now watching

Things I used to like II

Thanks to Chez Co for the photo.

celeb

The photo is M.R. as Sally Bowles...thanks again to Fifi for brining me to NYC to see Cabaret at Studio 54, we had the best seats in the house at that one.

Also, if you don't love Sixteen Candles I can't help you.

today's effect: comic book

Happy Halloween

I see this as a warning sign...

today's effect: bulge

celeb

C'mon cats, the party's this way!

My people left me in charge of the house again, stop on by for a feline fiesta!

post #200

I have to get packing....off to the Land of Lincoln in the morning, again. Birdie will be minding the store.

image from irlgov.ie

Today's effect: Colored Pencil

French Friday

Okay, so, it will be a long time before I ever see the real Paris so here's the hotel is Las Vegas. I stayed there twice in 2005, once for a girls weekend (thanks again to Fifi for planning that, go figure) and then in August for my honeymoon. Photos are from the honeymoon. Viva Las Vegas!

My mother actually did make it to Paris. She had a great job for awhile and part of the gig was to travel the world with her boss (rough stuff,eh?). She gave me this frame with photographs she took of The Eiffel Tower, bless her soul.

today's effect: Pop Art

the headache meter

How could I have forgotten about the effects feature on Photo Booth? This is the thermal effect. Now my husband and I can walk around with our MacBooks and pretend like we're the next Ghost Hunters (love/hate that show). Is that a hot spot? No, it's Jason Hawe's nuts.
Ack, I'd just crap if I saw a ghost.

Thanks to my Keurig* for brewing me up the Southern Pecan flavored Green Mountain coffee in my ghost travel mug this morning, it's taking the edge off the headache.

*more on that later

celeb

the incredible edible

I have to get over the origin of eggs on a regular basis but I like them. Here's how I finally figured out how to make a hard boiled egg (like last week):

1. boil enough water to cover the amount of eggs to be cooked without crowding
2. using a pin, poke a hole into the broad end of the egg
3. carefully put eggs in the boiling water
4. boil eggs for 13 minutes
5. remove eggs from heat
6. put pot of eggs and water under a cold faucet, let it run a couple minutes until the pan water is cold
7. let eggs sit in cold water for around ten minutes

Eggs should be perfectly hard boiled and easy to peel at that point. Good luck.

pictured: a round egg from a carton I purchased awhile ago

For Dada, I hope you're having a great trip!!! :o)

just watched/now watching

Blades of Glory...I like Will Ferrell and liked this movie
Walmart: The High Cost of a Low Price...Walmart isn't going anywhere real soon and it's interesting to find out why (aside from the obvious)

things I like 43

Okay, have you tried 43 things? www.43things.com Link is also to the right------->
I recommend it to anyone who likes making lists, taking surveys or just giving their opinion. It's endless and interesting. Try it, it's free and fun.

cons and pros

Here are the cons: I knew it was time to leave "the office" when I...

1) started to wear noise cancelling earphones all day long
2) gained 30 lbs and elastic waistbands and black clothing became my friends
3) clockwatched (click photo the photo of Parker and Toni and if you like a good office/indie movie, rent it)
4) cared and got offended about the fact that there's such a thing as office politics
5) got busted crying over personal matters beyond my control (death of a loved one included)
6) realized I should have been keeping a log and recording conversations

Pros: All was well because I...

1) was allowed to wear noise cancelling earphones all day long
2) had okay health insurance
3) worked across the street from a nice Starbucks
4) learned a thing or two about people
5) actually don't care that they heard/saw me
6) can't think of a pro, I really should have done that

For ten years I worked there to pay most of the bills (thanks to my mom's generosity, she was proud of me and showed me so by making sure all of my ends were met $)...a lot of people would love to have an opportunity to work a steady schedule (M-F, 8-5 give or take) but it was becoming the death of me.
It may not seem like it by some of the content in this blog but I rarely think about the place anymore. The more time passes, the less I remember about my time there and for that I'm grateful. The thirty pounds are now gone, my nerves are much more steady and Starbucks is just a car ride away.

And these children that you spit on...

I was tired of looking at the word "church" in the name of my blog. It offended me, LOL.

What the he11 happened to my Bowie collection? Another Yetti incident I'm guessing.

4 name bean bake

This one comes from my $1 copy of Colorado Cookbook (Half Price Books in St. Paul, MN) , a fundraiser for the University of Colorado (Boulder) libraries. It's the four name bean bake with 5 types of beans in it...it was good and easy, I made the more vegetarian version as this usually includes bacon & ground beef. I'm finding that I like to cook casserole/crock-pot type things this time of year so I guess that's what I'll usually make in this useless little segment.

French Friday

Thanks again to Fifi for bringing me to NYC all those times. I believe I've gone to Les Sans Culottes with her two or three times for the price fixed lunch.

Thursday's thoughts and theories

I went to my neurologist of eight years for my semi-annual appointment on Tuesday. I have a condition called Dopa-responsive Dystonia which means that on occasions I shake, have slurred speech and my motor skills are a bit ephed up (very relaxing and fun to explain to people who think it's worthy of commentary).

I found out at my previous (lengthy and test-intensive) appointment that I do NOT have carpal tunnel. That is great because I'm guessing the place that used to cut me a paycheck wouldn't be interested in retro-paying disability for damage done while sitting in the sh!ttiest cubicle known to man in their fine institution. I have, however, been diagnosed with sciatica which has sent me reeling to the chiropractor and on the recommendation of the same neurologist at the same previous appointment, to physical therapy.

As far as Tuesday's visit...it seems I have the DRD as under control as it can possibly be these days and I attribute the change to the fact that I no longer work in the aforementioned pants environment and switching to (mostly) decaffeinated beverages (neurologist's orders again, go figure). I only left with samples of migraine medication for those once-a-week-eyeball-to-neck- and-beyond zingers that leave me helpless to the point of tears.

Are you in constant pain? Instead of telling a bunch of people who can't relate and as a result think you're a drama queen, see a competent neurologist or MD that specializes in your brand of pain.

Image from Wikipedia's definition for cubicle.

Things I like XI

I like watching "You Are What You Eat" on BBC America. I'm sure this woman's approach isn't for everyone but as for me watching it, I like to:
1) See the buffet table full of takeout food and sugary treats that the subject usually eats in a week. I especially like to hear the UK names for such things.
2) Hear Gillian McKeith holler about poo which usually cracks the subject up.
3) See the results after 8 weeks of said subject following Gillian's instructions...usually a loss of "two stone and four dress sizes", LOL.

celebs

I forgot to post a celeb last week so here's Tallulah and Kathleen playing Tallulah.

I thought of Kathleen Turner yesterday as I went to McDonald's (hello, when did that crap become so salty?)...when she was in Minneapolis for Tallulah in 2000 (which I saw at the State Theater the next evening, nice!). She was reading a Sharon McCrumb book and eating a Big Mac in the City Center food court. The person I was with said, "I loved her in Peggy Sue Got Married, I want to go ask her for an autograph." I was like 'hell no you won't'. Poor KT must've felt the gawk vibe from my lunch partner because she was outie as soon as she was done eating...how relaxing for her.

Welcome China Dragon

A Chinese takeout has opened near us named China Dragon. There's nowhere good to eat around here that isn't an oversaturated chain restaurant so it's nice to have something different as an option. The food is fresh and good unlike the competition further into town who sold their soul to the buffet-going crowd by taking on more square footage and less concern for how the food tastes...but the buffet does have crab legs floating in the chaffing dishes on the weekends. Minnesota...well known for great seafood.

Sad that I post such things, I know, but it's a ray of hope for us in the "sticks" as it was so nicely described as I was telling someone at the reunion where I live.

rhymes with crappy

I thought there would be no harm in adding a little extra shine to my recent hair coloring before the reunion and since I had a $2 coupon, I went with Shine Happy from Clairol. Basically, after ten minutes of the noxious concoction on my head, my color was stripped and my hair felt like straw. It was as if I had just used Sun In for that sassy brassy effect.
A special thank you to John Frieda for inventing luminouscolor Glaze because as you can see from the photos in the previous post, using that in the 11th hour saved my bacon. File the glaze under things I like.

Click this sentence for a fabulous blog reviewing the Clairol stuff.

reunited hey hey

I look better in the second photo but Corey looks good in the first one and really, what else matters? Derrick always looks lovely.

My word for the HS reunion is "surreal". Some people looked exactly the same and others not so much.

I didn't take a whole lot of photos, these are just the two guys I spent most of my time with back in the day.

Cookbook Collection

Thanks to Melanie for basis of this idea...every week I am going to attempt to cook one random thing a from one of my many cookbooks. This week it was Fried Eggplant Casserole from Talk About Good! It was the first recipe I opened to and though it could have been just about anything coming from this book (Cajun/French/Southern) it turned out to be somewhat of simple Italian-American, LOL. If you really want any of these recipes and can't read what you see, just comment as much and I'll post it.

French Friday/Things I Like X

Okay, I haven't found a website that pertains to this taste delight (yet) but believe me when I tell you it's delicious. I found it at Market Place. It's well worth the whopping $4.99 price tag.

Vive la France!

stop schmop

Since I don't watch local news and the only paper that can be delivered to the hinterlands is the enemy paper (which we don't get in more ways than one), I had no idea about the new law here in the land of 10,000 crap drivers...stop signs are now optional! I know this because while driving yesterday at least eight vehicles rolled right through them as I was driving by intersections at anywhere from 40 to 55 mph!!! Isn't that great? Perhaps they should consider outlawing octagons all together!!!

catalog request

The last thing I want is another catalog sent to the house but The Vermont Country Store is an exception. Any store that sells Ice Cubes, the intriguing chocolate bits that were sold by the cash register at Castlewood restaurant in Wood Dale, IL where we had to go at least once a week so my brother could have a waffle with chocolate ice cream and bananas on it for dinner is okay with me from a nostalgia-monster feeding standpoint. Was that a run-on sentence?

P.S. I didn't like eating anything on Castlewood's menu or much of anything back then so I would eat a dinner roll and sugar packets, nice.

things I like IX

My husband brought this back from his jaunt to New Orleans last week.

Go Cubs!!!

If the Cubs don't win Saturday (today), next year will mark the 100th anniversary of their last World Series title.



I like Arizona and all but these are the Chicago Cubs we're talking about.

P.S. I know the "C" is backwards, it's photo booth. Thanks.

Fuggedaboutit Friday

I'll take an Ape.

and the winner is not Dale

I believe I know the episode I ended up dreading the sight of the beautiful Padma...it was the one in which the chefs were to cook her breakfast for the quickfire challenge.

Colicchio is now the one I look forward to, his facial expressions alone are worth tuning in next season.

a major miner miracle

As if mining isn't a tough enough gig...

today's date: 10-4

click for links to cb recordings from the 60s & 70s, not for those who are easily offended...if you can get through it you'll find it's pretty much a case of the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Dale Levitski for Top Chef

If you don't want Dale to win I can't help you.