The Bestest, Greatest, Lallapalooza ever, ever, of all times, etc.....

Hey SavMarshMama Krewe

CreoleBeBebop here

I'm reading Don Quixote for the umpteenth time. Reading a translation by Edith Grossman. Why, some may ask, are you reading that fucking tome? Why indeed? Here are several reasons:

• I was intellectually abused by Carmelite monks when I was an impressionable high school student. They thought the sun rose and set in the Western canon, and M. Cervantes was its high priest. 
• It contains the plots and subplots, along with Billy Shakespeare, of every masterpiece of Western fiction since.
• I agreed to read it periodically because one of my sons (The Doc) does the same, and he's super fucking smart.
• I like that Don Quixote gets his ass handed to him throughout the book, but keeps on trucking. Voltaire's Pangloss in Candide comes close to getting this number of mind-numbing ass-kickings. And he says, "That is all for the best in this best of all possible worlds." What a fucking Shmoo. I see you fucking MAGA bitches.
• I want to disprove the literary worth of the son-of-a-bitch each time I read it, but can't for the life of me.

So, I can only imagine that somewhere, right now, on this planet, someone is saying to himself/herself and to their students that the greatest novel, bar none of all time is Gilgamesh, or the Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu, or some other non-Western classic novel. And this is said with all the self-righteousness, cultural arrogance, and hubris that the Carmelites exhibited when they inflicted Cervantes on the young, tender mind of CreoleBeBop.

One of their students is probably saying, this is bullshit! I heard about this book written in the 17th century that was the fucking bomb - and the name is even cool - Don Quixote! 

I leave you with this Western tradition:

This weekend is the Kentucky Derby. I'm drinking a mint Julep in anticipation, and reading Cervantes. Go figure.

I just noticed something

 The breakfast room here faces the street. It's a busy street, so there's a lot of vehicular traffic, as well as foot traffic. Whenever I'm sitting at the table it's impossible not to notice the folks walking by. It seems as if 9 out of 10 walking are on their phones, not speaking, but looking down at them. Most of them are teens or slightly older. Very rarely are they talking to someone on the phone. I always find this interesting and sort of scary, the walking and staring at the phone screen I mean.

This is a neighborhood that has quite a few young families, so there are lots of dads or moms pushing strollers in the mornings and early evenings. They're hardly ever on their phones. We also see lots of couples walking and talking to each other. There are lots of folks walking their dogs, too. They're never on their phones! I think that has to do with how careful they are about making sure they clean up after their dogs! LOL 

All of this is anecdotal to what, I have no idea, but I just wanted to share it with all y'all. Plus, I'm waiting for dinner to be ready and the MITM has earphones on so he isn't listening to my ramblings...

Dinner's ready.

Finally.

From the ROSE GARDEN here!!!

 Who knew, right?

The roses are in bloom, we've planted basil in a wooden trough and mint in a terra cotta pot! Of course, the MITM has done all the work, I've just arranged flowers and went with him to the garden center to supervise. Those are my strengths and I'm sticking to that story!

I'll post pics of the basil and mint once they've settled in and start looking smart!

The MITM is a very enthusiastic by default the gardener (because I'M the idea person/supervisor) and has been doing a splendid job! We'll have more pictures as our container garden grows! (OK, when  HE plants some more.)

IDV, I will be submitting all of these and more photos for this year's Gardening Contest!! Be prepared!

xoxo

Saturday Surprises

 Today was the annual Spring Luncheon at BGM's school. Some of you might remember me saying that Super Nana, her cousin, Stretch, and a multitude of her gal pals attended the very same school. In fact, I even had friends who attended my then-arch-rival the very same high school. Of course, back in my day it was only a four-year high school, now it's also 6th-8th grade middle school (BGM is 6th grade). The luncheon was an absolute delight and was held in the school auditorium. When Super Nana was a student, it was called the Mother-Daughter Luncheon and was usually held in a hotel. Now things are far more open and inclusive and if today is an example, far looser and much more fun! 

Part of the fun was seeing some of Super Nana's old classmates again and realizing that they're older now than I was when I first met them! There's something to be said for having your children when you're young and foolish! Yeah, one of the girls remembered wild times that I had honestly no memory of or maybe I've conveniently forgotten! It is kind of nice being remembered as the really cool Mom. 

The MITM and I were talking about how we only met a few of the parents of the girls, even though many of them hung out or overnighted at our place. Different times, I guess, or maybe because we were some of the younger parents, but who knows at this point. (I mentioned this to Super Nana who said it was because everybody was always working!) I couldn't have been too negative an influence because they've all turned into great women and mothers of equally great daughters!

Anyway, it was a fun few hours and now it's raining, so I'm off to find a comfy chair, a fuzzy blanket and finish this bottle glass of wine!

xoxo 

Here's what THE DANCING LADY did today on her Birthday!

 

Happy Birthday to The Dancing Lady!

Today is The Dancing Lady's birthday! This is a photo from one of her performances in the SoCal area. Not only is she a marvelous dancer, but she is also an instructor at a Performing Arts School. Her kindness and generosity of spirit have been a blessing to all. 

Please join us in celebrating The Dancing Lady! 

Saturday, a day that started well and sort of devolved into...

 ... chocolate overdrive!

I never, EVER thought I would say, "OMG, that was TOO much chocolate for me!! Yes, the grands and I made a THREE LAYER CHOCOLATE BROWNIE CAKE with three different chocolate ganache fillings THAT WE MADE OURSELVES!!! I have never said no to a brownie and normally a chocolate ganache topping would be a delight, BUT white chocolate, milk chocolate, and dark chocolate it was beyond decadent, IT WAS OVERKILL!

Even BKC and BGM said we should re-evaluate keeping it tomorrow on the off chance that it might be better tomorrow. (I wanted to toss it tonight!) 

We ended the night after each of us, including the MITM, had a slice by watching "Nailed It" which if you know the show (it's on Netflix if you don't) we would NOT have won!

It's now 11PM, the kitchen is clean, the dishwasher is running, and the munchkins have gone to bed.

I need a very LARGE whiskey!

Dear Ms. Scarlet

 I tried TWICE to your wonky words post and nothing happened! My reply didn't show up! I wanted to share what I found about comment notifications in "settings" on Blogspot. I'm hoping you'll see this post and check settings, scroll down to "email" and then add YOUR email under "Comment notifications subscribers" 

I hope this helps!

*proper post to arrive soon*