The end of an era. Kitty’s Purple Cow was torn down last week in Surfside…to the ground. As many times as the building had been hit by winds and rains of hurricanes, it hurt pretty bad to see it as a rubble pile.  Kitty, in her day, had always been able to bring it back to life, but now there was just a pile of wood with a water heater, and so many layers of different shades of purple walls, with a Sysco truck in the background. A sign of the times. I bet if I had searched hard enough, I could have found the picture of the half-naked guy that hung on the wall in the women’s bathroom, with the little white door that ever-so-barely covered up the area between his thighs and abdomen. The extra loud buzzer would go off throughout the entire restaurant if you were new, your curiosity getting the best of you, lifting up that little door to see what was under it. I will never forget my first, and only time, of buzzing the buzzer. After that hard-learned lesson, I remember seeing newbies going into the bathroom, and the buzzer yelling at us a few minutes later. It was so hard not to giggle and make eye contact as they walked out in embarrassment. Those were the good old days…hot waffles on Sunday mornings, fabulous cheeseburgers, patty-melts with grilled onions, fries, and Dr. Peppers. Plus, a bunch of super nice people. Oh, and a jukebox. All I had to do is supply my kids with enough quarters to have Elvis sing to us throughout the meal. RIP

An around-the-world cruise scheduled to begin in January 2024, sold out within hours of being made available for bookings. Minimum cost of a ticket per person for a suite on the 132-nights trip, starts at $73,499. That is about $556 per day. If I had $73,499 just laying around, along with five months of free time to go, I would do it.

Masks are back ‘IN’ again…and really cool. Let’s do it for the kids.

For his thesis project, a recent graduate of the College of Creative Studies in Detroit, designed an electric car that would be flat-packed and put together by the purchaser, like a piece of Ikea furniture or a Lego kit. The Hoga car would be delivered in 374 pieces to be attached to a skateboard like chassis. Since there is no engine, it gives much more cabin room. A car for our future… our very near future.

After missing for four decades, a gingham pinafore believed to have been worn by Judy Garland in 1939 while filming The Wizard of Oz, was recently found in a shoebox inside a trash bag at the Catholic University of America Drama Dept. in Washington, DC. It had been gifted to the head of drama by actress Mercedes McCambridge, a friend of Garland’s, then lost a year later. Good story.

I told my sister that she was drawing her eyebrows too high. She looked at me surprised.

When we were younger, my favorite uncle would take all three of us sisters and keep us for a week in the summer. He lived in Albuquerque, was sweet and funny, a very handsome single man, brave to point of naivety, especially to have us all at once. Maybe it was because we entertained each other, or maybe he just got it out of the way, so he did not have to do three individual weeks. Ha-ha.  All I know is that we had the time of our lives. No mom. Watermelons with candles for birthdays.  It was the best of times, except being violently appalled when we found out that he did not wash his chicken before he cooked it. We let him know that mom would never put up with that. Well, today I was reading the news and saw the headline… Should You Wash Raw Chicken? Here’s What Experts Say. Public health officials agree that you should not wash raw chicken. In fact, doing this causes more harm than good. Washing raw chicken can spread harmful bacteria such as salmonella or campylobacter around the kitchen, which can potentially cause foodborne illness. I told Mac. He says he was just ahead of his time. I agree. Every kid should have an Uncle Mac when they’re growing up.

The Foo Fighters played to a fully-vaccinated crowd at New York’s Madison Square Garden, while Kiss star Gene Simmons said their “End of the Road” concertgoers must have had the jab, telling them: “I don’t care if you think the Earth is flat.”  In April, Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger, released his lockdown track Eazy Sleazy, which poked fun at vaccine misinformation. The Eagles have added an additional Seattle date to their rescheduled Hotel California tour, and attendees will have to provide proof of vaccination upon entering. 12 and under, proof of vaccine or negative Covid test. These guys are doing their best to help sway the non-believers with their great music.

Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics doctor accused of sexually abusing hundreds of girls and women, has only paid about $8.33 towards his criminal monetary penalties per month, despite receiving deposits into his account over this period totaling $12,825.00. According to Justice.gov., The Monetary Penalties Unit is responsible for the prosecution of criminal and civil forfeiture cases and for collecting debts owed to the United States, including restitution for victims of crime, criminal fines, and debts to federal government agencies. Hmmm. There were 265 known sexual abuse victims, 160 that testified he had molested them…some as young as nine. $8.33 a month, doesn’t seem very just, but then again money can’t replace what he took away from those little girls.

Some of the beds at the Tokyo Olympics were made out of cardboard. It was rumored that they were designed to prevent athletes from having sex, but a Japanese bedding company, Airweave, said, “Cardboard beds are actually stronger than (ones) made of wood or steel.”

15 million boxes of Girl Scout cookies did not sell in 2021, because of the pandemic not allowing in-person sales. A typical new car contains more than a thousand chips. Not good during a chip shortage. A patient with the rare, but highly infectious Marburg virus disease has died in Guinea, It’s the first case of the Ebola-like virus in West Africa. The virus causes hemorrhagic fever, where multiple organ systems in the body are affected. This comes less than two months after Guinea declared an end to its most recent Ebola outbreak. Defrocked ex-cardinal and former archbishop Theodore McCarrick has been criminally charged with sexual assault of a 16-year-old boy during a wedding reception at Wellesley College in Massachusetts in 1974.

School is almost in session so remember to drive carefully and pay attention to what’s going on around you. Slowdown in school zones. Flashing red lights on a school bus mean it is stopping. You must also stop…no passing the bus! Watch for students at crosswalks, obey crossing guards, and traffic control devices. PUT AWAY YOUR PHONE, your beverage, your mascara, and your food. I’m not your momma, but I’m always amazed at what I see in traffic. Especially so much texting while driving.

Queso = Spanish for cheese. K, so = Southern for here’s the plan and y’all probably not gonna like it.

The Gulf Coast Bird Observatory needs your help On August 26^th and 28^th, there will be nursery work and some freeze clean-up to get ready for XHX (Extreme Hummingbird Xtravaganza), weeding, moving plants around and potting of seedlings.  Come on. You don’t need any special experience. Come for an hour or come for four hours. Your help is always appreciated. 299 Hwy 332 West, LJ, 979-480-0999. Bird banding is open to the public on August 21, 8 – noon. For the hummers.

A yet untitled Martha Stewart documentary on Netflix, will tell the story of the New Jersey native’s rise from model and stockbroker to the greatest teacher, hostess, and lifestyle expert. Includes her jail stay. Timothee Chalamet will play Willy Wonka in a new musical version of the Roald Dahl story that Gene Wilder did so well. Urban Decay will produce an eye shadow palette, several shades of purple, inspired by Prince. Hmmm. I wonder what he would think about this. Not happy thoughts, I believe.

My apologies to our readers when the font is a little smaller on this column. Sometimes I just have plenty to say, and Tina accommodates me by squishing it all into my allotted space. Thank you, R.J. Charlie for the kind words. I’ll try to purge my unnecessary words better. Thank you to Debby for my gift box of chrysalises. Nothing better than taking a cup of coffee out on the back porch in my jammies, to watch a recently emerged butterfly dry their wings and fly off and land on their first zinnia. It happened three different mornings. The T-shirt says, Home is where the Dog is…and the Cats and the Kids. Thank you, Connie. My dedicated reader Mark, let me know Sista White’s Café and BBQ is opening again in LJ for lunch 10:30 to 3. Closed Sat./Sun. Right behind Denny’s on This Way. It’s supposed to be really good.

Teller Update: Thanks to Gabriella at Chip’s Restaurant in downtown LJ, for feeding Teller cheeseburgers when he was roaming the streets. I will tell you that almost every week I find someone else that helped take care of Teller until he could be convinced to be saved. Teller and I had walked over to Chips to pick up fish tacos for lunch, and Gabriella recognized him.… well, I told her his name and she said, “That’s Teller?!?” You could tell that he remembered her. It feels so good to be picking up the poop of a celebrity each and every day. 😊 A lady saw us walking last week, slowed down, rolled down her car window, and yelled, “Hey, Teller!” That happens often. Sometimes I know the people and sometimes I do not. Save the Date: SPCA Fur Ball October 14^th, 2021

A funny note to make you smile… Last month my daughter celebrated her 22^nd birthday, so I took her and two of her friends to Grape Taste, so they could experience a drink with their dinner if they wanted. I was the designated driver and holder of the credit card only. They ate, then called to be taken to Bodega, which was closed, so they decided on Lola’s coffee shop. Soon, they were calling my office, requesting another pick-up. I take my DD status very seriously, but it had rained/poured during their coffee time and Parking Way is a river for about thirty minutes after a big rain. Plus, Wine Review was packed, so no parking available in front of my office. In fact, not a single parking spot on my whole street, so I had made my own illegal spot on the curve. Teller and I left the office, umbrella in one hand, heavy purse on my shoulder, leash in the other hand, and started struggling down the muddy, water-filled, unlit, broken sidewalk, towards my car…
    At the end of the street is a handicap ramp, so I decided my best bet was to cross there, because of less water. As I started to jump from the ramp over the puddle to the street, my shoe slid, and Teller pulled hard on the leash at the same time. As I spun and fell, I imagined I looked like a Cirque Du Soleil performer whirling through the air in slow motion. That’s because I have a very vivid imagination. I stood up, looked around. Nope. I was safe. No one had seen me unless they were standing behind the safety of a window, now laughing their bee-hinds off. I had bloodied my arm from wrist to elbow, along with my favorite silk blouse, bloodied and grass-stained the knee on my best white jeans, and scabbed up my “only worn three times” shoes. Are you smiling yet? And somehow, I got mud on my face. I was pretty grubby looking when I picked up the kids. AE asked if I was ok, and I said no, probably not. Then we went to HEB for them to pick-up a lemon-pop melon and golden kiwi…delicious!  I sat in the car and wiped my wounds with several individually wrapped soft-quilted lens wipes, the only thing I could find in my car or purse. Then on to Target for games, then they came back to my office and played games while I worked. The whole time I am thinking…these have to be the world’s nicest kids! So, what’s an occasional bloodied arm or leg in the whole scheme of things. Everything was washable, healable, and happy. Have a great week and thank you for reading us, shopping with us, and allowing us to be a part of your day. It is appreciated.

LISA