Banana and Fruit Sticker Collectors

They exist in a big way:
Becky Martz
The Big Bad Banana
Stuck on Bananas
Fruit Stickers Collector
Flickr Photos
All over the world
It's made the news.
Informative sites have appeared
It pleases me that this is going on.
Appeals to that collector side of me.

More Minutiae

The last few days have been blissful. I dig cold, grey, gloomy days. I love listening to Scott Walker, The Velvet Underground and Lou Reed on days like these. Patterns begin to emerge: we play more John Lennon around this time of year and listen to more early Stones than usual.

Speaking of music, didn't have to ponder adding Brian Setzer's Wolfgang's Night Out on my list of cds to check out.

We watched Psycho Beach Party and I ended up liking it more than I thought, teehee.

I was pondering those trapeze dresses, so uber Mia Farrow circa 67 but uh...us hour glass figured girls look more less disastrous in them. No thanks. I need fitted. They are tres cute though so if you have a Mary Quant ready body, yay you and yes, I am bit jealous, but Stop Staring's design make me feel so much better, as does anything with a defined waistline. I do love seeing them around though, I think they are tres chic and elegant and can be worn anywhere.

Historical Value

The other day I was pondering the historical value of things. People on the Antiques Road Show are always so disappointed that there knick-knack has no historical significance or value. In my collection in my world there are several pieces that are of significant historical value. Shall I list?
Don't be jealous:

1. The mirror from the ladies room in Quack's when it was on the drag. I took it before they closed and turned it into a boutique that has recently closed. It is where my best friend and I saw ourselves being who we always wanted to be for the first time.

2. The mechanical bow making machine from The Guarantee Store. This lil machine made bows for countless wedding, graduation, birthday and Christmas presents at the store in Del Rio. A gift from The Guarantee meant a carefully picked bauble to mark a special milestone. The bows were always so pretty and perfect. When I heard the store was closing I heard that Heywood Wakefield furniture was used to furnish the whole store and was now up for grabs, that there was gorgeous deadstock apparel but I was on pins and needles trying to get the bow making machine, for it's historical value, you know.

3. The punch bowl from Sacred Heart Academy. This punch bowl is old, tres old. It belonged to the nuns at Sacred Heart Academy in Del Rio back when they actually lived at the school and wore habits. After they moved in the mid 70s, they left behind a few sundries in what became the teacher's lounge. The punch bowl with all it's lil cups was left behind and used in classroom parties. I remember this punch bowl at the Valentine's party in the first grade, then at the Christmas party in the second grade, it was at my first dance in the 6th grade... When you are always picked to help do the punch and not pass out the cupcakes, you learn to recognize the same ole punch bowl. A few years ago my mother showed up with it and I was amazed it had lasted so long, but it is most surely the same tired ole punch bowl, the cups are in great condition but you can see over forty years of wear from parties on the bowl when you hold it up to the light. How cool is that?

Plans for the tree

So we were all amped about cutting a tree at Loma Alta but maybe next year. This year the logistics of it all just won't work. Honestly though, the Virginia pine just doesn't click with me. It's pretty, it smells good and looks great outdoors but I don't know.... the shape of it? The length of the needles? Something....

Virginia Pine

Balsam Fir




So, we are going with plan B, what we did last year, order a Balsam fir from DeLong Farms in Nova Scotia. I know I haven't shed the small town, Texan in me because the idea of Christmas tree delivery via USPS is fun (just like the first Sea Monkeys I ever ordered, yippee). Not to mention, a Balsam fir seems more on the exotic side, teehee. There will still be tree cutting because two inches of the trunk needs to come off before it gets placed. It is due to arrive by St Nick's day.

chilly winds tonight

The cold front coming through made me want to bake something for us. Tonight I made an apple pie from scratch. The house smells nice and yummy. Hearing the wind blow outside makes it even more cozy. These are the good ole days.

Luigi Tenco

When I heard Luigi Tenco the other day, he reminded me a lot of Fred Buscaglione, another strong and sincere Italian singer. I also thought that maybe there was a hint of Brel in Tenco's songwriting. I really love Tenco but he didn't leave much behind. You can't think of Tenco without thinking of Dalida. I always picture Tenco and Dalida as the Kurt Cobain-Courtney Love of their time, sort of. After Tenco committed suicide it was Dalida who went on to become quite the icon. I never found her work to be at all impressive but she does has a large following even now. When I hear Tenco sing the songs he wrote I wonder how he was ever supposedly her underling.

Congratulations and Best Wishes!!!!!

To Andie and Ben!!!!!!! YAY!
Love you guys!

Philco Predicta TV?

Anyone in the market for a retro Predicta? This is an awesome purchase! There are still people in town who can fix this so I wonder why this guy is having to part with such a sweet find.

This Holiday Season

Live within your means and give within your means.

It's interesting to see how my Grandparents and my friend Mr Gage feel about credit cards. They all went through the Great Depression and their philosophy is: Credit is for the poor. You buy with cash and you save to buy with cash but as long as you have money in your pocket or in the bank you are not poor and there is no need for credit.

Happy Merry Thanxmas?

OMG! So downtown has it's Christmas ornaments up, HEB is selling eggnog with expiration dates set 11/16 and 11/27 and the Optimist Xmas tree place is all set. Isn't it too early? I know they start putting out Christmas in September and October in the stores but it's coming up at a rapid pace allofasudden. Um, am I ready? It was just July.

I have been thinking of Loma Alta and planning for it for weeks now. It's grown to a small caravan but we'll see how it all pans out. I did purchase the eggnog set to expire 11/27...EEK! I love the stuff. I LOVE THE STUFF!

I don't want to rush the season or the holidays or for them to rush me by.

Tripping

Tripping over lil sites like this online can make my day by filling my head with cool ideas:
The Small Object
Rosy Little Things
Creature Comforts
and help me get through my Christmas list. Yeah Christmas, can you believe it! I can't believe Wm and I will have been together four years this December. Sort of flew by.

I also realize I have been like ZERO productive on the crafty tip this year, actually, so far (let's not rush to 2008 just yet). Not for lack of ideas, dear readers, but for lack of time. How I would love to be like these blogs I have listed, filled with creative endeavours and completed projects but....{sigh}, it's just not the on going theme in my life, but this is: “I like too many things and get all confused and hung-up running from one falling star to another till i drop. This is the night, what it does to you. I had nothing to offer anybody except my own confusion.”. Places to go, people to see sort of year have kept me away from my art supplies. I had to start keeping a planner, EEK! I used to just have my day job but recently, just so much more than that on my plate.

Speaking of on my plate, the strawberry and creme icebox pie from The Frisco was damn good. I didn't think so at the time, in fact I was really jealous of the yummy coconut pie Wm got but today I would actually go to The Frisco just for that pie. Go figure. There is a moral in that lil story.

Speaking of eating out, the Dart Bowl restaurant reminded me of any little dive on Freemont Street. Really has an old Vegas vibe to it, all it needs is a Kino board. The BLT on their homemade bread is really delicious guilt with a side of chips. I have also discovered that it's the most entertaining place in town to do eavesdropping.

Is First Texas Honda on Koenig closing or is it just a rumor?

I was all snug like a bug reading Old Witch and the Polka Dot Ribbon (love the illustrations) last night, I forgot about going to the store to buy what I needed for Pan de Muertos and atole for Friday. I haven't felt 100% this week so we'll see. Really, it may just be a huge sugar crash from all the sweets I consumed this week like Pumpkin Cheesecake from Central Market and icebox pies etc... I heard some cool bakeries in town sell the Pan De Muertos but don't know if I can take any more sugar and I hear they make the bread a bit sweeter than it should be. I may end up making it myself.