On Fridays or Saturdays, or Sundays, I clean the office. Normally when I vacuum, I bonk the tennis ball with the vacuum cleaner then Teller brings it back, drops it in front of me, and we do this over and over again.  We “work” for a bit, then stop, sit on the sofa, talk, or open mail, then we share a couple of fortune cookies that we have on hand for our customers. Teller just loves fortune cookies, and so do I. Today’s Fortune said: You will be successful someday. Hmmm. That was not as positive a fortune as I was expecting. Obviously, the fortune cookie knew that I was not vacuuming because I just love to vacuum, but because we have cut costs at my office. Yes, it’s still just $5 for place an ad, so I clean my own office. I’ll just have to stick that fortune on the refrigerator so it will remind me of all the good fortune that is still to come my way. 😊 You’ve heard of kissing a lot of frogs, well, we may have to eat a lot of fortune cookies. Hint: clean out a closet, call us, place an ad and have money in your pocket on Thursday… just saying.

“I keep asking, why the heck are we making chemicals that are never going to go away?” Linda Birnbaum, former director, National Institute for Environmental Health Science

Note: The reusable kitchen “paper” towels made out of cotton flannel that I told you about a couple of weeks ago, are quite nice and absorbent after you wash them the first time. I can use one towel all night. Sometimes I rinse it out, sometimes I just keep using it, then it goes straight into the washing machine to be washed with towels. I would say that it was a good practical buy and will save a slew of paper towels, and hundreds of trees in my future. Actually, I like them better than paper towels.

The political cartoon or strip, or whatever you call it that I found in the Houston Chronicle by Branch, shows a storekeeper wearing his apron with Texas flag emblem on the front, debit credit card machine nearby, and a driver’s license size ‘something’ in his hand that he is obviously looking at. At the same time, he is speaking to a young man wearing a backwards baseball cap, and assault-style rifle slung over his shoulder. The shopkeeper is questioning, “A pack of cigarettes?! But you’re only 18!!!”

Some Monday evenings after we close the office, I leave Teller here for a bit, and go shopping for groceries. Those are the short visits where I shop the outside aisles of the store but not the inside aisles. It saves time and I tend to overbuy otherwise. I’m typically not a big meat eater but uncured bacon was on sale. I added two delicious looking steaks, breakfast sausage and canned biscuits (because I had been craving sausage & biscuits); smoked turkey sandwich meat and sandwich cheese for lunches were all added to my basket of fruits and vegetables. HEB was super busy, so I helped bag my groceries, putting all the cold perishables into a plastic store sack, not one of my washable grocery sacks that I bring with me. I got home, prepared two slices of a fresh loaf of SEEDelicious bread with a layer of mayonnaise and mustard, then looked for the smoked turkey. Ahh. The cold sack had not been unloaded. I stepped outside to see if I had left it in the car. Nope. I called HEB to see if they had found it. Yes, but they had already put everything back on the shelves and it was closing time. No problem. I’ll come later and re-shop.  Plus, I knew I had a container of venison soup in the freezer that a friend had given me, and I needed to eat it. I opened up the recycled cottage cheese container that she had used to bring the soup to me, only to find that she had actually delivered a brand-new container of cottage cheese. Dinner preparations were not going well for me, so I just opened a can of sardines with crackers. Dinner of Champions.

If you need assistance or have questions when shopping for new insurance, there is free help from your State Health Insurance Assistance Program at 877-839-2675. If you need Medicare help with your insurer changes in coverage, there is the nonprofit Medicare Rights Center at 800-333-4114.

RECENT BIRTHDAYS: Actor Geoffrey Rush is 72. Writer Dave Barry is 76. Actor Betty Buckley is 76. Talk show host Montel Williams is 67. Country singer Aaron Tippin is 65. You’ve Got to Stand for Something. Actor-singer Audra McDonald is 53. Actor Eva Marie Saint is 99. TV personality Geraldo Rivera is 80. Percussionist Ralph Johnson of Earth, Wind and Fire is 72. Musician Huey Lewis is 72. In April 2018, Lewis revealed that he had hearing loss as a result of Ménière’s disease. Singer Gene Chandler is 83. Country singer Jeannie Seely is 83. Actor Burt Ward of Batman is 78. Actor Fred Dryer is 77. Actor Sylvester Stallone is 77. Actor Shelley Hack of Charlie’s Angels is 76. Actor Allyce Beasley of Moonlighting is 72. Actor Shelley Duvall is 74. Singer Steve Lawrence is 88. Drummer Jaimoe Johanson of The Allman Brothers is 79. Actor Jeffrey Tambor is 79. Actor Kim Darby is 76. Children’s singer Raffi is 75. Actor Anjelica Huston is 72. Actor Kevin Bacon is 65. Country singer Toby Keith is 62. Bandleader Doc Severinsen is 96. Drummer Ringo Starr is 83. Singer-guitarist Warren Entner of the Grass Roots is 80. Singer David Hodo (construction worker) of The Village People is 76.

If you have used and enjoyed the Texas Pie dough pucks that were sold at HEB, then please let them know that they need to bring them back. 979-299-0105. HEB kept moving the location at the store until we quit looking… now they are nowhere to be found. I enjoyed them so much because they don’t take up much space in the freezer and you don’t have to plan ahead when you need one… just take it out of the freezer, microwave for 30-45 seconds, rest for 2 minutes, then roll it out. It’s delicious, too. Please call and tell them to bring them back.

If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change the way you think about it. Mary Engelbreit

Hatch Chili Season is coming… August and September. True Hatch chilies only come from the Hatch Valley in Hatch, New Mexico. It’s no different than Napa Valley for grapes, or Boston for beans 😊. It’s not near as serious as calling an ordinary sparkling wine, Champagne, but you get the picture. Let’s face it, most of us are sold on these chilis because they are so versatile and make foods sweet or savory, taste better and more interesting. Hatch chilis have even made their way into wine and cocktails. Yes, there is a Hatch chili wine – red or white, at HEB. I tried the red last year, and it was quite good. (Move over Pumpkin Pie Spice Latte 😊.) Some people even use Hatch chilis in their apple pies. I always buy my chilis roasted, scrape off the charring, chop and freeze for wintertime soups, meatloaf, dips, hummus, or on pizzas. So, I’m just warning you ahead of time. Get ready.

Swifties! “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)” is Taylor Swift’s third of six re-records of her early music. It officially debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, becoming her 12th album to reach the top spot. Taylor Swift now has more #1 albums than any other woman in history.

The first ever Hallmark Channel Christmas Cruise. They call them Hallmarkies, people that just love Hallmark movies. I started telling you about it last week. It sets sail November 5^th – 9^th, 2024, with bookings open to the public on July 21. 2023 (this week). Cabin space is limited, so don’t wait. There will be a Sail Ceremony, tree lighting, interactive activities with Hallmark Channel stars, cookie decorating, Christmas carol-oke, Christmas crafts, ugly sweater contest, wine tastings and more, all while sailing from Miami, Florida to Nassau, Bahamas. (Keepsake Christmas on the Hallmark Channel is still underway until July 27^th, with Christmas at Dollywood, The Nine Lives of Christmas, Switched for Christmas, Christmas in Rome and so many more.)

As of this day, the National Hurricane Center says Tropical Storm Don is the only disturbance in the Atlantic, likely to hit cooler water around Sunday or Monday and go away.

Customers are calling the Girl Scout Thin Mint BITES, the best thing they’ve ever purchased from Costco. The cause of Lisa Marie Presley’s death was a small bowel obstruction, a complication of her bariatric surgery years before. Wels catfish are huge. An angler just caught a 9.4 foot one in Italy. He made the choice to not have the record catfish weighed because the stress could harm the fish. Instead, he released it. But I saw the picture. Yikes, it was huge. Jason Aldean ran off stage mid-performance after suffering a heat stroke in Connecticut. Well, was it a heat stroke or was it the heat from the radio stations pulling his song, “Try That in a Small Town.” They say the song promotes gun violence…he says it promotes a sense of community. Aspartame, a low-calorie sweetener (Nutrasweet, Equal) found in many popular diet or sugar-free drinks, sugar-free gum, gelatin, syrups and more, could be carcinogenic to humans, based on limited evidence that it could cause liver cancer.  If a store is sold out of an on sale advertised product, then just ask for a raincheck.

Arctophilist: a collector of teddy bears.

The Wireless Alliance is a company that recovers and recycles cell phones, smart phones, tablets, and other consumer recyclables. The Gulf Coast Bird Observatory collects these items for Wireless Alliance to keep them out of landfills as well as raise money for conservation efforts. If you have old technology such as a phone, charger, tablet, or other accessories, consider bringing it to GCBO or drop it off at The Source Weekly and we will make sure they get them!
GCBO is also in need of used tablets you no longer need as they move to electronic check-in and event transactions. They don’t have to be in perfect condition. Bring ‘em on.

Have you heard about the first Golden Bachelor, Gerry Turner, a 71-year-old retired restaurateur (now did he own a restaurant or was he a manager of a McDonald’s? hmmm), is from Indiana, a widower, a father of two daughters and two granddaughters, and is ready to find new love again. I have never, ever watched The Bachelor and had no intentions of doing so, BUT… I think I’m in. Unless of course, they put him with 25-year-old bimbos. Then I’m out. (My spellcheck says😊that this term may imply gender bias. Yes.)  This will be the first time since Golden Girls that they amuse us with mature adults.

This week my daughter Anne-Elisabeth celebrates her 24^th birthday. It will be her first birthday where her momma didn’t celebrate with her, so I mailed the dress and shoes that I wore at her 4^th birthday party which was a princess party. That year we made our living room into a castle, served little corn dogs and kid food from silver serving pieces, and danced. Everyone dressed up royally, even the parents of the kids. I had a little red carpet leading into the house with pink rose petals scattered about. It was so much fun for my little princess-obsessed 4-year-old, plus so much fun for this mom to plan and decorate for. This year in North Carolina, a friend is giving AE a grown-up Barbie party where all of Barbie’s successful friends will be dressed as Mermaid Barbie, Astronaut Barbie, Doctor Barbie or some promising, prosperous, or adored Barbie from their past. There will be no Hopeless Barbie there. I don’t know if Ken is going to show or not. I hope AE enjoys being Princess Barbie. The dress and shoes fit her perfectly. Happy Birthday Anne-Elisabeth. I love you and I miss you! I’ll be at home crying if you need me.

Have a great week and thanks for reading and shopping with The Source Weekly. We appreciate you. 

😊 LISA

Send comments to Lisa Baker at lisa@thesourceweekly.com

Texas passed a new law eliminating the use of temporary paper license plates in the state. It won’t go into effect anytime soon (July 1, 2025), but dealers will simply have to issue $10 metal plates to buyers purchasing cars. Temporary plates are easy to fake and often found on cars used to commit crimes. The Chronicle stated, a 2022 report estimated that “at least” 1.8 million cars in Texas are without real plates, and that a “tagdemic” of fraudulent paper tags had cost Harris county about $80 million in registration fees over the previous six years. Wouldn’t it be great if the plates were compostable or could be recycled for $$ like coke and milk bottles were back in the good old days.

3 in 4 people don’t regularly eat food high in probiotics which are important for a healthy gut, which in turn boosts our immune system, which then helps our entire bodies. Remember yogurt, kefir (fermented milk drink), pickles, kimchi (traditional Korean side dish consisting of salted and fermented vegetables, most commonly using napa cabbage or Korean radish), miso (fermented soybean paste – I buy it in a bottle and use it to flavor dishes – it’s delicious), and sauerkraut. Other foods that you need to incorporate in your diet are asparagus, Jerusalem artichokes (they’re not heavy in starch like potatoes but can be roasted, mashed and make a great potato substitute), bananas, oatmeal, red wine 😊 (I personally incorporate and experience this in a glass as I chop and cook), honey, maple syrup, and legumes (beans, soybeans, green beans, chickpeas, alfalfa, lentils, peas, & peanuts). If you don’t take care of your body, where are you going to live?

Larry Nassar, the disgraced former USA gymnastics team doctor convicted of state and federal charges for sexually assaulting underaged members of the USA gymnastics team and for possessing child pornography, has been stabbed in prison again, but is listed in stable condition. I hope it doesn’t hurt…much. A prominent Harvard business school professor who studies honesty was accused of falsifying data in a behavioral science study. In Florida, a man called the Python Cowboy along with his python-sniffing dog Otto, captured a 16-ft Burmese python that was ready to lay over 60 eggs. I’m glad I live in Texas.

22-year-old Rikkie Valerie Kolle has been named Miss Netherlands 2023, becoming the first transgender woman to take the title; now heading to the Miss Universe pageant in El Salvador later this year. Anne Chakrajutathib, a business tycoon who controls JKN Global Group Public Co. Ltd., is a celebrity in Thailand, has starred in reality shows and is outspoken about being a transgender woman, recently acquired the rights to the Miss Universe pageant. “I don’t call Miss Universe a beauty pageant anymore,” she said. “I call it a women’s empowerment competition.”

Trying to make protein shakes but they keep coming out as margaritas.

What heat dome? They’re still skiing in Colorado. Barbie officially opens on July 21, but the first public screening was recently held in LA. The reviews that I read were great, but critic reviews will come out closer to the 21^st. Leslie Louise Van Houten also known by various aliases such as Louella Alexandria, Leslie Marie Sankston, Linda Sue Owens and Lulu, a convicted murderer and former member of the Charles Manson Family, was released on parole after serving 53 years of a life sentence in relation to the 1969 killings of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca. Some are not happy about this.

There is only one tropical disturbance in the Atlantic which shows a 50% chance of cyclone formation in the next seven days. It is more than 500 miles east-northeast of Bermuda. As it makes way north over cooler water, it should limit additional development according to the National Hurricane Center.

RECENT BIRTHDAYS: Actor June Lockhart of Lassie and Lost in Space is 98. Singer Carly Simon is 80. Actor-comedian Jimmie Walker is 76. Keyboardist David Paich of Toto is 69. Jazz pianist Dave Grusin is 89. Singer Billy Davis Jr. of the Fifth Dimension is 85. Singer-songwriter Patty Smyth is 66. Married to retired tennis player John McEnroe since 1997. Singer Bruce Johnston of the Beach Boys is 81. Country singer Lorrie Morgan is 64. Comedian-director Mel Brooks is 97. Actor Kathy Bates is 75. Actor Gary Busey is 79. The Buddy Holly Story. Guitarist Hal Lindes of Dire Straits is 70. Comedian Richard Lewis is 76. Drummer Ian Paice of Deep Purple is 75. Actor Leslie Caron is 92. Actor Jamie Farr is 89. Dancer Twyla Tharp is 82. Actor Genevieve Bujold is 81. Singer Deborah Harry of Blondie is 78. Singer Fred Schneider of the B-52′s is 72. Actor Marla Gibbs is 92. Singer Janet Lennon of The Lennon Sisters is 77. Actor John Goodman is 71. Guitarist Barry Melton of Country Joe and the Fish is 76. Singer Boy George of Culture Club is 62. Actor Gena Rowlands is 93. Singer Spanky McFarlane of Spanky and Our Gang is 81. Classical pianist Andre Watts is 77. Home repair show host Bob Vila is 77.

TV anchor Hannah Storm is 61. Bassist Michael Anthony of Van Halen & Chickenfoot is 69. The actors Ashley and Mary Kate Olsen are 37. Bassist John Taylor of Duran Duran is 63. Sex therapist and media personality Dr. Ruth Westheimer is 95. Actor Bruce Dern is 87. Actor Dan Aykroyd is 71. Actor Tom Cruise is 61. Singer Victor Willis (policeman or naval officer) of the Village People is 72. Actor Pamela Anderson is 56. Model-actor Jerry Hall is 67. Actor Michael Cole of The Mod Squad is 83. Country singer Johnny Lee is 77. Lookin’ for Love, One in a Million, Pickin’ Up Strangers, Save the Last Chance.

Oscar winning actor Alan Arkin died at 89. We all know what a fabulous actor he was but were you aware that in the 1950’s, Arkin won scholarships to many drama colleges but instead dropped out and formed a folk music band in 1955 called The Tarriers. One year later, they had a huge hit with their version of The Banana Boat Song. About that same time, Harry Belafonte recorded his version, Day-O, which was also a hit.

The Battleship of Texas is back in Galveston with a new exhibit to celebrate its legacy. July 1, until January 31, 2024, at the Galveston Railroad Museum, while the ship is undergoing renovations in the Galveston Ship Channel.

A very frantic and scared woman on an American Airlines flight leaving DFW caused hours of delay after she claimed that someone or something at the back of the plane was “not real,” urging everyone to get off the plane or die. Many on the plane were convinced that she actually saw something and was truly distressed. Now I’m reading that stand-up comedian and actor Scott Thompson, aka Carrot Top, was actually on that same flight. Hmmm. A United Airlines flight from Houston to Amsterdam made an unscheduled landing in Chicago because an unruly passenger in business class was livid over the fact his first choice of a meal was not available (and he could have been a little intoxicated.)

Clute has the Mosquito Festival, known far and wide for being a really clever reason for a festival (July 27 – 29, featuring Tilluride, Bluewater Highway, Profugos de Nuevo Leon, Secretto, Bri Bagwell, Josh Abbott Band and Bag of Donuts). Freeport just had their great Fishin’ Fiesta. While I was reading All Recipes magazine, I saw where downtown Pittsburgh has Picklesburg, a family friendly celebration of all things pickled July 21-23. Pickled food and drink, pickled-themed souvenirs, live music, and a pickle juice-drinking contest, along with a giant Heinz pickle balloon soaring overhead.  Clever, but they don’t have Bluewater Highway or Willie-Man-Chew. 😊

A New Jersey man has been fined after he had 32 trees, some as old as 150 years old, cut down from his neighbor’s property without a permit so he would have a better view of the Manhattan skyline. He has been fined $32,000 ($1000 per tree – big deal) so far, but an ordinance states that if a tree is illegally removed, the person who did the removal is obligated to replace it with another tree exactly like it or even a superior species. That’s hard. The site where the oaks, maples and birch trees lived would require a road, new soil, nurturing and watering the trees for two years, then cleanup (they left the fallen trees on the property.) Estimates for replanting the trees could be up to $1.5 million. The man also faces a trespassing charge because, well, it wasn’t his property.

Hope begins in the dark – the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. Anne Lamott

In my kitchen and bathrooms, I have had a fly problem lately. Connie told me to get something specific at Walmart, but obviously I wasn’t listening, and I bought something different called Terro Fruit Fly Traps that look like little plastic apples that you fill with something that smells like apple cider vinegar. But it only got rid of just three flies. So, the next time Connie was at the store, she went ahead and bought me the ($19.97) ZEVO Indoor Flying Insect Traps. It has a sticky strip and a blue UV light you plug into your light socket. It’s actually magic and quite nice looking. On the first day I had seven flies trapped, begging for me to unpeel them. I didn’t. It’s really good, just in case you have flies at your house… Thank you, Connie. When the sticky sheet gets full, then just pop in a refill cartridge. Now, if I can just get rid of the ants that came in with the last rain. It’s always something.

If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door. Milton Berle

Former President Donald Trump posted what he claimed was the home address of former President Barack Obama. On the same day, a man who participated in the January 6, 2021 riot, was arrested near that property with guns found in his vehicle. Doesn’t Trump understand that’s why you take the mailing labels off the magazines before you give them away. 😊

The upgraded Brazosport CAER (Community Awareness and Emergency Awareness and Emergency Response) siren system will now run a test each Monday at noon in our county. The system has been upgraded to newer technology which will sound different and cover a broader area.

If you love cruises, Christmas and the Hallmark Channel, good news. Hallmark Channel announced TODAY its new Christmas Holiday Cruise, set for November 5-9, 2024, with rooms available for as little as $950 per person with two guests. More next week.

A former Air Force sergeant solicited 93 women before he found one who would enter into a special “sugar daddy (but no sex)” marriage, so that he could get Pentagon spousal housing payments while he was stationed overseas. Getting married wasn’t the worst part of his crime, he lied under oath that his bride was living in San Francisco, which meant a much higher stipend than her actual residence in Texas.

There is a song/album from 1979 called The Day the Earth Caught Fire, by City Boy. I don’t know why, perhaps because the Earth seems to be on fire lately, but I thought about it and listened to it this week. It’s a good rock group with a song that seems appropriate for us right now. …abandoned cars that lay too tired to drive away, A World in Flames Today was all the papers had to say, run for your life, The Earth’s caught fire, run, run, run… Thanks for reading this week. Don’t turn your AC too cool. Remember our sweet grid.

😊 LISA

Send comments to Lisa Baker at lisa@thesourceweekly.com