I said glass.

At any rate, I may have mentioned before that there is an elusive cake plate out there that I desire.  I’ve also mentioned that I ‘get no swag’ at all from the blog, and that I’m wretchedly bitter about it dealing with it well.

I’ve also mentioned my Magical Mexican Summer with Mrs. Wall, her family, Peggy, and Nola.

We, Peggy, Nola, and I remain as close as the confines of the continent will allow.  I’m in GA, Peggy’s in CA, and Nola cools her heels in Texas.

While we were in Oaxaca in the summer of 1967, a special bond was formed for the three of us, and we stay in touch, catch one another UP once in a while, and do the occasional random act of kindness.

The trip was long, the quarters confined, and our friendships grew strong.

That was then, terrible picture I know, but it’s all I’ve got.  And really, everyone thought skinny jeans were new.  Guess again!  I am so back in style!

This is Nola and I at our HS reunion a mere 18  months ago.

Nola, a loyal reader of RLR, sent me an email that said, “…it’s not the cake plate you wanted, but it’s old, it was my mother’s and I’d love for you to have it, since I know you collect old glass…”

I’ll admit, I was hesitant at first to say yes.  It was her mother’s after all.  But she assured me that it would mean more to her in my paws than at her place, and as reluctantly as I can do when it comes to old glass, I said yes.

It, along with another dish arrived via UPS just the other night.

It is Depression Era Glass, it has three feet (I collect three footed dishes, plates, cups, etc.), and it is a Fostoria pattern, or a Fostoria knock off.  The American pattern was very popular in the Depression Era.  Fostoria was and remains expensive, and glass makers copied the pattern often.  It’s hard to tell 80 years later.

At any rate, it’s priceless to me, simply because of the spirit of kindness behind it.

Nola was also kind enough to include a refrigerator dish that belonged to her mother as well.

The random act of kindness aside, it is my first official ’swag’ after two years and three months of posting!  And, after all, Peggy was right when she said, “Cake plates will start arriving at your door step!”

It’s wonderful to have friends, no matter how far flung!

Thanks Nola!  And Happy Birthday…60, ya gotta’ love it!

As I’ve said often before, one of the things I like most about my job is getting to meet people, finding out a little about them, and finding new places to eat, go, do, see, etc.

Well, as luck would have it, a customer came in before Christmas and I was the one who got to wait on him.

In the course of the conversation, I asked what he did for a living, and he replied that he was  a restaurateur.

He, and his wife own Another Broken Egg Cafe at the Peachtree Battle Shopping Center in Atlanta’s Buckhead district.

As a breakfast junkie, I had to check it out.

So, this Sunday, again, as luck would have it, I was actually off from work, and decided to take that special someone along for brunch.

Now, as you all know, I’m a Waffle House kinda guy, and fancy breakfast food is usually something I don’t do.  Seriously, one egg, one piece of toast, and seventeen gallons of coffee, and I’m good.

But…this place is just way too cool to pass UP.

And apparently, I’m not the only one who thinks so.  There was a 35 minute wait.  Now, for Atlantans, that’s nothing, for folks like me who live in the suburgatory we call Gwinnett County, Georgia, that’s a life time.  Just like most places, the weekends are the busiest.  The wait during the week isn’t so long.

But, again, it was worth the wait.

Every thing there is charming and beyond.  The Copper Top table, the rustic floors, the French attitude, and why not, one of the owners is named Mignon, and frankly, the only thing Frenchier than that is, well, not much really.

But, back to the restaurant.  They have “starters”, translation:  appetizers.  We tried the Black Berry Grits.

“Black Berry Grits!”, you scream, “Grits are for butter, salt, and pepper.”

Well, not any more, Buford, so get with the program.  They were AWESOME.  Creamy, HOT, and covered in steaming Blackberries, they were a filling “starter” that has to be shared.

With over 100 items on the menu, I was hard pressed to settle on one, but waistline, workout, and walking in mind, I did.

I had Eggs Benedict Blackstone.

Again, AWESOME.

Their menu describes it this way ” An English muffin topped with grilled tomatoes, two medium poached eggs, creamy Hollandaise, and a baked bacon crunch and chives.”

I describe it as delicious.  Two perfectly poached pullet pellets smothered in a rich and yummy sauce and covered with BAKED bacon.  (BTW, Baked Bacon is THE only way to go, less grease, no splatter, easier clean UP, better taste, etc.)

There were home fries on the side as well.  The best thing about the taters was that they weren’t greasy, didn’t leave a pool on the plate, and were perfectly done.

Yes, I know, I need a better camera…hello Ricoh and the rest, where are you?

Seriously, the pictures don’t do them justice, but the menu does, so click HERE if you want to see it.

There’s lots of meat on the menu, but all the crazy-assed, pork and beef eschewing scary people vegetarians out there need not worry, they have a menu section for you as well.  It’s an all inclusive restaurant!

I’m sure many of you are thinking, “Why is he talking about a local restaurant, when his blog is an International phenomenon?”

Well, Just Another Broken Egg isn’t only in the ATL.

They have locations in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, California, and soon to be in Tennessee and North Carolina!

So, all my fans in Austin can check it out and let me know what they think.

The restaurant is open from 7AM til 2PM, seats at least 100 people, has a FULL BAR, so Sam can bring his mom and dad! They also have a room that looked like the perfect place for a Bridal Shower luncheon.  There’s a giant screen TV showing Tom and Jerry cartoons, so it’s kid friendly, and the playoffs were on the tubes over the bar.

Parking isn’t too bad…for Atlanta…and I recommend that you park as far away as you can, since you’re gonna need to walk it off anyway…the portions are healthy – or maybe my Cardiologist would say un-healthy!

Frankly, if you don’t go away full and happy, there’s just no hope for you!

Check it out.

*I am NOT being compensated for this post, I paid the check, left a tip, and was glad to be there!

Yes, he gave us the Addams Family.

Probably the most important cartoonist of the 20th Century, Addams was known for his black humor and his sense of the macabre.

He had several recurring characters in his New Yorker cartoons, they became the Addams Family.

He published thousands of cartoons, was either the creator or inspiration for two live action Television shows, a Broadway Musical, and three films.

I grew UP with the Addams Family in print and on TV.  Millions have seen the movies.  Charles Addams was a part of the American Landscape for decades, and remains a great cartoonist.  His goal in life was to be remembered as a “good cartoonist”, I think he made it!

Here’s one of my faves.

“It looks like Wesselman’s hit on something interesting.”

He was referring to the Library Corner in Germantown, where he grew UP.

You can tell Randy has grown UP.  It was the Library Corner back then, not the lawn.  And, you can’t do it any more.  There’s an ordinance against it.

But yes, there was a time, in the late 60s and early 70s when kids did indeed hang out on the library lawn.

Everyone in town referred to them as hippies.

Quite frankly, I doubt that anyone in Germantown had seen a real hippie, at least not in person, maybe on the news.

They were local teens, doing what teens do, drinking, smoking weed, fornicating having a good time.

You know, camaraderie.

And although hanging out on the Library Corner was fun, it’s not the real story behind the Germantown Library.

It’s a Carnegie Library, one of only 1689 in the United States.

There were 2,509 built by the industry giant Andrew Carnegie from 1883 through 1929 world wide.  And Germantown’s Carnegie Library is no longer the library, it houses the Historical Society of Germantown.  A new library was built across the street where the Royal Electric Building stood.  You might remember it as the building that all those “hippies” painted their drug-induced fantasies on adorned it with 1960s art; peace signs, flowers, and the like.  I think that infamous hell-raiser/trouble-maker/hippie, Sally Ann Moyer may have been the ring-leader, and some sources say her Aunt, DL er Delores Grunwald of the Germantown Press bought the paint.  Ah, the liberal media!!!!

Yes, it was a scandal.

To get a library from Andrew Carnegie, the city, village, or town requesting it had to follow the Carnegie Formula.  The formula was simple, just like the man.  The community had to demonstrate the need for a public library, provide the building site, annually provide ten percent of the cost of the library’s construction to support its operation, and provide free service to all.  Germantown did and does still today.  The Germantown Library was built in 1904 with a $10,000 grant.

My very best memories are not of the Library Corner, but of the library itself.

Miriam Kindig in her jersey dress, cardigan sweater, old-lady-comfort shoes, and pearls guided me to literary heaven as a Jr. High kid and well into High School.  She suggested the “right books” every time I darkened the door.

Which, I might add, was just about every day.

It was a great place to hid out from some of the people in Germantown I’d rather not remember.  You know who you are.

The tall stacks of books, the high ceilings, the tall wide windows, creaking floors and the wonderful smell drew me in along with thousands of other kids over the years.  I remember the first time I saw the bust of Andrew Carnegie in the foyer of the old building, and honestly being truly grateful and a bit awed that any one man would care enough to do what he did.

Once inside, Mrs. Kindig would guide me to biographies, novels, poetry, and steer me from books she knew might not be so well received at home.

She was a smart lady, and a wonderful one.  My library card number was 1941.  I know, it’s weird to remember that, but I do so because of Mrs. Kindig.  I mentioned that 1941 was the year WWII started, and she said, “Not really, Canada and the rest of the world went to war in 1939.”  It may have been the very first time I connected the rest of the world with a real living breathing person, and realized that there was more out there than Germantown, Ohio or the USA for that matter.  Mrs. Kindig was born Miriam Kern in 1895, her husband’s name was Paul, which she reminded me off often, and she lost a son, Roger in on March 31, 1953 while he was serving in the Air Force.  Valley View’s highest scholastic honor is the Roger E. Kindig Memorial Award.  The Roger E. Kindig Squadron at the University of Georgia is named after her son as well, allowing a closer than you think connection, and causing me to believe more and more in that six degrees of separation thing.

Mrs. Kindig was a great lady who dedicated her life to reading, literature, and Germantown.

Andrew Carnegie had a vision:  literacy world wide.  There are 109 Carnegie Libraries in the State of Ohio, built from 1899 through 1921, they cost $3,239,928.64 to build, and include the Libraries at Miami University in Oxford, Cedarville, Oberlin, and Ohio University in Athens, Ohio.

Andrew Carnegie spent over $45,000,000.00 on the project;  in today’s money, that would be somewhere in the neighborhood of $1,029,186,363.65.

Yes, Andrew, Mrs. Kindig, and the library corner – they all had an impact, and Germantown wouldn’t be Germantown without them!

So, if you drive by the library corner anytime soon, don’t expect to see any hippies on the corner, but you could say a little prayer of thanks for Andrew and Mrs. Kindig.

Bah humbug!

Really, let’s celebrate the birth of the Savior of the world by buying gifts for everyone we know, and people we don’t know.

Yes, I’m a Scrooge.

But, I think it’s because Christmas has changed so.

It was the little things that made Christmas so wonderful when I was a kid.  The little things like CANDY.  Good CANDY.  Now, the candy out there is crap!

And kids these days want things that cost so darn much.  Dolls, bikes, and wagons just won’t do it.  Wiis, ipods, computers, and the like are what Santa is supposed to bring!

<SIGH>

I miss the little things.

The foods and candies that are from an era long gone; candies you can’t buy at a store.  Little things like..

Chocolate drops…

And ribbon candy…

Hard candy…

Jelly Fruit Sections…

Coconut Bon-Bons…

Gum drops…

Chocolate Covered Cherries…

Peppermint Sticks…

And, Christmas Petit Fours!

But, after a great deal of searching and the luck of getting an unsolicited catalog in the mail, I’ve found the wonderful confections I loved as a kid and my dentist appreciated!

They cost a fortune now!  But you can get them by clicking here.

The Vermont Country Store has it all and free shipping too!

I’m so glad I got that catalog, it might be a better Christmas after all!

*I am not being compensated for this post since no one pays me squat, I just got  a catalog and was so darn happy I had to share it!

And frankly, as much as I should say we should let them win one once in a while, I can’t.  They should never win.  And OSU can be proud of the fact that it took them nearly ten years to win one!

Football IS football because of Ohio State and The School in Ann Arbor.  THE biggest rivalry ever, and everybody who’s anybody wants to be a Buckeye or a what ever they are UP in the hand shaped state.

But, there is good news, a light at the end of the tunnel, more power coming over the ‘trestle’, because there is truly going to be Urban renewal in Columbus, Ohio this Fall.

Urban Meyer, former coach of the Gators will take the helm for the Buckeyes next season.  Now, I’m not a Gator Hater as some would think, but I’m a bit of a Bulldog fan since – duh – I live in Georgia.

I’m very, very happy about this.

Now maybe I don’t have to listen to SEC, SEC, SEC, SEC all the time.  Really, SEC fans drive me crazy.  They hate each other until one of them has to play a BIG 10 school, then it’s “go SEC, we don’t care if we didn’t get to go, just so one of us did.”

Fans are FANS.  It comes from the word fanatic, which means:  a person with extreme enthusiasm or zeal.  You know, Tea Party, Occupy Wall Street, Democrats, Republicans, Most Religions, Lady GaGa devotees, and Palinites!  Most people usually associate the word with religion or politics;  frankly, because they’ve never lived in the South, nor are they an OHIO STATE fan.

Yes, I know, we’re obnoxious.

But, back to Urban.

Meyer is a championship coach free from much of the drama other coaches have experienced.  Yes, I know there were some bad gators, but there are naughty people every where, and spoiled players often take advantage of things handed to them and show their greed.

That aside, Meyer can coach!

And he can win.

So, this is good.

And as a Buckeye fan from waaaaaaay back, I’m happy.  I went to Ohio State, what a week that was, and am proud to say so.

Maybe, just maybe, next season will see some true Urban Renewal!

At least all us Ohio State Nuts can hope so!

I’ve had several, and have posted about a few in the past; my Dad, and my Uncle Chuck.  Both served their country well in WW II, and both paid a price for it.  Daddy suffered from PTSD for years, and Uncle Chuck was crazy as a bed bug odd for the rest of his life!

But, today, I’d like to remember Grandpa.  Not MY grandpa, but my Mother-in-law’s dad, Herb Woodard.

Herb was born in 1909, he married a woman he really loved, treated her like a queen, spoiled her rotten, and put UP with her selfish behavior from 1933 until her death in 1995.

By the time I was 16, all my grandparents were gone. My Mother’s dad died when I was 15 months old, so there was no connection for me to remember.  My grandmothers died two days apart in 1966, one on Wednesday and one Friday of that same week, while we were at the Funeral Home Visitation for the first one no less!

Grandpa Brads died in January of 1968.  I remember it clearly, as it was just after the first Christmas we didn’t go home to Virginia since the Silver Bridge at Point Pleasant, West Virginia fell that November, and Daddy hadn’t mapped out a new route back home.  46 people lost their lives when that bridge fell.  The new bridge wasn’t completed until late in 1968.

He found one pretty quickly in January.

So, when I married in 1977, it was a new experience for me to have grandparents again.  The in-laws came with six grandparents, including a set of Great-Grandparents who were in their 90s.

I was closer to Herb over the years, mainly because he was around more.  The sun rose and set on my wife in his eyes.  Grandma was worse about it, referring to my wife and her sisters as “Diane and the girls.”  They had names, but you might not catch them if you talked to Grandma.  But that’s a story for another post!

Herb was the baby of his family.  His Dad, Andrew left the family when Herb was a youngster, as he would say, moved to another town, six miles away, and married another woman.  He started a new family there.

Herb didn’t see his dad much, and in all the years I knew Grandpa, he spoke of him only once.

In 1933, he married Grandma (Eula), a spoiled, but loving woman, and he doted on her.  When he knew that Uncle Sam was about to call him UP, he joined the US Navy and became a CB.

The SeaBees are the Construction Battalion of the US Navy.   The boys go back to WW II, it was a new thing then, and Grandpa was proud to be a part of it.  They built bases, bulldozed and paved roadways and airstrips, worked in a vast variety of war theaters.

Grandpa’s was in Alaska.

He often talked of Alaska and how he’d like to have gone back.  He never made it there, he spent too much time taking care of everyone else.

He doted on his granddaughters, cared for his sister-in-law through her final years, cared for his wife through the last stages of Alzheimer’s, going to the Rest Home and sitting with her every day, even though she had no idea he was there.   When she died, he looked at me and said, “Well, I’ve lost my job.”

He treated me like gold.  In all the years I knew him I only heard him say an unkind word about a very few people, you really had to be a rat for Grandpa to comment.

Everyone loved Grandpa; he was an unassuming man whom every one respected;  after very little thought, it’s easy to see why.

He was just a good guy.

Herb died 12 years ago today, on Veteran’s Day 1999.

It was only fitting that he got to ‘muster out’ on that day!

Thanks to all the SeaBees and other Service men and women who have served in wars past.  And thanks to the ones who are serving our country today!

I don't care if it IS Monday, I'm not getting UP!

Have a great Monday!

*This is Jude, the grandchild of a friend of a friend of mine!  I think he’s just about the cutest baby ever!  Photo courtesy of Niki Pugh Bensley.

I really can’t believe it.

Well, time does fly when you’re having fun.

And, this has been so much fun.

So, to celebrate today, I’m doing a little bragging!

In those two years, I have posted 674 times, counting this one.  I’ve talked about everything from how much I love Dancing With The Stars to how much I detest Nancy Grace and Kate Goeslin to books I’ve read, movies seen, dinners I’ve cooked, things I like, things I hate, my ugly toe-nails and how I fixed them, my baldness, my kids, my friends, vacations, places I love, and I’ve even gotten preachy a time or two. 

Oh, yes, I’ve talked about Liz once in a while too!

Hopefully, you can’t live without it you’ve enjoyed some of it.

I’ve had over 3800 comments, and over 100,000 hits from over 66,000 people!

And some of my blog posts have appeared on national websites, landed me in magazines, and shown UP on a corporate website or two.

I’ve had no swag and no advertisers. 

But, I’ve had a lot of fun! 

And I hope I have more!

Thanks to everyone who’s made it happen!

I’d like to think I had something to do with it!