More pictures

First the most important pictures.  Yesterday I was in Larence at a Flea Market on Massachusetts ST.  My 15 year old son was in charge of the store for the day and he did a great job.  To my total amazement he mopped the floor.  The just to really blow me away he built a dress.    A good dress.  Here's a closeup

The flea market was great.  Why doesn't KC have something like Mass. St.???  We have cute shopping areas, but not a long area that has a good mix of local and national stores.  And to be honest a lot of the cute shopping areas carry all the same stuff.  There was so much variety to be found.  I am envious.  Instead of P&L it might have been nice for KCMO to strive for something like that sort of shopping.  Invite big names in, but subsidize local operations while they get started.  Probably would have been cheaper and a lot less controversial.

I found a new consigner while I was there.  They make THESE.

I LOVE these. I did tell the women who make them to bump up their prices a bit though. They were way underselling themselves. Not that I don't love a bargin, but I don't want my supplier to go out of business! Prices are still reasonable, just not dirt cheap anymore.

Now just for a few shots from the shop. Shalana brought in some brooches that I thought looked good on hats, so I displayed some that way. Dan Smith's pictures look better in person than they do in my picture of them. The chairs and blue room sign are my favorites.

Finally, I've been making/selling reusable shopping bags for some time. Now I've added reusable swiffer pads. They hold up well and you can toss them in the wash.

One Bus at a time

I'm tired of calling the Metro offices with reports of bus drivers running red lights. I'm not talking about pushing it on yellow, I mean flat out running a red light. I don't even bother calling about their other behaviors. It's a waste of time. From now on I will post details about it. At least then there will a record of sorts. I suspect that the Metro people don't keep records of bad behavior.

October 8, 2008 7:04 pm

Bus # 25 ran the red light at the corner of Troost and 39th, right by the metro station. The light was green on 39th when the bus went barreling through headed North on Troost.


If you have any bus incidents send them to me and I'll add them here. Make sure to get the bus number, date and time. Complaints are no good if they are vague.

Dear KFKF 94.1

Having played a country song by Charlie Pride does not make you not racists. I don't know if the dj in question is or isn't a racist, but I do knowing that playing Charlie Pride in the 60s does not make him the anti-racist
.
My very racist family in Arkansas listened to Charlie Pride and said "He sings purty good for a black guy". They really are a bunch of backwoods racist hicks. Some of them listen to some rap and r&b - doesn't lessen their racist leanings.

If people on the "left coast" and people on the "right coast" consider Kansas City the be the home of redneck, racists hicks the way to prove them wrong is NOT to say "we played a song by a black man in the 60s". Prove them wrong by making sure every person of every color gets fair treatment in this city.

My Garden , survival of the fittest - part 2

I don't usually take care of my garden, I promise I don't. I'm a firm believer in letting it grow or die on it's own except in extreme circumstances. The weather lately has been extreme. Last night it was still 30 when I went to bed at midnight, so I didn't rush out and cover the roses. Guess I should have because by the time I woke up it was 19 and the damage had started. The tulips are goners and a couple of the roses don't look so good. A surprising victim was the blackberry bush. I think it will recover, but right now it's not looking so good.

I have covered the plants in preparation for the awful cold tonight. I was not prepared for this blast of arctic weather this week and neither were my plants. I have hope though, some of the roses look pretty good and the mint refuses to succumb, so my garden will go on.

My friend Sam

My friend Sam just turned 3. He's at that great age where there is so much exciting stuff to explore and when it gets too much you still have mom and dad to hold you. I met Sam nearly 3 years ago when his big sister became friends with my youngest daughter. Since then a baby brother has also joined the family. It's been a delight to watch Sam go from baby to toddler and now he's becoming his own little person. He's not quite a toddler, not quite a kid. He's at that perfect in between stage. Admittedly his independence is more fun for me than it is for his parents. I don't have to be the one correcting behavior or deal with the question "why" for hours on end. They do a great job and I do remember the days when I had 3 small kids to deal with, so I admire their Patience. I wish I had been more like them back in those days.

Anyway, Sam is fun for me. I get the good stuff. The games, the giggles, the smiles and an occasional hug without ever having to deal with any of the bad. I also get reminded that there is a joy in life that we sometimes forget to find as we get older. Everything is new and exciting to Sam. The puddle, the sand, a pretzel. As I watched him contemplate the joy of jumping in a puddle that he knew his parents wanted him to avoid I was struck by how much people miss out on. We become so hooked on the rules that we forget to think about if we should follow them or not. Very few of societies rules should be absolutes. I'm not talking about the law here, though you should sometimes question that too, I'm referring to the rules of behavior.

There are so many unwritten rules that govern our behavior in every day life. Simple things like facing forward in an elevator. Would your life be so much worse off it you turned to the person sharing this box with you, smiled and said "hello"? Will the world end if you have pasta for breakfast and pancakes for supper? Sometimes the smiles are to be found when you take leave of societies rules and follow your own instincts.

For the record, Sam walked through the puddle. His mom rolled her eyes and said "at least his shoes are fast drying." She's pretty good that way.

Red Bridge Road

The more people look at this den of snakes masquerading as a city council the more corruption there is to see. It's a horrific sight. The Red Bridge project being a prime example of this.

I love the Red Bridge area. I go hiking there during the warmer months. There are few really cool paths over behind minor park and down Blue River Rd. If Eddy and his slithering friends on the council have their way, this will go away. Visit www.redbridgeroad.org for exact details and how you can help.

A particularly disgusting bit of information on this project is how they attempted to ram it through the council and bypassing the committee process. The goal was clearly to make sure that the public didn't get a chance to be heard any more than necessary. Of course at the last min. they made it an open meeting and wonder of wonders supporters of the project new in time to show up and testify. Now the snakes can rest easy in their black little hearts. After all, if the opposition wanted to testify, they had a chance, right?

Go to their website www.redbridgeroad.org and send the council a letter. Write the incoming council and tell them you disapprove of this project. Write the Star, the Pitch, the Call, any and all papers. The current council will slither off to private lives soon, let's do what we can to keep this proposal from going through before then.

When you ignore the Media you learn all sorts of useful stuff.

I don't pay much attention to local news on the tv. One channel here has local news on for something like 2 hours, broken into half hour shows all pretty much reporting on the same thing. Over and Over. I think the idea is for people who miss one to be able to catch the next. Whatever the thought behind it, their show, just like most stations, consists of more "no news" than news. The KC Star is a little too establishment and sometimes the Pitch is too far out there to be a serious news source. (I do read it faithfully though) I don't find the national news stations to be much better - though I do read the Wall Street Journal and like the reporting in it.

So the media fails to report on stuff that you need to know, what's left? For me it's the internet. Don't roll your eyes. I know there's a lot of bad information floating around the net as truth - but that's true of mainstream media too. I have found that if you want to know what's going on you should read a variety of bloggers. They all write from their own bias, but you know that before you read. Most people are pretty straight forward about what they support or don't support and you know their bias up front. The same can NOT be said of mainstream media, which often presents itself as fair and honest.

I bring this up because of something I read on The Flogging of America. Btyfrd has many interesting links in this post, but one hit home for me. The fact that police officers are not able to exercise all their rights politically. My father is a police officer in Georgia. I did some checking and Georgia seems to be more progressive than Missouri on this issue.

Anywho - time for rant- How on earth can they expect a police officer to give up so much for his or her job? This job entails long hours, traditionally low pay, and you spend a LOT of time dealing with people society wishes didn't exist. It's on the news when cops shoot people (as it should be) but when they get shot in the line of duty it's not always a major story. This is one of those jobs that can kill you way before your time. Taking this job should be something that is rewarded, not punished. Police officers should do their best not to bring their own biases to the job (it happens, they are just people) but they shouldn't be forced into not having views. If they want to join a committee for their political party they should be allowed to. If they want to solicit donations for their candidate, as long as they don't do it in uniform or as part of the dept., they should be allowed to. When they take off their uniform they are regular people and should be accorded the rights and responsibilities of regular people. Part of what is supposed to make our nation great is the freedom to choose what we think, say and believe. Other employees of the city and state are allowed to participate fully in their political party, why not police officers? Write your representatives and tell them to put this issue back on the table. - rant over-

Now this issue is not the only one mentioned in that post, just the first one I chose to talk about. She details a lot of stuff you may not be aware of. I know that I wasn't aware of most of it. I didn't know that Missouri chose not to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. I probably wouldn't have known except for a blogger who did some research and put it on the web. The Flogging of America is not the only blog I read, there are quite a few I check out daily, it was just the first one I read this morning. And see, I've already learned more valuable information than I would have if I had watched any of the insipid morning news shows.

KC chooses Funkhouser

Last night Mark Funkhouser won the election by a slim margin - just over 1000 votes. We donated a few balloons to his 'nail biter' party and were there until about 10:30. I would have stayed later, but Dan needed to get home. Shame because only 20 min or so later they announced Mark as the winner. It was a very exciting night thanks to Mark's early lead. Even though Brooks narrowed the margin, Mark stayed consistently in front. That gave his supporters reason to have a party attitude.

I supported Funkhouser for several reasons, but one of the big ones for me is that he isn't a career politician. Mr. Brooks seems like a nice guy, but he's been in the political scene for far too long. After my experiences with local politics I have come to the conclusion that politics can make all but the strongest of souls evil. Let's hope that Mark has a very strong soul. If not, at least we're starting out with a fresh one.

And of course I have a special place in my heart for geeky, logical, chess playing guys. (been married to one for 20 years now)

My Garden , survival of the fittest

Spring is here and my garden is coming to life. Someone flipped a switch somewhere and the plants all said 'It's time to grow'. I love my garden and spend a lot of time out there, but probably not in the way many gardeners do. I don't actually consider myself a gardener, I'm just the person who sticks the plants in the ground. After that, it's pretty much up to the plants themselves. I'll water them, and pull any weeds over 6 inches (city will write me up if they get longer than that), but I'm a hands off garden manager for the most part.

My attitude gives certain plants a real advantage over their needier cousins. For example, Mint does well in my herb bed. I have LOTS of mint, several varieties and they are all thriving. Mint doesn't ask you to prune, mulch or in any way baby it. You stick it in the ground and it grows. Same with the lemon balm, oregano and vinca. The chives are holding their own, but have never spread out as much as the mints, as have the lavenders. I did notice that one of the lavender plants has spread out and now I will have two of that variety this year.

My biggest, most aggressively happy plant? The blackberry bush. It's a thornless blackberry that I picked up for 2 bucks at some hardware store a couple of years ago. I planted it by the pond and that first year it was just a stick. The second year it game a few berries. Last year I got a lot of berries and this year looks to be a bumper crop. It has gone from stick to large bush with several small outcroppings in the wildflower bed. The birds love it and so do I. I can't wait to see how big it gets this year.

On the other end of the spectrum are the roses. Why I was possessed to plant roses I will never know. Something so tempting about them at the garden center. Over the years I have randomly purchased lots of small cheap roses and stuck them in various places around the yard. Mostly I put them in places I don't want the kids and pets to walk - works pretty well. Some have turned out to be climbing roses, despite their labels, so this year I will be forced to add trellises to my yard. I don't prune them, I don't add special vitamins and so forth. They do ok. Some of the pickier varieties gave it up and went to that great compost heap in the sky, but 6 of the plants have hung in there, even through this year's crazy hot/cold/warm/freezing weather. My neglect has turned them into hardy plants and it looks to be a bumper year for roses this year too.

For a long time honeysuckle was among the plants I could never get to grow. It's wild EVERYWHERE, but wouldn't grow in my yard. I bought plant after plant and they just didn't go anywhere. Then I got smart and went to the woods, dug up a plant and brought it home. First year was touch and go, but it took root and this year has already grown quite a bit. Last year it didn't flower, but I think it will this year.

Bulbs are another of those picky plants that doesn't always do too well in my yard. I plant them, the squirrels dig them up and eat half of them, and a few grow. Last fall I gave my youngest a little shovel and a bag of Hyacinth bulbs. I'm just now discovering all the places she planted them. None of those places appear to be anywhere near an established flower bed. We have hyacinth in the middle of the yard, by the tree, with the mint, by the honeysuckle there are even a few near the driveway. My husband wants me to dig them up and move them to an organized flower bed. Sweet man, but he really married the wrong woman for organized. I'm content to discover the surprises as they bloom. Besides, they only probably lived because they were hidden from the squirrels.

The blackberry bush starts its springtime return.

Who is Dan Beyer

And why does he hate Mike Hendricks so much? As I was reading Mike's columns about the IHOP incident I noticed that several had been made by Dan Beyer. Nothing of any substance, but the same complaint over and over.

I get it, you hate Mike's type of journalism. One post would suffice. And I thought I had too much time on my hands.