Homer'sWorld

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Begin Year 9. This is the 2,300th entry on my blog. While Facebook has largely killed off most blogs, I still find things to write about, since my blog is basically a diary of my life. I hope you find something interesting in what I say or in the pictures I post.

Mountain geranium.

# posted by Homer : 9:07 PM

Thursday, July 28, 2011

The Farmer's Market was crowded and the selection of produce is getting more diverse.

Farmer's market.

There are probably a dozen varieties of squash. A couple of people were selling this strange plant that we used to pull up as weeds in Michigan.

Squash!

Produce.

I bought some produce for next week and some to take up to Evan's house tomorrow.

Next to the pumpkin.

I purchased:

- a dozen eggs

- two eggplants

- a large bunch of champagne grapes

- three tomatoes

- two bags of dried chili and garlic squash

I wish the pumpkin plants would actually make a pumpkin, but so far none have appeared.

# posted by Homer : 4:51 PM

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

BERRY COBBLER!!!!

I had an enormous bag of frozen blackberries in my fridge, so I made a cobbler tonight. Can I say, it was fucking awesome!!!

And if the debtogeddon happens, I'm not giving any to fucking Republicans.

# posted by Homer : 10:18 PM

So I decided to give up caffeine on July 9. No Diet Cokes. I had been drinking way too much of that chemical-filled beverage. It was getting pathetic when the first thing I would do upon getting up was to pop open a can and sip that stuff.

I've done this twice before. Back in 1999, when I bought my house and was super poor, I stopped to save money. A few years ago I decided to stop because of the gross chemicals. Well, I relapsed and by early July I was up to about four Diet Cokes a day.

Well I miss that fabulous energizing chemical. But I am saving money and hopefully improving my health. Right?

# posted by Homer : 10:58 AM

Monday, July 25, 2011

So Mummy calls me and asks me to send her some money. She lives on her Social Security check and a very small monthly pension check, and by the end of the month the money is gone. At the beginning of the month she has a couple of direct withdrawals for her Blue Cross supplemental insurance and newspaper, and she is worried that if the government defaults she won't get her Social Security check.

Here is my 79-year-old mother wondering what she will do. She tells me she probably had a couple of weeks worth of food in her cupboards. That her children will be able to find money to feed her and pay her electricity bill.

I am furious. Most of those scumbag Republicans in Congress are millionaires and don't have to worry about scrounging up enough money to pay their mother's electricity bill. It is all a fun little game to fuck the economy over and prevent that black guy from being re-elected.

I guess John McCain and John Kyl are going to get nasty phone calls tomorrow.

# posted by Homer : 9:43 PM

Sunday, July 24, 2011

So same sex couples were legally married in New York state and no heterosexual marriages were destroyed.

And Maggie Gallagher and Westboro Baptist Church were there to protest. I am so glad that she found a group that shared her values.

Times are changing rapidly and Maggie is going to be out of a job soon. Maybe she will find a line of work where she can actually do some good in the world. I don't think it is possible, since from everything I have seen or read about her, including the time I saw her in person, leads me to believe she has mental problems relating to her religious beliefs and the fact that the man who fucked her in college wouldn't marry her.

Anyways, I looked at all of the pictures of happy couples, their families, friends, and total strangers supporting them, and I got a tiny bit teary. Congratulations!

# posted by Homer : 8:11 PM

Saturday, July 23, 2011

I drove north to Flagstaff but after I turned onto I-17, the little yellow wrench light lit up on my car. I puzzled over what to do, should I ignore it and continue on? But within a minute the car started slowing down and soon I was on the shoulder plodding along at five miles an hour. I pulled off on Thunderbird Road and made it to a residential street, where I stopped and called Evan to tell him the news.

After sitting a while the car started and seemed fine, so I drove it across the street to a Circle K and bought some cooling water (I haven't had a caffeinated pop in two weeks). I called John, and then Alex, who works next to a Ford dealership. I ended up driving the car slowly over there, across town, stopping a few times when the car didn't want to work. We left the car there overnight and I had supper with Alex, it was nice to see him.

This morning he dropped me off at the dealership at 7:30 and I drove out at 1:45. I have an extended warranty, the company states very clearly that you have to call them before you do repairs. Guess what? They don't answer the phone on Saturday. So I will see on Monday what happens with that.

Back home now, weekend basically sucks. It is hot and sweaty in my house and I am pouty.

# posted by Homer : 5:49 PM

Thursday, July 21, 2011

This week at the Farmer's Market:

- bunch of carrots

- two white onions

- three peaches

- five mild small peppers

- two eggplants

- two orange tomatoes

I am going to make Baba ganoush with the eggplants.

Oh my, the peach I just ate was the best peach I have eaten in years.

# posted by Homer : 4:32 PM

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

I went to Penzeys spice and got some Vietnamese cinnamon.

Snickerdoodles.

I made snickerdoodles from the Better Homes and Garden Cookbook. I am taking a dozen of them up to Evan on Friday.

# posted by Homer : 9:24 PM

Monday, July 18, 2011

The Pierce Brothers, circa 1895.

My great-great-great grandfather Robert is sitting in the front row at right.

The other men in the picture include James (1821-1907), Henry (1825-1902), John (1826-1907), and probably Melvin (1835-1898).

# posted by Homer : 7:45 PM

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Evan arrived Friday and we made Indian food for supper. It was a meal to forget. The next morning we got up and made food for the pool volleyball. We made a delicious pineapple mango chutney upside-down cake.

Cake!

And a delicious zuchini tart from the latest issue of Martha Stewart Living.

Zuchini tart.

We drove over and picked up Patrick and Mark and drove up to Richard's delightful house.

Us.

It was Evan's first time playing pool volleyball. There was a big crowd of guys and I think we all had a great time.

The guys.

Patrick had the best time, he is also one of the better players.

Patrick.

This morning we had breakfast and then went over to the Sweetwater wetlands. I was expecting there to be few birds there. Off in the distance we saw a black-necked stilt, something I had never seen there before.

Black-necked stilt.

As we walked along, Evan saw a turtle wandering along.

Turtle!

I picked it up and discovered that turtles go pee as a defensive measure. I was amazed at how much urine came out.

I am not afraid!

The people before us wrote down on the sign-in sheet that they had seen a bobcat and a pair of skunks. In contrast, we saw a pair of cotton rats.

Cotton rat.

A trip to Penzys spice where I bought Mexican vanilla beans and Vietnamese cinnamon. Next weekend I'm going to make vanilla ice cream.

# posted by Homer : 4:33 PM

Thursday, July 14, 2011

I ran into Steve at the Santa Cruz Farmer's Market. There was a lot more variety in produce this week. Unfortunately, there were a lot more stupid people today. I suppose I was impatient because I was wearing dress shoes and my feet were hurting. This one scatter-brained woman was particularly annoying. Get. The. Fuck. Out. Of. My. Way. Pretty please with sugar on it.

Steve.

Things are going well at work- two more projects for me to work on. One of them is one that I really wanted.

Steve's niece sells produce from this stand.

Evan is coming down tomorrow and we are going to make Indian food. I went to the Indian grocery store the other day and got some samosas and naan.

The guy selling these squashes was happy that I took him empty egg cartons.

Saturday is pool volleyball and we are going to make a pineapple mango chutney upsidedown cake.

This week's purchase.

- dozen eggs

- three zucchinis

- 5 small egglants

- 4 tomatoes

- 4 red peppers

- 4 red onions

- lots of string beans

Basically I'm buying all of my vegetables and eggs at the Farmer's Market now.

# posted by Homer : 5:57 PM

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

I attended the tiny school at Buckley, Michigan from 1974 through 1979, from 4th through 9th grades. The school had about 300 kids, kindergarten through 12 grade. Really, it was an awful school at that time. Any attempts to improve the school failed because local residents thought, "It was good enough for me back in 1948, it is good enough for me now."

I was constantly picked on because I was book-smart, physically weak, and considered a sissy. I remember the time when Steven J. told me he was going to beat me up at lunch time and sure enough he found me and beat the shit out of me. Teachers didn't do anything about this sort of behavior. The hippie math teacher, one of the few teachers I liked, would eventually kill himself because he was a closeted homosexual.

Traverse City is the big town nearby and the City commissioner passed a non-discrimination ordinance in October 2010 that banned employers from firing people because they are gay or lesbian. Of course the local born again homophobes have raised enough signatures to put this on the ballot. One of the ringleaders in this effort is Matt Schoech. His brother John was in my class and we were friends.

For the last 10 years Matt Schoech has been focusing on this issue. Back in 2001, he was successful in preventing a similar ordinance from being enacted. You really have to wonder why a straight man would be so interested in this issue. Marcus Bachmann syndrome?

I looked up the Buckley school and was pleased that it has changed, the school actually boasts of its academic excellence and prohibits bullying.

Buckley Bear, ironic isn't it?.

# posted by Homer : 9:06 AM

Monday, July 11, 2011

I made peach cobbler yesterday. Trader Joe had a box of peaches for $5.00. Kinda pricey, but they looked great.

I got on the intertubes and found a recipe. All of the reviews seemed to suggest the recipe was really good.

I dropped the peaches in boiling water and then into cold water and the skins slipped off really easily. I sliced them up, mixed in some brown and white sugar, a little lemon juice, and some nutmeg.

Peaches.

You put the peaches in the oven to cook while you make the dough.

Dough.

The dough has flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, butter, and boiling water. After mixing it up, you drop the dough onto the peaches and bake.

Peach cobbler.

Ohmigolly, it was sooooo good. I took some over to Patrick and Brady's house and Patrick and I sat in his cattle tank and had a nice time visiting.

# posted by Homer : 8:45 AM

Sunday, July 10, 2011

When I go outside to water the plants, Puff meows loudly. He wants to do a little exploring while I am out there.

Homer and Puff.

Puff wants to vote for Michele Bachmann for President but I told him that I would disown him if he did. Now he is considering Rick Santorum.

Meanwhile, I am making peach cobbler today.

# posted by Homer : 10:05 AM

Saturday, July 09, 2011

When I was 12 or 13, President and Mrs. Ford rode in the Cherry Festival Parade in Traverse City. We waved at them and were happy they came to our little town, proud that a couple from Michigan was in the White House.

I am old enough to remember when the word CANCER was a dirty word. If someone died from cancer, the euphemism "died from a lengthy illness" would be used, because cancer was someone too horrible to talk about. An episode of the Waltons in 1974 featured a kid with leukemia- that was a groundbreaking topic. Cancers affecting women (breast, cervical, ovarian) were especially kept quiet. Women didn't know the warning symptoms, didn't know how to check themselves, were too afraid to go to their doctor because the perception was that if you had cancer, you were going to die.

Happy Rockefeller and Betty Ford changed that. Both Republican women, both went public with their breast cancer. Hundreds of thousands of women throughout the world have had longer lives because of the selfless action of these two women.

I digress to note that in contrast the two most well-known Republican women today are Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann. In particular, Bachmann signed some homophobic pledge in Iowa. How does that look the least bit presidential, to sign some scrap of paper written by someone else? Weird.

But I digress too much. I read in the Washington Post that Ford's death was confirmed by Elaine Didier, who is the head of the Gerald Ford Presidential Library. Way, way, way back in 1986-1987 I worked the absolute worst job I have ever had, at the Business Library at the University of Michigan. And Elaine Didier was in charge of the library and all I can remember about her is her enormous nose.

Anyways, they don't make Republican women like Betty Ford anymore.

# posted by Homer : 9:52 AM

Thursday, July 07, 2011

This week at the Farmer's Market:

- a patty pan squash

- a cantaloupe

- two white onions

- two eggplants

- three heirloom tomatoes

I made two tomato sandwiches for supper, very delicious.

In other news, I've had a couple of run-ins with rude people. To the one person, no one asked to read my blog. The other was on a popular genealogy website- the stories that I had been told about the rude and arrogant administrators running the site- well imagine that, they were true! And of course, the woman closed off comments on the forum where I asked a question after leaving a comment suggesting I was a liar. Nice.

# posted by Homer : 6:02 PM

Wednesday, July 06, 2011

I have an article in the Summer 2011 issue of American Ancestors magazine, published by the New England Historic Genealogical Society.

It will be interesting to see what people think about it- the article covers the life of a woman who married another woman in 1877 in Nevada. The magazine has over 25,000 subscribers and goes to every major genealogical library in the country.

# posted by Homer : 4:28 PM