Better Sheck (With apologies to Deanna Falls)

When our boys were young, this phrase was endearing because more than once a younger, more reckless (shall we say) brother would plan to do something and he would hear "Better Sheck", which of course was an indication from a wiser, older brother that before he did something he would regret, he had better check with us (the parents). No I didn't spell it incorrectly, but am attempting to let you into the voice of a wise, very young man. Why did that come to my mind today? If you read my most recent post, you know that I was debating with myself about checking to see what Deanna Falls said in the commercial. As you also know, I didn't check but went with what I thought I heard. Today I checked in at Luther Falls place in Champaign (It is only a block from Lil Porgys.) Deanna wasn't there, but I went ahead and related my story to the 2 young folks who were in charge at the time. I started by asking if they had heard the commercial; they hadn't ..... hmmmm.  (Well the young lady had only worked there for 3-4 days. I then said, "I'm not sure if she said "box" or "fox"... He said, "Oh, I'm sure it was box because box cabinets are cabinets ...... (I think he said less than 3 feet wide, but I'm not sure)... Well here is a site that backs up his story and shows me that I should have checked this before posting my blog.. (BETTER SHECK)
 box cabinets

 Both of them also knew that faux is pronounced pho and were sure Deanna knew that also... So only the Hampton's lady is at fault. Obviously, I haven't learned my lesson yet. I am assuming that Deanna's last name is Falls, because I think she is married to "Luther Jr.).... Oh,, here i go again. Now I need to go back and check that fact (or fiction). I can hear her now, saying "who is this guy and why doesn't he get off my back"... Sorry Deanna, I'll drop it here.

Did I slip another one by you or did you wonder why I said it was pronounced "pho" not "fo".... While we are playing the pronunciation game, how do you pronounce "pho". If you're part of the "hip hop culture", you surely pronounce it FO, like phat, etc. but if you're up on the Vietnamese soup that has become popular the past few years, especially in the western USA, you will know that pho is not pronounced "fo", but some version of "fa"... No wonder we are confused with our pronunciations. "faux" is pronounced "pho" and "pho" is pronounced "fa"; well, sort of. Here is some help if you want to pronounce it correctly. Be sure to go down to where it says "Wikipedia pronunciation" and "my pronunciation" so you can hear it in the many forms.

Pronouncing pho  Thanks to a friend from the Denver area for the picture .

OK, I will now close this post with probably another error in judgement... I can hear our boys, saying "better sheck"... but I am again throwing caution to the wind. Today, on  wwhp, I heard Shemekia Copeland singing "Lemon Pie".. I haven't been able to find printed lyrics, but unless these old ears are deceiving me again, I think she is expressing how I feel each time I pay another estimated tax payment.. Hopefully, someone will correct me if I'm wrong. Although I can't complain, I do feel some of the "luster" is taken off my extra work and must think a lot of it is going for no good for anyone... I think that's what she is saying?????? At least I live in a country where I can choose to work, although I would rather have the choice to be generous rather than a "caucus of crows" deciding where it goes.  (Anyone want to make a song from that? 

Oh, here's the song. I really like the black and white version with Shemekia and the band in the park.

Lemon Pie

Fall, Faux, and maybe a few Funnies

We'll start with belated fall images. Although we have had a few fall decorations up for a while, our local trees are just starting to show nice color. I've seen so many gorgeous tree pictures from around the country that I won't bore you with ours. We finally got our freezing temps, so the zinnias have bit the dust and only a few hearty roses remain in color. We did pick up a few pumpkins and gourds to sit around. With Halloween looming in the near future, I think we must declare summer over.

Looking out the kitchen window

Looking in the kitchen window

Under the maple tree

Beautyberry in it's glory (with a few nasturtiums)

Cleomes replacing the irises

Marigolds and catmint

 Chokecherry berries

Coneflowers ready to feed the birds

Faux; how do YOU pronounce that? If you've been watching any decorating shows, you have heard the word quite a bit lately, though it's been around for a while. If you've read any of my stuff, you know that I get pretty worked up about using words correctly (though I make my share of errors). One of my pet peeves is advertisers who are reading script and have no idea what they are saying. Since our local Famous Dave's has closed down, I no longer have to endure "Dave" messing up the emphasis in the line; "what makes me Famous"..., emphasizing "famous" rather than "me" which buries the intent of the message. (You have to hear it). ......  however we now have a local auto dealership who's ad sends me up the wall each time I hear it. They used to say "From forty nine ninety five (4995) to 40,995" emphasizing the first 9, not the 40 the second time so you really had to pay attention to get the point. I know the "editors" or "owners" never listened to it because recently it is "From 3995 to 30,995" with the same incorrect emphasis. It is tough to make the point in print because it is emphasis and inflection on both the auto and Famous Dave's ads. I am just amazed that someone is paying someone to mess this up, then paying to have it played over and over on the radio and don't get the point that their message really is not getting out...... and nerds like me actually get ticked every time we hear it. If I haven't lost you here, let's get back to Faux...... It's a French word meaning false or fake.... It's make believe. So a "faux finish" is a finish that makes the material look like something that it isn't. Back in the 60's we called it "antiquing".  So here is the pronunciation: faux pronounced.  I'll bet you knew that, right? Well over the past year a couple of local establishments have attempted to use the word in their radio ads. Did I ever mention that I listen to a lot of talk radio (not political if I can help it)? Hamptons is a nice central Illinois kitchen and design place hamptons kitchens-cabinets. Now again supposedly the lady in the ad is one of the designers at Hamptons and she is talking about cabinets and she mentions "FOX" finishes... Now do you think she is talking about foxes???  I don't think so. Making the translation between radio and print, please understand that she is pronouncing faux as "fox" not "fo". How in the world does this person not know what this old farm boy veterinarian knows about her finishes.... aaarrrggghhh!!!!! I'm not done yet. The next story is about the Luther Falls radio ad where Dave Loane who announces the Illini baseball, and women's basketball and volleyball games as well as doing sports on the WDWS morning show is conducting a folksy interview with Deanna from that company about their stone countertops and cabinets. During the interview, maybe my old ears aren't hearing right and she is saying "Box" cabinets, but I think it sounds like "fox"... I must admit that I'm influenced by the Hamptons lady.  What makes this one important is that for years when  Luther Falls was selling stone out by I 74, I bought a lot of stone from Deanna, so I know she is for real and not a paid "actor". Here's their site; luther falls site. So there I am listening to Dave Loane do his cute little interview with Deanna and I'm getting all warm and fuzzy cause I'm so used to listening to Dave and I have written many checks to Deanna in that little trailer out by the stone yard before they became Kitchens; when BAM she drops the "FOX" word on me. I haven't completely ruled out dropping bye and asking her if she is saying box cabinets cause I really don't want to have to have her look up FAUX to have her computer pronounce the word for her.  If she is pronouncing faux as "fox", I'm also upset that Dave, a man of the world is letting her get away with it right there in the radio station studio where they make a living on WORDS... Oh, I feel so much better now.

Now hang on. If you know me, although I am a believer in Jesus Christ, the incarnate Living God who endured the cross, died and rose again by the power of the Holy Spirit to allow us intimate access to God the Father, ........reverence is not one of my strong suits. If you don't know me and haven't figured that out, you haven't read enough of my blog posts. It's not something to brag about, and I would say "I'm workin on it", but probably not very hard. I have surely stepped "over the line" more than once and offended someone. Honestly, I don't want to offend, but I do find some things (like the word "fart") to be a bit humorous. So put the kids to bed and go on if you dare. I'll start with a couple of songs from utube that you may have heard. I'll simply title their links as "song 1" and "song 2". Song 1    Song 2

If you're still with me, let's move on to something a bit more intellectual. This summer I was working at Purdue and we were dealing with a nearly drowned patient which Dr. Larry Hoscheit researched. I can't take any credit for this one. Larry even made the connection to our "reality". At this point, I must ask anyone who may attend a seminar by Dr. Hoscheit to stop here because I'm sure he will somehow weave this into his seminar and I don't want to spoil it for him.  However I have used the resultant phrase many times, but didn't know there was a medical basis. Check this out.

Larry found a reference in the 1996 Journal of Emergency Medicine quoting that in 1767, the Dutch Humane Society published the following recommendations for treating a drowning victim; "keep the victim warm, remove swallowed or aspirated water, give mouth-to-mouth respiration, and perform insufflation of smoke of burning tobacco into the rectum"... Yes, you read it correctly; Blow Smoke up their Butt!!! Who knew that 9 years before this country was founded, there was medical precidence for what elected officials are doing to the American citizenry as we are drowning in national debt today?

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May His face smile upon you and give you peace.

Decisions

Making decisions is a lifelong endeavor. Sometimes they are lifechanging and sometimes they are trivial. Sometimes they are very easy to make and sometimes they are heart wrenching. The secret, I believe is to keep perspective. You have surely heard the saying, "Don't sweat the small stuff; and it's all small stuff."  I would agree that most of it is small stuff. Obviously those most successful in making decisions are those who have been able to line up those decisions with their destiny (Jeremiah 29:11). Recently (check date of post) those of us who spend any time watching television (at least in the midwest) have come to pretty much disdain a certain guru who is training some gullible kid in making meaningful decisions. Steak and Shake.


The other morning, I had finished my "bidness" in a clean public restroom and was faced with a decision. I realized as I contemplated my choices, that I had been at this same crossroads many times before and had made different decisions, depending on my mood at the time. When I was feeling conservative, which is most of the time, I found that I choose to help finish the nearly used one. When I felt tidy (not often), I would choose to use the one that someone had left hanging down, so it would be neat for the next person. On the rare occasion when I felt selfish and in an "I deserve the best" mood, I would open a new one. If you haven't peeked at the picture yet, you might be wondering just what decision was causing me such concern.  It's like when you are in your own bathroom and there hangs a clean, folded towel, a brand new unused towel, and a rumpled, but dry one that has only been used a couple of times to dry hands. Which one do you choose??? And more importantly, why do you make that choice? I have been known to skip that particular decision and wipe my hands on my pants as I leave. When you are driving on an interstate highway and approach an intersection behind a slightly slower vehicle. Do you go ahead and pass that car so you don't have to disengage your cruise control, or do you wait til you are through the cloverleaf area so you don't "trap" that driver in the right lane? I find that I am one of the few who pay attention to where I am while driving. I do lay back so that the other driver can get into the left lane to make room for merging vehicles in the right lane. I do believe that is the courteous thing to do and remember that is actually what the "Rules of the Road" or whatever other driving instruction you may use tells us to do.. However, I am overwhelmed at the number of times I am the driver in the right lane and some jerk comes whizzing by me or rides my left rear fender so I can't get over to make room for vehicles trying to merge onto the highway. I don't say this so you think I am such a wonderful guy; only to remind anyone to be courteous when making those decisions.
Which brings us back to the original proposed decision. Next time you are ready for it, stop and think about why you chose the one you chose... That should make the next person waiting to use the "facility" a little more uncomfortable as you ponder the important things of life.

July Flowers 2013

The joy of perennial gardening is to see each new wave of blooms come forth as the past one fades away. Now in mid July, the first wave of roses and even the hollyhocks recently posted have faded along with the first crop of lavender blooms. To replace them, the Russia Sage is now in full bloom in back and out front, the tall garden flox, taller than they've ever been, are strutting their stuff along with various lilies. The coneflowers and blanket flowers are blowing away the few daisies that remain. and the first little tomato is red, just waiting to give that burst of juicy pleasure.  Nasturtiums are hanging in there, waiting to adorn a salad and the zinnias are just beginning to take over their spot in the continuum.
The neet thing about posting here is that now I can roll through the different posts to enjoy compare the ever changing beauty of gardening.

Blooms of Spring 2013 Ushering in Summer

June 20:

Glorious Hollyhocks

Yarrow

See the Bumblebee gathering pollen?

Lavender, Roses, and Lilies

Blanket Flowers

Coreopsis

Honeybee circled in upper right.

Sage just beginning to bloom.