My Guy!

I have many favorite artists when it comes to music. My tastes are eclectic, to say the least. It runs the gamut from folk to rock 'n roll to country to womyn’s music to southern soul to blues to… Favorite artists include Holly Near, John Prine, Kid Rock, George Jones, Johnny Taylor, to name but a few.

But one of my very favorites is performing in Michigan on October 18th. Arlo Guthrie!




According to Arlo's website www.arlo.net he's performing at Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort on that date.

The casino refuses to acknowledge the upcoming date saying their posted schedule only goes until September, check back, blah blah blah.

The good Lord willing and the creek don't rise, I'm hoping to be in the audience that night. I love me some Arlo!

Years ago, when I used to travel to Michigan's Upper Peninsula at least twice a month, I'd always stop at a gas station on US2, the highway that runs west of the Mackinac Bridge along Lake Michigan. For the life of me I can't remember the name of the town there (don't you hate when that happens?), but the gas station was one of those typical 'out in the boonies' ones where the owner lived on premise in a house attached to the gas stations office.

Every time I'd stop, this same guy would come out to pump my gas. He was about 5'10" and had long, long, long wild grey hair. He was the spitting image of Arlo!

I'd always say 'hey Arlo, how's it going?' and the guy always muttered 'my name's not Arlo'. 'Yeah, sure, Arlo,' I'd respond, 'you're going incognito, I understand'.

It got to the point where I'd pull in for gas and the Arlo look-alike would immediately say 'my name's not Arlo!' and I'd laugh and say 'anything you say, Arlo, your secrets safe with me' (smile).

Okay, more than likely the gas station attendant wasn't Arlo, but he sure did look like my guy. And he walked like him. And he sort of talked like him too.

I don't know if you're an Arlo fan or not, but you should check his music out. Do google search and you'll find oodles of film clips where he's singing. It's great fun.

Be good and be careful, take care, stay strong.

Hugs, Tawny
www.tawnyford.com

Are You Lonesome Tonight?

If you are, have I got the solution for you! Cal me! That's right, call me. I'm only a phone call away. Chatting with me will make all of your lonesome feelings go bye bye. Trust me. I know about this!

And speaking of lonely, take a look at this rhinoceros.




He's all by himself. Tallulah snapped this a few weeks ago when she was at the Detroit Zoo. Here are a couple links if you'd like to see and learn more about the Detroit Zoo:

www.detroitzoo.org

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit_Zoo

HSM says the Detroit Zoo is okay, but the one in Toledo, Ohio is even nicer.

www.toledozoo.org

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toledo_zoo

And speaking of HSM, her oldest son, the one in college, got 4.0 in each of the four classes he took last semester! And he had perfect attendance! And he's made the Deans List! How cool is that?!

His brother under him, the soon-to-be 16 year old, who is always looking to one up him, says this will be a tough one to top (smile).

Be good and be careful, take care, stay strong. And remember, call me. I'm the best cure for loneliness.

Hugs, Tawny
www.tawnyford.com
248-615-1300

Do You Know The Way To San Jose?

Over the weekend Tallulah took a road trip, a small road trip, to Gwinn, Michigan, a small town approximately 20 miles from her home in Marquette. That's 20 miles if you take the short cut, more like 40 miles if you take the more scenic route.

Here is one of her photos:




This is the Escanaba River, the part of it you pass on the road to Gwinn. Pretty, huh?

There's a wholesaler in Gwinn, Sav-On-Wholesale,
www.sav-on-wholesale.com that sells a little bit of everything at close to rock bottom prices. That was Tallulah's destination. Remember, I told you she was a shopper (smile).

On the way to Gwinn she had an opportunity to see a lot of pretty, pretty scenery. Never without her digital camera, she was able to take a number of photos that I'll more than likely get around to sharing with you sooner or later.

As she spoke of her 'trip' it made me realize that often it's not where we're going so much, but rather how we get there that's important.

The wholesaler turned out to be a big disappointment for her, but she thoroughly enjoyed the ride.

In my head when I began writing this I knew where I was going with it. Somewhere along the way I seem to have lost it. Here's hoping you can figure it out.

Be good and be careful, take care, stay strong.


Hugs, Tawny
www.tawnyford.com

My Favorite Bird!

No, it's not the turkey, although there's really nothing better for dinner on a cold night than a lovely roasted turkey with all the trimmings (smile)!

It's seagulls! I love seagulls! Okay, I know, they're noisy, serious pests, and rats with wings (as some stupid people would say), but I love them.

When I was a child we used to spend at least one week every summer in Canada, our neighbor to the north. My father's sister and her family owned a cottage at Stokes Bay, Ontario, Canada and, while we never stayed with them, we would often rent the cottage right next to theirs.

The two cottages were built out of logs. Three bedrooms each, a kitchen and a living room. Bathroom? That was outside and down the trail. An outhouse. I hated using an outhouse. No indoor plumbing at all. Need water? Outside at the pump, you pumped it, lugged it into the cottage and heated it on the big, old, black cast iron woodstove. It was well water and it took some getting used to.

The perk was having the beach and lake right out front of the cottage. It was glorious, soft sand and warm water lapping at your toes.

I wish I could say having my cousins next door was a perk but it wasn't. They were so much older than me that I didn't exist in their world. Oh well. I had sun and sand. Who could ask for anything more!

And I had sea gulls. Here's a photo Tallulah sent me of one.




One of my favorite photos from those summers was one I took of my father. I wish I could share it with you but I don't have a scanner.

He was down at the lake cleaning the fish he'd caught. There were seagulls up the ying yang flying about him and I snapped the shutter just at the right moment to catch them. It's a great shot.

Stokes Bay is just north of Wiarton, Ontario.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiarton_ontario

www.thebrucepeninsula.com/wiarton/

On our way in at the beginning of our vacation we'd stop in Wiarton for last minute groceries. Never mind that my folks brought a weeks worth of provisions with them, packed neatly in the boat we towed behind our car, there was always something last minute to pick up (smile).

We'd always drive over to Lions Head at least once during our vacation to look around and get an ice cream and also to purchase double-yoked eggs from the farmers.

If you've never been to Canada, well, you're missing something quite wonderful. It's a beautiful country.

You be good and be careful, take care, stay strong.


Hugs, Tawny
www.tawnyford.com

Memories, Sweet Memories

I hope you had a nice Memorial Day weekend. Having a few days off from work can do wonderful things for your psyche, can't it?

Did you do the barbecue thing? Go to the beach? Watch a parade?

Me, well, I flat out forgot it was Memorial Day weekend. I was talking to someone on the phone last week and he asked if I was barbecuing chicken wings and that's when it dawned on me. How do you forget something like that? I don't know, but I sure did until he mentioned it.

So no, no friends over for a barbecue for me. Instead I dragged lawn furniture out of the shed, washed it off and set it up on the outdoor-carpeted 'patio' I have going on under the big shade trees in my backyard. I bought a new grate for the barbecue grill and cleaned up the entire unit. Even assembled a new glass topped eating table for the patio.

Essentially, I got everything ready for the rest of the summer and future barbecues.

Today I took the day off (good for my psyche too! smile) and went shopping. JoAnn Fabric was having an enormous sale. Just about everything in the store--from home decor to yarn--was on deep discount.

I picked up some steel crochet hooks for 50 cents apiece! And a book on Tunisian crocheting.

Next stop was Michaels here in Farmington Hills, an arts and crafts type store, where I swear I am never going to set foot in again. Why? For many, many months, as their yarn supply dwindled down to pretty much nothing but last years dregs, they have had signs posted saying 'new yarn department coming in Spring'. Well, it's been Spring for a while now and there still isn't anything new. I'm sick and tired of going in only to be disappointed.

My Uncle David came by when I got home and we had dinner together. Okay, it was not a well-planned dinner. He had a big hot ‘n’ spicy noodle bowl with cooked, cut-up beef sausages and cheese that he added to it. I had a hot dog and some potato chips and chip dip. Root beer was our beverage of choice.

For dessert I had a piece of still frozen double fudge cake. Uncle David had honeydew melon. Kathleen, my beloved cat, was hawking Uncle David's melon--she loves honeydews, it's her favorite. He grudgingly shared it with her (smile).

When I spoke with Tallulah, after thanking her for sending me this pretty sunrise photo…




…and told her what dinner was, she laughed. My Uncle David, if you'll remember, did thirty years in prison. Tallulah said he must have choose oodle noodles for dinner with sausage and cheese stir-ins in memory of his time served, and in memory of all the convicts left behind. (For those unfamiliar with prison, oodle noodles is a convicts staple food.)

Hope you had a few minutes this weekend to remember those who have gone on to glory.

Be good and be careful, take care, stay strong.


Hugs, Tawny
www.tawnyford.com

A Day At The Beach

No, not for me. Not yet. Hopefully at some point this summer I'll be
lolling on the beach working on my tan, but not till at least July and
more than likely not till the week after Labor Day.

Tallulah sent me this adorable photo and I wanted to share it with you.




What a happy little family out for a stroll on a nice day!

Hope you're having a good day too.

Be good and be careful, take care, stay strong.

Hugs,Tawny
www.tawnyford.com

Links To Everywhere!

I love links and I hope you do too! For me, I find it's a fun and painless way to traipse around the Internet. You know, click on one link on purpose for information, and then follow links on that page for fun.

Here you go:

Michigan Free or Low Cost Healthcare
www.michigan.gov/healthcarehelp

Stories of Iraqi Refugees
www.iraqirefugeestories.org

Islamic Links
www.fatwa-online.com
www.islamic-fatwa.com

Calculate the Cost of Gas on a Trip
www.fuelcostcalculator.com

World Music
www.likembe.blogspot.com
www.awesometapesfromafrica.blogspot.com
www.radiodiffusion.net
www.voodoofunk.blogspot.com
www.bennloxo.com

Sexual Cleansing in Iraq
www.iraqilgbtuk.blogspot.com

Cruises
www.cruisesonly.com
www.cruiseviews.com
www.cruisemates.com
www.vacationtogo.com
www.cruisecompete.com


Hopefully you'll have as much fun with these links as I did.

Be good and be careful, take care, stay strong.

Hugs, Tawny
www.tawnyford.com

Yes or No

I'm a big movie fan. Along with my basic cable package, I also have all of the premium movie channels…from HBO to Cinemax and everything in between.

In addition, I've always rented movies from Blockbuster. Sometimes you just can't wait for it to get to cable!

Well, a few weeks ago when I was at the library here in town I noticed that they have quite the selection of new DVDs. And they're free!

Last night I watched 'Yes Man' starring Jim Carrey. No, I'm not going to do a Siskel and Eibert on you (smile)! Suffice it to say I liked the movie. It was entertaining. It made me laugh out loud lots of times.

It also made me think.

The gist of the movie was that this guy (Jim Carrey) always said no to life’s opportunities. As a result, he missed out on all sorts of opportunities.

I've always been a 'no thank you' kind of person myself. The first words out of my mouth when asked about almost anything (do you want to… would you like a… how about…) are no thank you.

Why? I'm not totally sure. Possibly it's because when I say yes then I'm locked in to 'whatever'. Whereas if I say no, well, that gives me time to evaluate the question and decide if I'm interested. It buys me some time.

And more often than not, I'm not interested. Or I don't want to be bothered. Why? Partly it's because I'm a solitary creature. A loner. I like hanging out with me. I get along well with me. And that's probably a result of being an only child. I grew up alone, spent most of my time alone and learned how to amuse myself.

None of that's bad or wrong.

But after watching that movie and giving it some thought, I've decided to try saying yes a bit more. Okay, not like Jim Carrey did. There's no way in the world I'd say yes to everything! But every once in awhile sure couldn't hurt.

You be good and be careful, take care, stay strong.


Hugs, Tawny
www.tawnyford.com

I Want Candy!

Do you like candy? I love candy. Any and all sweets are on my all-time list of favorite things to eat. Candy, ice cream, cake, pie, oh my (smile).

Yesterday I went to Doc Sweets Candy Company in Clawson, Michigan. I had read a newspaper article about the store when it first opened a couple of years ago and I'd been trying to get there ever since.

It's not like Clawson is a gazillion miles from here or anything, but it's just far enough off my typical beaten path that it took me a couple of years to make the move. Turned out to be a really nice ride.

I'd like to give you their website so you can peruse all of the sweet stuff but they don't have one. I think it's a shame because I'm betting their sales would dramatically increase if folks could shop them online and then have it shipped. Here's their email, for what it's worth: docsweetscandy@yahoo.com

They have just about every type/brand of candy that's ever been produced. Things you ate as a child but haven't seen in years? Doc Sweets has them. Five thousand square feet with over 2,500 items for sale. $18.00 lighter, I left with a heaping bag of sugary goodness.

Last night I had to think about what I wanted for a snack--ice cream with Sanders topping? Candy? The candy won out. Two Clark Bars later…(smile).

On a less sweet note, yesterday Detroit had their mayoral election and Dave Bing, the former basketball player, won. Bing has never held public office ever so I'm not sure how it's going to work out for him or the city.

On a more positive note, Ken Cockrel (the former president of the Detroit City Council who became the interim mayor after Kwame Kilpatrick went to jail) goes back to being Council president now. That means that Monica Conyers (the wife of Congressman John Conyers), who was the Council president while Cockrel was mayor, goes back to being just a plain old Council member.

During Ms. Monica’s run as Council president all sorts of crazy, unprofessional things occurred. Cockrel has his work cut out for him trying to repair all of the bridges Monica burned.

Cobo Hall, a huge building where concerts, conventions and trade shows have always been held--most notably the North American Automobile Show--is in pitiful disrepair. No clue as to why the city leaders permitted this to happen but they did. It appears as if no maintenance has been done to the building in years.

Cobo Hall brings a great deal of yearly revenue to Detroit, both from events held there and the extra business it brings to the city by convention goers.

State leaders in Lansing, MI's capitol, came up with a plan to save Cobo and Ms. Monica vetoed it. She insists that federal stimulus money can be used to fix Cobo. Granholm, Michigan’s governor says that it cannot.

It's gotten to the point where, unless a miracle occurs, I think Rock Financial Showplace, a smaller convention venue in Novi, Michigan, is going to be added on to so that they can host the automobile show and just about everything else Cobo once hosted and Detroit made money off of.

Detroit will have another mayoral election in November. A very long story. Hopefully before then the feds will have swooped in and arrested numerous Council members for illegal payoffs, etc. from a sludge deal. It's been said that the feds have been investigating this for quite a while and are close to issuing warrants. With any luck at all Ms. Monica, Martha (of Martha and the Vandellas) and Barbara Rose Collins will be in the pokey before Thanksgiving.

Be good and be careful, take care, stay strong.


Hugs, Tawny
www.tawnyford.com

Copping Some ZZZZZZZZ's

Tallulah and her new camera---I did tell you she bought a new camera, right? No? Oh sorry. I don't remember the name brand but it's a monster of a camera, does everything even better than her old one did. For what it cost she says it's her last camera (smile).

Anyway, she was at the Detroit Zoo yesterday and she emailed me some of the photos she took.

Here's the polar bear. I envy him his comfy pose (smile).




Here's the gorilla. He doesn't exactly look happy, does he? Of course how happy would we look if we were locked up, huh?





Here are some bald eagles:




And last but not least, the King of the Jungle--the lion!




When was the last time you were at the zoo? Me, it's been more than a few years. It's a nice place to visit on a sunny, breezy, yet cool day. The fresh air is wonderful, the exercise is therapeutic and the animals are interesting, yet sort of sad to see.

Today has been a great day weatherwise, sunny and near 70. I have most of the windows open and Kathleen is sound asleep, the result of overdosing on all that fresh air (smile).

Wish I could chat more with you but I'm way behind on household chores, plus I want to get outside on the patio and enjoy some of that sun.

I hope you're having a good day.

Be good and be careful, take care, stay strong.


Hugs, Tawny
www.tawnyford.com

Saturday May 2 - Tallulah Arrives!

Tallulah made it to my house around 2pm yesterday (Friday). It was really good to see her again. Okay, so it's not like we don't keep in touch much because we do. We email numerous times daily and she calls me two or three times a week. And yes, she does the calling because she has free long distance via her cable TV phone service. Me, I use calling cards. I ditched conventional long distance services a few years ago when I realized that even though I had a great rate, the monthly fed and local taxes on the long distance--whether I used it or not—were crazy.

Bless her heart, Tallulah never comes calling empty handed. She had a huge box filled to the brim with goodies for HSM, as well as her kidlets and me.

I got books and magazines and yarn. And I would have had a brand new jacket but don't you know, it was the same one I'd just bought for myself. Tallulah has marvelous taste (smile).

So the new jacket went to HSM, along with books, art supplies, etc and, while we were at HSM's house, Tallulah showed me her Facebook page on HSM's computer.

From there it was to eat. Hopes Fish and Chips in Livonia. Come to find out, when Tallulah was growing up, her family celebrated special occasions there. My Mom and I used to go there too. Anyway, we had the house special--fish and chips--and it was really good.

If you ever go to Hopes Fish and Chips it'll be for the food, not the decor. Why do I say that? Because the place is caught in a time warp. It's (still) decorated like it's 1952 (the year it opened). When you walk in it's as if you stumbled into a local spot waaaay up in northern Michigan.

From there it was shopping.

There's a huge Chinese grocery store in Farmington that I've driven past a gazillion times but never stopped at. Well, Tallulah and I stopped and it was so much fun looking around. Okay, half the stuff I had no clue what it was or for, but it was really interesting. The things I did recognize, well, they were a heck of a lot cheaper there than at the regular grocery store. Now that I've broken the ice and visited once, I'll be going back to make purchases.

We also stopped at Bargain Books. Unfortunately, and I do mean unfortunately, they had no dollar magazines. But. I found a couple of heavily marked down books on crochet so that was a good thing.

By the time Tallulah dropped me off at the house I was one tired puppy (smile). I slept like a log all night long.

Hope you had as good a day as I did. And that today is even better for you.


Hugs, Tawny
www.tawnyford.com

A Different Sort of Friday

Well, today is most definitely a different sort of Friday in many different ways.

First off, I went to sign in to write the blog and 'they' kept telling me my password was incorrect. Huh? I've been using the same password on just about everything I have to have a password for since forever. Must have been a glitch because on the fourth try it worked. I hate when glitches occur, they always get my stomach to hurting because, well, computers are still foreign to me.

Then, Tallulah, my friend from Marquette, Michigan, started driving downstate yesterday afternoon. Yes, I know, who in their right mind begins a long trip in the afternoon unless they have small children that they want to sleep for the bulk of the ride or work got in the way of leaving early. Me, I'm always on the road by 8am. But that's not the way Tallulah rolls (smile).

Apparently she pulled out of her drive way around 11:30 am and made a pit stop at the casino because they were giving away ten dollars worth of free t0kens. Okay. She rolled the free ten into thirty dollars and then she got back on the highway. Somewhere along the way it began raining and it rained all the way downstate. I don't know about you, but I hate driving in the rain on the interstate. She got about 70 minutes from here, Birch Run, when she gave up and rented a motel room. Why? The fog was so thick she couldn't hardly see and she'd passed three rollover accidents. That was about 9pm.

The original plan had her staying the night at my house so we could get an early start on visiting and shopping, but I sure don't blame her for aborting that plan. I've driven in Killer Fog before and it is no fun, not to mention extremely dangerous. White knuckle driving is not pleasurable.

I spoke with her this morning and she was going to stop at the outlet mall in Birch Run (a mere 2 or 3 minute ride from her hotel) and purchase a set of speaker stands for her Bose sound system, run in to the store where she buys her blue jeans (they're on sale for $5.99 a pair), then hit the Best Buy in Novi (the next town over from my town) to pick up the camera she'd bought online. Then my house. I decided I'd come 'talk' to you while I waited for all that to happen.

All the rain we've been having for too many days to keep count of has left everything green and lovely around here. Even the grass seed I threw down is sprouting. Hahaha on the birds, this year they apparently didn't eat it all (smile).

A funny one for you; The other day I went to lunch with HSM and her children. We went to a Chinese Buffet. I'd been there before with Tallulah, but it was HSM's first time. On the ride over we'd been talking about the Swine Flu. Sorry, H1N1. Anyway, she'd said she wasn't concerned about it. I mean, what are you going to do--panic? A good point. You ask God to keep you and yours safe and healthy, wash your hands, keep your fingers away from your nose, ears, eyes and mouth, etc. and that's it. I agreed with her.

So we get in the Buffet and, no joke, everybody eating lunch was Mexican. We were the only non-Mexicans aside from the staff. We were all good with it. We don't believe that Mexicans are to be avoided at all costs, unlike the conservative radio djays. We're eating, all is well, and then one of the Mexican patrons sneezed. And HSM went pale (smile).

But you know what? Aside from praying and taking whatever precautions you can--the frequent hand washing, keeping your fingers away from your orifices, eating a healthy diet, getting enough rest--that's it. What are you going to do--become a hermit until the flu runs its course?

Now me, when I finish using the computer here at the library, my first stop is going to be the bathroom so I can wash my hands. And then I'm getting on with my day.

Hope you have a good one. Be good and be careful, take care, stay strong.


hugs, Tawny
www.tawnyford.com