Hi!

I just got a bath!
xoxo
- Chloe

Shanghai Diary

Shanghai Diary: A Young Girl's Journey from Hitler's Hate to War-Torn China
by Ursula_Bacon Ursula Bacon
Did you know that 18,000 Jews escaped Europe by living in Shanghai? I didn't, until I saw this book. It's a fascinating tale of the author when she was a child. Many were Germans who had escaped their country when the Nazis were elected. The United States, Canada, and countries in Central and South America had immigration quotas and closed their doors to the Jews. But China did not, so many headed there, thinking they were safe at the other end of the world.

A very presidential weekend

Chloe and I celebrated Presidents Day with a trip to Devils Tower National Monument, the first national monument created in the United States, and Rapid City, which (we didn't know this when we were heading there) has statues of U.S. presidents on many street corners in reference to Mount Rushmore, which is in the mountains above the city.

First, Devils Tower.

There is a cliff on the other side of those trees. 

Chloe was actually in my backpack but I couldn't get her in any images 

so I held her while taking this one. 

 Mild winter. The snow should be much much deeper at this time of year.

Some parts were slick, like this downhill area that is sheltered from the sun. Treacherous.

Next, Rapid City downtown

Jimmy Carter

Carter's torso, me and a tip of Chloe's head.  These photos were hard to take by myself. 

Andrew Johnson and Chloe

Ronald Reagan, Chloe, me and a bad smile. 

After children have been out all day without a nap, they begin behaving badly, right? Chloe was doing the equivalent of that at this time. She kept trying to pull the leash the opposite direction from where I wanted to go. And she fought me all the while I lifted her up and posed her against the president. A coincidence that her obstinate side comes out with Reagan, no?

George Washington, Chloe and I. 

Chloe and George H.W. Bush

Me, Chloe and John Adams. This photo was actually taken by a passerby.

 I thought I was a bad photographer. Maybe it is time for a new camera. 

Same picture, farther away. 

Now, some scenes from around Rapid City

Ice skating downtown Rapid. 

A sculpture of a Native American to remind us how we are all related.

 (These parts were near severe massacres of Indians.)

Downtown Rapid. It doesn't look very busy but that's the problem of the photographer.
It is vibrant and has retained a quaint, Western feel.

Above and below photos are the storefront of an art gallery that specializes in buffalo stuff.

Cool stuff in the Dakota Drum Co., above and below.

Women's lingerie store called Shangri La!

The coolest graffiti I've seen in a while. The red boxes are obviously a row Dumpsters.

Snowshoeing Spearfish Canyon (Black Hills)

Two weekends ago, my colleague T. and Chloe and I drove up Spearfish Canyon, about 80 minutes from Gillette. T. skied and rock climbed. Chloe and I snowshoed. It was fun, but there was a lot of commotion because everything went wrong.

First, tardiness: We took off too late. I think we left Gillette at like

Thank you for being a friend!

I have a secret that I'm starting to publicly admit: I love "The Golden Girls."

Why men can't be alone after a breakup or divorce

Read this piece in the New York Times by writer and editor Dominique Browning (I reviewed one of her books below in the blog post below.)

For a long time, like decades, I believed men were babies who couldn't handle being alone and got remarried sooner than women. I still think, especially with the older generations, that holds true.

Slow Love

Slow Love: How I Lost My Job, Put on My Pajamas, and Found Happiness by Dominique Browning

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


"Slow Love" is about the author's loss of a job editing "House and Garden" when Conde Nast decided to fold the magazine -- she had started it 13 years earlier -- and how she rediscovered herself in a slower, less spectacular manner than the she was used to during her prestigious career. She cleaned a lot. Spent a lot of time in pajamas. Learned new music on the piano. Gardened and tried to learn to cook. She also ended a toxic relationship with a guy who refused to divorce his wife -- he remained legally separated from her for years -- and sold her NYC house to save money and moved permanently into her second smaller home in Rhode Island.

Happy birthday to Chloe

Today's been one year since my life forever changed... I adopted Chloe.

I think she's pretty happy because her tail constantly wags when she's not sleeping or in her kennel, aka, Doggy Condo, aka, the Meditation Room, which is where she goes when Momma has to "bring home the bacon."

Burrrrr! (Part 1,243)

Tonight with wind chill it was negative 9 degrees.

It was so cold and windy that I fully zipped my parka and lifted the hood over my head before leaving the rec center for the parking lot — even though I was pretty warm from my workout.

"I seek a woman who doesn't think creativity is important..."

Below are some of the usernames on a dating website in these parts.
(I'm changing the obvious names to avoid identifying these guys, even though I shouldn't because they apparently don't mind identifying themselves.)

- BSmith

- RyanDadof2

- Mitch307 (307 is the Wyoming area code)

- I_am_Miguel_1977

If you're going to be that obvious, just post your Social Security Number while you're at it.

Le foodie

I know why you all visit Pink as the Sky: Le food.

Because you know me, all day long behind the stove. Whipping up potpies. (The microwave in my kitch is above the stove.) Just magic, how I can turn a glutten-free, Kosher, no-bovine-growth-hormone butter frozen crust into a flakey crust in 7 to 10 minutes because I'm into the slow food movement and so is Marie Calendar's.

But it's more than flavors. It's also my flava, if I do say so myself. My personality that makes you want to want to transform your whole life. Just a little Martha Stewart, I am.

You come for the cooking and stay for the cleavage.

Guns and Poses

I was in line at Walmart a while ago, and the checker said, "Gosh, everyone here today seems to be carrying a gun."

Then a customer replied with vitriol, "It's their constitutional right."