Friday Mieography

You could call this woman by many names.

Her birth name was Lucille Wood Smith. She was born on Halloween, btw.

Her name was changed, when she was an infant to Frances Octavia Smith.

She would go on to take the stage name Dale Evans.....

Whatever you want to call her, she had an interesting life.

She was married at age fourteen, and bore her first child at fifteen. She was divorced by seventeen, and remarried, that same year. That marriage also failed, and she married another. It also did not go well. Divorce number three.

Then, she met, and married Roy Rogers. It was his THIRD marriage. They were married for fifty-one years; she helped raise the three children he'd had with his second wife, whom had passed away.

Her singing career started at a radio station where she worked as a secretary. She sang jazz, swing, and big band music. She eventually landed a screen test, and was contracted with 20th. Century Fox. The studio didn't want her known as a single mother, so they touted her as the unmarried supporter of her teenaged brother, (whom was actually her son, Tommy). It wasn't until she was married to Roy that she was able to clear up the misconception.

She and Roy had a child, Robin, who was born with Down's Syndrome. During this era, parents of Down's kids were encouraged to place their children into institutions, Roy and Dale would have none of that, they took Robin home, instead. Sadly, she died, just before her second birthday. Robin inspired Dale to write her bestseller, "Angel Unaware". She wanted to change people's public perceptions of of developmentally disabled children. There is a training center in in Texas now named after her. She and Roy went on to adopt two more children after Robin died.

She also had a very successful television career with Roy, co- starring in The Roy Rogers show, where she rode her trusty horse, Buttermilk. Dale wrote the song "Happy Trails".

She is also known for being very public, and outspoken about her Christianity.

During her career, she was in more than thirty films, and wrote over two hundred songs. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and is in numerous Hall's of Fame. She died of Congestive Heart Failure two and a half years after Roy died.

sugar high

Most of us, at this particular time of year (myself included) find ourselves partaking of more candy than we usually would. I firmly believe Halloween brings out the sugar tooth in all of us. Except those who have no sugar tooth at all. I've met a few like that, they are few and far between.

The other day, we of the Mustang household decided to go see Where The Wild Things Are. (I am not ready, really, to talk about the movie. Don't know if I will be).

We decided, wisely, not to break the bank on candy purchased from the theater, and went into one of the local candy and ice cream shoppes instead. (Yes, it is a shoppe). MM and MG are into all things sour, and made their selections accordingly. I hemmed and hawed, as usual, looking for what I wanted.

What I did find, though, was something I hadn't had in a LONG time.

Zots.

I found Zots.

Remember those?

They make pop rocks taste like child's play.

Zots are brightly flavored candy that have a tiny hole drilled into them. The secret to a zot is what comes out of that hole. Fizzy, fizzy (probably chemical) goodness slowly oozes out, fizzing on your tongue, making a constant, fizzy party in your mouth.

Of course I bought numerous Zots (and some tropical starbursts, too), and as we walked down the street, towards our movie, we all had a fizzy party in our mouthes..

Wordless Wednesday

my crazy dreams strike again

I had the strangest dream last night.

You all know that I do fish now.

I have a 39 gallon tank

2 five gallon tanks that are homes to my Betta

and one 2.5 gallon tank that holds MM's Betta (cough). Its his, really it is....

ANYHOW

no more fish tanks. Really. I don't need any more.

But in my dream.... I had this, er, wall of tanks? With mail slots where you could put the fish in. Only, I wasn't really keeping fish??

My father had gotten me, of all things, this little Platypus.

Yep. A Platypus. A small one. And it climbed out of its mail slot, and was running around the house, clicking its bill menacingly at us. We got it back into its mail slot, once, and, out of the next spot a POLAR BEAR stuck it's nose out.

I had a polar bear, in my wall. With a Platypus.

Behind a mail slot.....

wow.

And then?

I dreamt about bunnies. Pink, and chocolate brown ones.

So

anyone want to meet me in the assylum?

the sock that killed my brain

Ah, Monday again.

I've things to do today, really I do.

What I really need to get up and do is go to the yarn palace, and have some friendly lady help me with the sock that is now kicking my ass.

The dreaded magic loop sock.

I was going along, swimmingly Love that the whole sock is made on one circular needle, instead of messing with double pointed needles.

And screech

I came to this one part

and I either have too many stitches

or I am utterly confused over what they want.

So off I go, to see if I can salvage my sock.

Wish me luck

because I still have to knit the next one....

Margaret Tobin was born in Missouri, to her Irish immigrant parents, John and Johanna. She and her sister moved to Leadville, Colorado, when she was 18, where she got a job in a department store. She met, and married James Joseph Brown, (known as JJ), who was the son of Irish immigrants, as well. She had planned to marry a rich man, but, fell in love with JJ instead. They had two children, a boy and a girl. JJ was no slacker, and they came into great wealth because JJ knew engineering. Margaret became involved in women's rights, helping to establish the National American Woman's Suffrage Association (NAWSA), and she also worked in the local soup kitchens, helping to feed the poor families (usually miners) in the area.

The Browns eventually moved to Denver, where she became a charter member of the Denver Woman's Club, who claimed the mission of improving women's lives through education and philanthropy. In 1901, Margaret was one of the first women to enroll in the Carnegie Institute, in New York. She became fluent in French, German and Russian, and, ran for the US Senate.

After being married to JJ for 23 years, they amicably separated, and remained friends their entire lives. She received a cash settlement, a home in Denver, and a 700 dollar monthly allowance to continue her travels, and philanthropic activities.

And travel, she did. She boarded the RMS Titanic as a first class passenger, in France. When the ship hit its infamous ice bert, Margaret spent her time putting OTHER people in the lifeboats. She finally went off the ship in Lifeboat No. 6, which she quickly commandeered, and turned back towards the ship, to search for survivors. Thus, her nickname "The unsinkable Molly Brown". No survivors were found.

She decided, upon her return, to run for senate, again, but dropped out of the race. Her husband, whom she had not divorced, died, and left her some inheritance, of which her own children protested. She got her inheritance, and never spoke to her children, again. She continued, aided by her fame, to promote the issues close to her heart, women's, and workers rights, education and literacy for children, and she went to France to help rebuild areas damaged by WW I, and tend the wounded soldiers. There, she was awarded the French Legion of Honour. She died at age 65 of a Cerebral Hemorrhage.

you smell!

Whats with all the celebrities that want us to smell like them?
at least, thats how I perceive it...
I was thumbing through a magazine, today, and page after page, was a celebrity, touting perfumes, or colognes.
Tom Brady, for Stetson
Halle Berry, Faith Hill AND Tim McGraw, for their own,
and lets not forget those Britney adds.
I actually blame Elizabeth Taylor.
I know, I know. She's sick, she's old....
but she has hawked SO MANY perfumes.... she kind of started this mess, didn't she?