If you hover, please cover

I understand that some public toilets are scary. There are times when naked buttocks should not touch the seat.

But PLEASE - if you choose to hover to pee, please cover the seat with those handy tissue paper thingies or some toilet paper.

If the toilet seat is nasty already, don't add to the problem.

Thank you.

My goal

By the time I turn the big 5-0, I want to have this body.

When my hair is completely gray, I'm going platinum - like Marilyn. At this rate, that will be about the time I hit the big 5-0.

I have to remember to ask myself, whenever I'm in a bind, what would Marilyn do?

This guy is calling the NBA Finals right now

At the Rockets draft party in 2006, our then head coach walked up to me and said, "Hi. I'm Jeff."

Like I didn't know who he was.

Anyway, he was a nice guy. I wasn't a fan of his coaching philosophy, but he was friendly. And now he is calling the basketball games on ABC.

This photo was taken about 7 weeks after I was de-livered, hence my extra pale look.

This guy is playing in the NBA Finals right now

Three years ago, I attended a Houston Rockets fan appreciation event during which I met Jeff Van Gundy (then coach, now commentator) and Rafer Alston, a.k.a. Skip to My Lou.

A few months ago, the Rockets made a brilliant move and traded Rafer for some benchwarmer. Rafer got the last word, though, because his Orlando Magic are in the Finals. And Rafer is having a great game 3.

I can say, "I knew him when..."

The only advantage of summer

I hate summer. It is really hot, and I hate the heat.

But I do get vegetables from my garden, if I can stand the heat long enough to water them every day. This is today's harvest.

We have only about 120 days until it cools off.

Thank God for air conditioning.

Adventures with authors

Last week, I went to a book signing by Alan Bradley, author of The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. My weekly email from our local independent bookstore, Murder by the Book, raved about this book for several weeks. I bit.

Mr. Bradley gave an inspirational talk - he wrote his first novel at age 69. And he has an 8 book deal!

There is hope for me yet.

For the signing...I arrived at the bookstore around the time the talk began. I purchased a book and got my number for standing in line to get my book signed. My number was 145! Only about 40 people were in the store, so the other 100 or so must have pre-ordered. I left my book there and picked it up a few days later.

First tomato of 2009

I have had mixed results growing tomatoes for the past 9 years. Whatever I did this year worked best. I just wish I knew what I did that was different. Maybe more compost helped.

The cherry and grape tomato plants deliver a few ripe fruit each day. The larger tomatoes ripen more slowly, and I must pick the fruit before the birds get it.

I HATE BIRDS.

Anyway, here is my first full-sized tomato of the year. Yum!

Award

J over at Canned Laughter bestowed this award upon me:

This award is given to the writers of blogs that “are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.”

Thanks, J.

But I don't know eight other bloggers. I would pass it on if I could.

I need to get out more...

Adventures with Authors

A few weeks ago, I attended a book signing at a local independent bookstore, Murder by the Book, to meet George Pelecanos. Mr. Pelecanos has written several books, but I know him best as a writer for one of the two best TV shows ever: The Wire. The best looking man on The Wire was "Stringer Bell," an ambitious drug dealer played by Idris Elba (shown above). If you haven't seen The Wire, rent it right now.

I asked Mr. Pelecanos about why one character on the show had to die while a despicable character got away with murder - and he answered me! I was impressed.

I will read my signed copy of his book The Way Home as soon as I finish the Sookie Stackhouse novels, which are the basis for another HBO series, True Blood. And three of my Sookie Stackhouse books were signed by the author at events from Murder by the Book. Is there a theme here?