It's WAY Too Soon - Daylight Savings Time

This Sunday, March 14 is the kickoff of Daylight Savings Time.  We're supposed to 'spring' forward in the middle of March.  It's just cruel.  How about a little factoid to go with.  Here's a quote from the Old Farmer's Almanac for gardeners, you eternal optimists:
"Planting by the Moon?  Above-ground crops are planted during the light of the Moon (new to full); below-ground crops are planted during the dark of the Moon (from the day it is full to the day before it is new again). Planting is done in the daytime; planting at night is optional!"
I hope this clears things up for you. 
The Old farmer's almanac
Old Farmer's Alamanac.com

Now Wait a Minute

It's National Procrastination Week!   And I didn't tell you until Wednesday - see how I did that?  Only one week set aside for procrastination.  And here I've been thinking of it as a lifestyle.  He who hesitates may be lost, or they may be looking at a map.  If procrastination is not your style - you can't wait to, say, clean out your closets - we are here for you.

Shop your closet : the ultimate guide to organizing your closet with style
The perfect closet : and other storage ideas

What's With the Hair? Gibson's Girl

Who was the Gibson Girl?  She was named for her creator Charles Dana Gibson, an American illustrator previously known for his ability to produce a drawing for publication in two hours. Whew!   Here are some of the 'dos acceptable for Gibsonality:  "Psyche knots to pompadours, to Bath Buns, to side waves with a bewitching part in the middle." A Psyche knot is a bun that projects out from the head.  (It's prettier than it sounds). A pompadour pushes the hair into a big wad on the forehead.  Side waves seem self-explanatory.  But I cannot find anything that describes Bath Buns. Hard not to envision a certain Princess from a galaxy far far away.  The cool thing about Gibson Girls is that while they were certainly beautiful, they were pictured as active females what with the bike riding and tennis playing and all.  But even when frolicking in the ocean the hair never budges. That's product!

Sources:  The undimmed appeal of the Gibson Girl; Agnes Rogers, American Heritage Magazine, December 1957 Volume 9, Issue 1
Biography Resource Center

Why me?

Dressing up pets. Apparently a long tradition as the picture to the right is from Victorian clip art.  It is a painting so maybe they didn't actually do this to the dog, but they thought about it!  Now it's not uncommon to see some pooch all dolled up. One Halloween I saw two dignified Westies strolling by wearing glowing bobble headbands.  My only thought when seeing a photo of Spot in a tutu?  That is one patient dog.  If you're going to make them wear something you might as well make it yourself.  I love the one with matching togs for dog and man.  It's only fair.

Doggie knits : sweaters & accessories for your best friend
Men who knit & the dogs who love them : 30 great-looking designs for man & his best friend

Joke Week: Suddenly and Without Warning

There were the Smothers Brothers.  They had been around in the 50's, when their humor came from making fun of brothers and folk singers.  Tom's ad-libbed "Mom always liked you best!" is so much a part of our national language it seems like it's always been around. The last verse of the folk classic "My Old Man's a Sailor" had Dick spitting out:  "My old man's a cotton-pickin, finger-lickin, chicken plucker." Just for fun.  Then everything changed, and the brothers produced humor that was critical of the establishment.
Tom: We spend over 50 billion dollars a year on defense. We don't need more allies.
Dick: Well, what do we need?
Tom: We need... more enemies.
Pretty mild, which is why it aired. They segued from the squeakiest of clean folk comedy to what was at the time unacceptably negative counter-culture comedy.  For more on the show and the brothers read:
Dangerously funny : the uncensored story of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour

For hilarity, listen to their classic comedy routines on:
 Sibling revelry: the best of the Smothers Brothers

Old New Yorker Cartoons

They're all about what isn't said.  One of my favorites is this Charles Addams classic:  
On the beach a middle-aged woman is running beneath the shadow of a giant bird that is clutching a person.  The woman yells "George!  Drop the keys!"
This Peter Arno gem took me a minute:
At the opera, a Grande Dame turns to her husband and says "You have so got it turned off!"  
I cracked up when I finally got it.  We have several books with New Yorker cartoons, knock yourself out.  With laughter!

 NewYorker Cartoons

How Many Laughs

Many Laughs for Many Days.  These are less like jokes and more like anecdotes.  One of the shorter ones I could find:

Said the occasional imbiber to his friend:  "Had a long serious talk with a barkeeper in a blind tiger today.  Yep, I guess we must have talked half an hour."

"What did you find to say to him?" inquired the friend.

"Plenty.  As a matter of fact most of the conversation was on my side.  But he listened all right.  I poured arguments at him one right after the other."

"Well, what did he say when you got through?"

"He said 'NO'!"
Oh, the hilarity. Now my first question was "What the heck is a blind tiger"?  According to Webster's, it's "a place that sells intoxicants illegally."  The things you learn from joke books.
 p. 229 

Old Puns?

Helen Hoke knows a pun when she sees one.  Or does she?  From her book Puns, puns, puns copyright 1958: 

1.  Dopey Dan is so dumb he thinks rhubarb is a French street.   

2.  When Papa Dionne found that he had quintuplets, he could hardly believe his own census.  (Are these really puns?)   

3.  Editor, picking the phone:  "City desk speaking."
    Astonished Caller:  "Yeah?  What drawer?" 
Ba dum pum. That's more like it.  Now if she'd just left out the word 'astonished...  A fun history lesson reading what passed for puns in the 50's. And hey!  It's Read Across America Day - hug a book.  Then crack it open and dive in. For more information, go here:  NEA's Read Across America.

Puns, puns, puns, by Helen Hoke 

Old Jokes Week

There's no stopping the cold, but we can still laugh, can't we?  A-heh.
The multi-talented Bennett Cerf was not only a mainstay of the TV game show What's My Line. Among his other accomplishments, he published several joke books.  Here's what passes for funny in Bennett Cerf's the sound of laughter:  Lucille Ball, watching Dean Martin do a full hour's show on TV without a single rehearsal marveled, "That so-and-so makes cooked spaghetti look tense!"  OK, that was a little funny. Is this one a knee-slapper?  Sign at railroad station at Sandusky: "The average time it takes a train to cross this intersection is twenty seconds -- whether your car is on it or not."  Ha!  Ha! That Bennett knew how to pick 'em.   This would be a lovely book for a day when you're looking for gentle relaxation.  Ahhh.

Quotes are from p.282 and p.376