ok, so my last blog, the one about wilma brown, has disappeared. wilma brown is my new hero/heroine, based on her brave decision to publically get signatures on a wet-dry petition so that the fine citizens of boyle county can decide for themselves whether or not alcohol may be legally consumed in these environs. i don't know which makes me madder- theblog vanishing or the fact that i have to drive 27 miles to buy a bottle of wine. i am also unsure about the correct term for wilma- hero or heroine- heroine somehow makes me think of cheap romance novels- not brave female role models. wilma is perfect for this role- she has retirement income, as well as private funds from painting, which are nearly immune from economic pressure from the opposition- someone like myself, whose livelihood depends on public goodwill, could easily be bankrupted by those who dislike my opinion on alcohol sales. further, wilma has no children nor spouse, who can also be subjected to public riducule/personal attacks based on wilma's actions. presumably she isn't worried about getting kicked out of her church.......an aside- when i bought the restaurant, i was told by a co-worker that i would probably be kicked out of my church if i allowed customers to bring in their own alcohol or if i eventually sold it myself in the event of a successful wet-dry vote. i replied that i would simply rename the place cana- as in the wedding at can where jesus turned water into wine- and let the opposition throw the first stone........i run into people from my church at the liquor barn - so i am clearly not the only one in my congregation, nor in my sunday school class who imbibes....

so back to wilma, she has many connections, with many subgroups in danville- the intellecutals, the college, the artistic, the librarians/teachers, the gentry- i can see her getting the signatures by august, and getting this thing on the ballot by november. where do i sign., wilma?

ok, so i am so glad that the italian travelers are back- because no one blogs like the loyal opposition- sorry about newark. i am also sorry that i didn't save some of the more humerous responses to your letter to the editor. welcome home......

ok, so mean mamma has had a revelation about cable television, cellphones and other techy stuff. if mean mamma wasn;'t quite so mean, she would backoff on this lifetime cable tv ban and be watching us-germany on espn instead of blogging at this very moment. not that i am a soccer hooligan, but i like to watch on occassion. on the other hand, mean mamma is now paying for 3 family talk phones- which means that mean mamma has a deep need for communication/opportunity for human contact in emergencies- and is much more willing to pay for that than for mere entertainment. paying for cable tv will not get you a tow truck when your car is broken down soemwhere. i will just have to read about this landmark soccer game in the paper tomorrow morning.......the paer only costs 50cents........

ok, so i like to reread books- mostly because i am an impatient reader the first go-round, and read books through quickly to see what happens in the plot line. the second and subsequent readings are get the finer points of plot development that i missed while finding out what happens in book. this week i dug up sylvia plath's the bell jar- a book about the poet's dip into madness while she was in college- not to be confused with her dip into madness as an adult mother just before she killed herself. the bell jar reminds me of catcher in the rye- for its first person narrative as well as for its strung out and acutely described late-night outings in new york city. in each book there is a feeling that the madness involved was a coping mechanism- that the madness was somehow the only option for the hero/heroine. in the bell jar there is a poignant scene where upon the heroine is standing nearly naked in her hotel room window throwing her ill-fitting but newly purchased clothing out of the window- one piece at a time. it is something that only a madwoman would do- throw new clothes out the window- 'sane' women hold onto them whether they fit or not until the closet just cannot contain them anymore. the heroine seems the sort of woman who is compliant to the will of others about what she should be doing with her college career, her time in nyc, her choice of boyfriend and her life in general. i see this book as a handbook for independent minded women if only to show them what NOT to do. next i think i will dig up catcher in the rye, and see how h. caufield's madness compares.......

ok, so i have to report on something really funny that tompoland said to me last night at the potluck after the twinkie run. we were contemplating the big urn of artificial flowers that the church had outside its front door- int he summer when real flowers could actually grow- mind you- and tom started commenting about how they (the church) could probably add to their collection by going to yard sales- that there were usually a great assortment of artificial flowers at yard sales, and don't their colors seem to improve with age? he then digressed into a concept idea for an exhibit at the smithsonian- there hasn't been a definitive display of these american icons at the smithsonian- maybe he would start his own collection and then donate them to the smithsonian and be the curator-

like most funny episodes, you really had to be there. but the thread throughout his rant/monologue is worth retelling and rehashing. there is a house on gwinn island road that used to have fake flowers in its window boxes 24/7 and 12 months out of the year- like the neighbors wouldn't be fooled by geraniums peaking out of a blanket of snow. the cemetary in burgin has a large sign posted at the gate- no artificial flowers- yet each grave is adorned with a walmart-grade array of red, white and blue blooms. in europe, graves have their own mini-garden in front, with real petunias, marigolds, and geraniums in season, and ground covers the rest of the year. a brief note to my own family- no fake flowers near my urn when i am gone......please.........maybe just a genuine single orchid.........
when we bought the restaurant we carried out garbage bag after bag of fake greenery- the space had been a shrine to unreality when it came to silk flowers and vines. people still comment on how our decor was more charming then.....

these summer days, when i work long hours and have such little personal time, i relish my early morning hours on the deck, with all of my pots of marigolds, herbs, petunias, geraniums, etc- i sit at the table, with a tablecloth, mind you, and read the paper, with my coffee, and take in the sweet serenity of the flowers along with the lake, the birds, and my dogs wanting in the house. the cat is much more vocal- she won't stop caterwalling until the is let into the house. the dogs are content to just sit under the table until i am ready to go in the house....the scene just wouldn't be the same with 26 pots of silk greenery- they don't need watering and the heat can't kill them, but they have no fresh scent, have no buds to watch until they open, and little to offer in terms of enjoyment. enough said.......mean mamma's quiet morning timeis over and she has to go to work.

ok, so mean mamma has had a wicked witch experience. tonight was the 20th annual twinkie run out buster pike north of town- the twinkie is a concept event- you, or you and a partner, estimate your time for a 6.2 mile run, and then you run without a watch. the person or team who comes closest to the estimated time wins......the event is always in min june, on the hottest day of the year, when i have no interest in walking let alone running. i have partnered with ernst in the past, but this year i opted to ride a bike as cayle's chaperone. ernst lent me his mother's raleigh 3-speed, which is an upright model with a basket. i kept hearing miss gulch's theme music as i rode that bike down the road-if only i had her outfit and her nose........not that htis image has anything to do with my feelings for my departed mother-in-law- but the bike is certainly wizard of oz caliber.......

ok, so i have become nostaligic for watergate, the scandal of my youth. yesterday marked the 30th anniversary of the watergate breakin, and the beginning of the end for tricky dick nixon and his cronies. no matter what maybe said about bill and monica- a few private sexual acts simply do not compare with the likes of ambitious, paranoid dick nixon- his enemies lists, his surveilience of said enemies, his harassment of said enemies (irs audits, etc), and of, course, the breakin at the headquarters of the democratic national committee. nixon wanted to be reelected so badly that he put all decency aside to make it happen. i have enjoyed the recent flood of speculation on the identity of deep throat- the inside source for the washington post who broke the story of the connection between the white house and the watergate breakin- and followed the story until nixon resigned. some have narrowed the list to include pat buchannan, who was working in the white house at the time. some say that woodward and berstein made him up. of course, deep throat could be a woman- i would like to think that someone in nixon's own family had some moral fiber and used the role as anonymous source to make things right. no matter, we will not find out the identity until the person in question passes away, which could be years.

ok, so no matter where i went this band festival weekend, the big question was about the police raid- were you there, and what really happened? the tale is that people actually drove down from cincinnati to the antique show to based on what they heard on npr about the incident- no one can quite fathom that there are places in america that are not free to buy or sell alcohol- they can sell guns, and cigs but no beer or wine or worse,.......we just can't be trusted with the stuff. of course, i was offered a beer within 5 minutes of arriving at the picnic on saturday night (9:15 pm after we finally finished up at the restaurant), but the host poured it into a plastic cup to be on the safe side......the lunch crowd was much thinner on sunday than on saturday, so we closed at 2:00 and were home by 4:00. it felt like the 24 hours at LeMans, the race that is constant on a closed course- it just goes until it is over.

one comment on some of the sights- i saw an older couple walking down our little street- wearing matching pants, shirts, hats, and binoculars- if ernst and i ever get to the point of wearing identical clothes, then my children have full rights to have us declared incompetent..........

ok, so our big catering job last night was marred by a police raid.......3 undercover cops looking for illegal service of alcohol in a dry county. luckily, we brought only virgin daquiris and marguiritas, but some local idiots went home and brought their own alcohol back to the party when they discovered that the party was 'dry'- and of course they were found out when the police started checking every glass. the police tried to impound every dollar brought in by the fundraising event (for heart of danville) - it could get pretty ugly considering that the city manager tells us that we have a case for harassment in that they went through all; of our catering supplies looking for alcohol without a search warrant.....i was so embarassed that this happened at the antique show preview party with all of those out-of-town dealers- the whole affair made danville look like hickville.

ok, so today is our 21st wedding anniversary. where has the time gone.........? today is much like the day we married- rainy and dismal- rather ironic that we have sustained many dismal days through grad school, parenting, and job changes with mostly smiles on our faces and happy hearts. ernst brought flowers and a card to the restaurant this morning- we will have our champagne some other day because i am catering tonight, and working the weekend here due to the band festival. tomorrow morning we plan to celebrate andrew's 18th birthday over an early breakfast- i can't believe that it was 18 years since he was a tiny baby- oh my.......

OK, SO IT FINALLY HAPPENED TO ME- THE BLOGGER LOST MY BLOG- JUST DISAPPEARED IN MIDSENTENCE, AND EVEN LOGGED ME OUT OF BLOGGER LIKE SOME SORT OF INTERLOPER- I WON'T EVEN BOTHER TO RETYPE MY BLOG- I AM TOO PEEVED RIGHT NOW.........

ok, so we are starting to get the really crazy people on the phone at the restaurant this week. the first call of the day was a woman who wanted the name of our source for dry ice. 'you don't use dry ice in catering?' she asked incredulously. 'no. we use regular wet ice.....' i couldn't even tell her where she could begin to look for dry ice, either. then we got a call from ohio asking if we could deliver lunches and suppers to her mother in union, ky. i assured her that union is nowhere near here, at least not in a 40 mile radius, and suggested that she get out her map and try to find a closer restaurant. she woman seemed somewhat miffed that we weren't willing to go that far afield to deliver lunch.....then we go the call from a woman who wanted my assurance that if she made a supper reservation for saturday night of the band festival that she would have a guarenteed place to park outside the restaurant. i assured her that by saturday night not even i would be guaranteed a place to park. she seemed kind of miffed, like someone couldn't just stand in a spot and hold it for her.........then we got a call from someone asking if we are hiring. ' not hiring? well who IS hiring? who else besides cracker barrel? you don't know? well why not?' then we had the unfortunate conversation with a woman who had booked a lunch and supper for today , from a major financial advising company, to drum up investment business. jerry called her to get a menu and an updated head count, and the woman insisted that she had already spoken to a gentleman on friday with all of the info. jerry insisted that he had not spoken to her on friday, and she started to get testy- and said ' you told me that your specialties were country ham and fried chicken. jerry replied that neither of those are our specialties, and could she have been mistaken on who she called. oh,no, the woman said, i have it all written down- i talked to _____at beaumont inn on friday......well there is your problem, you didn't book your meeting at the beaumont inn........needless to say, she is having her meeting at the beaumont inn....now if this company manages money like it arranges meetings, then i pity any who attend and/or sign on for their services. of course, if she actually sent out the invites to our place rather than beaumont, it could be very funny today around noon........

ok, so this morning on npr john feinstein commented on the plethora of major sporting events that took place this weekend- the tyson fight, the nba finals, the french open, the world cup, the stanley cup, the belmont/triple crown. of these mean mamma only watched the belmont stakes, of which coverage lasts 1 hour for a race that lasts only 2-3 minutes at most. i was disappointed that war emblem couldn't pull off a victory- racing and breeding in ky could have used that boost to ratings.

i was most disappointed that i wasn't able to watch either the men's or women's finals from french open. i have walked by the roland garros stade in paris- on the way to jardin bagatelle- and i am fascinated by the game. of course, mean mamma has neither the talent nor the fitness, nor the eye-hand coordination to play the game, but she has always enjoyed watching others play the game. those williams sisters are astounding athletes- though i would have liked to see j. capriati win another grand slam event. i was on my way to frankfort while that match was being played, and i was at church while the men's final was played.

the other sporting events are either of no interest whatsoever (nab,stanley cup, tyson) or unaccessible (world cup) due to lack of cable tv. one of mamma's true meannesses is her determination to not have cable tv. she feels that having cable just encourages people to watch tv- lots of mindless television watching- and she doesn't feel that she needs to pay for such a mindless pursuit. this week, she will celebrate 21 years of cable-free marriage, by the way. those offspring who feel the need to watch cable programs, of course, can walk up the street to grandma's house, where satelite programming is available, and probably utilized 24/7. yea,yea,yea, so i have never watched sex in the city, or 6 feet under, but i have read a lot of books lately.......

ok, so i recieved a funny story about a celeb sighting from mommy's friend beth (not to be confused with mommy's friend jane....) who lives in san francisco- i have deftly cut and pasted it below.....

On an odd note--I had dinner with Elvis Costello and Wavy Gravy a few weeks ago. Well-- they were at the next table and I failed to recognize them until they were leaving and to top that I recognized Wavy Gravy and missed the entire Elvis Costello opportunity. It would have been fun to have paid attention. I was deeply engrossed in conversation with my Mom friends about the long showers our sons take. Perhaps they were listening to the Moms at the next table! Somehow I doubt it. But worth a chuckle.
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ok, so i have never heard of wavy gravy, and had to ask my children. i have heard of elvis costello- my friend rachel really likes that elvis, but she is in italy right now and cannot fully appreciate this 2nd or 3rd degree of separation to elvis thanks to mommy's friend beth.

ok, so mean mamma has to clean her house this weekend!!! i have invited a dietetic intern from vanderbilt to visit the restaurant for 2 days next week- and also invited her to stay with us. she read about me in the eleusis, the alumnae magazine of chi omega sorority- and called me up one day. she is from austin, texas, and sounds very blond on the phone. she wants to have her own restaurant one day, maybe i can talk her out of it........

i am leving shortly for work- we are catering at the ky herb society festival in frankfort, with a lovely box lunch that includes mediterrean chicken in a vegetable-stuffed pita, minted fruit, and a lavender lemon bar. i hope i have enough stuff to make 200 box lunches, but i may not have enough fruit to go round, when we run out we come home, so either way is fine with me.....

ok, so i am enjoying the letter-to-the-editor debate over the ten commandments and the bible vs. the state. the letter yesterday from a guy from harrodsburg was pretty good (not as good as rachel's but right up there). he pointed out that the woman who wrote the inflammatory letter that started the debate was completely clueless about the origins of the pilgrims, the us consitution, etc. neither the ten commandments nor the bible is mentioned in any way in the constitution- and the first ammendment clearly states that the us government cannot force religion upon its citizens- this woman, and many like her, wish to force their religion on us. speaking as a christian, i am personally offended when other 'christians' seem to think that God speaks only to them, and that somehow they and their take on God's message is the only way that it can be understood. this country was built on religious freedom- and that means freedom from having to deal with the religion of others in public places like schools, courthouses, etc. the irony of it all is- if prayer was allowed in school, it would have to rotate between all of the religions represented in america- protestant, jew, catholic, greek orthodox, hindi, islam, native american, buddhist. etc. i would get of kick out of seeing the religious fanatics having to deal with a moment of zen meditation on every third thursday when the zen buddhists had their turn.........

ok, so mean mamma dislikes being portrayed as mean unfairly. last night, cayle ate supper with the neighbors, as they were going to take her to swim practice with their daughter, and i was supposed to pick them both up and bring them home afterwards. plans changed when i realized that i would have to go into town anyway (to drop off stephan), so i offered to take them to practice and the neighbor would pick them up. on the way to town, cayle told stephan about all she had eaten for supper- mac and cheese, green beans, apples, carrots, etc- later that evening, when ernst got home from biking, he asked cayle what she had eaten for supper. she told him that i had refused to feed her supper. thankfully stephan reminded her that she had already eaten supper with the neighbors, and that it was mean to lie to try to get a second meal. cayle contended that she had only had a little snack........that girl would eat 24/7 if allowed to do so

ok, so i forgot to watch bachelorettes in alaska. i don't remeber if i watched anything instead, or simply didn't watch tv at all that day- but i missed the landmark event- the bottom to which tv has sunk thusfar. i cannot think of alaska's rugged male popluation without thinking about the oldest son in Malcom in the Middle and his miserable experience in alaska working in a logging camp. malcom is a breath of fresh air to otherwise stale sitcoms- just outrageous enough to be funny week after week, but not so much that i cannot believe that it could happen in real life. so in malcom's alaska scenario, the rugged males in alaska tend to be losers from the bottom 48- these men may be desparate for female companionship, but that doesn't mean that they are worth the effort to snare one. do they vote them out of the state, or am i confusing this silly show with another similalry vapid production on another channel?

on the blogger home page, there was a blurb aimed at a select crowd of bloggers- if you blog in nyc, put yourself on our map. does this mean that you would plot in your exact location, say at the corner of 33rd and vine (surely not real nyc city streets) would armed paratroupers arrive when govt censors become animosed when the content starts to resemble ozzy osborne's home life. or is so bloggers can reach out and touch somebody's hand, and make this world a better place, if we can........either way, i like the anonymity of the blog format, and will not plot my global location, thank you very much.

ok, so i really am just mean. today we didn't get a danville sunday paper (it is 6/2/02 and i proably failed to pay for the subscription to be extended past may.......) so i got dressed and walked up to my mother's mailbox and 'borrowed' her paper. she doesn't read it until after church, and she will be coming down here for lunch- doesn't that justfiy petty larceny? i hate to go to church without reading the paper- i feel so out of touch. this morning was perfect for paper-reading- dry, quite warm, with a freshly scented wisp of a breeze. none of your blow-away-the-paper- breezes, mind you. my sunday paper reading is always alone- as ernst rides his bike with friends on sundays and none of the children get up this early.......