WELL!!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU TOO!

Several years ago, I was on my way to work. It was my first work day after New Year's. I was thinking about my New Year's Resolutions. I made this mental list: I'm gonna work harder and have a positive attitude. I'm gonna be a better wife, mother, co-worker, etc. I'm gonna lose weight, save money, etc. By the time I got to work I was all pumped up. I was in a really good mood. I hopped out of the car and went bopping into the office.
One of my co-workers back then was a real pain. We called her mean ole blah blah. She was sitting in the break room eating her breakfast. I walked in with a big smile on my face.

Me: Happy New Year, Blah, Blah!

Blah Blah: I've made a New Year's Resolution.

Me: I've made some too. What's yours?

Blah Blah: I'm not gonna take any shit off anybody.

Clearly, she and I had very different New Year's resolutions!!!!!

COOL PATTERN ON TOWER BUILDING

I took these pictures this morning on my way into work. There was the coolest sun pattern on the old Tower Building this morning! It's not called the Tower Building anymore. I think they call it The Catline Prine Building (I don't think I've got that spelled right either). It will always be the Tower Building to me. I used to work on the 13th floor and people would call us from the lobby and want us to come down to meet them because they were afraid of the 13th floor! Also, the elevator would announce each floor. It was like having Kraftwerk in the elevator with you. Floor 12 - pocket calculator!!!! He, he. Anyway, the pattern was beautiful!

RAINBOWS

The Editor and I were on our way from his "city house" to my "country house" last weekend and we saw this rainbow on the way. I'm not sure if you can see it in the pictures but there were actually two rainbows side by side! They were beautiful!

OH YEAH! MERRY X-MAS/HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ME!!!!

So for X-MAS, one of the things The Editor got me are tickets to Eagles of Death Metal. Yeah, that's right, those bad boys are gonna play at Juanita's in February.....Friday the 13th.....that seems.....appropriate. I can't wait. Better get your tickets fast. I bet this sells out!!!!!



ARTIST - EAGLES OF DEATH METAL
SONG - WANNA BE IN LA

WEIRD WACKY WEDNESDAY - VIDEO OF THE DAY

ARTIST - CAZWELL
SONG - I SEEN BEYONCE AT BURGER KING

BOOK RATING

TITLE - THREE BEDROOMS, ONE CORPSE
AUTHOR - CHARLAINE HARRIS

ON A SCALE OF 1 - 10 =

8

THREE FOR TUESDAY - VIDEOS OF THE DAY

Okay, so I just felt like a whole lotta glam!!!!! So you get three videos today!!!!!



BAND - THE SWEET
SONG - BALLROOM BLITZ



ARTIST - T REX
SONG - 20TH CENTURY BOY



ARTIST - GARY GLITTER
SONG - LEADER OF THE GANG

BOOK RATING

TITLE - GRAVE SIGHT

AUTHOR - CHARLAINE HARRIS

ON A SCALE OF 1 - 10 =

8

This is the first in her series about Harper Connelly. Harper was hit by lightening and since then....when she gets close to a dead body, she can tell how that person died. If they were murdered, she can't tell who the killer is but she can see how they died. She can also tell when she is close to a dead body (like if she's walking through the woods). People hire her to walk through areas where a dead body may be located. I liked this book. That makes four different series I've read written by Charlaine Harris and I've found each one of them interesting!

I HAVE A COLD!!!!!!!

Nope! I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. I have a cold! Sneezing, runny/stuffy nose, headache, sore throat. The works. The Editor got it first a couple of days before X-MAS, then I got it X-MAS night! He's pretty much over it and I'm feeling better today but just haven't felt like blogging. I've done nothing but read and cross stitch and play with my new IPOD NANO that I got for X-MAS. I'm hoping I'll be back to normal in a few days!!!!!

BOOK RATING

TITLE - SHAKESPEARE'S LANDLORD

AUTHOR - CHARLAINE HARRIS

ON A SCALE OF 1 - 10:

8

Set in the fictitious town of Shakespeare, Arkansas, this is the first book in a series about a gal who cleans houses and solves murders. I really enjoy Charlaine Harris' writing style.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY FROM ME AND TOPO!

WEIRD WACKY WEDNESDAY - VIDEO OF THE DAY

ARTIST - LADYTRON
SONG - GHOST

DON'T PUT OUT THE LIGHT IN THE STABLE TOMORROW NIGHT!

AUTHOR – ELIZABETH GOUDGE

TITLE – ISLAND MAGIC

Ranulph suddenly decided that it was his duty to go and put out that light in the stable – no point in wasting oil. He was half-way across the room when he remembered his mother had told him as a small boy that no human being must set foot in the stables at midnight on Christmas Eve. It was the animals’ hour. The poor ill-treated donkey, kicked and cuffed through the centuries, yet permitted to carry a King to Jerusalem; the cow, slaughtered for man’s food yet giving its own sweet hay for a babe to lie on; the horse and the dog who bear so patiently with the folly of human kind, these are safe from man and may worship alone and at peace. Ranulph decided to leave the light alone and sat down again.

TWO FOR TUESDAY - VIDEOS OF THE DAY

This is the song "The Chauffeur". I remember the Duran Duran version. But I really like the version by Sleepthief too. Which one do you like the best?



ARTIST - SLEEPTHIEF
SONG - THE CHAUFFEUR




ARTIST - DURAN DURAN
SONG - THE CHAUFFEUR

SO EVERYBODY HAS ONE (OR MORE) LIKE THIS AT WORK, RIGHT?

QUOTE FROM:

"Lillian was one of those disagreeable people who yet have some redeeming qualities, so that you can't write them off entirely – but you sure wish you could. Furthermore, I worked with Lillian, so it was in my interest to keep peace with her. Lillian was narrow-minded and gossipy, talked about her husband and daughter until you wanted them to be swallowed up into an earthquake; she knew her job and did it competently, but with so much groaning and complaining about minute details that you wanted to smack her."

BOOK REVIEW

TITLE - A BONE TO PICK

AUTHUR - CHARLAINE HARRIS

ON A SCALE OF 1 to 10:

9

BOOK RATING

TITLE - REAL MURDERS
AUTHOR - CHARLAINE HARRIS

ON A SCALE OF 1 THROUGH 10:

8

This is not part of the "Sookie Stackhouse" series. It's the first in another series she wrote called the "Aurora Teagarden" series. This series is about a librarian who solves murders.

HAPPY MONDAY - VIDEO OF THE DAY

ARTIST - MISSY HIGGINS
SONG - WHERE I STOOD

BOOK RATING

AUTHOR - CHARLAINE HARRIS
TITLE - DEAD UNTIL DARK

ON A SCALE OF 1 - 10:

10

Here's your chance to read a book that has Elvis as one of it's characters and he's a vampire. Way too much fun. This is the first in a series of 8 (the ninth one is about to be published). This are the books that the HBO series "True Blood" is based on. Really, really good!

FANCY FEETS FRIDAY - VIDEO OF THE DAY THIS IS SOOOOOO COOL!

ARTIST - RJD2
SONG - WORK IT OUT

X-MAS TOYS I ASKED FOR BUT NEVER GOT

OH MAN! I wanted one of these. Heck, I still do!!!!!!!!

UPBEAT THURSDAY - VIDEO OF THE DAY

ARTIST - THE DANDY WARHOLS
SONG - WE USED TO BE FRIENDS

DURING THE EIGHT DAYS BEFORE X-MAS

AUTHOR – ELIZABETH GOUDGE
TITLE – ISLAND MAGIC

The peasants say that during the eight days before Christmas the supernatural powers are all active, fairies and demons as well as angels throng the lanes and the streams and the farmyards, and any girl who has the courage to look in a fairy well will see her fate looking back at her from the water, either the face of her husband, or if she is fated to die unmarried, a grinning death’s head.

YOUCH!

OH HAPPY DAY FOR ME (AND OTHER MIGRAINE SUFFERERS)

FINALLY! Imitrex has come out in a generic form. I've been waiting several years for this! If you suffer from migraines like me you know why I'm so happy. I've had migraines for 22 years now. When I started having them, there was no such thing as Imitrex. I tried everything.....biofeedback, I went to a chiropractor and I don't know how many different medications I have been on including beta blockers. Nothing helped. When I would get a migrane, it would last for 3 days. I'd spend those 3 days in a closet, in the dark. Finally, Imitrex came on to the market. I remember the day I took my first Imitrex. I thought to myself....this will never work. In 30 minutes, my migraine was gone. Like I'd never had one at all!

If you had the chance to meet one person who had influenced your life....who would it be? I wouldn't want to meet an actor or musician, etc. I would want to meet the creator of Imitrex and shake that person's hand for changing my life.

Imitrex is expensive and the generic is expensive also but when you're in pain, you'll pay anything to get the pain to go away. Heck, if they outlawed Imitrex, I'd be just like a junkie...buying it on the street!

Luckily, I have insurance. Imitrex costs me $30.00 for 9 pills and now that there is a generic form, $10.00 for 9 pills. Without insurance, the pharmacist said that the generic would cost $160.00 some odd dollars for 9 pills. YOUCH!!! But.....Imitrex is even more than that!!! I remember years ago, before I had insurance, I used to buy Imitrex one pill at a time. Back then, it was $18.00 a pill. I would wait until the pain was so bad I had to have one. I'd go to the pharmacy, order my pill and wait. I remember at the pharmacy there was this metal bar by the checkout line and I would put my head up against this bar because it was cold and just wait for them to call my name. Gee, those were awful, painful days. Then they changed the packaging so you had to buy 9 at a time. I remember before insurance paying $170.00 for 9 pills but apparently since I've had insurance (about 4 years now) the cost has skyrocketed. The pharmacist did say that the cost of the generic will go down fairly soon.

Just wanted to pass along to migraine sufferers that there is now a generic equivalent to Imitrex which is Sumatriptan and it's less expensive than Imitrex!

WEIRD WACKY WEDNESDAY - VIDEO OF THE DAY

ARTIST - GOLDFRAPP
SONG - A&E

TWO FOR TUESDAY - VIDEOS OF THE DAY

When I think of 80's electronic male artists....these are the two guys I think of. I think they are both brilliant!





ARTIST - HOWARD JONES
SONG - PEARL IN THE SHELL



ARTIST - THOMAS DOLBY
SONG - HYPERACTIVE

BOOK RATING

TITLE - WICKED - THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE WICKED WITCH OF THE WEST

AUTHOR - GREGORY MAGUIRE

ON A SCALE OF 1 THROUGH 10:

8

CHRISTMAS TREE!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!

BEER DUDE'S MAJOR AWARD!!!!

So back when I blogged about him at Halloween, I promised I'd take some pictures of Beer Dude's "Major Award" at X-Mas time. So, as promised, here they are! Beer Dude was kind enough to put up with me (and the Editor) standing in front of his house with a camera while his poor dog "Mojo" stood next to the "Major Award" and barked and barked and barked! Suffice it to say....Mojo is a GREAT watchdog. I actually gave this some thought later and I'm just so glad that Mojo didn't jump up and knock the "Major Award" over. I could just see Beer Dude with his glue trying to fix a broken leg with a torn stocking telling Mojo he broke it on purpose. He, he, he.

Last year, The Editor was driving down the street which is a block over from his house and I saw the "Major Award" in the window and I yelled "STOPPPPPPP". He didn't know what was going on but he stopped. I think I scared him half to death! I told him to back up so I could see the lamp in the window. The Editor had never seen "A Christmas Story" but I remedied that situation last weekend. Merry Christmas to Beer Dude and Mojo for putting up with us!

FAVORITE X-MAS TOYS - KLACKERS

Remember Klackers? If you were lucky, you would only get bruished wrists from this toy. If not so lucky, as they say in "A Christmas Story".....YOU'LL PUT YOUR EYE OUT! I was one of the lucky ones. This was so much fun....it was worth the bruised wrists!

BOOK RATING

ON A SCALE OF 1 THROUGH 10:

10 +++

HAPPY MONDAY - VIDEO OF THE DAY

ARTIST - MEIKO
SONG - BOYS WITH GIRLFRIENDS

FAVORITE X-MAS TOYS - FOOTSIE

Awwww. The Footsie. Put your foot in the yellow ring........swing the red ball around.......the yellow ring would go around your ankle while you jumped over the green rubber band thingie attached to the ball. Around and around it would go!!!!!! WHAT FUN!!!!!!!

THEIR LIPS WERE LAUGHING AND CHILDISH BUT THEIR EYES HELD INCOMMUNICABLE SECRETS

TITLE: ISLAND MAGIC
AUTHOR: ELIZABETH GOUDGE
COPYRIGHT: 1934

"Rachell looked down at her two little daughters. How strange their eyes were in the flickering lamp light, how deep and mysterious. Their lips were laughing and childish but their eyes held incommunicable secrets. Where had they been voyaging that day? Into what heights and depths where she could not follow their thought? Jacqueline, she know, had had a great experience, Collette, perhaps, had had one too. But they would never be able to tell her about it. Children, she thought, with the dew of heaven scarcely dry upon their wings and eyes and ears that still can see and hear, tread sweet wild ways and have no words to tell of them. When they have learnt to pick and choose a telling word and a descriptive phrase the wings have fallen from their shoulders and the old ways are closed. Age has little left to tell of but memories and the trembling hope of return one day to the old paths. "


I'm having a tough time putting this book down. I am totally drawn into the world of the "du Frocq" Family.

UPBEAT THURSDAY - VIDEO OF THE DAY

ARTIST - SLOAN
SONG - MONEY CITY MANIACS

Sloan is one of my favorite bands of all time!!! They're from Canada and are HUGE there -- barely heard of here. The band consists of four guys and the cool thing is ALL of them sing, write, play guitar, bass and drums. When they perform, they just walk around in a circle playing different instruments. When they tour in the U.S., they play small venues. They played Sticky Fingers about 5 years ago and I went to see them. Canadians actually flew to Little Rock just to get the chance to meet them. Ben and I were SO excited! We got to meet them too!

I love this song especially the lyrics -- if you'll admit that you're wrong, then we'll admit that we're right!

A FEELING OF SPACIOUSNESS THAT IS SIMPLY DELICIOUS!

So the Editor has this "big comfy chair" (as he likes to call it) that we both sit in together. We spend several hours sitting in the BCC reading. Sometimes I cross stitch while he reads but most of the time I read too. Hours go by without either one of us saying much except for the occasional quote one of us will read from our respective books. It is definitely one of my favorite things to do with The Editor. I haven't been able to put my finger on exactly how to explain the feeling of peacefulness that comes over me when we are cuddled up together in this chair. That is.....until last night. As I was reading my current book, I came across exactly how BCC time makes me feel . It also explains how I feel when I'm cross stitching. "Island Magic" by Elizabeth Goudge was first published in 1934. I haven't put any quotes from it on my blog yet because the book is so good I would pretty much have to just quote all of it. Every sentence is so beautifully written. They just don't write like this anymore and I highly recommend reading all of Elizabeth Goudge's books. Anyway, here is the excerpt from the book – I've condensed it a bit.

Rachelle was sewing. She had abandoned her darning and was stitching at a lovely piece of embroidery, a strip of white satin with blue cornflowers and yellow poppies on it. She had not the slightest hope of ever finishing it, but just now and then she worked at it for a few moments because of the enjoyment that it gave her. Somehow the creation of a thing that was intended simply to be beautiful and nothing else gave her a feeling of spaciousness that was simply delicious.
"Why?" she asked Andre.
Andre, who was reading, removed his spectacles and thought about it.
"Because a thing that has no practical value but exists simply to be beautiful, a picture or a symphony, or yellow poppies enriching white satin, is a vision of reality. A thing that's intended to be useful ties down your spirit to mundane things, but a thing that is simply beautiful opens a window and lets you go free – that's why you feel spacious.
Rachelle looked at Andre. His eyes had dropped to his book again and his face looked alight. He hardly ever had time to read and she was sorry, for a book was to him what her embroidery was to her.
They sat together quietly, their bodies at peace, their spirits voyaging, their hearts attentive to and conscious of each other, while the clock ticked as though each little soft sound was a tap closing more and more firmly the door that shut out the noisy world.

That's how the big comfy chair at The Editor's house makes me feel.

WEIRD WACKY WEDNESDAY - VIDEO OF THE DAY

ARTIST - LYKKI LI
SONG - I'M GOOD, I'M GONE

TRUE BLOOD - THE HBO SERIES

A friend of mine has been telling me about this HBO series she watches called "True Blood" and she said she is hooked. I was flipping channels a couple of weeks ago and caught one episode. I was immediately hooked just like her. I TIVO'd the whole first season and The Editor and I are watching them a little at a time. I think I could watch all 12 eposides back to back!!!!! Is anybody else watching it?

TWO FOR TUESDAY - VIDEO OF THE DAY

So today's Two for Tuesday is a little different. It's one video with two songs intertwined. Have you heard about Joe Satriana suing Coldplay? He is stating that Coldplay's song "Viva La Vida" is a copy of his song "If I Could Fly". Here is a video from YouTube with both songs. What do you think?

HAPPY MONDAY - VIDEO OF THE DAY

ARTIST - THE DANDY WARHOLS
SONG - GODLESS

Okay, did you feel like me this morning? It was warm in bed and cold outside and I just didn't wanna get up and go to work. But I did and I bet you did too! So grab a cup of hot coffee or hot chocolate and watch this laid back video from The Dandy Warhols!

BOOK RATING

AUTHOR - FAYE KELLERMAN
TITLE - MERCEDES COFFIN

ON A SCALE OF 1 - 10:

7

QUOTE OF THE DAY

AUTHOR - FAYE KELLERMAN
TITLE - MERCEDES COFFIN

I was an unusual kid especially when I was at school. I wasn't popular and I was really shy when I was around the popular kids. I just wasn't like all of them. I was a bit like Samantha in Sixteen Candles. I wasn't into the things a lot of the other girls were.....they were into partying and boys and sleeping around. I liked to read and was really, really, really into music. My favorite artist was KISS while the other girls were into Shaun Cassidy. Isn't it funny what passes for weird when you're in school changes to eclectic when you grow up? I think the characteristics that made we nerdy back then make me interesting now. The following quote from "Mercedes Coffin" is a teacher talking to a female student. I certainly wasn't as smart as the girl in this book but when I look back now, I'm awfully glad I wasn't really pretty and popular. I've worked for everything I have and am. I'm really only friends with one of my highschool classmates. I call her "The Librarian" because she is a librarian for one of the highschools close to my hometown. She turned out well too. I think she would agree with me that it sure would have been nice to have a teacher tell us that highschool wasn't the end all.....that there was life after highschool. Wouldn't it have been nice to have a teacher tell you something similar to the following:

People are all different, Genoa. Some are short, some are tall, some are musical, some are artistic, and the rarefied few like you are endowed with incredible brainpower. That head of yours is going to carry you through life, young lady. It's like the old tortoise and the hare story. You're going to get there, Genoa. You're going to get there, and I firmly believe you're going to surpass all your classmates because you have the one organ that can't be fixed by plastic surgery.

FUN FRIDAY - VIDEO OF THE DAY

ARTIST - THE ARK
SONG - ONE OF US IS GONNA DIE YOUNG

CHATTY CATHY!

The first doll I ever had was a Chatty Cathy doll. She looked like the doll above except she had blond hair. I got her for X-Mas and I could pull a string on the back of her neck and she would talk. I carried her everywhere with me. Several months after X-Mas, the little round ring on the end of the string broke and the string went through the hole in her neck and into her back. I was disappointed that she wouldn't talk. My dad said he would fix her. He brought her back to me sometime later and said that he had a little bit of trouble but that he had fixed her and she could talk again. I turned her around to pull the string and....yeah....I could get to the string....because she didn't have a back anymore. My dad had chipped and chipped and chipped away her back trying to get to the string until.....well, she just didn't have a back anymore. But, boy, she could talk.

Bless Dad's heart, he always meant well. One time, I went home for a visit and he told me he would change the oil in my car for me. He got confused, drained out all the antifreeze and refilled it with oil. He felt so bad about it! I felt sorry for him. He had to take it to a mechanic and I couldn't leave till it was fixed. I missed work the next day and everything. He could never understand after that why I wouldn't let him work on anything of mine. He would say I only messed up once.

Um....I got off track, didn't I? Anyway, does anybody remember The Chatty Cathy doll? When I looked for her picture on the internet, several versions came up. Did you have a Chatty Cathy doll? If so, what did she look like?

UPBEAT THURSDAY - VIDEO OF THE DAY

ARTIST - LCD SOUNDSYSTEM
SONG - DAFT PUNK IS PLAYING AT MY HOUSE

BEANY AND CECIL

This is the first cartoon I remember. I was under two years old when this cartoon was popular but it is one of the first memories I have. Does anybody remember Beany and Cecil? I bet The Writer does!!!

CHARLIE BROWN TREE!!!!!

I love this tree! I think I need to get one for The Editor!

LYRICS OF THE DAY

I tried to find a video for this song but couldn't. I heard this song for the first time today......gee, if there were ever lyrics that were meant for me when I left Sadistic Mama's Boy......these are the ones!!!!!!


ARTIST - EVERCLEAR
SONG - NEW BLUE CHAMPION

I don't want to hear you say you're sorry
I don't want to hear you say we can start all over again
I think you must think that I am stupid
Well I might be stupid for the rest of my life
But I'll never be stupid to you again
I just want it all to go away
Yeah, just go away
Yeah

I can see the light above me
I hear the sound of a brand new song
I don't want to hear your preaches
Cause I know what's right, I know what's wrong
I can see the light above me
I hear the sound of a brand new day
I'm not going to settle for less
I don't think things are going to change
I just want it all to go away

I don't want to hear about your damage
I don't want to hear you say that you think I'm damaged too
Because I know you know that the damage in me
Is from the horrible things you say and do
I know that the damage in me comes from the damage in you
I just want it all to go away

I can see the light above me
I hear the sound of a brand new song
I don't want to hear your preaches
Cause I know what's right, I know what's wrong
I can see the light above me
I hear the sound of a brand new day
I'm not going to settle for less
I don't think things are ever gonna to change
I just want it all to go away
Yeah, just go away
Yeah, I don't want to talk about it
I don't want to hear your lies
I don't want to talk about it
And I dont understand why you do not realize

WEIRD WACKY WEDNESDAY - VIDEO OF THE DAY

ARTIST - MY MORNING JACKET
SONG - TOUCH ME I'M GOING TO SCREAM

VENUS, JUPITER AND THE MOON

You could see two of the brightest planets, Venus and Jupiter, close to the Moon last night. From what I could gather from the web, this is known as a planetary conjunction. A similar conjunction will not happen again until April 22, 2009.

The Editor took these pictures last night with my camera. They're a bit blurry but hey........I got my digital camera at a yard sale for $12.00. Not bad pictures for that price........I'm not complaining. Hope you got a chance to see this for yourself!

BOOK RATING

AUTHORS - FAYE AND JONATHAN KELLERMAN
TITLE - CAPITAL CRIMES

ON A SCALE OF 1 THROUGH 10 =

7

TWO FOR TUESDAY - VIDEO OF THE DAY - PART TWO

ARTIST - KRAFTWERK
SONG - HOME COMPUTER

Thought I'd put two electronic/industrial bands on here today! Remember these guys?

TWO FOR TUESDAY - VIDEO OF THE DAY - PART ONE

ARTIST - ART OF NOISE
SONG - CLOSE TO THE EDIT

I always wonder what happened to the little girl in this video. She would be grown by now. And who did the little Daschund belong to anyway?

HAPPY MONDAY - VIDEO OF THE DAY

ARTIST - JOSH ROUSE
SONG - WINTER IN THE HAMPTONS