,

so I scrounged all around

til I found an old trap.

And later that night,

before mice came a-creeping,

I set the cruel deadfall

then got busy sleeping.

So early next 'morn,

at dawn's early light,

I sprang from my bed
to find what I might.

But what did my wondering
eyes finally see,
but a clean, empty trap
and a note left for me:

"Thanks for the cheese,

but what would be better,

instead of old muenster,

could we have fresh cheddar?"

"And what's with this platter?"
my mousy pals asked.
"We might have been killed
if we hadn't been fast!"

'Twas then that I thought
of the great Robert Burns

and his famous lament
to a mouse that he turned

Out of warm hearth and home
as he plowed in his field.
Did I want to partake
in his life time of guilt?

The best laid plans,
it is easy to see,
Gang aft agley
and I think you'll agree

There was nothing to do
but give them their cheddar.
After all, it was Christmas,
and what could be better

Than showing the love
God has for His swarm,
by letting them stay
inside where it's warm?

So out went the trap
in the cold, winter, night;
we're quite overrun
but I guess it's alright.

So to quoth from St. Nick
on his annual flight,
Merry Christmas to all,
and to all a Good Night!

Later, mcm fans...

Happy...

Mr. Turkey, the inedible kind

...Thanksgiving, 2015...as with every year A) the holiday has rushed upon us like a runaway freight train, and B) we have much for which to be thankful.

re: A...it's mostly a work related thing, as we are in a frenzy trying to prepare for the storm about to descend upon us known as Black Friday / Cyber Monday.  Not sure why I chose an industry that effectively manages to suck all the joy and happiness right out of the holiday season, but I did...it's seven days a week from now until the Big Day, and I'm so happy I could spit.

but re: B...in spite of that little bit of unpleasantness, we do indeed have many blessings...from the freedoms we enjoy living in this once great country, to the God given abundance we experience, to the relationships we are blessed with in our every day lives.  I'm employed, healthy, and living indoors and eating...praise God in heaven for His mercy and grace.

In spite of feeling slow and a step behind, I did make an attempt at decorating early this morning while Karen was working on meal prep:

the welcome banner for the swarm of two people we were expecting...

a seasonally appropriate message

almost ready to eat...

Once the bird was in the oven, I did take Mr. T out for a spin...it was in the 50's today, actually quite agreeable tooling around the neighborhood.  For as daunting as learning to drive a T seemed originally, I'm happily surprised how easy it has become with practice...like almost anything, I suppose.

a repeat pic, I admit...today was grey and overcast, no leaves left on the trees, but I had as much fun driving Mr. T today as I did back when this pic was taken.

Later, mcm fans...