Monday, May 31, 2010

The sad demise of an AMERICAN ICON …


Please join me in remembering a great icon of the entertainment community. The Pillsbury Doughboy died yesterday of a yeast infection and trauma complications from repeated pokes in the belly. He was 71.

Doughboy was buried in a lightly greased coffin. Dozens of celebrities turned out to pay their respects, including Mrs. Butterworth, Hungry Jack, the California Raisins, Betty Crocker, the Hostess Twinkies, and Captain Crunch. The grave site was piled high with flours.

Aunt Jemima delivered the eulogy and lovingly described Doughboy as a man who never knew how much he was kneaded.

Doughboy rose quickly in show business, but his later life was filled with turnovers. He was considered a very smart cookie, but wasted much of his dough on half-baked schemes. Despite being a little flaky at times, he still was a crusty old man and considered a positive roll model for millions.

Doughboy is survived by his wife Play Dough, three children: John Dough, Jane Dough and Dosie Dough and one they had in the oven. He is also survived by his elderly father, Pop Tart.

The funeral was held at 3:50 for about 20 minutes.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

HOME VIDEO … Lost for almost 20 years !


This September will be 20 years since my husband Richard passed away. He was just 59years old.

He had presented me with a video camera two years before that and I had fun recording some of the exciting events that happened then … weddings of our oldest son and our daughter, a family reunion in Cape Cod and just about anything else that caught my fancy.

An especially poignant scene that I captured on film was stopping at the “Air Transport Command” restaurant on our way home from our son’s wedding in New York state. I blogged about it on 12/31/07. It wasn’t just the WWII setting and the music that touched me so deeply … it was to be the last time that he and I were able to have an evening out together. It was August 15 of 2000 and he died on Sept. 22nd.

Although I didn’t have much heart for Christmas that year I decided to make copies of the video material that I had taken that featured Dick . I had it spliced together on one tape and I sent them to my four sisters as gifts. I wanted him to live on in their sight as well as in their memories.

A few years back I decided to catalogue my tapes and, lo and behold, I couldn’t find my copy of that tape anywhere. All the pictures were lost forever and I was heartsick. When I visited my sister in Florida recently I mentioned it with the hope that they may have kept the copy I sent to them that Christmas.

They gently explained that they had made many moves in 20 years and it would be a miracle if that one tape showed up. My other sisters are in nursing homes so I gave up on the idea of asking them and decided to accept the fact of my loss.

Fast forward to last week’s mail. I couldn’t believe it when I opened the package and saw the long lost tape. My Florida sister is moving to a rest home in Cape Cod and, in the process of packing up their belongings, they came across it.

You can just imagine how happy this has made me and I even had a good laugh (amidst the tears) when I watched my daughter hamming it up as a sex-pot with her newly wedded husband in 1989 and heard him say, “watch what your saying…someone may be looking at this 20 years from now.” !!

Friday, May 21, 2010

Join in … it’s a 24 Hour GLOBAL DINNER PARTY !


Some of you may remember the blog entry (3/21/‘09) where I spoke of having lunch with the author Rita Golden Gelman. Her book entitled “Tales of a Female Nomad” tells the story of how she divorced, sold all her possessions and became a nomad. It is an inspired story and I was thrilled to meet her.

Much to the dismay of her publisher Rita included her email address in that book and encouraged her readers to write to her. I was among the thousands who took her up on her wish and we have kept an ongoing correspondence ever since.

Now Rita (who is also the author of over 70 Children’s books) has gone a step farther. Her latest book comes out June 1st and, as you can see by the title it consists of “Tales of breaking free and breaking bread around the world.” I’ve already ordered three copies and if you go to Rita's twitter page it allows an advance peek…you can read Chapter 1.

But, here’s the fun part. I haven’t told my friends yet but I plan to host a dinner party to promote her book and to cook some of the fabulous recipes found there. It will be a world wide dinner party, held on Friday June 18th.

As Rita says, “We’re encouraging people around the world to invite friends to buy the book, cook the recipes, and share a meal at our Global Dinner Party, Connecting through Food. In hundreds of homes, guests will be ‘talking’ to us about the stories and discussing the anthology as well as the food. We’ll post your videos, pictures, and comments on Facebook. Please join us.”

If you still are not inspired just let me throw this in … 100% of royalties will be donated to fund scholarships to vocational schools for kids from the slums of New Delhi.

(Global Dinner Party … To learn more about how you can be a part of the 24-hour dinner, go to www.facebook.com/femalenomad. Rita will be posting some recipes, suggesting others, and also proposing topics for discussion.)

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

ANNIE REXIA celebrates Mother’s Day.


Pretty bizarre isn’t it?

A doctor friend of mine fell in love with this life sized skeleton the minute she saw it at an Estate Sale. Call it “gallows humor”, if you will, but she really wanted to purchase it.

Common sense won out over want however and she gave up on the idea. She thought her family would think she’d gone bonkers and she really couldn’t justify the cost.

But the friend who was with her had other ideas. She contacted the family and they hatched a plan. The next day happened to be Mother’s Day and what better surprise than to have Annie Rexia be the one to present Mom with flowers and a card !

You can see by the picture that it was a big success. Bizarre yes … but overflowing in originality and love.

Friday, May 14, 2010

A reminder of the ANTEBELLUM SOUTH.


Doesn’t this look like something out of “Gone With The Wind” ?

It’s actually a homestead that I’ve passed over the last 30 years whenever I’ve headed south from North Carolina on Rt 500. I look forward to seeing it every time I take that trip; but, I’ve never actually stopped and photographed it until now.

A view from the side of the house shows the many out- buildings … some even attached to the main house, like they are in New England. I have no idea who lives here or if it’s changed hands over the years. There seems to be no rhyme nor reason why the house is situated where it is.



For starters there are no other homes or structures in the area that come anywhere near the elegance of this one. The property is situated on a corner and I pass many barren miles of cotton fields and poor, run-down barns and houses before getting here.

I have no idea if this is true but here’s what I imagine:

In the early 1800’s (the Antebellum era) this was the main house (complete with separate kitchen house and slave quarters) of a large plantation. All those acres of cotton fields that I passed were probably part of this estate. Horse-drawn carriages would travel well oiled dirt roads to approach the house.

And now we have all that’s left of that historic era…a very well maintained manor on a small piece of acreage. The white fence that encircles it is certainly a modern addition and seems to be saying: “no more encroaching. This is as far as it goes !”

Sunday, May 09, 2010

Proving, once again, that Fact can be funnier than Fiction.


These Church Bulletins (complete with all their BLOOPERS) were actually posted or announced in church services:

“The sermon this morning: 'Jesus Walks on Water‘. The sermon tonight: ‘Searching for Jesus.'“

“Don’t let worry kill you off. Let the church help.”

“At the evening service tonight the sermon topic will be ‘What is Hell?’ Come early and listen to our choir practice.”

“Place your donation in the envelope along with the deceased person you want remembered.”

“The ladies of the Church have cast off clothing of every kind. They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon.”

“Ladies Bible Study will be held Thursday morning at 10 am. All ladies are invited to lunch in the Fellowship Hall after the BS is done.”

“The eighth-graders will be presenting Shakespeare’s Hamlet in the church basement Friday at 7 pm. The congregation is invited to attend this tragedy.”

“Weight Watchers will meet at 7pm at the First Presbyterian Church. Please use large double door at the side entrance.”

“The minister unveiled the church’s new campaign slogan last Sunday .
It reads… ‘I Upped My Pledge …Now Up Yours’. ”








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Tuesday, May 04, 2010

The GIFT of LIFE for my friend


This is a true story and it happened to a good friend of mine. I will call him Ray.

Ray and I met in the rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous and we’ve become good friends. When I first met him he had a very responsible position as head master at a private school. Due to circumstances beyond his control he lost that job and spent well over a year looking for something comparable.

It was a very stressful time because Ray suffered from more than just the loss of his job. His kidneys were failing. Luckily he did find a job as Headmaster of a church Day School in our area and although he took a severe cut in salary it was a perfect fit for Ray. He loved the faculty and the students and they loved him and we in AA were happy that he would remain in our area.

Work was going very well for Ray but he was becoming sicker by the day and his Doctor had to start him on dialysis in order to keep him alive. This was a very bleak period for Ray and for all of us who loved him. He had been on the kidney donor list for a long time and relatives and close friends had been tested, but a match could not be found.

Changes were being made in the Church at this time also and a new female pastor was hired. When her husband heard about Ray’s quest for a kidney he offered to be tested and, HALLELUJIA, he was a perfect match. The operation was a great success and Ray (and the donor) are doing fine.

I often think of the “ifs” that led to Ray’s recovery…”if” he had not lost that first job, “if” he hadn’t suffered for over a year and finally found a compatible job and finally “if” they hadn’t hired a new minister with a husband who had the perfect kidney match …

In AA we refer to a Higher Power and I think Ray’s was saying “just hang in there. All these ‘ifs’ will lead you to a new life.” and it has !