As you know, I live in Stockton, California. Well, from time to time, on any given day, even the casual passerby, may see a random object sitting in a random parking lot, and the object spotted will have NOTHING to do with anything in particular. In other words, it will all be deliciously, random! Like this Costco sized jar of Mt. Olive Kosher Dills. The day I spotted it, it was just there, in a stall, at Starbucks. Hmmm... pickles and coffee? Now I ask you, who orders a Starbuck's beverage, and chases it down with a pickled condiment?
Oh Barista...
VT
Pike's Place
Decaf
Caramel Macchiato
with
Coconut milk
Extra whip
Caramel ribbon
and
Cinnamon Dolce Sprinkles
With 6 Stevia packets
And a Mt. Olive Kosher Dill Pickle, warmed.
And can you put it in a bag? Umm, the pickle, not the coffee.
I don't want to say much about why I love this movie so much, and I don't want to give much of the plot away, because it should just unfold in it's tightly wound, suspenseful, noirish manner. Is it a whodunit? Is it a Who could have done it? Who would have done it? Everyone is suspicious, and sometimes Bunny's mother suspects herself! Did anything happen at all? Watch this amazing film and find out! And I know I say it every time but... WHAT A CAST! And as a bonus, there's a nifty performance by, The Zombies! This isn't the song featured in the movie, you'll have to actually watch the film to hear that one, but it's one of my favorites!
"When I stand before God, at the end of my life I would hope that I wouldn't have a single bit of talent left, so I could say, 'I used everything you gave me."
~Erma Bombeck
Letter From, Franklin Graham to President Trump
October 15th, 2025
Posted on Donald Trump's Truth Social Account
March 29th, 2026
It scares me when he does things like this, posting questions about his own mortality and the hereafter. Trump is erratic. Who knows what's going on in his brain. Is he contemplating suicide? Is he not long for this earth, due to health related issues? And there's no way of knowing because no one with the information is going to tell anyone! It could be as simple as an elderly man processing his life, and contemplating the next chapter, but with Trump things are never as simple as that! All I know is it disturbs me greatly. I am afraid, because at the moment he also behaves like a hopelessly cornered dog, that he will decide that nuking the HELL out of the Middle East is what it means to be the ultimate peacemaker, and therefore worthy of Heaven, despite the repercussions for the rest of us! Too many psychotic people are whispering in his ear. And so begins another week of, will he nukes us, or will he get someone else to do it?
WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE... it's the ultimate theme park ride!
"Not humans, but birds often witness the most beautiful mornings in this world."
~Mehmet Murat ildan
Saturday is going to be a really busy day, so I am posting today about some beautiful birds I found tucked away in my archived photos in my storage files. Most of the pics have never been posted before, so it feels good to share them now. Who knows why I passed them up originally?
Note: I am taking the weekend off from the posting to the blog, but I will be back on Monday with a new post, detailing all about Saturday's, No Kings Rally!
Enjoy some music while you scroll.
I heard this song in the movie, The Big Year, and fell in love with it!
"I realized that this was the big secret to democracy...
that change can occur by starting off with just a few people doing something."
~Michael Moore
Here Comes Trouble
Are you going? This Saturday, March 28th, will be time to get off my butt get over to the college, and let my voice be heard at the, No Kings Rally, Stockton! I have a little peep voice, but I am sure Mark Ruffalo and Robert Di Nero would be proud that I am doing my part. I'm joking, of course, but frankly I'm proud we've decided to go! We are getting our chance to take a stand! I've been struggling with whether it really matters, in that we are basically in a cold WWIII? Does it matter if we never know when a miscalculation will occur, and kablooey... boy wasn't that a nice life we had? Does it matter if... WAIT... stop brain of mine, you know the answers to all the questions running through your head! The answers are EXACTLY why it matters! We have a madman in the White House. We have endured his behavior for over a decade. He has taken years off all our lives, without anyone brave enough to stop him! Folks have tried. Jack Smith tried. And we all know where we ended up.
But it didn't defeat us, and we can take our country back! We can! Thank GOD those who never backed down are still helping the rest of us fight back. Heroes every one of them. One such hero is Robert Di Nero. He keeps fighting. Recently, he was a guest on Nicolle Wallace's podcast, The Best People, with Nicolle Wallace, and I found his words about the times we are in inspiring! He sets a profound example of how we should be engaging regarding these unprecedented times we are in. Towards the end of the interview he talks a little about why he doesn't count on the word, "hope" anymore. I agree with him. Hope is one of those words we are taught from childhood to use as a crutch, or too ease our feelings. Hope doesn't work. Action works! So off I go, ready to do more than just hope! You know photos will come soon!
Thank you, Nicolle Wallace and Robert Di Nero, for fighting the good fight!
"A car is not just metal; it's a dream on wheels."
~Unknown
2024 Mini Cooper S EV
Yesterday I had to drop of my new Mini Cooper, to have some ceramic coating applied to the inside of the car, which was a service included with the sales price. Because it was going to take 48 hours, the dealership gave us a loaner car. And what an amazing loaner car it is, but God I can't wait for the 48 hours to up, so I return this fabulous car to the dealership! Why? Well, because quite frankly, it's scares the ever loving SHIT out of me! While I have always dreamed of owning a BMW sedan, I never figured on really owning one, or even riding in one. Which is still true. I dream of cool stuff, but I don't really aspire to own something like this, it's just not the right fit for me. I have never needed the status symbol. This car makes a big statement, and I am not the right person to deliver it! It's got amazing style, and does 0 - 60 in 3.6 - 3.7 seconds. I don't need that much power! And the inside is remarkable, but has too many bells and whistles. It truly is a daydream of a car! In my fantasies I see myself driving along the Amalfi coast, with James Bond sitting next to me, and Alan in the backseat! LOL. But back in reality, I am so afraid something will hurt it, or someone will steal it, or any of about a million things that can go wrong with a car that retails for over $100,000! Right now I am taking deep breaths. In and out. In and out. Everything is going to be fine. Right? It's moments like this that I love my Mini Cooper the most. Mini is owned by BMW, and the two brands use the same parts, so I basically own a BMW with the Mini Cooper name, which suits me fine. My Mini is quietly perfect, and friendly, and like with the purchase of my 2013 Mini, which still sits in my garage, it always puts forth a soulful vibe that lets me know, it has my back!
Paul Thomas Anderson, the producer of Boogie Nights, is one of the best! He makes movies you can climb into, and brings to life characters you can believe in. He did it with, One Battle After Another, for which he just won the Academy Award last Sunday night, and with this week's movie suggestion, Boogie Nights. The movie is set in the San Fernando valley, in the late 70's and early 80's, when Discotheques were the place to be seen, and perhaps sometimes be discovered for the movies, including for the porn industry. And that's the story of Dirk Diggler, whose real name is Eddie Addams, from Torrance. This is really good movie, although some may find it offensive due to it being a story about the porn industry. I wouldn't watch it with kiddos in the room, or tweens or teens for that matter, but if it's just the grownups, it's an interesting story, that takes a strangely romantic look at a interesting time in America's history. And easily, this is Mark Wahlberg, Dirk Diggler, and Burt Reynolds at their best! John C. is simply amazing, and Heather Graham will tear your heart out, have tissues handy. It's an extremely poignant story. It will always be one of my top 10 favorite movies!
One of my favorite songs from 1977
Andrew Gold
Lonely Boy
New York Times
Where to stream the movies Of Paul Thomas Anderson
I love cooking, but I haven't done a lot of it since, Covid The First (Omicron), back in December of 2021. I stare at my cookbooks, and dream of popping them open and making something sinfully delicious, but I just don't do it. I don't know, I guess I'm stuck. So much has happened that hubby took over duties, and now the kitchen is pretty much his. He even makes me gourmet lurches daily. I keep saying I'll get there, but I never do. I just never do. And it's one of the things that makes me feel stuck in this depression, treatable enough, but it just sits in me, zapping my energy, as if the anemia wasn't doing a good enough job of that all on it's own. Oh well, enough of that, I am always looking for new recipes and daydreaming of the day my body and my mind finally get hungry enough to let me get on with it already and make something fabulous! In my recent travels, I came across this marvelous article in the New York Times, 20 Best Food Scenes In Movies. It's a fun read. Do you have a favorite food scene in the movies? I have many, but my very favorite might have to be the, "I'll have what she's having," scene from, When Harry Met Sally. T opening scene from, Saturday Night Fever, with John Travolta eating pizza, and strutting around Brooklyn is great, but what about the dinner scene later in the film, with his family. How wonderfully Italian it was!
Lets spend a little time, distracting from the awful day yesterday. I don't want to rant about the new developments in all the breaking news stories, like Bari Weiss over at CBS News, will be shuttering their radio news division. That was infuriating, for more than one reason. It's all political. Broadcast news, and journalism in general, is being systematically dismantled, and that keeps me up nights, but I want and need, some rest for a day or two. You can only lose so much sleep before you body begins to fight back. So, I will hand it all over to history. It's okay to lean on history, as long as we don't forget what we let go of. Americans have engaged in a good bit of political, societal, and cultural amnesia in recent years, so as you might imagine, I don't want to become one of those people.
Instead of forgetting, I merely take respites, by climbing into an era where I felt safe. Were I could still imagine what my future would be, while planning for it with realistic goals. When I was a little girl, my love for the Mary Tyler Moore show helped me imagine my future self. Everything from Mary's wardrobe, to her bright attitude, were what most people aspire to be, so I still revisit the show when I get stressed out, just for the memories of all the plans I made. And, to be honest, to recheck my own attitudes. Back then, it was encouraged to treat others like you want to be treated, now it feels like that sentiment we grew up with, was nothing more than a unrealistic plot point. So this post is all about Mary, and her friends, and how when things went wiggy, she set the example for reasonable solution was always available.
WJM News, from a time when things were also awful but not this awful. Can you imagine Ted Baxter delivering any of the news from this past week?
This is a really great YouTube account that you can see into the homes and apartments of your favorite TV shows.
"An hour in nature, prevents a year in the hospital."
~Abhijit Naskar,
Yarasistan: My Wounds, My Crown
Hubby and I got in the car, pointed it toward the Cosumnes River Preserve wetlands walk, and took a long walk around, just looking at all the birds in the tress and birdhouses, and it was glorious! Just a couple hours of listening to the sound of about 40 different birds, or so, was enough to make my achy body feel better. I unclenched my fists, and concentrated on different angles with my camera, and depth of field shots. This one is not perfect, by any stretch, it just made me happy to try to feel better. Little forward steps. But boy oh boy is that first step forward a difficult one. Depression sucks, but I know with some effort I can move past it toward light and hope. Like with this photograph, I will get perfect this shot as the year moves on, and that's a good thing to look forward to, but if I don't strive for the perfect shot, this scene with remain forever in mediocrity. Who wants that?
"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity;
and I am not sure about the universe."
~ Albert Einstein
Well That Was Embarrassing!
He did it again.
He opened his mouth, and the stupid vomited out.
The look on, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's, face, says it all! I think this incident might just be more embarrassing then the time, Volodymry Zelenskyy, was told he wasn't grateful enough, and followed it with a rabid journalist/podcaster/whatever telling Zelenskyy he wasn't dressed appropriately for a visit to the White House!
Sigh.
Welcome to the first day of Spring!
"The earth laughs in flowers."
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
Here's an article with video, which runs a bit longer.
'Today will be terrible, but don't worry, it won't be as terrible as tomorrow or Friday."
~Jonah Goldberg
Today is the last full day of winter. Can you believe it? As of tomorrow afternoon, it will only take one more season to get me to autumn again! All the comforts are awaiting. Cozy sweaters. Hot chocolate. Amazing holidays. The midterm elections! I am giddy thinking about it! But first I have to get through the next 6 months! The very half of the year I despise the most. Spring and Summer. Look at those temperatures! It's been super hot the last few days, which I could live without! And there is no real end in sight. We are breaking temperatures in Northern California every day! There's just something rude about Summer temperatures just walking all over Spring to deliver days so hot you can't even think. The last full day of winter should have it's last bow in peace. Don't you think?
When I was a little girl, I loved the Mod Squad, and I still do to this day! I mean, how groovy were they? My neighbors lovie that show too. I can remember sitting outside, on an especially hot night in August, listening to my friend's parents discussing trivial things. Grown up trivia. But when they began talking movies and tv shows, my ears perked up! I was really curious about what they watched and why! My friend Wendy had some chic parents, at least by my reasoning as an 7 year old. Mrs. Greg lived for the Mod Squad, and she was miserable that she couldn't just survive the house to watch it. No air-conditioner, meant you toughed it out inside, or took it outside, even if it was still blistering hot at 10:00 pm! I don't why that memory is so sealed in my mind, but it is. I guess it's just one of life's mysteries, what you remember and what you don't. Anyway, years later I bought the full series on DVD for hubby, because he had never seen the show! Can you believe it? So, if you are like darling hubby and you have never seen the amazing hip coolness, of the Mod Squad, here is a particularly wonderful clip of Peggy Lipton, from 1969, singing, Now That's Everything's Been Said, by Carole King. It's truly wonderful. It's peaceful. We need that right now. I need that right now. And the nostalgic feeling and memories it brings up aren't bad either.
