Category Archives: Rancho Roly Poly

The Pavarotti of the Plains

Posted on April 8, 2010 | Comments Off on The Pavarotti of the Plains

TFG has a nice video clip of Big Don Walser in concert, at his yodeling best. Reminds me when he sang at a friend’s wedding and later when Mrs. Charm and I saw him at little club in South Austin. Then he was so obese that he waddled getting onto the small stage. His almost-equally obese wife sat nearby. TFG says we make too much of DW’s overweight, but he might be with us yet if he’d taken it more seriously himself.

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Posted in Library, Mrs. Charm, Rancho Roly Poly, Texana

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More bluebonnets

Posted on April 7, 2010 | Comments Off on More bluebonnets

Bluebonnets+008

Still haven’t had a chance to get out and photograph the bluebonnets. And won’t for a while, now that Mrs. C. has me double-checking her tally of our taxes. We are not among these folks who, don’t you know, probably vote for the Dems who keep raising the taxes of the rest of us. See what the Tea Party is upset about? This shot of the blue carpets is from a friend who lives out near Washington-on-the-Brazos. Illustrates what a great crop there is this year.

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Posted in Mrs. Charm, Obamalot, Rancho Roly Poly, Texana

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Nandina in the snow

Posted on March 31, 2010 | Comments Off on Nandina in the snow

NandinaInTheSnow

This was taken a few weeks ago. But I figured if I didn’t run it soon, it’d really look silly when the daytime temps are in the 80s everyday, instead of just occasionally as they are now. This snowfall was a rare event for us.

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Posted in Rancho Roly Poly, Texana, Weather/Climate

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Estate sale

Posted on March 26, 2010 | Comments Off on Estate sale

Went out to retrieve the newspaper and couldn’t help but notice that the street had turned into a parking lot. Bumper-to-bumper cars parked on both sides. I saw some bustle in a front yard down the way and walked down to see what was going on. I figured it was a funeral’s aftermath. But people were standing in a long line. Huh? Then I saw the sign: Estate Sale.

I came back inside and decided to Google it with the address. Sure enough. There it was on Craigslist. Couple downsizing [i.e. moving to retirement or nursing home, probably] and selling generations of stuff, mostly china, silverware and costume jewelry. That Craigslist is amazing, though I suppose it’s really a matter of the allure of estate and/or garage sales, these days, rather than the particular advertising vehicle.

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Posted in Rancho Roly Poly, Scribbles, Texana

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Of typos, misspellings and bad grammar

Posted on March 24, 2010 | Comments Off on Of typos, misspellings and bad grammar

I’ve really enjoyed the process of writing, rewriting, finding good editing and proofreading and learning how to manipulate digital photographs to design the covers for two self-published, or indie, print-on-demand books of fiction.

It’s also given me a lot of sympathy for others who try to finish the long and tricky process with a product of more than ordinary merit—and without a lot of “construction dust,” as Austin meteorologist and author Tim Vasquez calls it, meaning typos, misspellings, and grammatical errors. Sympathy, but sometimes little patience.

Including little patience for those who enjoy sneering at such work (“I only got to page 45″), comparing it to mainstream publishing’s allegedly more exacting standards. Maybe in the past, but no more. I’m always reading a book and I find almost as many proofreading problems with mainstream stuff as DIY. True, misspellings and bad grammar are less likely in the mainstream but, clearly, in the rush to make a profit not all of the last-minute jobs are being done.

Still, I soldier on, as ever reading and reading, and these days working on a non-fiction book of Texana. Even ebooks are interesting. I still prefer print on paper, but the ebook prices, usually being so much lower than paper products, are enticing.

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Posted in Library, Rancho Roly Poly, Scribbles, Texana

IEATAPETA

Posted on March 15, 2010 | Comments Off on IEATAPETA

It’s the Eighth Annual International Eat A Tasty Animal for PETA Day. Hamburger, I expect, will be on the menu at the rancho where we seldom miss an opportunity to mock a pretentious person or organization. Especially an obnoxious one like PETA, which so richly deserves all the ridicule it gets.

Not that we have anything against vegetarians. Just tell us how you’d like them prepared. Heh.

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Posted in Blogosphere, Rancho Roly Poly, Site building

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Do you really need a college degree?

Posted on March 14, 2010 | Comments Off on Do you really need a college degree?

When I was young, the answer was unambiguously yes. And, indeed, in terms of future employment, as recorded here, with one you have been much more likely to be employed and remain so since 1992. Leaving aside how long it took you to recoup the money spent on getting one in the first place.

Now, ideally, education teaches you how to think. But if you haven’t picked that process up in twelve years, you’re not likely to do it in four more. Or five more, as is the average nowadays.

Why shouldn’t we, instead, I said the other day to Mrs. C., encourage Mr. B. to become, say, an electrician. Every time we’ve tried to get an electrician to come fix something, it’s been hard, they’re all so busy. Most people (including me, to a certain extent) are afraid of electricity and so will hire even the relatively simple installation of a ceiling fan, rather than try it themselves. So why not do it Ace’s way:

“…if a kid a started an electrician’s apprentice program at 18, he could get his full Electrician’s license within 5 years. And if his parents had saved even half the money that would have gone for tuition, they would have enough to bankroll the kid setting up his own electrical business. For a lot of kids that’s a much better start to life than getting a bachelors degree in sociology or art history and wondering what now.”

No kidding.

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Posted in Mr. Boy, Mrs. Charm, Rancho Roly Poly, Scribbles

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