Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Poor Sam was “farmisht” today.

My project of the week? Two words: MEDICARE INSURANCE ... because I’ll be 65 in a few months and eligible for Medicare for the first time in my life. Although I didn’t think I’d need to worry about this until Sam retires in 2022 — right now I’m covered by his company’s Blue Cross plan — after finding out that Sam is actually paying a lot more than we realized for dependent coverage I’ve decided to get prices for Medicare policies and see what’s what. I’m definitely on the right track with this, too, because private Medicare policies are geared to senior citizens and cover a lot more services — visiting nurses, durable medical equipment, free annual hearing and vision tests, cheapo E.R. visits, diabetes at-home testing supplies, etc. — for old coots than Sam’s Blue Cross plan at work, which is focused on a much younger patient population that wants maternity coverage, “well baby” care and rehab for sports injuries. I have some work to do.



Make a sad face for me! Adorable Burt Kwouk, the British actor who played Inspector Clouseau’s manservant Cato Fong in the Pink Panther movies, died today. Kwouk was 85.
Kwouk was born in northern England but grew up in Shanghai, China. He began his career on British television in the 1950s and over the next 60 years had parts in some of its best-known shows and several high-profile movies as well, including Goldfinger and the Pink Panther films. He’ll be remembered most, though, for his hilarious “surprise attack” karate fight scenes with Peter Sellers that always involved exploding TVs, chopped-up furniture, flying dishes and electrical fires. I’ll include a video clip from The Return of the Pink Panther (1975) below for your possible interest.





And ... once again today I received another unexpected “update” to that bottomless collection of digital backgrounds, Creative Market’s Ultimate Gold Box, which has expanded at least half a dozen times for free since I purchased the original a couple of weeks ago. Today’s complimentary update included 15 gorgeous high-resolution background images in yellow gold, rose gold, blonde gold and copper, which brings the grand total of each color to 155 ... not counting about 200 “bonus” yellow gold patterns that were included in the original package. Here are three sample images in each color from today’s update. Wow, right?
Because these are sparking a wild rush of creativity I just decided to devote some time every day for the rest of the week designing more gorgeous products for The Howdygram Store, such as greeting cards, smartphone cases, passport holders, checkbook covers, luggage tags and a couple of tote bags.

I have a million ideas and I’m so fucking excited my brain might blow up. Oy. Look out.



Hey ... I’ve got a few more TERRIFIC FREE FONTS for you tonight! “Sant Elia,” “Kermel” and “Navy Queen” include lots of different styles and weights, and the “Black and White Banners” font is loaded with essential and highly useful whatnots for creating fancy-ass graphics and greeting cards. I’ll include download links below. Keep in mind that one or two of these might make an excellent gift for Father’s Day! (Okay, maybe not.)



Poor Sam was unusually pooped, disoriented and farmisht today. For instance, during our early evening nap he got up from the sofa, turned off the TV, shuffled off to bed and didn’t realize it was only 8 p.m. I woke him about an hour later shrieking his name from the chaise in the family room, figuring he was maybe in the study playing cards on his computer. I hadn’t eaten dinner yet, I had to pish and take a bunch of meds, and I had no idea why Sam would already be in bed. His sister Marian’s unexpected death last week has left him reeling from the shock so I will try very hard not to make fun of him for a while. Remind me, okay?

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