Homer'sWorld

After the party there are the leftovers. I ate cranberry duff for breakfast. It was very good. It should be, I doubled the recipe and it had two sticks of butter.


Forrest and Homer and the Holiday Wreath (thanks Brian!).

Jimbo will be horrified that I took Mummy to the Macy's store and she bought a pair of light blue Crocs with the fluffy stuff inside. She's wearing them right now.

Otherwise, I had a couple of naps, did some genealogy research on the internets, read a few pages in a book, and chatted with Sandy before he left for California.

Next week: Holiday shopping. This year I only have six present to buy.

Holiday Party 2007 was a fine time had by all. Except Forrest who had a super fine time making Holiday cards.


Cobban, Brian, Sandy, Frank, and Jim.

Five bloggers, count 'em, five!. Bed post notching fever time!!!


Mummy and Jeffrey.

About a dozen folks, much smaller than normal, Mummy and Patti were the only non-gays. We sat around and talked, did crafts, ate food.


Vince, Bob, and Chris.

The cakes I made went over very well. Not enough time for a lemon meringue pie!


Coconut cake.

Sandy from Australia, Brian from Phoenix, Ray and Cobban from Palominas, and Mummy from Traverse City- people came from far away to attend.


Brady and Brian.

The gingerbread cookies were also very fine.


Decorating cookies.

The Holiday Tree makes the living room smell nice and is real pretty.


Holiday tree.

I hope you will have an excellent holiday season.

Holiday party prep. Sandy's here, I've got the three desserts done, getting ready to make frosting.


Mummy's all-white tree.

Mum and I went shopping, she really wanted big white (expensive!) lights for the tree, so what she wants, she gets.


Ornaments.

At the CostPlus store I bought a handful of ornaments- my favorite was the cucumber. I sorted the rest of my ornaments- this year's Holiday Tree will have gold balls and the various blown glass animals, people, and other things.

Macaroni and Cheese are next.

Simple things. If you write something and post it on the internet, it is very easy to make a screen capture and save the text, images, comments, etc. This becomes useful when an individual goes back and changes entries, deletes comments, and then accuses you of lying about said entries.

If someone tells the truth, they do not need to go back and repeatedly change entries and delete comments.

In fairness, I have deleted one entry at the request of a friend, I have removed two photographs at the request of the people in the pictures, and I have deleted portions of perhaps 10 comments in the last 4.3 years that were offensive in some way- always noting that I had done so on the comment. I have also banned one person from commenting.

Occasionally I correct typographic errors, but that is it. I don't need to go back and make extensive changes because my blog is a reflection of my life on a series of days. I write about what is happening. It is as simple as that. I want to go back later and see what I was writing about a certain day (e.g., on August 22, 2007), not what I wrote about that day with subsequent changes or deleted portions, and so on.

We now return to reality, which involves making a coconut cake and pumpkin pie for tomorrow's holiday party.

Tonight I made holiday cookies with the assistance of Mummy. She picked out the shapes, although I made sure I made several guitars for Brian. There are currently about 10-dozen cookies cooling in the kitchen.


Gingerbread and vanilla-almond cookies.

I pulled out the boxes of Holiday stuff and hung my stockings by the side of the chimney. I have a small aluminum tree and Mummy insisted on putting ornaments on it. Before I had a chance to get a string of lights on it. When she is not looking I'll remedy that. Saturday, Brady, Mummy, and I will go to the tree lot and pick out a pricey tree for the festivities that night. I've already warned her not to say her usual thing, "Oh, on the farm the trees were free!" I don't live on a farm anymore.

Trash talk.

This afternoon I was out at the mission site as a giant trackhoe excavated trash from 1957.


Digging up trash.

Where exactly the edge of the landfill that the City of Tucson put into the remnants of the old mission isn't certain.


September 1957.

I'm there to see if they hit undisturbed areas, and if they do to make sure nothing important is present. The trench will be the location of the new wall surrounding the rebuilt mission.


Loading the trash.

The sun was so shiny and hot today, it certainly didn't feel like winter. The trash is being sent to another landfill where it will probably confuse future archaeologists.


Oscar.

Another guy is watching for hazardous waste. We spent a while talking about our jobs.


Safety first!

The hardhat gets real uncomfortable by the end of the day.

Now I'm going to go make cookies.

I post pictures of chairs in compromising positions. Because that's what chairs will do, naturally. Obscure reference to an email I've just read, I laughed when I saw it.


The right chair.


The left chair.

These are the other two chairs, the ones that sat on either side of the table in my grandmother's living room. (Seth, what say you?). My mother's cherry wood dresser with the two large glass bottles with ribbons sat to the left of the table. Uncle Fred's grandfather clock was to the right, with the picture that now hangs in my dining room on the wall above. I can close my eyes and see every piece of furniture in that room.

Today I got a call and a request to be interviewed/photographed to appear in a 4th grade social science textbook. I'm spreading the evil of archaeology to the youths of tomorrow.

Tonight's cooking adventure- bananananananana bread. Because you can never have too much nanas.

When they divided Grandma F's house up a few years back I got the two chairs that sat at the table in the living room, the spindle-back couch, and the rocking chair from the upstairs bedroom. They've been sitting at my mother's house since then and for some reason my sister decided to send the chairs and rocker to me. They arrived in a box. With a quilt. That's all. No padding, nothing wrapped. The UPS box had a couple of stickers marked fragile. But the box was basically crushed in so bad that UPS wrapped it in plastic to keep it from falling apart. It turns out she had taken the chairs to one of my brother's Amish friends who ship furniture.

The chairs survived with one seat popped off. The rocking chair has a very busted arm and the finish rubbed off on one side. Doug will probably be able to repair the arm, although it won't look as nice as it used to.


Rocking chair.

My sister was very sorry, I asked her not to send me any more furniture in the mail! She meant the best but the people she had ship it were complete idiots.

In case you were undergoing lemon meringue pie withdrawal...


Six egg whites make a Mt. Everest.

It was a dark and stormy night with lotsa rain last night. Mummy and I went over to Bob and Steve's beautiful adobe house for dinner (hence the pie) and Peaches the cutest Pomeranian in the world was espcially cute.


Peaches and Mummy.

It is Saturday morning and I have been lazy, lying around with Puff and Mama Cat, who snuggle up to me because it is a little chilly in my house. Mummy is doing the crosswords and I've been in the study examining various websites for terrorists. Amazingly enough, I've yet to identify a single one on bigmusclebear, but you never know when one might turn up.

I told Panchesco, in one of those email things, that seeing him walking north on Central Avenue was one of two highlights of my day. The other was seeing someone arrested. Luckily, these events did not involve the same person. I told Panchesco that if he had, in fact, been arrested I would have posted bail. But only after he had scouted out the jail for hot guys.

It was a dark and stormy morning. It sprinkled for hours and I got moistened while watching the backhoe dig trenches. As I suspected, there was a lot of fill dirt dumped onto the parcel we are studying. Did you know that "studying" was the only word I spelled incorrectly in the 4th grade? I still have the strip of paper with the gold star missing from that week, tucked in along with my report cards and various artwork from my school days. Anyone who would look through that manila envelope would instantly realize I was a faggot by the second grade.

So yes, Panchesco was walking away from the Greyhound Station and I was practically giddy to see his handsome face. Afterwards he sent me some photos of San Carlos, the lovely Mexican beach town where Jimbo and I saw birds galore and a raft of sea lions and 9 dolphins leaping. And blue footed boobies. I don't know if Panchesco saw any blue footed boobies, but you can see his handsome friend Hyram's boobies at upper left on Panchesco's photo site.

After my photo shoot for Arizona Highways (I'm appearing in the April 2008 issue), I came home and made Mummy dinner. She was already watching Two and a Half Men, which is on from 5 to 6 on the local CW station. Every once in a while she laughs at the sex jokes. We ate scrambled eggs with veggies and Homer-made hashbrowns with onions. Vince came by and the three of us went to Mexican Safeway.

It's not the same since Byron quit working there. Sometimes I wonder where beefy, blonde Byron is at and whether he is as gruff with the other gays as he was with me. My latest Mexican Safeway crush is Reuben, who is short, wiry, dreamy dark brown eyes. I really wish that he had consulted me before he shaved off his pencil thin, uber-hot moustache. He looks younger, more innocent now.

Mummy pushes the cart and tonight I walked up and down extra aisles so she could get some exercise. Among the things that went into the cart were bird seed (so I can watch the cute finches outside my office window at work), pie crusts (Bob, I'm bringing a lemon meringue over on Friday night), and some Little Debbie snack cakes for Mummy. Who says life in Tucson is dull?

Tomorrow I start an archaeology project that promises to be very, very dull. But you never know what lies hidden in the ground.

Tennis or lemon meringue pies? Please vote at Brett's "blog". Personally, I think thrilling, sexy pictures of meringue pies are thirteen times as interesting as long, detailed descriptions of Brett losing yet another tennis match!!!

I made a lemon meringue pie for Thanksgiving but the picture didn't turn out. I apologize for that. My mother said it was really good, and she's old enough to know.

Everybody needs to wish Cobban a Happy 40.2 Birthday. If you don't I will be very, very angry.

I watched the Amazing Race last night with Abe, Dave, Jim, and Damyeon. They enjoyed the dessert (yellow cake with vanilla/almond cream cheese frosting and chocolate leaves) that I brought along. My mother said it was the best frosting she'd ever had. She isn't one to lie about important things like that.

I gave a homeless person some change and they spoiled the occasion by telling me "God Bless You." A simple deity-less thank you is sufficient.

I have a project starting on Thursday and to tell the truth, archaeology is not always glamorous and exciting and I suspect this particular project will prove that to be the case. But you never know, that is something I am well aware of, and perhaps I'll be wrong and in this instance, that would be nice.

Sandy will be arriving next week from Australia. I am excited to see him. I wonder if he has an Australian accent now?

And two news stories. Here in southern Arizona a border crosser saved a 9-year-old boy whose mother lost control of her van and drove off a cliff and died in the wreck. He stayed with the boy overnight, kept him warm, and waited until help arrived. He was returned across the border by the Border Patrol, since he had crossed illegally.

Immigration is a hot topic here, at least among conservative, far-right-thinking individuals. Most are recent arrivals from out-of-state. They have a pathological fear/hatred of anything Mexican. The comments that appeared online after a local newspaper article covered the story are fairly representative of how many people here view our neighbors to the south:

"the illegal is a criminal, get rid of him. now all we will hear is the goodie,goodie left saying hes a hero, hogwash!!!"

"The whole illegal immigrant saving kid was just a set up so that the criminal could get a free visa. Mexicans are encouraged by their president to cross illegal. A RIVER OF FLAMING OIL PROTECTING OUR BORDERS IS THE ONLY WAY TO SAVE US FROM CRIMINALS AND TERRORISTS! AND CANADIANS!"

"hope most people would do what this man did, and I would praise him for it, but he is not a hero."

The internet allows people the anonymity to say things they truly believe- the kinda stuff they probably won't say out loud because they know most people would look upon them as idiots and racists. You wonder if these people have any compassion in their hearts?

Another article, about the rural poor in Maine made me grateful for the things I have. Many elderly people in rural areas never earned enough to qualify for good Social Security checks. The recent rise in heating oil prices and the government cutting back on funding of social programs make these people live in increasingly difficult conditions. I listened to the audio portion of the story and several of the women focused on the good parts of their lives and noted that others were worse off. I looked up the addresses of two of the women in the story and I'm sending them each a card with some cash in it,I'm sure they'll appreciate the surprise present.

Quiche, Quiche Meringue! Has anybody seen, a quiche with celery green? Yes, a reference to one of my favorite B-52's songs.


Two quiches.

Richard and Roger hosted a small cocktail party last night and Vince and I attended. It was nice chatting with the guys, most of whom play naked pool volleyball in the summer. So strange to see everyone with their clothes on! A nice time was had.

Having a lazy morning. After a bowl of frosted flakes I went back and laid on my bed with Puff and Joey and patted their little heads. Mummy is in taking a little nap too. When she gets up we'll have to go have some sedate adventure.

Mummy and I watched High Noon last night, after Brady stopped by for a visit. We spent some time chatting about uplifting things like the price of coffins, cremation vs inhumation, and so on.

I'm not sure my mother liked the movie that much. I thought it was well done and relatively tame- if it was made today there would be a lot more blood and breasts. What struck me the most about the movie was how much a young Lloyd Bridges looked my father when he was young- maybe it was because they had the same hair cut.


My father, at the cabin in 1961.

I'll have to write about the cabin sometime.

I became a vegetarian in January 1983 and when I told my parents you'd think I told them I was gay or something. Oh wait, that was the next decade! Anyways, my father about died of a heart attack and my mother was convinced I was going to die from malnutrition or scabies or both.

I'd go home and my father would beg me to eat meat. If I cooked something, he'd always say, "Well, this would be good if only it had some meat in it." It didn't matter if it was fruit salad or a cake, he'd still say that. My mother would ask me if I was eating the right combination of proteins, convinced that I needed to eat rice A with bean B and wheat C to achieve a balanced diet. She got over that quickly, my father continued pestering me until he died of a heart attack caused by his plaque-encrusted arteries (thanks animal fats!).

Thanksgiving rapidly became my least favorite holiday. First you have to understand that I come from a family of awful cooks. My mother is willing to admit that she never liked cooking, except for that crock pot craze circa 1976. Second, holiday meals, it didn't matter which holiday, always consisted of:

- an overcooked turkey (frequently with the gizzard stuff forgotten inside)
- store-bought, boxed stuffing
- instant mashed potatoes and margarine
- store bought warm-up rolls
- Waldorff salad (diced apples, raisens, walnuts, marshmallows, Miracle Whip)
- canned string beans
- canned yams (sometimes)
- Grandma F's cranberry relish (made with strawberry Jello, the Jello company reportedly used the recipe in one of their cookbooks)
- store bought pumpkin or cherry pie with Cool Whip

The cranberry relish was the best thing. Too bad Jello is made from ground up animal bones!

This was standard for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and Easter. Sometimes they had ham on Easter, boiled in the pressure cooker for an hour or two. Boiling is the main characteristic of Midwestern cuisine.

So now that I'm the cooking I make everything from scratch and have banished Miracle Whip and Cool Whip and whips in general from my house. Tomorrow I'll make Thanksgiving Lunch and I'll ask Mummy if everything tastes delicious and she'll say something like, "No, I really didn't care for XXXX. I'd just rather eat mashed potatoes." Sigh.

I'm running out of ideas for what to make Mummy for supper. If I ask her what she wants she'll say, "Oh, I don't know..." She is getting picky about what she will or won't eat too- tomatoes are pretty far down on the list. Licorice drops are pretty high.

Her blood sugar (she's diabetic) has improved since she's been here, sometimes it is too low. As I type this I had to remind her to take her insulin.

Otherwise, got a new cell phone today- the old one was completely, utterly basic. The new one has a camera and bunch of other junk. I need to program phone numbers in, which I'm not looking forward to.

Making a pumpkin pie tomorrow. I've become a wizard at making them.

Sunday morning at about 4 AM I was lying awake in bed (I'm a light sleeper and have mild insomnia) when I heard the screech of brakes and a loud bang. Instantly the lights went out. It was far enough away that I wasn't certain whether it was to the north or south, and by the time I had gotten up I could hear sirens. The lights were out for a couple of hours.

Today the newspaper reports that a 15-year-old girl was killed and the driver ran off, alcohol was involved.

It seems strange to think that something so awful could happen so close to my house. But in the last six months or so there have been two murders in my neighborhood- one last week.

All three events are probably alcohol and drug-related. I wish people had more common sense about that sort of thing.

I lied. But it wasn't on purpose. I was going to make a lemon meringue pie, even make the crust. But there was no corn starch so I had to make a banana cream pie instead and I used storebought crust because I was just plain lazy.


Banana Cream Pie.

I could have told you it was lemon meringue, because you can't tell from the picture that instead of thick lemony filling there is thick vanilla pudding lying over a layer of thinly sliced bananas. But like I mentioned previously, the truth always comes out. Especially since Vince has started a blog and he'll be having a piece of two (ohmigod, another notch! [pardon the obscurity there]).

In other weekend news, I've been reading books and entertaining Mummy. We went window shopping and I'm left with two choices for Holiday gift- a ravioli maker or a waffle iron. Brian pointed out that a waffle iron was almost a ravioli maker, except it wasn't. Helpful advise like this is appreciated.

So which would you prefer: waffle iron or ravioli maker...

Believe it or not, I have every intention of making a lemon meringue pie this weekend! I know, I know, everyone is just plain sick of me doing so, as well you should be. I mean, I should just change my blog name from "Homersworld" to "Lemon Meringue World"!!! But I won't let the opinions of one or two "people" detract me from making the biggest, most swirly meringues ever. Filled with thick, delicious lemon filling. Perhaps I'll even make the crust myself!!!


Sonoran cuarto reale.

In other news, I'm sitting at my desk doing scientific-type stuff. Today I soaked a couple of Sonoran quarter reale coins in cleaning stuff, trying to remove enough corrosion so that I could read their dates. One was minted in the 1890s, the other is illegible. This sort of earth-shattering research commonly happens at my desk. I am always thinking, thinking, thinking.

And so I lay in bed last night pondering wicked people. The world seems so full of down-right nasty folks nowadays. I try my hardest to be a good person, and generally I succeed. If you have read through this mess to this point, I'll level with you. I am a terrible liar and so I make a point of not lying. As Eve on Passions once so famously said (yes, I know I'm repeating this), "The truth will always come out!" So you'll never, ever see big whoppers of lies from me on here. Or even little whoppers of lies. Lies never, ever work because the truth does in fact come out. I well remember the aftermath of the playhouse fire in 1968. Lesson learned.

You may, in your journey through the internets, come across a pair of blogs that have recently said very nasty things about me. Apparently I make too many lemon meringue pies, among other intrinsically evil things. The "people" who write those blogs have many interesting things to say about me, I've learned much about my background and personality, things that surprised me and would doubtlessly surprise those who know me. The internet is an interesting place, that is another lesson I've learned.

Forrest's 29th birthday had a decidedly Mexican theme. His roommate Paul arranged for friends to meet at BK's, a Sonoran style restaurant. I was surprised at how good the food was.


Homer and Forrest.

Afterwards we retired to their estate and a pinata was smashed.


Forrest handles a big stick.

Cecelia had filled it with Mexican candy. I tried the coconut version, which was very good.


Tres leches cake.

One time Forrest and I tried to make a tres leches cake but it turned out nasty. In contrast, the one Cecelia purchased was very good.

Good time was had by all, that's the best kind of birthday party.

Redheads. How I adore them. Let me count the ways. Red hair, freckles, pale or tan. Brian's blog alerted me to the following perfect specimen:


Tommy Speer.

Too bad he's doing the nasty fighting stuff for Ultimate Fighting Championship. He should quit that stuff come to Tucson and help me make Thanksgiving dinner for my mother next week. Afterwards we could lie in bed and talk about how bloated we are from eating way too much mashed potatoes.

Arghh, speaking of Thanksgiving, my least favorite holiday of the year. I have to figure out what to make besides mashed potatoes. Mummy announced that she did not/would not go to anyone else's house for dinner. She is a bit of a loner (that's a lie, she's a big loner). So I get to make the two of us dinner. Menu so far:

Mashed potatoes
Vegetarian stuffing
Fresh string beans
Angel food cake with cranberry sauce

Not sure if I'll make anything else or not. Any ideas?

Fuck.

The first dirty word I learned was "bullshit." We were in the station wagon driving down our long driveway and my father said that word and I didn't know what it meant, and so I kept saying over and over again, "bullshit, bullshit, bullshit" as my father and mother tried to shush me and my father was reaching back into the backseat to swat me.

Later, my brother Bub (now an Amish pig farmer), taught me the word "fart," a word he learned while in kindergarten. It sounded bad back then, and to this day I don't like that word. I usually won't say it out loud. Pussy is another one of those nasty sounding words. I was recently shocked to hear "fart" being used on a sitcom. What has our country come to?

My father was a champion swearer. When he was angry, which happened a lot after he quit trucking and became a full-time dairy farmer in 1974, he would reel off a list of words. It was like a Lake Superior storm, the waves of curse words washing ashore and repeating and building up to a crescendo, said crescendo usually involving throwing something. "God dammit to fucking hell, motherfucking sonofabitch, sonabitchin motherfuckin goddammit to fucking hell." Over and over again. Punctuated by a wrench being thrown at the hay bailer or, once, a hammer thrown at me and Bub. The latter incident resulted in me walking out of the barn and going to the house, my father following me and cursing at me. My mother, brother, and I received more than our fair share of foul language directed at us. My mother looked up and asked what was the matter, as he screamed at me. To tell you the truth, I have no recollection of what set him off at particular time- my brother and I were washing the big milk tank and literally anything would make my father go beserk. When I was about 19, and home from college, my father was selling a cow and I was helping get it in his friemd Chum's trailer and Chum thought it would be funny to shock me with the electric cattle prod. My father was shocked, in turn, to hear the string of foul words explode out of my mouth as I told Chum exactly what I thought of him. "Where did you learn that?" he blurted out. "From you," was the answer. How could anyone be so dense?

Nowadays I swear for very specific reasons. This summer I told two co-workers, "I'm really fucking pissed off at you." That is the coarsest language I have ever used at work. I'm a very easy-going person, so everyone was shocked.

Whenever the Great Decider ruins my television viewing, I'm liable to say something like, "Shutthefuckup you fuckingfucker!" Over and over again, mostly so I don't have to hear his annoying fake Texan accent. There are other times when I swear, but this is a family-friendly blog (except for this fucking post), so I won't go into that in detail.

So, what is your favorite swear word?

Fuck Office Max and their shitty merchandise. First my study lamp light bulb burned out and guess what. It is impossible to remove and replace the bulb. The bulb is built right into the fricken lamp. Thats's totally green!

Just got back with a new keyboard and mouse and 1). it comes with a slotted keyboard plugin and a round mouse plugin. Do computers even come with the round plugins anymore? Of course they provide adaptors. Except the adaptor for the round one was missing. Even better, the keyboard was visibly used (scratch marks on the bottom of the mouse, the packaging was torn up), but packaged and sold regular price.

I HATE big fucking box stores. But what can you do- there aren't small office supply/computer stores in Tucson. They have all gone bye-bye. I won't shop at Circuit City because of their satanic hiring practices. I go to this Office Max because it is the closest, saves gas. But not anymore. Return keyboard and drive the extra distance to another big box of consumer crap.

It would be nice if they actually made stuff that didn't wear out after a year.

Because I work for a small company, we don't get minor holidays off. So while lots of other people are out honoring out nation's veterans by attending sales and parades, saluting, and decorating tombs of the unknown, I am sitting in my office honoring them by trying to makes numbers add up correctly.

Except the numbers don't want to add up the same when I check and I don't have a clue why that is the case. It is very annoying.

Also annoying, people who don't know the rules for charades and who don't know their alphabet. What's up with that?

Less annoying, the Goth couple on Amazing Race. I like them and the blonde women the best. Last night, Kynt the Goth guy, said about their next task, "I think is has something to do with sheep!" We laughed. A lot.

A busy weekend with Mummy. Several trips to the grocery store, Michael's Craft Store- where I bought a cookie press and a bunch of art kits to give to the local elementary, a visit with Karen, library, Indian Oven for lunch, cooking, and so on.


Mummy and Homer.

I'm concerned that she isn't getting enough exercise so I took her out to the Sweetwater Wetlands and we walked around the main pond. We saw some American coots and little yellow finches. I spotted what I thought was a kingfisher. By the end of the walk her legs were bothering her.

I've got a squash baking in the oven and I made a yoghurt/dill/cucumber salad. Tonight I'm going over to watch the Amazing Race with Abe and David G. We haven't done that in a couple of years!

What pisses me off lately?

- Racism. People who judge other people based on their ethnic origin and/or their skin color. What a bunch of petty bullshit.

- "Illegal immigration" talk about a crock of shit. In Arizona they are busy building a solid border fence right through endangered wildlife habitat. No environmental reviews. So low flying birds will fly right smack into that fence and be killed instantly. And larger animals, such as our occasional jaguar visitor, will be unable to cross the border.

- "War on Terror" what a barrel full of shit. It isn't a war- a war is declared on a government. The "war on terror" is a fight against a bunch of criminals. Of course, if you call it a war you can scare people. You can be sure there will be plenty more terror alerts next year, right before the election.

- The 2008 elections. Holy shit, we have to put up with this for another year? 14 more months of the Great Decider? And what then? Hillary or Rudy. Puke.

What doesn't piss me off?

- Cooking for my Mama.

- Looking forward to going to a party with Forrest.

- Cats!

So the new President of France comes to visit and George Bush has a fancy dinner at the White House. I looked at the invitation list. I guess only businessmen and their trophy wives get invited to the White House. Plus a Supreme Court Justice, a couple Senators, a Representative, and a Governor. And George Bush's sister.

Looking through the other invitation lists for similar dinners, you realize that George only likes to hang out with other businessmen. Funny, since he was such a crappy businessman himself.

The United States has lots of talented scientists, entertainers, and ordinary people. But apparently unless you are Kelsey Grammar or Elizabeth Hasselback, you don't get invited to the White House. I guess that is because most scientists and entertainers and about 70 percent of the rest of the country don't really care for the Bushes anymore. I really wish the bloody hands woman, the one who charmed Condi Rice a few weeks back, would have dinner with Laura and Jenna and Barb Jr.

Now if I were president I would have a really fun state dinner. We'd have veggie hotdogs and tater tots, lemon meringue pie for desserts. Gwen Stefani and Cristina Aguilera would wiggle around singing during the dessert. Afterwards we'd made plastic bead mosaics and I'd play spin the bottle with Matthew Foxx and Will Smith. So much more fun than sitting next to the Chairman of FedEx.

Life is kinda dull right now, I'm entertaining Mummy and that involves cooking more and taking her on errands. I have to think of something to do this weekend.

Elsewhere, I have been watching one of the fake bloggers do his crap. Attention getting stuff involving someone's death, a misunderstanding of mourning customs, fake comments attempting to prove fake events, and so on. Honestly, my life can be dull but not dull enough to write a pack 'o lies and then have to delete them over and over again when someone exposes you.

I wish someone would expose themselves to me, speaking of. Having Mummy here has sharply curtailed my internet educational pursuits.

Joey likes Nature, she found tonight's episode about wolves fascinating.



Joey believes all cats should watch educational programming, instead of litter box operas and catnipcoms. Of course, Puff and Mama just want to want cartoons instead.

I've discovered that my mother loves this sitcom, "Two and a half men." That is kinda shocking. She used to make fun of me for watching Lost, except she got hooked on that show too.

Anyways, busy day today- tooth repaired, computer work, chocolate, insurance office (my agent is so smart he intimidates me), make Mummy dinner (leftover veggie lasagna), helped someone out with a genealogy problem. At work a co-worker yelled at me, shocking everyone else, since it was over something I had no control over, at all (some construction workers never showed up). I pretended it didn't bother me, but it actually did.

I wish I didn't have such thin skin over little things like that, but I do. Some things don't change.

The annual All Soul's Day Procession was tonight. Brian, unfortunately, couldn't come down from Phoenix, he was feeling under the weather.


A Victorian couple.

I caught sight of Forrest and walked with him along the route. It seemed quieter this year, but perhaps that was because we were very close to the beginning of the procession.


Miss Coney Island 1928.

Lots of imaginative costumes and altars. A pair of Born-Agains with a bullhorn protesting the event. No one was listening to his gibberish.


Andy and Adam.

I'm always amazed at how small town Tucson can be. I saw a zillion people I knew at the event.

At home, Mummy is reading a mystery book. I made lasagna and two pumpkin pies today (one is for Vince). I asked Mummy if it was best she'd ever had and she said, "No." I laughed. When I told Forrest that story he commented that I can be very blunt too.

My mother missed her plane Minneapolis so I have to go back to the airport and pick her up this afternoon. She refuses to ride on one of the carts and stopped for something to eat. Her bag came through and I was surprised at how little she packed for a two month stay. I may end up taking her cloth shopping- whether she likes it or not (she hates buying clothes). Especially because we'll probably get invited to a couple of holiday events and I really don't want to show up with Mummy wearing her favorite ratty jeans.

I almost went out last night, to sow a few oats, but stayed home instead. Chas called me up and we discussed life in North Carolina. It seems 2007 was the year of meeting people from that fine state.

Trying to figure out what to make for dinner tonight. Any suggestions? [vegetarian ones, please!]

Normally I have dozens of kids chanting "Trick or Treat" outside my door. Last night, perhaps 10 showed up. I have a big bowl of candy left over, mostly stuff I don't care for.


New shirt.

The house is ready for my mother's arrival on Saturday. Just some yardwork to do, and everything is done.

Let's try it for the third time. A week ago I had the corner of one of my front upper incisors bonded- it had chipped off sometime in the past year. On Friday I was sitting at my desk and I heard a click and then proceeded to spit out the bonded section. Today I returned to the dentist at 12:30 and they replaced it. At approximately 4:40 it came off again.

I guess I'm no good at bondage.

I bought a red striped slip cover for the $800 scratching post (my couch) today. Also flannel sheets for my bed and a toilet brush and a first aid kit. I never buy stuff like that, but Mummy is coming Saturday and a few purchases were in order.

Sandy is coming too, in early December. I'm excited to have him here and I'm going to schedule a Holiday Tree decorating get together for either the 7th or 8th of December and invite a handful of people over. I've decided not to have the huge Holiday Party this year- and to tell you the truth, it is a relief.

Sitting here with acid reflux tonight. Burp! Nasty. If you can, don't get a hiatal hernia. Just advising.

Instead of going to Vancouver, I decided to stay in Tucson. For several reasons. On Friday I sat in bed and read the last Harry Potter book, spending half the time confused about various minor characters and plot information from prior books. Vince's friend Eric brought me a pumpkin he had raised and so I immediately made a pair of pies.

Yesterday was Ray's annual Halloween party. I was Homer Erectus, the caveman. I wore the same costume in 2003, but was 20 pounds lighter. Still, it gets a lot of attention. Loin cloth!

Zombie Forrest.


Hepatitis Bee.


Super Flu.


Flash, Robin Hood, and a Nurse.


Another Nurse.

Nurses, Doctors, and Patients were popular costumes this year.

Today involves making a birthday cake for Patrick- white cake with white frosting.

And now for something different.

Are you dressing up for Halloween? If so, what is your costume going to be?

Mollie had started to have health problems in the last four months or so. It started with difficulty in walking- she was losing strength in her back legs. Eventually I had to block off the kitchen, study, and my bedroom because she would fall down on the wood and tile floors. The amount of food she ate lessened and she lost weight. Mollie often got lost and stood in the corner until I tapped on her shoulder. She stopped scratching on the door to be let back in. A spot on her back became infected and it took forever to heal, her skin was so thin. Then she started coughing, loud, long coughing spells.

On Monday her face and neck started to swell up and by yesterday morning I had to remove her collar it was so huge. I took her to the vet and they examined her, identified a heart murmur, and answered my questions. Her quality of life had deteriorated dramatically. Whatever measures they took would not help her stand or walk better. The swelling suggested something was very seriously wrong. She was probably in pain and was just not expressing it well. At fifteen and a half, her body was worn out.

I've never had to make this sort of decision before. My other two dogs died when I was away at school. My three cats are just entering middle age and are very healthy. There were some things that Mollie still liked to do- wander slowly through the yard, eat her favorite treats. But most of the time she sat on her bed and coughed up crud. The vet and her assistant agreed that now was the time to go, before she got worse off.

I was too chicken to stay. I would have been a blubbering mess. When I got home last night I had a little cry. Later I sat at my desk and once I wondered why I didn't hear her toenails clicking as she walked around. Then I remembered.

I'll miss her.

Les and Forrest were very disappointed that Buster wasn't blowing up balloons.


Les and Forrest.

We were out at the Venture for their Levi & Leather party. I wore my overalls. Guys like guys in overalls. Buster was wearing ass-less chaps.


Homer and Buster.

Buster was very friendly and hasn't let success go to his head. At times the crowd got very frisky. There was an almost unfortunate accident with a hook coming loose, but no one was injured.


Buster and the whipper-snapper.

Les and I are having a fun time together, recalling our obnoxious college days. I believe he is enjoying the small town atmosphere of Tucson. He also liked the pumpkin pie I made him.

Forrest and I drove down to Hereford to see Ray and Cobban. They live in the country and at night there are three million stars in the sky over their house. We hung out and talked and Ray made a lovely dinner and we ate the pumpkin pie I had made, the one where I used molasses instead of brown sugar and it tasted less sweet and was very nice.


Yours truly and the hosts, Cobban and Ray.

I practiced holding my camera at arm's length and taking self portraits. It is amazing how many different expressions I can make.


Parker the cat was not harmed during the taking of this picture.

The guys' cat Parker came out of hiding to visit. He is very big and has to live indoors because the coyotes would think he was delicious. We discussed expensive vet bills and animal health for some few minutes.


Homer and Forrest say, "It's fun to pump gas at midnight."

On the way back to Tucson I actually felt cold. Forrest and I talked and talked and talked. I got into bed at 12:45 and of course I woke up at the usual time (6 AM). Joey waits impatiently for me to have my bowl of cereal. If I eat it slow she meows because she wants that little lick of milk at the very end, even though it isn't good for her.

I was surprised to see that some of the furniture at IKEA looked less college dorm-like, although most of it was still cheap, veneer stuff. Many of the display pieces were pootly put together and I watched with amusement as a pair of gay guys tried to get a wardrobe door to close correctly. The housewares are always more inviting. I bought a garlic press and paper napkins and a fish-shaped rug for my bathroom.

I was up in Phoenix for the day for work. I was on the road at 4:40 AM. As I got near that mighty city I realized I could smell its mighty pollution, which is so dense you can't see the mountains that surround it. Tucson is very clean, in contrast.

Nothing exciting to report about work. I returned home, arriving at 5:30 PM and promptly started to clean house. My college roommate Les is coming on Friday. We are going to be obnoxious, rest assured. He's very excited about the Leather & Levi weekend that's happening. I hope he remembered to bring his chaps.

Ben Cohen!


I wonder if he is any good at food styling and dusting?

Poltergeist II. We returned to the excavation and removed the second burial. It was an adult male, the osteologists will examine the remains later this week to determine the age at death. He lay in a coffin painted red with dozens of the diamond-shaped decorations on the sides and a few on the lid. I was able to determine that there were originally three rows. A small crucifix was at the foot of the coffin, and we also found 5 handles (the sixth had apparently broken off as the coffin was being placed in the grave, we found a part of it underneath the body).

The man was wearing an undershirt, a shirt or jacket, and pants (as indicated by the various kinds of buttons). No shoes. They didn't check his pockets and in his left pants pocket held a coin purse and his right pocket had a hard-rubber comb and three very corroded silver coins. This was very unusual- it suggests the man was buried in the pants he died in.

I have lots of paperwork to complete tomorrow. Ryan asked about photography. Before we remove burials we have to have a permit from the state museum here. Usually photography does not take place on skeletal remains because many Native American groups object to such photography, thinking it is disrespectful of the dead. Instead of photography we carefully draw the remains on graph paper, adding in the location of buttons, coffin hardware, and whatever else we find.

An interesting couple of days, that's for sure.

I didn't have much pride for Gay Pride this year. Instead I lay in bed with a mild cold most of the day. I shouldn't have said "I haven't been sick in a long time" on Friday.


I picked up the chair for my mother and have it in her spot. She better like it!

Mummy's chair.

Today I'm feeling better and I made a Sweet Onion Quiche.

Quiche Homere.

It was rather bland (perhaps because of my runny nose) so I ate it with hot sauce. I think I'm going to have another nap now.

Poltergeist. Tucson, like many communities, has built over its historic cemeteries. There are three in the downtown area, dating between 1776 and 1909. One is beneath a street, another is currently being excavated for a new courthouse, and a third is in a residential neighborhood.

An acquaintance of mine lives in that neighborhood, which was the cemetery for Tucson between 1875 and 1909. Some businessmen decided the land was too close to town and should be developed, so they built a new cemetery further away from downtown, and arranged to get ownership of the land. They claimed the bodies were all moved, but since the 1940s a dozen have been found. My guess, perhaps 10 percent of the burials were actually dug up, and it is probable that only the skull and the larger bones were removed. I told my friend that his property probably had many burials (it is in the Catholic section, which had about 4,500). Last week a sinkhole opened up and when he poked a shovel in, he hit a coffin and some bones.

Lucky for him, it was actually in the city right-of-way, and he wasn't lagally responsible for their removal (they had to be moved because the right-of-way is where all utilities are placed). I went out with two other archaeologists and excavated the burial. It was a 3-or-4-year-old child, in a shouldered coffin (the kind that is wider at the shoulders). The coffin was decorated with diamond-shaped brass appliques, with a crucifix and lamb applique on the front (lambs symbolize children), zinc carrying handles, and a cross-shaped handle to lift the lid up and some rusted iron items that are probably hinges. The child was wearing a dress that was buttoned up the back, and a bundle of clothes were next to the feet (the buttons of which were all that was left)- perhaps the clothing of the child, or perhaps something added to kept the body from sliding down to that end of the coffin when it was being moved.

We finished around 1 PM and as I was cleaning the last remnants of the coffin wood up I noticed the ground was soft, so I removed some more dirt and another skull appeared below. On Monday we will remove that burial.

After we examine the remains and artifacts the two burials will be reburied in the local Catholic cemetery in a special vault with other remains found by archaeologists.

This isn't a typical work day for me.

Post 1400. Mummy is coming November 3rd for two months. I went shopping for a chair for her today- the one she liked to sit on broke when a certain bestfriend sat on it. Four furniture stores- ohmigod did people just puke on the upholstery and slap it on? What's up with five different fabrics on one chair? I purchased a Mission style dining room chair with arms- something that will be easy for Mummy to get in and out of. Of course I spent more than I wanted, but only the best for my mother.

Picture tomorrow (it is still at the store).

I'm trying to eat more vegetables. Tonight Mexican squash. Salads for lunch. I get so hungry in between meals. Someone should just taser me when I walk towards the cookie drawer at work.

Going to Vancouver at the end of the month, I'll be in the city for I think three days. Maybe I'll have lunch with one of my regular readers, Art?