Day Eighty Seven: Play

My son had a friend over this afternoon, and we were presented with the opportunity to play with our food.



Marshmellows? Check.
Pretzel sticks? Check.
Grapes to raise the good nutrition quotient? Check.
Mango lemonade to wash it all down? Check.
Three kids that wanted to make something with their snack foods? Check, check, and check.

While they made buildings and other "structures," I also played, but not with food. I made a tiger print on a brown bag:

The black stripes are acrylic paint on brown paper bags.

Now I'm presented with the question "now what?" As in "now what the heck do I make with this thing?" Of course, a brown bag tote is my first instinct. But I'd like to think that I was more than a one trick pony, though. Oh, decisions, decisions.

As for my little cork map project, I've discovered that my sewing machine Kenmore is more than capable of sewing on cork tile. This makes my fingers very, very happy. The last time I made a cork map, I embroidered everything by hand. Let's just say my iron thimble got a lot of use.

Let's hear it for Kenmore! Yay!

Slowly coming together. You'll see...

I love being around kids and being influenced by their sense of play. It reminds me that whatever I do should always be fun and never a chore.

Make some memories......now.

(Joyce)

Enjoy life............stick a little daisy in your hat once in a while and have some fun.

I like to do just that.

(Jenny)

Take some "risks".....even if you don't have makeup on.

(Our friend Stacy)

Stop and take time to smell the flowers.......

I'm so glad I did this very thing this summer with my sister Jenny as we made new and fresh memories during

"The Tales of Two Sisters"

You might want to try the same thing with your sister, or your Mother, or a good friend.

I tried to all of these things while

I had the moment.

Life is a tempest....and it is unpredictable..

Enjoy it now while you can.

We never know what tomorrow holds.

Love, and live now...today.

Day Eighty Six: Taking A Step Back

Ever since I gave myself the arduous (and cathartic) task of blogging for 100 continuous days about my Mom's death and my grieving process, I've become tied to my computer.
I've written and re-written sentences that last two seconds on the screen. I've gotten up at 3 am to review comments on my blog while sitting on the bathroom floor. I've surfed youtube.com for music playlists while making dinner in the kitchen. I've shut the door to my work room and ignored pleas for snacks and play time from my kids just so I could contemplate a recipe or a craft that I had just finished. I've slept with my computer next to me on the nights Dave has been away, only to wake up every few hours to write.

Needless to say, Dave has had enough.

He towered over me last night as I hunched over my laptop, ready to upload yet another photo from my digital camera. When I sensed his presence, I looked up and saw his face. "Not happy" would be an understatement. He was disappointed, a little angry, and, above all, sad. Yes, sad. And this man is NEVER sad. So I did what any other sane person would do: I shut my computer off and followed him into the next room.

For a few hours, I was back home circa May of this year, before all the craziness ensued. We assumed our usual spots on the couch, sat on opposite sides but with our legs tangled in the middle, drank some hot tea, and talked--well, more like I listened, which I really haven't done in months. Dave talked about his work and I followed as best I could (bank stuff goes over my head, wouldn't you know). I let him make me laugh like he used to, silly inside jokes and all. We gossiped about our kids and what's going on in their lives, planning out sports and other activities for them. We discussed vacations and holidays, visits to his family in North Carolina. After I drained a second cup of tea, exhaustion came over me like a warm, fuzzy blanket. Night, night.

I slept last night for almost 8 hours, the most sleep I've gotten in a long, long time.

It's good to take a step back. Thanks, Dave.

Tony Curtis Old School Hollywood Legend Passes at 85

I had the pleasure of meeting Tony Curtis earlier this year during the TCM Movie Classic Film Festival. Anyone who loves classic movies, knows Tony Curtis. 'Some Like It Hot' is probably on the top comedy lists of all time. One of the reasons I love taking pictures and chatting with people, is I get the pleasure of meeting talents like Tony Curtis. People who made films that made Hollywood. He was as close as I will ever get to Marilyn Monroe. When I met Mr. Curtis, he still had a twinkle in his eye and was rocking some cool shades. RIP Tony Curtis. RIP.

I give you....Obamacare in 4 seconds.

RepairPal.com

Before you bring your car to a repair and maintenance shop where you can become a victim of overcharge, would it be nice to know that there is a company that can give you expert advice as to the type of repairs that your vehicle should undergo and recommend a trusted and reliable repair shop that can do the necessary repairs. Just like the Phoenix auto repair shop that can take care of all the mechanical and electrical repairs of your car.

RepairPal.com also gives you a review of the performance, repair and maintenance cost of Ford Escort where you can compare the cost of the same services at other stores. This also goes true with other car and vehicle brands. RepairPal.com will give you estimates of the approximate costs of the mechanical and electrical repairs of other cars too including imported ones.

Knowing the approximate cost of spare parts such as timing belt and water pump can be heaven sent for those who are contemplating to buy these spare parts. You can be assured that you will not be overcharged for all your spare parts and other car parts purchases. Accurate and cheap cost of these and other spare parts are provided for by RepairPal.com. You can be assured that you can get the best and utmost services from RepairPal.com for all the repair and maintenance needs of your vehicles. I have heard from my friends in the US, who have availed of the services of this company, the pure satisfaction they got when they received the estimates of the repair cost of their vehicles and were referred to excellent repair shops that delivered the most excellent services they got since they started owning their own vehicles.

Obama leads his futile attempt to recharge the Democratic Party

Yesterday President Obama went a'whoring into the University of Wisconsin Madison campus, met by a throng of Obama youths reminiscent of the 2008 campaign in a hugely futile attempt at reinvigorating and re-inspiring the base for the Democrat Party.

Good luck!

Said President Obama, "I am promising you Wisconsin, change is going to come. You got to stick with me. You can't lose hope."


Geez, how patient are these people supposed to be Mr. President? Change and hope in the same line, but still non existent two years later.

According to UW-Madison Police, more than 26,500 people showed up for the rally, making it Obama's largest since the campaign. Most packed into the mall on what turned into a crisp fall night, standing shoulder-to-shoulder from Memorial Library to Park Street, while others spilled up Bascom Hill. 

They held signs that read "Moving America Forward," while every so often someone would yell out, "Obama, we love you." 

Emily Lawless, a UW-Madison junior from Lakeville, Minn., waited in line five and a half hours for the chance to see the president live.

It is still evident obvious pockets of scattered Obamabotism exist in America. But what is the one universal thing we know about Obamabots, my friends?

They are stupid.

Obamabots like these college students voted for Obama because they wanted to make history and they hated Bush. Period. They had no idea what he stood for. And if they didn't know what he stood for, they obviously have absolutely no inkling about anything even related to the 2010 Congressional elections. Youth brigade enthusiasm will not translate into votes for Democratic candidates.

To put it into perspective, even I would be excited to go see President Obama if he came to my town or campus. Why? Because I respect the office, as should all Americans.

Needless to say, The Incredible Mr. Obama blathered and babbled for 40 minutes about how everything is going to plan. My absolute favorite line though was this...

"The hole we are climbing out of is a deep one. Now is not the time to give up."


I don't know whether to burst out into uncontrollable laughter or wince and cringe in disgust at the sheer hypocrisy and backwardsness of that entire statement.

Obama is such a sorry, sorry character.

I'm afraid to say it Mr. President, but you could hold a kumbya rally like this one every day in every state from now until election day and it still wouldn't put a dent in the awesome losses your party will endure.

In fact, I would prefer Obama go back into campaign mode like he did yesterday. Everything the man touches fails, including every Democratic candidate he has campaigned for since he became President.

Here are a few pictures from the day's events...

Used with collectors edition Obama youth kiddie chalk. Available at a DNC office near you!

There's the guy! 

God showing the boy king who is boss. Or is that a massive cloud of debt??

"Anyone who wants to be an idiot and vote for me a second time, line up right here...."

"Bwaaaga, blahggesa, Oba-aaa-ama, goobala, blawaga, Obaaaama, freeee health care, waar over, goooga, booga Bama..........."

It was a productive day for the President.

Michael Bolton Meets Up With Some Heroes

Before rushing into DWTS's practice recently, Michael Bolton took time to meet up with some Firefighting fans...

Chelsie Hightower Talks Michael Bolton

I asked Chelsie Hightower before the premiere of this season's DWTS about her new partner Michael Bolton...

Brian McKnight Tribute to Michael Jackson

A sweet tribute by Brian McKnight for MJ during a performance at the Grove for Breast Cancer Awareness...

George Lopez Signs On For Divorce

After 17 years of marriage and his wife donating a kidney to the comic, George and Ann Lopez are heading for a divorce. Marriage and business doesn't always mix.

Michael Bolton Joins David Hasselhoff

Tough break for crooner Michael Bolton who was voted off during the 2nd week of Dancing With The Stars with partner Chelsie Hightower. Hopefully being on the show will garner Bolton some positive attention as well as record sales.

Janelle Monet Dazzles on DWTS

I saw this dazzling girl backstage at the Fabulous Grace Jones concert at the Hollywood Bowl 2009. I forgot to get her name. But I remember Grace being very happy to meet her. It seems Janelle is the Next Big Thing. So good to see her and find out her name by watching her perform on Dancing With The Stars...

Paul Wall Staying Relevant By Beating Someone Up

I may have to fear for my life after posting this. When did giving someone the middle finger cause a beat down during a concert? I wish I could beat up everyone who ever said something negative towards me. But that would be immature, reckless and against the law. Luckily all the times I've given the middle finger, I've never been assaulted. I really don't give the middle finger that much, Mom if you are reading this. Anyway, Paul Wall a rapper that I didn't know that much about when he came to visit LA a few months ago (until someone said the White Rapper with the Grillz) was seen giving a concert goer a beat down with his microphone after the fan gave him the bird recently. Now Paul Wall's name is all over the net. There is no police report so, was it another staged event for publicity? If so it is working.

Day Eighty Five: Progress

Yo, Brooklyn!

Still feeling crappy today, but made some progress on my little map project.

Here is where the cork tile comes in.
I cut out sections of the map out of cork tile according to major streets outlined in red.

The parts are then reassembled on the original map
which I spray-mounted onto a piece of 1/8-inch piece of plywood.

I'll continue to hash this thing out tomorrow. Stay tuned...

Packers safety Nick Collins alleges racial slur yelled by fan

Packers’ Collins confronts fan after loss to Bears

NFL officials are investigating a confrontation between Green Bay Packers safety Nick Collins(notes) and a fan after Monday night’s loss to the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field.


Spokesman Greg Aiello tells The Associated Press the league is “in the process of reviewing all the facts.”


Milwaukee’s WITI-TV aired video footage in which Collins is seen yelling at a fan as he left the field. Collins then appears to throw his mouthpiece into the stands. According to the station’s report, Collins said the fan spit on him and used a racial slur. WITI says Collins apologized for “losing his cool.”

Sounds strangely similar to the "Spittle-gate" allegations against the Tea Party!

Obama's War on Fox News

It is no surprise that we continue to see immature and unpresidential behavior emanating from Hussein. It could be in the form of an inferior bow to a foreign leader, an appearance on an irrelevant platform such as 'The View', a mispronunciation of the word 'corpseman', an inability to throw a baseball correctly, and in many cases an attack on an American media entity.

Yes, PRESIDENT Obama is still a crying about little old Fox News. This time, he is saying Fox News is "destructive to America."

In a more than 8,000-word interview with Rolling Stone Magazine, Obama compared the cable news channel to papers owned by William Randolph Hearst at the turn of the 20th century that unabashedly pushed the media titan's own political views.

Let's take a trip down irony lane, shall we? If I recall, the 2008 presidential campaign was one filled with complete, unabashed bias in favor of the boy king's campaign. There was an absolute disappearance of objective reporting. Everyone knows this. Sometimes, it appeared as if reporters from such networks as MSNBC, CBS, CNN, and ABC actually worked for the Obama campaign. Let's look at the numbers Mr. Obama:

From Journalism.org's findings...

Take a look at another study from the Center for Media and Public Affairs from George Mason University. They went through 585 network stories between August 23rd and September 30th, 2008 and found Obama had 65% favorable coverage compared to a dismal 36% for McCain. They called it, "Obama-mania".

For CBS, 73% of comments were favorable towards Obama. 31% towards McCain. NBC was 56% for Obama and 16% for McCain. ABC 57% for Obama and 42% for McCain.

The Project for Excellence in Journalism found that MSNBC was almost entirely for Obama (surprise, surprise!). 73% of their coverage of the election was negative towards the McCain campaign while just 14% was negative towards Obama.

And what did they say about Fox News? 40% were negative towards McCain, and 40% negative towards Obama. How about that?

Let's not even get into the treatment of Sarah Palin.

The irony here is amazing. This current President owes the media his current position. They handed it to him a silver platter. The American media was the gasoline that kept the Obama campaign running, and they were proud of it. Yet, our president has the audacity to attack a news outlet for media bias. Why? Because they have the guts to question his anti Capitalist, quasi-Marxist policies for America. How dare they?

Yes, we all know Fox News is biased. They lean right because the country leans right. Which is why they kill in the ratings. It's good business. And it is obviously getting under the boy king's skin. He's like the immature, newly crowned Ceasar in the film Gladiator, crying about criticism.

He'll have a lot more to cry about in a month.

Mike The Situation Sorrentino Is He Taking DWTS Seriously

The Situation was late for rehearsals for this season of Dancing With The Stars. If Mike Sorrentino wants to last, that is a situation that needs to be corrected stat. This season of DWTS is fierce and it looks like Jennifer Grey and Derek Hough are the front runners. Here is a clip of the Jersey Shore star showing up late to one of his first rehearsals...

The Hoff Was The First Elimination on DWTS, Who Is Next?

Here's David Hasselhoff seen leaving Dancing With The Stars Rehearsal after a grueling day before being eliminated...

After tonight who will be joining The Hoff on the sidelines?

Bears Packers rivalry lives up to its legacy yet again.

The rivalry between the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers is perhaps the greatest rivalry in American pro sports in my opinion. The two winningest teams in pro football and also two of the oldest, most hallowed franchises in the NFL deserve and demand the respect of any football fan.

Last night we saw yet another barnburner between the two enemies, as always is, and I'm proud to say my underdog Monsters of the Midway emerged victorious. There is really no other purpose for this post other than to say....

DA BEARSSSS!

(Oh, and I won $50 after everyone told me they had no chance.)

Day Eighty Four: Trouble

Working on my latest map project.

I'm feeling a little under the weather.
So instead of starting on a new project, I've been tinkering with an old map project that I will hopefully finish before my kids graduate from high school. (Yeah, that's like, in 8 years.)

You can't tell from the picture, but there's cork tile and sewing involved---which might be why I haven't finished. Or really started. I am still working on the map stencil, line by freakin' line...

I listened to a lot of Ray LaMontagne this afternoon, a man who always sounds like he's in pain. Kinda like Joe Cocker, but in a good way, if that's possible. This song "Trouble" is one of my favorites, so add it to my Mixed Tape.


Ray LaMontagne/Trouble

Sunday Night Football.....In Spanish!

Don't know if any of you greedy, lazy, arrogant, Capitalist, American football fans watched the Sunday night feature between the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets last night but if you did, I'm sure you noticed the little "change" in the wording on the screen. "Futbol Americano"? "Jets de Nueva York"? "Dolphins de Miami?" Commercials in Spanish?

Apparently this month is Hispanic Heritage Month.

If that's the case, I encourage NBC to broadcast the rest of their games this month in Spanish, with Spanish speaking commentators and pinata shows at halftime. Then, we'll see how their ratings go.

Hack Wilson turns 1 today

Exactly one year ago today I launched this blog, merely as a way to vent my political frustrations regarding the current administration and state of world affairs. Never did I imagine it would grow as it has. Hack Wilson has been viewed over 31,000 times in over 108 countries. I'm very grateful to you the reader as well as several of my fellow bloggers who have helped me along the way. I look forward to more blogging in the future!

A shout out to...

Left Coast Rebel
Conservative Perspective
What Makes Us Right
Fredd Spews
Western Hero
Proof Positive
Right Klik
Midknight Review
Conservative Unclogged Blog
The Conservative Lady
Teresamerica
Fuzzy Logic
DeanO
Zion Beckons

By the time Hack Wilson turns two, I fully expect a conservative supermajority in Congress, and the repeal of Obamacare completely. Too much to ask?

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Day Eighty Three: Maker Faire NYC Part Two

ArcAttack !

Okay, I'm completely exhausted from my two days of exploring Maker Faire. So I'll simply share a few more photos and give my full report tomorrow. Cheers!

Can you see the guy wearing the metal clothes and playing with a little lightning?

He makes music, too. Yeah, he's pretty cool.

This little ride is called Jet Ponies. The two brave people being hurled in a mighty centrifuge
have sound reduction ear muffs on. This thing is LOUD!

360 degree swing. Yesterday, two guys were on this while sipping from cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon.
They must have read the sign that said "Safety Third."

In What Way Can We Contribute To The Betterment Of This World By Becoming The Salt Of The Earth?

In what way can we contribute to the betterment of this world by becoming the salt of the earth?

Matthew McConaughey Dons Black Skull Mask As He Directs Country Music Video On Hollywood

Matthew McConaughey was on the Down Low on Hollywood Blvd recently trying to hide the fact that he was himself. Just look at the same shorts he is wearing as well as the biceps not to mention some of the same crew members are around him as they were on last Saturday when I photographed him