Oooooohhhhhh,

“I’m gonna’ sit right down and write myself a letter…….”

Some nights I just feel like singing old songs. This is the only line I know from this one…. so I keep singing it again and again and again….

and again…..

Oooohhhhhhh,
“I’m gonna’ sit right down and write myself a letter……………..”

On January 7th, 1789, the first U.S. presidential election was held. Americans clamored around town halls, and put papers into ballot boxes. They were voting for electors, who, a month later, chose George Washington to be the nation’s first Big Kahuna. That’s how THAT went down. Then, a couple of years later, the good president visited Charleston, SC. They loved him down here. His visit was a big crazy deal, filled with tremendous amounts of pomp, and loads of circumstance.

This is the steeple at St. Michael’s Church in Charleston, SC. On Sunday afternoon, May 8, 1791, after eating lots of grits and biscuits, Prezzy G ambled into the large, long double-pew (no. 43) in the center of this very church. It is there, he dozed (he had a very full belly) and worshiped.

I wondered what he prayed for, and how.

100th Monkey Phenomenon.  The Monkey Theory of Evolution.  Infinite Monkey Theorem.

Who knew there were so many Monkey Principles and Projections?  I have a few proposals of my own:

“The Monkey Business Principle.”  “Seven Habits of Highly Effective Monkeys.”  “How to Win Friends & Influence People with Monkeys.”  “Eat, Pray, Monkey.”

….and my favorite:  “The Sound of One Monkey Clapping.”

P.S.  I will work for bananas….. or maybe I am bananas….. or ……

This is the ORIGINAL Bob Evans Restaurant located in Rio Grande, Ohio.  For those of you who may not be familiar with Bob Evans, he is a dude that started making sausage in 1948, to serve at a diner he owned.  Now, the Bob Evans Restaurant Franchise serves a variety of things, including breakfast meats, chicken eggs (which they will cook to your specification), buttermilk biscuits, and even things like fried-up potatoes, and grits.

As it turns out, I eat, and enjoy, these items.  So I swung by the location of the original diner, and ate breakfast this morning.  Pretty dang good.  (I will lay down good money though…… that ol’ Bob didn’t sell things like pink stuffed monkeys with oversized eyes….when he was down on the farm!  I’m  just sayin’……)

Now, let me tell you about another place.  It is located on Meeting Street in Charleston, SC.  It is called TOAST.  They also serve a variety of food items.  But they do it MUCH BETTER than Bob Evans.  Or any place else for that matter.  I think I shall swing by there, very soon, and see about some breakfast…..

Toast:  http://www.toastofcharleston.com/

Bob Evans:  http://www.bobevans.com/

There are some scary things going on.  All around.

Like in Arkansas.  A thousand birds falling from the sky.  Not so long after that very weird incident… a large fish kill in a nearby lake.  And now another large bird kill incident.  “Authorities” are saying they do not know the cause, but the incidents are not related……a bit curious, wouldn’t you say?  Do they think we are stupid?

I saw an interview with Paula Abdul yesterday.  She told the reporter that she had never been drunk or used drugs of any kind…. ever.  Does she think we are stupid?

There are numerous ads on TV for products that will make you slimmer, stronger, faster, younger, more beautiful, and richer.   Again, I think they think we are stupid.  On the other hand, those products are selling like hotcakes.  Hot-freakin’-cakes.

More on the topic of television.  Sarah Palin has her own TV show now.  Lots of people tune in.   Do I think they are stupid?  No comment.

If you buy in to any of that, here is a picture of the Eiffel Tower……

When I was little, I would listen to stories about the “olden times” and how people would travel by “horse and buggy.”

But I used to get things terribly wrong when I was little.  For instance, Fish Sticks.  I thought we were eating Fish Dicks.  Needless to say, I wasn’t so crazy about Fridays in the Catholic household, because we would frequently eat Fish Dicks for dinner.  There were many more of these mislaid phrases in my youth….. but I am digressing, and you certainly get my point.   So back to early travel stories….

What I THOUGHT they were saying, is that people traveled by “Horse and Bunny”…..   Oh, how that intrigued me!  I wanted to travel by “Horse and Bunny”…… and I always longed to know more.  Was it it big bunny?  Or did they carry a little bunny on the horse with them?  Or did everyone just walk as a group, horse, bunny, and all, occasionally hopping and trotting?  The mysteries of life…..

Word of the DAY:

flummox FLUM-uks
verb:
confuse

(Ruth was flummoxed by the angry outburst and wild accusations that greeted her mild complaint.)

Why do I write about “flummox” this evening? WELL, apparently, the 12 Days of Christmas occur AFTER Christmas, and not before.  I was informed by a devout Catholic, that the “said” 12 days occur between the day Christ was born and the Epiphany.  Who knew?  Clearly, I was flummoxed by all of this pomp. And…. come to think of it….. just what the heck is an Epiphany?  Do I have to look that one up too?  Nah.  I’ll make something up.

…..  ……..  ……..ahhhhh….. ahhhhhh….. ahhhhhhhh….. epiphany!

epiphany |iˈpifənē|
noun:
the sound most people make when sneezing, or blowing out birthday candles

(If you just tuned in…. I did my own version of the 12 Days of Christmas…. before the 25th…. )

Did YOU Know???? No one is completely sure where the word “flummox” comes from, but we do know that its first known use is found in Charles Dickens’ 1837 novel The Pickwick Papers and that it had become quite common in both British and American English by the end of the 19th century. One theory expressed by some etymologists is that it was influenced by “flummock,” a word of English dialectical origin used to refer to a clumsy person. This “flummock” may also be the source of the word “lummox,” which also means “a clumsy person.”

Meadow.  So much is happening in this one little section of the whole entire planet.   Extrapolate.

Rabbits.  Birds.  Mices.  Foxes. Deers.  Coyotes.  Cats.  Squirrels. Dogs. Chipmunks.  Minks.  Skunks.  Possums.  Humans.  Insects.  Plants.  On and on.

Seen and unseen.  Really, extrapolate.

Happy New Year!  Thanks for reading this Project 372 in 2010!  More to come in 2011…..

This is Thad’s first party at our house.  He learned how to use a camera tonight… took a few shots around the party…..

and we shot back.

Meet my little monkey friend….

I’ll tell you his name this very minute.  It is Thadeus Bricker.  He lives here now.  Good Monkey.  (He is a cousin of Dewey… the monkey of Preble County District Library, in case any of you see the resemblance.)

Really good monkey.

…..oooohhhhh……  he’ll be back!  Trust me.