a wandering star

Well, the family continues to come up to visit the little people. My aunt, uncle, and college-bound cousin came up this weekend to meet the guys. They appeared to be entertained by the experience of seeing the little guys, who slept through the occasion. Afterwards, the family fed us lunch, gave us lovely baby presents, fed us dinner, and took us to see Night at the Museum II: Battle for the Smithsonian. I enjoyed the Octopus.

Brandon and I are taking turns singing Jonathan Coultan songs, mostly "Code Monkey" and "My Monkey" to one another this weekend.  Everyone should have something to sing, especially if it mentions the requirements of downtime.

We discovered the independently owned Legacy Books in Plano this afternoon. Monopolizing a bean bag and a comfy chair in the deserted children's section, we took turns reading or showing one another Llama Llama Mad at Mama and other treasures.

Tonight, it's a quiet night, houseguesting at another generous friend's home. This visiting the children in another city (my insurance will not pay to transfer them to my city) has certainly givien me the opportunity to experience great kindnesses. Brandon alternates between the iPod touch and his Kindle (currently featuring The Lightening Thief, I believe). I'm trying to struggle through Fer-de-Lance and thinking if it had been the first Nero Wolfe mystery I had ever read, I would never have read any of Rex Stout's other books. I'm also sporadically reading Bob Asprin's last book, which I'm guessing he wrote from an Irish Pub in the Quarter in New Orleans.

We're doing laundry again, and I'm ignoring the voice in my head that says I need to be doing dishes. I have taken a break from my coloring project. (I've spent the evening coloring some truly vivid orange and scarlet goldfish who appear to be swimming through grass). I do still need to pick up my crayons. B and I are currently taking a break from the leisure reading to surf the Internet. Soon, we realize, we will have so very little time to goof off like this.


We've had to miss a few children's birthday parties this weekend. We're thinking of our friends and missing them.

Hope you are having a relaxing weekend, too!

Tonight, I...

..helped Tim and Andrea carry a sofa-bed couch out of my house. I hope it has a new happy home.
..assembled 1 of 3? 4? Mother's Day presents.
..tested the theory that UV light breaks down objectionable scents. (I think it might, actually, but it requires more than 3 hours to work.)
..assisted in the assembly of two or three pieces of furniture.
..discovered a key stabilization element of one of the cribs is missing.
..helped move the marble top dresser and two solid oak dressers.
..remembered that I still need to call the plumber to fix the kitchen sink, acquire a working stove, find Saturday's catsitter, do the laundry from this last week, pack to be in Dallas next week, and set the alarm properly.

How are you?

Apparently, I'm a truly shallow movie-watcher some days, as I'm not sure whether to see the remake or not.

Pro: The Rock
Con: She has shorter hair.

What do you like in movies? If you hate happy endings, why? If you despise tragedies, what sets you to frothing?

I'm looking forward to seeing you all in the upcoming year. May you be happy and healthy!

would you cast as David Niven nowadays?

I was just sharing this story with a friend and thought others might appreciate it.

One year, I went to Target post Xmas and wanted a yard animal with lights, because I succomb (sp) to peer pressure and live in ExuberanceLand.
I didn't like the mal-formed bear and wasn't really a penguin person, but the Christmas Seal, the Christmas Seal needed a place to shine.

The Christmas Seal came home with me.

And now, he's in the yard cheerfully wagging his head or flapping his tail.

I have been disuaded from buying the Christmas Elephant balancing on a ball, but mainly because it was pointed out to me that the combination might invite, say, a Christmas Clown.

Clowns are scary.

I do have my eye on a Moose, though. Perhaps, that combination (along with the mini trees) would invite a small Alaskan mountain....

I'm thankful that we have a feast day of our very own here in the States.
I'm thankful for my friends who are like family.
I'm thankful for my family.

I'm thankful for cat's purrs, the sizzle of onions and garlic being sauteed, and pumpkin pie.

Ooh! and Top Chef. Even if it is all about catering.

Happy Thanksgiving, all!

Thanksgiving is nearly here. What makes it Thanksgiving to you?

My first Thanksgiving in grad school, I couldn't afford to go home. My friend Christina flew up to see me instead. We made turkey, stuffing, spinach souffle, and pumpkin pie.

Growing up, Thanksgiving was a giant potluck among a bunch of family and any "orphans" -- grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, neighbors, roommates, officemates, assorted SOs. Some offerings were staples - the turkey, stuffing, spinach souffle, rice, pumpkin pie -- and others were experiments (pumpkin soy ginger mousse).

This year, I'm going to my husband's family's celebration. It features tenderloin, for those that hate turkey, and some kind of corn casserole. I'm making sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie, and green beans.

What are you having?

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We'll miss you.

The two year old elephant at the Houston zoo died last night.

Looks like my beliefs align most closely to the Green Party's. Does voting green throw away my vote?

Might as well as been named "Persephone."

A million years ago, when I started reading junk books, the ones in the romance category were either pseudo-Victorian, wanna-be Jane Austen, or contemporaries.

WHY are they all paranormal now? What starts one of these resurgences?

I miss clever, frothy dialog, whether in Rex Stout or Lois McMaster Bujold.

Think it was a dinosaur?

I like zoos, always have. I enjoy looking at the animals and enjoy knowing that some of the monies raised are being spent on conservation. It's not that I'm into prisons, it's just that I believe in the education one can get from seeing a live animal. It's easier to want to preserve land for a tiger when you know what one is.

I just found a list of the zoos in the US and am rating ones that I have been to..Any of you have additional recommendations for must-sees?

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Yeah! Our power came on last night. I got to sleep in my own bed. Life is much better.

On the way back from work, I was musing about the aversion to "Mary Sues" that is so prevalent. Why is a hero/heroine that does the right thing and for whom things work out so bad? So then, I got to thinking about why do I read books?

The reasons tend to be situational - I read to research if I'm upset and need to make a decision, I read to better understand people if I'm stable and curious, I read to learn new things when I'm well-rested and feeling stale, but usually, I read to escape when I'm tired, stressed, or upset by "the real world." At such times, I love escaping into Fairy Land, whether in the form of folk or fairy tales or SF or fantasy or murder mysteries or chick lit or whatever. I have always had a marked dislike for "realism" in my fiction, beginning with those S.E. Hinton books that were so popular in my childhood. I think I disliked them because they were full of dirt, danger, violence, and yuckiness - and I didn't want to experience any more of that.

All that said, I had a remarkably sheltered life in many ways. Maybe to someone with more real-life suffering, there's comfort in knowing survival is possible even in the most brutal circumstances. Or maybe, readers have stronger boundaries than I do and do not experience the yuckiness directly, viscerally, as though they were undergoing it themselves.

So, help me understand. Why do you read? And, if you hate "Mary Sues", why?

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You are going on a trip for 17 days.

You will have 1 carry on and one small suitcase with you for the first 6 days. After that, you will have access to your steamer trunk.

You have informed the cats that they are not coming with you. Although they do not believe you, you are turning a deaf ear to their commentary.

It might be cold where you are going. Or rainy. Or full of mosquitos. Or hot.

What do you take with you?