333- MAVIS FLOWER SUGGINS PHILOSOPHIES Of LIFE #1.....

Yes, Otis P. T. Suggins has a wife, Mavis Flower. Mavis grew up in a hollow down the moutain a piece from the Otis homeplace. Heard tell they met one Sunday afternoon at a chapel social when the youth had a pie eating contest out under the spreading white oak trees. Mavis won, eating a banana cream pie in 3.7 minutes flat, with Otis coming in 2nd place at 5.3 minutes. Was like or love or something at first smile as both licked off residuals from their respective faces!

332- PATRIOTISM...APOLLO 11...July 20, 1969...FIRST MOON WALK!....

I AM a patriotic soul!
Apollo 11 was launched on July 16, 1969 (today, 40 years ago). And two fellow Americans actually walked on our Moon for the first time. Commander Neil Armstrong was chosen to be the first one in history to step out and make the historic walk. 'Buzz' Aldrin followed him out the door of the module. Pilot Michael Collins stayed back on the space craft and orbited the Moon.
Many will remember, too, back on May 25, 1961, when Pres. John F. Kennedy noted to Congress that America WOULD put a man on the Moon within 10 years?

331- The OTIS P. T. SUGGINS PHILOSOPHIES Of LIFE #3!.....

"Winning that biggie lottery is like trying to shovel, uh, smoke!"

330- TV COMMERCIALS...A squire SOCIAL COMMENTARY!....

Curiosity, by the way, DID benefit the cat!

A) That irritating GEICO gecko: some claim that a real little gecko could never talk, that the tiny critters, in real life, only chrips to other geckos. How in the freaking world can a car company build a convertible that tiny? How could a gecko get a driver's license for street use? At least that commercial is better than the current one with that wad of money and two eyes starring at you...and not speaking. The GEICO gecko does speak, though. By the way, what accent does that little green critter have?...British?...Australian?...Icelandic? Or who cares?
B) Cialis now for daily use? Is this the ad with the catchy song? NO...that one is for Viagra with a "viva" tune. What's next from this company? Vitalis?
C) Travelers Insurance, with the British guy who floats about with that huge RED umbrella? This guy loves it...so creative. Hearing it in the background, as I work on WORD, I will race to see it...over and over.
D) Those radio and TV ads for Bud Light! "Real men of genius!" have 24 of them so far. "Real American Heroes!" have 27. I've enjoyed these radio spots for YEARS, because they so cleverly poke fun at males who "think" they are so cool. As a matter of fact, a letter was written to August Busch IV in St. Louis earlier this summer complimenting their advertising staff for such refreshing humor.
Google to "My Bud Light Commercial Page". You'll find the two lists and can clic to hear any or all of them. Examples: "Real Men of Genius" has "Mr. Fancy Coffee Shop Coffee Pourer"..."Mr. Supermarket Free Sample Guy"..."Mr. Boombox Carrying Rollerskater".
"Real American Heroes": "Mr. Bowling Shoe Giver Outer"..."Mr. Inspirational Poster Maker"..."Mr. Giant Foam Finger Maker"....to name a few hilarious ones!
E) KASHI!..."7 whole grains on a mission..." Excellent TV commercial, for a change.

329- The OTIS P. T. SUGGINS PHILOSOPHIES Of LIFE #2.....

"Don't copy...originate!"

328- WANNA FEEL BETTER WHEN YOU STUB THAT TOE?......

This sociologist, and YOU, say....spew forth a naughty word or three!
a- you WILL psychologically feel better inside at that moment of impact on your toe...or when a pissant cuts you off in traffic and then gives you the fickle finger...or when you make a double-ugly choice or mistake?
b- highly suggest YOU utter the word or words when YOU are alone...to do so in public? Will lower your worth in other's eyes, no matter what YOU say. And, yes, I realize that those others do the same thing and some will want to judge YOU. YOU know how I feel about anyone thinking they're better than me or YOU!
c- Ha...I have a feeling that YOU already practive this practice....?

327- WILL I EVER DRIVE Or EVEN RIDE ON A MOTORCYCLE?.....

NO WAY, JOSE!

326- CHECK!...THOSE!...PRICES At The GROCERY STORE!.....

Please, each and every time, take the time to check over, carefully, your grocery store receipts!
a) Best to watch as they are rung up.
b) If not, pause nearby to check each item.
c) Or even at home.
d) Someone/s are in charge of changing prices in their computers...more and more prices, as I and friends are seeing, do not match the prices posted on the shelves on your printed receipt later. I personally have "caught" at least one to two wrong prices each day at a big chair you're quite familiar with, always in favor of the store.
d- Underline in red and take back to customer service to prove. If necessary, take someone in customer service back to the item price for proof. If they refuse, call for management. DON'T let the error slip by you!
e- Your consumer rights dictate that the price on the shelf is THE ONE you owe. DON'T let a clerk or manager try to palm it off as just a mistake!!!!...always, though, be POLITE. You'll succeed better, much better and quicker, because you're RIGHT, legally. By the way, a few big grocery stores have a policy of giving the item to you free if they, computer, make a mistake. ASK when it happens!
f- Know and exert your individual consumer rights...PLEASE! And use those "rain checks"....
g- IMPORTANT?...when you go to "that" big box store where your goods are placed into PLASTIC bags on those circular spinning metal bagholders, look THEN to make sure you got everything you bought!!!!...and ask for DOUBLE PLASTIC BAGS for all of those canned goods and heavy items. Ever have a single PLASTIC bag break in your car or going into your home? I know you have!

325- OUR GOOD OLD AMERICAN SOCIETY!..."REMEMBER THESE?".....

This Sociology educator loves the subject:
a- Clove Chewing Gum?...Teaberry Gum?...Juicy Fruit?....ahhh!
b- 45 RPM records?...33-1/3rd RPM records?...8-Track tapes?...Phonographs?
c- S&H Green Stamps!
d- Tinkertoys!...wood ones!
e- Lincoln logs!...real wood ones?
f- Speedy Alka-Seltzer!
g- Burma Shave signs along a country road?
h- Timmy and Lassie!
i- Uncle Remus?...and THAT song?
j- Grapette!...in a unique glass bottle!
k- Telephone numbers with a prefix word in front...as a kid, ours was Tuxedo---!l- Having to turn the TV antenna outside each time you switched channels?...being the first one in your neighborhood to have a B&W TV?
m- Excitment in the neighborhood when one family got a COLOR TV!
n- 15-cent McDonald 'burgers?...same for fries and a soda?...45-cents for a meal!
o- Mood rings!...Hoola Hoop contests!
p- Pound Puppies?
q- Wax lips at Halloween!
r- Sock hops...with real socks only on the gym floor to dance the night away?
s- Children who said "thank you" and "you're welcome"!
t- Riding your bicycle after school?...after SUPPER?
u- Having to eat Thanksgiving dinner at a card table, with the extended family, 'cause you weren't old enough to sit at the BIG table?
v- Real homemade chocolate chipper cookies that your grandma baked FROM SCRATCH?...and slipped to you a few in a "poke" (paper bag) when she came for a visit?
w- Those paper tatoos you placed on your arm with a wet sponge or cloth?
x- Spending a week in the country down on a real farm at your grandma's?...and meeting a cow face to face in the pasture for the first time?
y- Baking a cake for the first time...from scratch, and icing it with REAL icing and NOT already prepared from the suppermaket!
z- Dr Peppers in those small GLASS bottles?...that tasted sooo good COLD?
aa- Dad taking you fishing for that very first time!...and making him put on the wiggly bait?
bb- Getting caught outside in a summer downpour and lovin' every slooshin' step and jump and squeal?
cc- Ahhh...trapsing through every mud puddle in sight, after a rain!
dd- As a kid, walking by the grapes in a supermarket, "borrowing" a few and then trying to figure out if anyone saw you?
ee- Cabbage Patch Kids...still have an "official" adoption paper at home?
ff-

324- MARRIAGE In OUR AMERICAN SOCIETY...IN OUR 21ST CENTURY?.....

Need a license? Only between a man and a woman? Infidelity in the relationship? Children?...Secrets to longevity in a marriage?
You must admit, in our American society, that longtime standards are changing quickly. Challenges through the court system have been pressing....
There really is a generation gap, also, and it is most important for both generations to take the time to listen and talk. The concept of "marriage" has changed, like most everything else in our American society. That's a fact, and it's time all of us, both generations, "git 'er done" in the way of coming together for the pure sake of getting along and not assuming that one has the best solutions over the other..
Fact: the younger generation, for whatever reason, feels that legal marriage, as we remember, it does not last 'forever'....
Fact: social values, more importantly, center around themselves and not what others think.
Fact:

323- SMART REMINDERS For YOU!...And ME!....

a) Pull down gasoline receipt slip before pulling off!...someone can find numbers!
b) A "THANK YOU!"...join me in beginning a revolution of manners when someone DESERVES it!
c) DEER have the right away, no matter what you think!
d) FRESH plump blueberries are IN this summer...test one or three to see if they're sweet...if not, politely take back to market...and they're cheaper, too, now!
e) Mosquitoes are OUT!....
f) Cantalopes (mushmellons) are IN...and cheaper, also! If you want one that is still chilled, leave out on counter for a spell. And how do you know if one is ripe? Press slightly with a thumb on the end with the little round spot! Need to get the one that slightly gives. Also, thump it! If it is firm, not ripe, will be "hard" inside and not produce a slightly hollow sound. How did I learn this? Worked during high school at a local supermarket, learning all aspects of the grocery business, including what a wise produce guy who taught me the secrets to choosing veggies and fruit! Even worked in the meat dept. for a spell one summer. Manager trusted me, too, to tell him if a pissant had hidden something with the intent of stealing it....ha, the things you learn working in a grocery store.
g) BANANAS...more than one is a bunch. ONE banana is a FINGER! My grandfather told me about the early little town markets that bought huge bunches of bananas from the incoming South American ships. Market owner would hang them outside, when not cold, his store. Customers would walk by and pull off bunches to buy. And the bestest way to "open" a banana? Start at the opposite end with the crooked stem...opens easier and quicker, every time! Ripe 'nanners containt more sugar, by the way. Anyone like homemade banana puddin' or banana cream pie? That's a double YUMMY!!
h) "Turn the lights off in a room when you leave," my father insisted at home when I was a munchkin. When I began having to pay the electric bill, I understood!
i) Buy an inexpensive hummingbird feeder (diner)! Their antics and dive bombing you if you're too close will delight! AND, during the hot summer months, they NEED the "juice". And whup up your own brew: 4 parts water to 1 part sugar (4 cups of water/1 cup of sugar). Be sure to bring to a boil for a couple of minutes in a pot or pan. LET COOL IN SINK!! I use a quart jar, sealed, and store ahead in fridge. PLEASE rinse out feeder, with hot sink water, each time BEFORE you fill again! Remember to treat the miniature "'copters" as if they were a member of your family 'cause they are for a few months in the warm months.
After a spell, I hear and feel them zoom up near the feeder (diner) and stare at me, face to face. And, if they're really thirsty and see me, they will really zoom through the porch VERY CLOSE....but missing me! "Leave!" they're thinking? By the way, they usually arrive the last of March or early April and stay until September or so.
j) Remember to make a cool Smoothie a bunch of times during the summer. If you feel really adventurous, throw, in the blender, some fresh blueberries, watermelon (sans seeds), cantalope (sans seeds), strawberries and a bit of moo juice, some cracked ice in the blender all together. DO NOT ADD SUGAR! Oh mi ga, they're sooooo good and refreshing!
k) Blueberries II..."wild" ones are those tiny ones and cost more...maybe not as sweet. Those larger, plump ones are the domesticated kind. You decide....
l) Wanna feel better at bedtime and sleep better? Take a quick, slightly chilly shower this summer...or try a warm one...your choice.
m) Purchase a new T-shirt or sweatshirt? Look down...have you ever left that stick-on "large" tag on and walk out and about "showing it off"? I did, recently.
n) Do you act like a respectful and caring driver while out and about in traffic? Better yet, do you drive according to the Virginia laws? Only problem?...who else does, act respecful in our society?
o) Riding a bicycle? Did you know that there are bike laws?...that a bicyclist is required to use the SAME laws as a car driver???? I see them often riding right around a car at a light...riding two abreast...riding in and out of traffic...riding coming the wrong direction...riding on a sidewalk. Ignorance...or "I don't care!"? By the way, I am a bicyclist, too.
p)

322- AND FOR ME, TONIGHT?....BAKING GRANDMA STEFFEY'S RECIPE FOR HOMEMADE BISCUITS!....

A) Ever get a hankering to whup up a bit of food just for the smell of it, no matter the time of the day or night? BISCUITS are on my menu tonight, before completing my latest 101st newspaper essay on my native Virginia's 180+ still-standing old train depots! My grandma, Willie, had no secret recipe notbook nor cookboo. She cooked and baked from pure experience...and memory! Those biscuits were high and, yes, light. And she always left a handful of dough to not roll out and to shape a special one for my gandfather, Carl...one big odd looking biscuit. Oh, and how did I get her recipe that didn't exist? Cleverly watch her a few times whup them up. Mine don't, by the way, come anywhere near her's!

B) Over time, the depots were all researched, searched for, found and carefully photographed all over the State. Yes, took some time to do....
Most, by the way, left standing in nearly every small town and village, have been left decaying along the tracks.
C) Signal towers are rusting. Once vibrant communities are now leaving for urban areas, taking their jobs and local cafes and businesses elsewhere. This week one more tiny depot was uncovered in New Kent County between Williamsburg and Richmond. It took me several passes along the country road to spot the two wooden depot buildings along the tracks. The narrow strip between the road and tracks was covered with vegetation and trees. Viola! There was an outline. Walking around onto the tracks I could see it better...Nikon in hand. At least the location and pics, saved, will tell posterity, if anyone cares, that the local tiny community along Rockahock Road once existed......

321- IT'S TIME FOR MEN TO CATCH UP WITH WOMEN IN ONE FIELD....HEALTH!

A) GENDER CHECK-UPS...preventive health problems for both women and men!

B) Prostate checks! And I am not shy about sharing....
For all of you ladies...educate your sons, brothers, husbands, friends and lovers about taking the INITIATIVE and making an appointment to have your prostate checked! I know from experience, as a guy, that most guys have a secret fear of even wanting to know about the "common" prostate health problem...don't!
C) Locically, there are two options, guys: when you do have a check-up, you could be certified by the doc as OK but KNOW! If there is a problem, then you will know and can immediately, with your doc, take steps to remedy! The odds there, by the way, are excellent for a remedy. Both ways you win.....but you will know, with no more evading the issue, pretending that your health is good!
D) How do I know? I did take the initiative, guys, and was also hesitant...NO problem, though, when checked.

E) CALL AND MAKE AN APPOINTMENT, guys, for that prostate check....you win both ways! By the way, it was not the most exciting experience ever, but I focused on, hmmmm, its completion, knowing that it would be completed relatively quick, within minutes...honest. And it was! So, ron rascal celebrated later with a.....PIZZA! What a reward to myself....

F) AND ALSO GENERAL HEALTH CHECKS, TOO! Go for it, everybody.

320- THE OTIS P. T. SUGGINS PHILOSOPHIES Of LIFE #1.....

"Inch by inch...everything's a cinch!"

319- HOW ABOUT THAT P.E.T.A.?.....

A) Throwing fish early each morning in the Seattle fish market? "STOP IT...hurts the fish," P.E.T.A. claims.
A Prez catching a fly in the air? He did slap it into eternity. "STOP IT...flies have feeling, too...or did," P.E.T.A. said.

B) How do you spell 'ridiculous'?

C) This guy learned, some time ago, and don't ask me why, how to swoop under and up to catch a fly with one hand! After years of study, observing the aerodynamic flight path of how a fly takes off and practicing, I discovered the secret! Works every time, by the way. Sorry...you'll have to be curious enough to figure it out yourself. Yes, the Prez and I share a secret...but I don't, uh, slap!
D) My grandmother Cline once told me, while a child: "The little things in life are important, and are what you remember the most. Go for it, Ronnie."

318- A KERNAL Of CORN...A HANDFUL Of ACORNS.....

A) "Today, I held a kernal of corn in my hand. I was holding a year and part of a cornfield right here in my hand!
B) Tomorrow, I will hold a handful of acorns in my hands. I will be holding a forest in my hands!
If I don't plant the kernal of corn and the acorns, I will still be holding a kernal of corn today in my hand and a handful of acorns tomorrow in my hands...."

(A very wise person, Otis P. T. Suggins, shared these. I really like the heck out of these two, too! This philosopy major thanks Otis P.T.!)

317- MICHAEL JOSEPH JACKSON....1958-2009!

No matter what...the name, musical and entertainer legacy of Michael Joseph Jackson are probably more known around the world than any other single name from the 20th century! I, and many others, have always felt that our "forever child" entertainer was wrongly lampooned and persecuted during and after his exoneration from those charges during the trail. The trial, if anyone took the time to examine it, was a "kangaroo court", and Jackson was declared INNOCENT by his peers!
But he paid, in a civil suit, desparately hurt, to make it all go away. Not a smart thing to do, by the way, but Michael could not handle confrontation and was a 'gentle' soul.
Ever notice how certain pissant persons and groups in society get off on trying to pull down to their own cesspool level those popular and productive persons in the public spotlight? Michael Jackson was a brilliant icon in the music and entertainment world, period...and will be for many years in the future.
I want you to pay attention to how enough news media and individuals, now, are hustling to find any and all dirty tidbits to broadcast to the world that our MJ was not perfect! Are you?

And, as an old-timer in the mts. of West-by-gosh-Virginia would say, "Birds always like to pick at the best fruit of the tree!"

Michael Joseph Jackson...rest in peace! But, alas, it appears that, for the past week, society is bent upon digging up as much garbage, a frenzy, as many can uncover...who cares about the truths!

316- IT'S SUMMERTIME, SUMMERTIME, SUM-SUM SUMMERTIME....

What do red raspberries...watermelon...and licking ice cream have in common?

They're all three darn good for you! The RED raspberries improve blood vessel function and are checked full of vitamin C and fiber. Watermelon is 92% water and full fo vitamin C, also. The RED contains lycopene, an antioxidant.
And that leaves, by the way, the ICE CREAM. LICKING an ice cream cone IS more satisfying than using a spoon or spork! The flavor is IN the fat and is warmed to body temp when the lick meets the tongue...hmmm. Oh mi ga!

OK, how do all of you aficianados lick a cone of scrumptuous ice cream in the summer?
a) Carefully decide what kind of cone to use...regular or the sugar kind?
b) Lick very, very fast but methodically!
c) Twist cone around in a circle, to keep the ice cream equally in check as it melts quickly in the summer warmth?
d) If any cream does dribbles down over your fingers, lick them gently, too!
e- Bite into the white frozen elixir?
f- Bite and lick, one after the other?
g- And does the cone, now, become the bestest and last reward, trying to extract the very last drop of the cream inside?....or by crunching down bit by bit, making you a proud cruncher?
h- I remember one ice cream parlour that cleverly placed a couple of peanuts inside the bottom of the cone. Why? A surr-prise for that last bit of reward for consuming the whole thang!
i- Seconds? No way...another surr-prise another day gives you something to look forward to....! Hey, don't overdo it on the ice cream. Remember that "brain freeeze" factor when you overdo icy treats! Egads...haven't had a "brain freeze" since kidhood. Et vous?
Just thought of "snow cream" come the first snowfall of the season....another day. And any way, we don't get much SNOW in Williamsburg...anymore!

315- CONFESSIONS Of A WAL*MART CUSTOMER!...

Finally, after listening to many cashiers come and go over the past couple of years, this observer and customer realizes that the world's largest retailer MUST.......

............be unionized for the sake of the many employees, especially for the ones working up front on line. For years, this student of history had decided that unions heads and organizers in recent years, in general, had outgrown their usefulness as protectors of the union members.
(...more....)

314- NEDA SOLTANI...26 YEARS YOUNG!...The WORLD's HERO!!!....

On Sunday, June 21st, this 26-year-young Iranian woman was simply getting out of her car, watching, with her Dad, from the sidelines and died by one sniper bullet from a THUG on the command of 'the supreme leader of iran', on the streets of Tehran. She was and IS a HERO! She will NOW live on for an eternity! And we discover that the 'religious leaders' would not even allow them to have a funeral for Neda....?

Her father held his beautiful daughter in his arms, disraught and sobbing. A nearby doctor came to the scene quickly and tried to save Neda. Whether you can handle the scene or not, Facebook almost immediately posted Neda's face out to show the World what was happening.
Quickly, too, Neda's sister posted a letter to her slain sister, saying that she wanted to have been there to at least close her beautiful sister's eyes, lying on the street......
(News media did seek out her real age...and it was 26)
So many tears.......