Saturday Sweethearts

We participated in the World War II Weekend at Joanna, helping with the children's games. The kids wanted to try dressing up. I think they looked really cute. 

(Emi and I changed later on for the big swing dance.)

Friday Funnies

Happy Friday to you!

It's our first Friday of Summer Vacation!! Woo-hooo!!!

My hubby alerted me to this week's Friday Funny. I truly love this man's sense of humor and his graciousness. What a fun moment for him and for his lovely wife!

Enjoy! And have a fun Friday!

Curious (About) George?

Happy St. George's Day!

The day that St. George, the patron saint of England, died and thus is celebrated each year.

So saith wikipedia.com, and you can learn a bit more about his encounter with dragons here.

We typically wish each other a happy day and have something yummy and English (synonymous, really) for dinner. Stuart insists that every holiday that revolves around an English saint involves wings -- this one being no exception -- but I'm thinking something more along the lines of pork pie might be in order this year.

The photo is from Ethan's first St. George's Day in 2009. He's not quite ready for knighthood yet, but he could be the Knight of Sweetness, maybe?

We read quite a bit about St. Patrick this year, trying to understand him as a man. So I looked up something on St. George, too, and here it is... A bit of background on the man behind the holiday from the website WearetheEnglish.com:

St George - The Man

Hard facts are hard to come by, but what is know is that St George was a Roman soldier who was tortured to death in the Holy Land around 300AD for refusing to renounce his faith. Apart from this much of the rest of his life remains shrouded in mystery and even his nationality is uncertain although he was probably Turkish or possibly Palestinian. He certainly wasn't English but then again St Patrick isn't Irish and St Andrew isn't a Scot.

The English are not the only people to stake a claim to him. In the Middle East, Christians invoke his powers to exorcise demons. In many countries St George is associated with fertility and his day marks the beginning of summer. In Lithuania he is revered as the guardian of animals and in parts of Spain his day is celebrated with feasts and gift giving.

From the middle ages his cross had become the flag of London, Durham, Lincoln, Rochester and York as well as England itself. Tales of St George were brought back with the early crusaders and with his story, even at that time being so vague he could be made to fit more comfortably with the violence of England's warlike kings than many of his more pacifist counterparts.

The later crusades really cemented George's status and in 1191, Richard the Lionheart was reputed to have discovered his tomb at Lod in present day Israel. During the 11th century siege of Antioch he is said to have appeared to the crusaders, as a knight dressed in white robes decorated with a red cross urging the men forward and again 800 years later British troops reported sightings of him on the western front.

Fact or fiction, with the tale of his slaying of the dragon, St George represents the victory of good over evil and touches something very deep and potent in the English psyche.

The legend of St George is probably best summed up by William Cook who finishes a book review of St George by saying: "You are left with a strong suspicion that, even though most of this tale is surely legend, something incredible really did happen in Palestine 1,700 years ago - well worth a round of drinks on 23 April".

Remembering Memorial Day

The Soldier

IF I should die, think only this of me:
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is forever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England's, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by the suns of home.

And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.

~Rupert Brooke

D-Day...65 Years Later

Old and New

[Scratch...drag...squeak...thump.]

Stepping up on my soapbox.

Ahem...

It's a new year and as the saying goes, "Out with old, in with the new."

I've purposely stayed away from writing about politics on this blog because 1.) I think they're private and 2.) They can be divisive and 3.) I don't often "muse" about them anyway.

But today begs to have a post about it -- if merely because of its significance.

Democracy is alive and well, and today is a perfect example of that, given the fact that one President is leaving office and another is taking his place. The election held in November brought forth a new administration for our country. Democracy at its best...and its worst.

So all that is finished, and yet...

I'm curious why people find it necessary to use their "freedom of speech" to be offensive and insulting...instead of "agreeing to disagree." I'm bothered by the fact that people cannot simply wish someone leaving a happy life and leave it at that. It's disturbing to me that not one of the people (including the new president) has ever walked in the shoes of the past President. Wow! A big eye-opening is about to happen. As it says in Proverbs, "Pride comes before a fall...."

So, while my blog is small and insignificant to anyone else but myself and a few loved ones and friends, I am publicly thanking President Bush for a job WELL DONE!

Thank you for protecting me and my family, especially my little ones. Thank you for standing up for what is RIGHT...and GOOD. Thank you for trying to do your best in all circumstances and serving in your position with pride of nation yet humility of self. Thank you for taking the "heat" for all sorts of things that you didn't have any control over...no thanks to Congress. Thank you most especially for your deep love for GOD and all that He is.

History will vindicate you. It will show what a GREAT president you were and what a GREAT man you are.

My heart pounds quickly in my chest as I know our new president doesn't follow the same guide, that he has a different moral compass. But I will pray for him.

And since I know that God doesn't allow anything to happen outside of His plan, I know we will remain safe and strong, despite anything our government tries to do.

[Thump...thump.]

Okay...stepping down now. *grin*

Momentous Moment in Time

An historic snapshot!

Of Mary Janes...

I've changed my profile photo to this one of me (yes, I was a blondie back then) on my second birthday, holding up two of my presents: a Fisher-Price barn lunchbox and my new "Mary Jane" shoes...which I immediately dubbed my "Janes."

I find my mind often works like the If You Give a Mouse a Cookie book.

One idea leads to another...to another...to another. I guess it goes with being a woman. Supposedly, we talk in circles...allegedly.

I think it has more to do with being of a curious nature. *grin*

I went online to explore the history of "Mary Jane" shoes. (All links are underlined if you want to learn even more.)

And funny enough I found it on Wikipedia: Mary Jane was a character created by Richard Outcault for his comic strip, "Buster Brown," which was first published in 1902. She was the sister of the title character, Buster Brown.

In 1904, Outcault travelled to the St. Louis World's Fair and sold licenses to up to 200 companies to use the Buster Brown characters to advertise their products. Among them was the Brown Shoe Company, who later hired actors to tour the country, performing as the Buster Brown characters in theaters and stores.

This strategy helped the Brown Shoe Company become the most prominently associated brand with the Buster Brown characters. The style of shoe Buster Brown's sister wore came to be known by her name, Mary Jane.

So then I found myself clicking on the link to the "Buster Brown" comic strip....to learn: Buster Brown was a comic strip character created in 1902 by Richard Felton Outcault which was known for his association with the Brown Shoe Company. (The name "Buster" came either directly or indirectly from the popularity of Buster Keaton, then a child-star of vaudeville.)

This mischievous young boy was loosely based on a boy near Outcault's home in Flushing, New York. Buster Brown, his sister Mary Jane, and his dog Tige, a Boston Terrier, were well known to the American public in the early 20th century. Tige is thought to be the first talking pet to appear in American comics, and, like that of many of his successors, his speech goes unnoticed by adults.

Which then led me to look at the link for Buster Keaton to learn that: Buster Keaton (born Joseph Frank Keaton, October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American silent film comic actor and filmmaker.

His trademark was physical comedy with a stoic, deadpan expression on his face, earning him the nickname "The Great Stone Face" (referencing the Nathaniel Hawthorne story about the "Old Man of the Mountain").

Keaton's career as a performer and director is widely considered to be among the most innovative and important work in the history of cinema. He was recognized as the seventh greatest director of all time by Entertainment Weekly.

A 2002 world-wide poll by Sight and Sound ranked Keaton's The General as the 15th best film of all time. Three other Keaton films received votes in the survey: Our Hospitality, Sherlock, Jr., and The Navigator.

Keaton acquired the nickname "Buster" at about six months of age.

Keaton told interviewer Fletcher Markle that Harry Houdini happened to be present one day when the young Keaton took a tumble down a long flight of stairs without injury. After the infant sat up and shook off his experience, Houdini remarked, "That was a real buster!"

According to Keaton, in those days, the word buster was used to refer to a spill or a fall that had the potential to produce injury. Thereafter, it was Keaton's father who began to use the nickname to refer to the youngster.

Then, of course, I had to know more about the Brown Shoe Company which makes Buster Brown shoes...the kind I wore as a child: The company was created in St. Louis and was originally named Bryan, Brown & Company after its founders George Warren Brown and Alvin Bryan.

The name was changed to Brown Shoe Company in 1893.

The George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis was endowed in 1925 by G.W. Brown's widow.

Brown Shoe Company Inc. is a $2.5 billion footwear company with worldwide operations. The company operates the 1000-store Famous Footwear chain. It also operates 400 Naturalizer stores in the U.S. and Canada.

Brown Shoe's wholesale divisions own and market leading footwear brands including Naturalizer, LifeStride, Connie, Buster Brown; it also markets licensed brands including Via Spiga, Franco Sarto, Etienne Aigner, Dr. Scholl's and Carlos by Carlos Santana for adults, and Barbie, Spider-Man and Bob-the-Builder character footwear for children.

Wow! Interesting, huh?

Makes me want to dye my hair blond and find a pair of original Buster Brown Mary Janes...*wink*

*sigh*

Memories...

Elizabethan Times

Here are the photos from our trip to see the Elizabeth II ship and hands-on adventure museum.