Friday Follies
Posted at 4:53 AM on March 27, 2009
by Dale Connelly
(36 Comments)
Let's start with a ticket give-away for tomorrow night's Radio Heartland House Concert at the Fitzgerald Theater! Come hear three of my favorite duos, Karen Savoca & Pete Heitzman, Storyhill, and Lou & Peter Berryman.
We're giving away three pairs of tickets, and all you have to do is fill out this form and cross your fingers.
On to the alphabet.
Kay H. was drawn into the Happy Word Vortex yesterday as we sought to develop an optimistic vocabulary for Treasury Secretary Geithner - something to fall back on so he wouldn't have to use words that give investors the jitters - words like "crash", "tank", "depression" and "Chinese Currency".
Kay's concern was that we identify at least one Happy Word to represent each letter in the alphabet, so she kept track and agitated for additions when we seemed to be falling short.
At the end of the day - success! Here's our list, alphebetized by Kay:
Agree, Baby Goats, Balance, Blankie, Bloom, Books, Candy, Cat, Chickadee, Clean barn, Dance, Down comforters, Extra, Family, Fireplace, Fireworks, Fleece, Friday, Friend, Gardens, Golden retriever, Health, High ground, Hot cocoa, Hot coffee, Hot tea, Hug, Hyggelig, Ice cream, Joy, Jump, Kiss, Kitty, Laugh, Lollipop, Lottery, Lounge, Lund's killer brownies, Melody, Nutmeg, Oatmeal, Opal, Pancakes, Peace, Pie, Play, Prayers, Puppies, Purr, Quilt, Quirky, Radio heartland, Rainbow, Ribbons, Sing, Smile, Spring, Sunny, Sweet, Teddy bear, Touch, Tulips, Uffda, Ukulele, Valet parking, Velvet, Walks, Warm, Warm chocolate chip cookies, Weekend, Welcome, Whimsy, Whirligig, White sand, Xeric, Xylophone, Yellow, Yes, Zing, Zoo.The most natural next step is to choose ONE word for each letter and make it into a rhyme that can be printed on the velvet lining inside the Treasury Secretary's jacket, so he'll never be lost for a benign, non-economy wrecking word. Such as:
- A for Agree, that we're in this together.
- B is for Blankie, for warmth in cold weather.
- C is for Candy, so sticky and sweet, and
- D is for Dance, which you do with your feet.
OK. I've done the first four. 22 to go!
Comments (36)
Hi Heartlanders. We are having thunderstorms down here and my power keeps going off and on so hopefully this will go through ok. The next four?
E is for Excellence, it only takes common sense.
F is for Farming, it really is charming.
G is for Good, like everyone should.
H is for Heart, we will listen to it if we are smart.
Best I can do this early in the morning.
Thanks Mike, nice work!
No one should feel constrained by the "four at a time" pattern I've set. Do more or less - it's up to you. Nor should you skip the opportunity to create a rhyme for letters or words that have already been used! Feel free to come up with new words, as Mike as done. We're trying to keep rules to a minimum.
Everybody gets to play!
wow, Mike! that was fast! impressive. and Dale, (and Mike) how you can manage just to get in to work at this time and then do all you amazes me! good morning everyone
W is for walks with the goats snow
X is for xeric, til the flood waters go
Y is for yellow - a color that cheers
Z is for zing that RH gives to my ears
q is for quilts, wrapping us around
r is for ribbons, decorating our lives
t is for tulips, fresh and bright from the ground
s is for spring, hopefully soon to arrive
Happy Friday Heartlanders!
Greetings Heartland,
Very clever entry and posts this morning!
Once again, this is off topic, but yesterday the first graders completed writing their goat verse to Swingin’ on a Star. (I took Dale seriously when he said RH would be anxious to hear it.) It took a while because we had to read up on goats and of course become familiar with the song. I apologize for the exaggerated stereotype, but the original song isn’t kind to either mules or pigs, and it’s what the kids wanted. They also insisted that goat and gross kind of rhyme.
A goat is an animal that eats old shoe heels
Shirts, tires, and banana peels
His head has horns and his chin has hair
He dances in the mirror in his underwear
So if you eat stuff that humans think is gross
You may grow up to be a goat
Donna, how come I don't remember doing anything nearly as fun in the first grade as your class does? Not only did we never write a song, but we never had Lucky Charms either. Thanks for being a great inspiration for our kids and nurturing their creativity. Who knows, when they get older, they'll be writing rhymes with their favorite blogging community!
I just read that Dan Seals (England Dan) passed away yesterday. I don't suppose Jasper has anything of his in the library?
ditto, Sherrilee! Donna you are a way cool teacher - and the verse is so fun! i'm gonna get that barn cam (and a mirror!) to see if them dance in their underwear
Thank you Sherrilee - and may they also aspire to achieve your level of funkiness!
Good Morning!
J is for Joy, boy oh boy oh boy
L is for Laugh when we cut the debt in half
U is for the Ukulele we should play instead of going all bailly
I have to agree with Sherrilee about Donna's class and it makes me wonder if it's too late to join her first grade class? A good teacher has such an effect on kids that they should be getting the bonuses that AIG is handing out!
So do we all pin pictures of Dream and Alba on our lapels so we can recognize each other at the show on Saturday? Or is that beyond the nerdy threshold?
Have a great weekend everyone!
Good morning, just want you all to know that I am enjoying eavesdropping and thinking what an an incredible way to start the day (while I sip coffee from my RH mug)
Thanks for sharing...being a teacher myself completely enjoy the window into the classroom!
I would love to have any of you heartlanders join my class. I only ask that you already know how to tie your shoes and blow your own noses.
Have a great weekend!
Hi Donna! I can blow my nose OK -- but I still tie my shoes using two loops -- old habits die hard. I can show the kids cool karate moves, too!
Good Morning,
The "assignment" for today's Trial Balloon is just too hard for me early morning brain...but I must at least do something for Hyggelig:
H is for Hyggelig, take time for a jig.
Good weekend all...sun is shining here.
happy word vortext!!!!
oh, my, i take this sort of thing as a welcome, fun challenge!
you all contribute and post, i'll work on it, too, on breaks today, and then send it back to dale :-)
way to take it to another level, dale---
i love rhymes----and poems----and doing what i'm not supposed to when i'm at work.....
(Mark, you can't be too nerdy for me! you could just carry a sign with goat pic on it and i bet RH's will "flock" to you--ha ha; i know at least one other person who is a frequent contributor to the blog who is going to the concert....)
B is for books from a local bookstore
C is for candy, and chocolate galore
C too for chickadee outside window frame
D is for dancing to RH music till lame.
Hello Heartlanders.....
Mark, I like that idea....or even an orange bandana would work. It would be fun to meet each other this way; I say lets do it!
Of course I would need to win tickets because I'm broke right now.
If not it'll be another Sat night in front of the fire listening to the radio....not a bad Sat night at all.
Have a great weekend all.....
p.s. I can't come to the Saturday concert, but if I were able I'd definitely wear something around my neck about being an RH blogger extraordinare. This group must meet up at some point!
Donna, I'll bet the kids had a ball doing that (as evidenced by the underware line). I used to teach kindergarten, and the creativity I saw just made it all worth it.
Donna - I can blow my own nose and tie my shoes but am certain my knees won't fit under the desk...
Barb - web cam would be a kick but I'd have some concerns about how the office web monitoring software would interpret goats dancing in underwear and don't think I would want to try to explain it...
Kate - I'm hoping for the tickets too but have committed to going anyway (Dale, I will only be able to go if I WIN the FREE tickets). As for recognizing each other, y'all have an advantage since I have pictures of myself on my blog; I just look younger and smarter in person :-)
I'm a little late with my contributions...but the brain stayed in bed while the rest of me got up to get kidlet off to preschool...
F is for Family, all warm and snug
G is for Gardens, hopefully sans bugs
H is for Hot Coffee, our habits to feed
I is for Ice Cream, what more do you need?
N is for Nutmeg, which smells so yummy
O is for Oatmeal, all warm in my tummy
P is for Pancakes with syrup so sticky
Q is for Quirky, far better than icky
Maybe I should sign up for Donna's first grade class (I can tie my shoes and take care of my own nose) - I may need a brush-up on my A-A-B-B rhyme schemes...
So if Mark and Kate and I (& all the other hopefuls) haven't heard yet, are we out of luck? Have you and Mike and Jasper done the drawing yet? I haven't done much all morning except wait to see if I won! I haven't even gotten up to refresh my coffee cup in case I miss the call!
i heard dale say that winners would be notified personally later in the day, so don't give up hope yet!
and keep those posts coming in; i'll check back later in the day to pick up other contributions for our rhyming abc--
Greetings All! My brain hasn't come up with anything for the ABCs of happiness, but I'm hoping to win free tickets, too! Just hoping to find someone to help drive if I do -- driving to St. Paul and finding parking at night is a scary proposition for me (yes, I'm a driving wienie!).
Let's all check back later in day to see who won! I'd wear a picture of Dream and Alba to concert so I can meet all you awesome folks!
Mark, I clicked on your blog a couple weeks ago. Looking good to this 51-year old Brown Belt!
Filling in the last few unclaimed letters:
K is for kumla, a Norwegian delight
M is for memories which provide insight
V is for velvet so soft to the touch,
RH is great radio we all like so much.
Mark, what's your blog address again?
And another query: Can anyone recommend an HD radio that is just a stand alone radio (without an iPod dock)? And if so, where'd you find it?
Barbara... here is a link to the model I have. (I got mine through my work.) It stands by itself and looks good and works well. The only drawback is that my eyes aren't good enough to see the time from my bed across the room!
http://www.sangean.com/product.php?model=HDR-1&prod_id=18
hi, barbara--
i got my standalone hd radio (with alarm) from the company Radiosophy and had to order it through amazon, i think. couldn't find anything at best buy, etc.
I haven't been online much this week and am finally catching up on this week's blogs. When I read Monday's blog about gardening and Dale's comment about how chickens don't really count as vegetables, I couldn't help but think about Greg Brown's song Canned Goods (the live version). In it he says, "Some people who are vegetarians, like, they will eat chicken. Have you noticed that? See that? A chicken is just real darned close. It’s kind of like a cusp species or something - kinda like broccoli walking around, a couple carrots with a tomato on top of it. It’s in between…" I really enjoy songs like that one that mix in some humorous story-telling along with the regular song. David Wilcox also comes to mind.
Ok Mark - I'll try to come up with some kind of goat accessory. Maybe a pin or even a sticker attached to my high-rise turtleneck ;)
Mark, Donna... if we make it, we'll have goat pins too!
Barbara - just click on my name and you arrive at my blog.
Kerri - I have a friend who doesn't eat anything that he could have meaningful eye contact with so chicken is fine, big brown bovine eyes, oh my no!
Pancakes, hot coffee,
Kitty purrs beneath the quilt,
Radio Heartland.
Ukeleles play,
Tulips bloom in the garden,
Sweet sunny Friday.
What could be better?
Win the free concert tickets?
I would welcome that.
Thanks Sherilee and Kay H, Mark... I'll check 'em out. And Kerri, thoughts like this are what've gotten me hooked on this offbeat blog. And now we have Linda's HAIKU!
Thanks to everyone for entering the drawing for the tickets to tomorrow night's show. The winning names have been picked, and each has recieved a happy little e-mail.
So check your inbox!
If you didn't win, I hope you find time to come to the show Saturday night. It's going to be good time.
For any Heartlanders still on line, since I didn't win, I called the Fitzgerald and turns out the MPR discount is a 2 for 1... if that helps anybody. It made the difference for me.
I designed some goat pins while I was waiting to hear about the drawing... so if you see anyone sporting an Alba/Dream w/ orange bandanas pin, introduce yourself... I'll have extras!
Don't you just hate it when you enter a drawing and mistype your own email address so even though you win the drawing it goes to the next person because your email bounced.
Um, that's my story and I'm sticking to it...
Works for me, Mark. Although that 2 for 1 discount sounds tempting, my husband works until 7pm tomorrow night. I'd like to go just to meet my fellow Heartlanders wearing goat pins!
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