These five ethical principles have existed since the beginning of civilization and will remain until the end. That should give you and me some comfort! These five are the bedrock of religious tradition and any spiritual belief system. Ethics attempts to discover what IS right and what is wrong. I can't improve on them, can you?

Today is the 29th anniversary of the death of Elvis. Some people still do not believe he is dead. Some people still call him the King. I thought all of that weird thinking had faded away with passing time, but the vigil continues at Graceland.

Why would any singing idol manufacture his own death to escape his fans? He would have to give up everything, including his family, just to hide from fame. I don't think so.

Too bad he didn't get to grow old and enjoy being a grandfather. I can say that about a lot of wonderful people who leave us too soon each year. None of us know when our time is over on earth and I'm sure Elvis would have wanted to stay longer.  Like many other loved ones, Elvis is still missed. 

~~~~~Foofaraw - Excessive or flashy ornamentation or a fuss over a trifling matter. After seeing this strange word in the dictionary, I've spotted it everywhere --- in my crossword puzzles and even one of the blogs has the word in its name! My sentence: Stop foofarawing around and get busy ironing your socks, Streamers!

~~~~~Hoo-hah - A fuss or disturbance; a cortle or laugh. I always thought this was a made-up word --- aren't they all? --- but there it is, in the dictionary. It has Yiddish roots, and I thought it was interesting that foofaraw and hoo-hah both mean fussing of some kind! My sentence: The hoo-hah up the street was merely some Streamer hoo-hahing the night away by telling bawdy jokes to a crowd.

~~~~~Vitriolic - Bitterly scathing, caustic. I don't even know how to pronounce this word properly so I'm sure I've never used it before. Most likely I'll never use it again either. My sentence: A vitriolic wit will not win many Streamer friends.

~~~~~Schadenfrude - Pleasure derived from the misfortune of others. This word exists everywhere in nature because laughter springs from seeing something happen to someone else --- we laugh even if they fall down. Usually we laugh from being glad it didn't happen to us! My sentence: It was her secret schadenfrude that she could never share with the other Streamers.

~~~~~Denude - To make bare; to expose by erosion. At first I thought this was a *giggle* dirty word! But then I realized it couldn't take the place of the southern red-neck "nekked" --- nude and up to no-good --- it's more about environmental problems. Okay, here's my last sentence: The BlogStream nudists sat down on the recently denuded rocks facing the outcropping on Necked Hill.

Can you construct any better sentences? If you can read this, thank a teacher!!!

It's time to cook that Geico gecko over an open fire! Those irritating commercials of the snooty talking lizard have morphed into some delightfully hilarious vignettes about using their car insurance. I love them!

Little Richard is used to interpret the words of a low-key customer telling about her experience. It's absolutely crazy with his "mashed potatoes, gravy, and cranberry sauce! Wooooooooo!" trilling up and down using his famous "Tutti Frutti" singing technique. What a hoot!

Then, in another one, hootchy-kootchy Charo speaks for a dull guy who was in a wreck --- she's shimmying the whole time and talking rapidly in a blend of Spanish and English. She explains the event like an eruption! Her excitement spills out and all over the TV. Ooooops.

But the one featuring melodious Burt Bacharach steals my favor with his trademark singing style. Warbling about the woman's wreck --- she's almost cracking up, with a sly smile sneaking across her lips --- he finishes his song about her "getting hit in the reeeaaaaaaaaaaar!"

Commercials bore me --- these will too after awhile --- but I'm ecstatic to see something new, something different from some sharp people. They do need to mix in some newer hot idols because all the famous "interpreters" are old school. I can see great possibilities and I hope they expand this idea.

I was tottering around our closest grocery store --- in the deli area reading those gawd-forsaken labels --- and fondling the buns, when I first spotted her. She was going through the breads on the shelves next to the frosted cakes. Turning them over and looking at them --- that's me in a few years I thought --- still reading those darn ingredient labels like it means something.

 That's when it dawned on me! The lady was wearing her nightgown!!! Oh, she a had robe thingie half-tied over that and slippers, but she was in her sleeping gown. It was two in the afternoon. She looked in disarray with her hair disheveled. Now that's shopping without a plan. It reminded me of the poem about wearing red with purple when one gets old --- the poem that started the Red Hat Society. Some day I won't care how I look no matter where I am!

Later I headed back to the deli area to return something and the lady was still there looking at the rolls. No one was with her. I should have asked if she needed help, but I didn't. I should have told the store manager, but I didn't. Only hours later did I think of more possibilities than her being one of those eccentric little old ladies. Like maybe she walked out of a nursing home or has been driving around lost and thought she needed to stop at the grocery store.

Today I wonder if she made it back to her bed --- wherever that may be.