1) Lose pound #11. If my Daily Plate/weight loss trend holds up, this will happen tomorrow morning. (Or I guess technically at some point tonight, while I am sleeping.)
2) Read the new People, Us Weekly and Entertainment Weekly magazines. I know People's cover story is Ellen and Portia's wedding. I'm not a huge fan of Portia but I love Ellen. (If you're gay, you have to. It's one of the big gay rules, second only to `Don't sleep with the opposite sex.')
3) Finish the new Faye Kellerman, The Mercedes Coffin. It's really good so far. (Incidentally, I had no idea Marge, one of the more major secondary characters, was a Republican. I like her anyway, but wow--she blasted us liberals for blaming George Bush for the state of the country and I was a little taken aback because really, who else should we blame? Regardless, this is a really good book and part of a fantastic series. I love Peter and Rina.)
4) Watch the remake of Prom Night, which Netflix sent me.
5) Sleep.
6) Do laundry.
7) Quality time with Sam.
8) Cook dinner at least one night--as part of my plan to realize that I cannot live on Lean Cuisines and cereal alone when I am at home.
]]>This is a political one.
I read ths really good commentary on cnn.com comparing John McCain to George Bush. I was talking to Jen about it and I mentioned that I had read somewhere that John McCain would be a fun guy to have a beer with. I've heard the same said about George Bush, too, and I like fun people to drink with...but I wouldn't vote for one.
I want a smart president, one who won't spend a third of his tenure as president on vacation. I want a president who can pronounce "nuclear." (I'm petty that way.)
I want a president I can respect, not someone who just repeats the same speech over and over. I don't want someone who resorts to dirty politics or name calling. And I want someone who can speak without a speech writer nearby.
The commentary is really interesting. I hope you read it. It's not a love letter to John McCain but it's not a hatchet job, either. And it raises some really important points, I think.
]]>This recipe came from my good friend, Bettina. She makes this stuff all the time, and well, it's delicious. Nothing fancy, just delicious.
Easy Toffee Bars
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
1 pkg saltine crackers (I've used ritz in a pinch and they are even better!)
1 cup salted butter
1 cup brown sugar
12 oz chocolate chips (I used a half bag of white choc. chips and nutella today, since I didn't have choc. chips)
Spread tinfoil on a cookie sheet. Layer crackers side by side on cookie sheet.
Melt butter over low heat and then add brown sugar. Bring to full boil, stirring constantly until mixture is thick and resembles caramel (approx. 1-2 minutes).
Immediately remove from heat and pour over saltines. Spread to cover all crackers.
Bake at 400 for 4-5 mins (It gets all bubbly)
Remove from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips. Wait a few minutes and then spread evenly over crackers.
Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Peel off tinfoil and break into pieces.
]]>We kept the snake locked up in an aquarium last night. I just wasn't comfortable with just letting him go. Just letting him go meant he was in my yard somewhere. I like snakes much better when I know exactly where they are, like the zoo. I was afraid if I let him go, he'd sneak up on me or eat one of my chipmunks.
This morning, Steve picked him up and put him in a smaller cage. He took him to work and released him by the water. Yes, he drove over an hour with only a thin sheet of plastic between him and the snake. What if it had gotten loose in the car? He's brave. That's why I love him. Now the snake is over an hour from my backyard. That makes me happy.
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Often, when I'm looking for something to read and don't have the time or inclination to hit up the bookstore, I just raid my mother's spare room. It is home to a gazillion books she's collected over the years.
The last time I was there, I came across a hardback copy of Black House, the sequel to Stephen King's/Peter Straub's jointly written novel The Talisman. I finished rereading The Talisman earlier this summer, so I figured this was a good time to start in on the sequel.
Last night, as I was reading, I realized that this book wasn't one of my mother's after all. It was one that had been given to me a few years ago.
You run into some wonderfully interesting people at The Pub. Several years back, I reconnected with a guy I knew vaguely from high school, Wes. He'd become something of a regular on Ye Olde Barstool. It seemed for a while that he was there just about every time I stopped by (which made sense, since he was always there).
Although just a few years older than me, his life had taken him down a much rougher road. He had medical issues, addiction issues, and financial issues, all stacked one on top of the other like a haphazard Lego concoction. But in spite of all the crazy crap he'd gotten himself into over the years, he was an avid reader and something of an aspiring writer.
He told me one night that reading was what he liked most about being in jail, a place I think he'd spent way more than his share of time. He said this with the casual offhandedness that I'd describe how I spent a free Saturday morning.
"When I have to go in, I just use the time to hit up the library and clear out my head," he explained. He made his semi-regular jaunts to jail sound like going off to college. But in spite of his strangely skewed version of life and the things he always seemed to get himself into, there was just something kind and hopeful about Wes. I know that sounds strange, but there it was.
It was more than just his view on time in jail that made Wes .... different. Another thing was his aversion to shoes. He just flat-out hated them. He was always coming into the bar barefoot, and it didn't matter whether it was August or January.
"Don't your feet get cold?" I asked him one bitter night, and got a "oh, hell no, honey." So I asked him if he'd ever thought about the fact that he was trekking those bare feet into the men's room every hour or so, and we knew damn well that drunk men don't exactly have the best aim.
"Never thought of that," he said, after a moment's consideration. But he still wouldn't wear shoes.
One night we got to talking about Lord of the Rings, and the next time I stopped by the pub I brought him in my finished copy of the trilogy and gave it to him, joking that now he wouldn't have to go to jail to get something to read anymore.
Shortly after that night, he left town. We'd talked about his plan a bit. He was moving to the Eastern Shore, to try to get away from our city and the people and habits that kept landing him in all sorts of holes. He was hoping to start over in a quiet, rural area and find some peace. Do some reading on a back porch instead of in a jail cell, maybe.
But before he left, he brought his copy of Black House up to the pub, and since I wasn't there he asked my mom to make sure I got it. Mom said he was so excited about giving it to me - I don't think Wes had many "book exchange" types of friends.
My own life turned upside down for a while not too long after that. Nothing like his, but my own version of falling on my face and floundering around for a bit. I wasn't doing a whole lot of reading during that time period. By the time I got back into the swing of my more normal habits, I had forgotten about the book. So it has sat at my parents' house all this time, just waiting for me to remember it and the friend who gave it to me.
I hope he found his back porch, complete with leaves rustling in the trees and crickets chirping in the background. I hope he kept it together and has a lawn to trek through barefoot. And I hope he's still reading.
Thanks, Wes.
]]>What were you afraid of when you were younger that seems silly to you now?
Submitted by wandie
Growing up in Detroit, there was this show called The Monster Movie Show that aired on Saturday afternoons. But I always called it The Sir Graves Ghastly Show because as the host, Sir Graves made quite an impression...at least to a young child. The opening of the show always began with Sir Graves rising up from inside his coffin (which was in a graveyard) in order to address his TV audience about the movie of the day. He had this unique & scary laugh. I remember having to run out of the living room of my grandparents house and into the kitchen during the intro because I was always so scared. Then I would go back in and watch the movie...usually starring Vincent Price.
It makes me laugh to think the intro scared me back when I was little, but the movies didn't.
RIP, Sir Graves.
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This is our resident frog, Mr. Jeremy Fisher. He loves to hang out in the pool. The chemicals appear to have no effect on him, unless you consider his rather large size. He's grown a lot since the Spring. We take him out of the pool all the time. He just gets back in when we aren't looking.
Today, Victoria was outback sweeping the area around the pool. She picked up a towel and found this guy. We tried to catch him, but I soon realized anytime he attempted to come out of hiding, it resulted in me screaming like a little girl. Of course, that caused whatever child was nearest to scream. It was fun. I kept him at bay in his little hiding place in our stone wall til Steve got home.
As far as I can tell, he's an eastern garter snake. Either way, I'm not sure what to do with him. I don't want a snake as a pet, and I'm not too keen on knowing he's just hanging out in my yard either. Despite spending most of the evening attempting to catch him, I'm still scared of him!
*We were very gentle with him and he wasn't hurt at all.
]]>** Political post ahead ... don't read if that's not your thing, and if you do read it, but hate me for it, don't feel you have to comment ... thoughtful responses, even if dissenting, welcome.**
Just to be upfront from the beginning, I have tended to vote conservative in every election since I was 18. Not exclusively, but I tend to lean more in that direction in my fiscal and social beliefs, so it's just worked out that way. I have also found myself regretfully supporting the lesser of two evils, but feel it's my responsibility to cast my vote.
That being said, I'm following the current campaign with some keen interest. I find that people who I always thought were staunchly conservative are falling in love with Barack Obama, and every time it happens, I'm still surprised. To me, he is as or more liberal socially and fiscally than my own two Senators, and they lean so far to the left in Congress they need balast to keep them from falling over.
I agree that Obama is a fine orator ... his speeches are eloquent, inspiring, and employ beautiful use of language. I love words, and that man can use them to encourage the masses. I'm just not sure which direction he's encouraging them to walk in.
Oh, yes, it's "change" ... a change we can believe in. But is the change he's hoping to bring just an about-face from the current administration? Because, words are pretty, but they don't pay the milkman.
So, I started thinking about change, and the liberal mentality as I see it played out in my colleagues and the education system in the public schools here, and the country I live in. And, I just don't see how "change" figures into it, because all I hear is that no one has to change to please anyone else.
The kids are told that no one can tell them how to think or feel or act or believe. Whatever they have going on inside them is OK, and they need to be free to be who they are without being told to change.
Those who make their living off the government without working (meaning ONLY those who have no intention of working, not those who need a hand for a season in order to create a better future), are told that they don't have to change, no one can make them get a job, get an education, get a skill, take care of their children, because they are accepted just the way they are. They need to be free to be who they are without being told to change. So they stay just the way they are.
Those who come to this country and desire all the benefits of living here without meeting the responsibilities of the citizenship EVER, for generations, are told that they don't need to change, they can just get the education and the health care and the paycheck under the table, and no one should be telling them they need to take the right steps to live within the confines of the laws of this country. They need to be free to be who they are without being told to change.
So, if within our youth, and our underprivileged and our immigrants we are constantly sending the message that no one needs to change, then why is the candidate for the Democratic Party basing his entire platform on change? Because unless he has a PLAN to bring change to the lives of our children in our schools, our poor, and our immigrants, and unless it's a PLAN that encompasses more than creating 5 million government jobs paid for by raising taxes, it's a change that I just can't begin to believe in.
]]>Yup, that's it. I just forgot to say that in my "Things on Tuesday". I've been wanting to say it for a long time. I think about how much I love it everytime I go to my "igoogle" home page. I really do.
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