Six Word Saturday

Six Word Saturday Time:

My 6: I haven't forgot how to blog!

It's not that I've been super busy, I really haven't been. It's not that I haven't had anything to blog about, Lucyisms still abound here and there's always plenty of things for me to tell you. It isn't like I said I wouldn't blog while the White Sox were on their current hot streak. If I did, who knows when I'd blog again. The truth is if it wasn't for the kind transmission by my wife on Monday, I would have maintained blog silence for a week.

Blogging just hasn't been my bread and butter this summer. I am gearing up to teach a blogging class this fall at our home school co-op. So, I actually have been working on blogging on the down low. More on that later.
I am also trying to get use to the keyboard on my new laptop and I keep on typing my new words in the middle of my old ones.

I hope all is well for my readers, if I have any left. I will be back to blogging with abandon soon.
Head on over to See my face dot com to check out more six word Saturday.

Next Time: Toy Story to 3-D and beyond!

All Heart

4 weeks left till school starts
Dave is out helping people today, so I thought I'd take this moment to infiltrate his blog. Shh...don't tell him. Dave is all heart. When anyone needs ANYTHING, he is right there to help out, to give of himself. His dad broke his shoulder this week, so he needed some help on a household project he was working on. Then the Illinois floods came and ruined the basement of his sister-in-law. So today Dave is taking time to shuttle between places to do some grunt work. Dave is not a fix-it man, but that doesn't matter. He is all heart. You need something, I'm there. That's his attitude. While we'll miss hanging out with him today, we are thankful that he's out there, helping people who really need it. We love you Dave!
Amy/HSD's wife

Local Anesthesia?

It is time once again for six word Saturday over at show my face dot com. Today's Six:

Think Local. Drink Local. GPS Needed.

There are many unusual things about me. Here are just a few that relate to today's rant.

1) I listen to the radio quite often.
2) I pay attention to the commercials.
3) I notice discrepancies between fact and error (in advertisements and other programming.)
4) When I notice these discrepancies or abnormalities, I talk back to the radio as if it could hear me.


While I am for the most part a Chicago White Sox fan, I listen to quite a few Chicago Cubs games. A long time sponsor of Chicago Cubs baseball is Old Style Beer. For the past few years Old Style has had the advertising catch phrase: Think Local. Drink Local. They have had several different radio ads over the past few years but the idea is to tie in the Old Style product with being authentically Chicago.

This is not a bad idea, as I have been following the Cubs since the early 70's and Old Style has been connected to the team and the broadcasts as far back as I remember.

The thing that gets to me is at the end of the commercial after they have made the whole think local, drink local, pitch they announce the name of the company and where there company is from: G Heileman Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Hey! So, let's get this straight. Chicago Cubs fans should think local and drink local by buying beer from a company in a different state?

This year, the ads have been about how to "Kraeusen (the sytematic way Old Style is brewed)" different Chicago institutions. The idea is that since Kraeusening makes Old Style better, the ads tell how to make other typically Chicago things like 16-inch softball better. So when these commercials come on, I usually talk back to the radio and say: here is how I would Kraeusen this commercial, I wouldn't talk about how great it is to be local and then say: "Hey, we're not even from here."

One of the first years this campaign was on the radio, the Cubs and the Milwaukee Brewers fought for the lead in the division almost all Summer. Ironically, the company championing being local had their offices in a town where most of their residents were cheering against the Cubs.

The crazy thing is I don't drink alcohol at all. So Why does a non-beer-drinking Sox fan get all worked up about beer commercials primarily played during Cubs games? If I could answer that question, my therapy bills would be so much lower.

Now that you know that I think loco, head back to Six Word Saturday at Show my face dot com.

Things Fortnightly

I am a few book reviews behind and have decided that these reviews will be my "things" for this edition of things fortnightly.

Review 1: Down To The Wire By David Rosenfelt

David Rosenfelt's Andy Carpenter books are series that my wife and I enjoy very much. Down to the Wire is Rosenfelt's second foray outside the series. The result is a much more satisfying read than his previous Carpenterless contribution: Don't tell a soul.

While I still prefer the Andy Carpenter books, Down to the Wire takes some of the more evocative elements from Don't Tell a Soul and even a secondary character and creates a vibrant, humorous page turner.

Review 2: A Mountain of Crumbs by Elena Gorokhova

This book is a memoir of Soviet life from the late 1950's through the 70's. Gorkhova presents a sometimes sentimental and sometime sardonic view of growing up Russian.

Having lived in Russia from 1992 to 1994 this book really struck a chord with me. While my Russian experience was in a different continent (I lived in Far East Russia and she lived in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg ) in Europe and both Gorokhova and her mother (the 2 principal characters) in the book were both residing in New Jersey by the time my Russian adventures began, Their Russia and my Russia were eerily similar.

This enchanting memoir really swept me off my feet. Her use of the English language is much more powerful than my own and it is not her native language. I would have liked to have read more about her husband and daughter. But like most good books, you are left wanting more.

Review 3: Autumn With the Moodys by Sarah Maxwell

A few years ago I picked up this book at a home school seminar. It is the second a four book series. My daughter Emma really enjoyed it, so this Summer I read it to the whole family, a chapter at a time after dinner.

It is the story of a home school family with 4 children and a 5th on the way. This particular book follows their exploits through the season of Autumn. While the book is based on the author's own family, it reads like a fiction in comparison to our own family. The children get along with each other and are generally obedient and compliant.

I was actually pretty surprised that all 3 of my kids like the book when our own life is so different than theirs. I would highly recommend this book, but be prepared if your family doesn't stack up. Another feature of a good book is that it leaves you wanting more for yourself.

Those are all the things I have for today. If you would like to share your things link them below.

Next Time: A rant about a beer commercial