Category Archives: Just Me – AmeliaJake

Just Me - AmeliaJake, The Peanut Butter Cafe & Roadhouse

A head thunker – The Argyle Sweater

I read The Argyle Sweater by Scott Hilburn and so far my favorite is the very balding bear looking at toupees, i.e. bear rugs. Want to see it? CLICK for the UCLICK connection.

Today, though, was another one that just caused my head to flop forward – fortunately there was no wall right there, so, in truth, it was not really a head thunker . .  . but it could have been. You can see it HERE.

I don’t know – maybe some people think hitting your forehead with the heel of you hand is head thunking. Maybe it is; I do that when I have been really slow on the uptake and all of a sudden I “get it”.  Maybe the head flopping thing doesn’t have a name. I do it when something clever catches me unawares and I immediately think, “I am not worthy.”

But now I have myself thinking about the period inside or outside the quotation marks depending on the usage. Ah, the rules of English . . . deep down in my heart I love them. Still, I break them. Well, you always hurt the one you love, the one you shouldn’t hurt at all . . . and that’s all the lyrics of that song I remember. Oh, wait. I remember the ending: So if I broke your heart last night, it’s because I love you best of all. Whoa, the guy who penned  that philosophy needs to be hit in the face with a fish. Talk about sleazing your way out of something.

Just Me - AmeliaJake, The Peanut Butter Cafe & Roadhouse

Nikki Weinberg – United Airlines

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I found an email in my box about Nikki – she has Ewing’s Sarcoma and I’ve been following her CarePage for over a year. Make a Wish has arranged for her to go to Hawaii, but can only provide a coach seat. Her dad is willing to do anything to get her an upgrade to first class where she would be much more comfortable. So far he has not heard back from United Airlines.

He is asking for a little help to get the friendly sky people to respond and a little help from anyone who can make it easier for Nikki.

Nikki’s CarePage has information and the story of her two-year rugged journey.

UPDATE: United Airlines has provided Nikki and her mother with first class tickets. Her father announced it on the CarePage.

Just Me - AmeliaJake, The Peanut Butter Cafe & Roadhouse

aspects of our morning

Once upon a time in the land of California, dre Bingle and Quentin got piece of furniture, which for some reason, we call “the cube” instead of “the cubes”. It moved to Geogia and it came here and now it is going to Fairborn . . . in a car. That means dissembly.

Well, this much is left:

the-cube

And here is Der Bingle realizing he needs metric allen wrenches to finish the job.

der-bingle-contemplating

Now, while he is going to get some, his helper, Cameron has formed the subject of a photo I shall call

DECADENCE ON A BEAN BAG.

decadence-on-a-beanbag

Oh, yeah . . .  Here’s a handycam film from the tour in San Diego Bay. I, the am amazingly selfless grandma, stood in a strong wind for a tour I have been on repeatedly and filmed Navy ships just for Cameron.  I came across it while looking for allen wrenches and stuck it in the DVD player; the picture quality is quite good.

sd-bay-tour

Once when Quentin came home for a day, we stuck one of these little DVD’s in my computer, not realizing this was NOT meant to be done. Grandma Sarah was downstairs and we had to be very careful we didn’t make any noise while we walked around trying to shake the disc out.

Just Me - AmeliaJake, The Peanut Butter Cafe & Roadhouse

Morning sunlight

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So many things in life now we can do anytime thanks to electricity and rapid transportation, but there is this matter of the sunlight of the day. When it comes in a window, especially at a strong angle in the morning, it marches quickly, spotlighting things as it goes. You cannot say, “Well, I’m going to spend five minutes watching it reflect off  something on a shelf.” It does not linger; you see it only for the short while it is there. And the next day, even if it is sunny, the light will not hit quite the same spots again.

This is the light as it hit berries and a tree sitting on a window sill opposite:

sunlight-on-berries

bigger-sunlight-on-berries

Just Me - AmeliaJake

You bark, I get up

Thank you, Sydney, for another Saturday morning event. You come bark at me; I get up; you go back to bed and sleep some more. I particularly like the way you raise your head from your pre-going back to sleep position and follow me walking around with your eyes. What keeps me from pouncing on you and grabbing your ears and pretending you are a motorcycle and I am riding you? Vroooooom! You didn’t think of that, did you? Well, of course, not. If I did something so heinous, all your little admirers would come running and I would be placed in a cell of shame with words or reprimand taped on the bars for me to read as I sit on my little prison cot.

You  .. . . . FURHEAD!  YOU SLEEPING FURHEAD!  I guess I will just have to go eat something tasty while you are sleeping, something like last night’s grilled hamburgers. Or maybe steak? Or Girl Scout Lemon Cookies . . . you know you love them.

Maybe I’ll just sit here and lean and NAP myself. How about that . . . FURHEAD?

I mean, who was it who spent two months on a futon with you when you broke your leg so you would stay calm? Who carried you in and out to do the bathroom thing – so, okay, once I did misjudge and knock your cast on the doorframe. Who fixes you rice and drained buffalo meat because you have a system vulnerable to pancreatitis?

Oh, wait. Is this some hazing thing? Some initiation into honorary doghood? That would be such an honor. Do I get a little pair of fur ears to wear? Whoa, I’m getting excited.

Just Me - AmeliaJake

Terri Ford – lady at bank

Stopped in at Scott’s this morning and then at the Chase Bank – went inside because I’m really not a drive-thru person. I filled out my deposit slip and then went to Terri Ford’s window and she told me I was looking good. Well, she always makes me feel good, raises my spirits. She and her husband Regan also provide music at local events and she said they’d be at Cobblestone tonight for the fundraiser for Noble House.  I feel like a party myself . . . so maybe I’ll put my Diet Coke in a fancy glass and actually pour my popcorn into a bowl while I sit here in front of some cable movie and let the last of my cold play out.

I could get an old steering wheel from some junkyard and mount it on the floor in front of the sofa and pretend I’m watching a drive-in movie . . . but then I would need a window to hang my speaker from and I’d have to put risers under the front legs of the sofa to simulate the parking ramp thing.

Or maybe I could buy an old non-operative auto from the 60’s and put a flat screen on the hood in front of the windshield. It could be our media room.

See, I probably would not have considered these ideas had it not been for Terri at the bank being cheerful . . . so I guess we’ll have to name the car/media room after her. I guess a patched together Reagan Ford bumper sticker would work – sort of.

Just Me - AmeliaJake

I need a poultice

I have a sore throat and a cough. Because my grandmother was 45 when my mother was born and because we were a rural family, when I was little I was included in the time-honored poultice treatment. Well I remember having Vicks Vapor Rub applied to my chest and throat and then a wool cloth placed over my chest and around my neck.  I don’t mind the smell of  Vicks – in fact, I find it comforting. But the wool . . . oh my gosh, it scratched and itched and I hated it. I can’t remember what I thought was worse, the sore throat inside or the irritated one on the outside. If I remember correctly, they used  big old safety pins to hold the wool in place. I can still see faces leaning over me and, yes, I can still hear the whines that came out of my mouth.

Right now I wouldn’t mind having Vicks on me – I’d just use flannel to cover it – and I’d welcome heavy comforters that smell of woodsmoke.

Just Me - AmeliaJake

Cranberry blur

cranberry-blur

These are the rich colors from a Christmas season night. In a darkened room, hanging over the edge of a basket and catching the reflection of white lights from a small wreath, they draw your attention. The camera vibration gave them a bit of a blur, just as they  looked through sleepy eyes without glasses.