WEDNESDAY HODGEPODGE

Volume 120
Why don't you join in.
Joyce is waiting for you..............

1. Share one fun thing you did last week, while the Hodgepodge was on 'spring break'.

I went to see two movies last week.  Admission and Oz the Great and Powerful. Both very enjoyable.

2.  April 10th is National Sibling Day...do you have siblings, and if so are you close? Share a favorite story featuring one or all of your siblings. If you don't have siblings, did you ever wish you did?

I have an older brother who lives in Milwaukee and my sister, who is older than me, lives in Florida. We are as close as we can be living so far apart. My brother and I email almost daily. Wishing my sister would get an email account!

3. Is it important to you to 'buy American'? Why or why not? How much of an effort do you make to 'buy American'? If you're not American, insert your own country in the blank.

I try but I need to try harder. Shopping is not something I am passionate about so I want to get in and out quickly. I think it's sad where things have gone over the years in this country. I understand keeping the costs down but we are losing our America and precious jobs. 

4. Besides The Bible, what book has impacted your spirituality in some way?

Well since I have a hard time retaining what I read I will have to say that I've been inspired by some guests on Oprah's Lifeclass over the last few years.  Joel Osteen is one of them. 

5. April showers bring May flowers or so the saying goes.  Do you find rainy days calming or depressing?  When were you last caught in a rainstorm? What's blooming in your neck of the woods today?

I don't mind a rainy day, it can be very calming but more than a few can be depressing. Don't remember exactly the last time I was caught in a rainstorm but I can guarantee I was shopping!  We always have things blooming here in Southern California but several things are starting to flourish more than usual. 

6. What's your favorite yellow food?

Well yellow is known as my favorite color but not sure about a food that is my favorite.  I don't mind bananas or corn but maybe some yellow cake would be good. I like mustard!

7. April is National Poetry Month...what's a poem that holds special meaning for you, and why is it special?

This poem by W. H. Auden was used in " Four Weddings and a Funeral" and I love it.  Special....well it's about losing the love of your life. 

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead,
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood.
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

I am sure you heard about the passing of Robert Ebert, a respected film critic, who was well known for the show At the Movies with Siskel and Ebert from 1982 - 1990. He will be missed. We watched their show all the time. My friend The Boston Lady wrote a post about his passing last Thursday that sparked a memory for me. 

His partner Gene Siskel went to college with a well know sportscaster from Chicago named Tim Weigel.  They were roommates at Yale University. In 1999 Gene Siskel passed away from a brain tumor and in 2000 Tim Weigel passed away from a brain tumor also. Don't you think that is unusually strange that two collage roommates would both die from brain tumors?

Anyway I wanted to share something that was pretty special to us living in the suburb of Western Springs, IL at the time. In 1980 our Yellow Labrador Abby had 12 puppies. What an adventure that was! Do you know how big Labrador puppies are at six weeks?

Well imagine our surprise when we got a phone call from Tim Weigel about our puppies. That's right, Tim Weigel and his family came out to our home to buy a puppy from us. Yes we did take a picture and it is definitely here in the house somewhere in a box! Here are a few pictures of our puppies. The single puppy in the photo on the bottom is Zack and he is the puppy that we kept. (That is Adam getting the puppy kisses and Amber hadn't been born yet) click to enlarge.....