In De Pool

Summers here and the time is right for dancing in the pool!
Hunter sings too, heres some of his lyrics, " Oh baby, oh baby,
I'm swimming on my belly all the way to Funkytown!"
Happy 4rth of July to all!

Goils in Gorillaville

Three "Simpson girls" are back from Villa Gorilla on the left coast, where Jim taught us how to make sushi, took us for a ride in his WWII jeep and guided us through the San Diego Zoo. That is Helen, Wendy, Nancy, Jim and Karen sitting on a bronze hippo. Liz and Alex were taking their final exams while we were there, but they very nicely came home for a visit and a (nother) delicious dinner.

We had the greatest time! Helen graduated from elementary school - yikes! - and we joined her for Beach Blanket Bingo, went for a swim in the Pacific. Wendy was the cat's pajamas and Marg you weren't kidding when you said that's the best coffee. Mostly we laughed and told stories and fumed at our stoopid President and sat in the pool where Karen lost her earring and we spent half an hour looking for it (in scuba gear - there's a treat) and finally gave up and then it fell out of her bathing suit. It was that kind of week! Thank you Hunts, one and all, for such a treat. And has anyone else in the wider clan heard the expression "eggbeater broke" for the down and out, pouty look we all get once in a while? We had not heard the story and were very happy to be enlightened.

What is that?

Helloooooo Everyone. Safety first. That is the motto here at MDC. Unfortunately I need to practice what I preach. Hammers hitting fingers hurts, check out my right index finger. I first struck it squarely with my 20 ounce about a month and a half ago. It bruised up almost instantly. Then, yesterday the dumpster door whacked it pretty good. Look closely, the dumpster door left its mark, a nice light royal blue paint mark on the nail. Remember people, pay attention to the details and don't let your mind wander, hammers and dumpster doors can do damage.

June Gardens

Sandy, the Tinman, Cowardly Lion and I went to the Duke Estates to see the newly renovated Japanese Gardens. Some of the old trees are amazing.Doris Duke, who was filthy rich from dirty tobacco money found plenty of creative ways to spend her spondolots. She was also a great philanthropist, endowing right and left and leaving behind this unbelievable 2700 acre tract of land with gardens and greenhouses and mansions and art collections. She even brought home an entire Thai village and tried to set it up in her indoor 3 story tennis court.Anyway theres lots of educational programs there and concerts and tours.
This is some kind of maple tree that has been trained to twist all over the place. It is guarded by a Foo Dog which they used to put outside temples.
These are my sugar snap peas that have gone berserk. They are advancing on the Egyptian topped onions, we've left Duke Gardens now as you can see. We are in the messy, semi-tended Simpson gardens where the radishes are hot, tough and twisted.
Last but not least my fancy new fish tank! Look at those snappy tangs, and yellow blunts. They just keep rolling along and I never have to feed them or scrub the algae off the sides. Hope is fascinated. She knows they are not real, but shes still not sure exactly whats going on. Is it magic?

More Kids on Stairs

Sara gets to be 26 on July 1st, so, since Mary and I will be doing photo shoots in the peaceful portions of the Levant, Kuwait, AND extreme northeast Cataluña for the next several months, we had a get-together for her and her buddies yesterday. Here's a shot on the stairs with Vene, Courtney and Sarah V.

Blog Hog

all who partake of and participate in the simpson blog have been exposed over the past many months to far too many pics of my kid. but since no new posts have appeared of late i'm slipping in with yet another deuce as the rain continues to fall and fall and fall, and my roof continues to leak and leak and leak here in joysey.

a couple new thangs with elizabeth, who will soon turn 21 months young. she now distorts the truth on purpose to get a rise out of maw & paw. and she also poses when the lens turns her way.

the friends sitting with elizabeth on the step are darla, maggie, and sally, who, unfortunately, is sporting a pretty serious five o'clock shadow.

54

yo, anybody seen the kid in the middle of this photo? it was taken fifty-two years ago so he no doubt looks somewhat different, but i'll bet if you saw him down the local 7/11 you'd recognize him. it's the poor sumbitch's 54th birthday and it occurred to me early this a.m. that though he is one of the bros he has never to my knowledge been mentioned on the blog. so even though i hate the bastard for not saying goodbye to The Mother i love him because he's my brother and what else am i gonna do? he was awesome to me when i was knee high to a grasshopper: kind, patient, instructive. he always picked me to be on his team even though as the little kid i couldn't do much to propel our club to victory. winning wasn't everything. he also used to read to me. once he read The Old Man and the Sea to me; the entire story. so if you spot him gettin a cup o joe and a hard roll say hey happy birthday, john.

Happy 60th Father's Day, WB.

A Short Story of a Lesson Learned

One summer evening in the mid-fifties, the Cranford police called WB at home. Could he bring his 11-year-old son Charles down to the station? Someone had reported me for a drive-by shooting. They’d received a report that I had ridden my bike down one of those precious middle class Cranford streets toting a BB gun, had stopped in front of a brick bungalow and shot several BB’s through a very respectable citizen’s picture window. They wanted me down at the station for questioning immediately.

WB told them we’d be down as soon as possible. He found me in my room and told me what the cops had said and asked me if I’d done it. I said no. Then we drove down to the cop shop where I was grilled for a half hour by a couple of belligerent cops who were already convinced of my guilt. They told us they had an eyewitness. The more I denied the crime, the harder they leaned on me. Finally, exasperated, they turned to WB and said, “Mr. Simpson, he’s lying; we know he did it. Can you get him to tell the truth?” With that the old man stood up, looked those self-righteous bastards in the eye and said, “You guys are wrong. I asked him if he did it and said he didn’t. He’s my son and if he says he didn’t do it, then he didn’t do it. We’re going home. If you get any information that concerns us, give me a call.”

That was that. We left. I was very thankful. And, fortunately, the next day they caught the guy who did the deed--which is another story.

Now, I’ve had a lot of disagreements with my father over the years, and for most of our lives together we seldom saw eye to eye on anything. But I’ve never forgotten the night he listened to me and believed what I told him—in spite of the “evidence.” It was a lesson that has stuck with me throughout my life because it taught me to look beyond the facts, beyond conventional wisdom, beyond public opinion, and to question authority. Most importantly, it taught me the real meaning of trust. For that, I just wanted say thanks to my old man on this, his 60th Father’s Day.

To All You Fathers Out There:

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

Andover, Yale, the White House

The illiteracy level of our children are appalling.

GW Bush, President of the United States

Happy Birthday 'Simpson Family Blog'

It dawned on me today that we've been posting on the blog for almost a year now. 297 entries later and still so much to share. Here's to many more years of communication. It's a beautiful thing.

California Visit

Guess who droped in for a swim. Thanks for all the emails and visits. There is always room at Villa Gorilla for wayward easterners.

Huntie

Back on Track

Hello All.......It has been a while since my last posting and although my life has recently taken a different path I wanted you all to know that I am back on track. I have experienced and learned many valuable lessons throughout my life, but the most valuable one is......just keep pluggin!!! If you do that on a day to day basis I think you will be ok. Sorry to the lads for not making the Adirondack trip, note that I am already in training for next year's adventure. Hope everyone has a great summer. All the Best, Josh

In reference to Bill's latest post, I suggest, if you have the time, to watch a program on PBS called "The Forgetting." It follows three or four families through their experiences with Alzheimer's. Quite interesting, informative and educational. Taught me a few things.

Dub Update

I hadn't seen WB for almost a month when I stopped by yesterday with Laura and Elizabeth to pay him a visit. We found the old boy well-groomed, cheery, and extremely chatty. He rambled on quite contentedly about one thing and another, none of which made any sense to me but it all seemed to make great sense to him. He kept cracking himelf up, and, on occasion, pointed his index finger at me aggresively when, I supposed, an important point was being made.

The Dubster can see, taste, touch, smell, and hear, though this last sensory stimuli is suspect at best. I asked him in a voice loud enough to wake the dead if he'd seen Bob. "HAVE YOU SEEN BOB?" The Dub did not respond. But when I wrote the question on a piece of paper he read aloud, "Have you seen Bob?" And then he nodded and muttered something that sounded like, "Is Bob making a decent wage?"

So yes, the Dub communicates.

This Dementia is a crazy fuckin thing.

Rainy Saturday

Yesterday we had Hunter and Hope and Beezer and Fred Wright here.
What a group! Hunter and Grandpa were hard at work on the computer, counterfeiting various bills. They looked pretty good although considerably larger than a standard bill. Hope was busy eating, trying on bathing suits, and applying make-up when we were not looking. Fred and Bob laboriously discussed investment possibilities. When it stopped raining for awhile I managed to get into the garden. It grows like topsy. Wherever I put compost, tomato, squash, and cosmos plants come up. The strong ones get to stay but it makes for a crazy mixed up garden. I like it that way. The peonys are so beautiful and fragrant. When the sun comes out after all this rain June WILL be bustin out all over.

SOS

yesterday morning i found this... this... this critter attempting to drive off in my wagon. wondering: can anyone identify this waif? yikes, in just eleven years and four months she'll be a teener.

Groupie

rumors have been flying since the simpson brothers' adirondack sojourn that loose women accompanied the boys on their annual mountain trek. but despite the shit-eating grins on this mob of horny spandex-ed pigs, we did not, i repeat, we did not have sex with this woman. well, the birthday boy, who refused to partake of this portrait, did have a little fling along the banks of old lake champlain, but it amounted to nothing but a quick dip in chilly waters.

fear not, girls, your men are pure