songbird's crazy world

 Like most of America, I am grimly fascinated by the true crime drama we are seeing unfold daily.   Pretty young woman and her fiancé, high school sweethearts, decide to travel cross country in a converted van.  So sweet, so exciting.   An idealistic adventure. And then it went so horribly wrong.  She is dead and he is a fugitive facing a federal arrest warrant. How could this have happened? And slowly the details have emerged.  Brian Laundrie was controlling and abusive.  The couple argued so violently that the police had to separate them for one night. His behavior after he returned home without Gabby is suspicious. And now, possibly with the help of his parents, he has disappeared. Let’s be fair.  At this point Laundrie is merely a “person of interest” in Gabby’s death, the arrest warrant is for bank fraud in misuse of a debit card.  And while we know her death is a homicide, we don’t know exactly how Gabby died. But I began to suspect Laundrie from day one.  How do you drive all th

 Last weekend Drew and I took his aunt and uncle to Jones Beach. Drew's uncle is 87 and his health is declining.  We thought fresh air and sunshine would make him feel better, and we were right.  We didn't stay long, didn't want to overtax his strength.  But it was good to be out and about.  Afterwards we had a late lunch at a diner.  Drew's aunt couldn't believe how much food you get when you order from a Long Island diner.  We all brought home lots of leftovers. Drew and I  are going to try to get down to the beach a few more times before the weather gets very cold.  I like the beach in the off season, I'll even go there in the wintertime.  Drew will come with me if the weather is decent, but once it gets cold I'll be going on my own. I may try to get to the beach Saturday,  I can't go Sunday, we're going to a friend's birthday party. We also have plans for a few more Ducks games.  They made the playoffs!  No surprise, actually, they were the l

 The latest addition to my collection

Every time Alexa tells me to "sleep tight" I smile, because I know where the phrase came from. Rope beds like this one were once very popular.  You'd have to tighten the ropes periodically to keep them from sagging, to keep the mattress from hitting the floor.   The mattress would have been filled with hay.  You used a tool that looks like a giant rolling pin to smooth out the mattress. And if a piece of hay poked out of the ticking, you'd hit the piece until you could force it back inside.  Hence the phrase "hit the hay".

 Sorry, I’m just not feeling this week’s theme, though I’d love to see what everyone did with it. I’m still on a high from last night’s Tony Awards. So forgive my self indulgence, but I’m going with a Broadway theme today. West Side Story  Chicago Hairspray  Wicked  Yes, that was from last night’s show. One of my favorites from Hamilton Let’s close it out with a classic. BROADWAY’S BACK

  Cardigan Welcome to  Saturday 9 . What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme!  Saturday 9: Cardigan (2020) Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it  here . 1) When she's feeling low, Taylor Swift compares herself to an old cardigan, forgotten under the bed. Do you store anything under your bed? Or do you try to keep that area clear (except for dust bunnies)? Small apartment, space is at a premium.  I have some under bed storage conytainers for my shoes. 2) The lyrics begin with a reference to a new phone. Do you foresee yourself getting a new phone before 2021 ends? Or are you happ

 So our road trip last weekend …  As we drove through the Catskills, I saw some interesting views through the windshield. These were a lot prettier than the …roadkill we saw on the shoulder, which lead Drew to exclaim “that was a BEAR!” We don’t have bears on Long Island. #skywatchfriday

We had a wonderful weekend in Corning, NY.   One of Drew's friends, a woman he's known for decades, invited us to her 60th birthday party Saturday night.   So we drove the 290 miles from Long Island to Corning, in New York's Southern Tier (hi  Alana ) to help her celebrate. Great party. Next day, we took a tour of the  Corning Museum of Glass .  Corning Inc., former maker of Corningware, Corelle and Pyrex (they sold off the kitchen wares division in 1998) sponsors the museum.   The museum houses several types of exhibits --  history, art and science. You can see the various collections, you can watch a demonstration of glassblowing, and you can even make your own glass project.  We opted to skip making a project, but we did watch the demonstrations and see all the collections. This little guy was on display in the glassblowing area. Our first gallery was artwork.  Some very beautiful and innovative pieces. I love the chandelier. This is one of the butterflies from the chand

 And it's a "your choice" week... It's 1986.  Reagan is President of the United States.  You can buy a brand new Ford Mustang for $7,452, and a jar of peanut butter sells for $1.89. There was the disaster at Chernobyl and the space shuttle Challenger exploded. The Oprah Winfrey Show premiered that year. We were watching Night Court , Growing Pains and Designing Women . Top movies  included Ferris Bueller's Day Off , Top Gun , Platoon , and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home .  You could play with Barbie, Teddy Ruxpin, or Transformers. And you could watch MTV and see all these great videos. Hope you enjoyed this little step back in time!

  I Left My Heart in San Francisco Welcome to  Saturday 9 . What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme! Saturday 9: I Left My Heart in San Francisco (1962) Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it  here . 1) This song is a valentine to the city of San Francisco. Songwriters George Cory and Douglas Cross moved to New York to find fame and fortune and found themselves homesick for the city by the bay. Have you ever been homesick? Or, in the parlance of the song, where have you left your heart?  Why, actually, the song you mention in question 6... I grew up on Long Island,  a suburban child

 Listen to Lin-Manuel And inside the theater, Hamilton is back. The Lion King also reopened. But the best was Wicked , Glinda’s iconic line …

  1. How would you define 'old'? At what age is someone old?  You're as old as you feel.  Age is just a number, pick one you like.  2. A place you've been that's old? Tell us something about your visit there. This is the pyramid at Chichen Itza, in the Yucatan. Mayan ruins dating back centuries.   We were on a cruise in 2016, and when the ship made port in Cozumel, we had to go to Chichen Itza.  We spent more time traveling than we did exploring the site, but it was worth every minute of that bus ride.  The entire site is amazing.   3. Something you miss about the 'good old days'? When were they anyway?  There was a time, back in the late 80's and early 90's, when I had a small group of friends who got together every weekend.  That group dissolved -- people get divorced, move away, pass on...  4. In what way are you a 'chip off the old block'? Or if you'd rather, in what way is your child a 'chip off the old block'?  My younge

  It’s a small world after all …

 … comes the Renaissance. Or rather, the New York Renaissance Faire. An annual tradition. This year, I actually wore a costume …er, garb.  If you’re a real Faire goer, you call it “garb”. You can see I brought a friend along …one of my favorite fire breathers …. Some of our favorite performers are gone.  No knife throwers this year,  the father retired and the son is working on a new act. Our favorite nuns chose to book the Maryland Faire instead of New York. But still, there was lots of entertainment. I really love Cirque du Sewer, an act that features cats and rats, You may have seen this act on The Gong Show or America’s Got Talent … the rats earned a standing ovation from Simon Cowell. These lovely ladies are a comedy team known as the Washing Well Wenches. Their show is very interactive, lots of audience participation. They had to make a few adjustments to their shtick because of COVID, but they were still funny. One of Drew’s favorites is Arsenal Dupin. The act features Mime,

Today's theme?   National Boss/Employee Exchange Day – Songs about filling another person’s work shoes or in general for those who don’t work outside the home. Let's start with the quintessential work song: What are we working for? Let's take care of some business. Are you having a Manic Monday? And we close it out with an incredible video from  Dire Straights