College Basketball:

            Around our house, college basketball reigns supreme during the winter months. Of course, we have our favorites like Duke, N. Carolina, and Kansas, but the lovely Avon will watch any school that can put five men or women on the hardwood. I start filling out my brackets in mid January with my mind focused on March. For 4 days in March, everything in the Bradshaw household comes to a complete halt while we watch the mighty fall, and the 16 seeds are planted almost non-stop day and night. Then the weeding out process continues for several weeks until only one is left standing.

After the first 2 weeks, I throw away my brackets and pull for my personal favorites. Although the on-court action is terrific, the one single thing that stands out as incredibly wonderful is that when the tournament starts and network TV takes over, Dick Vitale goes away. I never thought anyone could be more annoying than Howard Kossel, but I was wrong.     

“Life is much too important to be taken seriously.”

 Books by Lou Bradshaw available on Amazon Kindle

 A Fine Kettle of Fish – Hickory Jack – Blue – Ace High – Blue Norther – Cain

–  One Man Standing – Rubio –  Cain…just Cain….Spirit Valley…..Now Driftin’

Visit me on Facebook Lou Bradshaw Artist – Author or www.facebook.com/loubradshawarts

Or you can contact me at loubradshaw7@gmail.com

Or at Amazon Author Central www.amazon.com/author/loubradshaw

I'll be taking Thanksgiving Week off 

to kinda recharge the ole batteries

and eat.

This week, I would like for you to 

Buy a big bird

Cook that sucker

Cook a bunch of other stuff

Spend time with the family

Eat every thing you see

Watch some football

Eat some more

Go shopping for bargains

Start diet

and come back here on Monday

Nov 30

Have a great Thanksgiving

Lou

Food and Nutrition:

            Mini marshmallows are great for putting into hot chocolate or for tossing into the air and catching in your mouth like popcorn, but they are virtually worthless for roasting over an open fire on a stick.

Truths:

Success: A good storyteller must be a good observer to do it right.      

      

Work: Many a person has worked themselves to death, but I have never heard of someone loafing himself into an early grave.         

Did you know?

            That according to Webster’s New World Dictionary there are over 85,000 words in the English language. I know because I counted them; I do a lot of research for this newsletter. But, to put that into its proper perspective that means there are at least 84,955 words that I can’t spell.

“Life is much too important to be taken seriously.”

 Books by Lou Bradshaw available on Amazon Kindle

 A Fine Kettle of Fish – Hickory Jack – Blue – Ace High – Blue Norther – Cain

–  One Man Standing – Rubio –  Cain…just Cain….Spirit Valley…..Now Driftin’

Visit me on Facebook Lou Bradshaw Artist – Author or www.facebook.com/loubradshawarts

Or you can contact me at loubradshaw7@gmail.com

Or at Amazon Author Central www.amazon.com/author/loubradshaw

A Left Handed Compliment:

            Those of you who know Avon know that she is a cutie, and always has been. Maybe not a super model except in my eyes, but well worth looking at. A while back, when I was closer to my prime, we ran into a good friend of mine at K-Mart and after the introductions and pleasantries we went on our way. The next time I saw my friend, a woman, who is known to have always said what was on her mind, was commenting on how attractive Avon was. She stopped and looked at me for a few seconds and asked in all seriousness, “Did you used to be a lot better looking?” She was suddenly embarrassed and I told her, “No, I just grabbed her before she got so good looking.” I didn’t know whether to be proud or find myself a cheap plastic surgeon – I decided to be proud.

“Life is much too important to be taken seriously.”

 Books by Lou Bradshaw available on Amazon Kindle

 A Fine Kettle of Fish – Hickory Jack – Blue – Ace High – Blue Norther – Cain

–  One Man Standing – Rubio –  Cain…just Cain….Spirit Valley…..Now Driftin’

Visit me on Facebook Lou Bradshaw Artist – Author or www.facebook.com/loubradshawarts

Or you can contact me at loubradshaw7@gmail.com

Or at Amazon Author Central www.amazon.com/author/loubradshaw

My Good Night Buddy:

All through the spring, summer, and fall of 2007 I had a troll living in one of my trees. I could only see him at night. He always had a friendly smile so I knew he was a good troll, but his appearance was definitely that of a troll. Every night he would wish me a good night and every morning (before dawn) a good day. He was made up of a combination of branches and leaves black against the night sky. I named him Albert – he just looked like an Albert. When cold weather came and the leaves fell I had to say goodbye for the winter. In the spring of 2008, I looked anxiously to see if Albert had returned; he had, but not the same. He had not only come back with a frown instead of a smile, but he had grown somehow evil and no longer my buddy. So, I took a pole saw and a ladder and erased him. I do miss the 2007 Albert.

“Life is much too important to be taken seriously.”

 Books by Lou Bradshaw available on Amazon Kindle

 A Fine Kettle of Fish – Hickory Jack – Blue – Ace High – Blue Norther – Cain

–  One Man Standing – Rubio –  Cain…just Cain….Spirit Valley…..Now Driftin’

Visit me on Facebook Lou Bradshaw Artist – Author or www.facebook.com/loubradshawarts

Or you can contact me at loubradshaw7@gmail.com

Or at Amazon Author Central www.amazon.com/author/loubradshaw

Sugar Pie:

While killing time in an East Georgia shopping mall, the lovely Avon and I encountered a very little boy not more than three years old storming his way up an escalator. His young mommy was trying her best to catch up with him as worked his way between and through the other passengers. When he reached the top, I said to him, “ Whoa! What’s the hurry there, big fella?” giving the mommy a chance to catch up. With eyes big as silver dollars and just as bright he proudly said, “I’m going to McDonalds and get a Happy Meal!” By this time the mommy had reached the top step huffing and puffing; she smiled her thanks, took his hand, and with a Southern Drawl that generously dripped with honey said, “Come on now Shu-ugaah Paah.” We barely held it together until they were out of earshot and then we lost it. I started affecting that accent and calling Avon Shu-ugaah Paah as a little joke, and she has been Sugar Pie to me now for nearly 30 years.

One of those days when everything goes right..... maybe a little too right.

“Life is much too important to be taken seriously.”

 Books by Lou Bradshaw available on Amazon Kindle

 A Fine Kettle of Fish – Hickory Jack – Blue – Ace High – Blue Norther – Cain

–  One Man Standing – Rubio –  Cain…just Cain….Spirit Valley…..Now Driftin’

Visit me on Facebook Lou Bradshaw Artist – Author or www.facebook.com/loubradshawarts

Or you can contact me at loubradshaw7@gmail.com

Or at Amazon Author Central www.amazon.com/author/loubradshaw

My First Black Eye:

            I got my first black eye in the fourth grade, it was all my fault, and memorable. In the St. Louis schools, you had to be a fighter or a runner and I was pretty slow afoot. I only intentionally picked one fight in my entire life, and this was it. I had watched this boy for weeks, and knew I could take him; we were evenly matched, but he was a clean-cut neatly dressed kid with glasses. I also wore glasses, but he wore them all the time. I pushed it until I was sure he would start running or swinging. He didn’t even take his glasses off just shot a left that put my butt on the asphalt and had stars popping all around – it was over. Then he had the unmitigated gall to bend down and ask if I was all right. I was looking for a hole to crawl into... I did, however, take a lot of pride in that shiner. 

 Books by Lou Bradshaw available on Amazon Kindle

 A Fine Kettle of Fish – Hickory Jack – Blue – Ace High – Blue Norther – Cain

–  One Man Standing – Rubio –  Cain…just Cain….Spirit Valley…..Now Driftin’

Visit me on Facebook Lou Bradshaw Artist – Author or www.facebook.com/loubradshawarts

Or you can contact me at loubradshaw7@gmail.com

Or at Amazon Author Central www.amazon.com/author/loubradshaw

Girl Watching:

            I never get into trouble when my left, right, or both eyes happen to be focused on an attractive young la femme. Avon knows I am a dyed in the wool people watcher. I can sit in a crowded place for hours contentedly scrutinizing those who walk by. I study them with intensity, and it’s not my fault that some of them just happen to be drop-dead gorgeous. 

“Life is much too important to be taken seriously.”

 Books by Lou Bradshaw available on Amazon Kindle

 A Fine Kettle of Fish – Hickory Jack – Blue – Ace High – Blue Norther – Cain

–  One Man Standing – Rubio –  Cain…just Cain….Spirit Valley…..Now Driftin’

Visit me on Facebook Lou Bradshaw Artist – Author or www.facebook.com/loubradshawarts

Or you can contact me at loubradshaw7@gmail.com

Or at Amazon Author Central www.amazon.com/author/loubradshaw

Things that make me smile:

            I always smile at the thought of a Tom T. Hall song. Tom T. was a country singer of the first degree during the 70s and 80s, but most of all he was a down home storyteller. He may have sung about lost love and heartbreak at some point, but I can’t recall any of those songs. What I remember are songs that told about old pick-up trucks and little baby ducks, caring about a little kid’s troubles, Sneaky Snake, and the one about the meaning of life, which was… older whiskey…faster horses…younger women…and more money.

“Life is much too important to be taken seriously.”

 Books by Lou Bradshaw available on Amazon Kindle

 A Fine Kettle of Fish – Hickory Jack – Blue – Ace High – Blue Norther – Cain

–  One Man Standing – Rubio –  Cain…just Cain….Spirit Valley…..Now Driftin’

Visit me on Facebook Lou Bradshaw Artist – Author or www.facebook.com/loubradshawarts

Or you can contact me at loubradshaw7@gmail.com

Or at Amazon Author Central www.amazon.com/author/loubradshaw

My Mother In Law – Bless Her:

            My mother in law and I, despite all the jokes made about that relationship, are really good friends. She endures my shenanigans and I endure her daughter (oops! I didn’t say that). She is thankful for anything I do for her, but I’m sure the one thing she is most thankful for is she didn’t have to raise me. I’m almost positive she never had to even raise her voice to her 2 children – they were that good. I’m also sure that when she looks at me she can only imagine how many switches she would have worn out. For the record, I’m not positive, but it had to be in triple digits  

“Life is much too important to be taken seriously.”

 Books by Lou Bradshaw available on Amazon Kindle

 A Fine Kettle of Fish – Hickory Jack – Blue – Ace High – Blue Norther – Cain

–  One Man Standing – Rubio –  Cain…just Cain….Spirit Valley…..Now Driftin’

Visit me on Facebook Lou Bradshaw Artist – Author or www.facebook.com/loubradshawarts

Or you can contact me at loubradshaw7@gmail.com

Or at Amazon Author Central www.amazon.com/author/loubradshaw

Maintenance Tip:

            I hate cleaning a paint roller especially when I have just finished the job of painting and want to be done with it. I have found that if you rinse the roller head leaving it damp then wrap it in Saran wrap and put it into a large baggie or Wal-Mart bag it will keep for weeks. But, if you then put in the freezer it will be good indefinitely. I have used the same small roller for priming canvases and art boards for more than a dozen times and over the coarse of a year and still works great. I wouldn’t advise defrosting it in a microwave there’s no setting for paint roller.

“Life is much too important to be taken seriously.”

 Books by Lou Bradshaw available on Amazon Kindle

 A Fine Kettle of Fish – Hickory Jack – Blue – Ace High – Blue Norther – Cain

–  One Man Standing – Rubio –  Cain…just Cain….Spirit Valley…..Now Driftin’

Visit me on Facebook Lou Bradshaw Artist – Author or www.facebook.com/loubradshawarts

Or you can contact me at loubradshaw7@gmail.com

Or at Amazon Author Central www.amazon.com/author/loubradshaw

And Yet Another True Story:

In this tale, I was on a road trip with my two favorite traveling companions, Avon and our son Chris. When Chris was still quite young, maybe 4^th or 5^th grade, we lived in a small town and he went to a very small Catholic School. We took a trip to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons one summer. After several thousand miles and a lot of splendor and awe, we pulled up to Old Faithful geyser in Yellowstone National Park. I did the usual things like setting the emergency brake, pulling out the keys, and getting the camera, but not undoing the seat belt because there was none. Meanwhile Avon was getting out of the passenger side and Chris was piling out of the back seat. A car had pulled up next to us and similar things were going on inside it. A young boy climbed out of the back seat and said, “Hi Chris”. Chris looked up and said, “Hi Jimmy.” like it was no big deal, and off they went to look at the geyser. The dad who I knew by sight, but not by name and I just stared at each other like idiots. We had driven nearly 2 thousand miles to park next to one of Chris’s classmates from a school of barely 100 students. 

“Life is much too important to be taken seriously.”

 Books by Lou Bradshaw available on Amazon Kindle

 A Fine Kettle of Fish – Hickory Jack – Blue – Ace High – Blue Norther – Cain

–  One Man Standing – Rubio –  Cain…just Cain….Spirit Valley…..Now Driftin’

Visit me on Facebook Lou Bradshaw Artist – Author or www.facebook.com/loubradshawarts

Or you can contact me at loubradshaw7@gmail.com

Or at Amazon Author Central www.amazon.com/author/loubradshaw

Things that Squeak:

            When we first bought our house, it was new and nothing squeaked or creaked, but after 30 years of clomping around on the floors, they developed some rather annoying squeaks. I got out my tools and made some oak wedges to force in between the floor joists and the sub floor then plastered the repairs with Liquid Nails. Now almost every thing is silent. A lot of work you say for a few squeaks? I could have lived with the squeaks, but I couldn’t live with the fact that Avon always knew exactly where I was. Now she knows almost everything about me, except my location. 

“Life is much too important to be taken seriously.”

 Books by Lou Bradshaw available on Amazon Kindle

 A Fine Kettle of Fish – Hickory Jack – Blue – Ace High – Blue Norther – Cain

–  One Man Standing – Rubio –  Cain…just Cain….Spirit Valley…..Now Driftin’

Visit me on Facebook Lou Bradshaw Artist – Author or www.facebook.com/loubradshawarts

Or you can contact me at loubradshaw7@gmail.com

Or at Amazon Author Central www.amazon.com/author/loubradshaw

Football:

            Avon said to me, “When you get to a stopping point would you…” That’s when I cracked up, and of course she had no idea what I was laughing about. There I was sitting and watching the Chiefs get their brains knocked out – again, and that’s an activity that is stoppable at any time. I was more than happy to go do whatever it was she wanted.

            There is a story from Detroit about a Judge who ruled that a burglar accused of stealing Chiefs season tickets was guilty of petty theft.

            I am told that in Nashville and San Diego, when a person is stopped for a traffic violation he is given Titan or Chargers Tickets, and on a second offence he is force to use them. In Detroit they issue season tickets for traffic offenses. 

“Life is much too important to be taken seriously.”

 Books by Lou Bradshaw available on Amazon Kindle

 A Fine Kettle of Fish – Hickory Jack – Blue – Ace High – Blue Norther – Cain

–  One Man Standing – Rubio –  Cain…just Cain….Spirit Valley…..Now Driftin’

Visit me on Facebook Lou Bradshaw Artist – Author or www.facebook.com/loubradshawarts

Or you can contact me at loubradshaw7@gmail.com

Or at Amazon Author Central www.amazon.com/author/loubradshaw

Everybody talks about it:

The Weather Channel has started talking about the Chill Factor again. My chill factor is in a horizontal position on the couch, with my hat pulled over my eyes, and my nose pointed at the ceiling. That’s when I’m really chilled. 

The Weather Channel also gives us the Dew Point. Is that the point when you must do something that is due or past due and should have already been done?

“Life is much too important to be taken seriously.”

 Books by Lou Bradshaw available on Amazon Kindle

 A Fine Kettle of Fish – Hickory Jack – Blue – Ace High – Blue Norther – Cain

–  One Man Standing – Rubio –  Cain…just Cain….Spirit Valley…..Now Driftin’

Visit me on Facebook Lou Bradshaw Artist – Author or www.facebook.com/loubradshawarts

Or you can contact me at loubradshaw7@gmail.com

Or at Amazon Author Central www.amazon.com/author/loubradshaw

The great battery hunt:

            Last month I had to run all over town searching for LR-03 batteries for a wireless keyboard (made in China) I’d ordered. The notice in the package said “Takes 2 LR-03 batteries (not included)". Well that was just swell, I wanted to do my typing from my recliner and we didn’t have a LR-03 battery in the house… I couldn’t remember ever seeing one. No one in Ozark had ever heard of LR-03 batteries until I went to Radio Shack and they cross-referenced it in a computer – you guessed it “AAA”. So I went back to Wal-Mart and got em. Do you think that LR-03 could be the beginning of a Chinese mind game?

“Life is much too important to be taken seriously.”

 Books by Lou Bradshaw available on Amazon Kindle

 A Fine Kettle of Fish – Hickory Jack – Blue – Ace High – Blue Norther – Cain

–  One Man Standing – Rubio –  Cain…just Cain….Spirit Valley…..Now Driftin’

Visit me on Facebook Lou Bradshaw Artist – Author or www.facebook.com/loubradshawarts

Or you can contact me at loubradshaw7@gmail.com

Or at Amazon Author Central www.amazon.com/author/loubradshaw

Ideas:

            The inspirations for this blog seem to come of their own volition and at the most inopportune times, so I have started carrying a note pad and pencil with me at all times – even in the shower. Just the other day I got an idea on highway 65 between Springfield and Ozark. Do you know how hard it is to write and spell Czarina at 65 mph? No wonder I smile when a cop passes me by.

“Life is much too important to be taken seriously.”

 Books by Lou Bradshaw available on Amazon Kindle

 A Fine Kettle of Fish – Hickory Jack – Blue – Ace High – Blue Norther – Cain

–  One Man Standing – Rubio –  Cain…just Cain….Spirit Valley…..Now Driftin’

Visit me on Facebook Lou Bradshaw Artist – Author or www.facebook.com/loubradshawarts

Or you can contact me at loubradshaw7@gmail.com

Or at Amazon Author Central www.amazon.com/author/loubradshaw