I'm taking a few days off. No recipe. No odd political word of the week on Sunday. I want a little time reading, and birding, and batting. Yes, the bats are back, and I will have photos on Monday! We went out Thursday night and enjoyed a really nice night of the first flying of the bats for 2026! As a result I have 25 individual bites from assorted creatures, mosquitos in particular, which need treating.
OUCH!
So, enjoy your Saturday and Sunday! See you in a couple days.
"We should be profoundly skeptical when one party claims certainty and blames the other for our problems. That's a con. You know life isn't like that. That's why we invented democracies in the first place."
~ Scott Pelley
Truth Worth Telling: A Reporter's Search For Meaning In The Stories Of Our Times
Scott Pelley's Full Statement
"60" has been the number one program in America for decades because our beloved audience finds integrity, quality, and humanity in our stories. When stewardship of the program passed to my colleagues and me, our responsibility was to expand energetically into a new age of media technology while preserving the values our audience expects. Now, the new owner of our network is casting this legend aside, apparently to curry a moment of favor with the Trump administration.
The waste is heartbreaking.
Last month, 60 Minutes lost its DNA when our entire senior leadership and two of our best on-air correspondents were cruelly fired without cause/. Good people were silenced because they stood up for our audience. They stood for fairness against the forces of political bias; they stood for professionalism against chaos.
For my part, new management has instructed me to inject falsehoods and bias into a politically sensitive story. I've been told to include assertions that are unverified. To date, in every case, I have managed to ignore these instructions or refuse them. Recently, politicians have been invited to choose correspondents for interviews on the broadcast. Giving politicians control over 60 Minutes interviews is not how this is done. Finally, incompetence and unprofessionalism in the new management have wreaked havoc. In a case involving one of my stories, the entire program came within 19 minutes of not getting on the air at all.
At 60 Minutes, we have fought harder than anyone knows to save the program than anyone knows to save the program that became an American icon. We owed that to our millions of viewers. I am deeply moved by the thousands of wishes we have received to "keep up the good fight." Most of the men and women of CBS News are still in that fight. But now the collapse of values at the top has become untenable. The leadership o ^0 Minutes is no longer recognizable. The principles I hold dear are gone, and so I must leave as well.
I depart after 37 years at CBS with one emotion... a heart brimming with gratitude for the men and women of CBS News who encouraged and enriched my work, very often at the risk of their own lives. I pray for a day when those people and their ideals are honored again... a day when sanity, competence, and courage return."
~Scott Pelley
June 3rd, 2026
Scott Pelley's firing last Tuesday was Earth shaking. The Trump and his administration and donors are nothing short of a bunch of oligarchs and crooks. We are closer than ever to losing the American experience, all to make a few ultra rich, even richer, while we pay $6 a gallon for gas! This summer will be among the most challenging I will have experienced in my lifetime. Not just as I maneuver through my own health challenges, but also the stress of watching Trump destroy the country I was lucky to live in my whole life. This is the country my grandfather immigrated to, because he saw all the possibilities! He loved America, as did my father. My heart breaks daily. Dad would be beside himself to see what's happening. I miss my father, I think if him daily, but I would never want him to know about what we are all facing right now.
This story will more than likely shake out over the summer. I know we haven't heard the last of Scott Pelley. He truly earned my respect the other day, when he did his job and spoke truth to power! I felt good and found my own self respect the other day too. I haven't watched CBS in ages, their programming has gotten too repetitive! How many CSI shows does one network need? So, after Steven Colbert was kicked to the curb, never watching that network was no loss, but let me tell you, cancelling our Paramount+ subscription made me feel really good! All this pain at that network, and beyond, is for a merger that will bring us closer to having to endure state media, rather than a free press! I am not going to pay to support these people. They can kiss my ass. And as for Donald Trump, he hasn't permeated every area of my life yet, so with any luck he will be impeached, and with a little luck, we won't have him to kick around any more!
"Never use a big one, when a little filthy one will do."
~Johnny Carson
Yes, I know, I was MIA yesterday, because, well, I didn't wanna. I feel like I am one horrific Trump incident, from checking myself into Briarcliff! ( see American Horror Story/Asylum ) because the truth is, Tuesday kicked my ass! We won't even know for several days, or even weeks, what the what will be as far as the California races go. However, there are some things that seem clear right now. L.A. Mayor Karen Bass will go on to a runoff in November, but it hasn't been determined yet if Spencer Pratt is who she will be running against. Also, it's fairly clear, at least to me, that in the governor's race, Xavier Becerra and Steve Hinton will face off in the fall, as Tom Steyer is out of the running. Yikes. I have a knot in my stomach just thinking about it. But for right now I am not thinking about it, I'm concentrating on enjoying my summer, and not taking it all that seriously. I need to take my vitamins. Laugh as much as possible and enjoy life, because there will be a lot to fret about come the autumn. So, while I deal with the overwhelming brain drain I am experiencing, lets take a look back at the Johnny Carson show from November 12th, 1976.
Frank Sinatra, Olivia Newton John and David Janssen!
True celebrity royalty!
Bonus Video... The Full Wedding Of Tiny Tim to Miss Vicky
"Here's the truth: for every bill that's too high, there's special interest profiting off keeping it there. They want you to believe that's inevitable. That's just how that market works. But that's BULLSHIT!"
~Tom Steyer
San Francisco Speech
2026
Here we go, it's June 2nd, 2026, California Primary Day!
Come on California, vote with a clear head about all we've been through with Donald Trump. My pick for California Governor is Tom Steyer and Michael Tubbs for Lt. Governor. To be honest, the top offices were pretty much all that mattered to me in my district, however, I am closely watching a race in Central California, Bakersfield, David Valadao, who will face two Democratic candidates with impressive backing by different parts of the party. Physician Jasmeet Bains, and Randy Villegas. Valadao is the last of the republican representatives who voted to impeach Trump, not once, but twice! For that reason I don't hate him, but lets face it, at the end of the day, he's a republican, and you can't trust the lot of them. As my dad used to say, why would you vote for a republican if you don't have to?
And, of course, the race for Mayor of Los Angeles has me on edge. The current mayor, Karen Bass, has had a rocky time, especially after the devastating wildfire ravaged the southland in early 2025! Republicans were there to spread misinformation, that she was never able to get out in front of. Once again, conspiracy theories managed to rewrite history. I believe her biggest opponent tonight will be Spencer Pratt. I can't roll my eyes enough at the mere thought of it!. He's a former reality TV actor. A villain. Who is currently running a campaign right out of Trump's playbook, complete with AI generated superhero imaginations of himself, because, I don't know, everyone loves a Marvel superhero? Everyone wants to be entertained? Pratt has NO experience in governance, in balancing a budget for an entire city, for any kind of emergency response. He's a stupid choice. But L.A. you do you!
I can't make people be smart.
I just pray they act with wisdom when casting their vote.
Amelia: Do you know what Napoleon gave Josephine as a wedding present? It was a gold locket. And on the inside he made an inscription, 'Destiny'.
Amelia ( Catherine Zeta-Jones)
The Terminal
2004
The Terminal, was another film I had never seen before, but the other night I did, and it was just what I needed, a story with heart, humor and love that made me believe that the world can still be a good place to live in. Tom Hanks makes those kinds of movies! I mean, have you ever walked out of one of his films hating his guts? So what the HELL with folks on the right throwing shade, or out right accusing him of deeply awful conspiracy theories? He was even bashed for, he and his wife, donating antibodies during the Covid-19 crisis. The republicans determination to hate anyone on the left who is willing to help in times of trouble, are exactly what leads to the kind of discouragement that causes me to run to movies, like this one, for the relief and clarity it gives me.
The movie is directed by Steven Spielberg, and features, Stanly Tucci, and Catherine-Zeta Jones. I have always loved Steven Spielberg films, but it's the movies he's made that featured reality that I always appreciated the most. The Color Purple, Catch Me If You Can, The Post, there are so many great ones, I can't name them all! I remember completely pissing off a friend of mine, years ago, when she mentioned that Spielberg was her favorite director. I shared (I shouldn't have shared ) that I wasn't that impressed with him anymore because I felt his movies had become mostly cookie cutter sci-fi! Well, BOOM! A causal observation, had just given birth to my having NO taste in movies or directors! In fact I didn't understand art of any kind! LOL. Eventually her odd anger wore off, and we didn't discuss films ever again. Shrug. Life.
I haven't seen my old friend in a long time. I am not sure if it was the great Spielberg debate, or if, as happens in life, we simply drifted apart, like characters from a really good Spielberg movie. But as I watched, The Terminal, I wondered to myself how she would have felt about this amazing, heartfelt story. There's zero sci-fi involved, but it is a Steven Spielberg film that delivers all the observations of life, with none of the negativity, because even the "villains" in the film come from a place the audience can understand and accept without the urge to see them ran over by a bus. I'll take that over all the pearl clutching and hand ringing that seems to permeate life in 2026.
"Remembrance of things past, are not necessarily remembrance as things were."
~Marcel Proust
I found the black and white picture on BlueSky this past weekend, and the memories of one of my visits to Los Angeles when I was a kid, popped into my head as if I had just lived through it just a day ago! I am sure you remember me sharing about my sister, sister-in-law and I driving down the Sunset strip one night in 1970, and being amazed at all the neon lights and the glamourous people walking about. One of the neon lights I remember was from the Whisky A- Go-Go. First of all, I loved the name, and second all those cool kids standing around were, well, cool! I was around 7 years old, or so, and I had spent half my life wanting to be a hippy flower child! An idea my mother was never to keen on, but even less so after the Manson murders! LOL.
You know how it is, moms are overprotective. But somehow, she was sure Manson himself was going to escape, comeback to the Bay Area, find my sister and I and that would be it... we'd be dead. Eventually Dad convinced her that Manson would not be heading our way, and a trip to L.A. to Disneyland would be good for my sister and I. So, down HWY 5 we went. A mere 7 hours later we hit Los Angeles! We checked into the Disneyland Hotel, grabbed a quick meal, and hit the strip as the kids called it. I have no idea who was booked at the Whisky a Go-Go that night, but I love Johnny Rivers, and I found him singing one of my favorite songs on the Ed Sullivan show, so I hope you enjoy this post. It's meant to make you smile, and enjoy a look back, before we have to go forward with another week, and another month!
"Can't you see that I am only advising you to beg yourself to not be so dumb."
~Petronus
The Satyricon
On the night of May 31st, 2017, the whole world came together and shared a single point of wonder. We were all wondering, what the actual fuck, did Trump mean when he Tweeted, Covfefe? We never did get an actual explanation about what happened that night, and what it regarded, but I watched it happen real time and let me tell you, there were some very interesting ideas about what it could have meant. Everything from it was the nuclear codes, to his form of swearing, but substituting the word COVFEFE for the word, FUCK. In any case, the word remained on Trump's Twitter account for hours with no explanation. But here is what the White House had to say later in the day...
It apparently shocked everyone. No Shit! It was one of the first overt signs that Donald Trump was beginning to lose whatever was left of his mental faculties! Since that time there has been a flood of evidence that he is incapable of being a full and effective president, as demonstrated daily, with his obsession with vanity projects. But boy howdy, that night and the following day sure was a ride, and as it just might have been the beginning of what brought us to where we are now. Sky high gas prices, sky high daily living prices, and folks thrown off the medical coverage. Not to mention the current Iran war, started with no clear end in sight, and Trump eyeing another war with Cuba. Before he left office the first time, Trump suggested drinking disinfectant might cure Covid-19, you'd think that would have been enough for folks to see that his lights had now dimmed, but no, so all these years later we have that fond memory and a million more like it to keep us warm until the next night of Covfefe.
While Covfefe is not an official word in the Merriam-Webster or Oxford dictionaries, I thought the holiday was still worth a mention this week. Covfefe made quite the impression on culture, banking speculation, and even it's own legislation with the Covfefe ACT. While the it never became law, I think there is merit in revisiting the idea! I hope one day Covfefe will be an official word, so it can join a long list of the silly, archaic, political words, in the official word graveyard. On the other hand, there's a lot that can be learned from that word, so maybe we should be listening closer to the nonsensical. Hey, why not, Words With Friends, sees some value in it!
"Food memories involve very basic, nonverbal, areas of the brain
that can bypass your conscious awareness."
~Susan Krauss Whitbourne
Professor Of Psychology
Ahh... nostalgia. As you know, the older I get, the more things I miss from a certain time of my life. The 1980s, the best decade I lived. Well, that's not completely true, the 90's weren't bad either. I was newly married, and just trying to live a good life, with the love of my life. We had a lot of fun, still do, but without all the things we enjoyed. Like reading the newspaper, social influencers, and an array of food we enjoyed. Chow Mein with gravy, from our favorite hole in the wall Chinese restaurant, and the Priazzo from Pizza Hut!
Here's a commercial for it, from back in the day...
Oh my, my mouth is beginning to water. As good as the meat Priazzo was, my favorite was the Priazzo Florentine. All kinds of Italian cheese, ham and spinach came together to make my knees weak. I can't have spinach anymore, it was a casualty of Covid-19 Omicron. You would think that after all this time I would have those foods, like spinach and mushrooms, back to normal, but as I have said in previous posts, I think they are gone for good. Oh my.
🥹
Anyway...
Mental Floss, has a brief history of the rise and fall of that fabulous 1980's culinary yumminess, and another commercial that was done in the mid 1980s. At the time they seemed a little pricey, so I didn't buy them often, but when I did, I wasn't disappointed.
A Taste Of Home has a recipe hack that looks pretty darn good to me. I plan to add different ingredients. I like veggie pizza, and I am going to make mine in a springform pan, using a regular pie crust, so we will see how it comes out. I will update on Sunday how it came out.
Tip:
If you use canned tomatoes in your own variation,
use San Marzano tomatoes. They have the best flavor!
Until then, enjoy a little Dean Martin and visions of
Rome, Portofino and the Amalfi coast.
Tip:
If you use canned tomatoes in your own variation,
use San Marzano tomatoes. They have the best flavor!
"My cell service return all night, and all through the next day.
It was like ancient times, with mead and beheadings and blacksmiths."
~Penny Reid
Homecoming King
My phone died a tragic death the other day. I bought it a couple years ago, and frankly I was sure it would die on day one. Let me explain. I had purchased a Samsung Galaxy 53A 5g from T-Mobile, it seemed like a good little mid-priced phone, but when I went to use it, there was a minor bit of trouble... it would call anyone but my husband! All other numbers worked, his wouldn't! For some reason, my new phone, hated his number! When I complained to customer service, several times, I finally received a replacement phone... a refurbished version, not a new one! I bought a new one, I should have received a new one, but deep in the contract, I had agrees to receive a refurbished version, if my new phone failed. Sigh. Two choices were in front of me... I could pay it off and go elsewhere for cell service, or I could deal with it, and keep a service I enjoyed! I am very happy at T-Mobile, so I took a deep breath and moved on.
As I said... my phone finally went onto it's glory. It crossed the rainbow bridge. IT DIED! So, what to do?! Buy a new phone! Thank goodness I found a cell phone that finally, really, suited my needs... it features a phone with an amazing camera! The camera is probably the main consideration when when I buy a cell phone. I use at about the same rate as my Minolta camera, especially this time of year, as the Mexican Free-tailed bats return to Franklin Blvd. So far, I have been nothing but impressed my new phone, the Galaxy S26 Ultra, I have been nothing but impressed! Here are some examples of my new cell phone/camera's awesomeness!
My first photo... a dandelion from the Cosumnes River Preserve.
The Many Moods Of The Mighty Simon
Photographed in a low light setting.
Color Vibrance in a low light setting.
Tyler and Joey taking a nap on my futon.
May 29th 2026
And my new Samsung S26 Ultra has tons of photo editing tools!
I may make a comic strip featuring the adventures of the Mighty Simon!
Okay, so you know how I feel about my new cell phone,
here's where you can read some opinions from the experts!
"Chasing dragonflies, like buying good books or eating gourmet food, can be a curiously addicting."
~Cindy Crosby
Chasing Dragonflies: A Natural, Cultural and Personal History
If I have ever seen this particular dragonfly before, I never saw it this green or this beautiful! It's the, Western Pondhawk dragonfly, and I found it at the Cosumnes River Preserve. We were just walking along and then suddenly there it was. It was so beautiful! I love discovering new things, or at least seeing them in a new light!
"Bees do have a scent you know, and if they don't they should,
for their feet are dusted with the spice from a million flowers."
~Ray Bradbury
Dandelion Wine
Memorial Day is the unofficial beginning of summer, but reality says we have about three weeks until the season really begins. Either way, there are signs everywhere that cheer me up in a summer way, and one of them is roadside sunflowers, and little bees enjoying them. It's a pretty happy turn of events, and quite welcome. Especially when it's May 27th, and it's cold.
Mother nature certainly has a strange sense of humor.
How about a spy story that will make you laugh, as much as it horrifies you? Well, I will say one thing for this Coen brothers film, it will do just that. And as outlandish has as it is, it's also completely believable. It's Washington D.C. after all! And we all know how the nation's capitol seems to be right now. We have a FEMA official who thinks he can teleport to almost any Waffle House of his choice. A Health and Human Services Secretary who has been known to swim in raw sewage, and snort cocaine off a toilet seat. Then there's Trump, need I say more? When you consider all these losers, the losers in the movie seem perfectly normal. The twists and turns are hysterical! The Coen brothers flair for ironic humor can't be beat!
Just watch it... and laugh. You need it!
Be sure to look for a particularly funny and surreal scene, where
George Clooney sings, My Eyes Adored You, while showering.
"True patriotism is usually born of great sacrifice,
and is never the result of selfishness."
~Napoleon Hill
As we stop today, to reflect and meditate on the heroes that have served their country and their better angles, I share with you some Motown jazz to make your day a little more relaxing. I am so grateful to my daddy and my father-in-law for their sacrifices during WWII, and to my brother during the Vietnam war. They were men who answered a higher calling from their county, for freedom and democracy.
Gentlemen, I will be forever be grateful for your service.
"Let their remembrance be as lasting, as the land they honored."
"Never tell your problems to anyone... 20% don't care
and 80% are glad you have them."
~Lou Holtz
Forplaint is a rare and obsolete Middle English word
meaning, "wearied with complaining."
Forplaint used in a sentence...
Trump's constant complaining about everything from what he deems the fake news, to how unfair it is that the congress doesn't just hand him billions for his stupid ballroom, has left me more than a little forplaint.
"We must have pie, stress cannot exist in the presence of pie."
~David Mamet
Boston Marriage
One Banana
Yes, I'm back from the dead. Lordy have I been sick the last several days, but I am so much better now, and ready to seek out new recipes that make my mouth water! And in that this is a three day weekend, it's Memorial Day wouldn't this Banana Cream Pie, be great for a BBQ, potluck or just a day to yourself? I have taken certain days, settled down with the cats, and eaten a whole pie. There is no shame in that, so don't judge me! LOL! Anyhoo... I'm going to try this pie, if you do, let me know what you think about the recipe.
Two Banana
Okay, I get it, eating a whole pie is a lot to take on, so maybe instead a creamy, dreamy serving of Banana pudding is more reasonable, and just as fun. When I went looking for more recipes featuring bananas, I found this one for, Banana Pudding, from the Magnolia Bakery, which was also featured in, The New York Times Cooking section. Perfect! What better recipe to try than this one? I have always dreamed of visiting there, ever since I saw it on, Sex In The City. I am a big fan of cupcakes, and theirs look fabulous, but their pudding is supposed to be equally fabulous! It's all about having a full New York City adventure, like visiting the Statue of Liberty, having lunch at Katz's Deli, and leaf peeping in Central Park. Well, that's my idea of an adventure anyway. I don't think that adventure is in my future, but having a little taste of New York definitely is!
Happy Eating
Enjoy your long weekend!
By the way, the Magnolia Bakery has nationwide shipping! ;)
"No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted."
~Aesop
I am sick. Ugh my stomach is messed up. It has happened on and off since the first round of Covid-19 (Omicron). It's part of the same thing that won't let me eat certain foods anymore. It all started, just like everyone else that has this long covid symptom, about 6 weeks after the last fever of the virus. At first it was a wide variety of foods that I couldn't tolerate, but now it's basically, mushrooms, spinach, garlic, chicken skin, pineapple and most nuts. It's not so bad, but when it all flares up, it keeps me sitting still and sleeping on my back. Anyhoo... I am exhausted and grumpy, and when that happens, I love to visit this little cat community on Youtube called, Purrallel Universe. It makes me feel better, and in the case of this video, it reminds me to pay forward, all the blessings I have in my life. To encounter strangers with kindness and empathy. It never hurts anyone to be a better person, and to find one's better angels. So enjoy the video, and subscribe to the account. You'll love following their adventures, and perhaps identifying with their message of hope, family, and life.
