Not being able to see things is becoming a theme. First the fancy-pants spiral-shaped compact flourescent "bulb" in the kitchen, the one that's supposed to be "just as bright" and "just as good" only cheaper, has begun dimming, and way too soon! I had so much trouble getting the glass shade fitted back over it and attached securely. Now we might as well be lighting by kerosene. Then the halogen bulb blew out in the fixture that permits reading in the middle of the night. We can't complain about this, since I think that it's getting close on to a decade that we've had it. Luckily we had a proper replacement, but all the literature is truly frightening. Under no circumstances is the bulb to be touched by the human hand or skin oils can cause it to explode into a trillion pieces or something. The old bulb was sold under the General Electric name and manufactured in Hungary. The replacement (from Office Depot and sitting around for a half-dozen years or so in the drawer) bears a Dana label and was made in China. Then the globe shaped bulb in the downstairs bathroom went. There can be no complaint about this, either, since it has lasted over twenty years despite daily use! Despite appearances, any old light bulb will fit the fixture and do the job, though in a Booth-cartoon way, until we get out to buy a prettier specimen.

Not being able to see things is becoming a theme. First the fancy-pants spiral-shaped compact flourescent "bulb" in the kitchen, the one that's supposed to be "just as bright" and "just as good" only cheaper, has begun dimming, and way too soon! I had so much trouble getting the glass shade fitted back over it and attached securely. Now we might as well be lighting by kerosene. Then the halogen bulb blew out in the fixture that permits reading in the middle of the night. We can't complain about this, since I think that it's getting close on to a decade that we've had it. Luckily we had a proper replacement, but all the literature is truly frightening. Under no circumstances is the bulb to be touched by the human hand or skin oils can cause it to explode into a trillion pieces or something. The old bulb was sold under the General Electric name and manufactured in Hungary. The replacement (from Office Depot and sitting around for a half-dozen years or so in the drawer) bears a Dana label and was made in China. Then the globe shaped bulb in the downstairs bathroom went. There can be no complaint about this, either, since it has lasted over twenty years despite daily use! Despite appearances, any old light bulb will fit the fixture and do the job, though in a Booth-cartoon way, until we get out to buy a prettier specimen.

Not being able to see things is becoming a theme. First the fancy-pants spiral-shaped compact flourescent "bulb" in the kitchen, the one that's supposed to be "just as bright" and "just as good" only cheaper, has begun dimming, and way too soon! I had so much trouble getting the glass shade fitted back over it and attached securely. Now we might as well be lighting by kerosene. Then the halogen bulb blew out in the fixture that permits reading in the middle of the night. We can't complain about this, since I think that it's getting close on to a decade that we've had it. Luckily we had a proper replacement, but all the literature is truly frightening. Under no circumstances is the bulb to be touched by the human hand or skin oils can cause it to explode into a trillion pieces or something. The old bulb was sold under the General Electric name and manufactured in Hungary. The replacement (from Office Depot and sitting around for a half-dozen years or so in the drawer) bears a Dana label and was made in China. Then the globe shaped bulb in the downstairs bathroom went. There can be no complaint about this, either, since it has lasted over twenty years despite daily use! Despite appearances, any old light bulb will fit the fixture and do the job, though in a Booth-cartoon way, until we get out to buy a prettier specimen.

Even for people not seeing well, the parade of the A&M band and corps was a treat. So much brass! Some of the kids were really late and went running across the bridge as fast as they could (no girls, though, we noticed).

Even for people not seeing well, the parade of the A&M band and corps was a treat. So much brass! Some of the kids were really late and went running across the bridge as fast as they could (no girls, though, we noticed).

Even for people not seeing well, the parade of the A&M band and corps was a treat. So much brass! Some of the kids were really late and went running across the bridge as fast as they could (no girls, though, we noticed).

Plenty of people lose a contact lens? How many break one? I hate being making a choice: (1) go around blind; (2) wear a patch over one eye; (3) bring out the spectacles and feel as though a twenty-ton weight is perched atop the bridge of my nose. This could not happen at a worse time, right before a major holiday.

Plenty of people lose a contact lens? How many break one? I hate being making a choice: (1) go around blind; (2) wear a patch over one eye; (3) bring out the spectacles and feel as though a twenty-ton weight is perched atop the bridge of my nose. This could not happen at a worse time, right before a major holiday.

Plenty of people lose a contact lens? How many break one? I hate being making a choice: (1) go around blind; (2) wear a patch over one eye; (3) bring out the spectacles and feel as though a twenty-ton weight is perched atop the bridge of my nose. This could not happen at a worse time, right before a major holiday.

We saw a great video with Los Razos and a taco truck, almost as great as La Tropa F in the plumbing video. The retirement of Alicia de Larrocha from the concert stage is a great loss. I feel very fortunate to have heard her as many times as I did. Sometime, when I'm looking for a project, I should catalogue my recital programs. Her gowns were always both beautiful and practical. The only other person with so great an eye for the place of costume in stage performance is Kathleen Battle.

We saw a great video with Los Razos and a taco truck, almost as great as La Tropa F in the plumbing video. The retirement of Alicia de Larrocha from the concert stage is a great loss. I feel very fortunate to have heard her as many times as I did. Sometime, when I'm looking for a project, I should catalogue my recital programs. Her gowns were always both beautiful and practical. The only other person with so great an eye for the place of costume in stage performance is Kathleen Battle.

We saw a great video with Los Razos and a taco truck, almost as great as La Tropa F in the plumbing video. The retirement of Alicia de Larrocha from the concert stage is a great loss. I feel very fortunate to have heard her as many times as I did. Sometime, when I'm looking for a project, I should catalogue my recital programs. Her gowns were always both beautiful and practical. The only other person with so great an eye for the place of costume in stage performance is Kathleen Battle.

Somebody is selling "keep Austin weird" merchandise and is attempting (or perhaps has succeeded) in trademarking the slogan.

Somebody is selling "keep Austin weird" merchandise and is attempting (or perhaps has succeeded) in trademarking the slogan.

Somebody is selling "keep Austin weird" merchandise and is attempting (or perhaps has succeeded) in trademarking the slogan.

There's great stuff about Port Henry and Mineville, courtesy of the model railroad nuts at RPI. All this idle surfing is done to postpone the composition of yet another condolence letter.

There's great stuff about Port Henry and Mineville, courtesy of the model railroad nuts at RPI. All this idle surfing is done to postpone the composition of yet another condolence letter.

There's great stuff about Port Henry and Mineville, courtesy of the model railroad nuts at RPI. All this idle surfing is done to postpone the composition of yet another condolence letter.

Traviata with no Joe McClain giving a curtain talk seems odd indeed. The company has obviously chosen to do without a lighting designer this time around (no credit found in the program, no artfulness in the lighting). We've been spoiled by David Nancarrow's lighting. This production might as well have taken place on the stage of a high school--rudimentary dimming and brightening, with a crude following spot for solos! There were corners cut or else the sound was bad for other reasons: an over-amplified and very muddy-sounding chorus. The chorus has not before been obviously "enhanced" in this way.

Traviata with no Joe McClain giving a curtain talk seems odd indeed. The company has obviously chosen to do without a lighting designer this time around (no credit found in the program, no artfulness in the lighting). We've been spoiled by David Nancarrow's lighting. This production might as well have taken place on the stage of a high school--rudimentary dimming and brightening, with a crude following spot for solos! There were corners cut or else the sound was bad for other reasons: an over-amplified and very muddy-sounding chorus. The chorus has not before been obviously "enhanced" in this way.

Traviata with no Joe McClain giving a curtain talk seems odd indeed. The company has obviously chosen to do without a lighting designer this time around (no credit found in the program, no artfulness in the lighting). We've been spoiled by David Nancarrow's lighting. This production might as well have taken place on the stage of a high school--rudimentary dimming and brightening, with a crude following spot for solos! There were corners cut or else the sound was bad for other reasons: an over-amplified and very muddy-sounding chorus. The chorus has not before been obviously "enhanced" in this way.

What does someone intend to convey who speaks of writing a "curse letter"? A terse letter? A curt letter? Or truly a curse letter, whatever that may be?

There was a pitch on the radio this morning for Carver-Curtis Rubbing Oil

I can't find my clipping from the New Yorker of the Alice Fulton laundry poem. When I finally got out the stepladder and checked out the poetry books on the uppermost shelves, the only book I could find was Palladium, and it diesn't seem to be in that.Others seem to like her poetry also, since she's about to have another prize conferred on her for her work.There are references to the collapse of the Green Island bridge and to tugs on the greasy river.

Since we've been under the weather, we've been listening to The Mikado and Pirates of Penzance. Every tune hooks right in, but there are some contexts where it just doesn't do to be singing "Defer, defer to the Lord High Executioner."

The new batch of Aspergum isn't Schering-Plough after all. Now the brand has apparently been spun off to some outfit in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, called Heritage Brands division of INSIGHT Pharmaceuticals. Throat Discs have moved on also. It's no wonder we've had "low resistance." CCH ascribes all illness to "low resistance." The germ theory has no role to play. On the other hand, many a government health site recommends influenza and pneumococcal immunizations for those with the old low resistance! To hear CCH tell it, consuming lots of blackstrap molasses is the only reason I'm here today. Malt was tried on me, too, along with the old raw eggs, neither of which I stood for long. In the course of finding a Brer Rabbit molasses label, I found one for Mexican Hot. A tonic? A liniment? A soft drink? And what about Dr. Pepper's Phos-Ferrates for vim, vigor, and vitality, with wheat, iron, and pepsin? I love the hammer and anvil on that one, surrounded with a garland of wheat. There's even an errant horseshoe near the anvil. The new Brer Rabbit labels are disappointing, showing merely a rabbit's head centered in a cameo instead of the two full-legged and costumed specimens that used to flank the label proper.

The invalid members of Club Desvelado benefited from a run to Vulcan Video and sat through a triple feature: Showtime, Changing Lanes, and Hollywood Ending. Pedro Damian, the villain in Showtime, it's surprising to learn, directed the novelas Amor gitano, Preciosa, and Mi pequena traviesa among many others. Showtime may have gone straight to video--it certainly deserved to, wasting a good cast as it did. Changing Lanes was better than expected, though a little heavy on the faustian and redemption bits, to say the least! Tea Leoni, Treat Williams, and whoever played the agent were redeeming features of the Woody Allen feature. It would have been a shame to pay full fare for any of these on the big screen. The riddled bathtub on the floor above was a plus in Showtime.

It was the quinsy that keeps us from our quest for that elusive sixth foil Kleenex box. It's a good thing that we had a great meal before we were condemned to suffer from the vile quinsy. This was all supposed to stop, way back when, once the old tonsils were removed, but nope! Aspergum was located on a quick run to H-E-B, unlike the last quest. It takes every more herculean strength to open these packets. When I was searching on this term, one result was an idea for a product that tastes just like Aspergum but contains no analgesic. I've always liked the taste, also, and it sure does make the throat less painful. The new Aspergum package bears an expiration date of 02/2004, or about two and a half years from now. The last packet had expired in June 2001, so it's likely that two and a half years before that date was the last time before now that either of us suffered from a sore throat. Aspergum, evidently, now numbers among its corporate siblings Feen-A-Mint, Dr. Scholl's foot products, Muskol, Coppertone, and Correctol. It's unclear, though, whether the good doctor has been spun off fron Schering-Plough. If only plain honey Pine Brothers cough drops were still around--if you don't want a "red" flavor, it's got to be honey/lemon, not at all the same.

This is a confession: I bought one box of the Kleenex packaged in star-stamped foil for the holidays and then I had to return to Albertson's the next week and buy one each of the remaining four colors. Green was the color of choice when I planned to make do with just one, but now I have gold, silver, red, and purple! They do make a highly ornamental display. There were other suckers, obviously, since, in the week between the first visit and the second one, a great part of the end-cap display had sold out and I was lucky to find that purple one--not that the stuff costs any more in these packages than in any other, but the usual home-use nose-blowing paper of choice is sold on a spool and is certainly cheaper than the boxed item. This is truth in packaging. I tried to find some marketing reference or press release from Kimberly-Clark about this festive dress for plain old Kleenex, but no luck. Then I just gave up and searched on "foil star." There's a radio-controlled mini-trimaran; sadly, there's an entire web site devoted to little items for musical motivators for children, a Belgian band called Tin Foil Star, many a greeting card, over a hundred different cut-outs for use by caterers and the like as party decorations, including palm trees, horseshoes, hearts, shamrocks, a giant golden dollar sign, a blue Star of David, star-shaped chocolates wrapped in colored foil (intended for party favors), a topper for a Christmas tree, balloons, a three-dimensional seven-pointed star (described as being "the color of auspiciousness" and bringing with it "a promise of purity and sanctity"), and much, much more, but nothing about my beautiful star boxes. One last search, on "Kleenex Expressions holiday," brought me to 3-D star graphics, a "premium graphic." I'm dismayed to learn that I'm missing a color: blue! Does this require a quest? K-C says, "It's almost like having a strong of lights...in a box!" Not quite, but neat, all the same. I suppose that the company manufactures its own packaging. What great wrapping paper this stuff would make!

The City has distributed new rolling plastic trash receptacles to people on the cross street. Maybe we should be envious, maybe not. Under the "Pay as you puke" program, collections were halved, from twice a week to once a week. Entire neighborhoods reek because collections aren't often enough, and it's best for those with sensitive schnozzes to stay away from neighborhoods with lots of babies and therefore lots of disposed-of disposable diapers. Eeeyeeeeewwww! All were issued a receptacle in one of three sizes. They're all capable of being lifted without human intervention beyond rolling them to the truck, all good for people's backs (no more human-powered levitation). The effort not invested in raising the trashcans to the truck has been used to throw them back against the curbs. Our trashcan died a horrible death in this fashion sometime in the spring. We were issued a new, supposedly same-sized can, but with two important differences. Instead of being square in shape all the way down, it's round below the square-shaped top. Talk about cutting corners! Less plastic, and considerably less capacity for trash. The old receptacle had a lid the fitted over the top of the trashcan; this one saves a bit of plastic and is no longer large enough or designed to fit over the top. Instead it sits atop the body of the trashcan. Because it warps in the sun, now it allows admission to hornets seeking tasty food. So, next collection day, it won't be necessary to inspect closely to learn whether the new "carts," as the City likes to call them, are the better square ones, or those cheapie cylindrical ones--if they're all tipped over onto their sides after being emptied, they're the cylindroids.>>>>We got to MGM Market too late to buy diwali lamps or diyas before they had sold out and had to settle for remaindered greeting cards. The unpopular designs were three. Two had lamps only. The smoke of one was obviously issuing a sentiment in non-roman lettering. The third featured a lamp, a bowl of fruit, and Ganesha. All were printed in India by the same company and, upon being opened, revealed the following sentiment: "Good Wishes for a Joyous Diwali and a Happy New Year with plenty of Peace and Prosperity." A good reference on names in Spanish has never been found. I'd really like to have one with names beyong those of the saints, one with old-fashioned names, including those from the romances and from history (e.g., Armida, Araceli, Belisario). In trying to find more about Diwali, though, I found a really good one on Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, and Jain names used in India. Oddly the OUP reference on first names has many Muslim names, but isn't good on names from many other cultures.

Headaches hardly hever happen. Or is it 'eadaches 'ardly ever 'appen? In the present time, that is. If I came from an apoplectic family, I'd have been worried yesterday, when an out-of-body experience would have been welcome! When I used to have one, once every year or two, it was usually in the letdown following some superhuman effort, once the adrenaline was no longer needed. I never thought about them much, just tried to endure them, since their rare appearances were on weekends only (make of that what you will!). Then, once there was so much popular writing on medical subjects, it became evident that they were migraines, although there was never an "aura." The worst thing about them was always the extreme sensitivity to light, smell, and noise. At any rate, at last a new owner has become "seized in fee of and in" a certain piece of real property. At last!>>>>Graphite bows are gaining on classic bows for stringed instruments, according to a WSJ piece--all to save pernambuco wood. Everything about the classic stringed instruments seems to live and breathe, in contrast to instruments in the world of brass, and the bow is not the least of the pleasures connected with playing. Every bow, even among the cheapest, seems to feel different and behave differently from every other. The camber, the color of the horsehair, the little dot of mother-of-pearl at the frog--all part of the pleasure. Why should bows go the way of tennis rackets and the stringing for lacrosse sticks? Yuck! And not that much pernambuco wood even goes into making bows.

When there's time to be idled away, a revisit to the Pepys Project is indicated, especially a search for Austin weblogs. The candor of some continues to amaze. No wonder I have a nineteenth-century outlook on so many things--my paternal grandfather was born in 1845! This I've confirmed, courtesy of the free posting of the 1880 U.S. census. This information had been thought to be correct, but now it's a better than fair certainty. Since the 1881 Canadian census is up, I was able to find more than I expected to about all those who lived on the lands now under the St. Lawrence freeway.

It's been a week now and I still can't listen to our favorite morning show, Sam and Bob. I'm just not quite ready to hear from the post-election Gerald Daugherty yet, even though he'll be no worse to listen to than the pre-election GD. It is a bit of a day-brightener to learn that someone in Austin keeps the "drunk and retired" domain ("still working on the second").

Candor wasn't considered a virtue in my family. Twice I've kept a record tied to time in a way. One is a reading list that was kept for several years, probably at least five and perhaps approaching ten. I've gone back and looked at this a time or two and always remember where I was living, at what job I was working, whether the book was owned or borrowed, and if owned, where bought, and if borrowed, from what library. The list was kept in two different "books." Why I stopped keeping it, I'm not sure, but I think that it was because I didn't find a third book that pleased me as much as the first two. My other journal had nothing in it about me and I've never gone back and looked at it even once. I know, though, that if and when I do read it, there will be plenty in it that I wouldn't remember at all, but for having set it down. I know this because sometimes I'll find old letters or old writings of various kinds and everything will be new to me in detail, if not in outline. The second journal covers part of life in New Mexico.

I hate missing any parade, especially the Armistice/Veterans' Day parade. There'll be no parade flag to add to our "shrine." The next time we'll hear live march music will be the morning of the A&M game, when, no matter what the weather, downtown streets will be filled with jolly people.

Prompted by a newspaper piece about a Mughal prince's illustrated legend of Hamza, K. brought out his Classics Illustrated comics, among which were a few Dell movie comics. John Wayne was fetching as young Genghis Khan. Made the same year as The Searchers, The Conquerer just doesn't seem to bring forth the same waves of nostalgia.

Much as I enjoy other people's blogs, it's for the candor and personal oddities revealed. Mine serves only me, and then just as an indirect and allusive reminder of what was happening at the time. This has been the year of endurance and slogging through the unpleasant parts of life. It appears best for people to finish out their lives as mendicant beggars, but along the line there are a few wordly goods that wouldn't come amiss: lately it's been seming as though it would be easier to buy a new non-power, reel push lawnmower than to find somebody to sharpen the current, 30-year-old one, not to mention less expensive. The new equivalent costs about $90 dollars and has a lot of plastic parts, guaranteed for two years; the old one cost $38 and has lasted all this time.

Oh, goody! another bout with express delivery services; what's hardest for me to believe is that, when I saw the guy headed for us with a skinny envelope, my first thought was that the woodchuck-trapping guy had brought an action of some kind. Don't ask! It's bad enough to go around knowing that woodchucks are "the largest of the squirrels," as some would have it. I wonder where is the dividing line geographically between the woodchuck zone and the groundhog zone.

There's no way that the I used to believe site would have come to my attention unaided, and I'm glad to know that it's out there. My contribution has to do with my disappointment at being in New York City for the first time and learning that it is possible to see the tops of the skyscrapers. I had believed that having tops not visible from the ground was what qualified buildings to be skyscrapers or rascacielos. The site asks the senders to categorize submissions. It appears that mine would fall under category "world" and subcategory "places." It's good to know that I wasn't alone in believing that north is always uphill, south, downhill, and that, no matter which way you're facing, east and west have something to do with your right and left hands, which being assigned to which, evidently, depending on how you were taught in school the first time you dealt with a map! These are disabilities that I have never overcome.

Sometimes Prince Edward Island seems to be a possible destination, before land-use and -ownership regulations become yet stricter. The provincial government even has a moving to PEI website. I don't think I could leave, but there are those who argue for it, at least in the summertime.

Spiro's continues to book Tejano acts. The latest is Grupo Vida, but I didn't hear the entire ad. >>> We're sorry we've been missing Cedric the Entertainer. The sketches don't always hit the mark, but somebody's sure been watching the novelas and the idea that the George Foreman grill is a tool of the devil is funny to me! I'd like to find a credit for the wardrobe designer. >>> Walter Mondale may not have been the winning candidate but he still has the shiniest shoes in politics, and maybe anywhere. I don't think that Photoshop work could account for those shoepix.

At the cost of an ordeal at the dentist's, the quest for Caritas Ranch BarBQ Sauce succeeded. The neighboring Albertson's had some on the shelves. K. swears that he will have consumed all four of these before very long and that this stuff is like no other. I guess this means that we don't have to trek to Boerne. Or is it Bergheim? >>> The Wall Street Journal has chosen to focus on the lack of mixing taps in British bathroom sinks, the popularity of home karaoke machines, and the non-potability of airplane drinking water, ignoring the burning question, "whither Harvey Pitt?"

Somebody must be leasing Spiro's on Red River; in the past three weeks or so, La Tropa F and Jaime y los Chamacos have been booked there. >>> The quest for Caritas Ranch BarBQ sauce continues. >>> Albertson's rents videos now at the rate of 99 cents for first-run items and something like 50 cents for still fairly new ones. The first time we tried to rent we were told that we needed a driver's license, a utility bill, and a check or deposit slip. So we took our Southern Union bill, a deposit slip, and the City utility bill. No go. This time we were told that what's needed in addition to the driver's license is a telephone bill and one other item showing the home telephone number. Nobody else requires more than a driver's license or something similar. I don't think that Albertson's would like any of our phone bills, either, since we"re "unlisted" by being in the directory under a name not like that of anybody actually residing at this address.

The second of Thalia's kidnapped sisters has been released. U.S. coverage has been spotty, except for the Tommy Mottola angle in Billboard. Billboard keeps more out there for free than it used to, which is definitely wise and not so irritating.

The trick-or-treat trade was slow last night: we disposed only of 26.5 ounces of "fun size" M&Ms (plain); the same physical quantity of peanut M&Ms, but in a package weiging 13.3 ounces (peanuts weigh less than chocolate per given volume?); 12 ounces of miniature Reese's peanut butter cups; 13.3 ounces of small Milky Way candy bars (but we held four of them out for ourselves!); another package of M&M "minis," weighing 9.5 ounces; and 32 ounces of "snack size" KitKat bars (we held two of them out for ourselves). We closed up shop when all was gone. This year's business started for real at about 6:15 p.m. and ended for us at a little after 8:00 p.m. The oldtimers in this neighborhood don't keep lights on all night; the incomers invariably install very bright porch lights, and often super-bright spotlights as well, and then keep them on all night, every night (except on Hallowe'en, most of them). A few were sports and opened their doors to the kids, but most, and for the very first time, turned off their ugly lights and made themselves scarce. What accounted for the fall-off in business? Is Thursday a good TV night these days? Is it considered to be too cold at 65 degrees? We relit our two pumpkins this morning, to enjoy before sunrise. While we were on treat duty, we were switching back and forth between KKLB and KQQQ, and we heard the Ketchup song twice. I think we first heard it on Don Francisco presenta and it sure does have a hook to it. There are even cell-phone rings from it. I dare you to listen! Can't help it--I still like the Macarena, bought from Maldonado's before it was La Tejanita and before the song was being played on "American" radio.