Monday, February 26, 2007

Boo's Back at the Oscar's


The picture which I hope will appear on top is a very "Oscar" type of pose, isn't it? The bottom picture Martha labelled: "This is me straddling three camera positions (claiming ABC's spot) while the print journalists still pack up. We move to this position for after the awards to get departures." The weather was 'freezing' by Martha's standards so she's covered up for a while.

Saturday, February 24, 2007

Oscars


I've never been overly excited about the Oscars, however I'm quite impressed by my daughter, Martha. She's going to be working the 'red carpet' at the Oscars tomorrow night, on behalf of Al Jazeera, the BBC and some other ABC network affiliates. I'll be watching, hoping to catch a glimpse of my personal favourite! If she sends me a picture, I'll post it later.

Sunday evening:
I may have spotted my daughter briefly...
and I was glad to see Helen Mirren win for Best Actress.

Friday, February 23, 2007

Help - Please


I've already done this successfully once, but I was trying to show off to my husband... Serves me right, doesn't it? Could someone please tell me the next step? I have no idea how I got it before - I didn't guess on any of the numbers, so what am I missing this time?

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Twenty-Five Years!


Peter and I celebrated our twenty-fifth anniversary on Valentine's Day. We lead a very quiet, low-key life and our anniversary was perfect as far as we're concerned. We started the day with our usual Wednesday morning breakfast at the ABC Country Restaurant. It's a middle-of-the-road place, nothing very exciting but fair value and decent enough food. Our little waitress surprised us with a potted azalea and a lovely little photo album that is engraved "Twenty-five years of Friendship - Peter and Susan, 2007". The plant on our table served as something of a marker - I imagine Norma had explained to various of her co-workers that the gift and plant was for our twenty-fifth anniversary - so various of the restaurant staff came over to wish us a happy anniversary. We were really touched by the kindness. Our anniversary dinner was a shared plate of natchos at a little community pub. I enjoyed the day, I really did. I love not dressing up and not fussing. I love my wonderful, easy-going husband, my quiet, unpretentious life and our old familiar haunts. And, by the way, we don't always look as silly as we do in this picture.

Monday, February 12, 2007

Random Thinking

Tom from Random Thinking posted an item recently that I read with great sympathy. I kept thinking about his post and wondering if it was appropriate for me to comment. After much gnashing of teeth I've come to the conclusion that it is wrong to discreetly avoid uncomfortable issues.

Tom is a member of a minority group that is struggling to be heard. He is the parent of a child with Down Syndrome and his job is just that much more difficult than the average parent's. Downs children are purely sweet and loveable, there's no question about that, and it's a 'given' that their parents adore them and want them to be treated decently.

The item Tom posted refers to casual, unthinking insults that you and I probably wouldn't even notice. The rest of us - decent enough people, but not sensitized to the issue - barely notice the 'jokes' which are made at the expense of handicapped people.

Tom and other parents of Downs children are angry and they've discussed boycotting the sponsors of television programs which have offended. I think perhaps they're wrong there. I suspect that most of the insults are unintentional. But certainly people need to be educated.

I don't suppose my comments are worth much, but I've learned something from Tom and perhaps you'll go to his blog too and consider what he's up against. Is there anything that we can do to help?

Thursday, February 08, 2007



I've been sick. I have what should be a nuisance of a cold but due to the number of cigars I 'smoked' as a child, I now have a chronic lung problem. I haven't been able to do much other than knit, so I've made four chihuahua sweaters for my son's girlfriend's dog. They're a joy to knit and I'm planning at least four more.

Kellogg's Vanilla-Almond Special K


My son just poured himself a bowl of cereal. Look what he got. I don't suppose we'll torment the company over it, but it's a little disgusting don't you think? Unfortunately I've got three more unopened boxes of the stuff. I know Jon will never touch it again and Peter and I think this particular cereal tastes horrible. (It's a piece of wood, I think.)