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  My blog was filled up. I'm too lazy to clean it out. So I started a new one. |
| I have come to see this woman in a different light. She isn't just Roy's wife or the writer of "Happy Trails". In her early movies, she was quite pretty. She had a small waist, wore high heels, pulled her hair back, and had huge round eyes. The two of them did mostly shows from their own time period, rather than pretend to be in the "old west". On the rare occasions when they did do historical settings, they did not use their own names. On the Roy Rogers Show, she was supportive of Roy in all the stories. But she wasn't a wall flower or diminutive in any way. She rode horses with the men, sometimes doing tricks, she handled a weapon just like they did, and was generally fearless. She made good decisions, hired and fired, and took a strong role for a woman without disrespecting or demeaning her man. In a movie from the 40's, she fired all the men who worked on her ranch, and replaced them with all women, who did a lot of fancy riding, and did all the men's chores just as well. She was an early liberated woman, even before Barbara Stanwyck took a strong leading role in The Big Valley. I can't speak for the radio show, which came first, because I never heard it. But the TV show had children as a primary audience, yet can still entertain adults. It was clean, no swearing, no saloon girls, no one was ever killed. There was some shooting, and occasionally, someone was wounded. This may have been misleading because there was no emphasis on the danger involved or the pain and healing. However, most conflicts were handled with fisticuffs, which can be bad enough for a gullible audience. That's why parents need to watch what their kids are watching and have discussions. Dale wore fringe and cowgirl outfits occasionally, but she also wore an apron when working at the café. She and Roy and sidekick Pat always worked with the law and played by the rules. They usually drew some kind of moral conclusion at the end, even before making fun of Pat. Yeah, they did run the show by their formula, a lot of flash mixed with integrity, law, clean living, charity, and other high values. Dale seems to be a good role model for girls to emulate-hard working, feminine, bold, self-reliant, strong, and courageous. |
| Everyone has seen those hooks that ultimately want to sell you something. They show up on Facebook and E-mails, pop-ups, and so-called news sites. You know the articles that promise to tell you the foods you should never eat before bedtime, or what medicine you should never take, or a six second habit that will change your life. You click on, and ten, fifteen minutes later, the video still has not answered the hook. You leave the room and go to the bathroom or get a drink, return, and the voice is still going on with background info, much of which is not new. It's general background. Well, I can tell you some short cuts. 1) Don't eat celery late at night. Daytime is okay. 2) Fish oils, even krill oil, which can be very expensive, may not be pure, and don't have all the omega's you need, The fish have to come from certain places at certain times of year, and have to be processed better than most companies do. 3) Avoid vegetable oil. If you have to use oil, look for non-saturated fats or pay a lot of money for pure coconut oil. Peanut oil smokes when hot. 4) Margarine is not as good as we once believed. Stick to butter, but use in moderation. 5) Turkey bacon sounds like a healthier alternative right? No, avoid this. I cooked some recently. My family commented about how tough it was, how they didn't like the texture. I realized how flat it remained while cooking, and the artificial color. Even before I stuck through one of the long talks to finally find out this hook's answer, I thought this is still highly processed in order to have this flavor and look. So stay away. Another one that I've fallen for long ago, which is now a no0-no, whole grain cereals. They are still processed at length and don't offer as much goodness as we thought. Many have additives we need to avoid. So they recommend staying away from these and sticking with cooked oatmeal, not the instant kind. They call all these things copywriting. They get turned into boring audios with a few graphics. They go on forever and most people give up without getting to the meat of the original headline. Or they stick it out to discover this is for an incredibly overpriced item, and they will be hit with unending SPAM. In general, we can assume that eggs aren't as bad as we once were told. Exercise is always preferable to sitting for long periods. Saving money is better than being shopaholics. Sleep is important in adequate amounts. Protect your skin and your eyes from the sun. Plant a tree, and be charitable. The products being sold are steeply priced to pay all the copywriters and producers of these ads. Modern day tonic or snake oil salesmen. |
| I just got over a six week run of headaches and neck aches. It's only on one side of my head, and I'm told it's muscle tension. I can't take anything but Tylenol, and that's limited. So I don't get a lot of relief. I've had physical therapy before, and it takes a while before that helps, but I remember a lot of the procedures. The first time I talked to a doctor about it was in 1996. I might go six months or more without a headache, but when the neck starts hurting, the pain goes on for 3 to 4 weeks. This time was a record. So it finally stopped. Two whole days with no pressure, no pain in the neck or shoulders, no sinus trouble. Then I threw out my back again. It hurt almost the entire month of September last year. It had been a decade before that. This time, I know what triggered it, but I won't waste time here complaining about fixing a problem someone else created. So now, I can't go to the gym, can't weed the flowerbeds, or lift every day things around the house. You would think that would be a relief, but it hurts to get in and out of the car, step into the bathtub, and lean over the sink when washing my face. Sitting down and getting up is very slow. I look even older than I feel by the way I move. The first time I noticed the skin on my arms had turned to crepe paper, I was driving the car, and the sunlight shone on my forearms. I was horrified! When had this happened? Was I having an allergic reaction to something? Then it hit me. I was wearing new prescription eyeglasses. I was seeing what everyone else had already seen. I was even more horrified. I had crossed some old lady line, and other people knew it before I did. I also get cramps in my feet and legs and hands. From the commercials I see on TV, I get the impression that this is quite common. How did old age come on so fast? Why is it so mean? When do my golden years have a golden gleam? How did my outside get so wrinkly before my inside? Well, obviously my physical inside is getting old, too. But inside my spirit, I'm still young. I still want to plan for a long future and experience new things. I want to live in ways which don't work with my outsides. I'm still learning, growing, and yearning. I'm waiting patiently for pains to subside and get on with the real living. I say hurray for the farmers who are still laboring hard into their 70's and 80's. Hurray for older folks who still ride horses and groom them themselves. Hurray for the doctors and scientists who won't retire. I have a friend in her mid 80's, who does all her own yard work in a very large yard in a high falutin' neighborhood, and still goes to the church to pull weeds every week. Hurray for her. Hurray for the elderly directors and actors who won't give up, even though I may not have liked them even when they were younger. If you're able to keep doing what you love, be it doctoring, acting, butchering, farming, sewing, writing, or whatever, keep doing it! Don't let the aches and pains, the hearing loss, giving up your driving license, or slowness of body make a sissy of you. What you lack in strength, stamina, and agility, you make up for in knowledge, wisdom, and experience. We're slow, but we're still here. |
| This 1941 film was very interesting. It stars John Wayne, as the good guy, still slim and handsome. Walter Pidgeon was the notoriously bad Kansas raider, Will Cantrell. Clair Trevor is the love interest. Her younger brother is the very slim, long-haired Roy Rogers, a true southern gentleman in a rich Kansas family. Gabby Hayes is also in the film. It was different seeing Roy be a second banana, a cowboy wannabe, and a little wimpy. It was rather dark and sinister, not your customary Wayne type movie of later years. It was full of political commentary, not all correct, of course. It did point out varying points of view. While touching on some real historical issues, you can't rely on this story for any degree of accuracy. It is fiction with an agenda. Anyone who enjoys film history, or seeing film stars in their younger glory days, will enjoy seeing this. I was really surprised to see Roy acting outside his wholesome, tough guy hero role. I'd give the actors and the director 5 stars. Writing. . . well, I would have liked a little more truth in the story. Someone claimed it was a revisionist western restyled for Wayne. It was barely a western, other than being in Kansas. It didn't seem to be revisionist, but it didn't have any John Wayne bravado either. |
| On Sunday, I spoke to an older friend who is easy going and very friendly. (He played baseball before blacks were allowed to play on white teams.) He can't drive any more, and lives at a senior home. I asked if he was hanging in there. He grinned and answered, "I'm holding on with both hands." He made me laugh. I liked the sound of that. You don't have to be in your 80's or 90's to be holding on with both hands. You make the most of life, whatever your abilities, or limitations. No matter how old you get, or tied up in health issues or family members' issues, you still have the same basic needs and wants. You still want to be respected, to be cared for, to love and be loved. You still need friends. You need to feel needed and appreciated. I personally have this fantasy about falling in love again before I die. He has to be honest, respectable, thoughtful, and stable. you know, the usual. He doesn't need to be rich or live in a big house. But at my age, all the men are either married or worn out. I know what you're thinking. They look at me and think that I'm worn out. Maybe, I acknowledge that. But that doesn't make the thought go away. Meanwhile, I have family responsibilities from which I cannot escape, even for a weekend. So this fantasy doesn't even make the bucket list. So, we all need to find workable ways to hold on with both hands. Working or retired or raising children, healthy or struggling, we have to hold on to life like we really mean it. Fun has to be a part of our lives. Encouraging others, complimenting them, or thanking them is one way to feel better about ourselves. Working through the aches and pains, and misunderstandings is part of holding on. Not shopping so that you can pay a bill, that's holding on. A positive attitude is so important to our well-being. I tend to gripe, but that's a bad thing. I have to talk myself into letting go quite often. "Letting go" of my hurt feelings or my anger, so much easier said than done, is another way of holding onto life, of being more satisfied with my years. I'm discovering as I think about the rest of my life, whether it's one month, one decade, or another 30 years, what I want most is to feel satisfied I've led a good life. I don't want to be in survival mode kind of hanging on. I want to have some gusto and meaning as I hang on with both hands. |
| Today I went with a small group of people to the state capitol to visit two historic mansions with vast gardens on a major river. The weather was perfect for such a trip. We enjoyed the beauty of nature, cultivated gardens, and saw how the fabulously wealthy lived in bygone eras. The first was a large house purchased in England in the early 1900's. It was from the Tudor period. It was dismantled and shipped to America, board by board, pane of glass, etc. The furnishings were gone because the owners had fallen on hard times. It had been in the same family 19 generations, but could no longer be maintained. The government was not willing to take it over. This very wealthy American liked it and wanted to start a community of similar homes in America. It took him three years and almost half a million dollars to reassemble it, adding plumbing, and so forth. Shipping was not included in the costs we were given. Once the house was finished, they added period pieces from the Tudor era, and modern pieces that suited their own needs. Unfortunately, the rich man died one year after they moved in, only in his thirties. His young wife survived another 90 plus years in this house. When she died, In 1969 she turned it into a museum and found lodging more suitable to an elderly woman. The community of similar homes never happened because of the Depression and his death. Large homes sprang up around it of a more modern nature. The library was a personal touch of the owners and still houses thousands of books. It was their living area and very modern. Today that room is intact, but roped off for viewing at a distance only. the rest of the house has been refurnished, museum style. We learned a lot of things from our historian tour guide. The house is very dark. The great room was mostly a work room for the servants, except for special occasions and feasts. Candles were expensive, so the English would tak a rush (reed), dip it in animal fat, clip it in a special stand, then burn it at both ends. It only lasted a minute or so. But that gave us the expression, burning your candle on both ends. We saw am actual trunk from England, upstairs in the old version of a man cave. It served as a safe. It was impossible to open by cutting or shooting. It was booby trapped. If you tried to open it with a stolen key, you'd have to remove rags stuffed in the lock first. When you withdrew your finger, the blades were spring and your finger was cut off. Thus, you were caught "red-handed". An even better one came from the dining hall. There was only one chair at the table. The master of the house sat there, so he was the "chair man". The table was really just a wide board placed on wooden legs, but covered with an elegant cloth. It was much more narrow than today's dining table. So the "chair man" was "chairman of the board. All the others, the chosen guests, adults only, sat on benches or stools around the board. They were "on the board". They were happy to be on the board, because the chairman was a duke or earl or some other important person who might even collect taxes. Outside we enjoyed the architecture, the garden paths, the magnolias, the shrubs, and flowers. Vegetables were mixed with herbs and tulips. We were running out of time, so we skipped the house tour at the second mansion. We walked the gardens only, and did so in a rush. The path was long and downhill to the Japanese Gardens. I didn't make it to the Italian Garden. The many, many steps, and fountains were breath-taking. Red azaleas covered the hill at the bottom. The air was so fragrant. Children were running everywhere. Our minds boggled to think one family was rich enough to build all that for themselves, so vast that no private family or group could maintain it after their passing. At the entrance they were holding a fair with food trucks, crafts, and plant sales. That was on flat land. We didn't take time to look at that I'll never be that rich and don't want that large a group of employees to maintain my yard. But it did make me want to pull some weeds and plant some rosemary. Just give me some mosquito repellent. |
| Have I complained lately about satellite service? Well, I'm going to whine some now. Dish let us go on using the same obsolete equipment for years without offering to replace it, but collected monthly fees anyway. We were accumulating "credits" by paying on time for so long, but they didn't tell us about them, until we quit our service with them. We hooked up with Direct TV for a special deal. Dish wouldn't suspend it when I requested, so we ended up paying for 3 weeks when we weren't even connected. If I wanted to pay Direct for breaking the contract, we could use the built up credits on New Dish service (with a new contract). There were two free or included channels on Dish that we don't get now. I have to call around May 9 to cancel the free trial, and hope that the channel we like the best is not in that bundle. I think it is, because it's one of the STARZ networks, but only reruns old movies. We still haven't gotten the $200 gift card we were promised. It came with no instructions, so I haven't figured out how to record, or how to remove the unavailable channels from my list when I'm surfing. And I can't connect to my Internet, which is also new and more expensive than promised. I was told I had WI Fii, but I'm not savy of these things and can't watch TV anywhere as promised. I feel like they're all liars, refusing full disclosure. I asked for something in writing from DISH. All they sent was an advertisement by email. How can I compare plans and prices. They will not divulge any info that allows you to make an educated choice. We only changed because we wanted to reduce our monthly bill. That went up because of the overlapping services, but should even out next month. My Internet improved, but instead of going up $10, it went up about $40 because it's tied in with the phone, which was not explained to me. Where are the honest business people? Or is that an oxymoron? Reaching them with anything other than a technical difficulty is pretty difficult, too. You always are told you have the wrong department. And the numbers are in another state. No one local has any idea what is going on. Make things simple for the consumer. Spell out what you offer, what it costs, what are the terms, how you can be reached, how to terminate your relationship, etc. And I have to get rid of the obsolete equipment. I can't sell it. I am not supposed to send it to the dump. But I am not going to drive to another town to recycle it. It seems like that should be Dish's problem. |
| Death Valley Days was a TV show in the 50's. I've heard of it, but have never seen it, as best as I can recall, even in reruns, until recently. I have actually enjoyed it. It's in black and white, only half an hour. It's introduced and ended by "the old ranger", who gives a little background and draws a moralistic conclusion. There are no regular characters on the show, but a lot of famous TV stars or movie stars make appearances in the short tales. They are, of course, about California. Each show begins and ends simply, without fanfare or big music. The twenty mule teams hauling borax out of Death Valley are shown. This is a phenomenon worth explaining. Borax was one of many rich resources blessing California. Hauling it out, required a lot of power. Horses wore out too fast and needed to be rested frequently and watered. Mules can withstand the physical strain for longer periods of time without stopping or thirsting. The weight of a wagon of borax required 20 mules to share the burden. By the 20th century, Borateem, a brand name cleaning product, used the logo of the 20 mule team. One episode featured San Francisco and its development. It kept a chronological record of the gold rush, 1849, the crime wave and fires for easy looting, starting in 49 and going on once or twice a year until vigilante law corrected the situation. Already in 1849 the government was corrupt, and gangs prevailed. This is consistent with what I have read. By 1870, there was Nob Hill with its successful businessmen, former prostitutes and gamblers who had come up in the world, as well as retired miners and lawyers and importers, along with the proper and educated people from the East. (From what I've read, Chinatown and the Barbary Coast were in full swing, but that wasn't covered in this show.) I enjoy watching the progression and knowing what was going on at the same time in some other part of the country or world. It gives me the big picture. On another episode, a cute but supposedly true, story about some kids was used to illustrate the story of the Pelton water wheel. Mr. Pelton had failed at many jobs, including mining, but he had become a millwright and liked to tinker and invent things. He wanted to make operating a foot pedal sewing machine easier for his land lady and used his water wheel to speed things up for her. From there, he kept working on the idea and revolutionized mills and mines with his huge machines and waterwheels. His first patent was in 1850. This is probably my favorite kind of western. You actually can learn things and put westerns in perspective with the history of the world. |
| I was pleasantly surprised the other night. It was bedtime. My father had started watching a movie, which I knew I couldn't stay up to see. But he called my attention to it because of the name. I watched for a moment, and it looked stupid. But very quickly, I was hooked. Dad was not. He got up and went to bed. I stayed to watch the entire movie. It was great. I like The Wonder Years and The Goldbergs, both TV shows told from the viewpoint of an adult who remembers well the events of his childhood and his feelings. This was the same kind of thing, but told by an Indian boy living in America. (Notice these funny, nostalgic coming of age stories are all told by males.) His whole family wants to live the American dream, but the two children desperately want to fit in now. The girl is a bit older and blends in more easily; being pretty helps. The parents have not given up their old ways, their aspirations for their children, or their religious practices. Unfortunately for Smith, Halloween, that sacred day so anticipated by children, falls on a high holy day for Hindus. This vividly paints the conflict for us. The father is the strict enforcer of their old country ways, the boy wants to embrace what all his chums are doing, and the mother works very hard to appease them both but falls short. By following Smith through his school days, we see the bullying and harassment he faces for being different. We see his family being successful in some ways and disappointed in others as they try to be American and Indian at the same time. A great deal of humor is added in by their neighbors, who do not go to church, are willing to accept them as they are, and have a daughter who becomes best friends with Smith. This neighbor is played by Jason Lee, the actor who played Earl in My Name Is Earl. He wears flannel shirts, drives a pick up and goes hunting. He takes Smith deer hunting one day and fails to follow his own good advice; he gets wounded and can't work for a long time. He is like a cowboy to Smith, and he is his Tonto. Most of the story takes place when Smith is ten. It is framed by his remarks as a grown man, who according to his father's plan, has become a neurosurgeon and married a girl arranged for him when he was a child in India, and lives there like a raja (his father's dream). He has returned to America at the end and reunites with his parents and sister, who married her American high school sweetheart. Once again he receives advice from his friend across the street and begins the next chapter of his life. It was wonderfully touching and insightful. I loved it and highly recommend it. |
| When I was young, we didn't wear little sailor type outfits any more. But we did wear a lot of pastels, gathers, and lace with puffy sleeves and bows that tied in the back. We wore buster brown shoes, Keds - if your Mom would spend that much-, and black patent leather Mary Janes with white socks. If you were lucky, you got white Mary Janes to be worn between Easter and Labor Day only. You wore skirts to school and sweaters to keep warm. By the time I was in 9th grade, we were wearing Garland brand or similar color co-ordinated skirts and sweaters, knee socks, and shells or short sleeve blouses. I remember thinking $7 for a blouse was for rich girls only. I was envious of those who wore them. These were worn with penny or tassel loafers. Nylons were okay for school, but always for church, after age 12. By the time my nieces came along, little girls still wore fancy dresses, but black was acceptable. I recall being shocked thinking a perverse, deathly color could have bows and puffy sleeves and put on preschoolers. Garland was out; so was Papagallo. Madras became passe. Grown women wore colored glass and sequins on sweaters and sweatshirts, so little girls did, too. Pretty soon little girls wore sleeveless dresses in winter and spaghetti straps in summer. Teens wore hot pants to church with spaghetti strap tops. As a young adult I taught in a preschool and was amazed at children making their own clothes choices. They picked their own outfits at age two and three and had very strong opinions about it. My brothers and I wore what Mom told us to wear until we were at least 11. She probably had a lot of influence after that. For years now, girls have been wearing tutus, glitter, sequins, and anything that sparkles. Their clothes reflect adult styles with cutouts, breathing shoulders, lacing, and so forth. They don't have anything left for special occasions because they make every day special. I just spent a couple of hours vacuuming chairs, upholstery, carpets, stairs, and bedding getting up glitter from a child's dress who came to visit yesterday. (Did you gather that she gets into everything?) Their shoes and socks cost as much as an adult's. Of course, it's all driven by business. You can't have hand-me-downs too many years. You have to go out and buy something stylish. A five year old will be too self-conscious in something that's not currently in style. Heaven forbid that the child should wear a quaint print or not own a few items that say Nike or Adidas. That might affect his ability to grow or to learn or socialize. It's a different world, even for children. |
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