Out of the Inkwell

I've been painting a room in my house, which I thought would be a quick and easy task. Like anything in a house built in 1864, this room presented a few challenges and I'm happy to say that after tonight I will be able to return to life as normal.

Or something like that.

While painting, though I had plenty of time for my mind to wander and it did:

• I had no idea that Brooke Shields, the professionally beautiful woman that she is, suffers from inadequate eyelashes and that is now a drug treatment to encourage the growth of eyelashes. I'm amazed. How did they develop this drug? Were there testing it on patients with, let's say, some of cancer and discovered their tumors were unaffected but their eyelashes were gorgeous?

And now the drug company is spending millions, I'd wager, on a national media campaign. And you wonder why prescription drugs are so expensive? The cost of such ads must be carried by something.

• My neighbors seem to have the squatters mentality when it comes to garbage. If I've not filled up my bin by Wednesday, they will do it for me. That's because the landlord has only one bin for a two family home. naturally, because neither family recycles anything – despite the big yellow warning sticker the garbage guys attached to the bin – they always have an over-flowing horn of plenty.

So, now I'm hiding my bin. I'm thinking of a good place. Perhaps I'll lock it away in the garage. I've done this before when another neighbor stole my bin to assist in a home remodeling job

• I love how many people have indistinctly attacked Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno over his effort to get a hot dog trailer to move from its parking spot on Worthington Street. Because Sarno's cousin in part-owner in a newly opened restaurant too many of the public believe the attempt to evict the hot dog guy is politically motivated – not so from my observations.

The subject of the vendor and his near permanent position has come up in Board of License Commission meetings well before Sarno even became mayor. Tarring him about this issue isn't right.

• When I receives a release that Gov. Deval Patrick was going to announce a new first time home buyers lending plan at 145 Florence St. on Tuesday, I sat and stared on my computer screen. "145 Florence St., " I wondered to myself. "Where's that?"

Duh! It's about a block away from my house! I just didn't expect Patrick to come to my neighborhood.

It was a tad surreal to have him there and I would have invited him over for a iced tea, but my house was very messy because of the paint job. Just as well as he had to get up to Tanglewood.

© 2009 by Gordon Michael Dobbs