Wednesday Wa Pic - signage most fowl

 Peafowl don't need any encouragement from you. This neighborhood in Arcadia, CA, apparently has enough peacocks and -hens without the intervention of humanity. Think it's a joke sign?

 I turned the corner and there was evidence to the contrary.

A large flock of peafowl lives at the Los Angeles County Arboretum, and they roam freely in the residential neighborhoods to its west. Here is one video taken by a local; a peacock on her rooftop, in full mating stance, evidently failing to impress several peahens.

I've been there, pal. I've been there.

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© George Waters, The Wa Blog


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Men save the darnedest things

Every human has a hoarding instinct, which stems from a million years of harsh winters and, in my case, manifests itself in the accumulating of cardboard storage boxes.

My wife does not fully appreciate the arc of human history behind this.

Those same million years resulted in her own ability to hoard arcane facts, which take up much less room in the garage.

If you want to ship a broken printer back to the manufacturer, I am your man. If you want to know the name of that tart citrus fruit used predominantly in making marmalade, she can tell you all about the Seville orange.

When spring cleaning comes, you do not hear anybody nagging anybody else about "clearing out the junk" in her mind. The garage, though? Different story.

I save boxes of all sizes because you never know when you will need one. Actually, that is not true. You know exactly when you will need one—the day after you get rid of all your boxes.

Plus, the Boy Scout motto I once memorized, "Be prepared," is basically a license to hoard.

You might make the argument that saving useful things is not hoarding, and that proves that you are what scientists call a "man."  Women hoard too, but mostly just out of spite.

Please take this short quiz to determine your gender:

Do you save the connector cables to video cameras/TVs/VCRs you no longer own, in case they might fit some other device in the future?

Yes / No

Even though they no longer manufacture any device of any kind with those kinds of connectors, and never will again?

Yes / No

Do you feel that cans of motor oil, since they are not explicitly marked, have an implied expiration date of never?

Yes / No

Are you really ever going to get around to making that "classic" car in your garage "awesome" again, or even saleable as scrap?

Heck Yes / No

If you answered "Yes/Heck Yes" to any question above, you are a man, with an innate genetic ability to find value in items which other, better-smelling members of the species only see as worthless, space-hogging junk.

Revel in this ancient skill. It is the reason you are sitting there reading this and a mammoth isn't.

You may look at my garage and see 279 nested boxes sorted by shade of tan, but I see something entirely different.

I see victory.

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Wednesday Wa Pic - Don't mess with confection

 A rose by any other name...

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© George Waters, The Wa Blog


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Wednesday Wa Pic - Forrest Rump

 Do not pretend you do not want this sign in your home.

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© George Waters, The Wa Blog


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RuPaul for president

I have been amazed for months now to hear that RuPaul, the famous drag queen/singer, is running for the nomination of the Republican Party for president.

I would have guessed, and perhaps this shows my tendency to stereotype, that Ru was a liberal, in that way which most six foot four inch glitter-gown-and-blonde-wig-wearing African American men are liberal.

Shame on me for assuming.

In this looks-obsessed culture of ours, RuPaul does have an edge over many of the other conservatives, I have to admit. Better legs than Michele Bachmann. More fabulous hair than Mitt Romney (plus, it comes in blonde, brunette and hot pink.)

A figure which Newt Gingrich can only dream of. And at a time in our nation's history when Americans seem finally willing to elect a man or a woman to their highest office, RuPaul is a double-threat.

You might say wait, he/she does not have any political experience. (And, by the way, RuPaul has said himself, "You can call me 'he.' You can call me 'she.' You can call me Regis and Kathie Lee. I don't care! Just as long as you call me.")

Rupe does need to update his references, though, since Kathie Lee left the show a decade ago, and now even Regis has too.

But politicians are renowned for highlighting their lack of experience, for playing the "Pick me, I am a Washington outsider" card, and you can't get much more "outside" than the drag clubs of Manhattan.

Also, like most candidates, RuPaul has dutifully written an autobiography, "Lettin' It All Hang Out." Unlike most candidates, in addition to his life story, his book includes beauty tips.

What's that? Hold on, my wife wants to tell me something. Huh? You're kidding! RON Paul? He...seriously? But glitter, right? At least glitter. No? No wigs either? Oh. A Baptist, you say? Used to be an Ob/Gyn? Delivered 4,000 babies? Wow, I guess that could drive anybody into politics.

Well, sorry for the misunderstanding, folks. I was kind of looking forward to having a president who once starred in a movie called "Starbooty." A president who could, with a few hours notice, play the role of president or First Lady.

But the country is probably not ready for that. Visiting diplomats might be confused or, worse, turned on.

The office has been held by a peanut farmer, a postmaster, an actor, a newspaper editor, farmers, soldiers, oil men,  lawyers. Lots of lawyers. The country could do a lot worse than a former gynecologist.

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 Artist's conception of Inauguration Day.