Happy July 4th everyone! I love the 4th of July. It's the fireworks. All those beautiful bursts of color. The "single bright light and large boom" ones aren't my favorites. That's a nice way of saying that I don't like those. I prefer the huge multi-color ones and the whistler's. While I was going to college, one of my jobs was being one of those salesladies who have to chase giggling kids away from the "NO-NO, ADULTS ONLY" section at Spenser's in the Southdale Mall, one of the few Minneapolis Malls at that time. It was a long time ago. Funny, Spenser's still thrive at most malls across our nation....they still have the same stuff....even the "NO-NO, ADULTS ONLY" section. The place pretty much smells the same too. Anyway, they had these neat fiber-optic lamps that look kind of like fireworks without the noise. I saved up and bought myself one with my employee discount. I still have it. I think in one of those many boxes stored in my closet in Arizona. Probably right next to my box of baskets. If anyone is interested, I think Spenser's still sells fiber-optic lamps....in that area with all the blacklights and lava lamps.

Of course the 4th of July wouldn't be the 4th of July without the pre-requisite BBQ. I've got beer cooling in the fridge and bratwurst marinating. We'll have baked beans and chips and dips too. No potato salad this year....I'm on a diet. Kind of reminds me of that gal or guy (I'm trying to be PC about this) at the Mall who washes down her "Fatburger" and extra large order of greasy fries with a diet pop. I'm never sure why they bother to order a diet pop. Do they think the diet pop will absorb all the calories? Is it a fleeting form of penance? My feeling is, SCREW THE DIET! Hey! Order that chocolate malt too. Go back on your diet tomorrow. Get rid of all those cravings! Life is too short to spend it taking guilt trip after guilt trip. Tomorrow when I go back on my diet, I don't want to be dreaming of the chocolate malt that got away. It's the 4th of July. I hereby declare today as my Independence Day! I'll go back on my diet tomorrow.

Cliche of the Day

Half a Loaf is Better Than None. It's better to get part of what you want than none of it. John Heywood's Proverbs (1546) had this one:

Throw no gift at the giver's head;
Better a half a loaf than no bread.

The thought was put even more sternly in Naaman the Syrian, by Daniel Rogers (1642): "He is a foole who counts not halfe a loafe better than no bread, or despiseth the moonshine because the sun is down."