Another fine installment of 24 graced my senses last night. The political implications / comparisons to the current administration probably has blog's a wagging. But not here.
I only want to say that yet again a most entertaining episode. Not that I expect anything less.
Also I want to mention that 24 goes very well with a cold glass of milk and Flavocrunch popcorn from Candyland.
Ahhh, nothing like drowing out the bat cave chatter with the ol' Ipod.
In the Mix:
Pink Floyd: Comfortably Numb
There is no pain, you are receding.
A distant ship’s smoke on the horizon.
You are only coming through in waves.
Your lips move but I can’t hear what you’re sayin’.
When I was a child I caught a fleeting glimpse,
Out of the corner of my eye.
I turned to look but it was gone.
I cannot put my finger on it now.
The child is grown, the dream is gone.
I have become comfortably numb
Metisse: Boom Boom Ba
Can you hear my heart beat in this bond
Do you know that behind of this bond
Lies the deep desire I'm in love hey
Make a wonderful love if I may
All my dreams to be all I can do
Only I love, only love
And you say I knew we should find a new way
Make a wonderful love if I may
Can you hear my heart beat in this hurt
Do you know that behind of this hurt
Lies the deep desire I'm in love hey
Make a wonderful love if I may
All my dreams to be all I can do
Only I love, only love
And you say I knew we should find a new way
Make a wonderful love if I may
Can you hear my heart beat in this hurt
Do you know that behind of this hurt
Lies the deep desire can you love hey
Make a wonderful love if I may
Make a wonderful love if I may
Make a wonderful love if I may
Can you hear my heart beat in this hurt
Can you hear my heart beat in this hurt
Genesis: Congo
Into my heart you came
And gave a whole new meaning to my life
Into my world you brought a light
I thought it never would go out
Send me to the congo I’m free to leave
There’s always somewhere anybody can lead
Send me to the congo you have to believe
You can do it if you wanna just do what you please
I would never be the one to say you had no reason
To want me somewhere else far far away
But someday you may understand, someday you will see
That someone who would die for you is all I’ve ever been
Congo the congo, if that’s how it’s got to be
Congo the congo, if that’s what you want from me
I would never be the one to say you had no reason
To want me somewhere else far far away
Someday you may understand someday you will see...
Alanis Morissette: Everything
You see everything, you see every part
You see all my light and you love my dark
You dig everything of which I'm ashamed
There's not anything to which you can’t relate
And you’re still here
Seal: Kiss from a Rose
You remainYou.......
My power, my pleasure, my pain.
To me you’re like a growing addiction that I can’t deny, yeah
Won’t you tell me is that healthy, baby.
But did you know,
That when it snows,
My eyes become large and the light that you shine can be seen.
Baby,I’ve...
I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey.
Been.............. kissed from a rose on the grey.
Ooh, the more I get of you...ooh...........the..Stranger it feels, yeah
I bow to the MP3 gods!
It was a nice weekend. The girls joined me and my folks for breakfast at the Downtowner Woodfire Grill in St. Paul. Wonderful food! Then we went to Grand Ave. to shop. Penzey's was the first stop on our journey. This is a very cool spice shop. I picked up something called the Northwoods spice mix. It smelled, well, like the northwoods. Or at least the smell you would want wafting off the campfire as your steak cooked :-). I also picked up Orange Peel. I used it Sunday morning in my beer bread. This store is CRAZY cool if you like to cook.
We also wandered around Restoration Hardware, the Bead Monkey, and our last stop was the Grand Ole Creamery for ice cream. Best homemade ice cream in the cities and ranked 10th in the United States!
Saturday night we went to the Gaslight Tour at the James J. Hill house. It's amazing how much money there was in railroads back at the turn of the century.
Finally, Sunday was highlighted with a trip to Mama Marias for a late lunch early dinner. And as usual, the food was orgasmic. Perfect in every way.
Somedays I wish I could walk around the city streets with my Krispy Kreme bakers hat on and a stuffed dinosaur under my arm.
A little shallow female indulgence:
Last night was mall night with my buddies from a former job. We meet once a month for shopping and dinner at the mall of despair. Being the former retail manager nutcase that I am I noticed that Bose was giving up their big corner store and opting for a smaller store a couple of doors down from Apple. (They are currently only about 50 feet and Lego Land away from one another - seriously you can see both stores at the same time) I just have to wonder how un-godly the rent is. Apparently it is cheaper to totally redesign a store into a smaller location, plumb it, wire it, etc. then to pay the rent on the corner location. Why else would they move? Hmmm the benign things I think about.
I found great deals at Christopher & Banks. Mom's b-day presents and some stuff for one of the girls here at work. Sales racks. Their stuff is awesome, I'm telling you. I got a very nice pair of winter weight bootcut pants in navy blue for my co-worker for $4.99. I also found her a red and grey checked long sleeve blouse for $4.99. How can you beat that? It's good quality, excellent style for work, and washes and wears like a dream.
No mall trip would be complete without visiting DSW. And giggles and grins my favorite shoes were in back on the clearance rack. Yippee! Black wedges by Kenzie. They already did 70% off the turquoise ones a while back (yes, of course I got those) so I was happy that they finally decided to get rid of the black version.
And the evening would not be complete without dinner at the Tuci. Alas however our favorite and regular waiter was on vacation. So sans Steve we still had a wonderful gab filled meal. Chatting about life, the universe, and everything.
So, thank you for the indulgence, I do have to be girlie once in a while :-)
So, I wanted to check the weather to see just how unseasonably warm it is going to be. Tomorrow (Thursday) we are expecting a high close to 50. Please keep in mind we means Minnesota. Anyway, I catch a headline in the local news section:
HOSPITAL OK'D FOR TREATING ANIMALS AND HUMANS
To sum up the story: A hospital in a very rural part on Minnesota had to undergo a Health Dept. Investigation because some slug complained about them helping the local vet out with animals. What the hospital does is let the vet use their x-ray machine because they don't have one of their own. Fortunately the hospital was cleared of any and all violations.
Which brings me to my rant:
A. Animals are far more deserving of healthcare than 99% of the human population
B. Pet owners are NOT more susceptible to disease
C. Studies have shown that people live longer and are healthier when an animal is part of the household
D. Did I mention animals are far more deserving than humans?
E. I would prefer a hospital that values all life rather than one that is pick and choose.
F. Freddy the bum has more diseases and bugs than most animals and no one complains when he is given medical attention - I wouldn't want to be on the x-ray slab after him!
G. Did I mention animals are more deserving than humans?
H. My dogs are my life and I would never forgive someone who let them die for the sake of "Cleanliness"
I. As an animal lover I am far more likely to support my local hospital if I knew that if offered emergency care to animals. They have a fund raiser ball or pancake breakfast- I'm there!
J. I work for a chemical company and can vouch for the fact that the disinfectants hospitals use (at least our chemicals) kills many if not all of the diseases that animals can carry (mind you that most of these diseases we can't even get) in other words we sell the same chemical to St. Joe's hospital that we sell to Joe's veterinary hospital. So if it kills HIV, TB, and Herpes I'm pretty sure it will kill whatever Fido may have.
Ahhh another installment of 24. That show is sensory crack. Plus it allows my love affair with KS to continue. It started with Lost Boys and hasn't ever ended.
I finished a book called Emotionally Weird by Kate Atkinson. Good story. Interesting and fun to read.
I am currently plowing thru the second book in Lian Hearn's "Tales of the Otori" trilogy. The story is very similar in style to Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.
So I have been friends with Jes for six plus years now. We go out for breakfast just about every Saturday. We shop, we do crafts together, etc. Typical girl stuff. So, we are out and about Saturday morning and she is looking for a copy of the Scrabble video game. Why? Because scrabble is her favorite game but she doesn't have anyone to play with on a regular basis and someone told her the P.C. version is really fun. So the conversation went like this:
R: "I didn't know you liked scrabble"
J: "Yeah, it's my favorite game"
R: "Really? huh, it's mine too, but I don't have anyone to play it with."
J: "So why didn't you ever mention it?"
R: "Cause it's one of those games that people treat you like a leper for liking. Why didn't you say anything?"
J: "Same reason."
Is there a moral to this story? Probably but I have no idea what it would be.
Needless to say we played a couple rounds of Scrabble on Saturday. It was fun. But then I did discover the extent of my geekiness. As I was contemplating words I could make with the letter Q I started to mix reality as we know it in the English Dictionary and the world of Sci-Fi. So, is "Quark" really a word or a character from DS9? And "Quid" is that real currency or something from some Sci-Fi show I watch? This quagmire I probably should have kept to myself but I voiced it out loud while Jes and I were playing. She thought it was better if I kept that to myself and didn't repeat it to anyone. Apparently there are still aspects of Scrabble that can have the leper effect.
I told this story to my husband while we were watching Poirot on Sunday night. At first he agreed with Jes and gave me that same look - like my ear had just fallen off onto the couch cushion. But then as I explained a little further he had to agree with me. I think his response was "That is uber geeky; but I can see what you mean."
As if that little discovery wasn't enough as we were driving back to Jes's house to play some scrabble we passed by the outdoor rink in Roseville and the conversation went something like this:
R: "So, there's the skating rink in Roseville"
J: "Yeah, why?"
R: "Oh, I love to skate but I don't' know anyone else who does"
J: "You are kidding right?"
R: "No, why?"
J: "Cause I love to skate only I can never find anyone else to go with me."
So, Mike asked how many pic's of the significant other does everyone have in their veal pen/office?
I have three - here is a complete inventory of my bat cave:
On the desk: (u-shaped dimensions: 6ftX8ftX4ft and 22 inches deep)
Tissue Box * Company Dog * Heart Paperweight
Cell Phone holder * Framed photos of Sophie, Max, Our Wedding, My Brother's Wedding, Soc's, Soc's, Max, another of our wedding * decorative lamp * fake plant * candy jar * Pen holder * Notepad holder * sample tiles from stonecare line * business card holder * phone * Stapler * tape disp. * lotion bottle
On the walls:
Thank you card from co-workers daughter * Photo of general store that reminds me of my Grandma Flo * cartoon from Mutts * Eeyore Calendar * cool fairy pic * Fairy ornament from friend * Blue (from blues clues)* inspirational picture ("I get up. I walk. I fall down. Meanwhile I keep Dancing") * Inspirational saying ("Stand tall, smile bright, and let 'em wonder what secret's making you laugh") 5 decorative tacks * time zone cheat sheet * 16 4x6 photos of animals * Minnesota State Fair poster
On my shelves:
Stuffed moose * stuffed santa * 2 stuffed snowmen * stuffed cat * stuffed polar bear * frame with thank you from a distributor * leggo scene of explorer and abominable snowman * beanie baby dog * Company mug * Company cockroach * Company gum box * magnet that reads: "I'm the pink flamingo on the green lawn of life" and a magnet with a very long "inspirational" saying by Walt Whitman
Hanging from cupboard:
One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish ornament * shoe fairy * Caribou Coffee Moose
So there you have it. If I could find a digital camera I would take a picture, however I don't know where we hide them.
There was a wonderful box on my doorstep last night. It contained 9 of the 11 books I ordered from B&N. At $3.99 each I couldn't say no. Unfortunately only 7 of the books were from my list. The other 4 were ones I found while looking through the clearance books. I started one of the 4 spontaneous purchases last night. It's called "Across the Nightingale Floor" by Lian Hearn. It's book one in a trilogy. So far, so awesome. It's a mystical story set in ancient Japan.
Last night I finished "New York Trilogy" by Paul Auster. Very odd collection of 3 short stories. Very very odd. But as odd as it was I think it is one of those stories I won't forget any time soon.
At last count my new must read total was 257. It doesn't help that I keep adding more than I take away and read..........sheesh.
Saturday was a fun day with the girls. We had lunch at TGI Fridays and then frolicked around the mall. We scored great season end sales.
Saturday night we had movie night with the seascouts. Michael brought home a screen and projector from work. We watched Finding Nemo (White Squall wouldn't play), at popcorn, and had a great time. Nothing like creating your own big screen movie experience.
Sunday morning I woke up to find that my darling husband had set up a movie theater in the living room. Complete with my favorite movie ready to go. So, I enjoyed Pirates of the Caribbean and then Lara Croft Tomb Raider in big screen format. How fun! And what a great way to spend a Sunday morning/afternoon.
I also finished "The Angel of Forgetfulness" Interesting tale. I'm not quite sure if I liked it but I couldn't stop reading it so there is something about it that is appealing. Just don't ask me what that is. Now I am reading "The New York Trilogy" by Paul Auster.
The evening finished out with the first two installments of 24. I'm addicted, I will confess. I can't wait till tonight to watch the next two hours. I had a crush on Keifer back in the 80's and I still do today.
Well damn, 1 out of 4 games went my way. Not good if I was playing Vegas. Oh well. I feel bad for Indy. And Chicago. Both teams off to a bad start in the first two quarters really rallied and put their whole heart and soul into the second half. But it was a little too late.
So, for next week:
Pittsburgh vs. Denver - Go Steelers
Seattle vs. Carolina - Go Seahawks
I like to eat peanut butter out of the jar
I love the rain
Thunder and Lightening holds me spellbound
Reading a good book is one of the things that makes life worth while
My husband make me feel at peace with the world
I miss my family
I love to watch my cat sleep
I will watch The Italian Job, Love Actually, Groundhog Day,
2 Weeks Notice, and While you were Sleeping every time
they are on
I once dreamt I was having lunch with the Queen
I have a shoe fetish but I love to be bare foot the most
I still like stuffed animals
I don't mind getting dirty
Sometimes I close my eyes, turn my face to the sun and wonder
what is really out there
I do the same thing at night but with my eyes wide open
I love my bed
Flannel is my favorite fabric
Animal cruelty makes me angrier than human cruelty
For the sake of nature I sometimes wish humans would disappear
Though I always marvel at her power to conquer concrete despite us
I want to go to Florence some day
I would also like to live in Alaska for a few years
Of all the places I have lived Minnesota is my favorite
I love that my dad calls me when he is walking his dog
I'm afraid of large bodies of water
But my favorite spot in the world is a rocky beach outcrop in Big Sur
I don't like bugs, snakes, or spiders
Daisies are my favorite flower
I'm wearing dressy separates today - see Jan. 6th "So Tell Me"
I wish we lived on a farm so we could rescue more dogs.
I collect fairies (not the child cherubic ones - those are creepy)
Amy Brown is an artist I like
Patricia Lewis also has some cool stuff
And last but not least:
My current mantra:
"Blessed are the cracked for it is they who let in the light."
I love the play-offs. Rather than always cheering for my favorite team - The Vikings (well them and whoever plays GreenBay) I can cheer for whichever team I want to be in the play-off's more. So, for this past weekend:
Washington vs. Tampa - cheer for Washington - can't forgive Tampa for dumping Tony
Carolina vs. Giants - cheer for Giants (I just thought it would be cool for the Manning brothers)
Jacksonville vs. New England - Cheer for New England!
Pittsburgh vs. Cincinnati - Cheer for Pittsburgh
I got 3 out of 4 wishes :-)
Next weekend:
Washington vs. Seattle - Go Seattle (I have good friends in Seattle)
New England vs. Denver - Go New England
Pittsburgh vs. Indianapolis - Go Indianapolis - Cause I just Love Tony D. and Peyton Manning!
Carolina vs. Chicago - Go Chicago
We'll see how many wishes I get!
Breakfast at Perkins - $12.22
Random items at Target - $27.96
Beauty supplies from Ulta - $17.38
Ticket for matinee showing of Narnia - $5.50
A day with Jes and Lisa - Priceless
Girl time is good time. Spend it with the ones you care about.
Oy Vey,
My book list thanks to A. The newest Pages Magazine, and B. the reading list of an author I love is up to 253. I have got to get my nose to the book! Holy Cow. I did manage to find 2 more books on my list at the clearance book store in the skyway but I also managed to find 2 additional books that were not on my list. Which means I have 255 books to read.
Recent additions include:
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon (Nobel Prize winner)
The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts by Louis de Bernieres
When the Nines Roll Over by David Benioff
Bangkok 8 by John Brudell
You Remind me of Me by Dan Chaon
A Million Little Pieces by James Frey
My Friend Leonard by James Frey (Follow-up to A Million Little Pieces)
Well, gotta go read...............
We rang in the new year with good friends, good fondue, good drinks, and good pets. Yes, the animals behaved, the friends enjoyed their drunkening, and the chocolate fondue was to die for.
We played Apples to Apples and Imagineif. Very fun. We also watched the Dick Clark show for the countdown. I do have to say, Mariah Carey has set the new standard for ditsy floozy. She was a little too bizarre.
All in all a perfect evening! My only resolution for 2006 - get together with our friends more often!
Happy New Year!
