EL TIGRENot too long ago,

EL TIGRE

Not too long ago, I noticed the following picture propped up on the window sill of my utility room, where I expect my housekeeper had put it. It has sentimental value to me, so I took a picture of it for my Flickr site and wrote about it, and I wanted to also expand on that here:



This plaque was my first and last decoupage project, done when I was first married to my late husband, Steve. He really liked it and was the one that named it "El Tigre." I told him it was a leopard. He didn't care. LOL! It hung in son J.D.'s room in our old house in Portland, Oregon, when he was a baby. The hanger has come out of it; thus it must be propped up. I love it, regardless!

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I saw on the AOL welcome screen yesterday that there is speculation (at least by AOL) that Mitt Romney is the likely choice for John McCain's running mate. I have been resisting the temptation to contribute to Obama's campaign (not much, but something); if Romney is selected, I will definitely do so! There was speculation in the AOL article about Romney that one of his strengths and appeals was that he could raise a lot of cash from Mormons, fast. Does anyone else find this rather scary?

MICHAEL CLAYTONI watched

MICHAEL CLAYTON

I watched the psychological thriller, "Michael Clayton," starring George Clooney, last night. Unfortunately, closed captioning didn't work with it so I had to turn the volume way up in order to get what was happening. (It's amazing how much noise interference there is to the ears when munching on popcorn.) ;-) I especially enjoyed watching Clooney, however, as I have always liked him, starting when I saw him on Sisters (a TV show back in the 80's that I don't believe he lists on his resume due to its sentimental and temporary nature; it was a show which my late husband Steve hated).

In "Michael Clayton," Clooney's title character is up against some evil corporate forces in addition to concerns and problems of his own. He also has to deal with a colleague who appears to be falling apart mentally. I won't say a whole lot more about the plot as I don't want to give it away. I recommend the movie highly, with the reminder that it is rated "R", likely for some language but I didn't find that overwhelmingly offensive as I did in "A Death at a Funeral." George Clooney continues to be nice eye candy, even for a little old lady like me. ;-)

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Hillary Clinton was in Oregon yesterday. I didn't rush out to Hillsboro (a Portland suburb) to greet her. I did watch some of the telecast of her speech there. I didn't hear anything new.

On CNN, there was also a broadcast of some of Barack Obama's recent speech in Pennsylvania. I still like Obama the best of the three prominent candidates, but I was concerned by the dollar figure he gave as the cost of one of his campaign promises. (Unfortunately, I don't remember which one.) I believe our government is in enough staggering debt as it is.

I also saw a Soledad O'Brian interview with Mitt Romney (on CNN again) a couple of days ago where Soledad asked Romney about whether John McCain will have enough money to run a long-term campaign. Romney was very definite in saying that McCain surely will have the money he needs; it made me wonder what Romney knows that I don't know. ;-) I won't be surprised if Romney is picked as McCain's running mate. I did appreciate Romney's refusal to say anything regarding the Obama/Rev. Jeremiah Wright issue except that he takes Obama at his word in distancing himself from Rev. Wright. He repeated that twice, with quite a bit of emphasis.

This catches me up on political thought, and I am hoping these thoughts last me for a while. ;-)

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On another subject, Jeff did get my lawn mowed the other day and it is lovely to go outside and smell the aroma of cut grass. It reminds me of what my late husband's mother Lola, who passed away in 1980, said were her two favorite things in the world: a fresh haircut on a man and newly mowed lawn.