When you are upset or ill, do you have a favorite food that soothes?
When I was a child, any time one of us was ill Mother would give us cream of tomato soup and Seven Up (a clear soda for those of you non-US readers). That’s an odd combination. Chicken noodle soup would have probably been better for us, but Mother detests chicken noodle soup, so tomato it was. I’m sure the warmth from the hot liquid helped.
Today, the only thing I wanted to eat was a grilled cheese sandwich. It’s not on my diet, but the diet is in abeyance until I feel better. I doubt I have to worry about gaining weight, feeling like this.
When my husband is ill, ice cream is his comfort food. I know others who prefer chocolate, but most of the peope I know go for starchy things. I wonder if there’s a genetic reason for that? Maybe the body needs more fuel to fight the bug, and the starchy things are an easy source.
What’s your favorite comfort food?

I found this brief question and answer in the Chicago Tribune Parade, for August 3, 2003, page 2.
“Q. I read that Eddie Vedder and his group, Pearl Jam, bought 1400 square miles of endangered rain forest in Madagascar to compensate for the 5700 tons of greenhouse gas that will be created by the band’s U.S. tour. Who will it help?–Chuck S., Mesa, Ariz.
A. They didn’t buy the land but did give an undisclosed figure to Conservation International to protect that rain forest. It will help the 16.5 million people on the Indian Ocean isle of Madagascar and the five members of Pearl Jam, who hope to lure thousands of environmentally sensitive fans to concerts by convincing them that the band is politically correct. Sounds like a lot of gas to us.”
I’d like to know who came up with the figure of 5700 tons of greenhouse gas, and how they determined that figure?! I assume they figured in the vehicles used to move the tour from site to site, and maybe even figured the cost due to the electricity they are going to consume for sound, lighting and air conditioning. But did they add in the effects from beer drinking concert attendees? I wonder what else they might have missed.
And, since when is a band concerned with being politically correct? It’s lovely that they are helping to save the rain forest, but it’s an odd way to generate press coverage for a tour.

I’d be really happy to tell you that it is a computer virus, or even a garden pest, but it’s one of those upper respiratory thangs.
Yesterday morning, I had a scratchy throat when I woke, and felt better after breakfast. By 10:00 in the morning I was sneezing, and coughing, and by early afternoon those coughs started around my navel and came through like freight trains loose on a downward grade.
I won’t go on about how rotten I feel, but I want to warn you that something nasty is out there. Take every precaution you can to avoid this. Have the kids wash hands frequently, and avoid playdates with anyone who has a sick family member.
If you catch it, a doctor friend has recommended Vitamin C. I’ll tell you that hot chicken noodle soup and hot tea are very comforting. Go stock up on tissues. This is one time when you will want the tissues with aloe. Your nose will thank you!
And, Hook…..don’t even suggest that this is my penance for butt watching!

No…that’s not a play on words. It seems that farmers have found a new way to make the most of their corn fields. They’re taking several acres of their fields and cutting designs into them, and selling passes to walk the mazes.
Mazes are common in England, but the farmers have a new twist. Their mazes can be made from scratch each year, and the designs are complex. Most of them are new designs that don’t bear any resemblance to the boxwood or evergreen mazes which take years to develop. Maze Play is one company that helps farmers create the designs. Take a look at some of their photos.
The invention of GPS gave the farmers the tool they needed to cut precision designs in the crops. Early in the year a design is chosen or created, and the crop is planted. The paper design is covered with a grid of GPS locations, and the information is converted into a device that the designer wears in the field.
As the designer walks the field, guided by the GPS device, he is followed by a tractor which removes specific cornstalks to create the alleyways of the design.
There is a farm in Northern Illinois that has nine miles of trails. I heard of this phenomenon while traveling through Indiana, but there are mazes all over the US and Canada.
If you haven’t been to a farm lately, go and see the newest aspect of 21st century farming! Depending on your location, mazes will be available from August to November. Surf the web to find the one nearest you, or call your county extention service for more information.

1. What time do you wake up on weekday mornings?
The first time, between 4:40 and 5:00 when hubby kisses me goodbye. THe second time is between six and seven.
2. Do you sleep in on the weekends? How late? No, I try to take responsibility for the dog walk on weekends, so I’m up anywhere from 5:30 to 7:00 depending on Defer.
3. Aside from waking up, what is the first thing you do in the mornin? Pee. Doesn’t everyone?? Okay…..pee, shower, dress, hair, makeup, TEA!
4. How long does it take to get ready for your day? From bed to door, 30 minutes if I am working at home, 45 if I have to go out.
5. When possible, what is your favorite place to go for breakfast? Quincy’s. I like Cracker Barrel’s hash brown casserole, but I haven’t had it in a few years.

I love watching men!
A few years ago I was sitting with my youngest sister. We had the oddest conversation. Her daughters were tiny then, and she was very conscious of the fact that small children are quick to learn by observation. Sis has always been a great watcher of men, especially their rear view. She was trying to tell me that she felt it necessary to put an end to that terrible habit for her daughter’s sake, but as she was talking, her head swiveled to follow one particularly exceptional vision of male pulchritude. All I could do was hoot with laughter!
Remember the scene from “Roxanne” where the new firefighter meets the Chief (Steve Martin), and is mesmerized by his nose? Martin moves his nose back and forth, and the guy’s head follows the movement. Sis is sorta like that around handsome men! *G*
I was in the grocery store today, and a man walked past pushing his cart. I just stayed where I was and watched for a bit. What a nice tush! I think male teens are missing a bet, wearing those darned baggy pants. Not only do they LOOK stupid….they are also missing out on the chance to find a girl who might be attracted to their (ahem) figure! That’s one thing guys in their thirties have going for them…pants that FIT. I don’t want to see a guy in pants that are so tight there’s no room to squirm. Pants that nicely cup the curve of the butt are just right!
Another thought about those baggies…. I was also at the car wash today. Being a basically lazy person, I have the SUV washed for me, rather than doing it myself. I was waiting for the guys to finish the wipe-down when a young man sat down across from me. Guys, if you’re going to wear shorts with really wide legs, you might want to have someone teach you how to sit with your knees together.
I recall an episode of “Friends” that was about guys “hanging out.” I thought it was a funny, but contrived incident for a plot, and discovered today that it really happens. This guy was sitting with his legs sprawled open. I really TRIED not to look…..
*G*

It seems to me that I heard someone announce that the USPS is considering allowing people to have stamps with their own picture on them. I think the cost would be a dollar a stamp. I don’t know if there would be a minimum number you have to order. It’s apparently a way to make more money for the Post Office.
I can see women using them for wedding announcements and for bridal showers, or maybe on surprise birthday invitations. But, would you spend a buck a stamp just to send your face out in the mail??
Can’t ya just see it…..They’ll cancel the stamp and you’ll look like you’re behind bars!

What is it with men and directions? I just don’t understand this issue. My husband, who is exceptional in so many ways, simply does not get the idea of asking for directions when he is lost.
The closest he has ever come to admitting he was lost was the day he called me from his truck, and said that he wanted me to get out the six county map (Chicago and suburbs), and see if I could advise him how to get where he was going. Unfortunately, rather than pull over and give me some time to flip through the pages to find his starting point, he kept driving! ARRRGH!!!
He finally hit a road he recognized, and back-tracked as I frantically searched through the pages, trying to figure out how to get him where he needed to go.
When we travel, he drives, for the most part, and I sit with a Rand McNally map of the US on my lap. On long trips he never argues with me about what direction to go. Even in Chicago he turns when I tell him to. Unfortunately, one day I said “Turn Left HERE!” and we ended up going the wrong way on a one way street. Luckily, it was at a time of the evening when there was little traffic and we made it to the next block safely. I told you he was exceptional.
Still, when we are in the ‘burbs, he and I would NEVER choose the same path to get where we are going. For a while it became a bone of contention between us, and now it’s graduated to the family joke. My mother used to dread riding with us because we were likely to bicker about how to get where we were going.
I believe in taking the less traveled route, even if it means I have to make a few more turns. I travel at off peak times (IF there is such a thing out here, any longer). DH, on the other hand, is used to driving a 14 foot stake bed truck that is restricted to certain roads. He ALWAYS chooses the route with the fewest turns, and this habit leaches over to his private driving as well.
Being a boat owner, DH is the proud owner of three, or maybe it’s four, hand held GPS devices. I’m tempted to buy him one of the watch styled ones for our anniversary. Then he’ll always be able to tell me where he WAS!
ARRGH!!!

I was reading yesterday, and came across the word “voluptuary,” and paused to wonder if there are voluptuaries today.
Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary, 1998 defines it this way:
voluptuary \Vo*lup”tu*a*ry\ (?; 135), n.; pl. Voluptuaries. [L. voluptuarius or voluptarius, fr. voluptas pleasure.] A voluptuous person; one who makes his physical enjoyment his chief care; one addicted to luxury, and the gratification of sensual appetites.
Syn: Sensualist; epicure.
I browsed at Google in an effort to see if there were famous 20th century voluptuaries, and found the word tied to the United Nations, sex, disipation, Anne Rice, the Kama Sutra, French cuisine, prostitution, literature, chinchilla, dance, Tolstoy and assorted other entries. There was even a reference to mental voluptuaries.
So, a voluptuary is a person who spends his or her time in the pursuit of personal pleasure. That pleasure may be sexual, or sensual. It can be tactile, or mental, or gustatory.
I wonder if you can be a part-time voluptuary? Do you need to have great wealth to be one? Can you be a working stiff and still be a voluptuary?
I always thought of Pashas with their harems when I saw the word voluptuary. Picture a man reclining on a collection of pillows, having a small child fan the air with peacock feathers, a scantily clad woman searching a tray for the most delictable morsel to feed him.
I suppose today’s voluptuary is the man who drives an expensive car loaded with all the accessories ever invented, or the woman who choses to clothe herself in silk and fur. On very rare occasions, I have been a voluptuary when dining out, but unlike Nero Wolfe, those occasions have been few and far between. I suspect if the third world knew of the word, they would consider every inhabitant of the western world to be a voluptuary.
I think I’ll create a female character for an on-going series of stories who has chosen the life of a voluptuary. You know, they say that you should write about what you know. I’ll have to do a LOT of research! *G*

I heard on the radio this morning that Cook County, the home of Chicago, Illinois has 135 languages spoken within it’s boundaries.
AND, 35%…..that’s THIRTY-FIVE PERCENT of the households in the county do not use English as the language spoken in the home.
Spanish, Polish, one of the Chinese dialects. What the heck are the OTHER 132 languages???