Fads

Hair styles of women are a 'statement' of the latest fashion in clothing. From the extreme arrangements of Marie Antoinette, to the short, shingled cuts popular with women of the Flapper age in the '20's, women readily follow the latest trends. I have no idea how the fads get started, but they sweep the nation over night it seems. The women on the street, as well as those appearing on television, all wear their hair the same way.

In my opinion, the latest hair fashion makes women look like cyclops. Hair is draped over one eye so that only the other eye is seen by an onlooker. During a conversation in person, or as seen on a television screen, when a women is interviewed or reporting the news, a lock of their hair hangs over one eye in fashion. No effort is made to brush the lock aside as the interview or report continues. Apparently the woman believes this is attractive, but I find myself wondering how the woman can see thru the hank of hair. I stop listening to what's being said and start brushing my own hair away from my forehead, wishing the woman would do the same.

Another fashion I see on television, is a style that looks scraggly. Wisps of hair stick out in all directions giving an unkempt appearance. When the most serious topics of the day are being discussed by a woman with this hair style, I always have the feeling that she's a scatterbrain and what ever expertise she may bring to the conversation is lost on me.

I am also amused by women who ignore their years and wear their hair long and flowing like a teenager. Perhaps those prepping a person for the TV camera are to blame. since they think hair brought forward on each side of a woman's neck is more feminine.

Who knows what the next fad will be. What goes around, comes around. I wouldn't be surprised if long braids wrapped around one's head became fashionable again.

Marie Antionette

Theater: 101 Years of Broadway by Richard

Frances, my valentine, and I had the pleasure of seeing the musical revue 101 Years of Broadway. The musical revue was about several of the best musical Broadway shows, with the actual stars singing the beautiful songs. It was incredible and fascinating to watch listen and enjoy.

Neil Berg was the musical director and producer who also played the piano and the lead in the New York Band. The cast of Ron Bohmer, Chuck Wagner, Sandra Joseph, Andrea Rivette and Lawrence Clayton all were so talented that they brought the music to life in such way, it was magical.

This musical revue transformed the audience and my self back in time, as if we were back watching these musical plays again. Frances and I left the theater with a better understanding of Broadway Musical productions.

To Neil Berg,the cast, and the band, well done.

[Editor's note: This story was written by Richard]

Skipping Stones

Today as I surfed the television channels to find something interesting to watch I stopped for a few minutes to watch cowboys in the movie, Broken Trail, to skip stones across a creek. I had seen the movie several times and knew the plot, but didn't remember the skipping stones scene.

It brought back many memories of standing on the bank of a body of water with family and friends on picnic outings and competing to see how many times we could skip a stone and how far it would go.

These little competitions were never planed. It was a spontaneous move on the part of someone in the group to pick up a stone and skip it. Now and then a stone wouldn't skip, in which case, the group telepathically appraised the moment and as a group, silently agreed to mosey on our way, or automatically begin competing to see who could skip stones the best.

At any one skipping session we could spend an inordinate amount of time developing our skill. Of course there had to be a good supply of skipping stones available. Skipping stones is one of those childhood skills that stays with one, but you never hear anyone bragging about it. When I saw the two old cowboys in the movie casually showing off their skill to each other, I realized we do take pride in our accomplishments and draw on them when we want to show off.

Skipping Stones by Alan Bray

Superstitions

I am not a superstitious person and I do not believe in the supernatural, but I do believe in something we call luck or chance. It's hard for me to define luck, but I think I am a lucky person. I feel lucky. That doesn't mean that I think I'll win the lottery, or come into a fabulous inheritance. It's just a feeling I have.

I not only have a feeling of being lucky, I make up little reasons why I'm lucky. I know my pretend lucky signs are just that, pretend, but they are fun and I change or add to the list when it suits me.

Currently, Camel cookies are a sign of luck. I buy animal cracker cookies in a large plastic 14 0z size container from Sam's. When I grab a hand full of cookies and find a camel cookie, it's lucky. If I get more than one, the luck doubles.

I also pretend numbers in sequence bring me luck. When I glance at the clock on the microwave and it reads, 2:20 or 4:44, that's lucky. Whenever I check the time on my cell phone, any combination of like numbers brings luck and if there are more than two, the luck goes up accordingly. The other day, on the 25th of January, I woke early and checked the cell time. It read, 25,5:55,55 Now that is REAL LUCK!!!

Camel Shape

Sponge Garden

I am growing a tiny garden on a kitchen sponge.

One day while I was filling my canary and parakeet seed feeders I wondered what would happen if I sprinkled some seeds on a wet kitchen sponge and kept it moist for a few days. I had a hunch the seeds would sprout and if so, I'd have some fresh greens for the birds to eat.

Since this little experiment worked, I'll start several sponge gardens and test various seeds to see which sprout easily, perhaps lettuce seeds.

Sponge Garden