Craving Chocolate, World Peace and a Silly Man

Silk

2009-09-18T10:59:00.003-05:00

There are not that many epic movies made these days. Most movies take place over a very short period of time, this one spans decades.
It is a story of a man who pretty much goes passively through life until he feels driven to take highly questionable action with dire consequences.

And now for something completely different

2009-07-13T09:16:00.003-05:00

unless, of course, you live in my world ;)

The lighting on the talking inserts is horrible, all the speakers look SO much better than they appear, but the dancing is fine.

Michael Jackson

2009-06-27T20:53:00.006-05:00

My friend Meredith posted this on her Facebook page and I couldn't not post it.

I remember see The Jackson 5 on TV at a friend's house when I was kid and being mesmerized by Michael. Later watching the Motown 25th show with my brothers I was blown away by his performance.

Inspirational Ironing ;-)

2008-12-27T08:55:00.001-06:00

Thanks Sewing Divas

I kind of like the bathrobe...

LOL!

2008-11-22T20:05:00.001-06:00

From Laurie's blog

2008-11-04T00:53:00.001-06:00

34.5 miles per gallon
From Laurie's Blog. Thanks!

Created by The Car Connection

Due out Oct. 3rd

2008-10-01T18:54:00.002-05:00

How to Lose Friends and Alienate People.

I saw it last night. It was a bit dumb and dorky in the beginning but it soon got us laughing. It was actually quite a funny movie and I recommend it. The main character reminded me of someone, not sure that's a good thing, depends how they turn out I suppose. Anyway good film, go see it or Netflix it.

"I voted for Coolidge..."

2008-09-25T02:21:00.004-05:00

That is what my dad always said when we asked him who he had voted for president. Of course my dad was not alive to vote for Coolidge, but that never stopped him.

Right now I am pretty unhappy with the candidates of both major parties, so I too have decided to go back in time and do a little sing along with Graham Nash.
For you younguns ;-) the song refers to the Chicago Democratic national Convention in 1968, but you know it doesn't matter, could be Denver, could be St. Paul.
We had tear gas and riots in St. Paul during the RNC this month, it was nothing compared to Chicago but it is still hard to gets one's mind around it.

Chicago
Graham Nash

So your brother's bound and gagged
And they chained him to a chair,
Won't you please come to Chicago
Just to sing.
In a land that's known as freedom,
How can such a thing be fair?
Won't you please come to Chicago
For the help that we can bring.

We can change the World.
Rearrange the World.
It's dying
to get better.

Politicians sit yourselves down,
There's nothing for you here.
Won't you please come to Chicago
For a ride.
Don't ask Jack to help you
Cause he'll turn the other ear.
Won't you please come to Chicago
Or else join the other side.

We can change / yes we can change the World.
Rearrange / rearrange the World.
It's dying / do you believe in justice?
It's dying / and if you believe in freedom.
It's dying / Let a man live his own life.
It's dying / Rules and regulations who needs them?
Open up the door.

Somehow people must be free,
I hope the day comes soon.
Won't you please come to Chicago,
To show you face.
From the bottom of the ocean
To the mountains of the Moon.
Won't you please come to Chicago
No one else can take your place.

We can change / yes we can change the World.
Rearrange / rearrange the World.
It's dying / If you believe in justice.
It's dying / and if you believe in freedom.
It's dying / Let a man live his own life.
It's dying / Rules and regulations, who needs them?
Open up the door.

I want one of these

2008-09-08T14:14:00.000-05:00

Zpen.

That is all...

It was a hip and happening day here in the Twin Cities...

2008-09-01T23:48:00.004-05:00

Things I missed:

1) Picnic in my local park with Ron Paul! Jesse Ventura was supposedly there too. There were about 50 people there plus free food too!
If I wasn't so tired from the state fair I would have caught it on my walk, they were less than a minutes walk from my place, oh well. My brother dropped by and took some pictures. They were handing out tickets to Ron Paul's thing tomorrow but my brother didn't get one for me.

2) The peace march on the RNC convention which started out peacefully, a small group of 10,000. However, after the initial march, a riot broke out. So far no one I know was arrested.

3) The last day at the state fair and the final fire works.

Things I did:

1) Had a power outage thanks again to the 22 month old who lives below me who has this thing about flipping switches in the laundry room. Practiced restraint when encountering child, her siblings and mom.

2) Went to barbecue south of the city, over shooting the exit by 10 miles ;-) because I was listening to Al Stewart's new CD. While there watched Gustave related coverage a very large satellite TV.

3) Saw a bit of the Misses McCain and Bush give little speeches, and was amazed to see that their faces above their upper lip had limited mobility when they spoke. I remember someone trying to teach me to smile for photos once where you just smiled from the upper lip down so you don't scrunch up your eyes, and wondered if that is what they were doing.

4) Was shown a pair of Z-coil shoes someone bought at the state fair which looked straight out of Toontown. They offered to let me try them on, but I declined. Supposedly they are really comfortable, but they look dangerous to me. I would probably get them caught on something. Here is the video. They even sell them in Texas and LA!

5) Saw lots of police on all the bridges on the way back, would have taken pictures but they seemed a bit stressed. They had big wagons with lots of room.

6) Spent time making my computer happy again from being turned off suddenly while in the midst of a few programs and downloads. Reset my tv, appliances...

I will post about the fair in a few days.

Hmm roast chicken...

2008-08-24T14:51:00.001-05:00

with cranberry sauce!

I almost feel well. It must be feed a fever...

I wonder how long it will last ;-)

Small rant on eco bags...

2008-08-24T13:08:00.004-05:00

I am getting overwhelmed with eco bags. Everywhere I go someone gives me one. I hate those weird ones that are a cross between paper and cloth, they do not hold up. They are not water proof, they are ugly and feel gross.

I am also not thrilled with the dirty looks I get from people carrying those bags when I get a paper bag from my local market. I live in fairly liberal neighborhood. Usually I walk to the store but today I am ill. Not the usual, I ate something I am allergic to or food poisoning ill. Today I am running a fever that seems to come in waves and is wiping me out. I am also not sleeping still, again, whatever...

I am not hungry, actually I don't care much about anything. My thoughts processes are a bit off. I even unintentionally insulted Al Stewart, my favorite singer songwriter, last night who graciously thanked me afterwards for my "charity." I also perhaps gave a back handed compliment to Steve Forbert, though he really was cute in this video, really, but I could have said it better. Al didn't deserve it. I am told Steve is a very nice guy and he liked the old youtube I found:-)

Anyway, so I drive to the store. drive! wasted gas! I even took the long back route because the state fair traffic has the usual route all backed up. Our state economy is tanking but the fair is more crowded than it has been in years, go figure... Usually, I have my two Ikea bags in the car, the big blue one and the small one that holds 2 gallons of water. They are cute, easy to fold, strong, lightweight, durable, water proof and you can throw them over your shoulder or hold onto the shorter straps. The Apple store back pack bags are almost as cool. However, I forget to unload them from the library and office depot the other day and put them back in the car. In fact, they are currently sitting over there fully loaded, looking cute which I type this.

At the store, I pick up chicken, cranberries, eggs, bananas and an individual Lindt hazelnut chocolate truffle-just your standard I-feel-horrible-fare when you don't have the energy or cash to get or make anything elaborate. I get to the counter to pay, trying hard not to cough or breathe on anyone. When the clerk asks if want a bag and what kind, I say "paper" and the man behind me holding up his his eco blue bag, that shows hard wear, gives me a dirty look! Of course those bags always look pre-destressed anyway, and as I said they don't wear well in comparsion to canvas and decent stitching.

I definitely reuse brown paper bags. They go to the co-op if they are in good condition. I also use them to sort, or put paper recycling in until they rip. Then I use the remaining paper for patterns or book covers. I used to wrap packages in them like my grandmother, but the post office doesn't like that anymore.

Long before the eco bag craze and really cool Ikea blue bags, I was using canvas bags from trade shows, I always have. I am into bags, I store much of my textile collection in these cool bags from sewing trade shows.

Its not that I am against bringing your own bag! I just don't think it gives people the right to look down on others just because they have an eco bag. I wish places would stop pushing them on me, they are everywhere. Next week, when I am well enough to go to the fair, I am going to count how many of those bags I am offered, I am betting at least 5. Maybe I will refashion the ones I have into something else, though I am not sure what they would be good for? Eco bag purse anyone?

From Ma'am to Miss in under 4 hours

2008-08-23T13:06:00.003-05:00

A few weeks ago, I was over at our local art museum because I am working on a blouse and I just had to see a Chinese robe there for some reason. I knew I needed to be there later in the day but I was driving by anyway so I stopped in.

I was wearing sandals, cropped jeans which displayed my henna lotus tattoo around my left ankle quite nicely, a blue sleeveless shirt, my blue sun jacket and my hair up in a twist. After seeing the robe, and visiting my favorite pieces, I wandered over to see where the event was to be set up. A couple cute catering guys came over and explained what was going to be there and as I was leaving they said "see you later, Ma'am." I noticed it mainly because around here its unusually to be called anything, esp. by 20 somethings working in the museum.

So I went home, took a shower, washed my hair, the usual stuff. Put on a blue floral Liberty lawn skirt , a light moss colored silk sweater, my favorite necklace, a lighter pair of sandals and went back to the museum in a few hours. Went to the annual meeting, said "hi" to everyone, and ran into the caterer guys again. This time they called me "miss" and didn't seem to remember speaking to me earlier. I looked around me, I wasn't the youngest person in the room, but many of the people there could have been my parents or grand parents, but that didn't seem to account for it. I wasn't wearing make up in either occasion, nor I wasn't wearing form fitting clothes.

I saw a lot of these two guys because they kept bring me plates of stuff I liked and could eat. I had so much shrimp, polenta, buffalo cheese bacon wrapped figs and I don't know what else, I didn't want dinner or anything until breakfast. They also had this non alcoholic pear cider, which was actually de-alcoholized. Ikea has it, and I really like it. Its so much better than the usual stuff at parties. I was pretty thrilled food and drink wise because for years, decades even, I have been requesting that they have non-alcoholic drinks that are not just club soda or fizzy water and food that is dairy free and gluten free! I wrote the museum a nice note after wards, of course :-)

I started really thinking about the clothes I was wearing and started experimenting. After a couple weeks, I concluded it was the jeans. Most of the women around here who wear jeans like that are my age or older, or at least look older. Younger women around who wear cropped jeans pants wear skin tight pairs. I don't particularly like cropped pants in general but they were what I could find when I needed something, cost about $7 on sale and met the needs that I had at the time. They are great for working in the garden and food coop.

This has begun a general experiment with clothes period. I like experimenting, and I also practice things a lot. The route I walk everyday through my neighborhood is great for experimenting since you run into a a wide variety of people. The past couple weeks I have been testing reactions to t-shirt colors. Now when I walk you can't see more than 12 x 18 inches of the t-shirt since I wear a sun jacket open on top which is blue, kind of like this one only longer parka length and no gathered bottom. I tried the following colored t-shirts, all of which are in my colors and look nice on me, salmon, moss green, various blues, red and a nice brown. Nothing else in the outfit was different. Oh I also wear a hat outside , pretty much always, this ha t which I attach various scarves to sometimes, this time I wore it unadorned.

I made no approach to people other than to briefly look at them the same way I always do. I found that if I wore the blue t-shirts, medium to lighter blue, people would say hi to me, other colors they might nod or smile but not the same reaction. Also if I knew them and I was wearing the blue shirts, they would stop and chat, otherwise they didn't. I remember reading years ago that variations on sky blue and light lemon yellow were friendly colors, but I never tested it out before.

I am going to put on the Ma'am pants and go volunteer at the coop now, it will make me appear more stern to the kids, and stop the younger guys hitting on me, except of course the "I like older women" ones, what is it with those guys anyway?

Ha! Cotton Incorporated "The touch the feel of cotton, the fabric of our lives" basically says they are for the mature market!

On a Stick...

2008-08-21T15:41:00.002-05:00

Its MN state fair time and once again there is new food to be had!
The fair is referred to as the great Minnesota Get Together, but really its all about food.

My sewing guild/textile/artist friends will ask what I saw at the 4-H, creative activity center and senior center then we will discuss various entries of people we know. However most people, when you say you were at the fair, will ask "what did you eat?"

There are 261 places to buy food at the fair. Most people get mini donuts, a pronto pup, fried cheese curds and Martha's chocolate chip cookies as well as other assorted fast and diner food. I always get the same food: pink cotton candy, strawberry crepes, key lime pie on a stick, $1 mini shrimp cup, pickle on a stick and sometimes apples with caramel sauce or a lemon aid. If my parents are with me I also have corn on the cob. I always taste nitro ice cream and chocolate soy milk. Even if I go to the fair for several days I only get one of each of the above, except I occasionally get 2 cotton candies. I only get it freshly spun and from one particular vendor.
I doubt I will vary from that, but if I do, I will let you know. I have a coupon book this year so its possible, but not probable ;-)

People here like food "on a stick." One of the newest is Big Fat Bacon 1/3 lb slice of bacon fried and caramelized with maple syrup, served on a stick with dipping sauces.

The following is available for purchase this year at the fair "on a stick":

Popcorn, caramel corn, cheese corn, cotton candy, snow cones, gourmet roasted nuts, hand dipped caramel apples on-a-stick with gourmet toppings to include nuts, candies, marshmallows

Batter dipped, deep fried candy bars on-a-stick (Snickers, Milky Way, Three Musketeers, Reeses Peanut Butter Cups)

Shrimp (breaded, grilled, cocktail) on-a-stick

Chocolate covered cheesecake on-a-stick (vanilla, key lime)

Cajun seasoned alligator sausage on-a-stick

Deep fried Spudsters on-a-stick

Batter dipped deep fried fruit in a variety of the following combinations served on-a-stick: grapes, honeydew melon, cantaloupe, strawberry, pineapple, apple, banana, kiwi, peaches, cherries, pears

Oriental lemon chicken on-a-stick

Scones on-a-stick (caramel, chocolate, marshmallow)

Blackened Cajun steak-on-a-stick

Big Fat Bacon 1/3 lb slice of bacon fried and caramelized with maple syrup, served on a stick with dipping sauces

Lamb (burgers, gyros, wraps, leg of lamb (marinated on-a-stick)

Fresh dipped (6", 12", 1/3 lb 12" Dogzilla) corn dog on-a-stick

Grilled shrimp on-a-stick with butter garlic seasonings

Frozen key lime pie dipped in chocolate on-a-stick

Cotton candy on-a-stick, in a bag

Grilled pork chops on-a-stick

Nut rolls made on site (peanut, pecan, cashew) may be dipped in chocolate and served on-a-stick

Fudge puppies (a Belgium waffle on-a-stick dipped in swiss chocolate) topped with choices of (whipped topping, crunch coating, strawberries)

Steak on-a-stick

Caramel apples on-a-stick

Foot long pizza on-a-stick

Grilled pork chop on-a-stick

Jerk pork chop on-a-stick

Whole dill pickle on-a-stick

Ice cream on-a-stick

On-a-stick cookies and biscotti

Walleye on a Stick

Scotch Eggs on-a-stick (hard boiled egg, wrapped in sausage, rolled in bread crumbs and deep fried)

Scotch Meatball on-a-stick

Butterscotch cake (cream filled and dipped in butterscotch) on-a-stick

Cheesecake on-a-stick (regular or fresh) (dipped in chocolate, cherry or butterscotch coatings)

Frozen bananas on-a-stick dipped in chocolate and rolled in nuts,

Strawberries on-a-stick dipped in chocolate

Puff Daddy on-a-stick

Thai One On sausage on-a-stick,

Pork chops on-a-stick

Chicken breast on-a-stick

Fried Swiss cheese on-a-stick

Fried jalapeno pepper cheese on-a-stick

Watermelon, frozen grapes on-a-stick

Pineapple, oranges, cherries on-a-stick,

Spaghetti and meatballs on-a-stick

Deep fried smores on-a-stick (marshmallow, chocolate, graham cracker batter)

Tater tot hot dish on-a-stick with cream of mushroom dipping sauce

Pronto Pup on-a-stick (6" flour battered, deep fried hot dog)

Pappa Pup on-a-stick (10" flour battered, deep fried hot dog)

Hot dog wrap (hot dog in a wrap deep fried) on-a-stick,

Bull Bites (blackened tenderloin tips with horseradish sauce), chicken bites, macaroni and cheese on-a-stick

Special Tator tots (hash browns formed with cheddar cheese, bacon, green onion, sour cream) deep fried on-a-stick

Chocolate covered cheesecake on-a-stick

Salmon on-a-stick

Porcupine meatballs on-a-stick (wild rice and ground pork),

Rueben on-a-stick

Green battered corn dogs with green ketchup

Corned beef and cabbage dipped in batter on-a-stick,

Cotton candy on-a-stick, in a bag

Taffy pop on-a-stick

Costco!

2008-07-19T13:11:00.005-05:00

Today, bright and early I joined my friend Lisa and her mom for a shopping trip at Costco. It was really fun! I am sure for many of you, a big box store is nothing, but for me its still awe inspiring and amazing. Every time I go I see things I haven't seen before.

As a shopper, Costco has very good prices on a few things that are hard for me to find but not consistently. Sometimes their prices as high or higher than the sales at the local upscale super market. As a marketer, I enjoy how they change item locations and reroute traffic flow. As a walker, its like a big indoor walking adventure complete with obstacle course. During my trip today I walked 1.55 miles!

Since the price of food around here has been jumping quicker and higher than the price of gasoline, and I have been talking with some friends about food budgeting, I decided to put my list in a cute little moleskin notebook someone gave me. I have had it a while and never used it because I prefer these. I carry 1-2 of the them with me most times, one is for experiences and things I want to record for some reason and the other for clothing, textile and/or design related things.

Anyway, on one side of the pages I had my list and recorded the prices next to it as I put them in the cart, on the opposite page I wrote down things I might like later such as a new rechargeable sonicare tooth brush for $99.00 with 2 bases, 3 heads and a quad timer and a big rival crockpot for $35.00. I was disappointed that they didn't have kiwi's, Muir Glen tomatoes, frozen french cut green beans and Ocean Spray cranberry sauce, however today, the tastes today balanced it out!

Usually unless they are sampling fruit with no sauce, plain meat/fish or dark chocolate, everything seems to have wheat, dairy or sweet bell peppers in it. Amazingly, I was able to try THREE things: gluten free breaded chicken pieces, blue corn chips with hummus and goat cheddar. They all tasted very good too, and I almost bought the goat cheddar but I didn't as it wasn't on my list. I spent about $33 on chicken broth, lemon juice, orange juice, wipes and frozen organic broccoli.

Usually a gallon of lemon juice would go a very long way but recently I have had a series of unexpected visitors (ie. friends, their kids, my brothers...) My solution is has evolved to taking them out to the balcony and serve them lemon aid to which they can add fresh cinnamon basil. My balcony is 6 x 12 and fits 4 adults, 2 kids quite comfortably. In the past week or so, it has happened so much I have started keeping sugar syrup in the frig for just such occasions. I made a batch of stew a few days ago, so I have been offering that too. Now I could offer steamed broccoli with a choice of dressings I made the other day, LOL!

2008-07-12T11:49:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I attended Macy's Free 2 Days of Music that kicks off the start of Sommerfest at Orchestra Hall. It used to be 24 hrs of music, but this year the schedule stopped at 1am, and started up again at 9am. I went down there at about 3pm, listened to some music and wandered around. I spent about an hour walking around downtown and stopping in stores from a world I no longer live in, and wondered if I wanted to live there again. That would be another posted I guess.

I went back to watch the junior e-pianio competition awards. It's a very interesting competition.
"participants will have the opportunity to perform on Yamaha CFIIIS concert grand pianos. What is unique about these instruments is that they are equipped with state-of-the-art Disklavier Pro recording technology. This system, which was pioneered by Yamaha, is the fusion of the acoustic piano and computer electronics and allows all solo rounds of the competition to be downloaded via MIDI to be enjoyed anywhere in the world. "

The above is true but really doesn't explain it that well. The piano's are kind of like recording player pianos, that record key and peddle pressure, what ever the player does to the paino. Then the judges can play it back on a piano where they are. This explains it better.

During the awards ceremony the contestants sat on the stage and watched as a visual showed them playing a piece in the competition and a piano on stage played it out! These kids were amazingly good players, perhaps better than some of the adult ones I have heard in the past.

The judging was a bit strange, there was 1 fifth place winner, 2 third place ones and 2 first place ones. The first place ones then played a concerto each with the Minnesota Orchestra.

We were planning to listen to some more bands after the Orchestra performance but when we got outside again we found that a storm had come through, knocked down a bunch of tents, damaged the 3 outdoor stages, and it was very wet. They were supposed to be back up for this morning but everything outside last night got cancelled after the storm.

This is a picture by TOMruen on weather underground:

Caption:

View from third Ave bridge in Minneapolis just before the storm front hit. A pretty sky - darkest straight above, and rain in the west was a soft glow with the promise of the returning sun when it passed. (And the end of our 73F dewpoint I hope!)

One of my favorite bits from "Elephant Parts"

2008-06-21T15:52:00.002-05:00

written by a Texan no less.

Manatees!

2008-06-19T11:52:00.005-05:00

Florida Governor Charlie Crist recently signed SB 1286, which will help fund the manatee rescue and rehabilitation program, University of Florida Marine Mammal Veterinary program, and retention of 66 law enforcement positions for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).

This means:

FWC biologists and oceanaria staff will continue to rescue injured or sick manatees.
Manatees will receive treatment and critical care at rehabilitation centers throughout Florida.
Government agencies, the University of Florida, and the oceanaria will work to gather and examine findings from injured and sick manatees to help prevent future threats to the manatee population and better protect Florida's aquatic environment.
Safety for manatees and boaters alike will be increased.

If any of you would like to join me and other Manatee Activists in thanking the legislators and Governor Crist please click here.

"God willing and the Creek don't rise"*

2008-06-15T14:00:00.008-05:00

Of course, its been almost 200 yrs since General Andrew Jackson completely crushed the last uprising so I don't think that is likely.

Around here we have had a lot of rain and the river is rising. I took some pictures of the Mississippi down near the St Anthony Falls last night. Please note perfect sky in pictures.

Back in 1993, I drove from St. Paul, MN through Iowa on my way to Springfield, IL and St. Louis, MO. There was so much water on either sides of the road I could have been pulling a water skier most of the way. The first day I had to take a several hundred mile detour and ended up across the state making an unplanned over night stay with a relative. The next day there was lots of water but I was able to take I-80 straight through. I didn't see anymore flooding until I got to St. Louis where everything around the arch was seriously underwater. I drove back via Chicago and WI.

I couldn't make that trip this week though, not only is Iowa seriously flooded, parts of Wisconsin are too. In the Dells, Lake Delton is just gone! 30 counties in Wisconsin are being declared a state of emergency. I think Iowa has about 90. Its bad all over the midwest, Minnesota is the least hit so far. We have just been getting tornadoes.

Here is some hail damage I saw last week outside the library:
The hail has been very localized, some streets get it and others don't. Every weekend for a while now we have had bad storms, a couple weeks ago I saw a wall cloud start to rotate, someone posted this picture of it on weather underground. I was too busy heading for the basement to take a picture.

Last night, after being down at the river where the sky was looking just fine, on the way home a few blocks from my house it started to rain out of nowhere. The wind started picking up as I was getting dropped off, and suddenly this chair comes flying by as I just make it inside. Lightening starts up, so I turn on the tv. There were warnings about 30 miles west of us, but nothing for us, then the sirens go off, all the sirens!

Where I live I can heard about 4 different sirens, so you can usually tell which way the storm is going based on which you hear. The tv still had nothing, then finally they interrupt programming with a severe thunderstorm warning with high winds. I suspect the wind gusts set the sirens off. I haven't seen any damage so far. My power flickered but stayed on, about 10 miles west of here 56,000 houses lost power. I bet they have trees down there too.

*quote is by Benjamin Hawkins

Smokey and "U"

2008-06-14T11:43:00.002-05:00

A friend's new "whatever" sent this and I thought it was so funny, I am posting it.

Ring of Fire

2008-06-14T00:33:00.007-05:00

So tonight I saw my first tribute band I think, Boss Grant and the Johnny Cash Revue at a biker bar called Whiskey Junction. My friend's husband got us tickets, it was suppose to start at 9:30, it was more like 10:30.
We were invited to sit down in a reserved area by a nice group from the Cold Spring Brewery.
The president of the company, a big Johnny Cash fan, brought a coach load of folks down from wherever Cold Spring, Mn is to hear the band. He also sang with the band on the Ring of Fire. I did a voice message of it and sent it off to the usual suspects, I don't know how to put audio here though. There were a few very bouncy people dancing, but most people stood or sat and listened. There were men in cowboy boots and women with big hair. The warm up band was all 70's stuff.

It was great fun! I tasted my drink for the year, a hard lemonade mainly because I liked the t-shirts that brewery people were wearing, black with something about liking it cold and hard on them. It tasted like lemons and alcohol. yuck! Last year I tasted Vodka ;-) I guess I get to be belligerent for a while now ;-)
Other than people like Beatlemania, I was unaware of tribute bands until Jack told me about them a few years ago. I think I should hear a few more.

On Memorial Day, I was at another biker bar, Bunker's which was much more crowded, wild, with real stylin' men. It was a very mixed crowd, the Whiskey Junction crowd was all white, middle aged, mainly guys. Bunker's had everything, everyone and packed to the gills! We listened to a set of Dr Mambo's Combo the music there really got you moving, click the link and you can hear them a bit. During the set we saw they did some Prince followed by some Morris Day and the Time stuff which was really nice, including Morris Day/Jerome stylized dancing. More my style of music but really loud and really, really crowded. We went over because one of my girlfriends got stood up again, and I was curious. She danced with a human octopus, and we got to meet "Big Sexy Michael" for whom I did some web work a few months back. We left after one set, as it was long after midnight.

This has nothing to do with anything, just of my two favorite drummers ;-)

On that beat, I am heading to bed, night all!

Public Health release for the day, LOL!

2008-06-05T10:23:00.004-05:00

"Health officials warn of disease risk from handling baby chicks and ducklings
Seven Salmonella cases identified from March through May

State health officials have identified seven cases of salmonellosis in recent months that are associated with handling chicks or ducklings, prompting them to remind Minnesotans to wash hands thoroughly after handling baby poultry. Read the entire news release.

For more information, contact:

Doug Schultz
MDH Communications
651-201-4993

Dr. Joni Scheftel
State Public Health Veterinarian
651-201-5107"

#####

They also makes some recommendations such as don't let poultry live inside your home. So all you people out there incubating chicks in your kitchen....

How I see things for free...

2008-05-20T17:27:00.004-05:00

I am on some lists, the ones I know of are "the arts committee", a couple ad agencies' opinion maker screening , the landmark theaters film club, and supposedly the Black Film Arts board. Some I know how I got, most I don't. I also get tickets from other groups who got invites, like the MISfits who run CONvergence. I signed up for the landmark theater list and the director of the Black film arts board told me at a function that she was putting me on their list. I also signed up recently with Film Metro in hopes of getting Sex in the City or Indiana Jones tickets but none have been near here, mainly available on the coast and a few in Chicago.
From these lists I get invites to movies, theater, premiers, art openings and concerts. Some include food that I usually can't eat. The Sundance/Grey Goose premier party had great food though! The drinks were supposedly quite good as well.

This is how the movie thing goes. Sometimes I get pretty postcards that are invites with lots of warning. Most of the time I get 1-3 emails from different sources that ask me if I want to go, want to enter a "drawing" to go, or plead with me to go. Each source offers me two tickets and various restrictions-no cell phones, camera pda and/or children.
The real cool ones are dog and pony shows complete with a Q&A with the director and sometimes an actor or two. I think the director of Evening was quite interesting as was Wim Wenders, and I like his clothes too! Most of the time I get a day or two notice that I might be going.

For example, last night I got an invite from two sources for a movie on males using steroids, so possible 4 tickets for weds at some Landmark theater around Mpls. Since I was dealing with an ill sibling who was being impossible not to mention my lack of interest in the angst of adolescents and steroids, I didn't reply . If I had wanted to go, I would have responded to one invite, or two if one was a lottery/drawing. Its really bad form to not show up if its a direct invite, esp if you have rsvp-ed, so once I respond unless something like the bridge falling down happens, I go. So I may or may not have gotten tickets, you usually find out the night before.

Movies are usually on Tue, Weds or Thurs and often at the Lagoon Theater in Uptown at 7pm. Since they often give out more tickets than there are seats, it pays to swing by the theater early. Also to be on the look out for bling. At "the wackling" they gave out fairly nice t-shirts. These screenings are organized (or not) by either an ad agency or some group connected with the film. I saw "death at a funeral" twice the first time it ran smoothly, the second time it was an insane mess, they forgot the list, then they found it but couldn't read it, finally it was a free for all. Normally, these are fairly civilized events, but anything can happen.

Some places I won't go if the screening turns out to be there because of the security. I can't handle being without my cell phone, or being padded down. This usually happens at French films, but sheesh.... Do they really think that a coordinated effort of film goers such as myself will copy a movie from their cell phones. I could maybe get 7 mins and not very good quality. I would think that most bootleggers are doing directly off a film print from the studio or something.

Anyway if any un-usual suspects want to go with me to these things, just let me know. often I just get one extra ticket. Its a quick answer, hurry and wait deal, similar to triage at the ER sometimes, but thats another story.

Spring

2008-05-17T20:02:00.001-05:00

Its that strange time of year here in Minnesota. The week between winter and summer when you can sleep with your windows open without freezing or overheating. A time to reacquaint yourself with seasonal allergies and the sounds of your neighborhood at night. Since I am trying a new light/sleep experiment I have been sleeping with a fan in the window which lets some light in. I also have a room Vornado which I use in the summer to move the ac around. Both fans have thermostats so I am used to hearing them changing speeds while I sleep.

This morning I awoke to what I thought were sounds of WWII aircraft, but I dismissed it and took a shower. Was putting my sunscreen on and heard more sounds of low flying old aircraft. Normally this weekend I expect to hear steam engines as they move them north for the summer excursions not low flying old planes. I looked out from my balcony and I swear I saw a B25 go by.

I was still mulling this over and making breakfast when a friend called to asked if I wanted to meet up as they would be in my neighborhood on the way back from the MN Sesquicentennial Weekend flyover of 26 vintage airplanes at the state capital! I might wander down there tomorrow evening to catch the music and fireworks. Of course, we have fireworks almost all summer long here, but that is another blog post...

Before the Rains

2008-05-08T22:17:00.003-05:00

Tonight I went to an advance screening of "Before the Rains. "
I had 4 free tickets but none of the usual suspects was free to go, so I went alone. I am kind of glad I did. It is a very beautiful powerful and emotional movie, I sat still for almost of it, there was one scene where I closed my eyes for a bit, but the sound still made an indelible image on my mind.

Its an Ivory Merchant production so I knew it would be incredibly beautiful and well told. There is just nothing like one of their films. Unfortunately, Ismail Merchant died a few years ago while working on the film White Countess and I was worried that was the end, but the company is still involved in making films which is great!

The movie is sent in the amazingly lush Kerala, India during 1937, 10 yrs before the British left. Its about the interactions between an English tea farmer and the local villagers at the beginning of the Indian movement that lead to the partition and India gaining independence from the British.
For me, the movie was about people being caught between beliefs, cultures and change and not understanding the difference one white lie can make.

It opens today in New York and LA.

For you Texans it is a Houston WorldFest Winner!
3 Awards!
Best Picture
Best Cinematography- Santosh Sivan
Best Music- Mark Kilian

Cats and Engineers

2008-05-06T10:56:00.002-05:00

If you haven't seen this one, its funny:

Thanks Josh Brown

Virtual Me!

2008-05-01T09:47:00.004-05:00

Yesterday I was reading Second Cherry and she had pictures of "her" from My Virtual Modelwhich has gotten infinitely better than it was the last time I tried it. I was able to get the model to look like my body. It helps a lot seeing how different proportions and colors look. So I played with it a bit and found a dress I kind of like, though maybe not in this color. I didn't put on shoes or accessorize it, but you can do that too!

You can even turn virtual me around. You can add your face to the model but I haven't tried that yet. Also you can see what you would look like at a different weight which I think is quite a nice thing in itself. They have a young and a mature version and even male ones.
I thought this would be great for cross dressers but unfortunately a male body can not try on female clothes. One of my friends tried that last night, and another seemed disappointed not to see him in a dress, oh well.

All the young dudes...

2008-04-29T23:17:00.004-05:00

I just got back from a preview of the new movie "Wackness" dues to hit theaters in July thanks to Sony Pictures Classics and Landmark Theatres. They also gave us a tasteful brown tshirt.

This is what the preview invite said about it:
"It's the summer of 1994, and the streets of New York are pulsing with hip-hop and
wafting with the sweet aroma of marijuana--but change is in the air. The newly inaugurated mayor, Rudy Giuliani, is beginning to implement his anti-fun initiatives against "crimes" like noisy portable radios, graffiti and public drunkenness. Set against this backdrop, Luke Shapiro (Josh Peck) spends his last summer before college selling dope throughout New York City, trading it with his shrink (Ben Kingsley) for therapy, while crushing on his step-daughter (Olivia Thirlby). Famke Janssen, Mary Kate Olsen, and Method Man round out the cast in this edgy, bittersweet, and funny coming of age story. Rated R."

It also said "Absolutely no kids admitted to this screening! Enjoy!"

It was an interesting movie and the above doesn't go near to describing the movie. I mean what can you say about a movie that has fly girls dancing in the subway in the beginning and ends with Bowie's "All the Young Dudes."
I say see it, its got lots of music, lots of stuff happening, great performances, and Mary Kate Olsen is amazing. There were some great scenes. Its not the 1994 I remember but then I was older, living in Minnesota working with refugees at a place where we were trained how to respond to bomb threats, but that's another post... About the no kids, I think I agree, and no impressionable young adults either.
During the credits, I was singing along of course, and when the music died off, I was surprised to hear others singing too ;-)

All the young dudes
Carry the news
Boogaloo dudes
Carry the news....

"A case of driving while weird"

2008-04-13T09:23:00.003-05:00

Soap, Drugs, & Rock and Roll

For those of you, who are not new age or aging hippies, Dr. Bonner's is a basic all purpose counter culture castile soap found in health food stories and occasional super markets. I first ran into it at Antioch where some people used it for literally everything, just as Dr. Bonner intended.

The original Dr. Bonner was more than a little unusual. He had a strange life, and was institutionalized a few times. Having foreseen the Holocaust, he pleaded with his parents to leave Germany but his words fell on deaf ears. The last contact was in the form of a postcard saying, "You were right. —Your loving father." That would be very hard on anyone.
The labels on the soap were/are chocked full of uses, quotes as well as religious ramblings.

Its a great soap. The company is small, family run and makes the soap by hand. As far as I know they still do no advertising. In a somewhat amusing interview with his son, its clear that some people take his "Moral ABC of All-One-God-Faith" quite seriously.

Dr. Bonner's goal in life was world peace and there is certainly nothing wrong with that.

Not for a certain silly someone

2008-04-13T09:07:00.005-05:00

because he hates musicals, like he hates museums... often it seems that if I love it, or even like it a little, he hates it, but anyway...

This almost what what we used to call guerrilla theater.

borrowed from From a Cluttered Desk.
Thanks Tammy

Digital TV!!!

2008-04-12T21:04:00.002-05:00

Today, I got my two $40 TV converter box coupons. One of my brothers got his as well.
After we researched a bit on the phone and on line. I decided to be the guinea pig and buy the cheapest, coupon accepted, converter available locally. There were supposed 2 at Walmart for $49.95, a Magnavox one and an RCA. When we got there only the RCA DTA800 was in available. So for $13 something after coupon, so I got it.

Some background:
I live in a stucco building, and the tv reception is what one might imagine from living in a chicken wire cage. I have a power rabbit ears that are huge and worked somewhat okay, until they fell off one too many times and now only 1 channel comes in with any consistency, the others are definitely full of ghosts. I had considered buying cable of local channels for $8 plus tax per month, and who knows how much installation, but as I really mainly watch PBS and a few other shows occasionally.

So I get home, open the box, can't get the remote to control my tv or vcr, but it controls my dvd player without my doing anything. So I decide to skip the universal remote thing, and just use the on screen programming to capture the channels. I had no idea how many channels here are digital but I knew PBS had at least 5 that were HD. Amazingly, every channel but one is digital, there are 19 channels (3 are dups) and 7 PBS channels!!!

The reception is great! I can see every seam in Sex in the City! ;-)

Draw backs:
The sound is not consistent from channel to channel, my tv's sound AI doesn't not seem to work so well with it. Occasionally a picture may break down into pixels for a moment or so.

Overall I am thrilled!!!

I don't like death

2008-04-08T00:27:00.004-05:00

I really don't.

It feels so strange to lose people who are full of life and love when so many people just let it pass them by.

September-Bernadette
November-my mom's cousin
March-Anna's Barry
Tonight-Mary's Randy

Early this winter a friend told us his wife had terminal lung cancer, and was expected to maybe last through spring. It was shocking and sad, it still is very sad but there is a kind of acceptance and she is planning/preparing for life without her. As far as I know she is still alive, though no one answers the phone this past week.

A friend's mom died last week too. Sad, but not unexpected.

At 12:03 am I saw this

2008-04-07T00:21:00.004-05:00

PSA on network TV directed at kids and their parents about the pandemic flu. It was followed by a PSA for kids about Arbor Day!

Several times when I have asked public health representatives why they aren't doing more to inform the general public about the pandemic, I have been told that they are concerned that people will panic.

I guess they think going through the kids will keep the adults calm?

I saw this PSA first late one night on public television, this is the first time I have seen it on network. Now how many children and parents of young children are up this late on a Sunday night/ Monday morning?

This PSA is referred to as "Questions" there is another one I have yet to see called "Know"

What Muppet are you?

2008-04-06T21:28:00.000-05:00

What Muppet are you?

You are Kermit the Frog.You are reliable, responsible and caring. And you have a habit of waving your arms about maniacally.FAVORITE EXPRESSIONS:"Hi ho!" "Yaaay!" and "Sheesh!" FAVORITE MOVIE:"How Green Was My Mother" LAST BOOK READ:"Surfin' the Webfoot: A Frog's Guide to the Internet" HOBBIES:Sitting in the swamp playing banjo. QUOTE:"Hmm, my banjo is wet."
Take this quiz!

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Maybe my luck is changing!

2008-04-04T14:31:00.004-06:00

A couple of days ago I went to fill the car with gas for the first time since the beginning of March. The price was $3.12 but the fuel light was going on when I drove up hill so I figured it was time to bite the bullet and buy gas.

Now in the past whenever I have gotten gas the price falls by at least a few cents the next day, but this time it went from $3.12 to $3.29 the next day! Is that cool or what?

Marathon!

2008-04-02T12:52:00.004-06:00

I decided to start training for a walking marathon, although I may only go to 1/2 marathon stage, it will depend on what happens employment wise.

Prevention magazine has a calendar for it here.
I set it up as my Firefox home page so everyday I will see what I am supposed to do that day.
It seems best to start on a Monday.

I am starting slow like a beginner even though I walk quite a bit. For my cross training I am doing my Pilates reformer and belly dance. I think I will only take one day for rest and the other one for cross training.

If anyone wants to join me, let me know and I can set something up. Just knowing other people are doing it too would be nice, even if its not public.

Cool Things!

2008-04-01T19:45:00.006-06:00

In no particular order

1) IngenuiTEA
"The most convenient teapot you will find anywhere - we guarantee it. When tea is ready, simply place it atop your cup. This will cause a valve at the bottom to release: crystal-clear tea flows down, while the mesh filter retains all the leaves with one of the best infusers on the market. Super easy to clean and dishwasher safe. And it's microwaveable - perfect for the office or the road. You will wonder how you got along without one."

2) Ikea Omsgorg shoe horn
Its a 24 inch long snake shoe horn. I use it daily. Mine is white with red markings and cost 99 cents! I am getting one for my parents and some friends.

3) Glad SimplyCooking Microwave Steaming Bags
You can cook very interesting egg dishes in it, frozen and fresh veggies and fish! I rinse them and reuse when using them for veggies. I am taking a bag of these traveling.

4) Reynolds Handi-Vac and Freezer bags
Its a lot of fun! I use it so much the batteries are running down. After I vaccuum packaged 5 pounds of over-ripe Kiwis, it cleaned up really nicely.

5) Yaktrax
"Yaktrax are the newest and most user friendly ice traction device for your shoes on the market today. The unique and patented design will give you the same solid, predictable grip you are accustomed to feeling on dry surfaces."

6) Bananas ;)

for hangovers

Use a banana to fix a cd or dvd?

So tomorrow Lisa and I will be trying

2008-03-25T21:56:00.005-06:00

"Meld yoga, meditation, and movement technique as you learn to connect to your goddess through belly dance. This six week course is an amazing way to connect with the indwelling feminine spirit in a friendly and fun atmosphere.

Women of all shapes and sizes should feel beautiful and sensual, and healthy and happy above all else."

Tomorrow is Introduction to Oriental Dance, with Inari

Inari (稲荷, Inari^? also Oinari) is the Japanese kami of fertility , rice , agriculture , foxes , industry , and worldly success.

It should be interesting.

Historic Al Stewart

2008-03-25T19:38:00.002-06:00

I was lamenting to a Toronto friend that I couldn't be there and see Al this week so they sent me this clip:

This has got to be at least 30 yrs old. Al still sounds this good. I have the t-shirt Al is wearing only in red ;)
If that is Peter White playing the keyboards, not the piano, he looks SO young, almost too young!
Can anyone identify the other people playing?

Barry and the glass alternative

2008-03-21T18:21:00.003-06:00

So much of what I knew of Barry through our conversations over the years was neatly summed by Anna on a ASML post:

barry had a third alternative to the glass being either half empty or
half full:

"is anybody drinking this?"

Goodbye Bear

2008-03-17T19:05:00.007-06:00

My friend Anna's partner, Barry, died from a stroke this past week at age 44. A friend of theirs put this slide tape thing together:

So I kept saying I got a rash when I went to the dentist

2008-03-13T22:23:00.005-06:00

but no one believed me for quite a while...

but after a few months of fun that included but not limited to:
dehydration
hives
ER
shock
bacteria
toxins
spores
more antibiotics
no belly dancing :-(
pro-biotics
bananas
and zinc
it turned out I was correct. The rash was connected to my dental visits as were all the rest. It took a while for it all to get connected, and I kept thinking ok this is it, like the hives, its over but it wasn't.

What I learned:

Clindamycin is not a good dental pre-med, and is notorious for this particular bacteria.
There is a high relapse rate.
Too many dental appointments close together are not wise esp. if you take pre-meds.
Bananas are your friend. Fresh, powdered, or dehydrated are best. Chips don't work as well.
ER's in the middle of the day are not as good as going on a holiday, weekend or wee hours.
Sometimes its worth leaving an ER even if your hives are continuing to spread down your nerve pathways.
Bathroom mirrors make nice dry erase boards.
Zofran is amazing and wonderful (and I still have some!)
Benadryl keeps the hives from swelling as much.
I no longer need pre-meds.

A couple weeks ago, I won a major Susan vs bacteria battle and felt reasonably well enough to attend the parties at a sci fi fantasy convention. I had a blast! I was there until about 1:30am the first night and left reluctantly at 4:30am Sunday on the second.
I saw the usual suspects, had tea, watched belly dancing, partied with some defenders of an allied nation and got to try on the coolest headgear ever! I will post more about this later.

Tuesday, I woke up with a sore throat. Lucky me, 2 days of health and I get the flu. Due to the above, my medication options were limited. I had been reading about Elderberry extract and its use in the prospective pandemic, so I tried that.
For the first few days, I took Elderberry & Zinc lozenges (10 per day) and rode out the fever. Then I switched to Elderberry capsules (3/day) for a day, and then a combo of both. They actually seemed to work, the really bad flu stuff lasted about 3 days, I was still getting pretty wiped out for another few days but no fever. 3 days ago I walked over 12000 steps and survived fine. Its now been 9 days, I still am getting a bit more tired earlier in the evening but otherwise feeling quite healthy.

Today I discovered that Ikea has cute little stuff guinea pigs! They are even machine washable and only $3.99. Is that cool or what?

What spice are you?

2008-02-26T22:36:00.001-06:00

You Are Basil

You are quite popular and loved by most people.

You have a mild temperament, but your style is definitely distinctive.

You are sweet, attractive, and you often smell good.

What Spice Are You?

I haven't really fallen off the face of the earth

2008-02-10T18:18:00.000-06:00

I have just been under the weather. I could say I am getting better, but the last time I said that I got worse so I won't.

On the plus side, during the last couple weeks I took over the ownership(?)of the Al Stewart Mailing List. Everyone from the old server has been transfered and things seem to be going smoothly. Posts are arriving in order and in a timely manner but best thing about it is that discussion is up. All we need now is a pun thread and maybe a Monty Python skit, lol! Al is doing a new ALbum so the ASML being running full steam ahead will be great!

I have been listening/watching the Grammy Awards. Lots of good music.
It was very cool to see Morris Day and the original Time (Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis) complete with mirror. Prince won a Grammy!
Josh Groban and Andrea Bocelli singing the prayer together was a bit disconcerting but actually quite good. I love Bocelli's voice.

Spam-My apologies

2008-01-02T12:59:00.000-06:00

I seem to have inadvertently spammed my entire gmail account this morning with stumbled on.

It wasn't intentional. Sorry.

2007-12-31T01:44:00.000-06:00

Technorati Profile

Yeah! I have completed the move

2007-12-31T01:28:00.001-06:00

from asillyman.blog-city.com to here. Just a few posts to clean up tomorrow and I should be all set when the old blog disappears tomorrow. In the next few weeks I will be looking at making some changes and adding some links to this one.

"Babe"

2007-12-07T12:27:00.001-06:00

About the only genre of fiction I consistently read is murder mysteries, and mainly those by women authors that don't involve cats. They are my bedtime reading and I usually drag a book around to read if I have to wait somewhere. I just finished "Lean Mean Thirteen" by Janet Evanovich and I can't wait for her next one! This series (Stephanie Plum) makes me seriously laugh out loud!!!

After this book I doubt I will look at stuffed animals (taxidermy) without smiling and wondering ever again. I highly recommend this series, but its best start with "One for the Money" and read them in order otherwise you won't understand "Babe" in quite the same way. I get them from my local library.

I have been fairly busy these past weeks, haven't even had time to start watching the set of Due South episodes I got over a week ago from Netflix. Haven't even caught up on my email! So much to do! I will do it, I will, I will...

Nerd quiz! and some CON

2007-12-02T21:40:00.000-06:00

From this time forward, you'll hold the title:
Uber Cool Nerd God

Carry it proudly!

Quick Fun Facts:

198115 unique people have taken this test.

Based on these unique user's answers...

44.8% of test takers are gals,
53.1% are guys,
...the rest (2.1%) are confused.

17.1% of test takers get aroused by "iPhone," while
40.6% get utterly ill.

34.6% of all test takers would choose the Internet over sex, and
28.3% of married test takers prefer the Internet over sex.

Only 3.6% of test takers own a Jar Jar Binks t-shirt, though
56.0% of them don't own a lightsaber (priorities == messed up).

Borrowed from Sir Brian!

I am always surprised at how much sci fi stuff I do know, despite not thinking I am interested in it. When I saw the Star Trek Experience in Vegas I was amazed at how many of the costumes I recognized.
At CONvergence, I have twice won sci fi video bingo at the Dystopia party. Of course, I don't compete for myself, I compete for an absentee and perhaps that helps. I send the winnings to said absentee. The first time I won a dystopia glow in the dark beer mug, this past July I won a whole mess of things including T-shirts, Chinese propaganda posters, postcards... I kept one t-shirt and a few duplicate posters. I also entered a Canadian trivia contest and won a Canadian comic book, an "I love Canada" temporary tattoo and a yo yo with a maple leaf on it, I sent those to the same absentee, along with other freebies and winnings (including a bamboo steamer!). I did carefully remove any candy that might melt during shipment ;-)
At soon as I find my camera again, I will try to get some pictures from CON up. Its lots of fun!
Of course, I only go because I can watch belly dancing until the wee hours, lol. One of the best things this year was getting a massage ($5 to humane society) WHILE watching belly dancing! The cow asylum party was pretty darn good too! It was still going strong when I left about 3:30am.

So I am finally getting the hang of having weekends

2007-11-30T20:30:00.000-06:00

and I made PLANS!

So what happens? We get weather.

To explain:
Until recently for the past 12 yrs I worked at least one day, if not two each weekend. I learned never to plan anything for weekend days. It taken some time to get used to the idea of having totally free weekends, at least for now.

It should be interesting on the highways near me because they made extra lanes for the former 35W traffic out of the shoulders, so there will be no place to push the snow.

I am going to try to do some of my plans tomorrow, calling first to make sure its still happening and keeping an ear/eye to the weather. I hope the ice part of the storm misses us. Since we are in a warning they could shut down the highways so I will try to taken city streets.

I have all wheel drive, ABS, good tires, food, extra clothes and my cell phone.

tombclock.

2007-11-30T00:36:00.001-06:00

Your Personal Day of Death is...

Thursday, September 19, 2058

http://www.tombclock.com/

I ran a friend through it and even though they are younger and not as overweight, their clock was 2022. It scared the hell out of me!

I did an actuary quiz for life insurance a awhile back and the results were similar even though it was a 6 page quiz.
If I got thinner and exercised more, I would gain 6 yrs years. At age 98, I am not sure I would want an addition 6 yrs.

I am no longer a prime number

2007-11-26T00:09:00.001-06:00

Did you know that in 1789 by United States President George Washington named November 26 as Thanksgiving Day?

I was born on Thanksgiving on November 26!

The other day a certain sm and I were discussing how often my birthday falls on Thanksgiving, I thought every 9 yrs. or maybe swing between 5 and 9 but I was wrong!

November 26 falls on Thursday in 1998, 2009, 2015, 2020, 2026, 2037, 2043
so 2049, next? nope. I am too sleepy to follow it through. If anyone knows a nifty algorithm, please post it.

Meanwhile I am having a birthday ginger biscuit and then off to bed!

The lovers, the dreamers and me...

2007-11-21T22:34:00.000-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

RAINBOW CONNECTION
Kermit the Frog
(Paul Williams and Kenneth Ascher)

Why are there so many
Songs about rainbows
And what's on the other side
Rainbow's are visions
They're only illusions
And rainbows have nothing to hide
So we've been told and some chose to
Believe it
But I know they're wrong wait and see

Someday we'll find it
The Rainbow Connection
The lovers, the dreamers and me

Who said that every wish
Would be heard and answered
When wished on the morning star
Somebody thought of that
And someone believed it
And look what it's done so far
What's so amazing
That keeps us star gazing
What do we think we might see

Someday we'll find it
That Rainbow Connection
The lovers the dreamers and me

Have you been half asleep
And have you heard voices
I've heard them calling my name
Are these the sweet sounds that called
The young sailors
I think they're one and the same
I've heard it too many times to ignore it
There's something that I'm supposed to be

Someday we'll find it
The Rainbow Connection
The lovers, the dreamers and me

and I was shooting for

2007-11-16T21:30:00.000-06:00

a 6th grade reading level

oh well, I will have to do better.

stolen from Laurie who stole it from Lorna, LOL!

Way cool

2007-11-12T00:15:00.000-06:00

Cowboys herding cats

2007-11-10T22:35:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite Wodehouse quotes

2007-11-06T02:03:00.001-06:00

People who enjoyed a merely superficial acquaintance with my nephew Archibald (said Mr. Mulliner) were accustomed to set him down as just an ordinary pinheaded young man. It was only when they came to know him better that they discovered their mistake. Then they realized that his pinheadedness, so far from being ordinary, was exceptional. Even at the Drones Club, where the average of intellect is not high, it was often said of Archibald that, had his brain been constructed of silk, he would have been hard put to it to find sufficient material to make a canary a pair of cami-knickers.- P. G. Wodehouse, "The Reverent Wooing of Archibald"

Makes me laugh every time I think of a canary wearing cami-knickers (tap pants)

Ha! I totally guessed on the Q word.

2007-11-05T10:43:00.000-06:00

Your Vocabulary Score: A

Congratulations on your multifarious vocabulary!

You must be quite an erudite person.

How's Your Vocabulary?

I may not be able to spell, but I know the words on this quiz, lol!

Masquerade Ball

2007-11-03T22:44:00.000-06:00

I just got home from the Masquerade Ball.
It was great fun. I wore my Miss Marple costume from Halloween with a mask on a stick. It seemed to go over well even though everyone else seemed to be sci fi something.
I actually made several masks but when they were done I found I couldn't handle wearing them on my face. I also tried painting on my mask with makeup and glitter, but washed that off as well. It seems anything that touches my skin recently causes a rash or something. The mask on a stick seemed like the only reasonable solution.

There were some great costumes. The lighting was a bit too low for my cell camera, but I might be getting some pictures from someone else, if his turned out. I hope he got a picture of the guy who came as the goblin king from Labyrinth, he was amazing and won 2nd place (I think) in the costume contest. One guy had a Yoda back pack,that I really liked. There was con type food, punch and a cash bar. I picked up a bag o' blood for someone.

I watched a bit of a movie with Jack Nickleson, James Spader, and Michelle Pfeiffer in it, about a guy who turns into an animal and kills women in central park. There was a bathroom scene that should have been scary but only made me laugh after viewing this video on male bathroom etiquette that Jack sent.

Do not

2007-10-27T00:59:00.001-05:00

blithely toss a fringed silk velvet burn out scarf into your washing machine even if its HE with a gentle cycle unless you like untangling a 1 1/2 yards of wet 8 inch fringe into the wee hours. The scarf part came out great, the fringe is a nightmare.

It makes me appreciate the times my mother detangled my hair after I left it braided for several weeks at summer camp. I washed it every day after swimming but didn't bother to unbraid it, seemed like a great idea at the time.

I've had better ideas...

uncertain

2007-10-25T11:35:00.001-05:00

A friend just called to tell me about a great garage sale. Amazing clothes, sewing/embroidery notions, books, etc... Normally I would run over and check it out, however when she gave me the location I realize it is Bernadette's house, and its her estate sale.

I am not sure I can go over there. She had great things so I know I would like it. I don't have any of her work and I would like to have something of hers to remember her by. I haven't been by the house or seen her family since she died.

I suppose I should head over, I can just drive by if its too much. I called another friend of ours and maybe we can go together... I hate this! but most of all I hate that she is dead.

Who ya gonna call?

2007-10-24T13:15:00.000-05:00

It is Gumby with a grumpy face?
an over done gingerbread man?
no its T Buster
(name and link has been shortened to protect the innocent)

(with apologies to Ray Parker Jr.)
If there's somethin' strange in your neighborhood
Who ya gonna call (Tbusters)
If it's somethin' weird an it won't look good
Who ya gonna call (Tbusters)

I ain't afraid a no T
I ain't afraid a no T
If you're seein' things runnin' thru your head
Who can you call (Tbusters)
An' invisible man sleepin' in your bed
Oh who ya gonna call (Tbusters)
I ain't afraid a no T
I ain't afraid a no T
Who ya gonna call (Tbusters)
If you're all alone pick up the phone
An call (Tbusters)

Your tax dollars at work here, folks...

I am eating a chocolate chip cookie

2007-10-20T23:30:00.001-05:00

This is something most people take for granted in their lives, the ability to eat whatever treat they want. This cookie is a Mac the Chip http://www.alternativebaking.com/productinfo.cfm?pid=9&CFID=3877&CFTOKEN=71987114
with no wheat, oil, dairy, peanuts or eggs. Actually tastes pretty good.

What tasted even better was a cherry almond rice crispie treat that I had last week.

Gas Prices ;-)

2007-10-19T23:29:00.001-05:00

I forgot to post that I bought gas yesterday at $2.89/gal. Today its $2.75/gal, typical

Another propaganda poster

2007-10-14T22:57:00.001-05:00

For those who don't know I studied propaganda academically and was briefly enrolled in a phd program but as some would say "life had other plans."
My main area of interest is British World War I propaganda, and Chinese Communist Propaganda. The British because it was what everyone steals from and the Chinese health stuff because it was so effective.
One of my favorite places to hang out in terms of propaganda is the Imperial War Museum in London which is located in what once was the central part Bethlem Royal Hospital (1815-1930) for lunatics and is where the term Bedlam comes from.
While grabbing the link for the museum I notice they are currently having an exhibit I would LOVE to see called Weapons of Mass Communication.
Incidentally the King George poster on the above page link is the original that Germany and the US ripped off for their own propaganda campaigns.

2007-10-14T09:41:00.000-05:00

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Dedicated Reader You are always trying to find the time to get back to your book. You are convinced that the world would be a much better place if only everyone read more.
Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm
Literate Good Citizen
Book Snob
Fad Reader
Non-Reader
What Kind of Reader Are You? Create Your Own Quiz

I can't get the red lines to appear on the graft but basically, I scored like this:
Obsessive/complusive bookworm over 2/3
Literate Good Citizen a bit under 2/3
Book Snob 1/2
Fad Reader barely there maybe 1/20
Non-reader- I wasn't at all
Grabbed from Geoff's blog

2007-10-13T23:55:00.000-05:00

In light of the expected influenza pandemic, MSRA, TB and how often I see people not washing their hands, I thought I'd post a few public health propaganda posters.

presenting Mayda!

2007-10-05T16:57:00.001-05:00

If y'all, as my grandma would say, want to check out what I have been working on, here is it:

www.myspace.com/maydamiller

Look quick because its gonna change soon ;-) with new background picture and colors

Bernadette R.I.P.

2007-10-05T12:35:00.001-05:00

Bright Eyes

Is it a kind of dream,
Floating out on the tide,
Following the river of death downstream?
Oh, is it a dream?

There's a fog along the horizon,
A strange glow in the sky,
And nobody seems to know where you go,
And what does it mean?
Oh, is it a dream?

Bright eyes,
Burning like fire.
Bright eyes,
How can you close and fail?
How can the light that burned so brightly
Suddenly burn so pale?
Bright eyes.

Is it a kind of shadow,
Reaching into the night,
Wandering over the hills unseen,
Or is it a dream?

There's a high wind in the trees,
A cold sound in the air,
And nobody ever knows when you go,
And where do you start,
Oh, into the dark.

Bright eyes,
burning like fire.
Bright eyes,
how can you close and fail?
How can the light that burned so brightly
Suddenly burn so pale?
Bright eyes.

Bright eyes,
burning like fire.
Bright eyes,
how can you close and fail?
How can the light that burned so brightly
Suddenly burn so pale?
Bright eyes. -Simon and Garfunkel

Bernadette died from what I understand were complications from chemotherapy. She lost the gamble that chemotherapy can prolong one's life, in her case it may have shortened it. She lived 4 months from her diagnosis.

Another friend and I were going to stop by her house a few days before she died. We called first, I realize from the sound of her husband's voice that it was very bad. She was still in the hospital which was not so unusual, he said there was no point visiting her there although we could. It was the first time I heard total despair in his voice. I hoped he was wrong, it seemed inconceivable.

Even though its been several weeks now, its so hard to take in that I will never see her again, hear her voice, feel her irrepressible energy or see the sparkle in her eyes. She always seemed so unstoppable, a force of nature. She always encourage and inspired me to go after dreams, and reminded me to approach life as if anything was possible when I would forget.
I don't think it was possible to know her and not think of her with a smile.

I started to write this post a few days ago, but I started crying when I was trying describe the person she, couldn't stop for quite a while. I am far from the only one who feels this way, she was one of the most loved people, I have ever met. Last week, I was volunteering at the food coop and another friend of hers came in, it was all we could do not to just break down.

September was a very bad month, I try to look at the various things and think in 10yrs time they won't matter, but this will.

I'm crying again...

2007-10-04T19:31:00.001-05:00

I think my luck is changing! The price of gas went down two days after I filled up instead of one.

2007-09-26T15:44:00.000-05:00

One of my lovely doctors gives me Cox 2 NSAID samples because its not on my insurance company's formulary. Every month or two, I go to their office to pick them up. The office is in a medical building near a large teaching hospital, in a semi-iffy neighborhood. I park on the neighborhood streets because I am cheap, not to mention still unemployed. Usually the samples are in a brown bag and I can walk around without everyone seeing that I have hundreds of dollars of pills in my hands. Occasionally they are in a large clear ziplock baggy. This time they were like this:

Someone obviously had a sense of humor that morning. On the plus side I had lots of room in the elevator and no one came near me walking back to my car.

NL: Al Stewart Cousins
NR: The not so big life by Sarah Susanka
Feeling: sad, friend died
Mood: still dark with perhaps the illusion of a pinprick of possible light at the end of the tunnel, though its probably a train.

Lol, lobster tickets!

2007-09-25T15:30:00.001-05:00

"Just like a river running through." Guess what I am listening to?

This is my first post by cell phone. I tried posting pictures directly from my phone but it doesn't seem to work.

Next year in Jerusalem

2007-09-21T14:08:00.001-05:00

"Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is the most sacred of the Jewish holidays, the "Sabbath of Sabbaths."

By Yom Kippur the 40 days of repentance, that begin with the first of Elul, have passed. On Rosh Hashanah G-d has judged most of mankind and has recorded his judgement in the Book of Life. But he has given a 10 day reprieve.

On Yom Kippur the Book of Life is closed and sealed. Those that have repented for their sins are granted a good and Happy New Year.

Since Yom Kippur is the day to ask forgiveness for promises broken to G-d, the day before is reserved for asking forgiveness for broken promises between people, as G-d cannot forgive broken promises between people.

Yom Kippur is a day of "NOT" doing. The is no blowing of the Shofar and Jews may not eat or drink, as fasting is the rule. It is believed that to fast on Yom Kippur is to emulate the angels in heaven, who do not eat, drink, or wash.

The Five Prohibitions of Yom Kippur

Eating and drinking
Anointing with perfumes or lotions
Marital relations
Washing
Wearing leather shoes

While Yom Kippur is devoted to fasting, the day before is devoted to eating. According to the The Talmud the person "who eats on the ninth of Tishri (and fasts on the tenth) , it is as if he had fasted both the ninth and tenth." Prayer is also down played so that Jews can concentrate on eating and preparing for the fast.

On the eve of Yom Kippur the community joins at the synagogue. Men put on prayer shawls (not usually worn in the evenings). Then as the night falls the cantor begins the "Kol Nidre", it is repeated 3 times, each time in a louder voice. The Kol Nidre emphasizes the importance in keeping vows, as violating an oath is one of the worst sins.

An important part of the Yom Kippur service is the "Vidui" (Viduy) or confession. The confessions serve to help reflect on ones misdeeds and to confess them verbally is part of the formal repentance in asking G-d's forgiveness. Because community and unity are an important part of Jewish Life, the confessions are said in the plural (We are guilty).

As Yom Kippur ends, at the last hour a service called "Ne'ila" (Neilah) offers a final opportunity for repentance. It is the only service of the year during which the doors to the Ark (where the Torah scrolls are stored) remain open from the beginning to end of the service, signifying that the gates of Heaven are open at this time.

The service closes with the verse, said 7 times, "The L-rd is our G-d." The Shofar is sounded once and the congregation proclaim - "Next year in Jerusalem."

Yom Kippur is over."

http://www.holidays.net/highholydays/yom.htm

This is for you Pickle!

2007-09-09T17:20:00.001-05:00

How Randomly Cute Is Your Personality?

Underwear Cute
Your personality proves to be so randomly cute that you'd wear underwear on your head just because you can. Let's just hope there clean...

How do you compare?
Take this test! | Tests from Testriffic

Logic Quiz

2007-09-07T20:17:00.000-05:00

You Are Pretty Logical

You're a bit of a wizard when it comes to logic

While you don't have perfect logic, you logic is pretty darn good

Keep at it - you've got a lot of natural talent in this area!

How Logical Are You?

I took this from Geoff's blog. The shoe question did me in. I kept thinking why would you have socks that didn't match your shoes esp if you dressed in the dark? Also why not just turn on a light? I am a little shoe obsessed at the moment but I will save that for another post.

Wodehouse humour for the day

2007-09-07T11:25:00.001-05:00

Even at the Drones Club,
where the average of intellect is not high,
it was often said of Archibald that,
had his brain been constructed of silk,
he would have been hard put to it
to find sufficient material to make
a canary a pair of cami-knickers.
~ P.G. Wodehouse,
"The Reverent Wooing of Archibald"

10702 steps

2007-09-04T00:01:00.001-05:00

The second most I have walked since the challenge ended. I was at the state fair and walked home. It was in the high 80's today and dripping, my eyes stung from the sweat rolling into them, I thought of Beaumont, I looked for lizards, but there were only the lounge variety.
I picked up a second sapling, got some fresh cotton candy on the cone, tasted nitro ice cream, had a pickle on a stick * looked at the 4h textiles exhibit. I ended up with quite a few canvas bags. It was the last night and they wanted to get rid of them.

I heard Starship, the 3rd incarnation. It went Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship, Starship. The lead singer was the "I fooled around and fell in love" guy.
http://www.mickeythomas.com/
They were quite good. At one point they did a tribute medley to the previous incarnations which was okay, but miracles they didn't sing the sexual parts, hmmm
I sent a song. I watched the last set fire works.

My feet hurt and I need a shower.

* everything at the state fair tries to be on a stick.

"banana guards" I can't stop laughing!!!

2007-08-31T11:56:00.001-05:00

Every morning I go through all my feeds. I read my friends blogs daily and then read what looks interesting to me for the day. .

I read fashion incubator about once a week unless I am in a pattern making/sewing frame of mind. They had a pop quiz a couple days ago, which I noticed today because it made the tailoring trade newsletters:
http://www.fashion-incubator.com/mt/archives/pop_quiz_467.html

I know what they are, but I have never used one like that, but I would like to.

I am sure I could run up a few banana covers for anyone who needs one ;)

Just had my first tomato from my balcony

2007-08-29T20:21:00.001-05:00

It was very good! I ate it with some fresh sweet basil also from my balcony.

I have 5 tomato plants on my balcony and a few tomatoes are on them, but only 1 was anywhere near ripe. The cucumbers are just starting to flower. I hope everything gets ripe before the first frost. The leeks are very thin, look just a bit thicker than the chives ;-(

I have thyme and basils-sweet, thai, cinnamon, and lemon. I had 3 thymes but only the creeping one is left.

We have had some bad weather here but at least most of my plants survived the storms.

Small political quiz

2007-08-28T17:18:00.001-05:00

I am a leftist Libertarian, LOL

http://www.theadvocates.org/quiz.html

The political group that
agrees with you most is...

LIBERTARIAN

LIBERTARIANS support maximum liberty in both personal and

economic matters. They advocate a much smaller government; one

that is limited to protecting individuals from coercion and violence.

Libertarians tend to embrace individual responsibility, oppose

government bureaucracy and taxes, promote private charity, tolerate

diverse lifestyles, support the free market, and defend civil liberties.

Your PERSONAL issues Score is 90%.
Your ECONOMIC issues Score is 60%.
(Please note: Scores falling on the Centrist border are counted as Centrist.)

Netflix!

2007-08-22T14:09:00.001-05:00

I am so thrilled to have been given Netflix.
I finally finished watching my second disk.
It was Due South Season 2, disk 2 and it was great!

Finally, its happened, I became invisible!

2007-08-16T20:57:00.000-05:00

When I was younger especially in college, I tried very hard to be a wallflower and not be noticed, but it rarely worked.

The only time I can remember was when I was about 27. I had gotten a haircut I like to referred to as the "twinkie do", and went to the Minneapolis Strictly Business Computer Show. I had some money to spend, about 20K and no one even noticed I was in their booths. So i started playing with their computers. No one noticed! They did eventually notice their screen savers had somehow changed to say "I'd rather be a Mac."
In fact, I was still in one booth when it was discovered but still no one noticed me, I was amazed! A few days later, I flew off to Germany to attended the Hanover Cebit where I had no problem being notice wearing the same outfit, "twinkie do" and all. I actually got all the information I needed, plus seriously wined and dined! I got rid of the "twinkie do" when I got back home but my hair stylist and I still reminisce about it sometimes.

I had heard that when women become a certain age they become invisible, and today I realized it was true, I have become invisible.
Usually there are people and rabbits around my apartment building, and the neighborhood also has a lot of rabbits. When I come home at night there is a usually a rabbit looking at my headlights and chumping on something. Sometimes the rabbit says and sometimes it takes off when I close the car door. I never really thought of why that was until today.

As I was walking to the post office, a rabbit come out in front of me to eat some grass, I kept walking and the rabbit kept eating, I was within 6 inches of the rabbit and it didn't even notice me. Thinking about it I realized the rabbits take off when I am with other people (most of whom are younger than I) and they stay when I am alone.

Suddenly it dawned on me, I have become invisible to RABBITS! How this can be possible is beyond me, but I guess its a good thing as I am allergic to them...
I am wondering if rabbits are color blind because if you had this combination of colors next to you, wouldn't you notice?

Just a bit of weather...

2007-08-13T21:36:00.001-05:00

When I got home Friday night at about 2 am I was wondering where is that weather that we were supposed to get. My friend said that's tomorrow. A few of my neighbors where up and outside, the weather seemed just fine,
When I was doing an email a bit later I thought I heard some thunder so I unplugged my computer before getting ready for bed.

I was just reading a bit, having sent off my final emails and text messages for the day and getting all comfy when the storm started. It was very loud, lots of close lightening, deafening thunder, sound of rain and tree branches scrapping the building. Then the lights flickered a few times, so I got up and started unplugging the tv and assorted video stuff, the microwave, put the lanyard reading light around my neck and checked the flash light by my bed. The lights went out, then on for a few more minutes then off for good.

I tried to look outside but the rain was coming down so hard I couldn't see beyond the end of my balcony. It was so hot. The electricity and the more importantly the AC didn't come back on until 11am. At which point my phone rang and my gardening partner asked to come over to iron a shirt as she still was without power.
the first pic St Anthony Park is MY neighborhood!!!
http://wcco.com/slideshows/local_slideshow_223104336

###

Well, it looks like I will have to postpone the rest of my weather and picture post as we are about to get hammered again. Need to move glass stuff off balcony for hail. We are in a thunderstorm warning already. Time to freeze the apartment in case of power outage, unplug stuff,

She smiled!

2007-08-13T20:52:00.001-05:00

I was going to post about the lovely bit of weather we have had recently, but when we stop by the zoo and conservatory during our view of the damage, we went into the tropical encounters part. We watched the turtles, and the fish. There is also a sloth there always in the same spot in this tree, curled up and sleeping. However today when we were in front of the tree, she woke up! Stretched in a very sloth like manner, smiled at us, relaxed and went back to sleep kind of sprawled out on her back. I have never seen a sloth do that. My brother took the photo.

2007-08-12T21:04:00.001-05:00

What Harry Potter Character are You?

Hermione Granger

You are a smart and intelligent person. You use your smarts to help out friends. You can be emotional at times but you always seem to be in the mood to help someone out.

Click Here to Take This Quiz

Quizzes and Personality Tests

Grabbed from Kami Sanctuary

What kind of Poetry are you?

2007-08-09T11:57:00.001-05:00

I am, of course, none other than blank verse.
I don't know where I'm going, yes, quite right;
And when I get there (if I ever do)
I might not recognise it. So? Your point?
Why should I have a destination set?
I'm relatively happy as I am,
And wouldn't want to be forever aimed
Towards some future path or special goal.
It's not to do with laziness, as such.
It's just that one the whole I'd rather not
Be bothered - so I drift contentedly;
An underrated way of life, I find.

What Poetry Form Are You?

Stardust-another, very different, red hot fairy tale.

2007-08-09T00:29:00.001-05:00

I was going to start this post with a great quote but I can't remember it right, its about how romantic it is to bring a hurt kidnapped women home as a gift.

I am very sleepy, stayed up too late and had to get up early, plus I spent the day in meetings and attempting to learn Dreamweaver. I was afraid I would fell asleep during the movie, but it wouldn't let me!

Stardust is amazing, almost as good as Princess Bride. The cast is great and no one can touch De Niro's performance in this, no one! The peanut gallery is hilarious. Costumes were fun too. I almost forgot the special effects were fantastic, I didn't see any mistakes, and no ILM!!!

It opens on Friday, I have no idea why on earth they did a screening today, but I am happy they did.

Dilemma

2007-07-25T18:07:00.001-05:00

Recently I purchased a new publication from someone I know professionally and usually see about once a year. I was reading this a couple weeks ago and something about some of it felt very familiar. Today it dawned on my where it might have come from and I looked it up.

The pages I was wondering about are pretty identical to a magazine article published in December 2004. The article is not long available on line without paying serious money but I have a copy of it. Some of it is copied word for word and what is even worse that part of the article is describing another person's methodology which was properly credited in the magazine article. There are a couple people who worked on this publication so maybe the credit got removed during editing or something.

So I am not sure what to do, but I need to do something. Any ideas?

Humble, lovable shoe shine boy?

2007-07-21T20:09:00.001-05:00

Am I the only one who likes Underdog? I keep seeing this ad for the new Underdog movie and whenever I mention it, I get blank stares and/or silence. Surely someone other than me (and my brothers) like Underdog?

The Great Walk Challenge

2007-07-15T12:02:00.001-05:00

Congratulations Jack on winning the walk challenge !!!

Thanks Laurie for walking with us and being our fabulous scorekeeper! The final scores are below.

Based on my rough calculations Jack averaged over 6 miles/day, Laurie over 2 miles/day and I a bit under 5.4 miles/day. All in all a good showing for each of us considering the physical stuff like Laurie was not a walker, Jack did it in spurts, and I broke a toe during it. Then there was the stuff happening in our lives during the challenge like my place of work making a mad dash not to go under and then going under, Laurie's becoming a grand fabulous mother and Jack's, ummm..., life.

Before we started, I was walking about 5 miles most days, now that the challenge is over I hope to start walking for about an hour every morning, and then maybe a short walk in the evening around dinnertime. I am working on having the proper equipment so I can walk everyday. I have the hot sunny days worked out, poncho for the rainy ones, wind pants and yak trax for the snowy/icy ones but I still need new hiking boots (mine bit the dust last year) and winter clothing. I have some power dry, lots of fleece, wool for trousers and ultrex to play with. I lost a few mittens last year so I need to make some of those. I am most excited about the polar dry and wondering if it could also be used for dance work out stuff too.

The Walk Challenge

Total Steps to Date

Jack...768,422

Susan..683,181

Laurie.260,768

Week 1 (5/13/07 - 5/19/07)

Jack....67,568

Susan...69,357

Laurie..38,634

Week 2 (5/20/07 - 5/26/07)

Jack...150,501

Susan...77,752

Laurie..41,081

Week 3 (5/27/07 - 6/2/07)

Jack....74,037

Susan...54,750

Laurie..37,247

Week 4 (6/3/07 - 6/9/07)

Jack....48,759

Susan...79,352

Laurie..33,308

Week 5 (6/10/07 - 6/16/07)

Jack....50,869

Susan...86,242

Laurie..31,791

Week 6 (6/17/07 - 6/23/07)

Jack....61,615

Susan...54,828

Laurie..16,644

Week 7 (6/24/07 - 6/30/07)

Jack...129,251

Susan...67,949

Laurie..19,618

Week 8 (7/1/07 - 7/7/07)

Jack....82,199

Susan...72,986

Laurie..19,065

Week 9 (7/8/07 - 7/14/07)

Jack...103,623

Susan...93,653

Laurie..23,380

So I am beginning to recover

2007-07-12T20:46:00.001-05:00

from CONvergence. I was going to put some of my pics up and I can't find my camera!!! I hope it turns up soon.

For those of you who can't wait for me to find the camera, C. pointed me to this blog, http://rubyd.livejournal.com/306444.html that has some nice tame pictures, even one with me in it!
Based on what I am wearing I believe it was taken at about 2am on Sunday morning, after a mere 19 hrs at con with about 5 hrs sleep between Friday and Saturday.

I am still keeping relatively late hours but I plan to be wide eyed and bushy tailed at 8am tomorrow, and at 6am by Monday morning.

Hopefully I will find the camera soon and can post my pics. Perhaps it is hanging out with the library book I lost called "getting unstuck." On the plus side, I do know where my favorite necklace is, Jack ;-)

I could have danced all night, I could have danced all night

2007-07-08T04:56:00.001-05:00

oh wait...I did. At least some, and I didn't want to stop, but but was 4am and was invited to a tea at 11am.
So its 5am now and I am home in one piece.

I won a Canadian trivia contest and Sci Fi video bingo!!!!! Neither of which I am an expert on by any stretch of imagination, but I won!!!

Since Friday I have been at CON, more later and even perhaps pictures. I really ought to go to sleep soon.

So I have my Sunday's free again

2007-07-01T14:50:00.001-05:00

so I join my brother in his frequent Sunday activity which is rebate shopping.
I am not very good at this, I pretty much have to fill out of the forms and everything right after we shop or I forget. Usually its just sport unless there is something you really want, then its deadly serious.

I really wanted a new hard drive for backup since I am getting my life organized. Jack showed me what he was doing in Quicken when I was down there visiting and it seemed like a good idea esp as I am unemployed now. I am also going to organize a bunch of stuff and want to use my current back up drive for that.

So we get to the store at 9:40 and there are 4 guys sitting in 4 cars, 1 guy standing in front of the store. We get out and wait with him. I try various things to see if I can get my pedometer going while we wait, the only things that works is pacing and I could have lost my space in line if I did that. More guys show up, store employees slide themselves into the store and carefully close and lock all sets of doors afterwards.

My brother and I discuss strategy. He will go for the drives and I will go for the free after rebate things. This was Office Depot and they have been changing a bunch of stuff. he tells me where he thinks they are. We are not sure about the drives so he will find and ask the manager.

In times past sometimes he would go early, load up a couple carts and then call me and friends to come help check out. These things are usually 1 per address. I am a bit out of practice, I have forgotten my office max coupon so they can match it and we are not working like the well oiled machine we were in the past when we got ourselves every freebie (including a car tv) plus the rebate items.

I can't find the free after rebates things, so I find him at the drives, there are 3 of them, we grab the two best looking ones. They are listed at $199, marked down to $89, we have $40 rebate. Its a 250g seagate external UBS2 drive, a bit slower than firewire but not bad for $60. We found the freebies too. There were also a hardware and an auto parts store with stuff.

I just finished filling out the rebate forms. We got each a drive, 3m glue stick, two side repositionable roller 3m tape, 3 pk of energel pens, box of 4x6 inkjet photo paper, 2 gallons of antifreeze, 2 gal of prem bug wash window washing fluid, a microfiber towel, elmers polyurethane glue, 2 pks ge softwhite 4pk light bulbs, a utility lighter, an assortment of 3 plastic funnels, 16oz murphy oil soap, tech stain remover, and black tire wet protectant.

Cost for the above after rebates- $68.53 including tax and stamps to mail in the rebates. Not bad, not bad at all..

Oh except for a kid who was some nerd's daughter, I was the only female doing rebate shopping this morning, another place to pick up guys for your list Laurie! One could just find the best thing on sale & rebate and hold it ransom until a cute nerd wants it. Today everyone was going for the drives and some inkjet printer that was too infer by our standards so we left it.

Anyway if anyone wants to play this game, just email me and I will try and forward any decent deals I hear about and you too can do it.

Evening

2007-06-26T20:55:00.001-05:00

The movie screening invites were flying in the last couple weeks of my job, I only had time for a few. The movie "Evening" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0765447/ was one of them. I saw it in one of those lovely new stadium seating theaters, and although they did the spiel about no recording devices, they weren't cell phone nazis like at some screenings.

Its about dying and death, but its a very warm hearted film about dying and death. There are parts that are a bit sad, my companion was teary eyed. My companion said something about thinking it was going to be a "chick flick" but it really wasn't. Having never seen Beaches I am not quite sure what a chick flick is, but anyway.
It was a great film, fantastic actors, not so sure about the costumes but it was a Hungarian director shooting a US based filmed. Hugh Darcy was fantastic!!! Mamie Gummer did a great job!

There was a very interesting Q &A with the director, Lajos Koltai afterwards. His message he said was "Don't forget to ask the questions before its too late." He told us his history, he had been a cinematographer for 35 yrs and it certainly shows in the film. He did a great job of using flash backs to float between time in the story. At one point in the story there is this moth that a character follows, and he explained the trails of finding the right moth and then animating it. When talking about various characters perceptions he said he understood it well as he has an older sister who has completely different memory for the same things as he does.

I asked the director the time line in making the film and he said from Feb.-June 2007. 2 months prep work, 40 days filming, 3 months editing, fixing and music. It is an amazingly good film especially considering the time line. It sounded like it was a love fest on the set. At times they would listen to music like Chopin, think feelings and then read the scene. The director did lots of nice things, hugs, eat with everyone, tell them how happy he was they were in his movie (and he really seemed to be thrilled that everyone was), he also gave individual notes instead of public ones. It sounded like he really tried to make working on the film a pleasant experience. I have gone to quite a few Q&A's with directors and 2 of them really stand out- Lajos Koltai, and Wim Wenders as being great directors and cool people in general.

When I went to see this movie I wasn't sure I was up to it, lots of people around me have cancer, the company bit the dust, I am was so tired and soon to be unemployed, but I really enjoyed it. It made me smile and took me away from all that for a while.

Belly dancing on YouTube

2007-06-23T17:52:00.001-05:00

The founder and head of my belly dance school has a short piece on youtube
I can't watch it but you can:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTk6-9qOKxE

Death at a Funeral part 2

2007-06-18T17:33:00.001-05:00

So last Tuesday night I ended up seeing yet another screening of "Death at a Funeral" so another friend could go with me. It was a zoo.

The first time I showed up at the appointed time, gave my name, got checked off the list, bought some snowcaps walked into the theater and sat down. Last night was totally different.

I get to the theater at the appointed time, 6:30, go to give my name and am told that the list hasn't arrived. Am asked for my email confirmation which I didn't bring because it said you do not need to bring it, and besides the first time was no problem. soon there is a line of people waiting for the list, there is also a line of people with their emails, studio passes, etc..

At almost 7 a guy shows up with the list. Its 4 pages long, and the names are in random order. "To make it easier" someone copies the list so two people now have a 4 page multi column list. I had suggested that they each take two pages, but...
I am like 8th in line and I find my name, get my tickets and then go stand in the other line.

At one point the theater gets so frustrated that they stop checking the list and give everyone tickets The movie is supposed to start at 7 but there isn't a theater available so there is a long line snaking its self outside the theater and around the building. It is about 90 with a bright somewhat setting sun. I am in the inside line. At about 7:30 we get into the theater and they start the film. My friend got me a Fiji water, flat bottled water from Fiji, she got it because it was the only water but why would someone want water from Fiji??? esp at $4.00 a bottle? It tasted fine, but still...

I didn't mention the opening credits in my previous review, but they are pretty cool. The film was just as good the second time round, and the very end just as unbelievable.
I didn't mention that the facial expressions in the movie are amazing before but I should have. I make a lot of faces myself, but some of the ones in the movie were just pricelessly expressive.
I was laughing hard through much of it even I knew what was coming. I still recommend it!

An announcement was made that it will not be opening until August now, so you'll just have to wait a bit longer to see it.

I am winning, I am winning, I am winning...

2007-06-17T23:21:00.001-05:00

Hidden down at the bottom of Laurie's blog pageis our walking challenge. I challenged Jack to keep up with me, and for a while he out walked me,but I am afraid that my original contention that I can out walk him maybe true after all, at least it is at the moment.

Laurie graciously agreed to be score keeper and also join us in walking. Her numbers are quite respectable for one who has not been walking as much as Jack and I have over time.

"The Walk Challenge

Everything tastes better with Hollandaise sauce

2007-06-09T00:51:00.001-05:00

I had a friend who used to say "Every thing's better with beer" well...

A few days ago I had an artichoke and instead of making a lemon butter sauce I made some Hollandaise sauce.
It tasted great but I still had almost a cup of sauce left. The next morning I made an omelet with the left over egg whites and put some sauce on it. Then at dinner over Mahi Mahi. It wasn't bad over chicken, salmon, steamed baby bok choy, and a little bit on not very sweet strawberries made them sweeter.
I am starting to consider all sorts of uses for it... Can you imagine how much slippery the food scene in 9 1/2 weeks would be if they had used Hollandaise sauce as well?

Death at a Funeral

2007-05-31T11:55:00.001-05:00

Last night I saw the new movie, Death at a Funeral http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0795368/.
While watching it I did not look at my watch, check my phone, send txt msgs, get up for water, candy, bathroom, disturb other movie goers or rearrange my possessions. I might have squirmed but I am not good at sitting still even when I am at full attention and I was at full attention watching this action packed film.

Death at a Funeral is a British farce is directed by Frank Oz. It starts out simply as everyone gathering for a funeral and then dissolves in to madness. There are lots of possible victims. It has drugs, violence, sex, nudity, dysfunctional relationships, bad language, love, secrets, a bit of really gross humor, beautiful setting, strange characters, and a relatively happy ending-at least for the living. I don't want to say much more for fear of giving the plot away except that I recommend people go see it.

The US release date is June 29, 2007.

Places

2007-05-12T21:58:00.001-05:00

Bold the places you've been and italicize the places you long to see. At the end, add one place you've been and one place you'd like to go. Grabbed from lesliepear.

(This list is a bit heavy on amusement parks. )

1. Times Square, New York City, NY: 35 million visitors every year ¹
2. National Mall & Memorial Parks, Washington, D.C. (Washington Monument, Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials, the war memorials): About 25 million
3. Disney World's Magic Kingdom, Lake Buena Vista, Fla.: 16.6 million
4. Trafalgar Square, London, England: 15 million
5. Disneyland Park, Anaheim, Calif.: 14.7 million
6. Niagara Falls, Ontario and New York: 14 million
7. Fisherman's Wharf/Golden Gate National Recreation Area, San Francisco, Calif.: 13 million
8. Tokyo Disneyland/DisneySea, Tokyo, Japan: 12.9 million
9. Notre Dame de Paris, Paris, France: 12 million 10. Disneyland Paris, Marne-La-Vallee, France: 10.6 million
11. The Great Wall of China, Badaling area, China: About 10 million
12. The Great Smoky Mountain National Park, Tennessee/North Carolina: 9.2 million
13. Universal Studios Japan, Osaka, Japan: 8.5 million
14. Basilique du Sacré-Coeur de Montmartre, Paris, France: 8 million
15. Musée du Louvre, Paris, France: 7.5 million
16. Everland (amusement park), Kyonggi-Do, South Korea: 7.5 million
17. The Forbidden City/Tiananmen Square, Beijing, China: At least 7 million
18. Eiffel Tower, Paris, France: 6.7 million
19. Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure at Universal Orlando, Fla: 6 million 20. SeaWorld Florida, Orlando, Fla: 5,740,000
21. Pleasure Beach (amusement park), Blackpool, England: 5.7 million
22. Lotte World (amusement park), Seoul, South Korea: 5.5 million
23. Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise, Japan: 5.4 million
24. Hong Kong Disneyland, China: 5.2 million
25. Centre Pompidou, Paris, France: 5.1 million
26. Tate Modern, London, England: 4.9 million
27. British Museum, London, England: 4.8 million
28. Universal Studios Los Angeles, Calif.: 4.7 million
29. National Gallery, London, England: 4.6 million
30. Metropolitan Museum, New York, NY: 4.5 million¹
31. Grand Canyon, Ariz.: 4.4 million
32. Tivoli Gardens (amusement park), Copenhagen, Denmark: 4.4 million
33. Ocean Park (amusement park), Hong Kong, China: 4.38 million
34. Busch Gardens (amusement park), Tampa Bay, Fla.: 4.36 million
35. SeaWorld California, San Diego, Calif.: 4.26 million
36. Statue of Liberty, New York, NY: 4.24 million¹
37. The Vatican and its museums, Rome, Italy: 4.2 million
38. Sydney Opera House, Sydney, Australia: More than 4 million
39. The Coliseum, Rome, Italy: 4 million
40. American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY: 4 million¹
41. Grauman's Chinese Theater, Hollywood, Calif.: 4 million
42. Empire State Building, New York, NY: 4 million¹
43. Natural History Museum, London, England: 3.7 million
44. The London Eye, London, England: 3.5 million
45. Palace of Versailles, France: 3.45 million
46. Yosemite National Park, Calif.: 3.44 million
47. Pyramids of Giza, Egypt: 3 million
48. Pompeii, Italy: 2.5 million
49. Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia: 2.5 million
50. Taj Mahal, Agra, India: 2.4 million
51. Angel Falls, Venezuela
52. Pyramid Kukulcan in Chichen Itza, Yucatan Mexico
53. Temple of the Descending God in Tulum, Quintana Roo Mexico
54. Dunns River Falls in Ocho Rios, Jamaica
55. Star Trek: The Experience, Las Vegas, NV
56. Space Needle Seattle, WA²
57. Machu Pichu, Peru
58. Amber Palace in Jaipur, India
59. The Smithsonian in Washington DC³
60. The Berlin Wall, Berlin, Germany⁴
61. Stonehenge, England
62. Auschwitz Concentration Camp, Poland
63. Cape Cod, MA
64. Vienna, Austria
65. Experience Music Project Seattle, WA²
66. New England Aquarium Boston MA
67. The Bronx Zoo¹
68. The Old City in Quebec, Canada
69. Key West, Florida
70. Antarctica
71 Edinburgh Festival and Fringe
72 Kathmandu, Nepal