Useful French Phrases from my friend Doug

My old college friend Doug, with whom I reconnected on Facebook, has been doing us all the favor of posting useful French phrases.

FOR USE IN RESTAURANTS: "Combien de vos clients sont morts?" ("How many of your customers have died?")
"Ces poissons, ils sont mort d'irradiation?" ("Did these fish die of radiation sickness?")
"Ce restaurant n'est pas aussi bon que le McDonalds" ("This restaurant isn't as good as McDonald's")
IN GENERAL CONVERSATION: "Voulez-vous cesser de me cracher dessus pendant que vous parlez?" ("Would you stop spitting on me while you're talking?")
WHEN AN INSULT IS REQUIRED: "On t'a bercé trop près du mur?" ("As a child, was your cradle rocked too close to the wall?")

Bo: A bargain at twice the price

I just figured out what Bo costs us in dog food. We order it in 33-pound sacks from dogfooddirect.com. We're on a schedule of a sack of Eagle Pack Premium Adult Formula about every 4 months, making Bo's food costs a mere 34 cents a day.

What a bargain! Where else can you get that much love and loyalty for such a great price?

Daylight Savings Makes Me Grumpy.

I am jet-lagged. A one-hour time change is all it took and I'm a wreck. A whiny, grumpy, negativistic wreck. Grrrr! Of course the fact that we have a wind advisory out tonight and an expected low temperature of 5 above overnight, with a high only of 20 F. tomorrow, doesn't help. I am whining for springtime.

Why can't we just settle on a time and quit switching? It's not honestly Daylight Savings time that really irritates me, it's the switching. Let's just settle on something and stick with it!

Blibber-blabber

That's a picture of the coffee I was roasting this morning. I tried using my old steel wok and it works better than the cast iron frying pans I usually use. I love the smell of roasting coffee beans, but I'm a little weird. You knew that. Right?

I migrated north for the weekend to visit my parents in Roseville. Barry and the kids stayed at home. I needed to check on my parents, of course, but more selfishly, I wanted to pray with them. They are very faithful in their prayers and I miss being with them in prayer. It was so good.

We hit ALDI, did some mall-walking, and then stopped by Dick Blick Art Supply for inspiration. I ate a lot of my mom's wonderful cooking, and we took turns reading parts of "The Kalahari Typing School for Men" to each other. And then just as I was about to head home, a friend of the next-door neighbor's stopped by to see if my parents had a key to the neighbor's house, as he had not been answering his phone, had not made it to church that morning and now the friend saw the weekend's newspapers on the front step. My dad hurried over with his key, and they found the neighbor on the floor of his bedroom, dead. My dad was very distraught that he had not been checking on the neighbor every day. I doubt he could have done anything to change things, as it looked like the death was sudden; I doubt the man suffered. My dad is suffering, though, and the neighbor's wife, children and grandchildren certainly will. I'm praying for comfort for all of them.

On the drive home I discovered that in the Twin Cities there is actually a Minnesota Public Radio station that plays rock music. Well, rock alternative, and jazz, and rap. Lots of indie stuff. I don't get out much, as I am sure you have gathered, and so I heard some new-to-me music that I really liked. For example, I heard a couple of tracks from K'Naan's new album, Troubadour. I am not a rap fan, but I like this guy's sound. And he truly does come from the mean streets. It doesn't get much meaner than Mogadishu. And then there was The Bird and the Bee. I heard the Diamond Dave track off their newest, "Ray Guns are Not Just the Future." (With a title like that, how can it not be awesome?) For some weird reason they remind me of the B52s. And that makes no sense whatsoever. I cannot even find anything similar about them to the B52s. They just remind me. Anyway, now I'm catching up on their older tracks and enjoying them. What a lovely voice the Bird has. Plus she has a great name: Inara.

That really wow house

Here it is. Looks like our friends are going for it! I am anxious to see what they do with it. This view is from the back, so you can see the outbuildings. George is a potter, as in art pottery. One of those buildings, maybe the old carriage house, is going to become his studio. He wants to get back on the Arts Tour when the dust settles. I'm so happy! New Albin needs more artists! Now maybe I can get Barry to put something together for the tour, too.

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On a completely different topic, I woke up with a horrible sinus headache, the sort that makes one wonder about amputation. Of one's head. Four Advil and a stomach ache later (Advil first thing in the morning - NOT a good idea) I have abandoned the amputation plan, but I am not bending over, or bouncing up and down stairs. And everybody in the house is being very, very quiet around me.

I'm trying to see this positively. Weather change will do this to me. Maybe the change is a lovely warm front coming through and bringing springtime.

Star Block #10

Star Block #9

Watchmen?? Oh yah, it's great. (What is it again?)

Count me as one of those idiots who
1) has never read Watchmen, and
2) can't wait to see the movie anyway.

At least I am not a poser, I admit I know nothing about it (though I do know Dr. Manhattan is not a chick). My son, on the other hand, is one of those who tries to make it sound like he has a clue what it's all about, though he has never actually even seen the graphic novel. Heh.