Blog

Week Eighteen

Photos from the eighteenth week in the garden are up, spanning July 12-18, and have been tagged “Week Eighteen” in my Gardening 2010, Part Three album in my Picasa Web Albums. To see the original bed photos — in a slideshow from week to week — visit my Gardening 2010 photo album on Facebook.

Three Top Gun tomatoes I picked. The rain made 'em ugly.
Three Top Gun tomatoes I picked. The rain made 'em ugly.
The psyche mix cosmos
The psyche mix cosmos
The black-eyed susans
The black-eyed susans
There were three about this size.
There were three about this size.
Purple coneflowers
Purple coneflowers
Week Eighteen
Week Eighteen

In defense of Lady Gaga

The world needs Lady Gaga. That’s why she’s selling more albums than all the artists I usually listen to. And her tour? It’s the hottest ticket this summer.

OK OK OK, before we go any further, the obligatory disclaimer: She ain’t doin’ nuthin new. See Elton John, Madonna, Cher plus countless others who arguably have done it better. But, they did it then. This is now.

I mean, seriously. We have a disaster fustercluck in the Gulf. We have a liberal president who all my extremist wacko relatives hate — passionately — yet, we’re still entangled in two endless wars, the economy’s still  a flatliner, and all we got is some minor gains in the student loan and debit card rackets. Social security? Still broken, we won’t see any of it. And we have a fustercluck in the gulf. And tar balls in Galveston! And we’re all oil-guzzling accessories to it, one could argue, or …

We can listen to Lady Gaga, singing:

“Sorry I can’t hear you I’m kinda busy.
…
Stop calling, stop calling, I don’t want to think anymore.
I left my head and my heart on the dance floor.”

Play that “Telephone” track, and like — heh — who cares if John Cornyn’s about to throw a hissy-fit on the senate floor over Elena Kagan, lowering himself to Orrin Hatch’s level. I mean, I’m kinda busy.

On “Dance in the Dark,” she advises:

Find your freedom in the music.
Find your Jesus. Find your Cupid.

Nevermind Rick Perry. Maybe “Monster” applies:

“He ate my heart.
He ay-eight-hate my heart
That boy is a monster.”

At least, the last poll I saw, reported Bill White’s neck and neck. Hope, you see, is on the horizon, see: “So Happy I Could Die.”

“Happy in the club with a bottle of red wine
stars in our eyes because we’re having a good time”

She could reveal more with her lyrics, and less with her costumes. Well, i guess you can’t have it all.

Week Seventeen

Photos from the seventeenth week in the garden are up, spanning July 7-11, and have been tagged “Week Seventeen” in my Gardening 2010, Part Three album in my Picasa Web Albums. To see the original bed photos — in a slideshow from week to week — visit my Gardening 2010 photo album on Facebook.

The Indian Princess hibiscus finally bloomed! The wait was well worth it!
The Indian Princess hibiscus finally bloomed! The wait was well worth it!
A row of all four hibiscus, in bloom.
A row of all four hibiscus, in bloom.
Pickling cucumber. Uber alles.
Pickling cucumber. Uber alles.
This bachelor button didn't recover after the torrential downpour we received last week.
This bachelor button didn't recover after the torrential downpour we received last week.
A purple periwinkle, that must have reseeded itself from last year.
A purple periwinkle, that must have reseeded itself from last year.
The original bed
The original bed
This blanket flower — the only one of which that has thrived this well, perhaps it's the porch? — is about to bloom.
This blanket flower — the only one of which that has thrived this well, perhaps it's the porch? — is about to bloom.

Week Sixteen

Photos from the sixteenth week in the garden are up, spanning June 27-July 6, and have been tagged “Week Sixteen” in my Gardening 2010, Part Three album in my Picasa Web Albums. To see the original bed photos — in a slideshow from week to week — visit my Gardening 2010 photo album on Facebook.

A lot of rain this week, especially after a category 2 hurricane hit Mexico. Here's some soggy cosmos.
A lot of rain this week, especially after a category 2 hurricane hit Mexico. Here's some soggy cosmos.
The rain brought the critters, too. I found several of these catapillars, and they ate most of the surving tomato plant Kim's uncle gave us.
The rain brought the critters, too. I found several of these catapillars, and they ate most of the surving tomato plant Kim's uncle gave us.
Here's a shot of the original bed. A lot of the taller cosmos and zinnia have fallen, and the zinnia are now crowding out the portulaca.
Here's a shot of the original bed. A lot of the taller cosmos and zinnia have fallen, and the zinnia are now crowding out the portulaca.
A handful of bachelor buttons bloomed right after all of the storms.
A handful of bachelor buttons bloomed right after all of the storms.
This is the only Monarda ‘Bergamo’ that has made it to maturity to flower. All of the others I transplanted, as seedlings, into the bed, but they didn't make it. There were only a few that got big enough to transplant. Won't be buying this again.
This is the only Monarda ‘Bergamo’ that has made it to maturity to flower. All of the others I transplanted, as seedlings, into the bed, but they didn't make it. There were only a few that got big enough to transplant. Won't be buying this again.
The homegrown coleus from seed is doing very well in various pots on the porch.
The homegrown coleus from seed is doing very well in various pots on the porch.
These black-eyed susans - the only thing still left from last year's father's day gift from Kim and Corina - are going wild.
These black-eyed susans — the only thing still left from last year's father's day gift from Kim and Corina — are going wild.