HAPPY THOUGHTS, INSPIRATION, TRIPPY TRIVIA AND PASTA WITH ARTICHOKE RECIPE
Greetings Cheerful Readers!
Presenting Wednesday’s Reader.
Quick question regarding if I could meet anyone on the planet today. Hmmmm – I personally answer that question with — James Lee Burke, my favorite fiction author.
He’s a masterful writer and his characters leap from the pages of his books and stand up and introduce themselves sort-of-feel and we hang out several nights – or until I finish reading the 300+ pages.
James Lee Burke’s writing is entertaining – it’s enthralling – engaging – energetic – makes you think twice reading his prose woven together like only the finest of craftsmen do.
I’d rather flip page-after-page of one of his books than watch anything on television.
Tips for Staying Young – sage advice – and totally makes sense. Common sense, yep. And here it is all lined up!
David Wagner’s quote — I love the part about Intentional Acts of Goodwill.
An Intentional act of goodwill happened to me yesterday at Home Depot. It was super cool.
I went to buy a box of diatomaceous earth – better known simply as DE – for the pool.
The pool supplies are in the garden section.
I spotted the only box of DE available – ground level – beneath giant shelves. And it was waaaayyyy back in there. I slid in underneath the shelving to retrieve the box of DE.
I bumped my head on the overhead shelving –*Ow*– bumped my back all hunched over crawling in – and out –*Ow* – *Ow* – and drug it out.
A young father with his baby in a stroller was on the other side of the aisle looking at pavers.
When I crawled out – thinking he may have heard my involuntary Ows – I laughed, “That was easy.” He smiled.
Well, the box of DE was compromised and I couldn’t just pick it up and carry it to the cash register.
I sighed, left to go find a cart.
When I returned – there was the box of DE in a shopping cart waiting for me.
The young father had put the box of DE in the shopping cart he was going to use purely as an Intentional Act of Goodwill.
I looked around for him – saw him inside on the other side of the glass sliders. I smiled and waved, “You are awesome. Thank you!!”
He grinned and waved. And we both went on our way.
How about that for an out-of-the-blue cool, made MY day moment?!
Tracy Beckerman’s column – letter to her leggings is a hoot!
And Leslie Elman’s trivia never disappoints. So interesting and now I know more than I did. Love it.
The Spinach Artichoke pasta recipe is TDF!
I so appreciate all of you for popping in this Wednesday to give us a read + thoughts + comments. Grateful.
Have a great rest of the week and we’ll catch ya on Friday!
POP QUIZ
- WHAT BRIDGE IN VENICE CONNECTED THE DOGE’S PALACE TO THE PRISON?
a) Bridge of Sighs
b) Ponte dell’Academia
c) Ponte Vecchio
d) Rialto Bridge - FLAMINGOS ARE USED FOR WHAT UNUSUAL PURPOSE IN “ALICE IN WONDERLAND?”
a) Chairs
b) Chess pieces
c) Croquet mallets
d) Umbrellas - SAILORS MADE SCRIMSHAW FROM WHAT PART OF A WHALE?
a) Blubber
b) Bones
c) Meat
d) Skin
QUICK QUESTION
IF YOU COULD MEET ANYONE IN THIS WORLD TODAY — WHO WOULD THAT BE?
POP QUIZ ANSWERS
- Convicted criminals in Venice crossed the Bridge of Sighs from the Doge’s Palace to prison.
- Flamingoes are used as croquet mallets in “Alice in Wonderland.”
- Sailors did scrimshaw carvings on the bones and teeth of whales and the tusks of walruses.
~ Leslie Elman is the author of “Weird But True: 200 Astounding Outrageous and Totally off the Wall Facts.
COPYRIGHT 2023 LESLIE ELMAN
DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS.COM
TIPS FOR STAYING YOUNG
- Throw out non-essential numbers:
This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about this – that’s why we pay them. - Keep only cheerful friends:
The grouches will pull you down. (Keep this in mind if you’re one of those grouches.) - Keep learning:
Learn more about computers, crafts, cooking, baking, gardening, whatever. Never let your brain get idle. Totally a mind booster and day-to-day energizer. As it’s been said, “Knowledge is powerful.” - Enjoy the simple things:
Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath. And if you have a friend who makes you laugh
spend lots and lots of time with him/her. - Tears happen:
Endure, grieve and move on. The only person who is with us our entire life — is ourself. - Surround yourself with what you enjoy:
Family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies. Your home is your refuge. Embrace it. - Don’t take guilt trips:
Take a trip shopping, go for a walk, visit a friend in the hospital, go even to the next town. But not where guilt is. - Clean and tidy:
Keep your home, yard, vehicle, etc … clean and tidy. Quite amazing what it does for the mind. - Love:
Tell the people you love that you love them dearly, at every opportunity.
~ Collected by Micky Finch
WHY WOULD WE HAVE RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS WHEN WE CAN HAVE INTENTIONAL ACTS OF GOODWILL?
~ David Wagner~
(( Starve the landfills. Recycle. ))
RIDDLE ME THIS
WHAT IS BLACK WHEN IT’S CLEAN AND THEN WHITE WHEN IT’S DIRTY?
SPINACH PASTA WITH ARTICHOKES
This splendid first course is also an exceptional companion to beef, pork and fish.
I also like to add a half a handful of diced tomatoes as a topper.
HERE’S HOW WE MAKE IT:
1/2 cup butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 pounds mushrooms, sliced
1/2 pound good quality deli ham, cut in julienne slices
2 TBSP flour
1/3 cup dry white wine
1 – 14oz can artichoke hearts, quartered
1/4 cup sour cream
2 cups heavy cream
1/3 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
12 ounces Spinach Pasta, cooked until tender but al dente (slightly resistant to the bite) and drained
FIRST:
Melt butter in a large skillet with garlic – medium heat. Add mushrooms. Saute garlic and mushrooms until light and brown.
Remove from skillet with a slotted spoon and reserve on a plate or small bowl. Set aside.
In same pan, add ham pieces and cook until browned (might need to add a little more butter). Add flour and wine and kinda whisk it in with a fork around the ham pieces. Cook for 5 minutes until sauce is reduced.
NOW:
Add reserved mushroom + garlic mixture + artichoke hearts, sour cream, heavy cream + Parmesan cheese.
HEAT:
Thoroughly. Do not boil.
LAST:
Toss with prepared pasta until combined.
Serves 4 as a main course
~ Hippie Cowboy recipe box
RIDDLE ANSWER
A CHALKBOARD
LOST IN SUBURBIA
A LETTER TO MY LEGGINGS
BY TRACY BECKERMAN
Dear Leggings,
I think we need to talk. There was a time when you always had my back … or, at least, my backside. You made me look darn good in boots and sneakers, at the gym and on the streets. You stuck with me through college, which was infinitely worse, and never let a muffin top come between us. I always could count on you to hold up your end, or rather, my end, and keep things looking good back there. We were a great team.
But lately, you haven’t really been there for me. Ever since I hit a certain age, it seems like you’ve been somewhat less supportive. I’ve noticed there have been times when I bend over and you take a dive, or suddenly become see-through, or simply sag in the seat. You used to make me look awesome. Now it seems as if you’ve given up your cause. Was it something I said? Was it Mom Jeans I bought? It was an impulse purchase, I swear.
I know we’ve spent less time together lately. Back in the day I had many versions of you — stirrups, capris, bike shorts … Lycra, cotton, Spandex … black, blue and racing-striped. I’ve dropped a bundle at Bloomies and pledged my allegiance to Lululemon. But over the years I’ve scaled off my lust for leggings, instead to follow the fickle fashion trends of cargo pants and high-rise jeans. I even traded in leggings for jeggings, the ugly stepsister of leggings and jeans. It wasn’t you … it was me. Gravity took over my midlife body and suddenly those parts that used to look good in leggings were now rebelling in unfortunate ways. Chubby thighs in tights on a toddler is cute. On a muddle-aged mom? Not so much.
I’m not sure exactly when the tide began to turn for us. Perhaps it was after my second child when I started pairing my leggings with Uggs and a bathrobe to drive to the grocery store. Or maybe it was later, when my first kid went off to college and I got depressed and wore the same leggings for a week while I ate Doritos on my sofa and binge-watched Netflix. I know none of this is your fault. But I expected you to stick with me through tough times, not turn your back on me when I needed you most, during menopause.
Come on, leggings … we used to be so good together! Can we put aside our petty differences and come together for a mutually beneficial arrangement? I’ll keep you fashionably relevant, and you’ll keep me from looking lumpy in the trunk. It’s a win-win for both of us!
Thanks so much for considering.
Your partner in polyester,
Tracy
~ Tracy Beckermam is the author of the Amazon Bestseller, “Barking at the Moon: A Story of Life, Love and Kibble.”
COPYRIGHT 2023 CREATORS
FASCINATING STUFF
- Only one character is on the American Film Institute’s list of the 50 greatest movie heroes and its list of the greatest movie villains. That character is the Terminator, portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger. His “wickedness of mind, selfishness of character and will to power” in “The Terminator” earned him 22nd place on the villains list. As a reformed who “prevails in extreme circumstances and dramatizes a sense of morality, courage and purpose in “Terminator 2: Judgement Day,” he placed 48th on the heroes list.
- Pigeon parents produce a substance called crop milk to feed their hatchlings. High in fat and protein, it’s more clumpy like cottage cheese than liquid milk, and it contains nutrients and antibodies to nourish the young. Flamingoes and emperor penguins feed their young on a similar substance. What makes crop milk most unusual is that it’s produced by male as well as female birds.
- The modern triathlon — swimming, biking, running — originated in France in 1920, where it was known as Les Trois Sports (The Three Sports). It consisted of a 3 kilometer run, a 12 kilometer bike ride, and a swim across the “River Marne. (A 1900’s version on Les Trois Sports involved running, biking and rowing.) Fast-forward to September 25, 1974, in California, where the San Diego Track Club dusted off the old idea and staged the first “modern” triathlon, with a 5k run, 15k bike race and 500-meter swim. In 1978, organizers in Hawaii upped the stakes with a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and a full 26.22-mile marathon run, aptly named the Ironman Triathlon.
- Herman Melville’s “Moby-Dick” sold just 3,715 copies in the U.S. and U.K. combined during Melville’s lifetime. By comparison, his first two novels, “Typee: A Peep at the Polynesian Life” and “Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas,” sold more than 16,000 and 13,000 copies, respectively. Critics in the day called “Moby-Dick” “dull and dreary” and full of “bad rhetoric, involved syntax,, stilted sentiment and incoherent English.” Today, it’s counted among the great works of American literature.
- It costs 2.72 cents to mint a U.S. penny and 10.41 cents to make a nickel, according to the most recent annual report from the United States Mint. The negative discrepancy between the coins’ value and the cost of production — what Treasury officials would call negative seigniorage — has to do with the price of zinc used to make pennies and copper to make the nickles. (Pennies contain more zinc than copper; nickles contain more copper than nickle.)
~ Leslie Elman is the author of “Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts.”
COPYRIGHT 2023 LESLIE ELMAN
DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS.COM
Regarding Today’s Daymaker: IF YOU COULD MEET ANYONE IN THIS WORLD TODAY — WHO WOULD THAT BE? Sounds like this person has to be alive and someone I’ve never met. Whew, this is tough. OK, I’ve got it. I love horses, especially quarter horses as I grew up owning magnificent quarter horses on our ranch as well showing them in competition. With that said, enter who I would be thrilled to meet: It’s a woman in the Netherlands named Yvonne Horjus.. She owns many Friesian horses. Friesians are a big, powerful breed of horses yet gentle in spirit. I have a thousand questions to ask Yvonne. I urge you to YouTube Fresian Horses. You likely will join me.
Hi Marty –
I do know of these Friesian horses. Both my mom and youngest sister are fans and have been for a long while. I’m totally gonna revisit seeing them via YouTube! Thanks for the tip! Great writing and happy vibes. Have a fabulous day!
If I could meet anyone. . .I’m a little late on this person, but I would have loved to have met Queen Elizabeth II. She was gracious, kind, had a strong work ethic, loved her family and her kingdom, and had the most beautiful smile.
Enjoyed your story about Intentional Acts of Goodwill. I’ve also heard them referred to as Holy Moments. No day can have too many!
Hi Carol – Holy Moments, most interesting. I’ve not heard the term but I like it very much.
And Queen Elizabeth … yes, yes, yes. My observation was that she was every word you listed to describe her. What a wonderful human being!
Thanks for your cool words and thoughts. Much appreciated. Wishing you a grand day!