A Local

It's not very often we see praying mantis around here, so I thought I'd capture it!
click to biggen

P!nk - Glitter In The Air (GRAMMYs on CBS)

I was not a fan of Pink before I saw her performance at the Grammys this year. I thought she was just some loudmouthed drunkard chick. After that Grammy performance, I was sold. I listen to this song every day. I watch this video everyday too. It brings tears to my eyes. What a lovely song and what a fabulous performance.
If you havent seen it, please watch!
Now, that trapeze stuff is really appealing to me. I have been looking for a local trapeze class to take. I wonder if they accept nearly 50 year old chicks? I look like hell in a leotard...sigh.


♥

Have you ever fed a lover with just your hands?
Closed your eyes and trusted, just trusted?
Have you ever thrown a fist full of glitter in the air?
Have you ever looked fear in the face and said, "I just don't care"?

It's only half past the point of no return
The tip of the iceberg
The sun before the burn
The thunder before the lightning
The breath before the phrase
Have you ever felt this way?

Have you ever hated yourself for staring at the phone?
You're whole life waiting on the ring to prove you're not alone
Have you ever been touched so gently you had to cry?
Have you ever invited a stranger to come inside?

It's only half past the point of oblivion
The hourglass on the table
The walk before the run
The breath before the kiss
And the fear before the flames
Have you ever felt this way?

La La La La La La La La

There you are, sitting in the garden
Clutching my coffee,
Calling me sugar
You called me sugar

Have you ever wished for an endless night?
Lassoed the moon and the stars and pulled that rope tight?
Have you ever held your breath and asked yourself will it ever get better than tonight?
Tonight




Have A Lovely Day!
126India (:P)

55 Flash Fiction Friday

Ghana market was hot and sticky. Aisha put her basket down to get a better look at some of the coconuts and papayas that the flies liked just as much as she did.
"It's too hot to shop today," she whined. Walking back to Sia's house, the basket felt heavier than when she had left.

Oh, doncha just love a stowaway? I wish. You know, I would have 20 kitties if I could, it's true. I have this friend that says there is a disease called toxoplasma gandhi that you get from cat scratches and stuff, which makes you want to have too many cats! ...well, I don't know if that is true, but if it is, I must have it. :P
All is well in No Cal. We have not had a summer worth a plugged nickel, and I know it's because of that bloody wolcano! I do not care, I hate being hot, but I will tell you one thing, my garden is a disaster. Anyway I am a little rusty on the 55 action, I hope I done ok!


Have A Lovely Day!

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Ok Now She's Shamelessly Stealing Newspaper Articles!

Stolen from the Bangalore Deccan Herald:

Woman storms another male bastion, becomes porter

Sanjay Pandey in Lucknow

When megastar Amitabh Bachchan sang ‘saari duniya ka bojh hum uthaten hain’ (we carry the load of the entire world), the much popular song in his mega-hit Bollywood blockbluster ‘Coolie’, he must not have imagined that a woman could also carry the load of the world on her head...

One cannot help remembering the song, when one sees 35-year old Mudra Devi, clad in red salwar-kurta, with loads of baggage on her head and shoulders at the Agra Cantonment railway station in Uttar Pradesh. Sporting ‘Badge number 21’ on her right forearm, Mudra Devi, a mother of three, cheerfully carries the load and could be seen competing with her male counterparts both in speed and agility. Mudra, who joined the ‘predominantly male-dominated profession’ in June last, has become a familiar figure for the passengers frequenting Agra Cantonment station, which is an important junction on the Delhi-Mumbai route and is always teeming with people. Mudra’s day starts early. “I have to be here (at the station) quite early as many long distance trains arrive in the early hours”, she said. She works in two shifts-both day and night like her other male colleagues. “It allows me an opportunity to earn more”, she added. On whether she ever faced any problem while working at nights, Mudra replies in the negative. “My male colleagues are always ready to extend all possible help”, she said. Of course, Mudra did not choose the profession of coolie, which is considered to be a male domain, out of choice. It was ‘more out of compulsion’, she points out. “I came into this profession for the sake of my family”, she adds. Mudra’s husband Khedram works in a shoe factory in Agra. The family was finding it very difficult to make two ends meet with his meagre income, she said. “We faced a lot of problems in properly feeding our two sons and a daughter”, she said. To lend helping hand to her husband and supplement the family income, Mudra worked with the district forest department as a contract employee. “The salary was too less”, she remarked. Just when she was thinking of switching jobs, she came across an advertisement for recruitment of the coolies and Mudra applied without hesitation. Mudra, an eighth class pass, was able to secure the job of the coolie quite easily. “No one expressed any doubt about my ability to perform to the job of a coolie”, she said. “My husband even encouraged me to take up the job”, she added. Initially Mudra was a little bit apprehensive. “I wondered if I would be able to do the work.... carry the baggage to the satisfaction of the passengers and how will the male coolies react”, she said. She, however, overcame her early hesitation with sheer determination and hard work. “The work of a coolie demands hard labour and honesty”, Mudra went on to add. Fortunately, the male collies are protective towards Mudra. “They treat me as their sister and daughter”, she said. On whether the passengers prefer male coolies simply because they could carry more luggage, especially the heavy loads, she said she never encountered any such problems. “In fact I feel that the difference between the load carried by men and the women is not much”, she said adding that she approached a passenger only after making sure that she could carry the load. Although Mudra Devi has also to look after her home and cook food for the children, she gets full cooperation from her husband and the children. “Every member lends helping hand to me”, she said. She is now happy because she is able to earn sufficient to take care of the needs of her family. “It’s a job where one can earn sufficient provided you are ready to work hard..... I have been working in the night shift only to augment my income”, she points out. Mudra has no immediate plans to switch the job. “I am quite satisfied with my work and want to continue as a coolie in the near future”, a smiling Mudra said.

Tossed Salads and Scrambled Eggs!

Hanging out in Seattle all week!

Fun hair!

First person to correctly identify the location of this shop gets a prize.
Man Pies is not a gay bar...

I have been taught properly by the locals that this is THE snack to have while in Seattle!

I saved you some!

Little Rita kicks BUTT on her very first wakeboard ride!

Ok we had a fab time in the great northwest, more pics later!
Have a Lovely Day!

Bieber Fever Hits The Urban Prairie!

You know, there's trendy, and then there's talented and trendy.
What a cutie!
♥
Have A Nice Day!

Thursday Portrait

Harvey Pekar, disgruntled and underwhelmed writer of illustrated literature, has passed away at age 70. My hero....gaaaackkk!

If you want a fun way to know more about Harvey Pekar, please check out the hilarious film about Pekar which was made by none other than Robert Crumb and Terry Zwigoff, called American Splendor. It stars Paul Giamatti, of Sideways fame, and it's a hoot, I promise. Now, if you love comix, then you will love the American Splendor series which goes back to the early 80's! (yes, I have them ALL!)


Did you know that Harvey Pekar appeared on the Dave Letterman show a few times and each time, WOW what a scene?! You can find those goofs on youtube... here is just one and it is hilarious! Now what I love about Pekar and what he does best is poke fun at everyday life. One of my favorite schticks of all is when he writes about the strange things people buy, and conversations he overhears while in the grocery store line.
There is so much information on the internet about grumpy old Harvey that you could explore, i'm not kiddin'!



RIP Harvey, ya done well.
Although.....chances are you'll find somethin' to grumble about in heaven.

Have A Lovely Day!

This Just Makes Me Smile

click to embiggen

All the sons I didn't have!
Hampi 2008

Thursday Portrait

Here is my crazy hair. I don't know if I like it or not!

New skirt for my shop and favorite boots.


I would not dye my hair if it were this color, would you?

Shasta daisies, my favorite.

My dahlias. You know, I do not have a green thumb. Thankfully, dahlias come back double.
Anyway, I hope you are all having a wonderful summer. I am. I got a new shed made for my stuff. Now Gary will turn my little yurt into a mancave, stay tuned! I told him, Lime, that he needs a pink barbie tv to make the mancave complete. It is all I can do to not make curtains and froofy things for the yurt now that it is empty agian, but that will never do for a mancave!

Have A Lovely Day!

The Things I Get Talked In To...

So Little Rita wants to dye her hair. Thing is, her hair is this awesome shade of natural honey blonde coolness that no dye bottle color can top, and she's also about to try out for a gig as a junior dance instructor, and wild hair is a no~no. Still, she managed to appease her urge to dye some hair by making me the victim elected candidate.

I will show you the rest after I get the red stuff scrubbed offa my face!

Have A Lovely Day!

Friends from Goa

You know I am itching to get back to India again!

Have a Lovely Day!
181India ;)

The Cats Are Away....

Mr Ratburn and Little Rita are off to Flarhida to visit the relations for a week. I have lots of sewing to do, but, I will still be spending some time watching chick flix, drinkin, chatting on the phone and computer, taking out the trash, wasting time on fbook and other various get it trouble ables. Today I drove to SFO and back to deliver them to the plane, the traffic was horrendous and I ended up on the east side of SF instead of 19th....that meant another 45 minutes in traffic on top of the regular routine, 5 hours total for that drive! Then I stopped on the North side of the GG Bridge for a most breathtaking view, but didn't stay long, it was absolutely freezing on the bridge. (I do love living here...)
That was enough work for today...

Right?
The travelers have just called from Dallas/Ft worth...!
I'll be right here chillin!

Schools Out, For The Summer!!!!

Little Rita is off to high school!

This proud mom would like you to notice the gold ribbon with bronze medal which means she is an honor graduate, woo hoo yes I am proud! Little Rita also received a citizenship award, and a presidential academic award signed by President Obama. Way to go, kiddo!
Hey I am allowed to brag, I am the mom.
And by the way, she is wearing heels so I am not that much shorter than her, yet.
So, here we are, another summer on the way. Thing is, we haven't had much sun as of yet. In fact, it is still raining in Northern California, which is quite odd for June. I blame the mighty volcano. In fact, it was completely humid today which is so strange for the west coast, I was sweating my ass off all day, and no, it wasn't hot flashes.
Hope all is well in blogland, and please see below for the cutest Soul Sister ever!
Have A Lovely Day!

LIPDUB - Hey Soul Sister - UVIC 2010

VERY CUTE WATCH ME!

Nanci sings, Deadwood,South Dakota

When I was in my mid 20's, I got really into Nanci Griffith. She was just a little sweetheart. I loved her music. Of course, no one else but myself in LA would admit to liking Nanci Griffith, and because of that, I saw her live about 12 times, 3 or 4 times in the front row of little clubs and even in the front row of some well known dive on Hollywood Blvd whose name slips my mind.
Now the first time I heard this song, it brought tears to my eyes, and tonight while I was browsing on Youtube, actually looking for some Kate Wolf music, I ran across this performance.
It's lovely, and it still brings tears to my eyes, only this time, Little Rita saw me tearing up, poked fun and me and the song. She was, no doubt, waiting for the mandatory rap solo which never came.
I hope you will enjoy this as much as I do. Tell me if it makes you cry.

Justin Timberlake - SexyBack ft. Timbaland

Ok wow this is a pretty sexy song.... ;)

Soldier of Love

I'm really loving this tune right now. After all these years, Sade is still making lovely music. Enjoy!

Happy 5th Anniversary, Os! HNT!

HNT #1 Little Rita Face, originally posted on September 29, 2005
(age 8)

Little Rita Face May 18, 2010
(age 13)

So here I am, posting an HNT again after not participating for a couple of years now. But back in the heyday, I wanna tell you, I posted some rad HNTS. They were not such sexy HNT's, but fun and imaginative instead. (ok, there were some sexy ones, but you're gonna have to search) In fact, I am the self proclaimed Queen of Absolutely Creativisimo HNTS's, and if you don't believe me, check them out, they are all listed in my sidebar. I have linked some of my favorites here as well. My god, that was vain, but really, they are so cool!

Anastasia's HNT

UP HNT

Jodhpuri Chai Party HNT

Pilfered Paper Hospital Gown HNT

Ok, that's enough, if you wanna see em all, check the sidebar. So now, I want to say, congratulations, Os, for creating something pretty damn cool. I enjoyed participating for years, and having a creative outlet like that was fantastic! Now, I don't blog that often because I am working hard, saving up for my daughters college education. As you can see, time really flies, next thing you know, she'll be 18...
Happy HNT 5th Anniversary, Os!

Thursday Portrait

Me, the gnome, modeling a couple of my new skirts.

Oh, is it Saturday? Well then, we are either 2 days late or 5 days early, depending on how you look at it.
Have a lovely day!

A Susies The Boss RERUN: Theresa Gets Her Head Back

Originally posted in 2007, I ran across this and thought, well why the heck not post it again! We don't have many Barbies left in this house, just the ones I managed to save from amputation. Enjoy!


by Little Rita & MomHello everyone, Dr Chelsea here. Welcome to Half baked Hospital! I hope you enjoy our tour.

Today we will be undergoing a very difficult procedure......

Meet Theresa. She has come here today with a terrible brain trauma.


Now you can see my lovely Nurse Karen prepping the body for surgery. "Nurse Karen, bring me the head of Theresa on a platter!"

Wrong head!

Nurse Karen has retrieved Theresa's head, now we may begin attaching!


Voila! The operation was a success!



Nice job with the bandages, Nurse Karen!

Ogette, Ivy and Cross Dressing Ken Ken, who have come to pick Theresa up from the hospital after surgery, wonder why the doctor is lying on the floor.

"I've fallen and I can't get up, and I've dropped my hammer!", yells Dr Chelsea.

Not one to be upstaged, Nurse Karen makes sure to have the last laugh.

Ta~daaaaaaaa!

Due to Theresa's emergency surgery, Musical Monday will return later in the week.