Antiques Roadshow
Thanks for the guest post by Donn Schroeder
My all time favorite show has come back for its sixteenth season, I watch it on my Dish net. The show is “Antique’s Roadshow”. I can’t believe how long that it has been around! I remember watching it when I was a little girl. I love watching it for an hour every Monday.
When I was younger, I always watched it with my parents. Now that I am older, I discuss it with my parents when we talk on the phone on Tuesday nights.
So last night, the beginning of the sixteenth season, there was something really exciting that happened. A little old man brought in a collection of antique Rhino tusks. Apparently Rhino tusks are revered in Asian culture, as they are expected to cure many different diseases.
The little man found out that his collection was worth one to one and a half million dollars. The little man said, “I don’t have asthma, but right now I need an inhaler! I just can’t believe it!” It was one of the better appraisals that I have ever seen.
Uncategorized | Comment (0)Happy Vision Day!
There were several fellows that had the name of Valentine, or Valentinus, several of whom were martyrs. It gets a little confusing, understandably, in regards to who did what. Just maybe, when you are stewing over your lack of a sweetheart, you really ARE celebrating things in the spirit of St. Valentine, merely a different one.
First, there was Valentine, the Bishop of Interamna. This fellow was the first religious officiant to marry a Christian woman and a man who was pagan-born. The was martyred on February 14th, and is general the patron St. of marriage.
And THEN, there was another Valentine, who was a priest in Rome. When Claudius canceled all marriages believing that men would not join the army if they had families, Valentine defied him and married people anyways. He was subsequently imprisoned and was executed on February 14th of 270-ish. Before then, he befriended the jailer’s blind daughter, Julia. In a final message to her, he signed “From Your Valentine,” but not before restoring her sight.
Therefore, one of the most apt gifts for Valentine’s Day would be eyeglasses, right? Or how about shouting “Happy Vision Day!”
Uncategorized | Comment (0)Military Families Lose Provider; Discount Program Available
This post brought to you by Walgreens. All opinions are 100% mine.
When someone is tangled in red tape and can't get their ketaconazole to pacify their eczema or salicylic acid for their warts, they can't be the most devastatingly attractive Gent or Gent-ette they can be. They still might be, but they won't feel like it thinking they have to cover their faces. All the hassle makes my skin itch just thinking about it.
Whenever anyone makes that challenging family life more difficult, especially to those with family separated by deployment, it really frosts my chain (is that even an idiom?)
Woohoo – a double whammy of button pushing. My quill has been dipped. Where can I scribble off a well-deserved verbal missive? A howler might do. 100,000 military families have already already signed a proclamation. It really was a petition, but "proclamation" has a more colonial-era patriotic nostalgia to it.
Apparently, Express Script, which acts as the middle man to Tricare, the prescription service used by the US Military, has pulled out of allowing patients to fill their prescriptions at Walgreens. With Walgreens and Express Script no longer having an agreement, families will face purchasing their medications at out of network prices or scrambling to find another pharmacy. Express wanted to reclassify medications as brand name that Walgreens offers to everyone as generic. For the latest news on that, "Like" Walgreens on Facebook for postings, follow Walgreens on Twitter.
For the time being, the Walgreens Prescription Savings Club is offered at a mere $5 per individual and $10 per family if you sign up by January 31st. It can help ease the transition, as well as possibly offer medications at a reduced rate, particularly if generics fly your carpet. By the way, the family pet is eligible, too, so long as the medication has a human equivalent.
Plus Size Fashion: Basics and Tips – (USA Made)
While I enjoy the latest fads to walk down the run way, readers know we have a special place in the left breast pocket for vintage goods. Another love is products made right here in the USA. It is easy to find artisan made clothing and items from one-off independent designers, but every day staples get to be a challenge, especially if the T-shirts with “American” in their name, notably still made here, are out of your size range. Clothing, except for plus size pants, which can be made to specific measurements, is difficult to merely just make bigger. In other items, darts, pleats and the overall design must be reimagined.
Blouse House is one of the rare plus size clothiers that manufacture their garments in the US, offering a range of plus size tops, dresses and pants in sizes up to 7x. The styles are fairly conservative. You won’t see any body bearing pinup fashions here, but you will fine staples appropriate for the office as well as patterned tops and swimwear.
Fashion Tips for Sizes 3x and Up:
- Go up a size if the bust, waist or hips are too large for the garment measurements, even if the garment fits perfectly elsewhere. Take the garment in an inch or two at the areas of smaller measurement to avoid volumes of extra fabric. If it is the right measurements but the button pulls very slightly in the bust and the darts don’t lay at the right spot, the brassiere could be the wrong size rather than the shirt
Plus size tunics are more forgiving in the bust and stomach. To carry off the look without looking like you are wearing a tent, the sleeves must be tailored to fit. Hem up cuffs, move a button, or even take the garment in at the shoulder seam. A detailed collar such as a mandarin collar often flatters more than a wide round neckline.
- Horizontal stripes are universally shunned, although a thin pinstripe that does not appear until the viewer is close does not distort the body. A bold woman can pull off wide bold stripes if it absolutely fits a flamboyant personality, but not on top AND bottom…that goes for anyone of any size.
- Even if you are plus sized, don’t fool yourself that you don’t have a basic body shape. Not all plus size women are apple shaped. Follow other fit recommendations for hourglass, apple or pear figures and look for those cuts. A tunic that hangs from the bust may equalize an apple figure or a very straight figure, but does not flatter an hourglass-shaped woman. To create shape, creatively use layers or belts or choose garments with a tailored waist.
Sprechen Sie “Moo?”
The best way to learn a foreign language is often immersion over total route learning, after you learn the basics, of course. After all, that is how young children learn it. While my aspirations of a bullwhip toting, Ancient Sumerian speaking archeology student were quickly dashed, learning the odd language to keep the brain active interests me greatly. Where exactly can you immerse yourself without making a complete clod of yourself at a bakery where immigrants from a particular country hang out and chat? Then I thought about it – what about familiar video games, just conducted in that foreign language.
Browsergame-World has Farmerama which smells distinctly like a German-language Farmville, a mafia game and a roster of browser-based adventure games. Players can launch and play them in their browser with no downloads of the game required. Could this be a practical way of serving up language in digestible spoonfuls for reluctant students, just like slipping avocado puree into their chocolate pudding for fiber and vitamins? At least you’ll know how to converse if you meet a cow or ninja on your trip to Berlin.
Cube, Sweet Cube
This post brought to you by Contest Factory. All opinions are 100% mine.
Ah, the joys of modular living. Issues of Dwell (whoops, I mean dwell) magazine are rife with hip examples of fitting an entire bachelor pad into a broom closet and living in a glass box in the middle of the woods. The art of living in shrunken spaces is old hat for office cubicle dwellers. The cubicle – long bereft of any individuality besides a carefully pinned yellowing Doonesbury or Sally Forth cartoon – is long overdue for a reimagining.
If you are a disenchanted cubicle dweller who has long been depressed by gray carpeted walls and can't help but translate that to clutter and depression, your cries have been heard.
From now through January 31, 2012, enter the Pimp My Cube Contest and take a video of your daytime domicile for a shit at a complete makeover. The grand prize winner receives:
- A smashing new decor theme.
- A comfortable office chair. No duct tape.
- A new desk.
- A high-end computer system.
- Other luxuries such as an espresso machine and a sound system.
If you are not declared the luckiest sod, you could win a $200 gift card if you win the consolation prize. Not too shabby indeed.
To enter, all you need is a webcam or a phone video camera to tell your tragic or witty tale. The odds are really good. As of a few days ago, there was only ONE entry. Hop to it!
Quick Fit Tip from Olukai
A warm wind is blowing across the range, rustling my hair and tickling the gently tilting palm fronds. Too bad its just an overtaxed furnace and a poorly positioned terrarium near the heat register. Even so, this is the merry time of year when mere Northern Hemispherians think about the mukluks they didn’t get for Christmas, yet the clothing industry is fill tilt ahead on showing us their wares of Sandals and Flip Flops. It’s not cruel. The industry just knows we procrastinate in our thinking and must be reminded early, and it takes them awhile to bring to market what we instantly want to see in July.
Olukai Sandals makes a line of thong sandals and shoes inspired by Hawaii, though they are headquartered in California. The outsoles are made from 30% recycled materials and the packaging is made completely from recycled paper and cardboard. What’s puzzling? They only come in whole sizes. What if you wear a half size?
The company suggests that you determine size by the position and fit of the arch piece. Each sandal has an anatomical arch feature. If the arch area on both sizes fit you, choose the shoe that gives you a snug fit, or extra room, depending on what your fit preference is. After all, there is some flexibility of fit in an open sandal that is not afforded in saddle shoes or roping boots. The little toe is not as easily pinched…unless you are not giving other people appropriate personal space. Then, my friend, your toes are on their own. Ouch.
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