THE HAT VISITS CHICAGO

Here come de train! We left from Barrington Station.

Spencer and I enjoying the ride.

Vikki and Judy try sharing The Hat.

Heather was the first one in my Hat Album. She still wears Cosmo  well.  I think Cosmo likes her.

Cosmo gives Heather a face hug.

Spencer takes hat-wearing seriously.

I think Cosmo is telling him something.

The view out a tinted window.

Coming into the train station.

On Thursday, November 11, 2010, Cosmo took a ride with Judy and me to Chicago, to visit out daughter Vikki, and out grandchildren Heather and Spencer.  We wanted to meet our Faeebook friend Ashleigh Wolfgang, also known as Kanye East, and also Herberto Dutra, Vikki's significant other. We also planned to meet Facebook friend Cesar Smatters, AKA Cesar Salad.  All of this we did, in due time.  Other goal was to take a train ride to the city and spend some time downtown, something we hadn't done in quite a while.  And I hadn't even seen Vikki's new house, although Judy had.

We decided to take a water taxi, a really cool way to travel.

For some inexplicable reason, this building was turned sideways.

A close-up of the Chicago Tribune Building, one of the city's most impressive.

The Trib is incredibly detailed, with delicate lacework in stone.

It also has stones from famous structures around the world embedded in its facade.

Street level Chicago.

Outside the world-famous Billy Goat Tavern.

A Chicago policeman tries  Cosmo on.  It was that or arrest him.

Cruisin' down the river.  The Chicago River, actually.

The view out Vikki's back sliding door.  She has a beautiful yard, but it was too dark and rainy to show up here.

My friend Ashleigh Wolfgang dropped by for a visit.

Ash and Cosmo made friends right away.

Cesar at the bowling alley where he works, and where Heather worked until fairly recently.

Cesar is a fantastic guitar player.

Vikki's house, late afternoon.  Flowers were still blooming here and there.

Herberto "Herb" Dutra.  He's from Brazil, is an engineer, and speaks several languages. He also plays guitar. Cosmo liked him.

The Chicago trip was fun. We went up on Thursday and came back Sunday morning. It was warm when we got there, but grew progressively colder. Cosmo had a fine old time!

COSMO GOES TO CHURCH

When she brought The Hat back from Florida recently, Kim Quisenberry said she had seen a big change in Cosmo after his visit to Holyland, and that she thought he might have converted to Christianity. And of course, everyone else was thinking, COSMO?  It seemed a little far-fetched, to say the least.  Not that we were doubting Kim.  If anyone could do it, she could.

Still, we were a bit surprised when he expressed an interest in attending church. Yet that is exactly what he did. On November 7, 2010, The Hat attended Sunday morning services at Owensboro Christian Church.  And he behaved himself, sitting quietly through the entire service, even the preaching. Afterward, he wanted the meet the pastor, Rick Grover.

It took Rick a moment to get accustomed to Cosmo, but soon they were friends.

Cosmo even told Pastor Rick a joke. What kind, we don't know.

Then it was on to meet Sherry Williams, who heads up the Early Childhood Ministry at OCC.

Then on to Jimmy Maldonado's 50th Birthday party in the Community Room. There was food galore, and Cosmo put away his share.

Jimmy M, the birthday boy. Everyone loves Jimmy, a good-natured guy who is always there to lend a helping hand. Cosmo thought he was great!

Carmel, Jimmy's wife, does a lot for the church, and she's also an excellent cook, who specializes in authentic Italian fare.  Cosmo found her pumpkin cheesecake delightful.

Cosmo says hello to Dee Ward, Carmel's sister, and the wife of Barry Ward.

The Hat found a friend in Artie Marx, who cooks for many church events, and does many other things for OCC. Artie, a transplanted New Yorker, is a devoted Yankee fan.  Cosmo seems to have put Artie to sleep.

Carol Marx, Artie's beautiful and long-suffering wife, charms Cosmo.

It was, all in all, a pleasant day for The Hat.  He seems to have reformed somewhat, and he IS a church-goer now, but how long that will last is anyone's guess!

KIM TAKES THE HAT BACK TO FLORIDA

Kim Quisenberry took her son Tristen to Disney World, Holy Land, and Daytona Beach in Florida. They took along The Hat, his third trip to the Sunshine State this year!  Cosmo, of course, enjoyed the whole thing immensely, and mostly stayed out of trouble under Kim's watchful eye, but he did arrange to get hammered a time or two.  What else are you gonna do in Margaritaville?  He also managed a few high jinks in Holy Land, which almost got Kim tossed out, but she may have been able to convert him. We'll have to see about that one!

Tristen looks good in The Hat.  Goofy just looks...goofy.

And as time wore on, he got a little goofier. Tristen takes it in stride.  Cosmo is eyeing the waitress.

Look folks!  Mini-Mickey, wearing The Hat!

                                             And now the fun begins.  On to Holy Land.....

Come on in. And by the way, do you like the hat?

 

The sheep is saying "Baa!"  Or is it "Bah!"  The monkey is jealous.

Cosmo wants to be healed. He is being told to "Go and sin no more!"

On the beach at Dayton, snoozing in the sun...

Taking a walk on the beach.

Wastin' Away in Margaritaville...

"Yes, child, that is a camel.  Wearing a hat.  No, I don't know what it means."

"Nice and warm out here. Watching the bikinis go by..."

It's a tough job but somebody's got to do it.

Hey dude, you're blocking my view!

It's been a long day. And it's time to sleep off a hangover...

The Ten Commandments in a hat?  Kim quickly grabs Cosmo and slips away as the authorities close in.

AND MORE TO COME!  STAY TUNED!

BABY HATT GROWS UP

As almost everyone knows, Cosmo got into a spot of trouble on his first trip to Florida.  He met a beautiful and fatally seductive hussy who referred to herself only as Lady Hat.

As you can see, the attraction was instantaneous.  Little is known about Lady Hat, except her habit of frequenting a certain bar, Dock Hoppers.  Some say her name is Belle, some say Bella, and a few have referred to her as Angelina. 

Nobody really knows what lady Hat's real name is, and that seems to be the way she wants it.

She is a hat of mystery, intrigue, and most of all, sex appeal.

So it wasn't that much of a surprise to most of us when Baby Hatt came along.

 It came as a shock to Cosmo, however, and at first he tried to deny the little hat was his offspring.  But the resemblance was undeniable.  Baby looked just like her father.  Cosmo made some noise about hat support, but so far Tina has yet to see any.  Oh, yes, Lady Hat abandoned her child, leaving Tina Wright to raise her, and as Tina was to learn, raising a hat is no picnic.

Hats grow up fast, and before you knew it, Baby was a teenager.

 Yes, and already getting in trouble, stealing the keys to her foster mother's Harley and taking young criminals like Bear Thugg for wild joy-rides.  Tina tried to control her, but a person has to sleep sometime.

Baby was always out clubbing with her friend Barbie, drinking and dancing and finally wrecking Barbie's car.

You couldn't tell that fiesty young hat anything!  She fell in with a bad crowd.  Tina warned her she was going to wind up in jail, but did Baby listen? 

Of course not! Look at this motley crew! Isn't that Gene Simmons in the background?

 Just one problem.  There was an undercover cop in that bunch of misfits!  And he turned them all in!  Baby was sure Tina would bail her out, but it was time to teach the girl a lesson!

Ah, the shame of it all.  Baby can barely hold her hat up.

But she's out now, after a night in the slammer. Tina went her bail, and Baby promised to do a lot better in the future.  We'll see...

                                                   AND NOW, A WORD FROM COSMO

As some of you may know, my discoverer, Lowell W. Eaton, has published a novel.

I highly recommend it.  In fact, I'm on the back cover of the book, highly recommending it. I'll bet Amazon doesn't know Cosmo Hatt is a hat!  hahaha  Anyway, Lowell has started a blog about the novel. You can view it at mothernovel.blogspot.com As always, thank you for your support!

THE HAT HAS PIZZA, AND GETS MAIL

For the second time, Judy and I got together with some Facebook friends at PizzARoma on Frederica Street for pizza, conversation, and some photos of people wearing Cosmo. Misty Lashbrook was there with her son Brandon, and so was Kim Quisenberry, all of whom we'd been out with before. But we'd never met, in person, Tina Davis Everett and her husband Jeff.  Kim had never worn The Hat, and it was high time she did!  And, of course, Tina and Jeff hadn't either.

Jeff continues the tradition of a hat on top of a hat, started by Uncle Buck, and also strikes an unusual pose some said came from a movie involving Mini-Me, which I wouldn't know about, having never seen it. I just thought he was a little strange.

Kim looks good in The Hat.  She also looks good without a hat.

Tina flashes a big smile, wearing The Hat as though it were made for her. Jeff looks on.

Jeff seems underwhelmed by the whole thing.

Kim has a nice smile. The Hat is two for two on getting pretty women to smile.

Tina puts on her glasses for that librarian look.

 

 

It was a fun outing.  The food was good, and Jeff turned out to be witty and a lot of fun.  We knew we would enjoy being with Misty, Brandon, and Kim, and knew from Facebook that Tina was smart and very funny at times. Jeff was sort of a pleasant surprise. 

THE HAT GETS MAIL

OK. Since when does a hat get mail?  Even The Hat!  It was startling, to say the least.

Inside the envelope was a card. Snoopy on a tractor, wearing...The Hat!!

And this was the message. It was signed, A Secret Admirer.

We had several suspects, but none of them panned out.  When we got right down to it, we didn't have a clue who Secret Admirer was.

After weeks, a second card came.  The hat on this card is glued on, and made of what appears to be denim.

Note the hat colored on the dog on the stamp!  Is this cool or what?

Once again, the guessing game.  This time we were certain we knew who Secret Admirer was.  She was  artistic, and had all the right skills.  But she denied it.  Vehemently.  So we're back to Square One.  Secret Admirer is a mystery, and we don't have a clue who it might be. What we do know is that sending the card was a cool, humorous, and very nice gesture.  We appreciated it.  So did Cosmo!!

IN OTHER NEWS

Cosmo came back from his sojourn in Wisconsin, and so far is keeping unusually mum about what he did there.  There are, to date, no pictures, or evidence of any kind.  We hope he didn't get in trouble but, knowing Cosmo, we wouldn't put it past him.

And now The Hat is going back to Florida--for the third time!  He is going to Disney World with Kim and her son.  We hope to hear from him soon.