100,000

John Clearman took this photo of the "magic number" Thanks, John.

I made it! 100,000 hits on the Blog. Sometime during the night.

I feel like I have the stamp of approval.

It appears to have been a visitor from Lompoc, California. Of course I helped (about 25,000 of them are of me editing - But it is a super milestone and one I did not ever think I would make. Wish I had something profound to say. ARTYAL. Hugs! j-bear. Thanks for stopping by.

Scottish Rite Fall Kick off

I added the pictures above which Kevin Christians just sent me. He took them at Consistory. The top one is the same three fellows as in the picture below and the one under that is your's truly and Kent Naughton who rode down with me tonight. Thanks Kevin.
I went to the Consistory tonight to attend the Fall Kick Off meeting for the Des Moines Consistory. This is Kurt (right) and his father in law and brother in law who attended as his guests. There was a very nice dinner of a grilled Iowa Chop and all the trimmings. It was delicious. Other than that I did not do much tonight. Mostly just read and watched the puppy who had another great (no accidents) day. Miles is a really neat addition to the family. Things are busy the rest of the week. Plus there are new TV season shows beginning and I am trying to watch some of those. The TiVo works great and the nice thing is I can fast forward through the commercials.

Thanks for stopping by. Hugs, j

(More pictures of the Kick-off on the Consistory Blog. j

P.S.
Sometime tomorrow I should hit the 100,000 mark on my counter - AWESOME

Stolen from Dianne - Do You See What I See.

This is totally stolen from Diane. Not a word changed. It brought joy to my heart and I hope it does to yours also. I have a sister in a wheelchair and people do this sort of thing to her all the time. I have a handicapped tag also but it has not happened so much to me. What I see is perfectly healthy people using someone's handicapped sticker when it is obvious that they aren't handicapped. Anyway enjoy!

Mid Week Blues: Some People are Respect Handicapped

by Dianne

I was at the store the other day and watched a woman and her two daughters (I assume they were hers since they were as obnoxious as she was) cut off a van with a handicapped parking permit in order to get the clearly marked spot.

The elderly lady in the van looked as if she were about to cry. I pointed to my car a few spots down and told her she could take my spot, it was next to the cart return and there would be plenty of room to off load her husband's wheelchair.

As I returned from moving my car down she noticed my cane. I had to laugh at the expression on her face. It was part laugh, part horror and part divine wonder. She saw me laughing and she and her husband started to laugh too. She said I shouldn't have given up my spot. I said it was no big deal and asked if they wanted to help me key the car in the handicapped spot. The three of us were laughing out loud as we walked/limped/wheeled toward the store entrance just in time for a patrol car to enter the lot. The officer immediately noticed the wheelchair and asked if we needed help. We pointed to the offending car and watched in pure joy as he got out and began to write the ticket. When I told him how they had cut off the van he decided to wait for the driver.

As we entered the store we saw the terrible trio leaving and we watched the scene from the store window. I did color commentary LOL

The Mom was gesturing and acting indignant. I did see one of the daughters say she was sorry so there's a little bit of hope there.

The last thing the driver saw as she backed out of the spot she wasn't supposed to be in was the 3 of us - the man in the wheelchair smiling, his wife waving and me giving a salute with my cane.

Trashy Tuesday

Best keep your day job Mr. DeLay

Miles on Monday

Even though he looks like he has done something naughty in this picture he hadn't. The football is his but Bailey co-opted it and stole it from him. So Miles got it back for awhile. Bailey gets it most of the time. Miles had only one "accident" today. And it was on the hardwood floor and not the carpet so he is getting better.

This is the little guy on the ramp out the back door. He is so sweet.

I got these pictures from Jon's camera. I put the entire album on line. Here is the link.
Miles and Cassie still love to play and go at it all the time. I put a movie up showing them playing. I had one I thought I was taking which showed him playing with the ball but it didn't come out.
This is Miles' pen. He goes in there when I leave the house (Bailey goes in the bedroom) and he does not seem to mind being in it He is so funny. Tonight he and Jon walked down to the Bridge by Carr Woods. He was still energetic when he got back. It is so much fun having him around that I don't really mind the mess. He is Jon's dog however. When Jon comes back from work Miles goes nuts about him. It is nice having them both around.

Miles and Cassie from Jay Simser on Vimeo.

I was supposed to go down to Des Moines to work with Kurt on Ritual tonight but it did not work out. He got a big project for work so he had to work late and it was OK. I have three more trips there this week. I did not mind not having to go and James from Lodge called me up and we met at Applebees for supper. I had the Cajun steak and it was delicious. I also met the Fire Department out at Lodge so they could go through the place to prepare in case there is a fire. They wanted to see where the shut-off valves and other things were located. It is good that they are doing this. They also asked some questions. They drove the big truck out to do their visit. Not sure why. I almost asked them for a ride but really didn't have the time. Just another boring day at 1309. I am enjoying a new book. But what else is new? Thanks for stopping by. Hugs, j

Forbidden Broadway - StageWest

This afternoon I attended the first production of the new season of StageWest in Des Moines.

Forbidden Broadway

This is not a play but rather a musical review and the songs you hear are not what you may expect. Most of us are familiar with the songs which were sung but not necessarily with the satirical lyrics which we heard. The show has been described as the "Saturday Night Live of Broadway." I disagree. It is funnier.
Here is a sample of one of the songs from the show.



There was only one parody which I (personally) did not like and that was the one making fun of Liza Minnelli. I just thought it wasn't as funny as the others. I also thought the actress was just trying a little too hard and the caricature didn't quite cut it for me. However the rest of the parodies were "spot on." Amy Burgmaier, Craig Peterson, Eric Shepard and Liz Ward made up the four person cast and they are extremely talented and when they parodied Carol Channing, Chita Rivera, Rita Moreno, Barbara Streisand and all of the others they were almost good enough that you thought you were watching the original. I was especially impressed with the Ethel Merman/Phantom of the Opera duet.

The show runs Wednesday through Sunday at the Stoner Theater in the Civic Center through October 4. Well worth the price of admission and I guarantee you will laugh and be entertained.

To see the history of this show which has been running since January 15, 1982 (with many revisions and updates) you can go here.