Note to Cindy:

This is all "First Lady Hair" for the most part it does not move. EVER. Your windswept, post California girl, "theta at USC", unkept look wont cut it inside the beltway... back to the Tippy Hedren bun for you!

And really, something I didn't think I would ever type, BUT , you are MUCH to old for the j.g.l. hairdo... and the thought of it, is a little bit icky.

war? famine? pestilence?

NO!

Today's trauma is something IMPORTANT! 

They are messing with Project Runway! Yes, the birth place of our love for Laura Bennett is being tweaked by the new owners "LIFETIME" tv. Now, don't get me wrong, Lifetime and its endless reruns of THIRTYSOMETHING got me through the early 90's in tact. So, we are grateful and all, BUT what ever happened to " if it ain't broke don't fix it?" The gang that has produced it for the last three and very soon upcoming fourth season are staying with BRAVO .

The new powers that be behind PR are going to be the same folks that brought you/bring you/ will bring forever "mtv's real world", which has been on for like 300  years. Real World Mendon is filming here next season, they have done everyplace else. We are just going to have to wait and see on this one, but let's enjoy this upcoming season with some extra gusto.

"Make it work, indeed!"

koda on vacation

a day with out blogging..

Did yesterday happen? I didn't write about it, therefor....

We went to a lovely graduation party for a girl from St. Johns in Honeoye Falls on Saturday. " and what to my wondering eyes should appear": The Moe's catering truck! YUMMY, such a smart thing to do, get food that everyone loves!

Welcome to Moe's!, and best of luck Madeleine...

RIP UGA VI

Uga VI, the winningest mascot in the University of Georgia's history, died on Friday evening from congestive heart failure in his hometown of Savannah, Ga., owner Frank W. "Sonny" Seiler announced.

Uga VI, who would have turned 10 on July 22, will be buried in a marble vault in the Southwest corner of Sanford Stadium with his predecessors. The private ceremonies are expected to be held early next week.

The Georgia football teams compiled an 87-27 record during Uga VI's tenure, which officially began in 1999 with pre-game ceremonies prior to the South Carolina game in Athens. The Bulldogs captured both the 2002 and 2005 SEC Championships and won six of eight bowl games over that span. Uga VI's record surpassed the mark of 77-24-4 of Uga IV.

A casserole of Alpo and Milk bones is on its way to Savannah.

UGA's through the years.

S. J. RES. 43

O.K., let's walk through this one , slowly.

The Republicans in Congress are trying their darnedest to get a bill up and running that would Federalize marriage, one man , one woman; blah, blah, blah. Now, the Democrats are, thank the Gods, in control so we have nothing to worry about here, but let's dig a little bit deeper into this G.O.P. backed dog and pony show.

 Number One: Who gives a fuzzy rats ass you dumber- than- a- sack- of -hammers- right- wing- nut -jobs! EVERYTHING is going south in a hand basket, people are starting to not be able to afford food you morons, and gas is off the charts. This country is in some real , very real peril and you are dealing with the fact that Neil and I are the boogie men? Pull your head out off your collective asses and FIX the problems that are real and mean something to people, OR get the fuck out of the way and let someone who will work for the betterment of this country do so!

Number Two: ( you all KNEW this was coming) YES, dearhearts! Two of the sponsors of said bill are NONE OTHER THAN:

• Senator Larry Craig. ( part of me just wants to let you insert your own joke here, BUT..) COME ON , DUDE! You plead guilty to attempting to blow a police officer in the mens room of an airport. Pull that log out of your eye big daddy, and stop worrying about MY marriage. I will always feel sorry for anyone stuck in the closet, its a horrible, dangerous , hurtful, destructive place, that in the end, makes you do the things that this poor poor man does. There is no special place in hell for him, he has been living there his whole life.
• Senator David Vitter. This one is a crap bag walking. ALL about the sanctity of marriage, while he pays prostitutes all over the country to change his diapers..among other things that this family based blog will not go into. The special place in hell for this trash heap is all fired up and ready. He will do everything in his power to do away with my health benefits, while "respecting" his marriage vows all up and down the eastern seaboard.

A time for change INDEED! 

Take Me Out....

Some MUCH needed AAA baseball tonight ( not college, notice I did not post about the final game, some things are better left unspoken of!) but some much needed AAA baseball! This has been a stressful couple of days ( weeks) and I just needed to relax!

• Nice warm summer night
  
• Cold beer/ a couple of hot dogs
• nice people/good friends!
  

I spent the first half of the game upper box first base side, the later half down in the ritzy section. The REDWINGS didn't win, but in the end, I did!

ahhhhhhh.....

RED and BLACK MARCH!

This is so very cool!
"Glory, Glory to Old Georgia" has been an anthem for generations of Bulldogs, but may not be the first song ever written for the University.

The original school song, "The Red and Black March," was a march composed 100 years ago by R.E. Haughey, director of the University's first band.

The only existing copy of the song was found on eBay for $12.50.

Lloyd Winstead, associate director of the University's Wilson Center for Humanities and Arts, was searching for old college songbooks for a dissertation he was working on when he spotted it.

The seller, a woman who owned a music store in North Dakota, while unsure of how she acquired the music said she probably bought it while on a trip to the South.

The only information Winstead has found about the song is in a history of the Redcoat Band written by 1962 band member Andrew Davidson. Davidson wrote that he had interviewed Haughey, who said he didn't have any more copies and all existing copies that he knew of were lost.

"We're fortunate that he did the research that he did for his paper and took the time to get the oral history," Winstead said. "If [Davidson] hadn't done that, we wouldn't know all that we know about the early history of the band or the significance of this particular piece of music."
Winstead sent copies of the music to John Lynch, director of the Redcoat Marching Band.Because the piece was originally composed for the piano, it will have to be re-arranged before the band can perform it.
"We are excited to get together and work on bringing a piece of history back to life," Lynch said. "We have some very talented student arrangers, as well as a professional arranger."
Until that time, Winstead will send a copy of "The Red and Black March" to Martha Thomas, a piano professor in the Hodgson School of Music, so the University can have a sound recording of the piece as it was originally written.

Winstead said he plans to give the piece to the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

Hear the March here!

Start off Summer with PIE!

I don't usually like berry pies, and never make them . But this one was over the top good. Neil's friend Renee made it, and sent me the recipe. I think its the grape juice in the crust! and the instant tapioca ( I'm not even sure what this is, but it cant be that hard to find) that make this so good, and not at all too messy and runny once cut. I have not tried it yet, but will next time I need to bake something. It is blueberry season!

RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
CRUST
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
2/3 cup vegetable shortening
5 to 6 tbsp. cold grape juice

FILLING
4 cups blueberries
2 2/3 tbsp. instant tapioca
2/3-1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tbsp. lemon juice
2 tbsp. butter

GLAZE
1 tbsp milk
1 tbsp. sugar
1.To make the crust, combine the flour and salt in a medium-sized bowl. Cut in the vegetable shortening until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Add the grape juice, 1 tablespoon at a time and mix until the dough forms a ball. Chill for at least 30 minutes.

2.Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. For the filling, pour the blueberries into a medium-sized bowl and toss with tapioca and desired amount of sugar. Let stand for 15 minutes.

3.In the meantime, divide the pie dough in half and roll out one of the halves into a circle 1/8-inch thick. Transfer the crust to a 9-inch pie plate and trim the edges.

4.Add the lemon juice to the blueberry mixture, toss, and pour into the bottom crust. Dot with butter. Roll out the top crust, place over the blueberry filling and crimp the edges. Use scraps of dough to cut out decorations for the top of the pie. Using a pastry brush, lightly coat the top crust with milk, then sprinkle with sugar.

5.Bake for 15 minutes at 450 degrees. Turn down the heat to 350 degrees and bake for another 35 to 40 minutes. Serves 8 to 10.

OFFICIALLY RETIRED

Is what the tiara has written on it, a gift from the office staff. 

The last day at work/school. 

Bittersweet, but exciting, all around!

Change is good!

The Summer Garden

The Irises are gone, but all these pretty "cottage flowers" are taking their place.

The Party Train Goes On...

darn, but I hope this is the caboose!

The Indian Landing Party for Neil's retirement, (Gift certificate for dinner and a nice watch )

The party was at Terry and Kevin's lovely home, big turnout.

It was Wednesday Afternoon.

The Millers

Meet J. Irwin Miller and his lovely wife Xenia Simons Miller. 

" The Millers" from Columbus, Indiana. "The Millers" from down the road. He mows the lawn in one of those one piece Sears jump suits that men of a certain age wear, and she still serves up a mean martini! Both active in the Elks Lodge and the V.F.W.

I just made all that up. These Millers have both " gone to be with Jesus" and their PERSONAL art collection was auctioned off this week at Christie's in London. Just one of their paintings :

Monet's "Le Bassin aux Nympheas" sold for 80.4 million. Talk about not being able to judge a book by its cover. I'm sure the Monet hung in the dining room along with the giant wooden spoon and fork and all the granddaughters pageant pictures.

but there is no joy in Mudville...

Ouch! Diamond Dawgs fell apart last night with a big ole nasty 19 - 10 drumming. Let's hope for the best tonight. It will be sad for either team of young men to come this far and lose , BUT much sadder if that team is UGA.

At least we will be able to say that OUR Bulldog logo beats the crap out of theirs!. That big blue "F" on a Bulldog... is a little bit disturbing!

ding , dong, the witch is dead!

ALBANY — Joseph L. Bruno, the Senate majority leader and New York State’s highest-ranking Republican, said Monday evening that he would not seek re-election in November, after a 32-year career in the Senate.

Means nothing to those reading this not in New York, but, he was the LONE hold out to full fledged marriage Equality in New York!

what the hell is the deal with Neil's hair ?

OK, so the idea was that the kid from Indian Landing who sold the most tickets to the school day at the REDWINGS, would get to shave Mr.Houghton's head, possibly on TV or something. That idea went the way of the dodo when Neil took his tumble down the stairs of Frontier Feild.

So, today, the little darling with the big family took the clippers to Neil's BEAUTIFUL head!

This is the results this afternoon , and again late tonight, after I fixed it all with the clippers.

For the record, I am not a fan of those men WITH hair shaving their heads...

Dawgs -v- Dogs!

The good guys take the first one! 

I missed the game, but ESPN was all about the "underdog" (Fresno State) blah, blah, blah!  

GO DAWGS! ONE win away!

John-Clinton and Michael's living room ceiling

 Our pals John-Clinton and Michael live in a 1897 "farm house" slap dab in the middle of the trendiest neighborhood in Rochester. It was the original house there when the area was a farm. These are some pics of the wedgewood-esque ceiling in their living room, it is just beautiful.

These pics don't do it justice. It's the original plaster and its a wonderful sort of faded Tiffany blue color.. I just love it ( and I did pick the house out for them years ago!)

party , party, party!

Our social whirlwind continues!

Tonight was the C.L.G.M. ( the local homo Episcopalians and their friends) tribute to Bishop and Mrs. McKelvey at the lovely home of Michael Hopkins and John-Clinton Bradley. Seems as if almost all of the C.L.G.M. were at our house on Saturday night, but any reason for yet another get together! I took , again, a lovely tomato basil salad, ( yes, left over from the party) with some grilled garlic bread, YUMMY! 

Jack and Linda have just been uber supportive of the glbt community during their time in Rochester ,( and many years before), heck! they were My and Neils best people at our wedding! So, it was good for the "official" powers that be to give them a tip of the hat!

Dahn and Neil

Dahn 's reaction to Neil's new haircut

" oh, say can you see..."

It's almost July 4th, so lets take a " I LOVE AMERICA", Quiz! 

It's not all that long... and Lets post our scores in the comments section! 

come on, it will be fun.

Carl and Kota

Seriously. two of the prettiest thing ON the planet....

Bulldawgs in CWS finals!

Georgia remained undefeated in the College World Series on Saturday, beating Stanford 10-8 at Rosenblatt Stadium, and is scheduled to play either Fresno State or North Carolina in a best-of-three series that begins at 7 p.m. ET on Monday.

The Best-Laid Plans....

Sudden Summer thunderstorms, lost cameras, and just plain NOT being ready at the ungodly hour of 6:30, just did not matter. Everyone had a lovely time, really. It sort of turned into an outside party, which I had not planned on, but the house was full as well. There were lots of people here!

In my running around getting ready I put my camera somewhere that I now can't find, so I had to use Neil's which is all fancy, so , I hope these pics can upload. Not that it really matters, like I tend to do, there are LOTS of pics of Carl and Koda. 

As to the eternal question, I do not know if there is any beer left in the little keg ( it was YUMMY beer) . I did my best.

I am having some trouble posting the pics, so I'll post them all to the web and give the link here. Those spots on the table cloth were not so visible in the room! The food was :

• really good for indoor cooked BBQ. ( buns, pickles and sauce)
• slaw
• chips
• veggies - fruit- cheese
• brie with chutney,( Major Grey's) which came right out of the jar, and people just inhaled it!
• Low Country Boil, which people also just went crazy over. Next time I will NOT use the locally grown fingerling potatoes, the purple ones did look a little bit like Pookie turds.
• Tomato Salad with that beautiful basil
• Pesto Pasta Salad with roasted garlic and grilled summer squash

Desserts ( which I made all from scratch) were:

• Brownies
• Blondies
• banana pudding
• almond orange shortbread
• graham's nutty balls

Neil's Party 1

perfect!...... it has cleared up, for now. Really, where is the beer...

BIG PARTY COUNTDOWN

tick, tick, tick....

It will all be over in like 48 hours, yankees don't ever stay long, or God forbid overnight. Whereas, in my world, one takes luggage to a cocktail party. ( Butler would always! go get breakfast) Also , I was asked a question tonight, that I have never ever been asked before: 

" What do we do with the beer left in the keg? "

I was thrown.

But, We got a lot done in pre party prep tonight, took most of the 400$ garbage pile to a dump FOR FREE, and I mowed the lawn, at least most of it. Then tonight:

•                                            I BAKED!

No, really, flour and sugar and such things. For those that don't know, I am not at all a good baker. Ill put my cooking skills up against almost anyone, but I am not at all good at measuring and following recipes, at all!  But , I bit the bullet tonight! 

• OUTRAGEOUS BROWNIES

1 pound unsalted butter
1 pound plus 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips, divided
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
6 extra-large eggs
3 tablespoons instant coffee powder
2 tablespoons real vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided (1 cup for batter and 1/4 cup in the chips and nuts)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 cups diced walnut pieces
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 13 by 18 by 1 1/2-inch sheet pan.
Melt together the butter, 1 pound chocolate chips, and unsweetened chocolate on top of a double boiler. Cool slightly. Stir together the eggs, instant coffee, vanilla and sugar. Stir in the warm chocolate mixture and cool to room temperature.

Stir together 1 cup of the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to cooled chocolate mixture. Toss the walnuts and 12 ounces of chocolate chips with 1/4 cup flour to coat. Then add to the chocolate batter. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for about 30 minutes, or until tester just comes out clean. Halfway through the baking, rap the pan against the oven shelf to allow air to escape from between the pan and the brownie dough. Do not over-bake! Cool thoroughly, refrigerate well and cut into squares.

This was a little bit hard, with lots of steps for me, BUT the batter was over the top good, I just really hope they come out of the pan. I left out the nuts, cause I am making other things with nuts.

• Graham nutty balls, or Nutty Graham balls, or something about Graham's balls.
  

This one is per my mother. Pretty darn easy to make , a little bit messy 

"I made the best little desserts for Supper Club last weekend.... :
1 sleeve graham crackers (crushed)
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
coconut ( bag of sweetened)
Pecans ( chopped fine)
Mix Graham crackers, milk and 1/4 cup chips and put in baking dish.... layer, coconut, pecans, coconut,pecans.
I used a big handful for each layer.

Bake 350 degrees for 20 minutes.....let get almost cool,
roll in balls, drizzle with melted chocolate and put in those real little white muffin papers. ( I made my balls a little larger than a nickle - about two or three bites.)

Everyone loved them..."

I think I made mine too big, but we will see...