Ballard Street by Jerry Van Amerongen for July 22, 2010

An unattained dream….

“The Black Widow’s Husband” a story of love, betrayal, and nature.

“When Nature Calls: Duty Bound” A truly gripping novel.

Natalie, maybe you could start with a little poetry.

I don’t know why Clara finds this so funny. She’s no spring chicken either:

http://www.comicssherpa.com/site/feature?uc_comic=cscwy

There’s a novel idea.

I doubt Puns of Steel come in a magazine format.

http://www.comicssherpa.com/site/feature?uc_comic=cscwy&uc_full_date=20200722

There’s a nice lonely gas station right ahead (or so I’ve heard).

A prolonged stay there with a sign saying “Don’t listen to the dog, she’s possessed” may be a lesson.

Natalie should try starting with “It was a dark and stormy night”.

Hullo, Cleo pals….

We’re reminiscing over magazines, it seems …

in the July 22nd  2020 “CLEO and COMPANY” on Sherpa…

Though I’ve got news, Claude:

They ain’t what they yooster be.

 

Four years ago, I wanted magazines, to take with me when I thought I might spend a few weeks without internet.

I hadn’t bought one in years…

I get my share from AAA and Costco, an insurance company…. unasked for catalogs… you know the stuff…

No articles you can sit down and sink your teeth into.

 

The first thing I noticed was sticker shock… new mags were half as thick and over twice the price that I remembered.

But Costco sells the latest issue of four different ones, bundled in a plastic bag, at less than half price.

So I got… I think… Good Housekeeping, Woman’s Day (which when I was a little kid cost a nickel at the grocery checkout) … maybe Redbook, and something else… I don’t remember which.

 

There was nothing to remember.

All four had more ads than content.

Two or three page articles, with so many pictures the text could have fit in half a page.

One was more about clothes… very mall-style clothes… another had more recipes, but they were made with convenience foods.

One was so slim it was half a magazine.

Turn it over, and upside down, it’s a parenting mag.

 

I “read” two…Last year I found the other two, unread and forgotten, on a shelf, and left them at the doctor’s office.

(yeah yeah, that’s why you find two year old magazines in the waiting room.

It’s all my fault.)

Hmmm…. does Cleo think basset magazines are any better?

Nothing in the Cleveland or Santa Rosa libraries…

but I’ve found a few at the Ballard County Main Library.

The “Basset Home Journal”, “Ears to the Ground… Basset News and Views” (that title is long… but so is a basset hound)…

and “Short Legs… a literary journal.”

 

There was an article about Cleo last summer in “Basset Film Quarterly,” but I had to buy a copy at Ballard Bones and Books.

The librarian had told me huffily that they don’t subscribe to “movie magazines.”

I told her that BFQ was an esteemed review… but she only sniffed.

Of course, she’s an Afghan hound… they have an attitude.

Working title: Natalie’s New Nature Novel. That’s as far as she’s gotten.

HEY! Don’t be hatin on Geezer Gazette!

“10 best ways to git off my lawn!” was one of the best articles EVER.

Good Morning Ballardeers and Droob!

Hot and muggy today, tomorrow, Friday, Saturday Sunday…… Bah! Mold spores are high. Pretty soon, I’m gonna need a mask to go to the end of the driveway for the mail. Sorry. Today’s one of those every silver lining has a cloud days. On a positive note, the A/C is working its little butt off. I may go out and hug it later.

Y’all be safe out there. (((((AIR HUGS)))))

Love today’s Cleo. She’s so cute when she’s Sassy!

Natalie’s got bugs so she’s half-way to a great novel…

They could also subscribe to Stoopid Fat Man. Claude wouldn’t even know that one of the words was spelled wrong.

I’ve had no less than 10 calls today from “Apple” warning me my iCloud account has been compromised. I own 0 Apple products and do not have an iCloud account. I now have 10 more numbers blocked on my phone.