More Of This And That

     

Tucson Weather Today

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Easy reading is damn hard writing.
--Nathaniel Hawthorne

I was asked by a reader of my blog why I have a guest blogger on Sundays. The reason is because the guest blogger,Michelle Hakala, told me she was willing to contribute some of her thoughts and observations regarding her life (which she characterizes as drivel) -- and that's exactly what I publish regarding my life the other six days of the week, a bit of drivel spilling out from the days of my life.

Also, I find Michelle's life, from a female perspective, fascinating... to say the least. And I like the way she writes.


While walking the mile from my apartment to Fry's Food Store yesterday (Sunday) morning I espied a strange looking flower growing atop a cactus. I snapped a shot of it, and it is displayed below.

A cropped closeup gives a better view

A few feet away, a smaller version was growing

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NASA:

This artist's concept shows NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft orbiting Mars.

Image Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center                                   

MAVEN is the first spacecraft dedicated to exploring the upper atmosphere of Mars. The mission’s goal is to determine how the loss of atmospheric gas to space played a role in changing the Martian climate through time.

For more about the MAVEN mission, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/maven


USA TODAY reports that the number of militants fighting with the Islamic State militant group in Iraq and Syria is two to three times more than previously estimated, according to a CIA analysis. There are believed to now be 20,000 to 31,500 IS fighters across Iraq and Syria.

CIA spokesman Ryan Trapani says "This new total reflects an increase in members because of stronger recruitment since June following battlefield successes and the declaration of a caliphate, greater battlefield activity, and additional intelligence."


When Arnold Schwarzenegger's official portrait was done, there was a personal touch -- he was depicted wearing a lapel pin featuring the face of his wife, Maria Shriver. When Arnold had her picture removed, it left a noticeable smudge.

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Did You Know . . .?

Burger King Japan has a new all-black burger.

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HISTORICAL EVENT

On this day in 1963, a bomb exploded during Sunday morning services in the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four young girls: Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson and Addie Mae Collins -- all 14 years old -- and 11-year-old Denise McNair.. Alabama's governor, George Wallace, made preserving racial segregation one of the central goals of his administration, and Birmingham had one of the most violent and lawless chapters of the Ku Klux Klan. Well-known Klan member, Robert Chambliss, was charged with murder and with buying 122 sticks of dynamite. Chambliss was convicted in 1977 and sentenced to life in prison. In 2000Thomas E. Blanton, Jr. was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. On May 22, 2002, Bobby Frank Cherry was convicted and sentenced to life

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WORD FOR TODAY

jentacular
adjective
Of or pertaining to a breakfast taken early in the morning, or immediately on getting up.
From Latin jentaculum "a breakfast taken immediately on getting up."

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

Tommy Lee Jones

(born September 15, 1946)

Tommy Lee Jones is an American actor and film director. He received an Academy Award for his performance as U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerard in the 1993 thriller film The Fugitive. Other notable starring roles include former Texas Ranger Woodrow F. Call in the award-winning TV mini-series Lonesome Dove, Agent K in the Men in Black film series, Sheriff Ed Tom Bell in No Country for Old Men, the villain Two-Face in Batman Forever, terrorist William Strannix in Under Siege, a Texas Ranger in Man of the House, rancher Pete Perkins in The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, Colonel Chester Phillips in Captain America: The First Avenger and Warden Dwight McClusky in Natural Born Killers.

Jones has also portrayed real-life figures such as businessman Howard Hughes, Radical Republican Congressman Thaddeus Stevens, executed murderer Gary Gilmore, U.S. Army General Douglas MacArthur, Oliver Lynn, husband of Loretta Lynn in Coal Miner's Daughter, and baseball great Ty Cobb.

Amy Davidson

(born September 15, 1979)

Amy Davidson is an American actress. She is best known for playing Kerry Hennessy in the ABC sitcom 8 Simple Rules.

Prince Harry

(born 15 September 1984)

Prince Harry is the younger son of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Diana, Princess of Wales. His paternal grandparents are Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

Donata Melina Nicolette "Dina" Lohan

(born September 15, 1962)

Dina Lohan is an American television personality and occasional actress who rose to fame as the mother and manager of actress and pop singer Lindsay Lohan and the fashion model Ali Lohan. She also is mother of Michael Lohan Jr. and Dakota "Cody" Lohan.

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By reading a lot of novels in a variety of genres, and asking questions, it's possible to learn how things are done - the mechanics of writing, so to speak - and which genres and authors excel in various areas.
--Nicholas Sparks

NASA TV

This Is Who I Am

     

More From Michelle Hakala

Drivel: Floyd

By Michelle Hakala

One of my friends has a little man named Floyd in her head. She says
he's the one responsible for looking through all her storage drawers
to find that little bit of information she can't remember at the
moment. He's the one who finds it and presents it to her at odd
times, which is why she'll sometimes answer a question hours after
it was asked. That's her Floyd.

My Floyd was my uncle. He died on Wednesday. It wasn't unexpected;
he'd had cancer and when we went on our truck trek last September, it was there that we went -- to see him again while he was still feeling good and could enjoy the visit. We took his sister -- my mother -- along, and while we were there, another sister arrived and at least
one night was spent in "Remember When..." conversation.

I could see him then in an odd juxtaposition. Physically, he was
there, in his sixties or seventies (he'd been married for 50+ years),
razzing his two sisters about the things that happened way back when.
In my mind, I could see him, too, as a kid of six or ten or fifteen,
getting his sisters in trouble and watching the results or standing up
for them when the local bully showed up. I could see him, too, as an
adult, comforting them when the only other sibling, a brother, died.

Floyd was a talker. In the time we were there, we heard more stories
from him than I think I've ever heard from my mom. He brought those
times to life for us with his animated re-telling. The hard-earned
money spent on a Saturday movie. The contest to catch the biggest
fish. The love he bore for his wife.

Even then, facing death, he was more alive than many people I know.
Talking about trips they would take, if they could, and the things
that he needed to do before he died. Mostly, they were things he
wanted to do so his wife wouldn't have to do them, after. I wonder if
he got them done.

The last update I had from him said he still wasn't in pain, though
that was a month or more ago. I hope it was still like that this week.

I'm glad we took that trip and spent that time there. I'm glad, too,
that his wife has the support of their family in that area through
this time.

We'll miss you, Floyd. Thanks for being with us, and say "hi" to Bert for us.

Copyright 2013 Michelle Hakala

 
http://www.winebird.com/

         

Guest Entry by Michelle Hakala

    
Sometimes It Isn't Futile

by Michelle Hakala

Harry comes home from work a little after 5 and says he has a moral
question. A what? (And he thinks I have the answer?)

"You see I brought the air compressor home."

Well, no. The truck is empty. I point this out to him, in case he
hadn't noticed it.

"Right. It fell out. On the freeway. Snapped the straps and fell right
out over the tailgate."

The freeway? Visions of "Rescue 911" or "Reality TV Unleashed" flash
across my mind. "Did it hit..?"

"No, it didn't hit anything. So I take the next exit, and come back to
pick it up, and there's two guys loading it into the back of their
car. So I stopped and said, 'hey, that's my air compressor.' 'Not
anymore,' one of them says back. It ends up they want fifty bucks for
it, because they had to retrieve it from the road and that was
dangerous. No way I'm paying fifty bucks for my own air compressor. I
wrote down their license plate." He holds up his hand and I see the
license plate written across his palm. "Do I call the cops?"

Hmmm.... What about Finders/Keepers and are we liable for littering?
I don't know. Eventually we decide to call the cops and ask them if we
should report it. The dispatcher says she'll send a car out.

Three hours later, a car shows up (we'd almost given up). They take
Harry's story (three times) and go over the possibilities with him.
(Does it surprise anyone that he gave a better description of the air
compressor than of the two guys?)

1) It wasn't their car and we'll never find them. If so, no action is
needed.

2) It was/wasn't their car and we find them, and they've still got the
compressor. If so, you want the compressor back.

3) It was/wasn't their car and we find them, but they've sold the
compressor. If so, are you willing to press charges against these
guys? It's a misdemeanor theft, based on the value of the compressor.
(Figuring the value took some work, because it really won't be worth
much if the pavement chewed up anything critical on it.)

Harry was willing to press charges and the cops left, with a promise
to call -- later that night if there was anything worth reporting, and
the next day if nothing, just to touch base.

Around 9 the phone rang. They'd found the car, and the compressor wasstill in it. The guys would give it back. We needed to meet the copsclose to the house, but not too close. (At the house?? Ack!)

We got an address and took the Tundra (yes, it's back, yay!) to go on
a bad guy hunt. Ever tried looking for an address you're not supposed
to find? It's not fun. "Well, let's see, the number is 4000 and we're
at 3300, how much farther can we go and still not be seen by the
target address?" Add in country road and nearly moonless night, and
it's the makings for a bad horror movie.

We got as close as I dared (Harry was willing to go farther but I was
driving) and pulled over, waiting, in the dark. Pretty soon Harry's
cell phone rang. It was the cops, wondering where we were and telling
us we could come on to the house. But keep our distance, they didn't
want a confrontation. (No problem there.)

We found the house and there's the car, with air compressor
overflowing its trunk, two cops, the two guys, a wife, a kid or two,
and about fifty neighbors looking on. Harry gets out. (I stay in the
truck, with it running. I've seen those shows... by God, if a fight
starts, I'm gonna run one of 'em over with the Tundra.) The group
talks. And talks. And talks. Felt like several years, but was probably
only a few minutes.

Then Harry and a cop put the air compressor back in our truck. We
left, and I went the wrong way out their driveway. (No use giving themany help finding us.) Harry told me on the way home that he'd askedone of the thieves to help him load the compressor back in our truck.When the guy looked at him like he was crazy, he explained he justdidn't want to scratch the paint on the car. There are definitely differences between "them" and "us."

The moral? I could say something trite like it pays to use the justice
system, or there sometimes is a cop around when you need one, but
really all I think is ... use new straps when transporting an air
compressor.


Copyright 2013 Michelle Hakala
http://www.winebird.com/