Setting sights on Carnival/Mardi Gras

Who says Roman Catholics aren't more fun than a barrel of monkeys? In all of the centuries that have celebrated Carnival, no Pope has ever condemned the practice.  Morality my ass.

My own Mardi Gras bead collection; I ain't sayin' how I got 'em, either. Yes, that is a rosary there in the middle, and it's French. From Lourdes, specifically.

I understand that the right Roman nation of Italy is actually getting a jump on Shrove Tuesday by starting Carnival as of this upcoming Saturday. Yup, Italians know how to party.  However, so do Brazilians.  Just sayin'.  It's a good time to quote the Irish priest who gave me my Guinness baptism to become an honorary Irishman (as it were): "It's not a sin if you take no pleasure in it".  A tip of the tam to Padre Dave. (Yes, I know that a tam is Scottish--now bugger off)

Oh yeah, that's right--we all get a break from Lent celebrating the Irish on March 17th. It's a good thing to be Irish, even if only honorarily.  Any excuse to celebrate is a good one.

I now raise a glass to toast all the ladies out there who defy domestication.  Louisiana sets them apart with a term of honor: Ya-yas.

88 quotes from "The Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood"

...and us radiofolk understand the significance of the number 88.  Just like 73 = Best Regards per the numeric radiogram messages dating back to when radio was nothing more than dots and dashes, the number 88 = Love and Kisses.

There's that Louisiana coffee---"Noir comme le diable, chaud comme l'enfer, pur comme un ange, doux comme l'amour".

---

Nah. Celebratory mood is dampened here without further word about George's situation in the hospital. Out of a bazillion reg'lar guys out there, there are a few awesome amazing ones and George is certainly one of those few.  All his friends are on pins and needles at this point, including the other gals who appreciate George for the amazing awesome impressive guy he is. I've totally lost track of how many languages he speaks, and I know that Morse Code is one of 'em.  What I find most amazing of all is that he's culturally and politically a conservative and we agree on absolutely nothing in that department, and yet he saw something in me (and I still don't know what) despite all of that.  Wow.

Don't SK on us, OM.   
CQ CQ CQ W2GSS DE KC7LJG K
73s & 88s DE KC7LJG.

TUESDAY UPDATE: Still no word as to George's current medical status, not even from one of his cousins who are also on Facebook, and this is worrysome indeed. Situations like this brings to mind one's own mortality even among those old enough to remember that experience when one's parents passed away years earlier.  It's things like this that lead me to believe that somethings are important to say while one is still among the living even though one's younger self would have simply gotten over stuff and moved on.  If someone matters to you, say so.  You might not get another chance to set the record straight

Jeff speaks for all of us. The procedure wasn't "routine".