Birds do it

Birds do it.
Bees do it.
Spider did it, and so did Tiger Yogi.
Sorted did it and Doug in Florida did it too.

The all moved to wordpress.

And now Dewey's Dartboard is back, better than ever.

Just follow me to deweydjb.wordpress.com

You will be glad you did!

Urination Altercation.

Last night I decided to go on my nightly walk. Chris had to work late, and so I decided to walk as soon as I got home so I could still walk while the sky was light.

I grabbed the mighty pink leash, hooked Lola on board, and we nosed out and onto the street. We made it a little further than the halfway point when a man came barrelling out of his house and moved swiftly past me. He was certainly in a hurry. I thought that it might be from the chill in the air.

He walked further up the street and came into contact with two teenagers who were walking along ahead of me. "Why did you pee on my neighbor's garage door?", he shouted.

"Do you have a problem with me"' the teen responded.

"I want to know why you peed on my neighbor's garage!", he shouted. The teen laughed. "Do you think this is funny?", he then yelled.

At this point, the teen started to take off his jacket and I thought a fist fight was in the works. And Lola and I were getting closer and closer to the altercation. Head down and moving much faster than usual, I dragged Lola along as we walked past the two men. Lola wanted to stop and sniff things, and all I could think was that she would pee on the street and this would anger the man even more. We quickly moved past and kept going. Two blocks down and around the corner.

I am not sure what happened to the two men, and if they decided to scuffle or not. I didn't think walking would be so exciting!

Oh, Fragrant Me!

It seems everybody is having a mass exodus to Wordpress. I am just getting used to Blogger and the NEW Blogger so I think I will stick around here for awhile.

As some of you know, the last two years or so have found me getting itchy. I am not sure when it started exactly, but my skin began to dry out and I spend most of the night scratching. Many times I am keeping Chris awake with all my wiggling. Something had to be done.

I think it might have been about the time that we got a new furnace. We had this old coal furnace that was horribly out of date, an old monster of a thing straight out of Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel. (remember that one, kids? A picture book about a steam shovel that digs out the basement of a new building, only to get stuck down in the hole? She eventually stays there and becomes the furnace.) So, Chris and I replaced the old furnace and got one that heated through gas. Remarkably more efficient, keeps the house warm and really cuts down on the black dust.

Soon after this change, I began to get itchy. I was really worried that I was developing an allergy to the pets. I love my three little darlings (two of which are keeping me company as I blog) and I would hate to think that all of a sudden I would become allergic to their fur. (and even if that were to happen, I would suffer in silence before any of the three would move out.)
I went to the doctor, he gave me Benadryl and sometimes a steroid, and told me to take that for a few weeks and I should stop itching. And that would work for a while. I would stop itching and feel fine and then a month would go by and it would start all over again.

Now sometimes, I am a bit slow on the uptake. I never thought that the furnace could dry out my skin and make me itchy. Chris told me that gas furnaces are very dry and that could be causing the problem (and it only took me over three years to reach this conclusion).

What was a boy to do?

Well, during the month of January, Bath and Body Works was having a major sale (and hence the FRAGRANT part of this post. ) I invested in body lotion. Now, every morning I put on my lotion right after I get out of the shower and I put it on again before I go to bed. And I haven't been itching. It is marvelous.

And what scents!

I sometimes smell like Coconut lime verbena, or floral freesia, or sometimes brown sugar and fig and some days gardenia. And the best part is that I am not itching.

YAY!

Resolution Revolution

Well, I certainly have been busy this month.

I really didn't set a New Year's resolution, but it seems I am working on two.

And finally I am being a bit successful.

I have been walking the dog every day. It is almost a month now, and I have increased the walk from a mile to a mile and a half. I walk even when there is a bitter chill in the air (like this morning). Lola comes, too, and she really seems to like it. We march all around Hampden, and usually down the Avenue where we can window shop as we walk.

Today was a bit scary because we passed an unattended dog with tags but no owner or leash, and it was rather large. It might have been a German Shepherd, but I am not really sure. I was afraid that it would get spooked and bite. I have been bitten by an unattended dog before and it is not pleasant. But the dog passed and we went on our merry way.

The other thing I have been doing is cooking. I am trying to cook at least four times a week. This helps us to save money, and spend more time hanging out together at home. And Chris does the dishes. Not a bad routine.

And I make some pretty good things if I do say so myself. Tomorrow I am going to put new potatoes, onions, sauerkraut and turkey sausage in the slow cooker. I love the slow cooker. (I know I have said this before, and I will probably say it again.)

So, I am moving forward and doing well. And my pants are starting to feel looser. If I can lose maybe three pants sizes I will be really happy. And this time, I think I can do it.

Third Girl

Sorry I have been away for three days. Really. I tried to blog yesterday and spent about a half an hour looking at the expanse of white, and could not think of a thing to say.

I have been having trouble coming up with comments this week as well. I think of something to say and it seems that someone else has already said it, and usually in a better way than I could hope to manage. So, I remain silent. For now.

I did sink back into my puffy chair and open a good book. I decided to read Third Girl by Agatha Christie. I am a huge fan of the Poirot films put out by A&E but there are still some Hercule Poirot novel that are not made into films, and I am concentrating on these to read.

Third Girl is an interesting story. A third girl is the third person to rent a flat. A young woman rents a flat, brings in a friend as the second girl and then advertises the room in the paper to attract a third Girl.

In this case, the third girl is Norma Restarick. She was at a party with famed mystery novelist Ariadne Oliver, and hears mention of a private detective name Hercule Poirot.

She finds his office and decides to consult him. She tells Poirot that she may have committed a murder, but is not sure. She then decides that Poirot is too old to handle the case and flees the office, all before even telling the detective her name. Poirot, upset about being called old, decides to take case and try to find out what murder this third girl has committed.

All in all it is a fantastic read with the normal array of suspects, and Ariadne Oliver is also in the novel and she is one of my favorite characters, adding much humor to the piece. (she even gets conked on the head in this one!)

I love a good Agatha Christie and can usually finish one in about two days. They are never terribly long, but always are involving and hard to figure out. Although in this novel I had part of the solution figured out, but not all.

So, if you are looking for a good mystery, try Third Girl. You won't regret it!

Oscar Schmoscar

Well, the nominees are out.

And Dreamgirls did not get nominated for best picture or best director.

What happened to entertainment?

I looked at the list of nominated films. None of them (other than "Little Miss Sunshine") look like something I would even be remotely interested in.

I don't want to see Babel, something about Iwo Jima, or the Departed. I like to go to the movies to be entertained.

And Oscar seems to forget this.

What was it last year? That kidney stone of a film that Hilary Swank was in about the boxer? Didn't see it. Don't want to. Ever.

Every year, they nominate films that have horribly depressing story lines. And usually the most horrible of the bunch wins.

I know part of life is dealing with controversial subjects and there are things that a viewer need know about.

But movies should be also about light and music and fun. I would rather leave a theater feeling a sense of joy and hope than feeling worse than when I went in.

Dreamgirls had me wanting to sing along. And, it was one film, even in Erie PA, that the audience actually clapped when Jennifer Hudson belted out her song.

I think audience applause, especially in a movie, signifies that the film is doing what it set out to do.

So, whatever may win this year, I probably am not going to see. And I am going to be all the better for it.

Computer fart

I am having an evening. I was going to have a simple Video Jukebox today with some of my favorites, because it is cold outside, my back is sore and I don't feel well.

First, Youtube acted up. Nothing I was pulling up would load. Maybe too many users?

Then, the imbed video function on Youtube would not work. I selected the link, but only got a partial link when I copied it to my blog.

Then, to make sure the partial link was not working, I clicked on preview to look at my blog, and sure enough, no video.

So I hit the back button, and Lo And Behold, all my text was gone. So I clicked "Recover post" and nothing happened.

Finally I went to Abc.com to watch last night's episode of Desperate Housewives (after having given up on the blogging.)

The episode is there, but the ads are not ready and you cannot view it.

Ugh.

I think I am closing this laptop and calling it a night!