For personal reasons, I have felt like saying and writing little these last months, but the devastation of New Orleans, one of my favorite American cities, has left me utterly speechless.

I pray silently for my friends, and all the survivors, of that once wonderful town.

Strange being offline for such a long time. These last months have certainly included grieving - they've also been liberating. On one hand, not being tied down to the keyboard has been therapeutic; on the other hand, I must admit to feeling a twinge of guilt for not using the emotional/confessional tool that journaling can be.

I still find it amazing how easy it comes to so many of you, so ready to display your inner most feelings, to let it all out about your frustrations and pain. At its most facile moments, it can be emotional exhibitionism, at its most ennobling times, it's reaching out and placing one's head on our collective virtual shoulders. Funny, I admire both.

What have learned these last months from the loss of my father?

Three things actually:

1.) That death is overrated.
2.) Because life is underrated.
3.) And that "the main thing is to love."

I wish I knew where I heard that last quote.

Salvatore Orlando
August 5, 1918
April 25, 2005
†
Angelo di Dio che sei il mio custode,
illumina, custodisci, reggi e governa me,
che ti fui affidato dalla Pietà Celeste.
Amen.
~~~~
Gesù, Giuseppe e Maria, vi dono il
cuore e l’anima mia.
Gesù, Giuseppe e Maria, spiri in pace
con voi l’anima mia.
~~~~
Io vi amerò dal cielo
come vi ho amato
sulla terra.
†
Angel of God,
My Guardian Dear,
to whom His love commits me here,
ever this day be at my side,
to light and to guard,
to rule and guide.
Amen.
~~~~
Jesus, Joseph and Mary, to you I give
my heart and soul.
Jesus, Joseph and Mary, my spirit's last
breath in peace with you.
~~~~
I will love you from Heaven
as I have loved you
on Earth.

Requiescat in Pace
Rest in Peace

... surrounded by boxes, boxes and more boxes.

... they said it would take 14 days to transfer my DSL and it did - I just got it last night. No explanation why it took so long, but I am glad to be up and running. Now to scare up the energy to start posting again, especially after a difficult move. Actually, I am still in the act of moving - one last load tomorrow and I will finally feel like I'm home.

From Laurel Canyon ----------------------------------------------------------> to Studio City.
I've barely been on online the last few weeks, mainly because I had been looking for a new place to live. After decades of inhabiting the "natural" environment Hollywood Hills, I am making the switch to the "urban" environs of nearby Studio City. This weekend I'm making the move from a single dwelling in the dusty hills, with its foggy, rainy roads, soaked hillsides, mudslides, uprooted trees, congested storm traffic, power and telephone blackouts, lousy cell phone service, neophyte hill drivers who feel compelled to beep their horns at every curve, no garage, and wear 'n tear on my brakes - to new apartment living with amenities like gated security, easy cable/internet access, a business center, near the studios, a rec room with pool table, bar and giant TV, swimming pool, a rooftop jacuzzi, gym, racquetball court, convenient laundry, off-street parking for visitors and best of all - a garage!

A no-brainer? It took me two months of denial before deciding to leave the Hills for the Flatlands. Now I can't wait to move!

Sharon burns her purse ©2005 Sharon Spotbottom
My favorite new, daily art blog is Sharon Spotbottom, created by my pal Karen of Venice, based on a character by another pal Tammy (also of Venice). Everyday is a treat to see what makes Sharon tick, where she's headed and how far she's come from her early doodle days.

Link

Pop Goes the Weasel (aka Lady Cocoa) Moonstone Entertainment 1975
While standing in line at the bank recently, my pal </a>honeywoney was smitten by what she thought was Pop Goes the Weasel ring tones on someone's cell phone behind her. It turned out to be a child's toy.

While searching for ring tones of that favorite childhood ditty I came across a multitude of versions. Listed below with links are a variety of takes. Have a listen and tell me which is your favorite. Mine is at the end of the list.

1. Pop Goes the Weasel as ring tones.
2. An old fashioned touch tone version.
3. How about a vocal rendition?
4. Sounds great done by a banjo orchestra.
5. Here are four versions from hand crank Jack-in-the-Box toys.
6. This one is sung by a baboon!
7. A full band "Pops the Weasel," followed by a swinging country rendition.
8. Disney's Silly Song version.
9. A very sweet rendition with a trombone finish.
10. Birdie whistles Pop Goes the Weasel. More songs by Birdie here.
11. You-know-what on classical cello.
12. The ol' fiddler plays fer ya!
13. A "Pop" baby singer!
14. Punk Goes the Weasel!
15. The classic ice cream truck version we heard as children.

I'm stuck choosing between #11 and #15 - because only the cello seems capable of bringing out the poignant pathos of the song, yet the ice cream truck moved me to tears - nostalgia for those long ago Popsicles and Eskimo Pies, I suppose. ; )

Too bad I didn't find a rap version. Googling "Hip-Hop Goes the Weasel" didn't turn up a thing.

I wonder if that obscure blaxploitation flick "Pop Goes the Weasel" has a version of the song in its soundtrack. I bet it does - something with a cool, urban 70's riff, I hope.

[uncredited Internet photos]
An aged Chief Justice attempting to make a power fashion statement by wearing more stripes than an admiral in a Gilbert & Sullivan musical, or an aging King of Pop emulating him in a subtle attempt to curry favor at his pedophile trial?

The less said, the better.

"He who is most creative conceals his sources the best."
-- anonymous

Source: The Most Brilliant Thoughts of All Time (In Two Lines or Less) by John M. Shanahan