SOLD !!!

Recently, Fiancé made a discovery. 

Not to be outdone, I also had a Eureka moment.

My discovery was that a woman with too much time on her hands and a knack for surfing the internet will find new and strange ways to spend money and cause general mayhem.

She discovered online auctions.

Did you know, for instance, that, for just a few dollars, you can buy a storage room full of junk?  Honestly, I didn't know that.  But, may the good Lord have mercy upon my soul, I know it now.

The super cool thing about this is that for, say, five or ten dollars, you can be the proud owner of a room full of garage sale items.  But the thing I love most is that this cheap room full of stuff is usually in another city.  It's ideal, really.

Just this past weekend, I had the good
fortune to travel to Houston to pick up a room of junk.

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Reckonings of a Curmudgeon

Honey's Table

Last year, while I was making random designs on isometric paper, I stumbled upon what I thought was an interesting design.  Unlike many other of my experiments, I knew immediately that I wanted to build this one someday.  Ultimately, I named this one "Honey's Table."

A bit later, while doodling on the same paper, I tripped over yet another design.  I liked the concept of this one, too.  In fact, I decided to make this second design first.  I planned to give it to my fiance', so I named it "Honey's Maze" because it sort of looks like a maze.  (See Honey's Maze, Part I)

I built the top to "Honey's Maze" first, but I quilted "Honey's Table" first, so it gets the first post!

Also unlike lots of my other designs, this one means nothing.  It just looks cool to me.

The design is, of course, thoroughly modern, but there is a twist.  It is made of Civil War prints.  I seem to love older, traditional fabrics, but I also seem to favor modern, newly inspired designs.  I actually stuck to the colors of the original drawing, but, oddly, the only reason I used those colors is that they were the colors that I happened to have on hand.  As Louis Pasteur famously said, "Chance favors the prepared mind."  Always be looking for an advantage, even when it seems to materialize by happenstance.

Life is full of lucky accidents if we but look for them.

All-in-all, I was pleased with the result.

More importantly, she liked it.

In the end, that's all that ever really counts.  Otherwise, life would be hell.

TheCurmudgeon

On the Road

One day, out of the blue, fiancé had a simple idea.

(Most disasters in my life begin with a simple idea, but they're usually my own.)

She wanted a place to sleep when we go visit my mom.  Now, mom's house is just fine, but, when we go to visit, we have a tornado of a little boy and a mammoth of a puppy.  Our 10 month old puppy now weighs almost 180 lbs.

As such, my fiancé doesn't sleep well because she's worried that our invading force will wake the rest of the house.  It's all in her head, of course, but try telling her that.  Really, please try telling her.  I've not had any luck with it; perhaps you will.

A couple of months ago, she sweetly said that it would be nice to have a small travel trailer that we could leave at mom's place.  That way, she explained, she would have a place to collect her brood and know that she wasn't bothering anyone.  In so doing, she could finally get a good night's sleep while visiting.

She had something like this in mind:

I wasn't too wild about a little-bitty thing like that, but, whatever.  All I could imagine is how many times I'd bump my head and scrape my shins.  I have to tell you, I wasn't warm to the idea.  I was willing, but it didn't sound like very much fun.

Then she kept on researching.  She discovered that one could get an older motor home for a reasonable price.

Unfortunately, that little discovery unleashed an avalanche.  Before we knew it, we were knee-deep in motor homes for sale.

Up until this point in my life, I'd never wanted a motor home.  Now all I could see was me cruising across the country with my house strapped to my back.  Johnny Appleseed and Lewis & Clark eat your hearts out!

I had the fever.

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Reckonings of a Curmudgeon

Huck and Jim Had a Dream

Through a convoluted series of thoughts this morning, I got to thinking about Huckleberry Finn.  That led me to think about my relationship with his story and the banning of the book now and then throughout the course of its history.

First off, let me say that, if you've not read Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, you should.  Ernest Hemingway famously said that it was the "one book" from which "all modern American literature" came.

Not only is it great literature, it's an essential tale of Americana that should not be overlooked.  Critics complain about the offensive language, and, it's true, the language can be offensive.  They also claim that it puts slavery and discrimination up front and center.  That's true, too.  It does.

Mark Twain

What critics fail to see, however, is that Huck's tale is a story that condemns not only slavery, but discrimination.  As a lad, reading it for the first time, I came away sickened by the inequality experienced by the African slaves portrayed in the book.  Jim, the slave running away from owners in order to be with his family, is a favorite character of mine.  I love his essential goodness. 

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Reckonings of a Curmudgeon

American Stew

Rosalynd Harris

While perusing the news online this morning, I read a heartwarming story.  It seems that some white guys from Texas went to Washington, DC to witness President Trump's inauguration. 

During their stay, they ate at Busboys and Poets where they were served by Rosalynd Harris.  Ms. Harris had recently been a part of the Woman's March and was proud to have participated.

Ms. Harris happens to be black and she admits that she was a bit prejudiced when she found out that these guys were in town in support of Mr. Trump.

One of the men complimented her on her smile and they all chatted a bit. It was a friendly exchange between people of different worlds, races, and ideas.

It was America.

Imagine her surprise when she picked up the ticket after the men had left.  For a meal costing $76, they'd left her a $450 tip and a message.

 

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Reckonings of a Curmudgeon

 

Eternity Road

Well quilt lovers, I finally finished a quilt!  I presented it to my son and his wife (John and Kayla) for Christmas.

As all quilts should, this one has a story.

I let them know that I wanted to build them a quilt and asked them about colors.  They told me that they wanted something along the lines of deep burgundy.  That was the extent of their input.  The rest was left up to me.

Because I knew that they had a penchant for an 1800's feel, I decided to use Civil War reproduction fabric.  On the other hand, they are a thoroughly modern young couple, so I didn't want a traditional design.  The concept in my head was a modern design with meaning made from traditional fabric.

A Real Man...

When I first started sewing, I posted a video on YouTube.  It was just a way to show my Aunt Vivien Leigh something that I was unable to describe to her in words. 

As she lives way across the country from me, I thought that posting that video was the easiest way.

Since that time, I've had a few comments on the video.  Some very kind and positive, some complaining about the quality of the video.

It surprises me that there are people who have so little to do that they complain about video quality, especially since I explained that it was just for my aunt.

On the positive side, however, "Dianne57" posted this:

"so nice to see a guy quilting , my grandson wants to learn but was told by his peers that only sissy sew. now I can show him this. thanks"

I thought that was very nice.  I don't know who Dianne57 is, but I hope that she makes it to this page somehow.  I've been thinking about this a bit since she posted the reply and I want to list some things that I think make a real man.

Hard Times

As I said previously, I abhor the rabid and random of detailed postings of daily drama.  As such, I will not post any such thing.  I will just say that hard times are upon my family right now and muse about the proper response to hard times.

Over the course of my life, I have faced some very big challenges.  That goes for most of us.  While we expect good things to happen, and good things do happen, it is also true that bad things happen.  For some reason, we just don't expect bad things to happen to us.  Curious, isn't it?

If you've not experienced the death of a loved one, you will.  If you have not faced financial or vocational hardship, you will.  It is the nature of life.

When these times come, how should we respond?

An American Dream

Waylon Jennings

In 1979 Waylon Jennings released a song entitled "It's the World's Gone Crazy (Cotillion)."  I doubt that even he would have believed how prophetic he actually was.

On August 8, 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered a speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial entitled "I Have a Dream."  If you have never read it, I encourage you to do so.  It is one of the best speeches in American history.

There are many memorable lines which are now iconic in American culture.  My personal favorite is this:

Martin Luther King, Jr.

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

Where is the dream today?

Pokemon Go (Away)

Once, long ago, I was the father of a ten year-old boy who was infatuated with Pokémon cards.  I didn't understand it then.  Now that I look back at it, I still don't understand it.  It was stupid.

Trying desperately to be a good father, I even went to the Pokémon movie.  It was the worse use of celluloid in the history of humankind.  But that might be giving it too much credit.

But, today's a new day.  I'm an enlightened man of the future, right?  Think again.