In Marietta, Georgia, more than 300 families decorated their mailboxes then had a block party in honor of their mailman’s retirement. Floyd Martin, 61, had been delivering their mail for 35 years. They said that Mr. Floyd always had lollipops for their kids and treats for the cats and dogs, along with a smile and a wave for the homeowners. He even brought newspapers to the front doors of the elderly. One preschooler dressed up like Mr. Floyd on career day. Oh, yes. This appreciative neighborhood also started a Go Fund Me page that to date has raised over $32,000 so they can send their mailman to Hawaii on his dream vacation. After Delta Airlines heard about this hometown hero, they decided to fly him to Hawaii for free. See, it does pay to be nice. Mr. Floyd says, “Continue to take care of each other, and smile when you think of me.” Nice story.
Use your imagination here…Snoopy is sitting on top of his doghouse with his typewriter. He smiles and the thought bubble says, “What a great title for my new book…” Next thought bubble says, “Things I’ve learned after it was too late.” Readers…the story of our lives…things we’ve learned after it was too late.
Last year 2018, donations and charitable giving by individuals in America suffered the biggest drop in ten years. I know it hasn’t been a good situation in our own community for non-profits since Harvey, but I didn’t realize it was across the United States. Give when you can…your time or your money.
Tim McGraw and Pulitzer Prize-winning presidential biographer Jon Meacham, have together, written a book, “Songs of America: Patriotism, Protest and The Music That Made a Nation.” Their current book tour is a mixture of songs and lectures on American history, culture and the impact that music has had on American politics.
I am a devoted fan of the first three “Hunger Games” books – ‘The Hunger Games, Catching Fire and Mockingjay’ have sold more than 100 million copies and have been translated into more than 50 languages. When my kids were younger, I always pre-read their teen and pre-teen books, so I could first determine if they were age appropriate and second, so I would have something in common with them for conversation. After the books, Jennifer Lawrence, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Liam Hemsworth, Donald Sutherland and others helped bring the movies to life. We saw all four movies, sometimes standing in line for hours at midnight releases. Today I read that a decade after wrapping it all up, author Suzanne Collins is now working on a prequel, set 64 years before the beginning of her multi-million-selling trilogy and the book is to be published May 19, 2020. No word yet on whether an agreement for film rights has been reached but I would bet an absolute YES.
“Miss Everdeen. It’s the things we love most that destroy us.” President Snow in Hunger Games
Recently, Target had a weekend register glitch. Super long checkout lines formed, and some customers had to either pay with cash or leave without their purchases. Frustration, chaos, venting on social media, abandoned shopping carts and apologies ensued. Everything was ok until a few days later when Target experienced another credit card/register outage that lasted about 90 minutes, which was reported to be unrelated to the previous problem. It was the day before Father’s Day, and you know what last minute shopping is like before those occasions. The impact won’t show up until the retailer discloses quarterly revenue in August, but it could cost Target as much as $50 million in lost sales. It’s sad that we have become a society of impatience which is a major cause of unhappiness in our world.
“When we get impatient because something is taking too long, we should remember that Life waits on us a thousand times more than we wait on Life.” Laura Teresa Marquez
RECENT BIRTHDAYS: Actress June Lockhart is 94. Lassie and Lost in Space. TV personality Phyllis George is 70. Miss America 1971. Movie producer Robert Evans is 89. He was married to Phyllis George for a year, Catherine Oxenberg for less than that…also Ali MacGraw and so many other beautiful women.
Former Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos is 90. About 260 people were sent to the hospital vomiting and dizzy from food poisoning during her lavish 90th birthday celebration. Rock musician David Paich is 65. Toto. Actor Gary Busey is 75. The Buddy Holly Story. Rock singer Colin Hay is 66. Men at Work. Luci Baines Johnson, daughter of former President Lyndon B. Johnson is 72. Rock musician Roy Bittan is 70. Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band.
Lee Iacocca was an American automobile executive best known for the development of Ford Mustang and Pinto cars while at the Ford Motor Company in the 1960s, and then later for reviving the Chrysler Corporation with the minivan as he served as President and CEO from 1978 until his retirement at the end of 1992. He was a marketing genius that died this week at 94.
“Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.” Robert Brault
Joe Perricone missed his own graduation from high school when he was called up to serve in WWII. So, this year his grandson secretly arranged for the 95-year-old to not only get his diploma but to march with the other graduates at graduation. He said, “I started to make some calls, and the stars just aligned. It was great seeing him grin when he walked across the stage. He was very happy.” So much nice in the world.
If this doesn’t scare you, then you can’t be scared. Just north of Mexico City, there was a freak hailstorm that dropped several feet of ice pellets. Not just a storm, but in some areas as much as 6 FEET of hail came down. In Mexico. Where the daytime temperature that day was 88. Homes and cars were damaged. Climate change? Nah…
If you don’t talk to your cat about catnip. Who will?
Winners of the 2019 Tony Awards were announced at Radio City Music Hall last month. The awards are named after Antoinette “Tony” Perry, co-founder of the American Theatre Wing. Top prizes went to Hadestown with eight wins including Best Musical and The Ferryman with four wins including Best Play. Lead acting winners included Stephanie J. Block for The Cher Show, Santino Fontana for Tootsie, Elaine May for The Waverly Gallery and Bryan Cranston for Network.
There have been quite a few movies made about musicians. ‘Walk the Line’ starring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon as Johnny Cash and June Carter. ‘Love & Mercy’ with Paul Dano and John Cusack as Brian Wilson. ‘What’s Love Got to Do with It’ with Laurence Fishburne as Ike Turner and Angela Bassett as Tina Turner. Then there is Michael Douglas as Liberace in ‘Behind the Candelabra.’ One of my favorites, Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles. I loved Sissy Spacek as Loretta Lynn in ‘Coal Miner’s Daughter.’ ‘I’m Not There’ with Cate Blanchett portraying Bob Dylan at one point in his life. There was a lot of discussion since she was a woman and Bob Dylan is not. Which brings me to the story I heard today…a Boy George biopic is in the works and the singer would love it if Sophie Turner would play him. You know the beautiful blond that just finished in Game of Thrones and has married Joe Jonas twice. Yep, I looked at a picture of her and it could work. Turner wrote on Twitter, “I’m SO down.” Interesting.
Did you see the video of the young woman opening a half-gallon container of Blue Bell Ice Cream, licking the contents, replacing the lid then putting it back on the store freezer shelf, laughing the whole time. Then she walked away. Hmmm. You already know what I think. I sure hope they find the licker and the camera person that was filming the video. Some things are just hard to believe. I don’t even know what punishment would/should be in a situation like this – one person stated that they both need to eat a half gallon in a very short period of time and experience brain freeze. Nah. I’m meaner than that. I bet her mother never took a wooden spoon to her backside when she was growing up. Blue Bell says that during production, the half gallons are flipped upside-down and sent to a hardening room where the ice cream freezes to the lid creating a natural seal.
A sequel to ‘The Bodyguard’ almost happened. Kevin Costner says that he received the script for the film the day before Princess Diana was killed in a car wreck in Paris. Yes, Princess Diana was very interested in taking on her first acting role. Hmmm.
Human Resources: Did you call an employee here stupid? Me: Of course not. I ASKED if she WAS stupid?
Longhorn Steakhouse is now serving Steak and Bourbon Ice Cream. Steak infused ice cream with Longhorn’s Char seasoning spice blend, ribbons of bourbon caramel, whipped cream and steak sprinkles along with what looked like a little piece of beef jerky stuck on top for decoration. $3.99 at select locations including Houston. Sounds delicious to me.
Sotheby’s auction house has been purchased by French Israeli telecommunications entrepreneur Patrick Drahi for a reported $3.7 billion. This acquisition returns the only publicly traded major auction house to private ownership after 31 years on the NY Stock Exchange.
A Hawaiian company is hoping to build an underwater farm a mile from shore and in depths between 600 to 2,000 feet. They believe that with the nutrient-rich water they can produce large quantities of edible seaweed called Limu which is used in poke, a traditional Hawaiian dish of diced raw fish which is very delicious. Try Seaside Poke in Houston. Anne-Elisabeth and I ate there last week and it’s so good.
In the past few weeks, our community has lost quite a few genuinely good and inspiring people, best citizens and caregivers of our lovely community. Alan Miller (60) was a hairdresser, delightful friend to many, amazing dad, and business owner of Cut-Ups for the past 23 years. He was a kind, first-rate individual and will be missed by many. Now, If I was told I could only use one word to describe Claire Nichols, it would be ‘cute.’ Claire was the busiest of business owners, starting with Claire’s Cross-Stitch Cottage in Jones Creek, then she opened Claire’s Place in Angleton, where she specialized in snow cones and good food. Most recently she and her husband sold Cook’s portable buildings, where Claire was awarded the ‘state-wide highest sales in Texas’ along with special recognition for $1 million in sales. Yep. She was cute. Lucilla Henderson was a terrific mom. Over the years, when we met, our discussions seemed to gravitate towards our children. One of us usually had at least one kid that we were dragging along behind us whether it was business or pleasure. She was a busy employee with Brazos Mall and TDECU, and tremendous volunteer who helped willingly with Rotary, Chamber of Commerce, Brazosport College and so much more. Simply put, I admired her and always walked away thinking to myself, “what a lovely person Lucilla Henderson is.” I didn’t even know she was sick, so it came as quite a surprise. My thoughts and prayers are with these families during this difficult time.
If you have the power to make someone happy, do it. The world needs more of that. Happy 4th. Lisa
