A Ray of Sunshine ends a Cloudy Week

This has not been one of my best weeks of 2010.  I am trying quite hard to get well after being exposed to several sick people last weekend (one had strep throat) and so have muddled through in spite of the aches, upset stomach and sinus headaches.  No cards made; minimal writing done on TGAN; bare bones cleaning and cooking; no laundry...the best part (until now) of my week has been that I continued my perfect attendance streak at work by not calling in even though my body said "stay in bed".  The weather hasn't helped as it has been dreary, cold and wet much of the week.

Then, I open up my blog to post a review of Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol and what do I find?

I got this really cool award from my friend Beverly over at GottHeartArt!  I feel a bit like I won the lottery!  She and I met shortly after Hurricane Katrina sent me back home to D/FW from New Orleans.  The stamping group we met through is now defunct, but we clicked from almost the first day we met--and I feel Blessed to call her a friend.  Thanks for my first blog award, Beverly!

If I understand how this works (and if I get it wrong, blame the headache LOL), I am to list ten of my favorite things and then pass the award to five people who inspire me...

1)    Chocolate--tied for #1 with coffee (there's a reason my avatar has a coffee cup LOL)

2)    Reading--my TBR mountain has over 500 very eclectic titles

3)    Writing--even if it sometimes slogs along at a snail's pace, I can no longer imagine life without writing

4)    Cardmaking and stamping--and crafting in general, especially eco-crafting

5)    Mexican food--I love food in general, but Tex-Mex has my heart ;-)

6)    Research--sounds crazy, but I must have been a librarian in at least one former life

7)    "Green" living--not as green as I want to be, but hope springs eternal; it is a passion

8)    The History Channel/History International--that's what reality TV means to me

9)    Star Wars--tied with Lord of the Rings; I have probably 75% of the movies' dialogue memorized

10)  Vintage 40's (before me, but not by much LOL) and 50's decor (see #7 above); ADORE thrift stores

And now to my Awardees (in alphabetical order)...these ladies' blogs are awesomely inspiring to me as a writer, as a reader, as a crafter, as a "greenie"--I wish I could award more ;-)

• Christi
• Julia
• Michele
• Susan
• Taylor

Merry White Christmas!

It's snowing here in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, and in some sections of the Metroplex, it is actually sticking!  I'm as giddy as a schoolgirl--I love snow!  And there is nothing more fun than watching "White Christmas" on Christmas Eve with it snowing outside LOL!

Of course, I've rescheduled my Christmas plans with friends due to the weather; I may love snow but it puts a crimp in traveling, even with public transportation.  No youngsters are involved with our plans, so we can see "Sherlock Holmes" on Sunday after the weather clears.  I also can watch a "Star Wars" marathon on Spike TV if I tire of AMC and "White Christmas".  I have food in the house and am off work tonight and tomorrow.  What else could someone ask for at Christmas?  (Well, I could ask for a lot actually--like world peace and increased participation in green living and better treatment for the mentally ill among us and increased literacy in Appalachia and other depressed areas of our country and the world, and--well, I am sure you get the drift LOL).

The gist of it all I guess wraps around the fact that I can ask for nothing more for Christmas than I already have--good friends, a home, food, my health, a job--and the ability to make healthy decisions in my life today.  Some folks don't have those things.  I am truly Blessed.

So again, to all you reading this--Have a Merry Christmas and may you be surrounded this holiday season by all you hold dear...

Reading Challenges Progress Report

Where has 2009 gone? We are almost halfway through, so I decided I had better look at my progress towards fulfilling my various reading challenges for 2009.

First things first--not counting the three new word guides/dictionaries that now reside very close to hand, I have read a total of 55 books so far. Some have been oriented towards paper crafts or studio design; others have been writing guides or computer software manuals. Several have been non-fiction on United States history or geography as I have continued my research for TGAN (aka The Great American Novel). A few have been on healthy eating and the dreaded four-letter word, "diet" (which should be a word more associated with healthy eating in general and less connected with weight-loss; but I digress....)

So, on to the specific challenges--here's what I have read and what is left for the second half of the year:

"On The Porch Swing" Challenge

1) A book with Married/Marriage/Marrying in the title: (this is not my normal genre, so I may have to really search the library for this one)

2) A book with Friends/Friendship in the title: (a similar situation as #1)

3) A book with Summer/Winter in the title: (well, looks as if I really need to study the card catalog LOL!)

4) A book with a Flower Name in the title: (I have some of Kate Collins' Flower Shop series of cozy mysteries in my TBR mountain and they are quite enjoyable, so this is doable soon)

"In Their Shoes" Challenge (this is any four memoirs)

1) "Harry, A History"

2) TBD

3) TBD

4) TBD

I actually have several memoirs here to choose from so this challenge will be met as long as I make the time to read...

"Mystery Reader Cafe" Challenge

1) A book with Murder in the title: "Maid for Murder"

2) A book set in my region: (I haven't quite decided how narrow my geographic area will be for this one; if I use something set in Texas, I have a couple of Susan Wittig Albert's great China Bayles series here that have not yet been read--although I was hoping to collect the whole series first. I believe there is also a debutante series set here in Dallas that while cute, don't seem to be keepers, so one of those may be my choice here)

3) A book that has been on my TBR shelf/mountain at least a year: (I have at least 100+ to choose from for this part of the challenge)

4) A book from a "new to you" author: "Wreath of Deception"


If all the links work right, my PBSwap reviews should show up for the few books that have met individual challenges. My friends tell me I work too hard and play too little, so I should read more for fun I suppose. Out of the 55 titles read so far this year, there have been "fun" titles: The Star Wars Trilogy, The Chronicles of Narnia (all seven volumes), three of the four Twilight books...and of course, before July 15, I simply must re-read Harry Potter 5 - 7 so I am ready for the new movie LOL!

Movie Mania

I love movies but I am frugal so movie going in the evening has not been a part of my life for a long time. I recently found (through a frugal friend) a Cinemark theatre here in the D/FW Metroplex that has $2.50 adult ticket prices (even on weekends) for any showing before 6 PM. Awesome!

Needless to say, Sunday was movie day. This summer will be a bumper crop of movies for me (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince anyone?) and I will be looking for Cinemark theatres for as many of them as possible: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen; UP! (which was sold out Sunday and full of kids); Public Enemies (eye candy AKA Johnny Depp and Christian Bale); Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs...without cheap matinee prices, I'd go broke trying to see everything that is soon to hit the big screen.

BFF Ruth and I spent a wonderful day together; we started with Star Trek and then took a break for lunch at Luby's and ended with Angels and Demons. If we hadn't done lunch and a quick run through DeSoto (I grew up there and graduated from DHS; she lived there for many years), we might have had time for X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but I'm a bit glad we didn't as I am not sure I could have handled all the excitement LOL!

I'm really going to try for no spoilers here (sheepish grin). Star Trek had me crying before the opening title sequence. Fantastic movie and great casting. Yes, as stated in an earlier post, I am a die-hard Star Wars fan, but this Star Trek reminded me that I was once a fanatic Trekkie and I am now enjoying the various Trek incarnations on cable whenever possible. I found myself wondering what the surviving cast members of the original Trek (especially Nichelle Nichols) think about the way their characters are portrayed. I was personally quite excited and sitting on the edge of my seat for much of the film. This is a "buy the 2-disc + digital copy version the day the DVD comes out" film. And, are they filming the sequel yet?

Then, after that wonderful experience, what can I say about Angels and Demons? I had loved the book and can think of no better Robert Langdon than Tom Hanks. Ron Howard's direction is exacting and particularly suited for this material. The screenwriting was tight. We were able to get enough information about the Vatican's policies and procedures to understand the conclave (I really love to go to movies where I learn just enough about something that I am intrigued to go do further research on my own). I also had read the book long enough ago that I was totally engrossed in the ending. Of course, any movie with Ewan McGregor will hold my attention while he is on screen...and I'm saving my pennies for the 2-disc version of this movie as well.

Both movies were thrilling. They each had thought-provoking scenes and edge-of-your-seat moments, and I got to see them both for $5. Who could ever ask for more?

Live Long and Prosper!

Fate of the Jedi

I have been remiss in not sharing my deep abiding love for all things Jedi. Perhaps my personally eclectic belief system feels a deep resonance with The Force, or perhaps I just love old-fashioned serial adventure stories, but Star Wars has become an often-visited alternate universe for me for several decades.

Unfortunately, until now, my travels to Tatooine, Courescant, and Endor have all been courtesy of video. I am quite ashamed to admit that reading the serials has never been a priority. Somehow, I keep hearing my mother's rather inane refrain that good girls did not read books written for boys. Mother, prepare to roll over in whatever domain you now inhabit--I intend to read Star Wars! As great as the newest chronicles look, I'm actually going to start with the original trilogy and move backwards and forwards as necessary--The Han Solo Trilogy, Lando Calrissian's tales, Luke's rebuilding of the Jedi Order...I have skirted around these for quite some time as I instinctively know I will want to collect them all and my apartment is already somewhat overrun with books.

So, since I have the Trilogy, I shall begin. Expect my book postings to be of this overall genre for a while--science fiction and fantasy will make a wonderful distraction from my novel research and the topics and styles differ enough from mystery that my novel's plot line shouldn't receive undue influence. (Stay tuned for more postings on learning to craft a novel--that is also a tremendous learning experience).