When I came to work on Friday, I noticed a bunch of leaves cluttered around the front office door, so I put Teller inside and grabbed my broom. I swept in the direction that the wind was blowing, then about the time I got all the leaves swept up, the wind would change direction, blow them right back at me, into my shoes, and clinging to my hair. There is a love/hate relationship with leaves, but you must appreciate and respect them because leaves are so good for our world, providing food for the worms, compost, along with protection and natural fertilizer for our lawns and gardens. The wind is our true problem. 😊 So, as I swept, I happened to look down into the pots that I have on my front porch. Someone had gifted me with quite a few dirty paper plates and bowls with what looked like remains of spinach dip, candy wrappers, Reese’s Peanut Butter cups, and cigarette butts… nine of them to be exact. I have benches out front meant to encourage people to grab a Source Weekly and stay for a while, but I never intended for that area to be the garbage collection location that it seems to be becoming. Since our little downtown has more established restaurants and bars, other businesses along with me, tend to pick up several beer bottles, cans, and trash, on most mornings. I do not expect putting these words on paper will make a difference, but it makes me feel better, so thanks for listening. Oh, did I mention the wads of chewing gum on the concrete out front. That was such a nice touch and so easy to scrape up, too. If every single day, EVERYONE picked up one piece of litter and said one kind thing to each person, our world would have to be a better place. Now, I am off to clean the toilets, sinks, floors, and kitchen here at the office, because it also puts me in such a good mindset.

OK, I admit that I am pretty whiny this week. Yesterday, I saw three different vehicles at three different intersections, all run red lights. That was just between my house and the office, which takes only eight minutes total travel time… and I actually stop for all the red lights. One SUV had a bunch of kids in the car. Little kids. Are you in such a hurry that you are willing to sacrifice yourself, your children, and the person that is trying to continue their journey and cross the intersection because their light has actually turned green? In most languages, green means you have approval to move ahead and proceed with your project or task at hand. Like driving to your intended destination. Unless, of course, you are in Japan where their green lights are actually blue. Slow down and enjoy this noticeably short life that we have.

Walking is the speed we were created to use when traveling through life. Jorgen Johansson

As a 30-year-old father, Benjamin Franklin lost his son to smallpox on November 21, 1736. Franklin later wrote this about this personal tragedy. “In 1736 I lost one of my sons, a fine boy of four years old, by the small-pox, taken in the common way. I long regretted bitterly, and still regret that I had not given it to him by inoculation. This I mention for the sake of parents who omit that operation, on the supposition that they should never forgive themselves if a child died under it, my example showing that the regret may be the same either way and that, therefore, the safer should be chosen.” I am telling you this just in case you need some sobering advice about your own children and the Covid vaccine. Hesitancy about medical interventions to resist infectious disease is nothing new in the United States and can be traced back as far as the nation’s earliest days. Vaccinations were not available yet, so physicians offered inoculations, a dangerous procedure in which doctors filled a deep incision in the arm with pus from a smallpox patient. Those that survived were immune, but then there were 15% to 20% that got active smallpox and died. We have come a long way and have MUCH better odds.

RECENT BIRTHDAYS: Pianist Yanni is 67. Singer Petula Clark is 89. Downtown. Don’t Sleep in the Subway. Actor Beverly D’Angelo of National Lampoon’s Vacation is 70. Singer Gordon Lightfoot is 83. If You Could Read My Mind. Rainy Day People. Movie director Martin Scorsese is 79. Actor Lauren Hutton is 78. Actor Meg Ryan is 60. Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels is 77. Actor-director Danny DeVito is 77. Actor Brenda Vaccaro is 82. Midnight Cowboy. Media mogul Ted Turner is 83.

Actor Jodie Foster is 59. Talk show host Dick Cavett is 85. Fashion designer Calvin Klein is 79. Sportscaster Ahmad Rashad is 72. Journalist Ann Curry is 65. Comedian Dick Smothers is 83. Actor Veronica Hamel is 78. Hill Street Blues. Musician Joe Walsh is 74. Actor Bo Derek is 65. Actor Jameson Parker of Simon and Simon is 74. Actor Linda Evans of Dynasty is 79. Singer-songwriter Bob Gaudio of The Four Seasons is 80.

This great story was found on This Day in History: Happy 70th Birthday to Lou Ferrigno, the body builder who became a household name for starring in The Incredible Hulk television series in the 1970s and 1980s. But the two-time Mr. Universe and fitness icon always had one weakness – his hearing. After ear infections as a toddler left him with major hearing loss, Ferrigno spent years wearing bulky hearing aids. Along with a speech impediment, he was often bullied by other children, and he began reading Hulk and Spider-Man comic books and dreamed of being strong enough to defend himself. He started weight training at age 13 using a broomstick and pails filled with cement because he couldn’t afford to buy weights. But, Ferrigno says his hearing loss gave him a determination that served him well. “I think that if I wasn’t hard of hearing I wouldn’t be where I am now… It gave me a certain strength of character.” Last year, at 69, he underwent cochlear implant surgery, and the results brought the still-muscular man to tears. 

A New Zealand couple dug up a potato the size of a small animal from their backyard. They say it weighs 17-pounds and they have applied for recognition from Guinness World Records. They have named the potato Doug because they dug it up. Doug is not very pretty but would sure make plenty of potato salad.

Aaron Rodgers was asked a direct question back in August about whether he was or was not vaccinated. He replied, “Yeah, I’ve been immunized. There’s a lot of conversation around it, around the league, and a lot of guys who have made statements and not made statements, owners who have made statements. There’s guys on the team that haven’t been vaccinated. I think it’s a personal decision. I’m not going to judge those guys. He added, “It’s an interesting issue that I think we’re going to see played out the entire season.” Why didn’t he just say that he was not vaccinated? Why pretend to your teammates and friends? Right now, he has a $134-million contract with Green Bay including all sorts of monetary extras, so the fine of $14,650 is nothing but a drop in the bucket. But go on the field, locker room, fly with fellow players and staff, all the time putting their grandmas and families in harm’s way. Over the weekend, he was roasted by Saturday Night Live, portrayed in a skit by Pete Davidson. On the show’s opening, SNL’s version of Rodgers appears on Fox News defending his unvaccinated status. “It’s my body and my COVID,” Davidson/Rodgers said. “I can give it to whoever I want.” Such a reckless waste of a celebrated football superstar role model.

Marie Antoinette, the last queen of France before the French Revolution was guillotined in Paris at age 37, in 1793. Two diamond bracelets once belonging to her, “imbued with her glamour, glory and drama,” sold for more than $8 million this week. The bracelets were commissioned in 1776 and made of 112 old-cut diamonds. And they are gorgeous.

Tyson, the meatpacking giant, was criticized for failing to do enough to protect their workers from Covid-19 last year. All together 151 employees have died of Covid. So, in August, they announced that all of its 120,000 workers would need to be vaccinated or lose their jobs. Some workers were angry at first, but some are now saying that they are relieved that Tyson made the decision for them and now feel selfish for the resistance. That is an interesting way to look at it. They are at 96% now.

Life is like a ten-speed bicycle. Most of us have gears we never use. Charles M. Schulz

Kristen Stewart is now engaged, and she said that it was her dream to have the Diners, Drive-ins and Dives star, Guy Fieri, to preside at her wedding. The spikey-headed man gave an enthusiastic yes! Bet the food at the reception will be good. Have you seen the new Kia logo? I was in traffic last week and saw it on a car. It took me a second to figure out what it was, but it looks good.

Cardiac arrest simply means the heart stops beating. When the lungs are squeezed like they were in the crowds at the Travis Scott concert, oxygen levels drop very quickly, the person loses consciousness, and the heart is not able to function like it should. Underlying conditions like asthma can make the situation more dangerous. Warning: When the gates opened that evening, there was a brief stampede of people trying to get into the sold-out venue. Warning: At previous concerts in 2015 and 2017, Travis Scott had pleaded guilty to encouraging fans to bypass security, rush stages, vault security barricades, and participate in violence. People were hurt at these concerts. This week, fans arrived unruly and aggressive, and eight concertgoers died. Travis Scott responded, “be safe rage hard.” (I wonder if he was grabbing his crotch while he said that.) One nine-year old was riding on his dad’s shoulders through the crowd, when the dad passed out. It is believed that the boy was then trampled, is now on a ventilator in a medically induced coma. Why would anyone bring a child to a concert where people encourage other people to break the rules? On Saturday afternoon, I was in line at Chipotle in Pearland when the woman in front of me asked her daughter if she had heard about what happened the night before, and how tragic it was. The high-schooler responded with, “But the people that go to his concerts are crazy!”  Out of the mouth of babes. The young and innocent are often unexpectedly wiser than the adults that are supposed to take care of them. They are saying that there was not enough security… good grief, there were 528 HPD Police and 750 Live Nation security personnel there, along with 50,000 fans. That should be plenty for a group of well-behaved individuals, but probably not enough for this group.

Two women with their husbands went to a fertility clinic and underwent IVF to conceive. Each of the women went home pregnant and nine months later gave birth just a week apart… but not to their own babies. The clinic had switched embryos, so each woman gave birth to the other one’s baby. It was pretty obvious to the couple from birth that the child might not belong to them, but months went by before testing was done that determined they did actually have the wrong children. I cannot even imagine… bonding with your newborn, then having to trade it in for your own baby.

This morning I happened to see that People Magazine announced their 2021 Sexiest Man Alive. I immediately sent the article to my daughter who agrees, it is about time. 52-year-old Paul Rudd has it all. He is cute, sweet, humble, a great actor, and he’s hoping the new title will grant him an invitation to “those sexy dinners” with George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Michael B Jordan – all recent winners. “I figure I’ll be on a lot more yachts,” Rudd said. “I’m excited to expand my yachting life. And I’ll probably try to get better at brooding in really soft light. I like to ponder. I think this is going to help me become more inward and mysterious. And I’m looking forward to that.” Sigh. I rest my case. He IS totally perfect. Have a great weekend and thanks for reading us. We appreciate it. Please sell something.

LISA