Smiley Anders for June 14, 2012

Suzanne Lavergne says shopping’s not what it used to be:

“When I was growing up, my father was a diplomat in the Foreign Service, which required us to move to a different country about every two years.

“My mom had to go shopping and buy clothes of various sizes for me and my five brothers and sisters.

“She didn’t take us with her — she just picked out the clothes, packed them up, and we were surprised when we saw them at the next post, hoping they would fit and not look too outrageous.

“My daughter, on the other hand, was shopping with her husband at a big-box store on a recent Saturday morning and picked out some shorts for my granddaughter, Sydney, age 12.

“They then took some pictures of the choices and sent them to Sydney so she could receive them electronically and comment on them.

“She decided that the blue ones and the black ones would ‘do,’ but that she was ‘skeptical’ about the green ones, so to bring those home and she would decide on them at a later time.

“I can only imagine what my mom would have to say if we had had the option to text her and give our opinion on whether we were pleased with her choices or not!”

Yankee invasion?

Fritz McCameron takes me to task for taking some time off:

“Once again disaster strikes when you leave your post!

“LSU was to face a New York baseball team — the Stony Brook ‘Seawolves’ — in its Super Regional playoff series.

“Instead, I’m pretty sure that our lads were set upon by another New York team, the ‘Yankees’ (minus only their pinstripe uniforms) instead.

“See what happens when you’re not paying attention?”

Brick town

After a reader mentioned the Thurber bricks on North Boulevard, I got these two notes about the company:

Ted Holmes, of Monroe, says, “The Thurber bricks used for Baton Rouge streets very likely came from Thurber, Texas, a thriving coal mining town in the early 20th Century.

“During that period, Thurber’s population reached 8,000-10,000.

“By 1935 Thurber had become a ghost town, but remnants can still be seen beside Interstate 20 about 75 miles west of Fort Worth.

“Travelers may enjoy either of a couple of restaurants, and there’s a museum of industrial history operated by nearby Tarleton State University.”

And Chip Landry adds, “From 1888 to the 1930s, Thurber, Texas, was a town completely owned by the Texas and Pacific Coal Co., later to become the Texas and Pacific Oil Co.

“At its height, it was the largest town between Fort Worth and El Paso.

“Thurber had the best equipped brickworks west of the Mississippi River.

“I have a brick made by Thurber from North Boulevard.”

Sorry, Dad

If you can’t get your dad the boat he wants for Father’s Day, would he settle for a book?

I’ll be signing my new book, “Smiley! A Laughing Matter” at Main Street Market from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday.

It’s also available at Cottonwood Books on Perkins Road.

Looking for people

A surgery waiting-room volunteer is needed at Baton Rouge General Bluebonnet from 4:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. Thursdays. Call Laura at [phone].

Thank-you notes

B.B., of Greenwell Springs, thanks the John James Audubon Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution “for giving out small American flags at the Memorial Day concert on the State Capitol steps. It added to the celebration.”

Special People Dept.

• Jimmy and Jewell Varnado celebrate 67 years of marriage Thursday. (Jimmy says, “We will be dining at McDonald’s and will split a Big Mac. We’re the last of the big spenders.”)
• Rufus and Violet Reynolds Price celebrate their 65th anniversary Thursday. He’s a World War II Navy veteran.
• Gene and Rachael LeBlanc, of Sunshine, celebrate their 60th anniversary Thursday. (They met at LSU, and all 11 of their children are LSU grads.)

Call for accuracy

Marsha R. is unhappy:

“The front page of The Advocate Saturday morning said ‘2 p.m. showers.’

“It actually began to rain in Broadmoor at 2:03 p.m.

“This is the sort of loose speculation and inaccuracy so characteristic of the media nowadays.

“Please try to rain in this type of precision forecasting in the future.

“Yes, I know it’s ‘rein.’ ”

He’s been listening …

Linda Marchand says, “I had my 6-year-old grandson in the car with me when I went to St. Joseph Academy to pick up my older granddaughters.

“As I was rounding the carpool circle he saw the statue of the Blessed Mother.

“He asked me, ‘GiGi, is that Mary?’

“I replied, ‘Yes, it sure is.’ “He responded, ‘Is that Bloody Mary?’

“I nearly hit the car in front of me.”

Write Smiley at [e-mail]. He can also be reached by fax at [phone] or mail at P.O. Box 588, Baton Rouge, LA 70821.