Gingersnap

While little Olivia dreamed of salmon treats and chasing mice, the UPS man delivered a large heavy box to our residence.  "I don't know what's in it," said the man in brown. "But it is heavy!" Oddly enough, I didn't have to sign for it and admired that big box for a bit. A good friend of mine had thoughtfully purchased a cat tree for Olivia, but I didn't expect for it to be so huge... And one that must be built. I'm not a construction, hands on genius, but thankfully Rob was there to help assemble the big tower of cat scratching and infinite play time. With very basic instructions, we were good to go. Except the manual at times left off things that we had to figure out on our own or we had to use judgment. A bit of easily resolved frustration. Leaving things out of the equation- mainly the fuzzy cylinders and two medium sized scratching sticks, not everything was going to be screwed into the cat tree. We "finished...

(Miami Valley Regional Transit Authority Trolley Circa 1996) As a kid, I loved riding the yellow bus. No. Not the school bus. The Dayton RTA trolley. Is it was always an adventure, especially around the holidays when Santa sat in the back seat handing out candy canes to eager children. Those days are long past. As well as the original trolley design. People frown heavily on public transportation- saying that it’s the poor man’s ride and that things are better efficient with a car! While there are pros and cons of every way of transport, I will always enjoy a good bus ride. With new environmentally friendly buses (they have trolley hybrids now!) and a cost effective way of saving money, buses, trains, and subways are certainly wonderful way to travel. Sometimes they can be late. At times very early. But I truly love buses and appreciate the people driving them. I especially enjoy long journeys and going the distance on buses I’ve never boarded. That of which I can do more of since recei...

What happened on another hour walk journey in Dayton-ville? If you guessed something artsy & fartsy, you get a prize! Reading this! Hahaha! Held in the auditorium of Dayton Metro Library was librarian, Matt Kish's brilliant talk about one of the best art related titles published this year, "Moby Dick In Pictures: One Drawing For Every Page." Articulately spoken with remarkable insight and humor, Kish gave the visitors a taste of his upbringing (hippy parents? charming!) and his influences (vinyl LP's, illustrated folklore/science fiction paperbacks & JACK KIRBY: COMIC BOOK GOD!!!!). The passion for Herman Melville's classic, "Moby Dick" was evident in the joyful tone of his voice, the manner of presentation, and in the images themselves. Funny considering that it all started from an innocent little tagged note on Facebook in which he had made a list of top five books and completely omitted his precious "Moby Dick"... First of all, I mus...

Whose responsible for making me trek 3 miles in the night to see pumpkins? Judy? *gasps* But I don't even know a Judy. Hahahaha..... Ah, the end of lush, autumn October is finally upon us. So what's Halloween without a lil pumpkin carving, eh? Behind the Dayton Art Institute on Stoddard Avenue in the Grafton Hill District resides a tradition known to many and I must admit last year was the first I've ever heard of the The Stoddard Avenue Pumpkin Glow! Having had a splendid time, I couldn't wait to go again! So alas not Judy's fault- it's my own. Heehee! As I walked along fallen leaves and branches, the smell of cinnamon and pumpkin wafted through my nostrils, letting me know that I'm close to my destination! Here's just a sampling of the glowing pumpkins with their sweet scented tea light surprises inside! From traditional face carvings to intricately detailed witches, cats, Simpsons, celebs, comic book characters, villains, and Sesame Street puppets! Th...