Tuesday, May 31, 2011

A Time to Plant

This evening, after Date Night with Jesus, I got some vegetables to plant in Richard Bonomo's garden.  Here is what I planted:

One each of five kinds of heirloom tomatoes
One green bell pepper
One Italian eggplant
One Chinese eggplant
One zucchini squash
Four cauliflower
Four kohlrabi

There isn't really any particular pattern to what I chose, but the tomato and eggplant, along with the oregano from Hardingfele, could make for a fine eggplant parmagiana someday.  Also, Kathbert brought some orange lilies back from Mombert's place up north, and she planted them right in front of the daylilies, also orange.  The rose bush is covered with buds, and five calla lilies are coming up.  They could be white, yellow, or lavender - I'll just have to wait and see.  Here is a photo that shows the largest calla lily at the bottom right, along with the Easter lily from last year and a couple of the new lilies I bought.  They are hardy to Zone 3 (I think we're in 5), bloom such a dark purple they almost look black, and are called Landini.  Any flower that shares its name with such a fabulous late Medieval composer is fine by me!


I will post photos when everything is blooming.

Famous Hat

Monday, May 30, 2011

Chicago with Cecil Markovich

Richard Bonomo had the enlightened idea that I should write this blog post as I am drinking a DIY mimosa to see if it makes my writing more or less comprehensible over time.  So consider yourself forewarned.

Yesterday morning at an egregiously early hour, Cecil Markovich and I drove to Chicago to attend Mass at  St. John Cantius, and it was absolutely gorgeous, the novus ordo in Latin with a small a capella choir singing Renaissance polyphony.  Luckily we are both caffeine fiends, so we agreed on the number of coffee stops we needed (many).  Then we had lunch at an Italian cafe and tried to wait out a cloudburst replete with lightning, but it just dragged on and on so we finally went out to face it bravely.  Cecil bought a present for his godson at the gift shop of the Adler Planetarium, and then we waited in line for the Shedd Aquarium approximately three days before I finally gave up.  Cecil stuck it out and was rewarded with sights such as baby hammerhead sharks (I saw those in Vegas) and a huge collection of jellyfish (I saw those in New Orleans).

I, however, returned to an art gallery where I had seen a beautiful necklace in the window and asked if it were totally out of my price range or just mostly out of my price range.  Since the answer was the former, I just browsed around the gallery, looking at things I will never be able to afford, until coming across some beautiful rings no more expensive than admittance to the aquarium.  Score!  Then I ambled by a musical instrument store (this was on Michigan Avenue) where I had seen a balalaika in the window.  I went in and acquired about it and was told it was a bass balalaika and cost over a grand, but by Wednesday there would be a shipment of smaller, nicer balalaikas for $450 each.  I didn't have the heart to tell the gentleman I was from out of town, so I just thanked him for this information and was on my way.

The rain had stopped (and incidentally, I have finished my mimosa), so I wandered by the lakeshore and then sat people-watching by the Buckingham fountain until Cecil returned from the aquarium, and then we went to Agostino's.  They are not paying me to say this, but five enthusiastic stars!  Best minestrone I have ever had, and the grilled octopus appetizer consisted of two whole octopodes (that is the correct plural, not octopi) with their heads on and everything - one for me and one for Cecil.  I had the gnocchi and pinot grigio, which seemed to please our waitress.  Even though we didn't order dessert, they gave us a huge fruit plate.  Score!  They even gave me a take-home box for it.  Oddly, Cecil did not want either lovely piece of pineapple.  I will never understand his animosity to this lovely fruit, symbol of hospitality.  By then it was a beautiful evening.  Then we headed home, which we arrived at safely.

Famous Hat

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Another Rosary Adventure

This morning Jilly Moose, Luxuli, OK Cap, and I drove to Stoughon for a rosary-making class.  The others bought beads at the shop, but I brought the sad little rosary I had made after Jilly Moose and I visited the bead show.  Here is a before photo:


At this class they showed me techniques to improve my sad little DIY rosary, and now it looks much more aesthetically appealing:


Because I didn't have to choose beads, I got done first and had time to make a rosary bracelet that kind of matches:


Unfortunately, I do not have pictures of the other ladies' rosaries, but they were very beautiful.  Maybe I will get a chance to post them in the future.  Meanwhile, you can admire a photo of my "money tree," growing in Rich's garden.  As you can see, I am going to have at least twice as much money as last year!


Famous Hat

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Bad Catholic

Maybe you think I am a bad Catholic.  And maybe you are right, depending on what you mean by "bad," as Richard Bonomo once found out when discussing snowblowers with a saleswoman.  But we Catholics are into confession so here are the ways I am a Bad Catholic:

Reincarnation - it is very inconvenient to remember a previous life when you are trying to be a good Catholic.  What are you gonna believe, the Magisterium or your memories?

Astrology - I can't help it, all Capricorns are into astrology.  Besides, practically every Medieval church had a zodiac circle somewhere:  a stained glass window, a mosaic, a carving.  So they couldn't have been that opposed to it back in the day.

Hip hop - as our parish priest said about my love for gangsta rap, "That doesn't make you a bad Christian, that just means you have bad taste in music."

Revenge - I am totally unrepentant about posting a video mocking my annual review yesterday.  After all, my supervisor is a Bad Catholic too.  Just in other ways.

Famous Hat

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Annual Evaluation, i.e., Yearly Career Path Reconsideration

I had my annual evaluation this afternoon, and it will come as no surprise to my regular readers that I was given an average score in most categories but a "below average" overall, and - OK, this did surprise me - in the area of Creativity.  Another perplexing point:  the actual part of my job that matches my job description is the part everyone seems to agree that I do very well.  (Though far be it from my supervisor to designate me as "very good" in any category, and "excellent" is definitely out of the question.)  Opinions on my performance were carefully collected from those, like hubie, who think I suck rocks, but definitely not from anyone who would actually have had anything positive to say about me.  (Though to be fair, when I pointed this odd discrepancy out, my supervisor did admit it was a discrepancy and even went as far as saying these other people might be consulted, though of course it is too late for their good opinions of me to show up in my personnel file.)  Just to add to the general air of "my life is scripted by a sadistic sit-com writer," as soon as I got back to the office, my office mate Light Bright pointed out that I had a huge wad of spinach stuck between my front teeth. Smoooooth. (Please know that this does not reflect badly on Light Bright; she was not in the office before my torture session and so could not give me a thorough inspection.  I wouldn't want my readers to think that she knew the spinach was there but didn't say a word until after I had faced down my enemy.)

I'd care more if I took this thing at all seriously.  However, it did start me thinking once again about going back to school.  My first stab at graduate school was expensive and disappointing, but it might be time to revisit the idea.  Here are some things I am considering and I would be interested in knowing what you, my readers, think:

PhD in Music Theory
PhD in Botany with a focus on genetics
MS in Sustainable Organic Production

The last one has two advantages:  it would take less time (and presumably less money), and it seems more likely to lead to some sort of career after graduation.  However, I probably have the most background in the first one.  Your thoughts?

Here is a rendition of my annual review, if I were discussing it with my nonexistent British coworker.





Famous Hat

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Warm White Candy

At a previous place I worked, there was a woman who would lead yoga sessions over the lunch hour.  We were supposed to have a nonsense phrase for our mantra, so I came up with "Warm White Candy."  Yesterday Tiffy and I used Garage Band, Xtranormal.com, and iMovie to make it into a trance song with a video.  Enjoy!




Famous Hat

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Ubiquitous Tintinnabulation

It is an overcast Saturday afternoon, drizzling on and off, so Tiffy and I have made yet another video:  "Ubiquitous Tintinnabulation."  It ended up having an Eastern flavor to it so we are calling ourselves Yogi Hat and Swami Tiffy, but no worries, we are both still Catholics.  (Practicing, in my case.)  


Famous Hat

Thursday, May 19, 2011

So Why Can't I Get a Job as an Online Reporter??

From the annals (or possibly the anals) of “I couldn’t make this up if I tried” comes this article discovered by alert reader and undercover operative Agent Toque McToque:

Teen Allegedly Sexually Assaulted Police
by QMI Agency

An Ontario man is facing several charges after a 13-year-old girl told a nurse she had been sexually assaulted by a man twice her age, police say. The girl went to a medical facility in Wallaceburg, Ont., located 120 km southwest of London, on Tuesday and told a nurse she had been sexually assaulted May 9. The nurse contacted police. Police said the girl told them she had been a man online last summer, when she was 12. They had conversations on Facebook, YouTube and MSN Messenger before deciding to meet. They met in a secluded area of the town and had "a sexual encounter," police said. They met two more times in the following weeks. On May 9, they talked on Facebook before meeting in person again. The girl told officers the man forced her into a sexual encounter that day, police said. A 26-year-old Wallaceburg man has been charged with four counts of sexual assault, four counts of sexual interference, and four counts of an indecent act.

This article raises so many questions: Is the educational system in Canada really just as bad as ours? Who is QMI Agency and why isn’t his/her writing more widely read? How can Wallaceburg, Ontario be 120 km SW of London, which everyone knows is in England? (Just kidding, Toque! But I still think Vancouver would be a better relocation option, if exponentially more expensive.) But of course the single most puzzling question is this: when exactly did the teen sexually assault the police, back when she was a man online last summer?

Famous Hat

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Tender Radiance

A few years back, when Tiffy and I were talking about making techno songs, we asked Ethel what she would call a techno song if she made one.  Her answer was "Tender Radiance," and if you knew Ethel, you would realize she meant the love radiating tenderly from God.

Sorry I sound so atrociously white in the first half of this song, but by the time Kathbert gave me some tips to help with that, I had already recorded the harmony and liked that too much to change it.  True confession:  at first I thought the harmony was really weird, but it totally grew on me.  I know it does not sound like modern gospel music, but it does remind me of really old recordings of slave songs.  While I have never been a slave personally (although I have come close at my current job), hopefully nobody is offended that I wrote a sort of old skool spiritual tune.  Or that I used an image of Jesus made on a drum by a Yoruba artist named Lamidi Fakeye.

The second part of the song is trance, and it was inspired by a girl who sat behind me in the Eucharistic Adoration Chapel on Tuesday night, sobbing.  I did not know if I should turn around and comfort her or if she preferred to be left alone, and I don't know the cause of her sorrow, but hopefully this song will remind everyone who sorrows about the tender radiance of God's love.  No matter how great your sin, He still loves you.  No matter how great your pain, He helps you carry your cross.





Famous Hat

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Macrame Theorbo

Many years ago, Tiffy and I talked about making an album of techno songs.  Now that dream is close to reality.  The album was going to be called Macrame Theorbo, and it was going to contain the following songs:

Pulp Incunabula
Non-Anonymous (featuring Dixie Crystals)
Tender Radiance (title suggested by Ethel)
Stump the Mariachi
Ubiquitous Tintinnabulation (title suggested by Tiffy)

I am proud to say that some more titles will be included:

Montauk Point
Resurrection Rave
Word to Yoe Brim
Hoetry
Salsa Linguistica

You may be saying to yourself, "But, Hat, I have not seen 'Tender Radiance' and 'Ubiquitous Tintinnabulation' featured on this blog!"  And how astute you are.  I just started work on "Tender Radiance" last night and am hoping to do some more tonight, and this weekend Tiffy will be in town, and we hope to get "Ubiquitous Tintinnabulation" done then.  Also, if there is any interest, I am willing to try to make a techno song called "Macrame Theorbo," even if that was originally just going to be the name of our album, or our group:  The Macrame Theorbo Project.  But if there is any demand for it, I could certainly whip up a song by that title as well.  Let me know in the comments.

My goal is to put these songs on the iTune store, where I might even make tens of dollars from random people downloading them every once in awhile, or by accident or something.

Famous Hat

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Mr. Swanky!

Jilly Moose and I have prepared a hip hop song and video - starring her stuffed moose Mr. Swanky - for your viewing and listening pleasure. In the background Jilly Moose is reciting "Regulators" by Warren G, and then Richard Bonomo is counting forward and backwards and reciting the Gettysburg Address while Kathbert and I make comments like, "Oh, Rich!" "Say something more interesting!" and "Typical Aquarius!"


Famous Hat

Non-Anonymous

This is my first attempt at trance.  The video isn't "boring," it's "hypnotic." I got the phrase from something Astrochick once said as we drove to a fish fry in the middle of nowhere in the Bonomobile.  Tiffy was there too, so she can back me up on this.


Famous Hat


Meanwhile, Down at the Almost-Was Tavern...

Just down the road from the Has-Been Saloon, where words like NIFTY and SKIDOO reminisce about the glory days, is the Almost-Was Tavern, where words gather to discuss how close to glory they came.  In one corner, CYNIC and CLINIC bemoan the fact that they were nearly palindromes.

CLINIC:  Just one L, that's all it would have taken.  One lousy L, and I would have been CLINILC.

CYNIC:  I wouldn't even need to change my pronunciation!  I could have been CINIC.  Or better yet, CYNYC.  Oh, hey, NIPPING.  How's it going?

NIPPING:  How's it going??  How do you think it's going?  If GNAWING can have a silent G at the start, is there some reason I can't?  Just imagine the palindromic glory of GNIPPING!

HAH:  I'm a palindrome.

CYNIC:  You're not even a word!  You're just a.... an expression of scorn or something.

HAH:  I count as a word in Scrabble!  Anyway, all of you are closer to being palindromes than PALINDROME is.  And ONOMATOPOEIA doesn't even sound like what it means!  Hah!

And so it goes at the Almost-Was Tavern.

Famous Hat

Friday, May 13, 2011

New and Improved: Stump the Mariachi!

For your viewing pleasure, I have made some improvements to the soundtrack and video of "Stump the Mariachi."  I hope you find it at least a little more enjoyable than the original.





Famous Hat

Mexican Sunshine: Chock Full of Beta Carotene!

My office mate Light Bright is very concerned about her tan.  "Doesn't it look orange?" she asked me.  It does sort of have that skanky-girl orange hue. 

"Did you use any spray tanning stuff?" I asked.

"No, this is all natural.  It's because the sun is different in Mexico," she said.  I said the sun is actually closer up North in the summer because of the tilt of the earth's axis, and she said, "I know that, but this tan feels orange."

Here are some cool photos of San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico, where the scenery is gorgeous:




And the food is delicious:


And the sea creatures are plentiful:






And you can do fun things like horseback riding:


I love that photo!  It was taken by Light Bright; all other photos were taken by her or her sister-in-law.  And she even remembered her office mate who was slaving away while she was having fun.  Check out the presents she brought me:


A wooden rosary and a fiber ring!  (It's hard to see, but the coral-colored part of the ring is a flower with a little pearly bead in the center.)  She knows me too well.  Thanks, Light Bright!  Welcome back!

Famous Hat

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Email Disk Cushion

You know I couldn't make this up.  The following is an email discussion (or, as Light Bright might type, "disk cushion") regarding an upcoming meeting - first between Light Bright and Palm Tree Fan, and then continued between Palm Tree Fan and me:

PTF:  (to a whole bunch of people) Hi all, just a reminder that there is an ABC meeting this Thursday, May 12th from 10:30-11:30 in room 1234 at Building XYZ. I will send out the agenda and meeting minutes from the last meeting in a separate email.  Sally Doe and Susie Jones will be attending this meeting to give an overview of ongoing quality projects. Please let me know if you're unable to attend.  Thank you, Palm Tree Fan

ABC Committee:
Annie Boddy
Qwerty Jones
Justin Case
Hugh Jass
Odessa Cool-Dogg
Randy Guy
Rhoda Train

LB:  Hello Palm Tree Fan ... I don't keep the calenders for any of the people mentioned in this email. Often times people confuse Dr. Doe with Dr. Roe. I work with Dr. Roe not Dr. Doe. Thanks, Light Bright

PTF:  Hey Light Bright, I'm just going to take you off this email from now on... This is that same meeting that we talk about every month... Dr. Justin Case schedules his own but you told me in an email months ago to "cc" you on this in addition to him. But it seems to be causing a lot of confusion, so I'll take you off my list. Have a nice night!  Palm Tree Fan

LB:  OK, thanks.  :)  Sorry, I did not see Dr. Case's name on the list.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

PTF:  Remember me telling you about that? EVERY freakin month!

FH:  Light Bright strikes again!!

PTF:  All I can do is say "wow". EVERY month. Not just once in awhile... but EVERY month..... I hope I didn't sound to rude in that email, but I'm tired of the same explanation EVERY freakin month....

FH:  No, believe me, if anyone could understand, I can. I sit in the same room with her all day. Asking how to spell eosinophil, not so strange. But "how do you spell crackle?" - this person used to be a teacher???

PTF:  Once again.... "wow"

FH:  I know, right? Welcome to my world.  I wouldn't care, except she's a paygrade below me and yet she makes more.

PTF:  I put that list of attendees on there just for her.... not doing that anymore!

Famous Hat

Monday, May 9, 2011

Scrawny and Squishy Landcaping Services

Kathbert and I enjoyed our yardwork at Rich’s house so much yesterday that we said we should start a landscaping business and ditch our current jobs. We even have a name for our landscaping business; when Kathbert said how neither of us is brawny, I contended that she was, but she said no, she is scrawny. So I noted that I am squishy, and thus was born the name of our new endeavor: Scrawny and Squishy Landscapers!

I bring this up because of course first thing this morning FOX got all up in this hen’s face about how I supposedly hadn’t done a task that I very much had done, and how I was all terrible at some part of my job that I didn’t even know existed, and blah blah blah… So of course I was back to thinking about how great it would be to work for myself outside instead. If you have any landscaping needs, think of Scrawny and Squishy! We would be happy to have any excuse to quit our current jobs.

Famous Hat

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Weed Whackin' Wives*

Today, while Richard Bonomo was otherwise occupied, we his wives #1, #2, and honorary (i.e., Kathbert, me, and Luxuli) fought with weeds in his backyard.  Luxuli and I attempted to mow the lawn with the old skool push mower, but the grass was so long in spots that we had to give up and pull out the electric mower.  That worked so well that Luxuli got ambitious and dug out the electric weed whacker to happily mow down a bunch of weeds at the edge of the yard.  Meanwhile, Kathbert was pulling up a rotten old wooden fence and yanking out grape ivy.  She pulled a bunch of grape ivy away from the rosebush that I pruned, so now it looks fabulous.  Hopefully it will bloom this summer!  (It never did last year.)  Guinness looks great now that the grass is not overshadowing it.  The Easter lily I planted last year is coming back, but there is no sign of my balloon flower yet.  The neighbors on both sides were doing yardwork too, and one of them gave us a hosta, so I planted it in the shady front yard. 

After all that work, we were tired and hungry, so I baked an acorn squash that Light Bright had given me, as well as the seeds, and Luxuli made a spinach, fennel, and orange salad.  We washed it all down with the remnants of a  bottle of chianti that Cecil Markovich had brought over for some dinner party.  Maybe it was the fresh air and all the physical activity, but somehow it just seemed to be the best dinner ever.

*Note:  of the three women involved in this story, only one is actually a wife, and not to Richard Bonomo.

Famous Hat

Saturday, May 7, 2011

As Stumped as the Mariachi

Regarding my previous post, here are some answers to questions readers have asked me:

Q:  Why are there two of everything?
A:  No deep reasons, just one practical and one aesthetic reason.
     The practical reason is because then you cannot see my hand holding the object. I was using the "mirror" camera in Photo Booth, and my hand was "behind the mirror," so to speak.
     The aesthetic reason is that everything is is thirds so it is as if there are two singers, violinists, and trumpets.  I realize this makes less sense with the mandolin, since it naturally plays in chords, so there should only be one mandolin. But it's easiest to have everything match.

Q:  What is that song?
A:  Most of it, I have no idea.  The tune seems familiar, so it might be a real mariachi tune.  If anyone can identify it, let me know.  The words are all mine.  The short, minor-key interlude with the horns is "Riu, Riu Chiu" done in 3/4 time.  That's why it sounds familiar and yet odd.

Q:  Do you play the trumpet?
A:  No, I played the trumpet part on a keyboard and then set it to "trumpet" in Garage Band.

Q:  Where did you get the little instruments?
A:  The little violin was a Christmas present from my parents, years ago.  It has a chin rest and a bridge, but they both fell off and I'm not 100% sure where they are right now.  The mandolin I bought for myself from the gift shop at the hospital where I work.  It's a music box, but offhand I can't remember what it plays.  The little trumpet is a Christmas ornament that Hardingfele let me use.  (Thanks, Hardingfele!)  I removed the red bow with holly and jingle bells, figuring that did not go with this song.

Q:  What is that... dog thing?
A:  One year for Christmas, my parents gave me a large box all wrapped up, and when I took the paper off, it was the box for a space heater.  I thought that was a great gift!... but they said, "Open it!"... and inside was that Chihuahua in a sombrero and poncho.  It used to sing "Feliz Navidad," but currently the batteries are dead, and oddly enough I have had no particular desire to replace them.

Q:  Does everyone know "Riu, Riu Chiu"?  I only know it because we sang it in choir back in high school.
A:  I have no idea if this song is common knowledge.  It seems as if everyone I talk to is familiar with it.  It is an old song, from the Renaissance, and maybe is not popular in Latin American countries.

Q:  How did you know how to make a song that sounded like that?
A:  I used to play in a mariachi-style band.

Q:  The credits go by so fast!  What do they say?
A:  Sorry about that.  I was running short on time and didn't change the scrolling credits from the default of four seconds.  All they say is that I sang and played the violin, mandolin, and "trumpet," and I thanked Hardingfele for letting me use the little trumpet.

Hope that clears up some of the mystery apparently surrounding "Stump the Mariachi."

Famous Hat

Thursday, May 5, 2011

¡Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

Today is such a good day to celebrate all things Mexican, much better than some random date like September 16. (Which is actually Mexican Independence Day, by the way.)  In honor of the date, I have created a little ditty to commemorate the time Tiffy, Ethel, and I were at a Mexican restaurant, and a small mariachi band strolled up to our table and asked what we would like to hear.  Since it was around Christmastime, I requested "Riu, Riu Chiu," which is in Spanish.  To our surprise, they had never heard of this song.  We stumped the mariachi!



Famous Hat

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

We Have a Winner

Who could have imagined one word would describe my work nemesis hubie so well?  Check it out:

Effete: decadent; marked by excessive self-indulgence and moral decay; lacking strength or vitality; feeble, powerless, impotent; decadent, self-indulgent, effeminate.

Famous Hat

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

The Famous Hat Handy Bus Excuse Guide

They say it is safer to take public transit than to drive your personal vehicle, but I do not know who “they” are, and I strongly suspect they drive to work. I say this because of three recent bus incidents I experienced that caused me to be late or miss something, but they were so crazy that they sound like made-up excuses. Feel free to use them if you need them, because they really did happen to me.

Back when I was recovering from labyrinthitis, the virus that attacks your inner ear and makes you dizzy, I still had episodes of dizziness from turning my head too suddenly. One evening I was standing on a very crowded bus, almost to the yellow line you have to stand behind, and I had to lean back to see the clock. Just then the bus turned a corner, and I was hit with such a wave of vertigo that I nearly blacked out. I sagged against the side of the bus and managed to stay upright until the bus finally got to my stop, then I staggered home and collapsed on the couch. And that is why I missed choir practice that night.

Just last week I stayed late at work to blog about my coworker/evil overlord FOX, since I don’t have internet access at home, but I left myself plenty of time to get home before choir practice. Keep in mind that I had donated blood not two hours earlier. The bus smelled like the exhaust was getting stuck inside of it, and I couldn’t stand it anymore, got off that bus, and hopped on the one right after it. That one dropped me off half a mile from home, so I walked quickly in order to get to choir practice on time. I had a blinding headache, and suddenly I felt shaky and lightheaded, so I barely made it home. And that is why I missed choir practice that night. (Kathbert says she isn't surprised that carbon monoxide would affect me more after a blood donation, but considering the reason I stayed late at work, she says this is actually karma monoxide.)

This morning the bus driver was trying to make a turn, and of course the vehicle he was driving has a very wide turning radius, and construction had narrowed the roadway. Some guy in a car had pulled too far forward into the intersection before the light changed, so the bus could not get by him. They glared at each other in a hostile impasse until the guy in the car finally gave in and backed up far enough for the bus to pass… and that’s why I was late to work today.

Feel free to use any of these the next time you are late or don’t want to go somewhere. They are 100% true but sound so out there that someone might as well get to use them dishonestly.

Famous Hat

Monday, May 2, 2011

Update Post

Erin Caitlyn O'Honda is all better.... except that they had to turn off the electric system, and now the radio does not work because it is demanding a "radio code."  Toque McToque found with a bit of online research where this information could be located (fine work as always, Agent McToque!), but the body shop folks still could not find it.  So now my ride has no tunes - what a bummer, but at least this will force me to get a new CD player for Erin.  Her current one has not worked in over a year.

Yesterday after Mass, Richard Bonomo made me go to brunch with my Archirritant, and do you know she was pleasant and charming??  If she keeps this up, I will have no choice but to reclassify her as not even any kind of Irritant at all.

Tiffy, however, is acting true to form.  She emailed me today and asked if I had done the jingling behind the groove in "Montauk Point," and I said why, yes, I had and had simply forgotten to mention it in my previous blog post.  The jingles on the down beat are my house keys, and the jingles on the back beat are my work keys.  Glad to see Tiffy is analyzing this groove, just like I told her to.  Good Virgo.

Last night Rich had Wives 1, 2, 3, and 5 (i.e., Kathbert and me, Anna Banana II, and Jilly Moose) over for dinner.  Wife #4 (Tiffy) was at her house in another city, and nobody heard a word out of Wife #6 (OK Cap) all weekend, although Honorary Wife Luxuli was around.  (Heck, if Rich can have multiple wives, why can't she have multiple husbands?)  The Mothership called and asked for Kathbert - yessss!!!! - but all she really wanted to talk about was Mombert, not Rich, so we agreed that call was SCU-neutral.  (You don't get Spousal Credit Units for having the Mothership ask about your mother!)  However, Rich insisted that Kathbert should get lots of SCUs for having separate ring tones for only him and Mombert, and we decided to consult Tiffy on this important matter.  Today I asked her, and Tiffy has spoken:  Kathbert gets 573 SCUs for having a special Rich ring tone.  (OK, I chose the number of SCUs.)

Famous Hat