A 58-year-old Clear Lake woman died after falling 35 ft. from one of the masts of the historic 1877 Tall Ship Elissa, docked at Pier 22 in Galveston. The woman was a volunteer and part-time employee on the ship, had passed tests to climb rigging, and was wearing a double-click safety harness when she fell, but was not properly attached on either point of contact to the ship.  The Galveston Historical Foundation manages the ship they purchased from a Greek scrap yard in the late 1970s. In 1982, staff and volunteers completed restoration and transformed the vessel into a floating museum, one of only three ships of her kind in the world to still have the capability to actively sail. More than 40,000 people visit the ship each year along with those who help maintain and keep her seaworthy.

A woman was taking a nap on Valentine’s Day afternoon. After she awoke, she told her husband, “I just dreamed that you gave me a gorgeous and expensive diamond necklace for Valentine’s Day! What do you think it means?”  He replied, “You’ll know tonight.” That evening, her husband came home with a small package for her. Thrilled, she opened it and found a book titled, “The Meaning of Dreams.”

During a recent episode of “The Big Podcast with Shaq,” Shaquille O’Neal explained that gorillas at every zoo he’s been to act up and are intimidated, wanting to fight him. Every zoo. All over the world. Shaq loves zoos. In case you haven’t seen him in a while, I will remind you that he is 7’ 1” and 324 pounds. An expert said that the gorillas are afraid that Shaq is going to take away their girls, so they have to stand up, then act and look as big as possible.

What is a vampire’s sweetheart called? His ghoul-friend.

A slot machine malfunctioned in Las Vegas, not notifying the Arizona gambler or the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino personnel, that he had won nearly $230,000. They were able to identify the man by combing through hours of surveillance videos from several casinos, interviewing witnesses, electronic purchase records, and ride share data. Since the man was already home, he will return to Las Vegas to collect his winnings.

Two antennas met on a roof, fell in love, and got married. Their wedding ceremony wasn’t fancy. The reception, however, was excellent.

A woman picked up her sweet, fluffy, white, curly-haired dog from the groomer. As Lucky was handed to her, he just didn’t seem the same. Maybe it was because they had cut his hair a little shorter this time, but she also thought his overall demeaner was different. After she took him to the car, she gave him a better look. The dog in the car gave her the same look right back, never even responding to his own name. Was this her dog or an imposter? As she walked back into the groomer to get further information, she met another woman going in who saw the dog she was carrying and said, “Hi, Bentley.” Yep, she had the wrong dog. I told this story to Teller, and he was appalled. I assured him that it wouldn’t take me more than three seconds to know he had been switched with another dog. Especially this morning when he disrespected me as we were loading up the car for work, rolling around on the ground, smearing ‘something’ on to his collar, his bandana, and his body that smelled distinctly like dead or worse… mostly worse than dead. Then he tried to jump in my car. I didn’t know the full extent of the situation until I discovered something stinky on my hand and on the back doorknob going into the kitchen. I shudder to think about it right now. Today the two of us had to stay in my office so no one would send us home to bathe. Teller, the Wonder Dog.

What did one boat say to the other? “Are you up for a little row-mance?”

RECENT BIRTHDAYS: Actor Kim Novak is 89. Actor Bo Svenson of Walking Tall is 81. Actor Stockard Channing is 78. Betty Rizzo in Grease. Talk show host Jerry Springer is 78. Singer Peter Gabriel is 72. Genesis.  Magician Teller of Penn and Teller is 74. Opera singer Renee Fleming is 63. Actor Meg Tilly is 62. Actor Claire Bloom is 91. Drummer Mick Avory of The Kinks is 78. Actor Marisa Berenson is 75. Actor Jane Seymour is 71. Singer Melissa Manchester is 71. Model Janice Dickinson is 67. Guitarist Gary Clark Jr. is 38. Jazz singer Peggy King is 92. Actor LeVar Burton is 65. Actor Lou Diamond Phillips is 60.

A Sacramento Fire crew forgot to clean their boots before responding to a recent medical call and left muddy boot prints all over a couple’s white carpet. To make up for what they had done, they took up a collection of their own money, $175, and gave it to the couple. Wanting to highlight the fire crew’s kindness, the couple has decided to pay it forward and donate all of the money to The Firefighter’s Burn Institute along with a substantial sum they are adding to it. There is good in the world.

It seems that Hertz has been falsely reporting a huge number of customers for car theft, with them being arrested and thrown in jail on felony charges. Not just a few, more than 180 customers are mad enough to sue for a total of $529.7 million. Some people stayed in jail for four months (while his credit card was still being charged for the rental) and it is all blamed on Hertz’s cost cutting measures. It’s easier and less expensive to report a car as stolen when it is misplaced or missing. Hmmm.

It’s no secret that advertisers pay big money for their Super Bowl commercials. $6.5 million for a 30-second spot. Scarlet Johansson and Colin Jost imagining that Amazon’s Alexa as a mind reader. Cute. Planet Fitness with Lindsay Lohan, William Shatner, Dennis Rodman, and Danny Trejo. Forest animals including a sloth, eating Flamin’ Hot Cheetos & Doritos. The Clydesdale’s (thank you) for Budweiser. You’ll love it! It’s so sweet. Mila Kunis and Demi Moore as attendees at an awards ceremony for their shared high school, for AT&T. Cute. Zac Efron fishing for AT&T. Cute. Arnold Schwarzenegger for BMW electric cars. Cute. Idris Elba for Booking.com, asking for advice from The Most Interesting Man in the World (Dos Equis beer) and The Man Your Man Could Smell Like (Old Spice). Guy Fieri as Mayor of Flavortown for Bud Light Seltzer. Cute. Kia, with Robo Dog and a Bonnie Tyler song. You’ll have tears. Seth Rogan and Paul Rudd reminisce while eating Lay’s Potato Chips. Peyton Manning and Steve Buscemi for Michelob Ultra. Then Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Jerome Bettis, Terry Bradshaw and Victor Cruz for PepsiCo. Planter’s Peanuts. Sam’s Club with Kevin Hart. Enfamil, Nissan, Hellmann’s. Irish Spring, and so many more. Between 80 and 90 commercials. Yikes. That’s big bucks.

It must be because Mardi Gras Day is coming March 1^st that my thoughts have turned to gumbo. Yes, gumbo has been on my mind a lot lately. I know I have crab, oysters, and shrimp in the freezer just waiting for me to bring home okra. Most individuals have a love or hate relationship with okra. Don’t laugh, but I guess I always thought that the gumbo file you buy in the spice department was ground up okra. Nope, it is a delicious herbal powder made from the dried and ground leaves of the North American sassafras tree and is also used as a thickener.  The history of file powder can be traced back to the Choctaw Indians in the Southern U.S., around the same time that the Cajuns arrived in Louisiana, bringing their own range of spices. I’m not a big fan of dark roux so I basically start with just a rich brown gravy and fish stock which I make up and freeze after I fillet fish. Sure would be a great game day meal.

Poor Andrew. First the lawsuit by Virginia Guiffre, then we heard about the fits he would throw when his collection of 60 teddy bears were not put back in the correct place when his room was cleaned. There was even a laminated picture of how they were supposed to be placed in the room, in order to help eliminate his meltdowns. They never mentioned how old he was at the time. If he was three, maybe it’s a little more understandable than if he was 18.

Speaking of Andrew… Valentine’s Day is here and just in time, Build-a-Bear released a line of adult-themed bears called the After Dark collection. This collection requires visitors to ensure that they are 18 years or older before accessing their website. Like that does a lot of good. Upon reading a little further, I realized this might be pretty cute. It doesn’t cross over the line of inappropriate, it was just my mind that was thinking inappropriately. Most of the bears are holding wine, dressed in nothing but boxers or wearing shirts that declare “I Want to Take You Out.” If you move your curser over a bear, the outfit disappears, revealing a regular teddy bear without clothing. There are worse things than a naked bear.

What do you call two birds in love? Tweethearts!

A veteran used numbers from a fortune cookie to play the lottery. Now he’s $4 million richer. Johnson & Johnson has halted the manufacturing of their Covid vaccine.  Snoop Dogg’s French Bulldog, Frank, was missing but was found. Prosecutors asked a judge to bar the parents of the accused Michigan school shooter from making romantic gestures toward each other in court, saying they’re making a “mockery of the crimes they’re accused of committing.” Meta Platforms Inc. (Facebook) plunged 26% after 4^th quarter earnings were announced and set the record for the biggest one-day drop in market history.  Mark Zuckerberg’s worth dropped by as much as $31 billion in one day. But it’s better…

Last week on Lake Texoma, a woman that had floated for two days on an air mattress was spotted by train engineers. She had found land, then made her way to the railroad tracks in 18-degree weather and snow. They stopped the train and radioed for help and emergency services, believing that the woman must be injured. The woman had been floating for two days, was freezing, cut up and bleeding. The woman, along with her boyfriend, had been trying to use the air mattress as a raft to get from the frozen shoreline to a boat. The man made it back to shore. Hmmm. This actually filled me with more questions than answers. Was alcohol involved at the moment they decided that an air mattress was capable of holding up the two of them as a raft in the middle of January? If the man made it to shore, why didn’t he report the accident and location, so she could be saved? Inquiring minds.

Are you wondering what to say to your sweetie for Valentine’s Day? I found this and thought it was pretty cute. Short. Sweet.
Will You Be My Valentine? By Karl Fuchs
For months I’ve sat and held it in,
It choked inside and hurt like sin.
It made me sweat and steam and stew,
Whenever I caught sight of you.
Thank goodness Valentine’s Day has come;
If I held it longer, it would strike me dumb.
This day I’ll say it, come rain or shine…
Will you be my Valentine?

Have a great weekend. Thanks for allowing us to be a part of your day. If you are having problems finding a paper, let us know. Thanks to all the people that have helped us for the past few weeks and been so patient while we work to get more locations. It is so appreciated.

LISA