The Weekend

My weekend started on Friday, I went shopping. Wooohooo. OK so that woohoo was sarcastic, unless I am shopping for books or food I hate shopping. It took me a hour to pick out some underwear. I went out to dinner with some great friends and ate way to much.

Saturday after going to the gym, and the store. I had a nap, the nap put me behind so I made a mad dash to pack for the weekend. Then a 2 hour drive to Portland.

This weekend was my cousins 33rd birthday, and his fathers 60th. There was a surprise party for my uncle, so I was told not to go to the house as he would know something was up. That was no big hard ship, I went to Powell's. I did not go to the one downtown, I went to the one in Cedar Hills, I had two boxes of books for them to go though and the parking there is better. Powell's ended up giving me $20 in store credit, and then I spent another $20 on top of that. Not a bad deal for the books.

I got:
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss this is for the Once Upon a Time reading challenge
The Harp of the Gray Rose by Charles De Lint
Dingo by Charles De Lint both this one and the Harp of the Gray Rose were bought to fulfill the need to read and own everything written by De Lint.
The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett
Living Wicca by Scott Cunningham

After that enjoyable few hours, I went to my cousins because I did not know where the restaurant was located. We went to a place called Jopa Northwest Grill . The room was beautiful, the food was wonderful, I loved the cold asparagus, and the bacon wrapped scallops. I met the most interesting people there, I spent a lot of the night talking to an international attorney, he had just gotten back from Africa.

I spent the night and most of the next day with the family we had brunch at Hands On Cafe that is part of the Oregon College of Art and Craft. Ohh that food was yummy too.

In the afternoon, my aunt and I went to NCO where she volunteers. NCO is a great organization that I when I can take them things that they might be able to use. If you are reading this and live in Portland look into them.

When I got home, I was exhausted, but I had also not slept well for a few days. Today I more than made up for that. I slept all night, then went to the chiropractors came back and slept for another 5 hours.

Guess Who Is Who

Can you guess who is who? Remember Kelevra is the girl, Squeeker the boy.



Kelevra is the smart one. She tries to turn on the water, flush the toilet, and open doors.



Squeeker, he gets lost in the bathroom, the closet, and plays fetch.



So who is who?

 I know I have not posted pictures of the kittens in a while. They are getting bigger, and have very distinctive personalities.

SS$$cat

My cat's love to go behind the TV stand, I think they are looking for monsters. Last weekend they went back there and stepped on my surge protector, now my game console will not connect to anything wireless. As the console is how I watch Ne+flix I had to go out and get wired controllers again. A real bummer. Last night they were back there again. I went out a got a SS$$cat.

Most of the time if I need to get the cats off of something I just use a water bottle. I am not going to squirt water on my power cords, so I did a little research. The S$$cat is a motion sensor compressed air can that when the cats get close to it will hiss and shoot out a blast of air. It works quite well.

The first time it went off Kelevra shot out from behind the stand as if her tail were on fire. Then Squeeker went back there hehe, I watched him bolt behind the couch. Kelevra has not gone back. Squeeker had to try again, I watched as he did the sneak and tried to creep behind the stand. There was a blast. He jumped straight up in the air and three feet back.

The website says that this can be used to keep them off counters, out of rooms that they are not wanted in etc. The price is a bet hefty but when comparing to replacing a game system it is worth the price.

Poetry Month

This month is poetry month so I thought that I would put up some quotes, little snatches of poetry that I love. I am going to link up one of my favorite poems ever to here as well.

Some light hearted poetry.

I think that I shall never see

A billboard lovely as a tree.

Indeed, unless the billboards fall

I shall never see a tree at all.

                                Ogden Nash

And today the great Yertle, that Marvelous he

Is King of the Mud. That is all he can see.

                                     Theodor Geisel

Not drunk is he, who from the floor

Can rise alone, and still drink more;

But drunk is he, who prostrate lies,

With out the power to drink or rise.

                      Thomas Love Peacock

This is one of my favorite poems it is not light in anyway. The subject is dark, but the flow and the story line is amazing. This is from The Goblin Market by Christina Rosetti.

She Cried, "Laura," up the garden,

"Did you miss me?

Come and kiss me.

Never mind my bruises,

Hug me, kiss me, suck my juices

From the Cad Goddeu from the Llyfr Taliesin. I have read this one over and over sill never getting tired of the language or the flow.

I was in many forms

before I was set free

I was a narrow blood-spotted sword

I believed, when I was formed

I was teardrops in the air

I was a star-woven star

I have people tell me that I am strange for reading and enjoying poetry but I think they are missing so much. I hope that this post will get some others to read and explore poetry.

Green Chile Stew

Over at A Butch In The Kitchen, she had posted a recipe for White Turkey Chili that looks so yummy. I posted in a comment that I had made Green Chili Stew and she wanted my recipe so here it is.

Green Chile Stew

4 pounds chicken

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried marjoram

1 tablespoon dried basil

4 ounces Hatch green chile peppers,roasted chopped

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

5 carrots, chopped

5 stalks celery, chopped

1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed tomatoes (optional)

3 potatoes, peeled and cubed

corn starch
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1.Put the chicken in a large pot over medium heat and add water to cover.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium low and simmer until chicken is done. Remove the chicken from the pot and allow it to cool.  Chop the chicken meat into bite-size pieces.

2.Return the chicken to the pot and add the green chile peppers, spices, onion, garlic, carrots, celery, tomatoes and potatoes. Simmer for 30 minutes, or until the potatoes and carrots are tender (or pressure cook for 10 minutes). In a separate small bowl, mix the some corn starch with some water and add to the soup, stirring well to thicken stew. Raise heat, bring just to a boil and remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.

If Hatch green chilies are hard to find where you are Trader Joe's sells them canned in 4oz cans. Also the flavor of the stew changes if another pepper is used. Hatch is a very unique pepper from New Mexico. I was lucky enough that last year a local store had a supply of fresh Hatch come in, I spent about $40 on pepper. Then spent two days roasting and freezing them. I think I need to  make green chile hamburgers.

Book One Once Upon a Time Challenge

For the Once Upon a Time Challenge Honey and I have picked out a book for each of us to read that the other has read before, but will not re-read for the challenge. I picked for her The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper.

For me she picked The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman. I tried to read this book when I was a teenager and I could not get past the first few chapters. At that time I did not understand why I could not read the book. Then when the movie came out on DVD I watched it to see what all of the fuss was about. Needless to say I liked the Narnia move better.  This time around as Honey so liked the book I thought I would give it a try and finish it.

I picked the book up on Friday from the library and as it has only 351 pages in it I thought I would have it finished by Saturday night. Not so, it took me almost 4 hours to read 75 pages. I kept having to put the book down and walk away. It was not that it was badly written, or that the plot was not moving along. This book just made me uneasy. Reading it was like going to a concert and all but one of the instruments are in accord with each other. It felt as if something were just a bit out of tune or step with the rest of the book.

We are both going to read A Game of Thrones by George R.R Martin. Honey has already started this one so it is next on my list to read.

T.V or not T.V

When I was a little girl the T.V. was always on in the house. My mother watched soaps like it was a religion. I remember coming home from school to a house where if there was a T.V in a room it was on, even if no one was in the room. As the years progressed T.V viewing changed it went from bad soaps to worse talk show T.V. Mom watched them all, the ones that she missed she would ask others if they had watched. With the advent of the VCR that changed. She recorded the shows that she thought she would miss, and then watch them late at night or on the weekends.

At the time I moved out I was so sick of the thing that I did not have one for a few years. Then when I did buy one it was a small 13inch. My son and I would rent movies and watch what we wanted when we wanted. My mother hear about this and started taping shows and sending them to us to watch. Out of an eight hour tape there might have been one show on there that interested one of us.

When mom got sick and moved in with us we got cable, because she whined about how quiet my place was. It was a total waste of money. I paid $60+ a month and if I got to watch something that I might find interesting it was because she was not in the house. If she were not home when I got there I would turn on the radio, she would then turn the T.V on over the radio when she got home.

I do remember we got into an argument about what I watched. With my work I do not want to see "reality" crap. I deal enough with it on the job, give me a movie where giant pigs eat people, or frogs attack, or swarms of grasshoppers eat cars. Dragons, knights, anything not real unless it is a documentary on a historical figure.

When she left, cable went with her. I was never so happy to get rid of something. I now just have Netflix and love it. I watch what I want when I want. My patients ask who I want to win on a particular show, I get some strange looks when I tell them I don't own a T.V. and have no idea what they are talking about. Many of them look at  me like I have three heads, they cannot imagine a life without the constant bombardment of noise. I do not miss commercials, who won/did/did not do with who. I love the peace that I have, the ability to work on my cross stitching, reading, or going out. So for me the answer is not T.V

Once Upon a Time V

My Honey and I have decided that together we are going to do the Once Upon a Time Challenge. This will be my first year doing it and it looks like a ball. The Challenge is by Stainless Steel Droppings. The rules are with the link for those interested. Honey and I have decided to do Quest the First that is to read five books that fit within the Once Upon a Time criteria. That is reading books that fall into on of the four genres folklore, fairy tale, mythology or fantasy or a combination of any of them. We do not have all of out books picked out but what we are going to do is read four books together. The fifth book will be one that the other picks out and has previously read.

So I have picked out for Honey to read The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper. She has never read Susan Cooper and I do love the Dark is Rising books. For our first read together book we are going to be reading A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin. I have heard that someone is making this series of books into a TV show or a bunch of TV movies. I can't wait to get started on this reading.

I do know that I usually post Library Loot on the weekend however, I have not finished all of the books that I currently have checked out, and nothing that I have put on hold has come in yet. So I am going to be starting A Game of Thrones after I get it from the bookstore, and finishing up the Library Loot that I have on my to be read stack.

As we come up with or finish reading books for the Once Upon a Time challenge. I will put the badge art work in that post.

Movie Night

So Friday night was movie night. We had Asian food the chicken in the peanut sauce was good. Loved the cabbage veggie mix but that is not what I am here to write about.

1932 /33 the movie that won Best Picture was Cavalcade, however that movie is not out on DVD or on the inst que for Netflix. So we ended up watching She Done Him Wrong with the wonderful Mae West. Now I have seen some of her movies before but none of the other girls that come to movie night have. I have converted them. Not only was Mae hot, she was snarkey, sarcastic, flirty all around Mae West. West plays Lady Lou a woman with more men friends than she knows what to do with. Cary Grant plays a young man from the Salvation Army trying to save all of the lost soul at the bar/club that Lady Lou works at. This is a short movie only 66 min long. If it is a good sexy laugh ( and with Mae West it is sexy) this is a wonderful movie to see.

 It Happened One Night won for 1934. This movie also is a romantic comedy, staring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert.  I honestly cannot talk about this movie, it is not that the  movie was bad and I love the acting skills of Claudette Colbert, I just cannot stand Clark Gable. There is something about that man that makes me want to slap him in the face. I think that my not liking Clark Gable is because one of the first movies that I watched was Gone With the Wind and I hate that movie.

Next month we will watch 1935 Mutiny on the Bounty, and 1936 The Great Ziegfeld.

Library Loot

So last week I did not go to the library it was not by my choice. A few weeks ago I sprained my back and my work put me on light duty. Light duty was OK but, it sure messed up my schedule. I usually work 3 days a week but on light duty I had to work 5 days a week. That not being bad enough I also had to work until 1630 the library closes at 1700. So this week I got to go to the library. My loot is:

DVD NCIS season 6

Mercy Thompson Homecoming by Patrica Briggs I love the Mercy Thompson stories and I love graphic novels so WIN!

Chobits Art Book Your Eyes Only by Clamp it is just the art of the Manga

Night Birds Reign by Holly Taylor The High King is dead. The land is in peril. A child has been born to save his people. But a traitor lurks with evil in his mind and murder in his heart, dogging the footsteps of those who protect the babe who would be king. But magic is at work, high magic. Gwydion the Dreamer awakes, screaming, from a prophetic dream of tragedy and loss, a dream peopled by kings of the past. From Powells

Into the Wild Nerd Yonder by Julie Halpern Things are changing fast. Jessie needs new friends. And her quest is a hilarious tour through high-school clique-dom, with a surprising stop along the way the Dungeons and Dragons crowd, who out-nerd everyone. D&D how could I not read this one. From Powells

I do still have some from the last week, but I should have all of this done soon.


Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted alternatively by Marg and Claire that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky (at Marg's this week) any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries

Library Loot March 12th

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries! This week Marg has Mr. Linky.

Chobits: Volume 1 by Clamp I have always wanted to read these and was thrilled to find out that the library has them.

Eden It's anEndless World! by HIroki Endo Now the library had Volume 4 so I had to wait to get the first one.

The Hunter's Moon by O.R. Melling  I read a review of this book and it sounds like a good one.

Travellers in Magic by Lisa Goldstein I loved her book Walking The Labyrinth so much that I thought that I would look for another one of hers.

Witchblade: Talons by John DeChancie It looked interesting.

I just read the best book ever

Out of my library loot, I picked up a book called Walking the Labyrinth by Lisa Goldstein. This is a book that I did not want to end nor could I put it down. I sat in the car at Borders and finished reading it.

Molly Travers,  meets a P.I who says that he is looking for her Aunt Thorne, it is regarding an inheritance. There begins her adventure in to finding out who she is, who is telling the truth, and who is not. She comes across a family names Allalie. The Allalies are a vaudeville troupe of illusionists or are they. Is their magic more or less then what it seems.

Molly after talking to her Aunt Fentrice, Molly goes to England with the P.I John to a house called Tantilly. There they find a diary written by one Emily Wethers. This diary goes on to explain how she meets and then becomes a member of the Order of the Labyrinth. Emily joins the Order at the height of the Spiritualist movement, however she decided to use her power to get a widow to reenter life. In the basement of Tantilly the Lady Dorothy Westingate builds rooms and rooms to form a labyrinth. Where each room, what you see is not what others see. There is a bit of a Gothic feel to parts of the book, just enough that I liked it.

The Allalie family, is chaos, quirky, and one that I think would be better to get to know. There is one question that everyone in the family asks is "What have you learned?" What I have learned is that I want to read more of Ms. Goldstein's books.

Angelology

I read Angeloloy by Danielle Trussoni last week. It was not what I thought it was going to be, I was disappointed in the ending, and in several part of the plot. The book was longer where it should have been shorter, and shorter where it should have been longer. Most of the book is looking for a lyre, the first clue set in modern times take quite a while to figure out, and I don't even think it was figured out. After that it was almost as if the author handed the instrument to the ones looking for it.

I also thought that there would have been more Catholic mysticism in the book. I do think that this would have been a good book if I did not have other of this type of treasure hunt to compare it too.

The book was split up into current times and the 1940's. I would have liked to have had more written about the school and what had happened in the 1940's compared to the current times. Evangeline, the protagonist, I thought needed to have been more developed as a character. The fact that she did not question anything that was or had happened to her is not realistic.

This is not one that I would reread, nor would I recommend it to those who have an interest in mythological treasure hunts.

As for my library loot, out of the 10 books I picked up on Saturday, I have 4 left to read. Forced inactivity is good for something.

Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!


So, for my loot this week, I went a little over board. This time about I got one graphic novel of short stories, on manga, and a bazillion works of fiction. So here goes:
 
Antique Bakery by Fumi Yoshinaga. When and old antique shop re-opens as the hottest new bakery in an unsuspecting neighborhood, there's no doubt that a few surprises are cooking.
 
Trickster Native American Tales. I read a review over at Books & other thoughts.
 
Emperor of the Air by Ethan Canin. whether his characters are struggling to save trees in their yards, their marriages or themselves.  I thought this sounded like a good book of short stories.
 
Child of Fire by Harry Connolly. Ray Lilly is living on borrowed time. He is a driver for Annalise Powless...... But because Ray betrayed her once, Annalise is looking for and excuse to kill him- or let someone else do the job.
 
Green Angel by Alice Hoffman. Left on her own when her family is lost in a disaster Green retreats only to destroy herself. With mysterious encounters with a mute boy and a ghostly white dog does Green learn to love and heal.
 
Walking the Labyrinth by Lisa Goldstein. Molly Travers a young woman living in San Fran finds out that she is the descendant of a family of vaudeville magicians, who in the ninetieth century preformed real magic with a group of occultists called the Order of The Labyrinth......The Labyrinth and the secrets it contains, will bring Molly face-to face with magic, murder, and mystery.
 
Strange Brew Edited by P.N. Elrod Short stories by Jim Butcher, Patricia Briggs and others.
 
Book of Shadows by Alexandra Sokoloff. Homicide detective Adam Garrett is a rising star in the Boston PD when he catches a horrifying cast that could make his career; the ritualistic murder of a wealthy college girl that appears to have Satanic elements...... All Garrett's beliefs about the nature of reality will be tested as he is forced to team up with a woman he is fiercely attracted to but cannot trust.
 
Nun in the Closet by Joanna Michaels (no link at Powell's) Vows of poverty and chastity shattered my murder? Anne Hollis the owner if a woman's bar has been charged with manslaughter in the death of a nun. Anne insists she is innocent- run off the road by another car- and appeals to probation officer Callie Sinclair for help. The case gets interesting when yet another nun is murdered and Callie discovers sex and money are involved. And she and Anne find themselves falling in love, a situation dangerous to them both as they close in on the killer.
 
The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters. This link has a video of the author talking about the book. One post- war summer in rural Warwickshire, Dr. Faraday is called to a patient at lonely Hundreds Hall. Home to the Ayres family for over two centuries, the house, once impressive and handsome, is now in decline. Its owners-mother, son, and daughter- are struggling to keep pace with a changing society, as well as with conflicts of their own. But are the Ayreses haunted by something more sinister than a dying way of life? Little does Dr. Faraday know how closely, and how terrifyingly, their story is about to become intimately entwined with his.

Movie Night

Friday was movie night. This time we watched 1931 and 1932 Best Picture winners Cimarron, and Grand Hotel.

Cimarron, a novel written in 1929 by Edna Ferber, in 1930 it was made into a movie by RKO. Both the book and movie are about settling in Oklahoma from the land rush up until the 1930's. That said the costumes were in keeping the the times and so was the language, beliefs. Reading the Wiki link it states that the movie is now considered racist. For us today yes it is, however if shown to a pioneer it would have been tame in their views of people.

In Cimarron, the lead male character Yancy Carvat played by Richard Dix. Kept leaving his wife and children to feed his wanderlust. Sabra Carvat played by Irene Dunne, was left to run the business, raise the children and hold down the fort. This would be a good movie for U.S history buffs to see. The opening shot of the land rush for the movies time was amazing.

Grand Hotel, had a list of stars that is longer than my arm. Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Lionel and John Barrymore, and many others. This film was a more contemporary film than Cimarron.

Grand Hotel had a more modern feel as the setting all took place in an art nouveau setting. The shots from the top floor down to the lobby show a beautiful hotel. I would love to see a place like that.

There is not just one plot but several. Business men trying to get a deal across, a stenographer wanting to be an actress, a Baron who is down on his luck, a ballerina looking for love and a career boost. A man who finds out he is going to die, who spends all he has for a last few weeks in the lap of luxury. While each plot is interesting and separate they are all interconnected. This is a good movie just for the interchange of plots.

Next month we are going to watch 1933 Cavalcade and 1934 It Happened One Night.

Library Loot

This week I just got one book out of the library as I have to work more this week and won't have time for a lots of reading. I got

Angelology by Danielle Trusson

I have heard that it is a good read, I have tried not to read reviews with spoilers. So tonight I start.

Happy Birthday

Jules Vern, the pioneer of science fiction.

I still love and think Journey to the Center of the Earth is an awesome book, and adventure. When my boy was little that was one of the books that I read to him. Around the World in 80 Days is a close second.

If you have never read any of his books and have just seen the movies, read the books they are much better.

I WANT

NOW!!!!

I don't care that it will grow up and eat the neighborhood kids. OK, that might be a good thing.

The Broadway Melody/ All Quiet on the Western Front

Bessie Love and Anita Page star in the 1929 Academy Award Best Picture winner The Broadway Melody. This is about two sisters Hank and Queenie who want to make it into show biz. When they are offered a chance at an audition it does not go well, and the man running the show only wants Queenie. Queenie tells them that she will not work with out her sister there, so Hank is offered a job as well. As the show advances it is made clear to Queenie that if she does not "play the game" her sister will be out. Hank cannot understand why Queenie is hanging out with the stage people, and tries to force her into better choices.

I did think that the best characters in the movie was the unnamed wardrobe maker, and a drunk that they kept calling Unconscious.

The movie was very sweet, funny, and the costumes were amazing. The movie shows how innocent the time was, the sisters show affection to each other in ways that today would be not sisterly. Yes, it was in black and white but I think that made it more real to the time.

All Quiet on the Western Front won the Best Picture at the Academy Awards in 1930. This movie amazed me for the fact that it won. The story follows German WWI solders from home to the front, back home, and ultimately to death. This movie was not about the characters, it was about the harsh conditions of the military, and the physiological affect that war has on the men. It is about pain, hunger, fear, death and the despair that follows the 19 year old who is the one being followed.

This movie was an anti war movie at a time when in nine years the world would again be at war. I know that there are talks of remaking this movie. The talk is that Daniel Radcliffe will be in it and that it will still be a WWI movie.

The book All Quiet on the Western Front and its follow up both written by Erich Marai Remarque were banned in Nazi Germany.

Our next two movies will be 1931 Cimarron staring Irene Dunne and Richard Dix, then 1932 The Grand Hotel staring, Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, John and Lionel Barrymore.

My New Ride

I got it off of Cragsl!st for $25. It needs a tune up, new seat and new hand grips to start. When I get the money I am going to have it repainted. The picture does not show the color very well, but it looks like someone dropped it in Pept0 B!smo. It is that pink.

I know that the new grips are going to have streamers on them, I will be attaching a basket and getting a bell or horn as well. Yes, the front tire is a white wall. I am just not sure what color I want to go with. There are several in the liking orange, yellow, bright green, and I am sure that there are a few others.

I am reading again, I have missed it. For some reason I have not wanted to pick up a book. Oh I have gone thought the motions but have not enjoyed a book in quite a while. That changed on Saturday night. I read in 3 hours a book called Where Angels Fear to Tread, by Thomas E. Sniegoski. It was a light fun read, and now I want to get back into books.

Wings

The first movie that we should be watching on the Best Picture list is WINGS with Clara Bow. It looks like it would have been a good movie. However, it is not out on DVD so when it is released if it is released I will watch it.

Reading the link the plot of the movie seems to sound familiar like it has been done and re-done.

We still have not picked the date to watch the first two movies but it is hard trying to get schedules lined up for the first run.

My kittens are fun. I love watching them play and run about the house. I just wish that their claws were not so sharp. They will learn I hope.

I made my first ever gumbo. I made chicken as it has to last me most of the week, I like the way it turned out. Even up here in the NW I managed to find a spice shop that had File Powder. I did want to try to make it close to the recipe that I found. It is spicy, and filling and oh so yummy. The one thing I think I did wrong is my rice. I used sticky rice, but I do like it so I think that is what matters.

A New Year

I have just been lazy in my writing, and in my reading. To be honest on my days off I have not wanted to do much of anything. I have been going to the gym, but instead of losing weight I have been gaining. I think this is because I do not eat enough, but I do not know how to eat what I need to. I am not going to turn this into a weight loss blog. I know that many people do and find it helpful, I just don't think that will work for me. I have, however come up with a plan to get me writing again.

Some of my friends and I are going to have a movie night once a month. This is something that I have wanted to do for a long time, two years. We are going to watch in order ALMOST every movie that has won Best Picture at the Academy Awards, I say almost because the first movie is not yet out on DVD.

WINGS won in 1928 and it stars Clara Bow. The movie is about WWI and would be an interesting one to see. When it becomes available it will be watched even out of order. The other movie that I will not be watching is one that is one that gets shown on TV a lot and when I was a kid every time it came on my mother made us watch it. I still get tension headaches thinking about that movie, so for that year a runner up will be chosen to watch in its place.

There are some movies that I never heard of, and some that I have never wanted to see but as they are on the list they will be watched. One of the girls want to watch more than one movie a night and this does make some sense as there are more than 80 movies on the list.

If we do that the first two that we are going to see is the 1929 THE BROADWAY MELODY staring Charles King, Anita Page, and Bessie Love. The second one is the 1930 ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT staring Lew Ayers and Louis Wolheim.

I do think that this will be fun.

What I Have Been Up To

The Girl

The Boy

My Honey came up for a very short visit this week. It was so wonderful to see her. We had hand dipped corn dogs, wandered about town. I even got her to drive my car. After the first few jerks she got the hang of a stick shift very well.

I got all but two Christmas items taken care of today. I need to get Honey her gift still but she knows that it is going to be a combo Christmas/Birthday gift. The other thing I need I forgot when I was at the store. Word M*rket is right by the gym and I can pick up the last piece for my friend T there.

One of my best friends got me a new pussy. I don't know yet if she has gotten me the girl or the boy. They are only 31/2 months old, so I have them currently living in the litter box closet. I do take them out to play with, hold and pet. However, they are a bit shy and have only been here 2 hours. I will leave them in there tonight so that they know it is a safe place to go and hid if needed. Also this will give them a chance to get use to the different smells, and sounds of their new environment.

The shelter had named them Ariel and Sebastian. That is not going to do. I will be looking for names for them. The markings are so similar that there is no doubt that they are litter mates.

I hate coming up with titles

I know I have not written anything in months. It is not that I don't want to it is just when I sit down to write all of my ideas seem to go out the window.

I have had ideas on health care, books, gay marriage, things that have been happening and not happening.

I guess right now I just feel lazy, I am going to try and do better and get into a habit of writing again.

Drunk Drivers

I have, thankfully never lost a loved one to a drunk driver. I have known a lot of drunk drivers and in knowing them I think that the drunken driving laws of my state need to be changed.

With the advent of cell phones there is no need to drive drunk, buzzed, or high. The laws are too lenient. We have vehicular assault that is when a drunk driver hits someone and injures them. We have vehicular manslaughter that is when a drunk driver hits someone and kills them.
Vehicular assault needs to be changed to attempted murder, and vehicular manslaughter should be premeditated murder. I know that these might sound harsh, but think about it.

With all the ads, news stories, campaigns, and even books there is no reason for a person to go out get drunk and then drive. There is enough information out there to show the potential of what could happen.

Knowing that a person is going to choose to have a few then drive home that is premeditated. Thought out, planed. I have taken care of some drunk drivers who actually think what they did was funny. It is not funny; there is nothing funny about risking the life of someone else. One of my patients had been in jail for vehicular assault, got out, got drunk and hit someone else.

The laws need to be harsher. Cab, bus, or call a buddy for a ride.

Mermaid

Most of the time being in a long distance relationship is OK. Phone calls, email, video chats help. We play games together, read to each other so that we are sharing things and learning what we like and don't like.

Sometimes, this time being in a long distance relationship is like that picture. Curled up alone, in a safe place with a few treasures for company. The memory of being held, the pearl a moment of laughter. The passions of getting together. Yet, the knowledge that what is wanted needed is just out of reach. So tonight I feel like that mermaid. I know that in the morning it will be better, it always changes like that. From everything is fine, to a feeling of loss so deeply that only crying makes it better.

So tonight I miss Honey so much that it hurts. Tomorrow I will miss Honey, and it might not hurt.

Burnt

I have been sick enough that the doc put me on an antibiotic and another pill the size of a horse. He also put me on leave from work so what does a girl like me do with the weekend off? I go to pride!

I did not think that I was going to get to go as I was to have worked. I should not have gone. Because of the antibiotic I am just a little sun sensitive. Well, I am anyway being , a night shifter Irish, and from the Pacific Northwest.

Lets just say the first reaction people have when they see me is OUCH! I don't think that my shoulders are that bad but I do know they are the color of fire engine red.

Oh well, I did get to pet a lot of dogs, see kitties on leashes and one guy with a bunny. Gotta love Pride.

Alive

Yes, I am alive. No, I have not given up on blogging. I have just had a lot of things going on in the past month or so. Much of it has been good fun things.

In early May I flew down to CA. Honey picked me up and we drove to San Jose to see The Eagles play. The concert was wonderful, it was three hours of just The Eagles. There was no opening act just them, they did take a 20 minute break half way through the concert.

On Saturday we got up late drove around lost looking for the Winchester Mystery House. We decided that for all of the size of the house the mystery is that it is imposable to find. I did learn that the T.V. shows do not give the house justice. That place it beautiful. The house is beautiful and Mrs. Winchester did things back when she was living that was unheard of for her employees.

On Sunday we drove into San Francisco and when to the Science Museum. There I saw upside down jellyfish, sea dragons and beautiful butterflies. The best part of those three days was spending them with Honey.

I knew leaving her that time would not be bad as in a few weeks we were both going to go to Tucson for a week. My son graduated from high school with honers and after the ceremony, the three of us spent most of the time we were there doing touristy things. Honey, K and I went to the botanical gardens, San Xavier mission, Tucson Sonora Desert Museum, shopping, and Colossal Cave. Now, we did not do all of this in the same day. When we went to the mission the keys to the rental got locked in the car and we had to wait for AAA to come and pop the lock.
That time leaving was harder. I am still working thought that leaving, I know that part of it is because my whole family lives in Tucson and I am the only one in Oly. I also know that Honey and I have yet to have plans for when we are going to see each other again and that makes the leaving harder.

This month I have also turned 40 and then I got sick so sick that I had to go to the doc and get an antibiotic. So I am still alive, there is a lot of stuff going on, working through, and as I start to work on things I will be here more.

Last Saturday of the Month

There was a line outside of the bar, not for entry but for the hot dog stand that takes up a small part of the store front. I knew that I should not have worried about the way I looked in my new outfit that I was understated. That alone is and understatement, in line waiting for veggie dogs were two people dresses up as hot dogs. Across the street were walking mushrooms and giant ladybugs. Little girls with butterfly wings, and little boys dressed up as dogs, cats, alligators.

I got downtown at the end of the Procession of the Species. That is not what I went down there for but next year it looks like I might go. The procession looks like it is a lot of fun. No, I went down there to go to Jake's on 4th. The last Saturday of the month is the drag queen show. I have never been to one before and so I meet some friends down there. One of the girls got there at 5pm when the show does not start until 8 at the earliest. If you are not there by 5 you won't get a table and ours was right next to the stage. It was loud and it was fun.

I love going to Jake's, watching the show was great fun. But watching the crowed was even better. There were queers of all kinds there, leather, skinny, not skinny, buff, buxom, straight, and the list goes on.

As well as the Drag Queens there were three Drag Kings, and they were well, wow! Some of those Queens have smoking hot legs, in face one of them had legs almost as good as Tina Turner. What I want to know is how do they get those legs.

The show lasted until 11ish and I left when the floor opened up for dancing. I do love to dance but I told someone that I would drive them to their car as they had to park blocks away and I got one around the corner.

I got home ate some sweet potato fries as I was craving them and was asleep by 1am. The only thing that would have made the night perfect was if Honey could have been with me.

This + That

So this past week at work was one for the books. It was the usual same old thing, whiny knees, and hips. finding out that a 88 year old who was "OK" when they came in goes into a SNF (skilled nursing facility or nursing home) because they were just holding on at home then the anesthesia pops their dementia into the for front of their lives.

What made the week so worth reporting was what happened to me. I was leaving a PT room when I felt something poke me on the underside of my tata. I went into the bathroom to investigate and found that my under wire had broken and poked through the fabric.

That was not going to work for the next ten hours. So I did what anyone with my training would do. I stole some foam tape and fixed it.

When I got the chance to go downstairs and talk to the nursing supervisor I asked her not to laugh at me. She got the giggles, when I told her that if the foam tape did not work I was going to have to go home and change.

So here for your enjoyment is a pic of the patch job, and yes it did last all night.

Bragging Rights

Camlin has a great post on music and it gave me the idea to put up some bragging rights.

I don't often post about my son, but her post gave me the idea so if you want to blame someone...

My son is now 18 and going to graduate High School in May. When he was in the third grade he came to me and said he wanted to learn to play the saxophone. Being the mother that I am I said no. I made him play the clarinet. He hated it and me, for years and year. He played that clarinet up until his 3 year of High School.

There were times in band when he was the only clarinet player, because all the cool kids played sax. I did not care. Play the clarinet.

Then when he was a Freshman he wanted to not tell the band leader that he played the clarinet, he wanted to tell him that he played the bagpipes. So me being me looked at the boy and said you can play the bagpipes you just have to get a few thousand dollars and lean how to work the bellows.

He of course said I can't play them. Me being me I went out and bought a chanter. That is what is used to practice the pipes so that a thousand dollar instrument is not ruined. I handed it to him, along with the book of sheet music and told him to play me a song.

Boy: I can't.

Me: I spent $40 on that thing if you don't play me a song I will chase you around the house with it until you do.

He picks it up and what do you know he can play it.

Boy: MOM MOM I can play it!

Me: DUH! I made you play the clarinet because if you learn to it you can play most woodwinds.

Boy: Cool!

Well, the boy went to his new HS and learned 3 years of guitar in 6 months. So he now plays chanter, clarinet, guitar, bass guitar very well. He can play sax, tin whistle, harmonica, and a few others.

Sapphistries

I am reading a book called Sapphistries by Leila j. Rupp . While it is written some what like a text book with the foot notes and the indexes, it is a fascinating read. I have been taking my time with it, enjoying all of the little bits of information that is there and that is not there.

What is not there is more fascinating than I would have thought. There is just enough history to know that women have a history of loving women. I am up to the chapter 4 it is called In Unlikely Places (500BCE - 1600CE). There is very little on women in this time frame but what is there is an eye opener. One Bavarian nun wrote to her lover and there is just enough of it left to tear my heart.

I feel what this nun wrote hundreds of years ago the longing, the desire, the pain. These are the words that this woman wrote sometime in the 1300-1400: . . .

It is you alone I have chosen for my heart....
I love you above all else,
You alone are my love and desire...
When I recall the kisses you gave me,
And how with tender words you caressed my little breasts,
I want to die
Because I cannot see you.

Mabon

I need some help from people out there who have had cats before. I am ready to take Mabon back to the pound. I have never had a cat so I don't get what is going on with her and I have had it. She will only use her litter box twice, then if she has to go she will go on the floor. Yes, I do scoop it out every morning, and yes I am using the same litter I have sense I first got her.

If something does not change in a week she will be going back on Saturday. Oh, and she has checked out with the vet. If I catch her going to the bathroom on the carpet she will then again use the litter box.

Oh, and she has checked out with the vet. So, if anyone out there has any ideas at all can you let me know. Maybe, I am just not meant to have a cat.

Monarch Park Pics

I Love this Dragonfly.
She was one of the last to be seen on the path out of the park.

Can you spot the diver?

This one was hidden in the Monarch Maze.

I just could not pass up getting a picture of this little girl playing with the butterflies.

Hidden behind a giant croquet set I found this path.

Flower bed. Nuff said.

Monarch in the park, at the entrance to the bird houses.

Posting

I am a sporadic blogger at best and this winter I have been at my lowest in blogging at least I think that I have. That is mostly because I don't have a lot to talk about. I work, I sleep, I sleep, I work, I go to the library and grocery shop. Wooohooo exciting stuff.

That I have decided is going to change and it started last time I had a run of days off. I know that I live in one of the most totally awesome parts of the country if not the world. So I am going to start doing the things that I have wanted to do but have always put off.

Last week I went to Monarch Park. It was a wonderful drive out there. The sun was out and it was just warm enough to have the window down on the car. The fresh air felt good, as did seeing the start of spring.

I got some great pics of the park and some of the country side. Next time I plan on going out to to Mima Mounds.

Friday

Friday I went to the library. I love going to the library when I have the time to brouse the books and see what I am going to find. I found a book called Celtic Astrology How the Mystical Powers of the Druid Tree Signs Can Transform Your Life by Phyllis Vega. The book looks great, I have flipped through the pages and can't wait to read it.

I did read the tree sign for Honey she is an Birch, and mine is a Hawthorn. However, it makes me gag reading the book. The thing is I work in an almost sent free environment, none of the staff wears perfume, they have to smoke 3 floors down and about 1/2 a block from the hospital. That means that by the time they get back upstairs the smell is almost gone.

This wonderful book that I so long to look at smells like old cigarette smoke. It is so bad that just opening the pages makes me want to gag and my eyes start to water and get itichy. I am going to have to take the book back unread and hope that in a few weeks I can get it back and see if I can read it then.

This is only the second book that I have been unable to read that I have gotten from the library.

The Eagles and other stuff

I have not been here in a while and I know that as a sporadic poster I can do better. I don't know if I will try or not.

Last week was not a good one. I injured my shoulder at work, and on the 18Th will start physical therapy. The worst thing about this is not the pain or even the worse much worse sudden pain when I sneeze, it that I cannot get any over time. Not to mention that with the pain came good old Auntie Flo, and this time she was in a weepy, self pity mode.

Then to top it off the heater in my car has been sporadic is not working at all unless I get on the freeway. I will one day have to get that looked at. It is really strange the fan works just fine I just don't get any heat unless I am going over 40mph. Whatever...

I am going to be reloading my iportablemusicplayer in a few days so I am loading all of my Cd's onto my laptop. I need a bigger laptop. I am finding a music treasure that I did not know I had.

Also a big thing has happened with Honey and myself, no we have not broken up. We have both come to the conclusion that even if I move down to where she is at we will not be able to be together the way that we want to be. Her mom is well, her mom.

The other big news that I have is that on April 30Th Honey and I are going to see The Eagles in concert. Wooohoooo!!!! I can't wait and all of this excitement is not about seeing The Eagles, most of it is about seeing Honey again. November seems so far in the past.

Time to try and get in a nap.

Ranch House BBQ Yummy

I love me some good food. I really don't care what kind it is as long as it is fresh, tasty and yummy. So this past week a friend of mine and I went to the Ranch House BBQ. All I have to say about that place is OMG!!

OK, I will say a bit more about it. I will try to get my facts right but I might get some wrong it is not deliberate it is just because it is midnight and I need coffee.

First some history of the place. The Ranch House is run, owned by Amy Anderson and partner Melanie Tapia who has won several awards for their BBQ and has also been on the Food Network. They have competed under the name Mad Momma & the Kids, the awards include national, state, and they have even gone on to the World Championship in Ireland in 2000.

They opened the restaurant in 2004 about 10 miles or so out side of Olympia heading down HW8. Then in December 2007 disaster struck. The restaurant was taken out by a mudslide, still just inside Thurston County the ladies were not on the FEMA list for help, and the sites insurance did not cover "land movement". Many people were ready to say good by to the restaurant.

Just days after the disaster the Governor Hotel in downtown Olympia gave lease free the use of their empty restaurant space, and a fund was set up at a local bank to help with the rebuilding.

Feb, 2009 they were able to reopen on the original location, and the place is going strong. What does this have to do with food?

When I ate there I had the brisket sandwich with a side of coleslaw with vinegar and a side of beans. I could have licked the bean pot clean if they had let me back in the kitchen and beans are not my favorite. Also H and I split a platter of garlic cheese fries my mouth is watering just thinking of them. I was the only one who was not listening to how full I was and ordered a slice of home made BOURBON PECAN PIE. I died and went to BBQ heaven. I will be going back there are a lot more items to try.

If I were a food critic this restaurant would get 200 stars out of a possible 10. So anyone who is heading up this way wants a good place to eat and does not mind a short drive Ranch House BBQ is the way to go.

Some People

Last week I worked on a floor of the hospital that I get to work on every once in a while. I like working there it is busy, it flows and the nurses have time to help with patient care. So last week Patient A (now going to be referred to as PA) was admitted. PA is 97, has dementia to the point of only being oriented to self, and is jaundice. None of those is a cause to be admitted to the hospital.

I should explain that oriented to self means that the person does not know where they are, what year it is, who anyone is. All they know is that they are there, no one or nothing else exists. This is a very simple definition but it works.

So, back to PA. PA is in for a blood transfusion that is it, the patent is not eating, hardly drinks anything and just hollers for CG. PA yells for CG so loudly that the shouts can be heard over the entire floor. Now, there is a CG (short for caregiver, a personal one) none of the nursing staff has ever seen this CG the entire time that PA has been in the hospital, and it has been over a week.

I am telling you this is that CG is getting the entire staff at the hospital angry with him. Why?

The reason is simple, PA is in the last stages of life, and needs to go on to the Summer land. What we at the hospital are doing is worse than torture. PA does not understand the reason behind turning so not to get bedsores, does not understand taking of blood for labs, or the machines that peep all the time, or why strangers come in and out doing things. PA does know that this is scary and has no control over what is happening.

PA's power of attorney is CG. CG is a paid caregiver not a relative. The longer PA is alive the more money CG will get. The Dr. said that the only reason PA is in the hospital is because CG wants the money, and that CG is tired of dealing with PA. However, if PA goes into long term care then CG gets no cash ola.

OK so this post does not make a lot of sense. I just wanted to rant about how some people need to get their heads out of the money train a$$, and take a look at real life.

I am a Gemini

I think that my twins in the realm of Gemini are more like sextuplets.

On New Years Eve, a friend (H) and I went to Tugboat Annies for an Irish Hooley, that involves music, food, and drink. The Hooley started at 2pm and was to get over at 4pm midnight in Dublin. On the way there I decided to take the freeway, wrong choice it was dead stopped. So off to the surface streets I go. Now, H and I were to meet up at 12:45 to get to the restaurant by 1:00.

I hate to be late, hate it hate it hate it. So off on the streets I go. I have 10 minutes to get to her house and then ten to get to the restaurant. I will make it. Nope. This is what happened and shows just how crazy this girl can get.

At the first traffic light I come to I am the second car in the line. The light is green and the car in front of me is sitting there with the left turn signal on. We, are in the GO STRAIGHT lane. My phone rings and here is what I can remember of the conversation.

"Hello", I say.

"Hi." Its my brother. "Did you pay something on the ----- bill?"

"SONOFABITCH!!! Yes I did but I did not have the code so that I could not see the full amount."

"That is great, I went to pay it and most of it was taken care of." he says.

"Good how much was left on the bill? MOTHERFOGETTHEHELLOUTOFMYWAY!!" HOOOONK!!!!" Do I have to pay anymore or is it OK for now?"

"No its good. Are you honking your horn?"

"Yes, some DIPSHITFCKWAD is in the lane in front of me and won't go. He wants to turn left from the straight lane." HOOOOONNNNKKKK!!! "MOVEYOURASSYOUBASTARD!!! Shit the light just turned red."

"Oh OK, good to see that drivers are the same everywhere."

"Why the hell can't he pull up and turn around in the store on the corner?"

"I think that would be to easy."

"WOOHOOO! The left turn light just turned and he turned left in front of an SUV came inches from being hit."

"Well, thanks for paying on the bill, I will talk to you later."

"K. Bye."

Yippie!!!

The holidays are over. Life can get back to normal and I will fell like a human again, able to go and hang out at the bookstores and not get mobbed, get a cup of coffee and not have to rush because everyone else is in a hurry.

I worked the holidays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and I work again tonight. I don't mind I mean it is just me and the animals. So this year I did not even decorate, kill a tree or any of that. It felt wonderful, I do admit that I missed the smell of the tree in the house but then to get that smell all I have to do is open the windows.

Mabon is becoming more relaxed around me. I don't know if her past owners were mean to her or not but she is just now starting to play with other things besides the red bug.

I hung my new calender up today. Honey got it for me for Christmas it is a Nene Thomas I love her art work.

I have been exhausted, the management decided that it would be a good time to trim all of the trees on the property. That is great but they did not give notice that the noise level was going to explode, if they had I would not have picked up extra shits. If I call out on an extra shift the hospital won't let me work over time for a year. Arrrggg!!!! It frustrates me to think about it. Oh well, they are not here today and I am off to bed. Night all.

Why I have not been posting.

There are sugar cookies, flour less chocolate-walnut cookies, chocolate covered cherries cookies, molasses cookies, peppermint bark, and not pictured dark chocolate peppermint bark, peanut brittle.

Like Most

Like most people at this time of year I have no desire to write, or not much of one.

Two weeks ago Honey came up for a visit I am so tired of being so far apart but for now I can't afford to move and well she can't. When she was here I realized that when we do get to finally be together that it will work out. I was afraid that it would not because she does not like Brussels Sprouts, but I realized that we can work around that. No, the week went very well. We went out to breakfast at my favorite breakfast restaurant the New Moon Cafe. Then wandered about downtown, going where we both wanted to. I did make her go into the comic book store, I am such a geek.

Then at night we made dinner, read to each other. I bought her a copy of my favorite Christmas book The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson. We read that to each other while drinking some really good petite Shara. We watched a movie or two, and just hung out. I loved that week. It seems like forever ago.

Today the 29Th my son turns 18, so I am making me a cake as I am the one who did all of the work. Packing him around for 9+ months (he was 3 weeks late), puking my guts out, pushing out a nine pound kid out of a little tiny hole, and he was just there for the ride. So, I am making me a Red Velvet Cake my most favorite cake in the world. Then later today myself and some friends of ours are going to try and utterly humiliate him, long distance as he is going to school in another state.

Mabon, my cat is getting use to me. She in starting to sleep on the bed and become more playful.

Work is... I hate working during the holidays. Do you know what the major complaint of people coming to the hospital is during this time of year? Nausea and vomiting!!! Big surprise, OD on turkey, pie, other rich foods and drinks. Then what happens, the body revolts. All, we can do unless it is something like pancreatitis or appendicitis is let them puke in a bucket and give I.V fluids until all the food and drink is gone. Sorry, about that rant.

Jude, you have my support and I am pulling for you.

Next week I work 6 days. Whoohoo 6 twelve hour shifts, two on, one off, four on. I think I am going to say something stupid to a patient. I hope not. I will have to remember to write up a post about my work pet peeves sometime.

Well, I need a nap before I start the cake and the rest of my day.

Veterans Day

Thank you to our Veterans. You make my heart soar, and weep. Thank you for all that you have done, will do and will continue to do.