Category: Life with Pratts

Slate of Hand, by Judy & Ted Buswick

As alluded to previously, way back in the past century I got talked into joining the high school drama club. I was in two or three plays, and I had a great time doing them. The Proscenium Circus, as it was called, was the brainchild of an English teacher at Acton-Boxborough Regional High School in Massachusetts. His name is Ted Buswick. His wife Judy had been my eighth grade English teacher. She cured me of spelling hump day “Wendesday,” and she was approving when she caught me reading Arthur C. Clarke’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. It’s funny how memories like those stick.

Ted and Judy Buswick

Judy and Ted have written Slate of Hand, Stone for Fine Art & Folk Art; which is, as the author of the forward says, “so timely and fills such a gap, why has nothing of the sort been previously undertaken?” Having taken a lot of art history classes in college I really enjoy Slate of Hand. I’m particularly impressed by the work of Ivor Richards, and everything in the chapter called “Stacked Sculpture.”

Slate of Hand, by Judy & Ted Buswick

After teaching for fifteen years, Ted quit the profession in 1982 to pursue another career, but his influence as an exceptional teacher and drama coach lives on in myself, my sisters Jean and Marianne, and many, many others. There’s a short written interview with Ted at this link.

It’s Really Sumpthing

A year ago in these parts there was talk of drought. The outdoor watering ban in town went from voluntary, to odd/even mandatory, to an outright prohibition. Those days are gone, thanks to plentiful snow and rain. As a result, our sump pump in the basement has kicked in early this year. Here’s a video of cute, little Sumpy in action. The suspense builds for fifteen seconds before he kicks in. He hangs out with his dehumidifier friend, who is probably still a month away from waking up from his hibernation.

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And now it’s time to get myself physically and mentally prepared for a 20-mile run! Marathon Monday, April 21, looms large.

And, In The End…

No, this isn’t the gullet of the asteroid creature in The Empire Strikes Back. It’s gross! It’s obscene! It’s my cecum!

The cecum or caecum (from the Latin caecus meaning blind) is a pouch connected to the ascending colon of the large intestine and the ileum.

Today, I had a colonoscopy of the initial screening variety. Nary a pocket nor a polyp in sight, I was relieved to learn. Here was how the doctor looked through my drugged gaze. Yikes!

Actually, the moment they hit me with the sedative I was out. It doesn’t take much to get me to fall asleep! (That reminds me. I still need to write my TM post.) I sort of remember some of the procedure, but not much. I didn’t wake up until I was back where I started, in the recovery area.

The real fun was yesterday, of course. As with painting and wallpapering, success depends on the prep.

JetBlue’s Great $1 Headphones

Our trip to Arizona was our first flying on JetBlue. Their claim of extra leg room compared to other airlines is absolutely true. There is no first class or business class section. Only coach, and no full meals, only snacks. Does this approach work? Yes, I think so.

Each seat has its own LCD television, with DirectTV, and some of the flights also have XM Radio. I found various technical problems, including one seat with a dead audio channel and another with TV audio coming through on the radio channel, full volume, with no control over the loudness. But in the seats where everything is working correctly, it’s good stuff.

Jet Blue Headphones

The free headphones JetBlue provides are worthless. Even if you get a working set, don’t bother. For a measly $1 JetBlue sells a much bigger, better, and more comfortable pair of headphones. These things are stunning for the money, easily besting the sound of the $20 Sony headphones I use for long distance running. They’re sold on the honor system, and some of the headphone boxes we saw at JFK are well out of view, making it easy to get away without paying. But why would anybody except a kid or a jerk even consider doing that?

The high end is rolled off a bit, and the detail is slightly veiled, but the bass is pretty good. Overall, the sound is balanced, smooth and easy on the ears. Are these the best $1 headphones in the world? Undoubtedly!

MA AZ MA

Well, we’re back. We’ve been back for a couple of days, but I’ve been clearing snow and decompressing.

We were in Phoenix with my younger sister’s family, seeing our father and one of our older sisters. We drove down to Tucson to see the Pima Air Museum and Biosphere 2, and we had a wonderful dinner with some old friends, DogRat comment writer Cactus Lizzie and her husband.

The running conditions in Arizona this time of year are ideal! Back home they’re anything but.

Our travels were greatly eased and assisted by a Garmin Nuvi 200. It has a few quirks, but this thing is a tremendously useful tool. The freedom from plotting out a route on a map and the elimination of the stress of searching for signs and exits is worth way more than what it cost — $170 with free shipping from Amazon.com. In fact, it’s on sale right now at Amazon for $177.20.

Eric caught a few seconds of video of the Nuvi 200 from the back seat, when we pulling into a shopping center between Tucson and Phoenix to get lunch. This was taken with another nifty new gadget, a Canon Elph SD-1000.
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