Canthook

Clever Ways to Survive The Recession

Harl Delos — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:18:24 +0000

Thanks to Little Brudder, who suggested this clever way of surviving the current recession.

Big Sister suggested this clever way of saving on cat toys.

Other Bloggers On Related Topics:
cat toys - Christmas - decorating - ditto - recession - survival

Quote Of The Week

Harl Delos — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:14:34 +0000

"Anal pain isn't something to sit on".

- Dr, William Ives, in letter to the editor, Lancaster Intelligent Era, November 9.

Dr. Ives unsuccessfully ran as a Republican for Coroner earlier this decade against Gary Kirchner. He is a member of the American of Colon and Rectal Surgeons.

Harriet Housewife Wants To Write Her Congressman

Harl Delos — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:05:05 +0000

Harriet Housewife was the pen name of my mother. She wrote a letter to the editor of the town newspaper, anonymously, and signed it "Harried Housewife". The editor changed it from "harried" to "Harriet" - and asked her to write more. She never knew how he figured out she was the author, but soon, she was writing a column monthly for the rural electric co-operative newsletter.

A couple of decades later, a childhood friend stole her pen name. I'm not sure if there isn't a back story there. When I asked her how she met Dad, she said he had been dating her best friend. She wouldn't say who her best friend had been, but I suspected that the theft of her pen name was payback

In any case, I thought you might enjoy this column from an earlier era.

Dear Editor -

They Think We're Stupid - Cat Litter

Harl Delos — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:10:18 +0000

It's like having no cat box at all.

Can you imagine anything more disgusting?

The Fresh Step people must think we're stupid.

And while we're at it, how come we're supposed to eat food with a lot of fiber, but they promote pet food as having little or no fiber content? A constipated dog is miserable to have around....

Other Bloggers On Related Topics:
advertising - Arm & Hammer - cat litter - constipation - Fresh Step - low-fiber pet foods

Mirror, Mirror, On The Wall

Harl Delos — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:10:18 +0000

I used to think that a "good self-image" meant a positive self-image. A therapist explained it to me. A good self-image is an accurate self-image. If you're ugly as sin, a good self-image tells you that you're ugly as sin - but also that you're an excellent cook, a kind and generous soul, and you have proper posture.

But yeah, he agreed, most women have lousy self-images. The magazines all have pictures of size-five babes with surgically-enhanced hooters, $400 worth of hair styling, and a deftly handled photoshop job. In the 1990s, a women's clothes chain, the "Body Shop", got into trouble with their mall landlords when they put a poster in their store windows showing a nude zaftig Barbie-like doll called "Ruby", plastic with mechanical joints, and the caption "There are three billion women in the world who don't look like supermodels and only eight who do". It seems that fat-acceptance isn't acceptable in the world of enclosed malls.

The Election Results Nobody Reported

Harl Delos — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 14:33:43 +0000

There's been a lot of talk about the elections held Tuesday. As I write this, I'm listening to C-SPAN. Representative Chris Van Hollen says that the news channels have it all wrong, that there were only two elections that affected Obama's ability to get things done, the special elections for Congressmen, and the Democrats won both of them, that gubernatorial races don't affect Obama, and that what will affect the future of the Democratic party is the demographic mix of voters that show up in 2010. They then went to Trent Duffy, a GOP strategist, who came right out and said Van Hollen is pretty much correct.

That shocked me. I'm used to hearing kneejerk denials of whatever the guy from the other party said. I think they're both wrong, of course. I'm like that. I see support for Obama as being a mile deep and one person wide, and almost no support for the parties on a national level. On a local level, of course, all I can see is my own locality, and I'm not sure I'm seeing much more than my own neighborhood.

Bettie Page - And A Bit Of Soup

Harl Delos — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 04:26:03 +0000

She asked me if I'd join her in little soup. I replied that I'd love to - but that I don't need a fetching young lady in order to get into hot water.

Speaking of fetching young ladies, Bettie Page made an impression when I was an impressionable youth, and I wasn't the only youth she made an impression on. Unlike other models, Bettie Page seemed comfortable in her own skin, not embarrassed to be naked, nor shamed to be naughty. Bettie was unaware for decades that she was remembered and adored by so many. You won't find a modern picture of Bettie; she doesn't want to dispel the magic of a forever youthful Bettie.

Director Mary Herron cast Gretchen Mol appeared in "The Notorious Bettie Page" appears on IFC this month. You can catch it tonight at 2:45 AM, Friday, Nov. 20 at 9:25 PM, Saturday, Nov. 21 at 3:15 AM, Sunday, Nov. 29 at 8:30 PM, or Monday, Nov. 30 at 1:00 AM. (All times Eastern).

Who Needs Terrorists When We Have Airlines?

Harl Delos — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 04:57:07 +0000

An engine tailcone fell off a Delta 777 airplane Thursday, shortly after taking off from JFK airport in New York. It landed in a yard on Long Island.

Delta found out about it when they inspected the plane upon landing in Tokyo. It's not like this is a small part. It's 4 feet long, and 3 feet in diameter. And the pilot didn't even notice.

They say the plane can fly just fine without it. If that's true, why are they hauling around all that extra weight and using up that extra fuel?

No More Airliners For Me

This is the same company as Northwest, whose pilots flew 150 miles past its destination a couple of weeks ago. Shouldn't this be of greater concern? Not only do we have inattentive pilots, but we have inattentive mechanics as well. If they're gluing the engine tailcone on with chewing gum, how much care to you suppose they pay to making sure the windows don't fall out, or that the roof doesn't suddenly decide to become a sunroof due to metal fatigue, as happened in 1988 on an Aloha Airlines flight?

Epiphanies: Secrets of Wealth, Sex & Orange Soda

Harl Delos — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 03:02:42 +0000

Romance novelist Terry Odell was commenting on romance novelist Joan Reeve's Sling Words blog that she really likes stories that start out slow and build. That's the reason why, she conjectures, she writes that way.

I'm not sure I agree. As an editor, I found that most stories benefit by throwing away the first part of the story. It doesn't mean that the first part doesn't need to be written; it gets the writer off to a running start, but that doesn't mean the first part needs to be inflicted on the reader.

Unemployment High? Let's Raise Taxes!

Harl Delos — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:46:45 +0000

Unemployment is now at the highest level since 1983.

Hmmm. Who was president then? Ronald Reagan.

How did he solve the unemployment problem? He raised taxes.

So Let's Raise Taxes

Sounds crazy, but we got into this economic mess by running a huge deficit during the Dubya administration. Raising taxes means those who have jobs have to work harder to keep from losing ground, have to hire more people to produce more goods and services so that they can sell more.

We had much higher taxes during the prosperity of the Eisenhower administration - a top rate of 91%, almost 3 times as high as at present.

Other Bloggers On Related Topics:
Ronald Reagan - taxes - Unemployment