May 14, 2017

At the Mother's Day Café...

P1130609

... you can talk about mothers or talk about anything you want. I picked this photograph because my mother's favorite color was purple

51 comments:

rhhardin said...

Mothers' day is a celebration of passive agression.

madAsHell said...

Yesterday, we celebrated Mother's Day. When the conversation turned to strange dreams, I was able to recall something Laslo had written. I mentioned that my strange dream was......."standing naked in the Safeway with a big box of toilet paper, and a bottle of stool softener".

The subject was quickly changed. Thanks, Laslo.

Anonymous said...

Prof + Meade:

Did you see Sen Kamala Harris (D-CA) speech at the Howard University? Was she Super Fantastic? In light of the Canadian PM (young man) and French President (young man), do you not agree that the next POTUS (or VPOTUS) could very well be Kamala Harris?

I think the Dem Primary is going to have more people than GOP 2016 primary (N=17). The difference will be while GOP primary was with crazies (think: Rick Santorum), the Dem 2020 primary will be all stars:
Harris,
Booker,
Warren,
Mark Warner,
Senators, Congressional Leaders, Governors, Business leaders, etc.

Ooo la la. I cannot wait for 2020. I will be living in Madison then. So, it will be a blast.

Happy Mother's Day!

Bay Area Guy said...

Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there!

Gahrie said...

Happy Mother's Day to all of the moms out there.

Gahrie said...

should have just said ditto.

Darrell said...

Ditto.

FullMoon said...

I have always felt Martha Stewert was fucked by the government. Was only yesterday I found out Comey was the prick involved. He was involved in Scooter Libbys railroading also.


Comey is an asshole

FullMoon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
FullMoon said...

Any of you guys watch Shark Tank? Sharks would love this guy:


"King Gillette made Gillette razors and razor blades. Production began in 1903, when he sold a total of 51 razors and 168 blades.[8]

The second year, he sold 90,884 razors and 123,648 blades"

The razor cost five bucks, half a weeks pay for average worker.,

JackWayne said...

But the blades were double edged. And apparently lasted a year for most men.

mockturtle said...

Happy Mother's Day, Ann!

My day is bittersweet because, although my kids and grandkids have been warm in their well wishing, my own mother passed away last week.

Michael K said...

"But the blades were double edged. And apparently lasted a year for most men."

Nope. Not for me. They lasted one or two shaves until stainless came along.

Michael K said...

"my own mother passed away last week."

My sympathy. I was so lucky to have my mother until she was almost 103.

I took her to see "Titanic" when it came out. She was 14 when it sank. She laughed at a lot of the subplots as unimaginable.

She was no prude. One of her favorite stories was dancing with Victor McLaglen when she was in California in the 1920s. I added the link as a lot of people won't remember who he was.

Anyway, she lived in three centuries. Born in 1898 and died in 2001. MY sister goes to her grave every Mothers' Day and her birthday.

JackWayne said...

But you didn't sharpen them; better than a straight razor.

Hagar said...

There is a story about King Gilette and Colonel What's-his-face of Schick meeting Arthur Murray at a party and Murray earnestly explaining to them how he was able to make his double-edge blue Gilette blades last for months by rubbing them against the inside of a water glass. When he moved away the Colonel told Gilette that such a customer he was welcome to.

Bill said...

All the day's best, Mother Althouse. From what I can tell, you raised two wonderful sons.

[Michael K, I loved reading about your mother and Victor McLaglen. And it reminded me that Louise Brooks described dancing with Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle as waltzing in the arms of an huge donut.]

Curious George said...

Happy Mother's Day, Ann!

I last saw and spoke to my mother on Mothers Day. her last words, "You'll be okay." Even suffering from terminal cancer, a mother until the end. I sure miss her.

Humperdink said...

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers, including my lovely wife of 27 years. Where would we be without them? (Ha0.

AllenS said...

OK, I have a beef about Mother's Day. Yesterday, watching the Brewers play the Mets, I noticed (how could a person miss it?) the players had on a lot of pink. The Mets catcher especially. I've got news for everyone, if my mother caught me wearing a lot of pink, she would have slapped the shit out of me. Sorry, Mom, but you wouldn't like what's going on now.

Humperdink said...

So DNC holds their 2016 convention in my state of PA in the City of Brotherly Love (gag me).
The state of Pa (read: taxpayers) donates $10mil to the DNC defray convention expenses. Why is a mystery to me.

Now the best part. They finish with a surplus. What to do with the surplus? Under the leadership of Fast Eddie Rendell, they award large bonus's ($1mil) to the staff, among other somewhat noble causes.

Maybe that's not the best part .... the did nominate that lose.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/PHL-2016-Host-Committee-gives-out-nearly-1-million-in-bonus-checks.html

Michael K said...

Did the Mets catcher have a pussy hat under the mask?

Happy Mothers' Day Ann and my daughters in law.

SukieTawdry said...

Happy Mother's Day to mothers everywhere on earth and in heaven. Thanks for everything!

rhhardin said...

The shortwave bands are dead right now. That means a couple hour bike ride with no entertainment.

The best is listening to weak stations fade in and out, like an old Ernie Harwell and Paul Carrey broadcasts of the distant Tigers, but copying peaks in the morse code instead of events.

But there's no stations at all, right now.

Yesterday there were a couple of guys sending with keyboards but copying by ear, one saying he was set at 46wpm but that's the fastest he can type. Really it wasn't that fast - the letters were that fast but the spacings were his typing speed, that went on for almost the entire ride. They were talking about going to the Dayton ham convention, whether they'd fly or drive, and even if they'd go, and what the weather was going to be.

The point is the rhythm of the morse code, and fading in and out.

But no stations today. Leave the radio home instead of putting it in the front basket.

rhhardin said...

That's a tulip fly trap.

Ann Althouse said...

I'm sorry to hear that, mock turtle.

My own mother died almost 20 years ago. It's very hard to know that whatever you've managed to say to your mother is now the sum total of all that you will ever get to say. I do feel that I honor her often, mostly in talking to Meade about her. I appreciate her in so many ways that I never understood and certainly never expressed when she was alive.

FullMoon said...

Jack Wayne said...

But the blades were double edged. And apparently lasted a year for most men.
5/14/17, 12:12 PM


Nope, Gillettes whole idea was continually selling the throwaway blades. Wikipedia has good story about him. A little nutty as he got older.

JackWayne said...

Full moon, my grandfather in Mississippi sharpened his until they were nothing. They lasted a long time. I'm sure Gillette wanted people to buy new ones all the time. Not how it worked out.

mockturtle said...

My mother read more books than did anyone I know. She taught me to read when I was three and I have enjoyed it all my life. Thanks, Mom!

It was sad that I was unable to be there when she died but am stuck in AZ with my right arm in a cast. There was no funeral--Mother hated funerals--but her ashes are on the way to Colorado where they will be interred in her plot next to those of my father.

Michael K said...

I appreciate her in so many ways that I never understood and certainly never expressed when she was alive.

I was lucky mine lived so long and was mentally clear until the end. My kids would go to Chicago to spend days or a week with her and hear her stories. She would take them shopping and I visited every three months or so.

She had a great life and we were very fortunate.

Michael K said...

" my grandfather in Mississippi sharpened his until they were nothing."

Somewhere back in the mists of time, I seem to recall having a sharpener but I don't remember that is worked very well.

FullMoon said...

Jack Wayne said...

Full moon, my grandfather in Mississippi sharpened his until they were nothing. They lasted a long time. I'm sure Gillette wanted people to buy new ones all the time. Not how it worked out.

5/14/17, 2:14 PM


"Razor sales reached 450,000 units and blade sales exceeded 70 million units in 1915".

Might have been easier to strop the ol' straight razor than to sharpen those flimsy little blades. Wonder if gramps did not have easy access to a store that sold the blades. I would sharpen them before crankin; up the Model T to drive an hour to buy new ones.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Happy Mother's Day. My mother died 36 years ago when she was still very young 48. I miss that we didn't get to know each other as adults, that she never got to see her grandchild grow up or grandchildren's existence. She would have been so proud.

You know your parents as parental units when you are younger. If you are lucky you grow into another relationship of friends and adults together as well as still being parents. Like Althouse, I wish she had been here so I could tell her all the things I missed telling her, should have said, and to ask her more about herself. Not Mom, but the mysterious person in those old photos and 8mm films who became Mother.

Her favorite color was yellow, but since she was colorblind who knows what it really looked like. We had yellow roses at her funeral.

Michael K said...

" I wish she had been here so I could tell her all the things I missed telling her"

About 25 years ago I had a patient, a woman of about 35, who was dying of kidney cancer. She spent her last weeks tape recording all the things she wanted to tell her children when they were older. Heart breaking.

rcocean said...

Here's Comey big pal Former CIA Director Clapper:

“I think in many ways our institutions are under assault,” Clapper told CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday. “Both externally, and that’s the big news here, is Russian interference in our election system. And I think as well our institutions are under assault internally.” When asked to clarify if the internal assault came from the president directly, the former spy chief added: “Exactly.”

Damn. If Comey has more "friends" like this, Trump was completely correct to fire him. And none too soon.

rcocean said...

My mother never liked "Mother's Day" or "father's Day" - she considered them "Made up Holiday" designed to sell people crap.

My wife agrees.

Chuck said...

FullMoon said...
I have always felt Martha Stewert was fucked by the government. Was only yesterday I found out Comey was the prick involved. He was involved in Scooter Libbys railroading also.

Comey is an asshole [Link.]

1. I felt that exact same way about the Martha Stewart prosecution.
2. I felt even more strongly, about the injustice of the Scooter Libby prosecution.
3. I too did not know about Comey's involvement in either of those cases, apart from Comey and Pat Fitzgerald going way back together, as colleagues. I'm actually still not clear on Comey's role. If Comey had any, I join you in your condemnation.
4. Thank you very much, for that Victor Davis Hanson link. Very good read. Much appreciated. On today's Wall Street Journal Editorial Report (Fox News Channel), former-everything Michael Mukasey laid out the case for firing Comey. It was convincing, as is generally the case with Mukasey.* But it was a perfect explanation only up to the point that Trump started talking to Lester Holt. Because at that point, the careful and legally-based case against Comey just melted into irrelevance, as Trump seems to have decided without anything from Rod Rosenstein.

This Michael Mukasey:

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/430126/


Deb said...

My daughter, recently married (3 weeks ago), had both families over for brunch. She included her aunt and uncles, who do not have children. She gave us a sweet photo, framed, and flowers. She baked her grandmother's favorite cake. It was a lovely morning. My daughter and new son-in-law are good, solid people. I love them dearly and feel so fortunate. Regarding another thread yesterday, where motherhood and raising children were discussed - I felt privileged to be able to stay at home and raise my daughters and they have thanked me for it as adults. Whether it left me at a disadvantage career-wise I have no idea and don't care. I have never been motivated by money. What does that make me? Lazy? A Loser? I guess some people would say so. But I tend to live by Ben Zoma's words: "Who is rich? He who is content with his lot." I have enough, and that is plenty.

David Baker said...

Something to think about: When a person is cremated, the remaining ashes are but a small percentage of their total body weight. All the rest, roughly 98%, go up the chimney and out into the world where they'll circumnavigate the globe in a matter of weeks, even days. Where soon they're all around you.

Hagar said...

May 10th is marked as "Mother's Day" on my wall calendar. Mexico is the only country that celebrates "Mother's Day" on May 10th. But the calendar was printed in Dayton, Ohio.

JackWayne said...

40 million adult men in 1915. 70 million sold. Big deal.

Unknown said...

Purple is the color of royally, Romanoffs in Russia. In ancient times It was a dye, made from snails in Tyre.

Unknown said...

Deb My eyes drew to you beautiful post.

AllenS said...

Dear Brewers Mothers, Happy Mothers Day!

Rusty said...

My condolences mockturtle.
Not a day goes by........

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

"About 25 years ago I had a patient, a woman of about 35, who was dying of kidney cancer. She spent her last weeks tape recording all the things she wanted to tell her children when they were older. Heart breaking."

Oof. If I was one of her children I'm not sure I'd find the courage to listen to those tapes. But I'm not a memorialist, either. I figure I will be remembered, for better or worse, to the exact degree that I earned in life. So I don't visit graves and I don't linger over old letters and photographs, but I'm grateful for the good memories and the people that made them.

Michael K said...

" I'm grateful for the good memories and the people that made them."

I think she wanted just to tell them the things she thought were important. Whether they listened, I have no idea. Maybe when they were adults.

gspencer said...

Children: "Why do you get to have breakfast in bed today?"

Mom: "Because all the other days of the year are Children's Days!"

narciso said...

Seriously comey went with the special counsel even after knowing that armitage had leaked, he put judith miller in prison for the same consequence. He disabled our terrorism surveilance out of pique march 10, 2004, know what happened the next day.

He was in continuous conflict by being on hsbc' s board which has significant exposure in Russia, he presided over an even more intrusive surveilance net. He was derelict in the Clinton investigation. His record in 12 jihadist cases left much to be desired.

Gahrie said...

If you are lucky you grow into another relationship of friends and adults together as well as still being parents.

I'm about to be 52, my mother is 70, My father is 71. Last fall I began driving up to their house every Sunday to visit, eat lunch and play cards. I look forward to that time together each week, and I know my parents do also.

urbane legend said...

rhhardin said
... Dayton ham ...

My dad never made much money, so we ate a lot of this because it was cheap. I've hated ham ever since.