Rainn Wilson (a.k.a. the introspective and devious Dwight Schrute) posted this photo on Twitter. It’s the goodbye cake for Steve’s last day.

 

A sad day for NBC's The Office. Farewell, Steve!

Sigh. I wonder what will happen with Michael and Holly. They’re perfect for each other.

They remind Howie and me of our relationship!

It depicts a woman wearing a flowing blue dress, strolling through her garden. She kneels down and admires the ripe, red tomatoes. Last, she reaches down and pulls out….a smartphone. Yep. She snaps a photo of the tomato and seems to upload it somewhere. She’s grinning like a fool the whole time, by the way.

Howie and I laughed when we saw that, because that’s pretty much me. I carry my G1 phone with me everywhere. I’m also an avid photographer and love to share with others. So, I often take photos of flowers, veggies, toads, and anything else I find pretty or interesting and upload it from my phone.

Need to ID a plant? Snap! Upload it.

See a cute little toad? Snap! Upload it.

I need to take more breaks when I garden than I used to, so I upload pictures when I sit down and take a break.

I wrote to Burpee today:

My husband and I saw the spring commercial on HGTV this morning. What a clever and funny ad!

We got a good laugh out of that, because that’s exactly how I am. I’m frequently out in my garden, admiring the flowers, veggies, even the little toads, then pulling out my cellphone to take photos and upload them to Facebook, my blog, and e-mail.

The only difference is, when I go out in my garden, I can assure you I am *never* bright and shiny, put together in a lovely outfit complete with hat and basket! My neighbors and any passers-by can attest to this. Please don’t ask them about it, though.

Thing is, by the time tomatoes ripen in my area of Ohio, it is HOT. If I’m dressed up like that, I’m sure not going to ruin my hair and makeup by going out in my garden and kneeling down to get pictures of my tomatoes…Even for a quick snap.

Okay, I lied. Maybe I would, but just one! My husband will be in the background telling me we’re running late and to get in the car.

Anyway, good show on the commercial. You and your ad agency came up with something delightful for us tech-loving gardeners.

We need an Android app, guys. Hint, hint.

When I wrote it, I’d only watched the ad once and would have sworn the woman in the commercial was wearing a straw hat. Nope! It’s funny how your mind’s eye can trick you!

I now return you to your scheduled programming.

I made a playlist on YouTube so parts 1 & 2 can be played in succession. Also on that playlist is a special reading of Seuss’ original story, read by Walter Matthau. It is a treat!

Included on the special: Phil Hartman, Tim Burton, Danny Elfman, June Foray (voice of Cindy Lou Who), Audrey Geisel, Albert Hague (composer & lyricist), Chuck Jones, Boris Karloff, Thurl Ravenscroft (singer of You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch). It’s neat seeing behind the scenes stuff like this!

You’ll also want to check out the Chuck Jones site, Chuck Redux, where his grandson posts all kinds of things from his grandfather, including pencil sketches, photos, and letters from Chuck to his daughter. It’s a fascinating website.

The majority of the footage the filmmakers used was original full color film. They told the story through the eyes of a dozen people who were there, so the viewer saw the unfolding events from the individuals’ points of view.

In addition to soldiers, they featured a journalist and an Army nurse. Using narratives from the peoples’ journals, letters, and other writing, the stories unfold. Some surviving participants were filmed as they recollected their experiences; the old footage was narrated by actors playing the young versions of the people. As a result, it was very easy to be drawn into the stories.

There is graphic footage of wounded and dead soldiers and civilians, so exercise caution if you’re squeamish. As sobering as it is to view such footage, it is an unvarnished, un-Hollywood opportunity to learn about World War II. It also made me incredibly thankful that we have not had war on home soil since. I can’t imagine living through that and my heart goes out to people who live in countries where war and terrorism is an everyday occurrence.

I ran across the following photo gallery from Life Magazine’s  website, their sole means of publishing since they ceased print publication. These photos of the American homefront during the war are fascinating to me.

You can view the gallery at Life’s website, too, along with hundreds of other photos from the era. I would like to hear from others who watched the WWII in HD documentary, especially those who lived through those war years. What was your everyday life like? What got you through?

Coloring book bunny looks just like designer Christopher Lowell

I ran across the bunny picture at a website today and immediately thought of designer Christopher Lowell. What do you think?

I submitted this lookalike at Totally Looks like, part of the awesome I Can Has Cheezburger empire.

Due to a mentally ill, violent and abusive alcoholic father, my home life was terrible when I was little. Mr. Rogers was an oasis for me. He didn’t just entertain me, but showed me that my feelings were legitimate, that I was special. He helped me learn coping skills, a lot of the time through make believe and play.

It’s sad that so many kids growing up in more recent years haven’t had anything much except disjointed multimedia shows. When kids are fed a steady diet of flashy, rapidly-changing images, they end up requiring that constant visual entertainment to be satisfied. Children’s TV lost its soul when Mr. Rogers died.

Olivia was a newlywed, her wedding the subject of season 3′s “The Chivaree”. She is understandably devastated by the loss of her husband and the Waltons don’t know what to do to help other than comfort her and give her space. Olivia processes her grief and the family just tries to accommodate. The children have the most trouble understanding, not having experienced losses like hers.

At the same time, the Walton’s cat, Calico, is pregnant and due to deliver her kittens. When Calico does finally give birth, she dies during delivery. It turns out, Olivia has experience in caring for newborn animals, and she steps in to care for the orphaned kittens. Little Elizabeth is crushed by the death of Calico, but helps Olivia care for the babies. Olivia finds healing in helping, and Elizabeth learns about grief firsthand. It’s a touching episode.

Well, when those newborn kittens started mewing, the ears of every furry animal in our house perked up. Sarah sat facing the TV, her head cocked, and watched. Funniest of all, though, was Snoopy’s reaction. She started out just looking toward the TV, but soon couldn’t abide her curiosity from a distance and crept up toward the TV.

Next, she stood with her front paws up on the TV’s stand, staring at the screen.

What IS that? What's that sound?

Then, she jumped up on the stand and eyeballed the kitten from close-up…

Is THAT what's making all this ruckus?

And, finally, she looked behind the TV…

Maybe it's behind this thing...

Of course, Howie had to rewind the DVD player and play the segment over a few times. We were giggling like fools at these animals. Pets are wonderful for bringing laughter to a household!

Olive’s way of speaking kills me. As the Depends-like package appears in the jumble of worldly goods falling from the nun’s closet, she says, “Ohhh, top shelf fem products!”.

Best yet, the Mother Superior’s assertion after calling the Vatican to check on Chuck, who is dressed as a nun and says her name is Sister Christian…

“‘Sister Christian’ is nothing but a heavy petting power ballad”.

Priceless. Especially coming from the mouths of those characters.

I must say, it killed me for Olive to spend two episodes in a mountain convent. And. Not. Sing. I got it, okay? It’s all “Hey guys! Let’s have Kristin look like she’s in the freakin’ Sound of Music, but not have her even hum a little tune or anything!” She even twirled around like Maria, for Pete’s sake!

Oh, you miserable teases.