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What I Heard This Week 03-28-2024

What I Heard This Week March 27, 2024

 

Typically, each morning around 7, I boil water and then fix myself a pour-over coffee, climb back in bed, watch the news, and receive enough cat love to start my day properly. But surprise, there were no cats in the bed waiting for me when I got back, so I strolled back to the kitchen thinking that 3-cats and 1-dog were waiting there to tell me some heart-breaking story about me forgetting to feed them, for like months… like cats always do on a normal day.  But no cats were there to mention that they were starving… but listening, I could hear cat-talk chirping chatter. I found the four of them all lined up at the back windows to the porch, excited and watching something. There was the cutest little baby squirrel going back and forth from window to window, entertaining each one of my babies. It was like he was asking if they could come outside and play. I watched for a few minutes, scanning the creek waiting for an irate mother squirrel to come running up and scold the little fellow. It was so cute. I slowly opened the back door, the baby hesitated, then ran back to the creek with a great story about finding new friends.


Pets aren’t our whole lives… but they make our lives whole.  


How to Walk a Human
A Dogs Guide

  1. Humans need exercise. If they don’t get it, they become chubby. It’s up to you to save them.
  2. Allow your humans to tether themselves to you. This keeps them from wandering off or running away.
  3. Your human will probably need breaks. Be considerate, stop and sniff
  4. Bark Humans have very short attention spans.
  5. After you potty, walk away. If you have trained your human correctly, they will pick it up so you don’t have to scratch the ground to keep your territory clean and fresh.
  6. Periodically drag your human as fast as you can. This is called internal training. Do not allow your human to shorten the walk. They are being lazy. Sit in protest if you must.
  7. Once back home, allow your human to remove their tether, then lick their face many times. This is positive reinforcement for a job well done.
    Readers
    , hope you like this. Since mom read it, she seems to be much more patient on our walks, almost welcoming to my stop and sniffs. Humans just take time to break in… or you can always send them off to PetSmart for classes. Teller

Anybody who doesn’t know what soap tastes like never washed a dog.Franklin P. Jones


Happy 25th anniversary to Grapevine Gifts located by Hobby Lobby. Such nice people, who give so much back to our community.  I am always surprised at the great novelties, specialties, and unusual items they carry in their gift store. Hmmm. Especially the chocolates. Sometimes I stop and select just four chocolates that they box up for a simple little gift for a friend. To our sweet friends, we say congratulations… from “your” friends at The Source Weekly.


The headline said: I Hope You All Feel Terrible Now. The reference is to how Princess Kate was hounded into revealing her cancer diagnosis. I remember vividly what it was like to have two kids under the age of 7, trying to figure out how to explain to them that first I was going to have surgery, then the doctors were going to give me some super strong medicine that was going to make me really sick, but then that same medicine would make me better. I was going to be very tired, my hair would fall out, but it would come back. All you pray for during times like that, is for normalcy in your life and the lives of your children. And yes, you think quite a bit about dying and how it would affect your children. Yes. Shame on everyone that gossiped and trash-talked Kate. I hope you do feel terrible now, but you can’t ever really understand until it’s you in that same situation.


My life coach just informed me that I did not make the team.


Since the weather has been so nice, I have been trying to get my frozen yard back into shape. I had installed three new LED fixtures at the back of the house that go on at dark so I can work until 10pm if I want to. LED lights are so much brighter than old fixtures; I have them on the lowest setting and it’s still too bright. Anyway, last week it was late, and I was in-and-out the back door fertilizing plants on the back porch. I reached down to brush something off my pants and felt a strange lump on my leg. Uaah! Almost immediately I realized that it was a June bug and then the dance started. I hate those things. It had crawled up my pants legs, past my knee without my knowledge. Never has a woman removed her clothing so fast. There is an old Frank Zappa song… There Will Come a Time When You Can Even Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance. Yep.


A total solar eclipse is about to hit Texas.  On April 8th, the path of totality will begin before 1:30pm near Eagle Pass crossing Texas, moving northeast towards Oklahoma and Arkansas, then on to Maine. Texas is expecting millions of people to come see it. My sister is in Georgetown where they are telling people to stay home because they expect the roads to be jammed packed full. The path of the eclipse will be so dark that Texas electric grid managers are forecasting a sudden, brief drop in solar power as the eclipse crosses the state. Go to: GreatAmericanEclipse.com.


I’m fairly certain that the person who put the first “r” in February also decided how to spell Wednesday.


Rumor has it that there will be a third and final film of Downton Abbey, according to Imelda Staunton, who portrayed Queen Mary’s lady-in-waiting Maud Bagshaw in the first two films. The Conservancy of SW Florida caught a nest of 11 Burmese pythons weighing 500 pounds, including one that was 16 feet long. Olivia Munn, 43, revealed she was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a double mastectomy several months ago. Supposedly Aaron Taylor-Johnson has received a formal offer to play the next James Bond. The Esperanza “Hope” Andrade is the first ferry to be added to Galveston Ferry Fleet in more than a decade. Hope cost $33 million, is 293 ft. long, 66 ft wide, and will carry passengers across Galveston Bay in 18 minutes.


Shohei Ohtani, Japanese baseball star and MLB’s highest paid player, signing a 10-year, $700 million deal with the Dodgers, says he was duped by his now-fired, long-time interpreter who, guess what, has a massive gambling problem with at least $4.5 million wire-transferred to an illegal bookmaking operation. Hmmm. This was a guy that had been with Ohtani for years and was considered to be a friend. Hmmm.


April Fools’ Day or All Fools’ Day is Monday April 1, a day where jokesters play harmless pranks or fibs to your friends and neighbors. I’m telling you so you have time to think about what you’re going to do. Thinking about it reminded me that as a parent, you really lie every single day, not just April Fool’s. Remember the spaghetti tree, or being told that if you picked the sesame seeds off the hamburger buns, you could grow a hamburger tree. How about NOT swallowing watermelon seeds because you were guaranteed to have a watermelon vine grow out your ear. Or you would go blind if you sat too close to the TV. Or that I wasn’t born, they found me in a cabbage patch. Or if the ice cream man plays music, it means they are out of ice cream. Or my grandma’s favorite; when it thunders, God is just moving furniture. Or when Grandaddy told me that all my freckles would spread together when I turned 18 and I would just look like a had a nice tan. (What actually happened was I turned 18 and didn’t care anymore that I had freckles – he was such a smart man!)  I personally told my own two kids that when we went through the toll tag E-ZPass electronic toll tunnels, that if they would just sit very still and pay attention, they could feel it when we went under it. Then I would say, “Get ready, we are almost underneath the toll thingy. There! Did you feel it?” They felt it every time, and yes, I’m a bad mom. A very bad mom. Have a great week and Happy April Fool’s. Don’t be mean!

LISA


Send comments to Lisa Baker at lisa@thesourceweekly.com

What I Heard This Week 03-30-2023

What I Heard This Week March 29, 2023

April 1 is April Fools’ Day. It’s not an official holiday, just a day for fun, as has been custom since the 19th century; setting aside a day for playing harmless pranks and jokes upon our friends, neighbors, and family. I found the following story on Useless Daily25 Fun Facts about April Fools’ Day. It made me grin.
    “Fun Fact #22. As well as people playing pranks on one another on April Fools’ Day, elaborate practical jokes have appeared on radio and TV stations, newspapers, web sites, and have been performed by large corporations. In one famous prank from 1957, the BBC broadcast a film in their Panorama current affairs series purporting to show Swiss farmers picking freshly-grown spaghetti, in what they called the Swiss Spaghetti Harvest. The BBC was later flooded with requests to purchase a spaghetti plant, forcing them to declare the film a hoax on the news the next day. With the advent of the Internet and readily available global news services, April Fools’ pranks can catch and embarrass a wider audience than ever before.”  I’m still laughing as I type this. So today I could put a fictitious story in this column, and you could be the April fool, but instead I have decided to scatter a few funny, silly jokes throughout that you can share, because everyone needs more laughter in their lives…


A woman went into a seafood restaurant and requested a lobster tail. The waiter smiled and said, “Once upon a time there was this handsome lobster…”


If you feel you must fool someone on April Fools’ then unscrew your showerhead and pop in a bouillon cube so your family member takes a shower that smells like chicken as the water streams down, or tape down their mouse.


Last week I wrote about the new tortoise family at the Houston Zoo named The Pickles. You seemed to really like that story. Today, I have this. If you like pickles, and you like dirty martinis, then look what I found, a Pickletini recipe.
2.5 oz. premium vodka
1 oz. pickle juice
3 pickle slices to garnish
Fill cocktail shaker with ice; add vodka and pickle juice. Cover and shake until shaker has frosted on outside of shaker. Strain into a beautiful martini glass and garnish with pickle slices on a swizzle stick.


Here’s to curb appeal. Since it’s planting season, I found some landscaping mistakes that are said to date your home. The first one is using red mulch in your flower beds.  Walt Disney World started this in the 60’s. Instead, they say to use pine-bark mulch – it’s just shredded pine trees, chemical-free, easily found at garden centers, and helps add nutrients to the soil. The next idea is not to plant too close to your foundation. Landscapers suggest planting no closer than 3 ft. away from your home. The plants and shrubs are going to grow and get larger if you take care of them.


Jeff Reitz holds the Guinness World Record for the most consecutive visits to Disneyland… eight years, three months and 13 days – in a row – five days short of 3,000 days. He was unemployed at the time, so he and a friend saw an opportunity to exercise and meet other people. Once he went to work fulltime, he still spent on average of three to five hours there each day, but always at least one hour. “It was never about spending the entire day there,” he said. “It’s about making a visit.” His friend stopped visiting after two years, but Reitz decided to keep going because he was still having fun with it. He watched new sections being built knowing they were making “new magic.” Then March 13th, 2020, the park shut down for the pandemic. He had already planned to take off the following Wednesday because it would have marked his 3000th consecutive day. But instead, he made 2,995 days and hasn’t been back.


RECENT BIRTHDAYS: Actor Sarah Jessica Parker is 58. Film critic Gene Shalit is 97. (I pulled up pictures of him; the oversized handlebar moustache and crazy hair is the same, just grey now). Actor Paul Michael Glaser of Starsky and Hutch is 80. Singer, entertainer, activist, & Miss America runner-up Anita Bryant is 83. Actor Timothy Dalton is 77. The 4th actor to play James Bond. Actor Gary Oldman is 65. Actor Matthew Broderick is 61. Actor-comedian Rosie O’Donnell is 61. Actor Kelly LeBrock is 63. Actor Jim Parsons of The Big Bang Theory is 50. Actor Jessica Chastain is 46. Singer-keyboardist Rose Stone of Sly and the Family Stone is 78. Actor Alan Arkin is 89. Singer Diana Ross is 79. Singer Steven Tyler of Aerosmith is 75. Singer-actor Vicki Lawrence is 74. Actor Martin Short is 73. Actor Michael York is 81.  Talk show host Leeza Gibbons is 66. Actor Jennifer Grey is 63. Country singer Kenny Chesney is 55. Keyboardist Tony Banks of Genesis is 73. Jazz musician Dave Koz is 60. Country singer Reba McEntire is 68. Movie director Quentin Tarantino is 60. Harmonica player Charlie McCoy of Hee Haw is 82.

Singer Lady Gaga is 37. Comedian Eric Idle is 80. Singer Rudolph Isley of Isley Brothers is 84.  Singer Bobby Kimball of Toto is 76. Singer Celine Dion is 55. Actor Bud Cort of Harold and Maude is 75. Model Elle Macpherson is 60. Actor Warren Beatty is 86. TV personality Peter Marshall of Hollywood Squares is 97. Singer Tracy Chapman is 59. Comedian Gabe Kaplan of Welcome Back Kotter is 79. Actor John Astin of The Addams Family is 93. Musician Eric Clapton is 78. Actor Rhea Perlman of Cheers is 75. Actor Paul Reiser is 67. Actor Shirley Jones is 89. The Partridge Family. Rapper MC Hammer is 61. Rapper Salt of Salt-N-Pepa is 57. Actor Christopher Walken is 80. Actor Ali MacGraw is 84. Love Story. Musician Herb Alpert is 88. Actor Richard Chamberlain is 89. Dr. James Kildare, The Thorn Birds, and was the first Jason Bourne.


A bear walks into a bar and says, “Give me a whiskey and …… cola.”
Why the big pause?” asks the bartender. The bear shrugged. “I’m not sure; I was born with them.”


A principal of a Florida school has been forced to resign after a parent complained that sixth-grade students were exposed to pornography after a Renaissance art lesson that showed images of Michelangelo’s Renaissance period sculpture of David… which just happens to be one of the most famous statues in Western history. In fact, growing up at our house, we had a small replica of the statue in our living room. Right there in front of God and everyone that visited our home. Because as a child, our family encouraged us to learn and be exposed to all aspects of our world, not just what happened in some insignificant 10-mile radius town we lived in. The director of the Galleria dell ‘Accademia where the statue of David is now shown, was astonished at the controversy and welcomed the principal, school board, parents, and student body to come view the “purity” of the statue in person. The mayor of Florence, Italy, personally invited the Florida educator who was let go, to visit the city to be recognized, adding, “that whoever teaches such art deserves respect.” Yes, I believe parents should have rights on their children’s education, but they have to be intelligently thought-out and researched rights. I read an article this morning about a parent that single-handedly had over 92 books removed from a high school library in Florida. In this county a single parent can challenge a book without having to identify supposed inappropriate material OR without having read the book. One author that had 20 of her books removed during this fiasco, was accused of writing adult romance. The author said she does not write adult romance, but one of the books removed was about the Holocaust. Does anyone remember studying about the book burnings that the Nazi’s held as a show of their intolerance and censorship? Hmmm.


A man tells his doctor, “Doc, help me. I’m addicted to Twitter!”
The doctor replies, “Sorry, I don’t follow you …”


Dolly Parton has a new fashion book, Behind the Seams, My Life in Rhinestones, 366 pages where she discusses some of her most memorable outfits, from the clothes her mother would sew out of feed sacks, bold dresses and hairdos that shook up Nashville, to evening wear at Studio 54, and costumes from her most famous film and TV roles. It is due out October 17, 2023, but can be preordered now. It will also be sold as an audiobook narrated by Dolly. That should be really good, but as good as a book of pictures of unforgettable outfits? Hmmm. I may have to do both. Her wig caps also have a little pocket in the back because her outfits are so tight there is no place for her mic pack. I like her.


My special friends Mary and Bruce Meyers celebrated their 50th anniversary this month with a party. It was perfect.  I’ve never seen a crowd of people so happy to see each other and help celebrate our friends, and friendship.  Because of the pandemic, our few social occasions have been limited to funerals and such. Their love is a perfect example of what many of us wish we could have accomplished.


Chappell Hill Lavender Farm Is now open. 2250 Dillard Road, Brenham. The official Bluebonnet Festival of Texas in Chappell Hill is April 15-16. 400 plus vendors, food, live music, in the heart of bluebonnet country. www.ChappellHillHistoricSociety.com


The Brazosport Art League is presenting the People’s Choice Gallery Show, where you, the public, get to vote on your favorite pieces. It’s fun. Preview the art on Facebook, “Brazosport Art League” – Reception and Awards presentation April 28, Friday 6:30 – 8 PM The Center for the Arts and Sciences.


This may be the best thing I tell you today.  According to new research published in Nature Aging, the widely used Viagra aka sildenafil, may be associated with a significant reduction in developing Alzheimer’s disease. Now, here’s the really good part…. by nearly 70%.  Of course, more research is needed. This could mean that the little blue pill that was first intended for the treatment of cardiovascular disease when it was introduced in 1989 – except for one very unique, common side-effect that made men very happy – could now help us keep more memory and mental functions intact.


What do you call a woman with one leg? Eileen. (I shouldn’t have put this in but it is great, and it is April Fools’ material… but I will just go ahead and apologize now.)


Here are a few great ideas, especially since we are all getting ready to plant gardens and flowerbeds. Reuse wine and champagne corks as plant markers. Write the name of the plant on the cork with permanent marker, push it onto a metal skewer or chopstick, and place it in the soil next to the appropriate plant. Wait. It gets better. This one is for my neighbor who was a professional golfer and is now a most fabulous gardener. Do you have an old or unused golf bag taking up space in your garage? Long-handled tools can be carried in the club compartment and smaller ones in the side pocket, then you can haul the bag around with you as your work. One more. Take a hole puncher to your little white plant ID tags that come stuck in the plants, then hang them through a key ring so you can remember the names, the height and care instructions throughout the season. Last one. Reuse toilet paper tubes this gardening season. Cut four slits at one end and fold them in to close up the bottom. Then fill with soil and plant your seeds. Place on a tray in a warm spot away from drafts. Because cardboard is biodegradable, you can put your pots directly into the ground when planting time has arrived. Great ideas for playing in the dirt. Don’t forget to check out the spaghetti plants at Home Depot. 😊 Have a great week and thank you for reading and shopping with us.

Lisa


Send comments to Lisa Baker at lisa@thesourceweekly.com

  • What I Heard This Week 10-26-2023

    by on October 25, 2023 - 0 Comments

    Former US astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, recently remarried for the fourth time, which also happened to be on the occasion of his 93rd birthday. This time it was to Dr. Anca Faur, his 63-year-old, long-time companion (who looks like she wants to be 27), has a PhD in chemical engineering, and is now the executive vice president of Aldrin’s company, Buzz Aldrin Ventures.  He was first married to Joan Ann Archer in 1954 until divorcing in 1974. The next year he married Beverly Van Zile; they divorced after three years. His third marriage was to Lois Driggs Cannon in 1988 on Valentine's Day, divorcing 23 years later. Looks like he hasn’t given up on ‘love’ quite yet. He has sued two of his children and his former business manager claiming they stole money from him and are slandering his legacy, and that they also undermined his "personal romantic relationships" by forbidding him from getting married. His children say he is also spending money at an alarming rate. Sounds like those children are out of luck. There is a new sheriff in town and her name is MRS. Aldrin. ☹ Notes: Aldrin is also a strong advocate for human exploration of Mars. In 2002, he escaped assault charges after punching a man who demanded he swear on a Bible that the Moon landing was not staged. Good for him. He also said, “Tang sucks. “

  • What I Heard This Week 11-30-2023

    by on November 29, 2023 - 0 Comments

    Former US astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, recently remarried for the fourth time, which also happened to be on the occasion of his 93rd birthday. This time it was to Dr. Anca Faur, his 63-year-old, long-time companion (who looks like she wants to be 27), has a PhD in chemical engineering, and is now the executive vice president of Aldrin’s company, Buzz Aldrin Ventures.  He was first married to Joan Ann Archer in 1954 until divorcing in 1974. The next year he married Beverly Van Zile; they divorced after three years. His third marriage was to Lois Driggs Cannon in 1988 on Valentine's Day, divorcing 23 years later. Looks like he hasn’t given up on ‘love’ quite yet. He has sued two of his children and his former business manager claiming they stole money from him and are slandering his legacy, and that they also undermined his "personal romantic relationships" by forbidding him from getting married. His children say he is also spending money at an alarming rate. Sounds like those children are out of luck. There is a new sheriff in town and her name is MRS. Aldrin. ☹ Notes: Aldrin is also a strong advocate for human exploration of Mars. In 2002, he escaped assault charges after punching a man who demanded he swear on a Bible that the Moon landing was not staged. Good for him. He also said, “Tang sucks. “

  • Much Ado About Nothing - Texan in Winter

    by on December 6, 2018 - 0 Comments

    The power went out at my house last night for four hours. While this may not seem like a major catastrophe as it was the middle of the night and […]

  • Much Ado About Nothing - “Human Bait”

    by on January 16, 2020 - 0 Comments

    My dad always told me to have a backup plan in case my current job doesn’t work out. I wasn’t sure what that’d be until I saw this ad: “HUMAN […]

  • What I Heard This Week! December 20, 2018

    by on December 20, 2018 - 0 Comments

    The AK-47 is a type of assault rifle originally manufactured in the Soviet Union in 1949. A 17-year-old Humble High School student accidently shot herself recently with an AK-47 that […]

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