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You know all those great quotes that pop up on the internet every day? There are real live people who make that stuff up! Sometimes it just rolls out daily or even hourly. Sometimes, they go days without a peep. But mostly, they say way cool stuff and their friends just WAIT for it! And when it is really good, the commentary is a bit like a feeding frenzy.

Maybe you have a “friend” on your FB or Twitter account who just cracks you up or says something profound every day. Maybe you hadn’t really noticed until they went a few days without a catch-phrase. Social media has given many a forum for their talents and perhaps reshaped the ideal of what is “social”.

Sometimes it might be a bit like your diary read out loud. Perhaps it might be a veiled comment or a twist of words that makes a catchy post, well…catchy.

Whether it is Christy’s heart pouring out some tender-hearted quotations,  Stan zinging us with a certain brand of humor or Connie’s daughter describing her young life without apology, the friends on my page keep me aware that human nature is a broad category. Commentary is welcome…just please…don’t eat me alive!

Ah…Grant and Kelly…lovely to watch on the Riviera. I laugh every time she asks him if he wants a leg or a breast! She gives the thief all sorts of grief until she realizes that he is, indeed, the real thing. He is not the cat that she thought he was. She is not the kitten he mistook her for…Together, the sensual tension on the screen steams the scenes until they are ready to melt! Can’t help but laugh when the fireworks go off in the background…Same symbolism was used in another Oscar-nominated film shown a couple of weeks ago. Katharine Hepburn’s Summertime with Rossano Brazzi uses the same technique to display forbidden passions. Very goofy by today’s standards, but, like a Hitchcock method…leaves everything up to the best special effects generator ever created…the human mind.

Thanks Turner Classic Movies…It has been a month to remember!

To Catch A Thief

As a kid, Ash Wednesday in our Catholic household generally meant fried salmon patties, macaroni and cheese or fish sandwiches from Mickey D’s. While mac and cheese was passable, salmon patties and fish sandwiches were a sacrifice to actually palette. Bill The Cat had some pretty good outbursts for things he didn’t like, but I am sure they were nothing compared to my kids’ faces the first time salmon patties were mentioned.

Then, I discovered Beach Bread. Specifically, Estero Beach at Fort Myers. No meat on the plate, but that doesn’t really qualify as a sacrifice… which is not in the spirit of Ash Wednesday. My kids’ faces are much happier when faced with an open face of olive oil toasted french bread, fresh basil, mozzarella and blue cheese, fresh and thinly sliced marinated tomatoes all slipped under the broiler for just the right amount of time.

My friends at the Hail Mary Pub here in Grayson, GA have a great version that will do if you are not of a mind to make it at home or don’t have the resources to hop down to the beach on a whim. The proprietors suggest that the Beach Bread goes well with a bowl of chili and a frosty mug of amber liquid. However, that falls even further out of the category of sacrifice and we still have yet to attend Mass…

Next up, whether to “give up” something for Lent or “give more” of oneself…something to think about.

There are lots of reasons to wear purple or green, but not generally together. For whatever reason, the spirit moved me to embrace the combo and shake out my closet. I came face-to-face with some strange fashion decisions that will just have to haunt my closet a little longer-at least until I get my Spring Clean on.
The first purple piece I laid my hands on was tragically marred by what seems to be bleach. Undaunted, I stuck my head further into the closet and with a flashlight beam, located a second purple shirt. Wrinkled, but otherwise unscathed. Now that I had purple in hand, it was time to find green. I vaguely remembered a cardigan in some shade of green that had passed between my mother and me until finally landing permanently on my hangers. It did exist and was shoved into near oblivion behind a giant fleece “Let It Snow” sweatshirt. The sweatshirt must have been on clearance at some point during colder weather because this has not been the year for it so far…
Armed with my purple shirt and green cardigan, I rooted through my costume jewelry drawer and produced a purple-swirly kind of pendant that hit me as a suitable substitute for the beads I know I have, but cannot locate. (Note to self: buy beads on Ash Wednesday, put in safe spot to forget about next Fat Tuesday…)
The combo felt ridiculous, but drew at least two compliments (I love cats, you can make stuff up that you are sure they would say if they could only speak English…).
Finally, I paired it up with some green-dangling earrings and went out to see if anyone else had made the effort to purge their closet before heading out. While it wasn’t the sexiest outfit ever, I did feel festive and am now in the mood to begin considering the Lenten Season, but first, I think I will go see if anyone has marked down their King Cakes yet…I’m dressed for it!

Hearts Abound
Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Hearts on fire, hearts broken, hearts in the hospital, hearts on doors, in bags, on candy, earrings, necklaces and shirts…dapper purple-shirted men escorting matching babes in arms, tender-hearted and strong principals with principles sporting heart-covered red ties, red-scrubbed nurses patching as needed and mending where broken, dads showing up with cellophane-wrapped chocolates thereby bailing out sons who were unschooled (until they called from the front office) in the hearts of third-grade girlfriends…heartbeats measured on machines-just a child’s size, teacher hearts watching the fiesta while monitoring for signs of heartbreak,

 grandmothers baking heart-shaped after-school traditions,  friends grieving for those lost, praying for those struggling and rejoicing with those who have the best of their hearts, Harts working hard for hearts for teachers, love and childhood winning out one more day against the pressure to perform,

St. Valentine watching-amused.