John Steinbeck

I went down to the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas today. It is an interesting place even if you aren't a fan of John Steinbeck's work. It is the only museum in the US dedicated to a single author. There is a permanent museum that has stuff about his books & life and there are also rotating exhibits on other topics that tie in some way to Steinbeck.

The museum is interactive, which makes it a great place to take kids. There is a lot of stuff for them to touch, videos showing movie excerpts and some pretty cool exhibits.

Steinbeck won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1940 for The Grapes of Wrath. In 1962 he won the Nobel Prize for Literature "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humour and keen social perception." Many of his books, including The Grapes of Wrath, were made into movies.

At Steinbeck's funeral in 1968, Henry Fonda read the following from a Robert Louis Stevenson poem:
Bright is the ring of words
When the right man rings them,
Fair the fall of songs
When the singer sings them.
Still they are carolled and said --
On wings they are carried --
After the singer is dead
And the maker buried.

This was up at the museum and I have to agree it is a fitting epitaph for Steinbeck.

I'm sure that some of you would like to share which of his works is your favorite! To start off, I'll tell you that (I think, mostly I like everything) Cannery Row is my favorite. Share your thoughts!!!

Robin

Jill & the IRS: An Update

Well you'll all have to wait a bit longer than 30 days for your revenge. Her appointment isn't until April 8th. I'm not sure that I'm going to last until then, she keeps looking sad and mopey about this. The worst thing is she is trying to blame me. I think her plan is to sacrifice me to the IRS. Admittedly I'm the one who prepared her taxes but still you'd think daughterly devotion would go a little further. Anyway here is a picture of Jill looking sad about her IRS predicament.

Revenge is Sweet

I'm sure you would all have to agree that I am a kindly, easy-going person who never lets things bother her. I'm hearing a lot of laughing right now and am just going to ignore it. Anyway, even though I am such an easy-going person, every once in a while I do get annoyed at a person or an organization. Generally I do nothing about this and console myself with the thought that if I wanted I could get even. Quite easily. You see I have a secret weapon named Jill. It has always been my theory that sending Jill to talk to someone would be an extremely severe punishment, one from which they would probably not recover. Bear in mind this is not because Jill is an evil, mean-tempered person. She really is a kind, easy-going person. However, as any of you who have spoken with her for any length of time know, she can talk endlessly on most any subject. One simple question can lead to a 3-hour monologue. I have refrained thus far from using her as a means of revenge (I believe I mentioned what a kind soul I am), but the time has come.

Through no fault of my own, I and everyone else in the United States is going to have their revenge against one of the most despised organizations around: The IRS. Yep, I did say the IRS. In their infinite wisdom (did I also mention I'm a bit sarcastic?), the IRS has selected Jill for a random examination. She received a packet of papers today requesting that she call and make an appointment to come in with her tax records for the last three years. Not to embarrass Jill, but I think when I wasn't working I made more than she has in the last three years. I'm assuming she really was picked at random but I have to wonder why, once they looked at her returns, they bothered sending this request. They want to schedule a preliminary 3-hour interview to review her records. Three hours! This is going to take three minutes which means that for the next two hours and 57 minutes, the IRS will be forced to listen to Jill talk.

We don't know yet when her appointment will be but I think it is safe to say that at some point within the next 30 days the IRS as we know it will cease to exist. Personally I'm quite happy about this as I'm pretty sure it means I won't have to pay taxes. The entire IRS infrastructure is going to collapse. Just imagine what a difference this will make to the country and your pocketbook!

Seriously though, this is really incredible. Jill is very upset and worried, she seems to think she's going to end up in IRS prison. I started laughing when I read the letter. I couldn't help it, I really find it quite hilarious. You'll notice that I'm not signing this post. That would be because I don't want the IRS to know who wrote those mean things about them.

Words of Wisdom

Those of you who know me well, or even just a little, probably know that I’m a big Johnny Cash fan. Since I’m pretty brain dead (I think it’s my job doing it), I thought I’d share some words of wisdom from Johnny Cash songs with you. Take them to heart or think I'm nuts, I'm ok with it either way.

• There's something in a Sunday that makes a body feel alone.
• But we'll all be equal under the grass, and God's got a heaven for country trash.
• I won’t back down. You can stand me up at the gates of hell but I won’t back down.
• Hey baby, there ain't no easy way out.
• Don't go mixin' politics with the folk songs of our land.
• Well, they're bound to get you, cause they got a curfew, and you go to the Starkville city jail.
• Learn to hoist a jack and learn to lay a track, learn to pick and shovel too.
• Well first you gotta want to get off, bad enough to want to get on in the first place.
• Then cowboy change your ways today or with us you will ride, trying to catch the Devil's herd, across these endless skies.
• Now I taught the weeping willow how to cry, and I showed the clouds how to cover up a clear blue sky.
• Don't take your guns to town.
• Man turns his back on his family well he ain't no good.
• You're a big mouthed woman, you're a long-legged guitar pickin' man.
• Lay off that whiskey and let that cocaine be.
• We got married in a fever, hotter than a pepper sprout, we've been talkin' 'bout Jackson, ever since the fire went out.
• Love is a burning thing, and it makes a fiery ring, bound by wild desire, I fell into a ring of fire.

And last, but certainly not least, the ultimate words of wisdom from Johnny Cash:
I keep a close watch on this heart of mine, I keep my eyes wide open all the time, I keep the ends out for the tie that binds, Because you're mine, I walk the line.

Note: Please look at the rate this blog icon on the right hand side. If you will all rate the blog (highly please) our number will increase!

Robin

Live to 100?

I found this article the other day that I thought was pretty interesting. A recent study has concluded that it is becoming easier for even people who develop chronic diseases late in life to live to be 100. I'm sure you're all asking yourself what the secret is & I'm going to tell you so that you don't have to click on the link (feel free to click if you'd prefer to read it yourself)!

"It's not just luck, it's not just genetics. ... It's lifestyle" that seems to make a big difference, said lead author Dr. Laurel Yates of Harvard's Brigham and Women's Hospital. A study of men in their 70s found that those who avoided smoking, obesity, inactivity, diabetes and high blood pressure greatly improved their chances of living into their 90s. In fact, they had a 54 percent chance of living that long.

So -- get out there and exercise!

Robin

Cute!

We let the cats onto the patio sometimes & I took this short video the other day when they were out. It is pretty cute!

New Blog!

I found a fascinating new blog that I wanted to share with everyone. It is called Folia Salviarum, click on the name & you'll be taken directly to this inspiring blog. You may think, based on this introduction, that it is my blog but that would be wrong. And actually if you know me you'd realize that I'd never come up with that kind of name. Most of you are probably catching on that the only person who would come up with it is Jill. Yes, Jill, the family Luddite, has actually created (with a little help) her own blog! The name is something to do with plants and she'll mostly be talking about gardening in her blog.

If you have gardening questions you can ask her. She'll probably say she has to see the plant and then go into a long explanation that only peripherally has anything to do with your question. But hey, it's your life, go ahead and ask!

Robin