I really like this picture of my Gramma surrounded by my four sisters, which is one of the many old slides I converted to digital format this past summer. This was shot on our back porch during the period when, I think, the kitchen was being remodeled-- so the porch was our makeshift kitchen/dining room. Anyone else remember that?
I might've posted this one once before, but it's been long enough I thought I'd put it up again. This was from the Fourth of July, 2006-- though it seems like only yesterday.
“If we take eternity to mean not infinite 
I have the impression that, aside from the Skipper, the Powerful Katrinka may be the best-remembered denizen of Toonerville all these years after the strip's demise. It's not hard to see why that might be.
"The past itself, as historical change
This past Saturday I drove up to the Helena area for the day, and spent part of it out on the upper Missouri taking pictures around Hauser Lake (a wide section of the river created by a dam). 
As you can see, it was a crystal clear morning in the sky and on the water, and there were just a few boats with fishermen on the lake (see below).
Of course, there were some other "fishers" watching for the tell tale splash of a potential lunch as well.
“I can't tell you what art does and how it does it, but I know that often art has judged the judges, pleaded revenge to the innocent and shown to the future what the past suffered, so that it has never been forgotten. Art, when it functions like this, becomes a meeting-place of the invisible, the irreducible, the enduring, guts, and honor.”
I'm into that season when my movie-going options are kind of limited. First of all, I have to drive for a couple of hours just to get to a place where there are more than two screens to choose from; then, the selection is further whittled down because I saw most of the summer releases of interest back east, and they are only now showing up out here. So I'm stuck, when I have the urge to see something, with unattractive options like Columbiana and Our Idiot Brother. But at least in the case of the latter, my low expectations probably worked to the advantage of the film, which turned out to be somewhat more interesting and thoughtful than I expected. The titular character isn't really so much an idiot as someone who has decided to live his life giving everyone else the benefit of the doubt, always assuming their intentions are basically good and giving them support whether they deserve it or not. This inevitably leads him to do idiotic things, since very few people (including his three sisters to varying degrees) view things with the same sunny perspective. So what we get is a simple little morality play as the brother's chosen path of open acceptance begins to positively influence and reshape the more selfish aspects of his siblings' lives. It's certainly not great, but entertaining largely because of the performances of charming actors like Paul Rudd, Zooey Deschanel, Elizabeth Banks, Rashida Jones, and Adam Scott. In a way, it kind of restores my faith in the hippy ethic-- or as Nick Lowe put it "what's so funny 'bout peace, love, and understanding?" One answer is this movie, but it's a nice, reassuring kind of funny.
“When men are most sure and arrogant
I recently got a news fixed focal length lens for my camera and wanted to try it out. So this evening after school I went over to the local "ghost town" of Bannack to see how it would work in the evening light. Here are four pictures that I think turned out pretty good.
The lens seems to take pretty sharp images, and has nice depth of field (keeping things in focus both near and far in the same picture). 
It also seems like the colors are a bit more brilliant, though I don't know if that's the lens or the low light of the setting sun. Anyway, I'm happy with the early returns, and look forward to experimenting some more with the new addition to my kit.
"I can do no other than be reverent before 
Well, what do you know-- it is possible to get a great cup of soup in Montana without going to some swanky expensive restaurant. At a fairly nondescript, out-of-the-way place called Steve's Diner in Helena yesterday I had a cup that rivaled the best of Fables in its heyday. What made it especially surprising is that it was a variation on one of the most boringly ubiquitous varieties that I typically avoid. But given no choice, I went with the Chunky Cream of Tomato and it was outstanding. This was a subtly sweet and creamy concoction with plentiful chunks of tomato, celery and onion, all stewed to a perfect texture: not mushy and not crunchy, but just right. It actually restores my faith in the idea that one can make a great tomato soup, something I'd long since figured must be impossible. To find it in a place I've driven by a hundred times without stopping fills me with regret at the missed opportunities, but you can bet I'll be going back the next time I'm in the capital city. I sure hope this wasn't a fluke.
What with school starting this past week, I thought it might be time for a visit to the classroom and students of Miss Peach. Created by the cartoonist Mell Lazarus, I remember the color version of this strip as a mainstay of the Saturday afternoon edition of the Buffalo Evening News back when I was kid in the sixties, which is the period when these first appeared. Enjoy.
"There is no good arguing with the inevitable.
