Happy Halloween!

Today is Halloween - a major holiday here in Denver - and to celebrate, I am featuring a photograph of my mother Mary (in the photograph on the left) and my sister Susan (on the right) taken at an Arts and Crafts Festival in Vero Beach, Florida many years ago.  My sister and I went down to Stuart, Florida to visit my mother and father a number of times around Halloween.  My sister really would get into the spirit of things, buying Halloween tablecloths, napkins, and treats.  One Halloween, the 4 of us took a road trip up to Savannah, Georgia and Charleston, South Carolina and on the way home - stopping at a motel in St. Augustine - Susan found a black kitten that seemed to have no home.  Susan insisted on taking it back home to Stuart, and my mother insisted it be put right back outside.  As I recall, my father and I stayed neutral on the matter, which was the wisest possible choice, let me tell you.  Ah, the memories.

Bobblehead Heaven

I must admit that I was kind of disappointed when my friend Mark told me he didn't bring back a Putin Bobblehead Doll from Russia, where he recently traveled on vacation with his family.  I know if he was caught with one, he would probably have been arrested and sent to a Gulag in Siberia, but that wouldn't be a problem.  I would simply write to the KGB (or it's modern incarnation) and have them send the Bobblehead on to me here in Denver.  However, I am happy to report that I spotted a Pope Francis Bobblehead Doll - the last one, I might add - on display last night at the bookstore where I work as a bookkeeper, and immediately snapped it up.  I am sure it will be worth a fortune some day - probably not until after I am long gone, but you can't have everything.  What a coup!

Halloween Nostalgia!

Halloween is a mere 2 days away, and therefore I am featuring a photograph of my mother Mary and her cousin Junior, taken one Halloween back - I am guessing - in the 1920s on the South Side of Chicago, near 57th and Prairie.  It looks to me like they are both wearing homemade costumes, as most kids did back then. It was a much simpler time, and nothing like today, when Halloween is celebrated as a major holiday (at least in Denver) and no expense is spared in buying costumes, trinkets, and candy.  At the chain drugstore where I work part-time in the evenings, you can buy giant skulls, full size skeletons, and even hair spray that turns your hair whatever color you want it to be. What I especially like are the Halloween phones, which when picked up deliver a spooky and - I might add - very loud message perhaps 1000 times over a 7 hour shift.  It's a lucky thing I am already crazy.

Going To The Dogs Once Again

I took the above photograph last Sunday afternoon as I went in to work the 5:00 to Midnight shift at my part-time job. People are crazy about their pets these days.  They put them in their shopping carts as they cruise the aisles at the local grocery store, drive all over town with their dog's head hanging out the window, and even dress them up in little outfits during the holidays.  A number of dogs wear vests that state that they are "service dogs," although I have heard you can buy these on the internet,  thus allowing you to take your pet into restaurants and onto airplanes.  I recently read a book by Al Martinez, the late columnist for the Los Angeles Times, in which he claimed that someone actually brought a "service kangaroo" onto an airplane. How would you like to be sitting next to that?  I wonder if they had to buy two seats?

Buy The Ticket, Take The Ride

I dropped off my (relatively) new Hyundai Accent at the dealership Friday morning to have the seat belts fixed before the warranty runs out.  I was going to take the bus to work, but was persuaded to take the dealership's shuttle.  I wound up riding through every corner of the City of Aurora, Colorado, which took roughly an hour longer than the bus and was less enjoyable than you might think. Therefore, when I went to pick up the car Friday afternoon, I decided to take the East Colfax bus back to the dealership.  The trip was more than a ride - it was an adventure. Going either East or West, the Colfax bus always seems to have a large number of eccentrics (i.e. crazies) on board, or perhaps - to be fair - they might just be aliens from another planet.  Unfortunately, I had to get off at Havana Avenue to transfer to another bus, and was kind of disappointed about it.  I really wanted to ride to the end of the line to see the alien landing strip, but perhaps I'll do that on my next day off.  May the Force Be With You.

DU Gets Another Tower

The University of Denver, my Alma mater and my employer for 30 years, until they outsourced the DU Bookstore, is getting still another new tower, which I can see from the front window of my condo, along with the towers on the Ritchie Center and the Law School.  This new tower is part of the expansion of the Korbel School of International Studies building, one of the university's most popular departments.  There is also a new science building under construction across the street from Korbel, which will probably have a tower too.  I am not sure why DU is putting a tower on every single new building on campus.  In Italy, back in medieval times, they would build buildings with towers so that the family would have a place to seek refuge when the town was attacked.  Perhaps DU is worried that it might be stormed by hordes of angry, laid off ex-employees.  Just a thought. And I am still not bitter.

Mark Is Back!

Mark has returned from his trip to Russia and says that it was the best vacation he has ever had.  He also says that he liked Moscow best, because it truly felt Russian, whereas St. Petersburg has more of a European feel.  And so the trip was a great success.  The only negative note is that Mark did not bring back a Putin Bobblehead Doll for me.  I had visions of him going into the back streets of Moscow, making contact with some anti-government shopkeeper, making the purchase, and then smuggling the doll  through customs under the very noses of the KGB.  Of course, under that scenario, if he got caught, Mark would still be in Russia now, a guest of the government.  Of course, then I could simply write to the KGB (or whatever they call themselves these days) and have them send the Bobble-head along.  No problem.