View from the Porch

Little Deer Isle, Maine--we're on the porch, watching the lighthouse.

Help Save Marriage in Maine

Shane and I are starting our second Maine vacation of the summer. We're staying at Moose and Squirrel, a house on Little Deer Isle with a spectacular view of Pumpkin Island Lighthouse. Shane is from Maine, and I am hoping that one day we can get married in there. We have purchased land in Maine and we're planning on building a house there when we retire.

Though Maine is one of the States that reportedly allows same sex marriage, it hasn't happened yet. There is a referundum up for vote this fall that could take that right away before any same sex couples get married there. Much like Prop 8 in California, Referendum 1 can take the civil rights away from LGBT Mainers. Do what you can to help win this fight. Go to Protect Maine Equality and help if you can. If you live in Maine, vote NO on 1! Thanks.

Police Ignite Wood with Taser

Police in Lancaster, Ohio, got new tasers on Sunday. That was bad news for Daniel C. Wood, 31, who was huffing a substance from an aerosol can and running in traffic. An officer caught Wood, but he was resisting arrest. He allegedly was kicking and biting and"made gestures with his hand as if he were reaching for a firearm in his waistband," according to Lancaster Chief Dave Bailey. That is when Mr. Wood's day started going very wrong. The officer zapped Wood with a taser, which caused him to catch on fire. The officers on the scene were able to pat out the flames, but I'm guessing Mr. Wood suddenly ceased in his resistance.

On the Bright Side

We have to stop and remember how good we have it. Sure, we lost out on getting the house of our dreams, but we really can't complain overall. You know you're spoiled when you are devastated that the cable is out -- no TV or Internet (I'm posting this on my iPhone). That's not the end of the world, right.

On the bright side, Shane is coming home from his business trip to Nashville tonight. He's only been gone since Sunday, but it sucks to have him away. On the not so bright side, he is going to grouchy we he finds out we don't have cable. (Actually, he got home as I was writing this and didn't care about the cable -- nix that.)

On the bright side, we only have three more days until we leave for our second week of our Maine vacation. We spent a rainy week in Maine in late June. On the not so bright side, it looks like it is going to be another rainy week and Hurricane Bill is headed that way.

On the bright side, our cactus is breaking out in a crazy amount of new blooms. The not so bright side is that we'll be out of town by the time it blooms.

On the bright side, Shane is home now!

Good Stuff Eatery--Suicide by Burger+Fries

Good Stuff Eatery is on Pennsylvania Ave. near our house in DC. I was walking home by it right after I got the news that we lost the house in Florida on which we made an offer (see below). Anyway, what better way to cheer yourself up than gorging on a burger with fries?

They had lines out the door this past winter, but I had not eaten there until today. It was busy, but no long lines now. I'm not a big fan of the Food Network, but apparently Chef Spike Mendelsohn won the South Beach Wine & Food Festival Burger Bash (which was on the Food Network in February). Spike took home three top prizes -- People's Choice, Judges Award and the Best Dressed Burger -- with his Colletti Smokehouse Burger.

I had the basic Farmhouse burger with cheese and fries. The burger was very good, but the fries were soggy with grease. It's a bit more than McDonald's, ($9 for the meal), but I'd go back for the burger. I will also go back for a milkshake, which I saw others enjoying.

I hadn't had a hamburger in a long time. I was not eating meat for several month, until I decided I wasn't getting enough protein for running. Not being used to so much greasy food, my stomach is a little churney, but I think I'll be OK.

Interestingly, I have a heart screening tomorrow morning. I will have a blood test for cholesterol and other heart-related stuff... probably not the best night to eat this meal, huh?

We Didn't Want That House Anyway

We made an offer on a house this weekend in Florida (see below). We just found out we didn't get it. Waaaaaa! Someone else made an offer on Friday that was accepted this morning. We're very depressed.

We had our heart set on waking up and looking out over that canal. Our realtor said that he only sees houses on canals like that on the market twice or three times a year, and they go fast. We live in DC, which makes it difficult to run down to Florida at the last minute to look at a house. This was a forclosure and an amazing deal. We were just a day late.

I now understand why you don't announce you're going to have a baby until after the first trimester. I know this isn't really anything like losing a baby, but we feel a little like there was a bit of a miscarriage.

New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #204

Shirley, you cut the cheese.

The above is the cartoon for New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest for week #204, along with my entry for the week. Let me know if you come up with a caption too. Click on the link above to enter. I realize my caption this week is juvenile, but I thought it was funny even though it doesn't really address why one of the businessmen in a rat. I like all their little hands.

We've Made an Offer on a FL House

We went to Florida this weekend to look for a second home. We used to have a condo in a golf community in Fort Myers, FL, but as the prices of real estate started to plummet a couple years ago, we sold it. Now prices seem to be at rock bottom (we hope), so we thought we'd see if we could find something we liked. We did. We have made an offer on the house above. It is in Port Charlotte and is on a canal. It is an older home, but our hope is that it being waterfront makes this a good investment.

This is the view a few feet from the back of our house, looking down past our dock. Yes, it comes with a small dock. That metal contraption in the foreground is a hoist that lifts boats out and into the water.

This is the water view from the master bedroom.

It is a foreclosure. Apparently, the previous owner went broke updating the kitchen with new cabinets and granite counter tops.

The living room and family room are tiled. This is the corner of the family room with a built-in bookcase. The doorway on the left goes to the garage and the other doorway is to the laundry room.

This is Shane on the dock of the canal. This house needs some work. Some of the appliances are old, it needs new carpeting in the bedrooms and one of the hallways, it needs some major landscaping, and there are some other small problems we can see. We're just crossing our fingers and waiting now to see what the response is to our offer.

On the Short List

Shane and I are house hunting in Florida this weekend. This house is
on our short list. We looked at about six houses yesterday and this
is the one we liked best so far. It is huge (2,000 square feet) and
in a nice area of North Port. We'd have to replace the carpeting, but
not much else. It is a foreclosure and listed for $114K. How can we
resist?

Shane Looks Over a Hole into the Attic

We may be crazy, but we're not crazy about this house.

The View from the Disaster

This is what we liked about the house on the canal--the only thing.

Crossing One Off the List

Shane and I are in Florida looking at houses this weekend. Shane had
high hopes for this abode he found on the web, but we quickly crossed
it off our list. It does have a beautiful view of a canal in the
back, but the house was a disaster. It said it needed a kitchen, but
it needed much more than that. it was completely gutted inside, had
rotted wood, broken windows (including a bullet hole through a front
window), and was a general mess inside and out. It was priced at
$95K, which is a pipe dream. The view is the only thing it had.

Hump Day Art - Beever Chalk Drawings

Julian Beever is an English artist who is famous for his anamorphic chalk art on the pavements around the world. Beever gives an amazing illusion to his drawings, so that the objects appear to be 3-D (at specific angles) rather than flat as they actually are. See more at his web site here. He also does nice oil paintings, such as the one below.

Back to the Grind

This is all the stuff I took and brought back from the beach. I spent the week at Bethany Beach, DE, and since Shane drove the car home Sunday (he had to go back to work), I didn't have a car. I had to depend on the kindness of strangers... well, actually, my sister. She drove me to my mom's on Friday evening and Shane came up to fetch me on Saturday.

Today was my first day back at work in more than a week. It was also my first day commuting with my new Kindle. Shane got me a Kindle for my birthday. I wasn't totally sold on whether I wanted a Kindle, but I have to say I'm loving it. And, technically, I haven't purchased anything for it yet. I did get a Washington Post subscription, but there is a 14-day free trial before I have to start paying the $9.99 a month. I've also downloaded about a dozen books, but they were all from the web site http://www.manybooks.net/. You can get various classics (and many not so classic) books with expired copyrights for free. So far, I've gotten Wuthering Heights, Emma, Pride and Prejudice, David Copperfield, Great Expectations, among others.

New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #203

I haven't come up with a caption for this one yet. Since I'm posting this from my iPhone, I don't know how to include the link to the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest. There is a link to the site from my web site links in my sidebar. I'm on vacation.

Beach Drag

On Sunday, we went to Rehoboth Beach to see Eyecons, a drag show by Christopher Peterson. He is an amazing performer. He may be most famous for being one of the Lucys in the movie Rat Race. In the show, he performed as Lucy, Marilyn Monroe, Cher, Judy Garland, Liza, Eartha Kitt, and many others. This is not a lip synch show. He is doing their voice and look. He changes costume on the stage before your eyes. If you ever have the chance to see him perform, I would recommend it. He is very good.

The original plan was for Shane, my Mom, sister, and myself to see the show. But, because Shane had to go back to work early, he had to miss it. It ended up being my sister and two of my nieces and me. In the end, my Mom elected to stay home. I offered to get more tickets so we all could go, but the one niece didn't want to go and my Mom didn't want her to stay home alone. We were having bad storms and a tornado warning. Fun times!

Happy Birthday Lucy!

Lucille Ball was born August 6, 1911 in Jamestown, New York. The clip above is just one example of her genius. It is an edited down version of the classic Vitameatavegamin Commercial episode. Though Lucy died in 1989, she will live forever.

The Gang at the Beach

From left to right -- Kelly (niece), Shane, Megan (niece), my Mom, my sister, and Nicole (niece) -- this was from Sunday, prior to Shane's departure later that day. It was a cloudy, windy day, and we had to leave after less than 2 hours because a storm started brewing. Poor Shane didn't get much beach time. He had to go back to DC for work.

Hump Day Art -- Beach Sculpture

This was near where we were set up on the beach at Bethany Beach, DE. I was not involved in its creation. The artist is unknown. It is about 5 feet long and the medium is sand. The model, placed on a towel in front of the sculpture, may have been purchased at a dollar store.

Old-Fashioned Wrapping Paper

My wonderful husband got me a Kindle for my birthday. He wrapped the cover, which he also gave me, in this antique paper that had clowns smoking on it. Very cool!

A Bad Influence

My mom shows her granddaughters proper smoking techniques. My niece, Kelly, on the far right, purchased the fake cigarettes. Megan, on the left, looks like a natural. It is wholesome fun here at the beach.

The Best Pizza Ever

I'm on vacation at the beach and tonight we went to Grotto Pizza for dinner and had the Baker's Choice. It consists if pepperoni, sausage, sweet peppers, mushrooms and extra cheese. OMG it was good! I love their sweet peppers.

Let Me Eat Cake

We celebrated my birthday yesterday because Shane had to go back to DC. He got me a cake and gave me my gifts.

Off to Bethany Beach

Me on the beach at Fenwick Island, DE, earlier this year.

Shane and I are off to the beach. Shane is only going for the weekend because he has limited leave. However, I am renting a house for a week and my Mom and my sister, along with my triplet nieces, are joining me for most of the week. Shane, my Mom, sister and I have tickets to see a drag show (Christopher Peterson's Eyecons) at Rehoboth Beach on Sunday evening. Shane an I saw her perform a few years ago and we never laughed harder in our lives. I can't wait to see my Mother's reaction.

Running Music: The Beloved's "Your Love Takes Me Higher"

I know it's very 1990, but I love to run to this song.

Hump Day Art -- Colin Barclay

The Sea, Twillingate

oil on panel

8"x18"

Gros Morne, Newfoundland III

oil on linen

26"x26"

After the Burn

oil on panel

12"x24"

Frenchman Bay, Morning

oil on panel

12"x24"

The works above are by Colin Barclay. We saw them at the Leighton Gallery during our recent trip to Blue Hill, Maine. Once again, I apologize for the photo quality due to me using my iPhone camera. To see many more examples of Barclay's work and much better quality examples, click here. You can also visit Colin Barclay's website at http://colinbarclay.blogspot.com/. He also has much better photos of his work there.

Solving the World's Problems a Beer at a Time

In chatting with my Mom on the phone recently, we began discussing the arrest of Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. for disorderly conduct. I had written a blog posting about the incident and was curious to know what she thought about it.

Nobody is a bigger fan of Barack Obama than my Mom. She has a 16-year-old girl crush on the man. She has told me that she gets tears in her eyes when he speaks. But beside being sick of hearing too much about the Gates arrest on the talking head shows, she also was not happy about the remark.

Now, I'm not talking about the remark about how the police acted "stupidly." I'm talking about the let's get together and talk this out over a "beer" remark. Her exact quote was, "How does he know they even like beer?"

The poor president can't win. There must be a sizable part of the population that thinks it is terrible that he is promoting alcohol consumption. Now, if he would have offered to have the guys over for a glass of iced tea, my Mom would be a groupie again.

New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #202

What's the SPF on this sunblock?

The above is the cartoon for New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest for week #202, along with my entry for the week. Let me know if you come up with a caption too. Click on the link above to enter.

Eastern Market is Back!

Historic Eastern Market

Is Shane going to buy me flowers?

Above are some photos I took today of our walk over to Eastern Market on Capitol Hill. Built in 1873, the market burned down a couple of years ago. They had a temporary building there for a while, but now the old building has been revamped. It reopened a few weeks ago and this is the first chance Shane and I had of seeing it. It looks great! It is so much cleaner looking than before.

We had lunch at the famous market grill. Shane, as usual, had a burger. Though they are famous for their crab cakes, I had the North Carolina BBQ with coleslaw. My sandwich was messy, but delicious.

Take a few minutes to listen to this National Public Radio report about the reopening here. As the reporter notes, going to Eastern Market is like stepping back in time.

If you live around DC or come for a visit, it is a great place to spend a few hours. There is lots of interesting art, crafts, food, and more.

Name that Book from the First Sentence

Shane and I were goofing around this morning trying to stump each other with figuring out book titles by reading the book's first sentence. I got this one immediately:

"You exposed your penis on national televison, Max."

Any guesses?

Professor Gates Controversy -- A Teaching Moment

Photo by Justin Ide, Harvard University Gazette

I started writing a blog entry 2 days ago about the recent arrest of Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. by a Cambridge, MA, police officer. He was arrested for disorderly conduct after the police were called to his home for a possible break-in. It seemed to me at the time that Prof. Gates had over-reacted -- that if the police came to my door because of a reported break-in, I wouldn't be yelling and screaming like a crazy man -- that he probably deserved to be arrested. I decided not to post it then, because I didn't feel like I knew enough about the incident to make the judgement.

Two days later, I've read the police report, heard what the president had to say, and watched some of the coverage about the incident. I have changed my mind a bit. An African-American law professor from American University was on CNN making a good point. In the police report, the police officer stated he was trying to persuade Gates to go outside, because the acoustics in the house made it difficult to have the discussion since Professor Gates was yelling so much.

The acoustic? Really? Bad acoustics? The American University professor pointed out that to arrest Professor Gates, the officer needed to have Professor Gates be in a public place. You can apparently yell and scream all you want to in your own home perfectly legally, but the police officer knew he needed to get Gates outside to arrest this man accusing him of acting racist.

I still think Professor Gates probably was out of line and should have been more cooperative. However, the officer should have let the matter drop once he established Professor Gates was in his own home. I think the officer lured Professor Gates out of the house so he could arrest him as punishment for being accusatory and uncooperative.

This incident once again displays the brilliance of President Obama. He screwed it up at first with his comment that the police "acted stupidly," when he also didn't have all the facts. Then he very smartly turned it around, calmed everyone down, called on this to be a teaching moment. His statement today on the matter was a good resolution. I know a president from not so long ago that would never admit to any type of mistake, like starting a war with the wrong country.

Why Can’t Sarah Palin Just Go Away?

I opened the homepage to the Washington Post website and found just three stories relating to Sarah Palin. One of the main headlines near the top of the page was about a poll about Sarah’s popularity conducted by the Post and ABC News. Why was this necessary? Apparently, when you announce you’re going to quit your term as governor 18 months early, people start questioning your leadership ability. Though her popularity has dipped, with 53 percent of those polled having a negative opinion, what surprised me was the 40 percent of those polled had a positive opinion. What are they on?

Senators Barbara Boxer and John Kerry have an opinion piece in the Post titled, “What Palin Got Wrong about Energy.” It is a response to an opinion piece by Sarah (or whoever wrote it for her) from last week’s Post. According to Boxer and Kerry, what Palin got wrong was pretty much everything.

The third Palin-mentioned entry is a discussion piece by Timothy Shriver. He suggests Palin focus on fighting for her son and others with Down Syndrome. That would be a noble and important quest for the soon-to-be former governor. Obviously, that won’t happen. She’ll be on the lecture tour racking up the big bucks and stirring up pointless trouble on Fox News. I fear she will be around a long, long time. And, yes, I realize the irony of doing a blog post complaining how much exposure she is getting.

Mindy Smith Sings "Jolene" with Dolly Parton

Poor Mindy Smith looks very nervous in this video, but I love this version of the song. I discovered it on the bus ride home from New York City. I had to do something to keep my mind off the urine smell on that bus. That's the last time we'll take the bus.

"Philosophia" by The Guggenheim Grotto

Zoom Zip Zoom! I love this song.

Blue Sponge Newsroom Update

Twenty Democratic lawmakers are raising a fuss about supporting any health care bill that would pay for abortions. Democrats? The one thing you can say about Republicans is that they know how to fall into line. Dems cannot do this. HBO’s Bill Maher mentioned recently how we need a liberal party in the U.S. I agree. The Dems are now mostly what moderate Republicans used to be. We really do need a party that is for liberal ideals – a party for marriage equality, abortion rights, higher taxes on the wealthy, helping the poor, gun control, real health care reform, and anti-war.

The Senate voted to not fund the F-22 Fighter Jet, which the Pentagon doesn’t even want funded. The main argument for the jets was to prevent a loss of jobs. These are the same people complaining about people on welfare and they want to spend Government money on a program just to keep people employed? I’m guessing that most of the employees working on the F-22 would not lose their jobs, but would be incorporated into other projects. However, the cut would save taxpayers $1.75 billion, but it still has to be finalized with the House of Representatives.

In an interview with NBC, President Obama has finally admitted to looking “a little frumpy” in his baggy jeans at the all-star game last week. Really? They are talking to the President of the United States and this is what they choose to discuss? Do I smell a Pulitzer Prize?

I was surprised by a poll result in the Express newspaper. It asked, “Does Michael Vick deserve a second chance to play in the NFL?” Vick is a football player convicted and recently released from prison after serving nearly 2 years for his role in dog fighting. He is still suspended from playing. The poll results showed 58 percent voted no and 42 percent voted yes. I was surprised that nearly half the people voted yes, he should be able to continue to play. Though I agree, he served his time and should be allowed to play, I can’t imagine any team would be foolish enough to hire him.

DVR Alert: TLC is premiering season 2 of Toddlers & Tiaras tonight. How did I miss season 1 of this show? There is nothing sadder or more bizarre than child beauty pageants. I never get tired of watching this stuff and remembering that gay people are not allowed to adopt children in some states, yet these parents are lawfully permitted to do this to their kids.

Hump Day Art -- Richard Roflow Watercolor

Here is yet another painting from the Blue Hill Bay Gallery, in Blue Hill, Maine. It is a watercolor by Richard Roflow called South Deer Isle Bridge. It measures 16 by 16 inches.

I thought it was an amazing watercolor. I realize this photo taken with my iPhone is horrible. I had to take the picture at an angle because of the reflective glass over the painting. Even with the horrible photography though, you can see it is an exceptional work. The water alone is quite an effect. I'm not art expert, but I thought this painting was very good.

The following is from an article in the Mainely Art section of the Just Art web site: Deer Isle [Maine) painter Richard Roflow was one of the winners in the 1995 National Park Academy of the Arts competition, Arts for the Parks. Most of the artist's paintings are inspired by the drama of the Maine coast and coastal weather.

"He rarely paints on a sunny day. It's always misty, foggy, and dramatic. He paints those days that Mainers know as being a Maine day," said Barbara Entzminger, whose Bar Harbor [Maine] Birdnest Gallery exhibits many of Roflow's paintings.

"I fell in love with Maine by reading the Kenneth Roberts novels when I was in high school," said Roflow. But it was more than 20 years later when he and his wife, Jerry, first traveled to Maine where they bought a wharf-side house on Deer Isle.

"I consider myself a light painter. I try to paint the light I see and how it creates distances," Roflow said, explaining the prominence given to plays of light in his compositions.

"Roflow captures the qualities of atmosphere and its light-color shows which most of us hardly notice," writes Fran Watson. "Tiny droplets of moisture in the air act as color magnifiers, bathing landscape in eerie glows of uncommon intensity for brief moments, transforming the ordinary into the exotic. The most familiar objects attain an importance through his eyes as he renders them with a combination of softness and accuracy. His depictions are tinted fragments of hushed time, caught in the manner of masters like Corot and Daubigny whose visions changed rural simplicity into mythological magic."

New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #201

Al Fresco, Private Eye. How may I help you?

The above is the cartoon for New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest for week #201. Let me know if you come up with a caption. Click on the link above to enter. Stupidly, when I actually entered this captioned, I didn't proof it and forgot the "r" in Fresco. Al Fesco, Private Eye, doesn't make as much sense, huh?

One of the finalists for Contest #199, which showed a defendent in the courtroom in swimming trunks and snorkle, is almost identical to one that Walt at WCS submitted. You were robbed Walt! Walt came up with the picking the lobster concept.