2011...So Far ,It's Rotten

Deadly Twisters in the Mid-West, a flood in Australia, Church bombings in Nigeria and Egypt, make what I'm going through at the moment seem seriously trivial, but nobody should have to nonetheless.  Saturday morning when I woke up, the usual routine of washing my hands, starting a cup of Tea and filling  Rainbow's water bowl was interrupted by a little glitch. Nothing came out of the tap.. That bill is covered by the rent, so here's a problem for either maintenance or public works to tackle. Right? Well apparently not. Numerous calls to both have resulted in zippity doo. So, here I sit, in an apartment that has all the amenities of a cardboard box in Mumbai. Haven't been able to wash dishes, cook anything or shower.  My trip to work on Saturday morning was unbelievable fun. Unwashed, P.O.ed and hating the world in general, I managed to fall flat on my face, right in the middle of a crosswalk through a busy intersection that our imbecilic road department did a lousy job of de-icing.  Then there were the steady streams of completely obnoxious customers once I managed to drag myself  through the BACK door. (Someone graciously forgot to open the front.)   My shift ended a little early when a wildly indignant patron decided to lecture me when I pushed a chair closer to one of the restaurant tables. His take on it was that he had attended a class where they taught him, he claimed and I'm not making this up: "The kilobytes of sound produced by moving a chair can seriously damage  the earlobes."  That was about all I could handle for the day. Clocked out, walked out and trudged home. I had already suffered six hours of similar crap and couldn't stomach one  more.   A hot bath and a stiff drink would have made me feel a lot better afterward. That's if I could actually find some water to fill the tub.

Le Chaise Orange...Or Is It "La"?

I usually look for my MCM fixes at second-hand shops, but found this particular chair, at Big Lots of all places, for the princely sum of $20.  I remember seeing nearly identical ones around the late '60's, early '70's, but have no idea who the designer was. (Help me out here Dana!)   It's interesting to see that the lower-end furniture market has popped up with quite a few revivals of these styles lately. Perusing the other aisles at Big Lots, I found myself staring at mod inspired pillows and some lighting accessories that wouldn't look out of place in a 1967 MOE catalogue.  The experience almost gave me flashbacks to the halcyon days of The Akron stores when I was a little kid, walking around, bedazzled by all the groovy wares they had on offer.

Happy New Years Eve!

I can't call in to work a second day in a row, so mine will probably be a complete bummer, kind of like Snooki's.     Them's the breaks, I guess. So here's hoping that your New Year's Eve goes better than mine, or hers, for that matter.  If you plan on getting plastered tonight, please choose a designated driver or do the obligatory sloshing at home. Tip your Pizza delivery driver and don't do anything I wouldn't do. Not to worry. That leaves you  free to do pretty much anything, other than  trying out bestiality, listening to the Olivia Newton John channel on SlackerRadio.com or saying anything nice about Sarah Palin.

Time To (Republican) Party LIke It's 1974

Though I risk my (shady) rep in having people think this is a mug Blog, I had to post this baby. For those who weren't around during the Ford administration, I'll explain. First he was Nixon's V.P., rose up the chain of command to President after the last disbelieving American finally had to admit that Tricky Dick was indeed a crook and was booted out of office. Then he pardoned Nixon, got hexed and spent the rest of his term as an ineffectual stumblebum place holder before Jimmy Carter's ride to the Oval Office.
Here's a fascinating fact about guys named Jerry. They make great musicians: Garcia , Jerry Lee Lewis, Jerry Vale..(Uhhh. Maybe not that last one) but they're downright lousy politicians: Ford, Brown, Falwell, etc.
About the only things Ford is remembered for these days is hitting golf balls at people, falling down a lot and WIN buttons.  When George Harrison visited the White House, he was gifted with one of these and gave Jer an OM badge in return. I can only imagine what the President thought of that. "3-s?  What the heck?  Super Sonic Sound? Salty Sausage Sandwiches? I'm confused...again!"   Well, little did I know, until I found this languishing in a thrift shop, that there were WIN coffee mugs too..
So as a tribute to the late President and his far better known Widow, who's name escapes me at the moment, I think I'll schlurp massive amounts of Bacardi 151 spiked Egg Nog from this mug on New Year's Eve. Wake me when the world ends in 2012.

Hey Kids! Let's Make A Snowman And Kick His A$$!

Winter has hit Northern New Mexico like the proverbial bomb this week.A storm warning has been in effect from Midnight on Tuesday and will continue until Friday, so sayeth the National Weather Service.            Snow, wind, drifts, misery, Rez drunks falling down in it. All the fun of a Currier & Ives scene from Hell.     So, enjoy this delightful shot of the gallon bucket I left on my back porch. Lo siento... I mean join me in my abject misery.     ADDENDUM: Just went out to take my Dog for a poopy stroll. The drifts along with what's still falling out of the sky has raised the total on the hill where I live  to 18". Fun, eh? I called in to work. That wasn't even after I watched the sledding kid across the street fall on his face. Of all the times I could have put the video camera to good use. Dammit!                                                           

Vintage Collingwood Ware. Groovy Baby!

I snagged these a few months ago at Goodwill.                                                                                        They have what looks like the date of this design printed on the bottom. 8-8-76. There's definitely a mid '70's vibe going on here, so I may be right on the mark.
What's missing is the name of the pattern. If anyone knows, please tell me!

Why on Earth did I start another f@%&ing Blog?(!)

My therapist talked me into it. So, I'll start at the beginning. (Any refrains from "Sound Of Music" cheerfully declined and returned with "the bird" and a Bronx cheer.) I'm an aging Hippie with a penchant for  Mid Century Modern design, cheesy Lounge Music, Grateful Dead, The Beatles and the only person on earth that enjoyed Pink Floyd's "Atom Heart Mother". At any given moment you can find me mixing a killer Tom Collins or making Indian food, performing my Felix Unger impersonation around the house, working a slave job, or snapping photos of random boring subjects.
Now that I've cleared the sticky hurdle of introducing myself, let's get on to more interesting stuff. Shall we?