Good morning, Cruciverbalists. Malodorous Manatee here with today's state-of-the-puzzle recap. That is, I am here for those of you who have come out of any food-induced stupors that may have been caused by yesterday's feasting. If you have not yet recovered then you have probably yet to solve the puzzle and are probably also not reading this so . . . never mind.
Today's puzzle setter is Emma Oxford. I have previously recapped Emma's puzzles and they are always a pleasure. The clues are often very clever. Her themes are always creative and today's is no exception. To grasp what she has accomplished today it helps if you, first of all, know the nicknames for various (in this case six) constituent states of these United States. Second, it helped to know the postal abbreviations for those states. Third, you need to like to play with words - in this case by breaking them apart at out-of-the ordinary places. Here are the six themed clues and answers:
16 Across: Flower of the Hoosier State?: IN CARNATION. The Hoosier State is the nickname for Indiana and its postal abbreviation is IN. INCARNATION becomes Indiana Carnation.
24 Across: Basement access in the Palmetto State?: SC AREA WAY. The Palmetto State is the nickname for South Carolina and its postal abbreviation is SC. SCARE AWAY becomes South Carolina Area Way.
30 Across: Clothing in the Sunshine State?: FL ATTIRE. The Sunshine State is the nickname for Florida and its postal abbreviation is FL. FLAT TIRE becomes Florida Attire.
44 Across: Girls from the Show-Me State?: MO LASSES. The Show Me State is the nickname for Missouri and its postal abbreviation is MO. MOLASSES becomes Missouri Lasses.
50 Across: Psychedelics from the Evergreen State?: WA SHROOMS. The Evergreen State is the nickname for Washington and its postal abbreviation is WA. WASHROOMS becomes Washington Shrooms (slang for mushrooms of the psychoactive type).
62 Across: Fortified wines from the Ocean State?: RI VERMOUTHS. The Ocean State is the nickname for Rhode Island and its postal abbreviation is RI. RIVER MOUTHS becomes Rhode Island Vermouths.
Here is how this looks in the grid:
. . . and here are the rest of the clues and answers:
Across:
1. Spanish home: CASA. La lección de español de hoy
5. Yelped about?: RATED. Clever. Nothing to do with a dog complaining. Having used the food review app, Yelp.
10. Fix: JAM. Hand up for thinking this had something to do with repair work. Then thinking it might be pet related. Nope, Fix is used, here, as in to be in a fix or predicament. That's probably better than being in a pickle.
13. Actress Taylor-Joy: ANYA. A web search reveals that she has both a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award. I wouldn't know her from Eve.
14. Take from commercial to residential, maybe: REZONE.
15. PC core: CPU. Central Processing Unit
18. Some triage pros: RNS. and 65. Some triage pros: DRS. Professionals is abbreviated to PROS in both clues. Registered NurseS and DoctoRS. See also 59 Down.
19. Opposite of paleo-: NEO.
20. Stand for a presentation: EASEL. Again, it is not as if we are at a performance of Handel's "Messiah" and getting out of our seats in a show of respect. Literally, a stand on which you might place your presentation.
22. Boot: EXPEL. Not the shoe. Used, here, as a verb. Oust.
27. Three-line verse: HAIKU.
Our own Chairman Moe
Often writes HAIKU verses
For our enjoyment
29. Screen __: TEST. Hand up for first writing in SHOT (well, the second T worked).
33. Rise to the occasion: STEP UP.
37. Refrigerator drawer: BIN.
38. Word before toast or after peach: MELBA. Created as a surname by opera diva Nellie Melba (born Helen Mitchell) after her hometown of Melbourne Australia. Such was her fame that several food dishes were named after her.
40. Comm. system in the film "CODA": ASL. Comm as in communications.
41. Entirely: IN TOTO. Also, where a dog treat might be located in Kansas.
47. Without: SANS. From the Old French via Middle English.
49. Sore spots: WELTS. When Gandhi was on his first hunger strike people would routinely bring him locally-made bread in an attempt to get him to eat. What people don't understand, though, is that Gandhi was actually a very temperamental man and, prone to anger, he would hurl the bread at his friends sometimes leaving bruises and WELTS. He justified this behavior by saying that it was all part of his philosophy of naan-violence.
54. Banks known as "Mr. Cub": ERNIE.
57. Think piece?: IDEA. The result of cogitating, perhaps.
58. Social outcast, metaphorically: LEPER.
58. Social outcast, metaphorically: LEPER.
61. __ sequitur: NON.
66. Clinches the deal: ICES IT. Idiomatic. Sometimes we get SEWS UP.
67. Veal or venison: MEAT.
68. "Happy now?": SEE. Ah, the things people say in crossword puzzles.
69. Bathroom fixture: BIDET. More French. Today's let's-skip-the-visual-aid moment.
70. IDs on tax forms: SSNS. Social Security NumberS
Down:
1. Michael who plays Alfred in "The Dark Knight" trilogy: CAINE. See also 30 Down. Michael CAINE was in that movie too.
2. Building addition: ANNEX. Putin is griping about all of the land he is trying so hard to ANNEX. Oh, Crimea river, Vladimir.
3. Lackey: SYCOPHANT.
4. Level just below the majors: AAA. A baseball reference. The Triple A teams are comprised (with a few exceptions) of the best players in the minor leagues. Below AAA is AA, A, and other tiers. Altogether there are 209 minor league teams in 19 leagues spread across 44 states and 4 provinces.
5. Instill confidence in: REASSURE. People keep telling me that alcohol isn't a solution but I've asked my chemist friends and they all REASSURE me that it is.
6. Xipe Totec worshipper: AZTEC. Hand up for no idea what Xipe Totec was except that it sounded Mesoamerican. The Z from REZONE was the hint that led quickly to AZTEC.
7. Labor over: TOIL AT.
8. Eclectic musician Brian: ENO. Among other accomplishments, frequent visitor Brian ENO is known as the creator of "ambient" music.
9. Lair: DEN.
10. Banana Republic alternative: J CREW. Hand up for first thinking of types of governments.
11. Sleep clinic study: APNEA.
12. Dank and damp: MUSTY.
14. Messenger __: RNA. Pigeon would not fit.
17. On again: RELIT. Like a light bulb or a candle.
21. Destiny: FATE. "Man does not control his own fate. The women in his life do that for him." - Groucho Marx
23. Nosh on: EAT. From the Yiddish nashn.
25. Flea market transaction: RESALE.
26. Educated guess, basically: Abbr.: EST. ESTimate
28. Traditional garment for Japan's Coming of Age Day: KIMONO. Despite not being familiar with Coming of Age Day this one filled quickly.
30. Org. in "Miss Congeniality": FBI. A 2000 film featuring Sandra Bullock as an undercover FBI agent.
31. Three-time Tony winner __-Manuel Miranda: LIN.
32. West __: upscale furniture store: ELM.
34. Misbehave in class, in a way: PASS NOTES.
32. West __: upscale furniture store: ELM.
34. Misbehave in class, in a way: PASS NOTES.
35. Purpose: USE.
36. "Thx" counterpart: PLS. PLeaSe and Thanks.
39. Spar above a ship's figurehead: BOWSPRIT.
36. "Thx" counterpart: PLS. PLeaSe and Thanks.
39. Spar above a ship's figurehead: BOWSPRIT.
42. Job safety org.: OSHA.
43. Pitch: TAR. Neither a baseball reference nor a sales spiel reference. Pitch is the black viscous substance obtained as a residue through the distillation of organic substances.
45. Last new Olds: ALERO. Oldsmobile. A new olds. Cute.
46. Orch. section: STR. and 50. Orchestra section: WINDS. In the first of these two, almost identical, clues ORCHestra is abbreviated so STRings is also.
48. Cracked, as a mystery: SOLVED.
52. First word in a Jane Austen title: SENSE.
53. Attorney general under Reagan: MEESE. Edwin MEESE. A polarizing figure in his day.
55. Minnesota representative Omar: ILHAN. A well-publicized figure due the the fact that she has also been seen as polarizing.
56. Bridge positions: EASTS. We need one of the first two letters to see if it will be EASTS or WESTS.
59. Triage pro: EMT. Emergency Medical Technician. See also 18 and 65 Across. Is the use of the same clue three separate times a new record?
62. Saguaro segment: RIB. Saguaro is a ribbed cactus that looks like this:
63. Here, on Métro maps: ICI. C'est francais n'est ce pas? ICI is the French equivalent of here.
64. Verbal hesitations: UMS. Hmm, a bit of a punt to wrap up a very, very entertaining puzzle.
Thanks for the wonderful grid, Emma. Please feel free to stop by The Crossword Corner and share anything you'd like about the puzzle.
_________________________________________
35 comments:
DNF - anNIE for ERNIE looked right. Also JCREW/JAM instead of SCREW/SAM... just why. No idea about JCREW and I had... MCRIB at 10D, so no way I was going to see JAM/MUSTY/FEET.
Although I caught the theme early on, I was hampered by not remembering, in many cases, exactly what states the nicknames referred to, and in some cases their postal abbreviations as well. And, I also admit I, too, initially had trouble coming up with “J. Crew” but I eventually did. In any case, I persevered, and managed to FIR, so I’m happy.
Good Morning
I liked the theme very much and saw it on the very first entry, IN Carnation. The only state I wasn’t sure of was WA, thinking at first it might be OR. I thought Area Way was a little shaky but the others were all spot on. I believe my only w/o was Pride before Sense and there were no unknowns, or at least no stumpers. Anya Taylor-Joy was unforgettable as the star of The Queen’s Gambit. I thought much of the cluing was way too easy for a Friday and, as usual, there were too many three letter words, IMO.
Thanks, Emma, for a fun solve and thanks, MalMan, for the great review. Loved your Gandhi joke! Nice to have you back in your Friday slot.
I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving. Mine was hectic, with 23 people, but lots of family, fun, and food! I’m not a big eater by any means but I never have room for pie. My sister, OTOH, had a small sliver of pumpkin pie with an extra, extra large serving of whipped cream! One of her daughters tested positive for Covid the night before, so she and her family were absent but her husband came by (front porch only) to pick up a care package of turkey and all the trimmings. Have a great day.
Good morning!
Very clever theme today. Like IM, d-o wasn't sure which was the Evergreen State, but it perped in nicely. I was quite old when I learned there is no N after the Y in SYCOPHANT -- 70+. Nicely done, Emma (Oxford, not CLOG). Excellent review, Mal-Man. (Enjoyed your naan violence.)
FBI: Michael CAINE is hilarious as a swishy beauty pageant coach in Miss Congeniality. It's also one of Sandra Bullock's better efforts, especially her spelling lesson.
SAGUARO: We used to frequent the Saguaro National Monument near Tucson. Learned this past year that it got elevated to National Park status. (It's pronounced Suh-Wah'-Ro.)
FIW, having no idea for eNYA, but I should have thought of Michael CeINE. He's been in about 100,000 films, and I've probably seen 3 or 4 of them. Guess I was trying to think of a younger actor, based on recent trends here. Erased mn for WA(SHROOMS), oped for IDEA, and wag for EST.
I still don't know what an AREA WAY is. Or a RIVERMOUTH, for that matter. But BOWSPRIT was easy for this recovering racing sailor, and I too knew how to pronounce saguaro (but didn't know the feature was named RIB). And MELBA was easy, because I used to eat the toast as a snack, and I used to live in Atlanta where I was required - by law - to know everything connected to a peach. (IIRC, there are some 75 streets in Atlanta that have "peach" in them.)
Thanks to Emma for the Fun Friday, and to the MalMan for the review. Man, was that a long way around the block to get to "naan-violence". Worth the trip. I also LOLed @ Crimea River.
FIR. Cute theme. But a bit of a slog which can be expected for a Friday.
OH, I finished this in 7:30 today.
As usual, I agree with Ms. Irish Miss, in particular that this was easy for a Friday.
I also find "area way" to be a stretch.
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving (I did), and has a great Black Friday -- for those that celebrate it.
Managed to rocket to a FIR in 44 minutes, leaving smoke and destruction in the wake. W/O TOILED:TOILAT, MUSHROOMS:WASHROOMS. After filling MUSHROOMS I thought, “Wait! What state has MU as their abbreviation? None! This HAS to be something else!” and WASHROOMS quickly came to mind. Shoulda given it more thought before writing in the MU. As others said, never heard of “AREAWAY”. I did get the theme early but struggled to remember some of the states, both their nickname and abbreviations. Quite the imaginative CW, EO, thanx for the mental workout. Thanx too to MalMan for the outstanding write-up. Naan violence is a good grin, thanx for that, too. As D-O mentioned I still hafta remind myself there is no “n” in sycophant.
FIW, but JCREW crossed with JAM took some head scratching. Quite an ingenious fun theme and an easy Friday puzzle
For "clog fillers" almost put hair as well. .CODA, great film. Really didn't get SCAREAWAY as "basement access" but LIU: "a sunken enclosure giving access to the basement of a building". (Tuck away a learning moment for a future CW.)
Error?: I thought a 3-line verse is a Moe-ku not a HAIKU...ICES IT means "clenched the deal"?
Former spouse ...ANNEX.
Living in Detroit if it was its own country you'd literally be..... INCARNATION.
Intensify....STEP UP.
"Naan violence", "Crimea river". 🤣🤣
Anyone besides Canada Eh not eating leftovers today?
Got Grandkids over looking to start putting up Christmas decorations so first let's once again try to remember how to put together the artificial tree. 🎄
Musings
-I’ll join the chorus calling AREA WAY the thorn among the five other roses
-ANYA caught my eye in the Netflix preview and The Queen’s Gambit a wonderful movie/series
-The owners of $700,000+ houses north of town were not happy when farm ground across the road was REZONED from agricultural to moderate residential
-Many of my graphics are screen SHOTS
-Shakespeare’s seven ages of life: Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion;
SANS teeth, SANS eyes, sans taste, SANS everything.
-One string of lights had to be RELIT last night as we found the trouble with a flashlight
-PASS NOTES – I never made a mountain out of that mole hill. “Just put them away, please.”
-WINDS – I wonder if flautists and clarinetists feel overwhelmed by the brass and percussion units in a marching band?
Thoughts before reading write-up.
I filled last night nut didn't grasp the theme completely. Ergo. RIVER MOUTHS and with the misspelling of KeMONO and a typo on yLM I thought flattery looked fine.
Mr S left the room and I realized it was FL ATTIRE and RI VERMOUTH ntsof SCARE AWAY=} SC AREA WAY. And of course the combined words forming a new phrase.
I commonly switch to French, fe. SANS, but I see it has officially blended into English usage as with NON SEQUITUR ("make a statement that does not logically follow a previous statement")
The perps gave me the A in ALERO
Progressed through rather routinely for a Friday. Palmetto and Evergreen needed help.
WC
FIR btw. Speaking of…(ICE) Hi Tin out in Tarpon Springs
My JCrew was “junta” area way and Anya were new to me. I can see a saguaro out my window and knew it had to be “arms” not “ribs” guess I’m still in a food fog. FYI the saguaro blossom is the state wildflower of Arizona, and they grow their first “arm” around 75-100 years old, the “ribs” are sometimes used as wood. Always fun to listen to visitors to AZ to try and pronounce saguaro. Hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving, and are enjoying the leftovers. I am making turkey enchiladas, and a pot of turkey noodle soup.
Thank you EMMA for a feasible Friday puzzle; the clever theme helped me FIR.
And thank you MalMan for another informative and funny review. I liked your ODIC Haiku to your new partner. I miss you BRO. 😥
A few favs:
16A INCARNATION. A famous one occurred 9 months prior to the 25th of next month. Ray - O is still jealous that Gabe, not he, got to break the news.
38A MELBA. The great Australian Diva Nellie Melba was portrayed by the great New Zealand Diva Dame Kiri Te Kanawa in an episode of Downton Abbey.
47A SANS. Also a word in New Frawnch and an adjective used to describe fonts, par exemple.
61A NON. That "doesn't follow" Mr Thesaurasaurus!
3D SYCOPHANT. Vlad the Impaler has surrounded himself with them. Let's hope they'll be his undoing.
11D APNEA. I flunked my first two sleep tests and they gave me one more chance. I'm now addicted to a machine, but I can dream again!
14A RNA. Messenger RNAs (mRNAs) are transcripts of segments of DNA called GENES and play an essential role in protein synthesis. There at least 7 other types of RNAs.
Cheers,
Bill
Hola!
Thank you, Emma Oxford and MalMan! This was just right for the Friday after Thanksgiving: not too easy. Not too hard.
CASA, of course, was a perfect fill for me and I recall ANYA Taylor-Joy from the many, many, many ads for her film but I have never seen it.
My Dad loved CARNATIONS and planted a row of them in front of our house. That was, of course, before he got so sick.
Oh! Oh! Oh! I just now got fix as JAM. To be in a JAM.
SYCOPHANT is a wonderful word. I just like that sound of it.
In eighth grade I had a boyfriend (much older) who joined the Navy and sent me a KIMONO from Japan.
I like Sandra Bullock in almost every film but Miss Congeniality is way up there. Both my daughter and granddaughter like it so much we have seen it multiple times! Michael CAINE and Benjamin Bratt are also outstanding as is Candice Bergen. Ms. Morningside! Ha. Ha.
Me too. When they used to PASS NOTES I told them to put them away for later.
I've never tasted MOLASSES.
The medical team is well represented in this puzzle: EMT, DRS, RNS
ERNIE Banks almost stumped me. Thankfully the perps saved me. I had EUGIE first. Why not?
I hope you are enjoying a restful day without too much tryptophan to unsettle you. You can guess what we're having for lunch and dinner!
Giving thanks to all of you for the nice comments. I am happy that folks liked the recap, the naan joke and the Moe-Ku shout out although I am a bit surprised that no one has yet commented on the bit of dog biscuit silliness.
Yuman, I liked listening to tourists say Gila Bend, too.
Gary, I'm glad you found the trouble with your flashlight. I hope it helped you fix your lights.
Hand up for (almost) no leftovers today. We had the feast Wednesday, leftovers yesterday and only pecan pie left now. That may be gone by midnight.
What a neat puzzle. I was a little slow discovering the theme, but once I got it, I was having fun. It makes sense that the state of Washington would have the mushrooms since that state’s climate lends itself to mushroom growing.
I’ve liked Michael Caine since the movie “What’s it all about Alfie?”. I can still hear the song in my head.
CARNATIONS smell divine.
Waz @ 11:03
Incarnation.
Actually the 3 of us drew lots, Mike flew off to fight the bad guys, I went fishing with my new buddy Toby and Gabe, well he had an interesting announcement for a young lady. 😇
I was slow off the mark until I realized that the state abbr. was the first two letters followed by a real word, except SHROOMS. I didn't catch on until MO-LASSES. There are no basements in S. LA. so AREA WAY was all perps, never heard of it.
RNS and DRS- had two of each com over for dinner yesterday.
ENO- there is another clue for it. There's a branded product called ENO SALT.
CAINE- I never saw those movies but remember him for ALFIE.
UMS or ERS, RIB or ARM. Wait for a perp.
FBI, ASL, ANYA, and West ELM were unknowns today.
ILHAN- who's her husband these days?
d-otto, Nat. Park? Every Congress member wants on in their district. I have one just a few miles away, Jean Lafitte Nat. Park, which is basically a swamp with a few buildings and a couple of wood plank walking trails.
Fun Friday puzzle, many thanks, Emma, enjoyed it very much. And thanks for your always helpful commentary, MalMan.
Well, this was just an artistic treat all around, including visual art produced on an EASEL, and poetic art, like the lovely HAIKU we get every morning on the Jumble blog. Your have to be very conscious of FEET when you work on poetry, which is about more than just the IDEA and also TESTs your ability to SOLVE the TEST of rhyming. It's okay to PASS NOTES to make suggestions, but better to just let people STEP UP and do their own solving. And they don't need DRS to help them.
When you're done working all this out, you can go to your food BIN and get some MEAT for your sandwich, and some MOLASSES for your MELBA toast. A good reward for solving the morning puzzle.
Have a lovely post-Thanksgiving day, everybody.
Got the solve with zero joy or fun.
Maybe folks like this kind of gimmicky solve, I do not.
I had to look up “area way” because I never heard of it before in 69+ years.
The grid seemed more of a hot mess to me.
Beautiful, fun puzzle! Thanks, Emma, and MalMan for the cool write-up.
One wrong square today for a FIW. Still better than the DNF I got on yesterday's even after trying again this morning to figure out SPORTS and the section below it.
My downfall today was entering ANnA/ANYA and not seeing the problem that caused for SYCOPHANT (Thanks DO for reminding me about the nonexistent N in its pronunciation!) I often don't catch errors in downward fill. Must. Do. Better!
I did catch onto RIVERMOUTHS in time after trying so hard to use NJ for the Ocean State. All the other combinations had a common enough phrase in the themer so that kept me puzzling long enough to get it right. I also had aCES IT/ICES IT but RIB matches the appearance of the cactus confirming the fill.
Thanks, Emma and MalMan for the fun challenge and review! I showed improvement today so I am satisfied. TGIF everyone!
I liked this puzzle, he recap, and all your comments. Favorite theme answer is WA SHROOMS. Hand up for ARM before RIB, PLZ before PLS, and Screen TIME before Screen TEST. My wife often replies with NON sequiturs, and it drives me nuts. Thought of Misty when I saw MUSTY.
Happy day after Thanksgiving to you all.
My iPhone just updated to iOS 16 and man oh man the lock screen is Ugg-a-Lee! Sheesh.
DNF. I knew the nicknames but the first themers I solved made me think we were making portmanteaus so I did not see the state abbreviations for MIssouri and RHOde Island. Of course it all makes sense now that I've read MalMan's excellent summary.
FAVs: Yelped about?, Clog fillers, FL ATTIRE
Ray - O @11:56 AM You mean Toby avec la cousine dangereuse? One of my favorite OT tales!
Good evening. Thank you, em uh, and thank you, em em !
Fun puzzle and review.
Area way is new to me too, but like Ray-O, I looked it up. I just figured it was some SE coastal regionalism. In the manner of what Chicagoans call a gangway - that has nothing to do with getting on or off a ship. I agree that as a theme answer, it doesn't flow as well as the others.
Michael CAINE had the starring role in the original (1969) version of "The Italian Job" with the Mini Coopers in the car chase scenes. I still haven't seen the later (2003) remake with Mark Wahlberg.
Don't forget CAINE's role in Blame it on Rio, where he played an old guy who was unable to resist the wiles of his niece. Crossword-favorite Demi Moore played CAINE's daughter. He was great in his role, but it was a rather dark movie.
Jinx @11:54 my favorite to hear is the “Mogollon Rim”, my Dad always called it The “Mongolia Rim”
Apologies for posting so late.
When the XWD offers no diagonals, I sometimes forget to post entirely.
But it is only fair to note that I enjoyed Ms. Oxford's PZL, with the state theme abbreviations.
I admit I did not understand most of the clues at first. But they do perform one of the happy services of good clues, i.e., confirming the answer once I find it pretty much on my own.
I have not seen CODA, so ASL was one of the last fills I grokked.
Since I developed advanced arthritis in my hands, I have often wondered how persons who depend on signing manage to communicate if/when their hands become so affected?
It must be terrible for them.
As awful as for concert pianists.
~ OMK
I thought I had not heard of AREA WAY after it filled by perps, but somehow got a picture in my mind of the scooped out down ramp into a basement garage under a big building. Don't know if this is what was meant by this cw fill.
Thanks, Emma & MalMan.
I was alone for T-giving but my son brought me a nice plateful of goodies for supper & stayed to visit. I used to cook a big turkey and feed up to 25 for T-givings on the farm. I cooked my first turkey when I was 13 yrs. old after my mother woke me at 4 a.m. to tell me how. She was on her way to the hospital to give birth to my baby brother. I made two pies also -- still in elementary school then.
PK
Your achievements are impressive! Having watched my grandmother toil away on her greatly reduced farm by the time I came along, I understand what a busy life you led.
By that point in time, she had only one cow, a small vegetable garden and just a handful of chickens but she labored from 4 A.M until late at night with no electricity and no hot water. She made preserves, made her own soap, preserved meat and ran a small restaurant as well as cooked on a wood-fed stove. The restaurant was mostly a convenience for the truck drivers who stopped on their way to other destinations. There were also two gas pumps which my uncle operated.
I suspect you were just as busy in your endeavors as well as raising your children.
Lucina, Thankfully, my resources weren't as limited as your grandmother. I had electricity & hot water and two big freezers. I raised a big garden & had fruit trees so froze, canned or preserved much of our food. Husband raised cattle and took one to butcher about twice a year so we had frozen beef on hand. Always had a remodeling project going on our 100+ yr. old stone house, trying to bring it into modern times. No heaters upstairs. No A/C. I also tried to be active in community affairs. Makes me tired to think about it. Thankful I don't have to do stuff in my old age.
Hi All!
Thanks Emma for the Friday Fun; great theme.
Excellent Expo, MManatee. Cute re: naan-violence; Crimea River was LOL.
WOs: N/A
ESPs: ANYA, MELBA, ILHAN's spelling, ICI,
Fav: KIMONO xing HAIKU was cute (as were the clechos)
Banana Republic - I thought "The Gap" then Benetton before enough perps and ' J. Crew' popp'd out.
FLN - D4, I'm so happy to read that everything is going so well for you!
Busy day - started in Japan Town and an early lunch of sushi b/f saying "Good Bye" to DW's cousin; a little shopping before heading over to Golden Gate Park for Rameses Exhibit (we did the Farris Wheel first!).
Ended the eve at DW's Aunt's for left-over Thanksgiving and chatting the night away.
I enjoyed reading y'all.
Cheers, -T
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