I continue to try to take photos of the moon with my iPhone 15 and it never works well.
I could clearly see the partial lunar eclipse with my eyes last night, but the photos don’t show it. (Well, maybe a tiny bit in the second one, but you have to zoom in.)
I’m always impressed with the great moon shots that Kevin at The Beginning at Last is able to get with his phone.
Now that I have apparently answered all the WordPress Daily Prompts, I feel left out. I enjoyed responding and reading other bloggers’ responses to the Daily Prompts for many months in 2023 & 2024. But alas, nothing lasts forever. I’ll just have to come up with my own blog topics now.
Did anybody watch the Emmys on Sunday night? My husband hates awards shows, but I’m like how can you not watch them, when we watch so much TV? It’s like seeing all your old friends at a party.
The best line of the night came near the beginning of the show when father and son cohosts Eugene & Dan Levy referred to it as “broadcast TV’s biggest night for honoring movie stars on streaming services.” So true! What the heck is Meryl Streep doing at the Emmys? GenXers grew up in a time when TV was TV and movies were movies.
Speaking of GenX, our best moment of the night was when Ron Howard (Ritchie) and Henry Winkler (Fonzie) came out together—on a recreated Happy Days set—and Winkler hit that jukebox as only the Fonz can.
In case you haven’t heard, Baby Reindeer won big. I guess that’s well-deserved, but I found the show pretty difficult to watch and my memory of it now is quite foggy. I mainly remember the level of depravity depicted.
Hacks also did very well, which I fully support. It’s a great show. And speaking of GenX (again), did you all know that Hack’s costar Hannah Einbinder is original SNL cast member Lorraine Newman’s daughter?? No wonder she’s so funny.
Actors from The Bear, The Crown, and True Detective: Night Country (Jodie Foster) also won several awards, which I support. All were terrific shows. (My husband would disagree on The Crown. He didn’t enjoy the Diana years, but I loved that part.)
The relative diversity at the Emmys was heartening. So many more stories are getting told these days and we are all better off for it.
There’s one show that got a zillion awards that I have not seen: Shogun (on Hulu). I’ve added it to the top of my “to watch” list.
What did you add to your watch list, based on the Emmy awards?
Other shows we’re watching now:
The final season of My Brilliant Friend on HBO Max. I’m still loving this show, in all its Italian glory, but my husband is bored. He doesn’t seem to care what happens to the two main characters anymore. I think part of the problem is that there’s so much time between seasons with some of these shows. People forget and/or lose interest.
The English Teacher on Hulu. This is a new show we found on our own. It’s very enjoyable, like Abbott Elementary, except it takes place in a high school. The main character is a gay high school English teacher, played by Brian Jordan Alvarez (the same actor who played over-the-top Estefan on Will & Grace). He’s very different in this role, but still funny. They tackle both current topics (like the art of drag and trigger warnings) and age-old high school traditions (like powder puff football and circles of popularity) in an open, non-accusatory way. GenX, Millennial and GenZ perspectives are all represented.
The Perfect Couple on Netflix. I’m a bit of a Nicole Kidman hate watcher. I mean, I love her, but I also hate her. But how can you not watch any of her limited series? Her costumes alone make these shows interesting. This one takes place on Nantucket and is based on an Elin Hilderbrand book. There’s a death during a fancy wedding weekend. Liv Schreiber plays her weed-smoking husband. Eve Hewson (from Bad Sisters) has a major role. Did you know that she’s Bono’s daughter?
Bad Monkey on Apple TV+. Vince Vaughn is funny, but I sort of regret ever starting this show. I was drawn in by the setting (the Florida Keys and the Bahamas), but I’ve really lost the plot, which is pretty nutty and stupid. I wouldn’t bother with this show unless you absolutely love Vince Vaughn.
Back in the 70s, charm bracelets were a common gift for girls. Typically girls got the bracelet with one or two “charms” as a first gift and then additional charms for birthdays and Christmases ever after.
Charms were little silver representations of some hobby or activity that the girl liked to do.
I loved my charm bracelet. I have kept it in a box in my closet for decades now. It lives with a bunch of other sentimental jewelry that I no longer wear, but cannot part with.
I recently bought some of those tiny silver polishing cloths to shine up some old jewelry and decided to clean my charm bracelet.
As we very eagerly await the birth of my granddaughter sometime within the next two weeks, I couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like to show it to her and tell her about the meaning of all the charms.
There are 17 charms on my bracelet. Most represent things that were important to me as a child and teenager.
Counterclockwise from 1 o’clock:
My last baby graduated college and got a job.
I went swimming outside daily.
My first baby is expecting her first baby and we gathered the family to celebrate.
Despair turned to hope for our country.
I bought an octopus.
I experienced the magic of Tanglewood.
This post was inspired by the Six Sentence Story challenge, but I don’t write fiction. 🤷♀️
For a couple of weeks now, I’ve been seeing “Answered” under the Daily Prompt. In other words, WordPress asked the exact same question a year ago and I responded. Believe it or not, I just now figured out how to find my original response to the prompt and “reblog” it (OK Boomer!)
I’m re-posting my original answer, mainly so that I can attach the recipes I mentioned. (The Silver Palate’s Chicken Marbella came out much better the second time.)
Attached:
I don’t enjoy cooking much, or even really eating. I’m not a big foodie. I didn’t cook at all until I became a mother, and then it suddenly felt like…
Sweet tooth
I’ve already posted too many times about my recent trip to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. But what the heck…it’s my blog and I can post what I want, right?
As previously mentioned, spotting wildlife is a major activity in Yellowstone National Park. After your first 500 or so bison (aka buffalo), you start coveting sightings of the more rare animals— like wolves and bears.
Here’s everything we saw:
We also saw sandhill cranes and vultures, but I wasn’t able to get photos.
The wolves were the most exciting to spot, partially because everyone else was so excited! There are people that go around spotting wolves all day long in Yellowstone. They know individual members of each pack. They have special spotting scopes and they sit in certain areas watching for wolves. When you see a clump of those people, you pull over to see what’s going on. Their excitement is infectious and they are very generous with their spotting equipment.
Despite all the warnings about bears and the need to carry bear spray on hikes, we never saw one! I’ve still never ever seen a bear in the wild.
I am pleased to report that with this recent trip to Montana and Wyoming, I have now visited more than half of the fifty United States (26 to be exact). I have 24 left to go!
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PS: Is anyone else disappointed that MyGenXerLife’s blog seems to have disappeared? Did he make an announcement while I was away or something? I really loved that blog! Any info appreciated.
Brizzy Mays Books and Bruschetta is a blog I like. She likes to write about fun destinations in Australia and the unsung women of Australian history. She frequently references Aussie expressions and traditions that I’ve never heard of before—like Barbecue BOATS (do those sound fun, or what?)
Anyway, I thought of her when I visited the cabin of Maud Noble in Grand Tetons National Park in Wyoming. (We went there after Yellowstone National Park.)
Born in 1879 into a wealthy family from Philadelphia, Maud Noble moved to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, in 1915. Noble became a significant landowner and operated a homestead and dude ranch in the area. In 1923, she hosted a meeting at her cabin to discuss preserving the Grand Teton region. This meeting included notable conservationists and local ranchers and is credited with sparking the movement to create the national park.
And oh my…what an amazing national park it is.
Thank you Maud.
From The Atlantic:
For our October cover image, the illustrator Justin Metz borrowed the visual language of old Ray Bradbury and Stephen King paperbacks to portray a circus wagon on its ominous approach to a defiled Capitol. “Something Wicked This Way Comes,” Bradbury’s 1962 masterpiece, was a particular inspiration; it tells the story of Mr. Dark, who grifts strangers into joining his malevolent carnival. Over the course of The Atlantic’s 167-year history, only very rarely have we published a cover without a headline or typography.
My main thought on the debate is that it’s disgusting that a serious person—an accomplished woman of substance—would have to share the same stage with a criminal—a lying sack of shit. He doesn’t deserve to lick her shoe.
The fact that the GOP has allowed this is unconscionable.
Please enjoy this free gift article from my old friend Mark Leibovich of The Atlantic. He sheds some additional light on the spinelessness of Republicans.
Having stayed in Thunderbird (one of the in-park historic lodges at The Grand Canyon) last year, I wanted to do the same in Yellowstone. These historic hotels and cabins are all booked through one agency (https://www.xanterra.com) and frequently fill-up a full year in advance.
These iconic hotels have amazing locations (inside America’s most famous national parks), but sometimes lack a few modern features—like air conditioning, WiFi, or even private bathrooms. (And there are definitely no pools or hot tubs at these hotels!) In my opinion, it’s worth it to give up a few modern luxuries to stay in the heart of the parks, surrounded by their wild beauty and animals.
I already mentioned our stay at the Mammoth Hot Springs, where we left our window open at night (there was no a/c, but fans were provided) and were awakened by the rather alarming sound of a male elk “bugling.” (Click here, to hear what that sounded like.)
We also spent one night in the Granddaddy of all the American national park lodges: the Old Faithful Inn. Built in 1904, this historic landmark is known for its rustic, log-cabin architectural style and viewing porch, which faces Yellowstone’s most famous (and reliable) geyser.
As one of the largest log structures in the world, it represents a significant achievement in American craftsmanship and the “parkitecture” style that blends buildings with their natural surroundings. It hosts millions of visitors from around the world each year. The lobby is jaw dropping and hard to capture in iPhone photos, but of course I tried:
They’ve kept the tradition of live musical performance alive at the Inn. I heard two different musicians playing for the guests. Here’s a snippet of a cellist/singer playing a GenX favorite: Sweet Dreams by the Eurythmics/Annie Lenox.
There’s a schedule in the lobby that lists when Old Faithful’s next eruption is expected, which is absolutely amazing when you think about it! The geyser erupts about 20 times per day and the schedule is accurate, plus or minus ten minutes. And this has been going on since explorers first discovered Old Faithful in the 1870s (and probably for thousands of years before that). Holy shit. Yellowstone is amazing!!!
Related:
In addition to amazing wildlife and geothermal wonders, Yellowstone also has spectacular waterfalls and a gorgeous canyon—“Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.”
Our selfies are not very good. I just can’t figure out how to position my arm AND take the picture. People say to hold the phone up high, but then you end up staring directly into the sun.
A word about bison.
They are a big part of the Yellowstone experience. You see both herds and loners—sometimes very close up.
They warn you not to get within 25 yards of a bison, if you’re not in a vehicle. They can run fast and have been known to rush (and even gore) people who get too close.
Related posts:
Bucket list progress: YELLOWSTONE – Part 1
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