I Can't Stand These Things

Or the people attached to them.
Nor am I a fan of small plastic furniture.

That's Why They Call It A SideWALK

Does it strike anyone else as odd when a group of folks (usually young and white) will stand on a sidewalk, seemingly unaware of the foot traffic around them? They appear to be especially fond of clustering in areas of ingress/egress.

I'm curious to know if it's really self-centered oblivion or just some of that passive-aggressive behavior that I attribute to this particular subset of peeps. "Notice me!"

Sometimes, I will skirt around them. On other occasions, I plow through. In both cases, I am irritated.

Honestly

It makes me crazy when someone starts a sentence with, "To tell you the truth," or, "I'll be honest with you." Does that mean that you would be lying to me otherwise?

Oh, The Scourge

Do you have these funky things on the sidewalks of your town? I swear, when I get some time, I'm going to mount a campaign against them because they are a blight.

I want to know who's making money on this deal; I'll start with them first. In this photograph, taken at one of our more upscale retail intersections, I was only able to include half of these unsightly dispensers. There are sixteen ON ONE CORNER. I want to know why that's necessary or acceptable.

Maybe a call to the Mayor's office is a good place to start. I predict a run-around of at least a half dozen phone calls ("I'm sorry, but you'll have to call ______Department of ____."), only to discover that I will have to attend some sort of supervisors' meeting where nothing will be accomplished beyond a considerable amount of hot air being moved around.

I'm serious. We need more beauty in this world, not more crap on our sidewalks.

And Then There Are Times

It's entirely true that there are plenty of occasions when I have nothing to complain about. In fact, I downright rejoiced when I was given a piece of custom jewelry, hand-made for me by a neighborhood Irish gal who is a horologist by training and education. The girl could actually build a watch if she wanted to. That's quite a niche.
I pestered her for nearly four - count 'em - four years to make me a replica of a piece she wears and I was floored when she coughed it up a few months ago. Let's put it this way - if she'll let me, I'll do her hair free of charge for the rest of her natural life (or mine, I guess). I absolutely love it and am so honored that she would take her time to make it for me. It was one of life's great moments.
So, the photo doesn't do it justice but I wanted to pay homage to my gift from the horologist. I'm working on the technology part of this whole bloggy thingy, but I've got a lot to say before that happens.

Rainbow Barf

So, I know that I sound like an old curmudgeon (see grouch) and, by the way, that's sort of the point. But on the whole, I am a very good-natured, happy-go-lucky sort who sees my glass as more than half full and I'm so very grateful for everything that has been afforded me.

I love rainbows. I have lived in rainy locales and one of the great things about that is that you cannot escape the rainbow. I have seen many double rainbows and I am always awed by their coupled perfection. All rainbows are God's gift and I mean that.

Having said that, I hate unicorns and rainbows.

It feels incumbent upon me to mention the toadstools. You just don't see a good toadstool anymore.

What Is The Date Today?

It's February 19th, right? By my math, this means it's been nearly eight weeks since Christmas (unless you are Russian Orthodox, in which case it's been more like six weeks, give or take).
So, some lazy numbskull just put their tree out on the sidewalk last night.