]> http://greasy.com/susil/index.html susil's Blog en-us © 2008 Greasy.com All rights reserved. Mon, 13 Oct 2008 17:26:26 GMT 30 http://greasy.com/susil/bucket_list.html Of course you've heard of the bucket list; that list of things you should do or things you want to do before you kick the bucket. Ergo, I made a list, in no particular order of preference, to wit: 1: Go see Mt. Rushmore 2: Visit the La Brea Tar Pits 3: Ride in the locomotive engine of a train 4: Eat all the crab cakes and shrimp I can hold 5: Meet Rutger Hauer 6: Buy a sports car 7: Have a home in Hawaii 8: Finally get someone to put up a clothesline 9: Hear a rabbi read from the Torah in ... Fri, 10 Oct 2008 18:57:04 GMT http://greasy.com/susil/bambi.html Drove to the little town of Leakesville today; a hamlet situated on the banks of the Chickashaway River. At 1pm, driving down the main street out of town, the car ahead of me suddenly braked--so of course I followed suit. I immediately saw the reason--a yearling deer followed by a fawn ran across the road. Living in deer country, the driver ahead of me knew to stay put for a minute, because deer travel in groups, and where's there's one or two, usually others follow. But these two were tra ... Fri, 10 Oct 2008 06:02:59 GMT http://greasy.com/susil/cookie.html I saw a man at the post office with a bird on his shoulder, and naturally I had to find out about it. The bird was a cockatoo with snow white feathers named Cookie. The owner said Cookie was 18 years old, a mere juvenile in bird years. He spread the bird's unclipped wings and showed me the swath of pale yellow feathers underneath each wing, and the tiny peach colored feathers under it's top crest. Cookie had once been sprayed with fire hoses when firemen unknowingly doused her while puttin ... Thu, 9 Oct 2008 03:49:47 GMT http://greasy.com/susil/serenade.html Last night my resident mockingbird sang off and on all night. He was perched in an azalea bush by my bedroom window, and I can tell you, a mockingbird has a very loud voice. It chirped and warbled and I could recognize some of the other bird's songs he had woven into his repertoire, but not all. My cousin Andy also has a resident mockingbird that perches in the bushes near his house. Mockingbirds especially like to sing when the moon is full, and during the last full moon, Andy griped that ... Sun, 5 Oct 2008 17:16:30 GMT http://greasy.com/susil/cousin_candy.html Cousin Candy has always been a sweet guy. He was birthed between the pillowy, marshmallowy thighs of his diabetic mother. Born soaked in her glucose rich blood, he was a serene placid little boy right from the start. He was put in the care of his 14 year old sister Molly as his mother toiled to care for 10 other siblings. No crying with colic, no keeping his folks awake with cries of hunger; no, Candy would suckle on his infant fists until Molly fixed a bottle of Carnation milk sweetened ... Sat, 4 Oct 2008 04:29:06 GMT http://greasy.com/susil/phone_graveyard.html This is what happened to Dottie: She visited family members in Michigan, then went into Canada to do research for her genealogy files. She's really into that. Thorough research means visiting libraries and going to old family cemeteries to check names and dates of birth and death on head stones. One morning it was chilly enough that she put on her denim jacket and stuck her wallet in one pocket and her cell phone in the other. It warmed up as she walked around with her notebook, so she hu ... Tue, 30 Sep 2008 16:04:16 GMT http://greasy.com/susil/farce.html Debate? What a bomb. What a farce. What a joke. To begin with, McCain looked waxy and preserved like a corpse --all he needed was a coffin. I'm not kidding, he didn't look alive. The moderator, I forget his name, also looked Madame Taussaud-ish. Good grief. They looked like caricatures of living people; animated zombies. McCain dominated the "debate" and ranted on and on, while Obama stood there acting like a schoolboy called to the principal's office. I wanted to see some sparks, some fir ... Sat, 27 Sep 2008 18:44:01 GMT http://greasy.com/susil/worry_wart.html I'm getting worried. My best friend Dottie left for Michigan 16 days ago and I haven't heard from her in nine days. She wan't feeling well when she left, and last time I heard from her, she was still ailing. I know one of the reasons she went back to visit her hometown was to visit her mother's grave one last time. My normally optimistic friend has become melancholy lately. Doctors want to run tests on her, and she's thinking the worst. Maybe she's kicking up her heels and having a good ti ... Fri, 26 Sep 2008 06:08:54 GMT http://greasy.com/susil/mountains_molehills.html This is about how to make a mountain out of a molehill; to wit: Last Tuesday evening I was cleaning a vacuum filter and not being careful about it. Dust was thick and I inhaled a snootful. By Tues. night my sinuses were draining like Hoover Dam with two holes punched in it. By Wednesday morning my throat was sore, followed by the worst gastroenteritis I've had in years. I don't know if the dust I inhaled started the domino effect or what--(the gastroenteritis might have been caused from a ... Tue, 23 Sep 2008 14:06:19 GMT http://greasy.com/susil/indigestion.html Last night, for the first time in many months, it got chilly enough to sleep under a sheet! Down to 61 degrees, how bodaciously wonderful. At 3am I had to turn the fan off, and it was very quiet, because even the night crickets outside were silent. A shaft of moonlight came through the curtains and I slept under its light dreamless and peaceful. This morning, although I shouldn't--budget and all you know, I went to Trudie's for breakfast. I had pancakes and bacon and coffee. A guy was ther ... Wed, 17 Sep 2008 17:28:32 GMT http://greasy.com/susil/west_world.html I stayed up last night to watch one of my favorite movies "West World" on the TCM (Turner Classic Movie) channel. The script was written by Michael Creighton who wrote "Jurassic Park." West World is an oldie, but a goodie. Great acting by Yul Brynner as a poker faced robot gunslinger gone amok in a fantasy old west setting. The idea was that guests pay big bucks to live out their fantasies in one of three settings--West World, Roman World, or Medieval World. James Brolin and Richard Benjam ... Wed, 17 Sep 2008 15:55:29 GMT http://greasy.com/susil/eat_elephant.html Yesterday I was swamped with niggly things to do--phoning customer service at AT&T to demand they get a cell phone off my bill--I tried it for one day, couldn'r pick up any bars where I live, and took it back. I knew it'd wind up being a hassle getting it off my bill--that's just the way it is. Then I had to make calls to get my house insurance and car insurance bills straightened out--they sent the bills two months early. The excuse? A wrong keystroke, and the deal was set in concrete ... Tue, 16 Sep 2008 18:01:13 GMT http://greasy.com/susil/true_blood.html Alan Ball, who brought the series "Six Feet Under" to HBO, has a new series on HBO called "True Blood." It's about a future where a synthetic blood, called true blood, can be purchased in a six pack like beer. It enables vampires to have a legitimate blood source and come out of the closet, so to speak, and join regular society--albeit at night only. True Blood is set in the swampiest backwoodsiest Louisiana bayou imaginable. The star is a naive little blond who works in a beer and burger ... Tue, 16 Sep 2008 17:09:46 GMT http://greasy.com/susil/coco_chanel.html Last night watched the three hour movie (Lifetime Channel) about Coco Chanel, hyped to star Shirley McLain. Actually, she didn't show up in the movie much. The actress playing the young Chanel, Barbora Bobulova was onscreen most of the time. The movie was done in flashbacks. Chanel and her sister were placed in an orphanage by their father after their mother died, and he never returned to get them. Chanel got a job sewing for a dressmaker. A man in uniform came in and eventually invited he ... Sun, 14 Sep 2008 19:33:48 GMT http://greasy.com/susil/hard_hathard_head.html Yesterday I did up all the laundry, folded and put it away and cleaned my little shack. It's taken me 30 years to pay off  my shack, and it's falling apart. Something always has to be maintained/and or repaired here. If I wasn't so hardheaded I'd move to town and give up the wonderful life of shack ownership. Now and then I hear snaps and creaking in the joists and figure termites have eaten the wood frame and the bricks are the only thing holding this place up! I oughta wear a hard hat o ... Sat, 13 Sep 2008 15:11:42 GMT http://greasy.com/susil/trying_times.html Friday, September 12, 2008. I stayed up till midnight last night watching the story of the World Trade Center Towers. On Sept. 11, 2001, I had gotten up early and turned on the telly--and was watching as Katie Couric and Tom Brokaw provided commentary on the first burning tower. As I watched, a plane entered the TV screen to the right and crashed into the second tower. Unbelievable events. Stunning surreal unforgettable day that was. Up early this morning. Low hanging clouds moving fast ... Fri, 12 Sep 2008 17:32:20 GMT http://greasy.com/susil/bored_boring.html I'm writing a lot because my usual routine is disrupted. My best friend left on a trip to Michigan and Canada. Our four times a day phone calls are on hold till she returns. As an aside, I heard on the news that travelers have to show a birth certificate to cross the Canadian border nowadays, and beginning the first of the year, you'll have to have a passport. Cousin Ellie is tied up with major responsibilities, so I don't have a traveling buddy for now. Yesterday I made the 50 mile round ... Wed, 10 Sep 2008 16:42:20 GMT http://greasy.com/susil/deep_south_news_2.html This is some of what's going on in the Magnolia State; far down toward the tail end of the state, deep in the guts of Mississippi. (If I compared where I live in the state to the human body, I'd be down in the bodily excretion end of it if you get my drift.) Let's see: Gov Barbour attacked suggestions that politics rather than merit put Flora Miss. among six national finalists vying for the chance to host a federal biological research lab. Host--oh yeah. That's just what our beleaguered s ... Wed, 10 Sep 2008 16:06:58 GMT http://greasy.com/susil/rated_dolls.html I watched a show on BBCA last night (Direct TV, channel 264) called "Love Me, Love My Doll," about men who have these life size dolls as love partners. These dolls cost about $4,000 dollars and are made of life like rubber or plastic or something (I missed that part.) The dolls weigh about 100 lbs. They are flexible and come with pubic hair and usuable parts. They also come with a bolt in the back of their necks so their owners can have them hooked up to simulate standing. As you may guess ... Mon, 8 Sep 2008 23:14:24 GMT http://greasy.com/susil/keys_frige.html From Energy Times Magazine, the ten warning signs that may signal early Alzheimer's disease. 1) Forgetting recently learned information and not being able to remember it later on; in Alzheimer's this occurs more and more frequently. 2) Experiencing language difficulties; forgetting simple words or substituting unusual words, such as "that thing for my mouth" instead of "toothbrush." 3) Using poor judgement, such as wearing several layers of clothing in hot weather. 4) Misplacing things by ... Mon, 8 Sep 2008 17:58:55 GMT