Hello Marlo!

Marlo Iris Armstrong
7lbs 15oz
21 inches
born 1:53am, 6/14/09

Came >This< Close

I came >this< close to living on "The Shelf" Thirty Years Ago.

Whoa! Dodged that bullet!

Helen has fortitude with a Capital F to have put up with me all these years as friends, kids, pets, neighbors, random people on the street, dead fish and the Intertube will attest! (some of them unpaid for this endorsement)

So, here's to you, Sweetie! Thanks for taking me off the Shelf.

Sorry, Baby.

Sorry, Baby, but, you know, all good things ...

Last forever?

*sighs* Not quite.

What?

Those late nights. Me watching the door. You didn't pick up on that?

I thought you were preoccupied. Busy. Focused. I didn't think it was about me ...

No, sweetie, it was never about you. You've been strong and I love you so much, but ...

There should never be a "but" after that.

Yes, well, Time marches on and, well, this is good-bye. I'm moving on.

With her?

Yes.

Please, not that I'm begging, but out of curiosity, why?

Totally gratuitous. Slimmer. Faster. More colorful. Oh, and you know that little clasp? It's gone.

I could tape my clasp down.

You're grasping.

You used to grasp ...

OK, I think this conversation is over. I've made up my mind. I'm moving on. You should, too.

Easy for you to say, but where will I go?

How about with the Boy?

The Boy? But, he's just ...

Just what? Tall? Tanned? Ripped? Young? Am I missing something?

Do you think the Boy would like me?

Baby, get ready to have your keys pounded, your video overheated and your memory blown out!

I'll see you from time to time?

Yeah, we'll network. You can count on that. Now, scoot, before I change my mind!

Look, there's the Boy now! Ciao! Oh, Boy ... Boy! Want to play a game?

The Image of France

This to me is the perfect image of France.

A perfect slice of cheese, showing delicate textures, on a perfect scrap of bread held by perfectly manicured fingers in perfect exposure and focus.

That and hyperbole.

Good-bye, Kiddo.

"Hello, Kiddo."

That was the first line that David "Bill" Carradine spoke to Uma "Beatrix Kiddo" Thurman in the Quentin Tarantino's epic Kill Bill Volume 2.

Such a playful play on words.

KB2 is my favorite film of all time because of the tight dialog. It's been reduced so much that you couldn't take out another word. No fat in this film.

Wo Fat. He was the villain in the TV show "Hawaii 5-O" but totally irrelevant to this story.

(I just thought "no fat" "wo fat" - never mind)

I first came across the actor David Carradine in the 70's TV show "Kung Fu." We watched it every week. Riveting stuff. In fact, that show with it's oriental mysticism set many of us off on eastern philosophical journeys. Carradine's character, Kwai Chang Caine, became a role model for physical and mental excellence. We all strived to carry that urn of glowing embers into the snow!

So it is with a touch of sadness that I mourn the passing of David Carradine. He's had memorable impacts on my life and I wish him the best in the Great Beyond.

Good-bye, Kiddo. Safe journey.

France?