The stegosaurus fossil known as Apex just sold for a record $44.6 million at a Sotheby’s auction. The skeletal remains from the Jurassic period (really, really, long time ago) were expected to go for $4 to $6 million.
If you choose to read this, some people may think… B O R I N G. But if you have raised a daughter, a granddaughter, or even know the little girl that lives next door … you are probably interested in the following facts, because little girls LOVE Hello Kitty. So, here it is, Hello Kitty is turning 50. Yikes, The Japanese company Sanrio first created Hello Kitty in 1974. A year later, her image, including her signature red bow, was introduced to the Japanese public on a small children’s coin purse that sold for less than a dollar. Present day, there is so much Hello Kitty merchandise; lunch boxes, clothing, notebooks, just about everything. She’s now a TikTok star, and there are plans in the works for an animated/live action film. Her real name is Kitty White, she was born in London where she still lives with her parents, and she has a twin sister, Mimmy, who wears a yellow bow on her right ear. Kitty’s hobbies are traveling, reading and baking. In 1987, she made her debut as an American cartoon stat in Hello Kitty’s Furry Tale Theater. In 2009, Lady Gaga wore a gown made of plush Hello Kitty dolls in honor of the character’s 35th birthday. But here is the most surprising part… Hello Kitty is not a cat, she is a little girl.
I say… it’s so hot the hens are picking up worms with potholders.
During the Beryl power outage, I went to Lowe’s and purchased thick foam board to cover my kitchen and bedroom windows. It was unbelievable how much heat it reflected. Many thanks to Ashley (the best) and Joshua, for cutting the board so it would fit into my car. They went above and beyond. Even though Joshua cut the board the wrong size, his intentions were very good and his kindness was outstanding.
This is an interesting story. Vermont Republican lawmaker Mary Morrissey (age 67 – old enough to know better) spent five months maliciously pouring water into the personal canvas bag/backpack of her Democratic colleague, Jim Carroll (age – 62). It wasn’t just a splash or a drip either, sometimes she would pour as much as a full glass of water, often day after day. Finally, a secret camera was set up, recording the act, and Morrissey, caught, has now apologized, stating that she doesn’t know why she did it. It’s funny how apologetic you become if someone records you. I love those cameras! Morrissey and Carroll have known each other since childhood. I guess some of us grow up… and some just never will.
Why do they paint parts of small plants and succulents, sometimes even gluing paper flowers on some of them, then sell them in the garden departments of home improvement stores? I wonder who buys them? That makes exactly no sense at all, and it can’t be healthy for the plant, or our Earth.
Remember the game we played when we were little called Telephone. Someone would whisper a sentence into a person’s ear, who would in turn whisper into the next person’s ear, and so on through the whole group. The last person says out loud what they heard to see how it compares to the original thing said. As many times as I played it, the final sentence was NEVER what we started out with. I’m asking that you remember this game before you repeat anything you’ve heard in the next few months. It’s too easy during this upcoming election to fact check news and information on Snopes, PolitiFact and FactCheck.org. Unless you just don’t want to know the truth.
For the ‘twisted’ kind of weather fans, Twisters, is the sequel to the storm-chaser classic Twister, which came out 28 years ago. Twisters is now showing in theaters. The 1996 classic inspired a whole generation of meteorologists and storm chasers. Remember the huge flying cow? In real life, a bunch has changed since 1996 in the models, ratings, tracking and forecasting of real tornadoes. We have much longer warning times and computing power. Scientists started to use radar more frequently closely after May 3, 1999, when a giant, 85-minute tornado killed 36 people in Oklahoma. The storm was the first use of the term tornado emergency, the National Weather Service’s highest alert level. The deadly storm was just one of 74 that hit Oklahoma and Kansas in a 21-hour period.
Just finished reading Hang the Moon by Jeannette Walls. She is the bestselling author of The Glass Castle and Half Broke Horses. In the book was a quote by Rex Walls, the author’s father, who ran bootleg liquor in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s. “Quality? Hell, the only time our whiskey aged was when we got a flat tire.” I loved that.
After Beryl, I asked a friend about the corn crops around Bay City. He said that it looked like they were letting the corn dry on the stalks. Hmmm. I had just read that ripe corn beat down by wind or hail is said to be “snaffled.” Or it can also be called “nickled,” “baffled,” “shuckled” or “walted.” The next time you see damaged corn stalks, you can show off and use all of those terms.
People Magazine and Pedigree have a World’s Cutest Rescue Dog Contest each year. I know you don’t believe it, but I just entered Teller in the contest. He IS the world’s cutest rescue dog, and it’s time the world knew it. The winner gets a photo shoot and his picture in People magazine, but that’s not the best part. The best part is a year’s supply of Pedigree dog food and a $1000 donation to the pet-rescue organization of the winner’s choice. Oh, my. That would be so great for the SPCA. They are overrun with kitties right now because responsible pet owners are not being responsible by getting their pets spayed and neutered. Just saying. Go to the Pedigree website on August 21 to meet the top ten finalists and vote for your favorite. I hope you see Teller there.
President Joe Biden announced that he will not run for reelection. He said, “I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country…” I trust that he did the right thing, but I also believe it took plenty of courage to publicly admit that he is no longer the best candidate for the job of President, prioritizing the health of the nation over his own self-interest. Sometimes your work is such a big part of your identity. I just know that when both of my kids finally graduated, I felt like I had lost my job as a mom. No matter how you play it out, how strong a picture you portray, there is something really big missing when that happens. Good job, President Biden. Now, if we could just get rid of the other old one, clean the slate and start anew, with kindness and respect.
Are cutting boards an overlooked source of microplastics in our food? Glad you asked. YES. Research shows that chopping ingredients on two specific types of plastic boards, polyethylene and polypropylene, release microplastics that cling to the food we eat. I pulled out my three plastic boards from the cabinet…all three boards are chopped to death. I always liked plastic because I put mine in the dishwasher every day. I hate glass cutting boards. I’m taking all of mine to be recycled in Pearland.
They say you become the average of your six closest friends, so if you want to be better, find better friends!
LISA
Send comments to Lisa Baker at lisa@thesourceweekly.com
