Random Thoughts And Images

This post is a bit of a hodgepodge. Our spring faculty assembly starts in a few days and I thought a blog post might take my mind off the events to come. Obviously not too well because here I am blogging about something I'd like to forget for 10 seconds. Anyhoo, I've started a new young adult series by Nancy Springer. It's called the Enola Holmes Mysteries and the main character is the fourteen-year-old younger sister of Sherlock Holmes. I find it cute and intriguing. We do not own the kinds of adult books I like to read (other than the classics) so I shall continue with the young adult literature for now. On with the images. Most of these were taken a few weeks ago. This first set involves the always entertaining Sandi.


First you see a couple of ducks casually swimming in the (nasty colored) lake. That white box thingy is a target for a cross-bow.

Now you see the ducks waddling up the steps...

They have made it safely to shore in search of corn kernels (yes there are corn kernels in the yard).
Here comes Sandi (bottom left corner), Queen of the Yard and thus proper owner of aforementioned corn kernels.

And the ducks are back to the lake. Now what I won't be showing you is Sandi walking down the steps into the lake devouring the presumptuous ducks. Just kidding.

I visited a local herb farm a few weeks ago and purchased a couple herbs to pot and keep on my back porch. Here are some pictures from that trip.

We were admiring a cement fish pond when my friend asked if anyone wanted to see a snake. It was a very tiny snake and it made a great nature photo-op nestled on the colorful berries.

I took this picture just before we left.

More dog pictures you say? Well, you are in luck. A week or so ago a stray dog began hanging around the library where I work. It doesn't want to be touched or even approached but I did sneak a picture in the other day.

Finally, I give you...Yogi. Yogi is a miniature, cute as a button, full of spit fire chihuahua (thank goodness for spell check). He's the new puppy of a friend of a friend.



As you can see he's wearing a tiny little sweater.









The poor little guy wasn't used to all the flashes from the camera and got a little shaky. He'll have to get over the paparazzi stuff because he's too cute not to photograph.


This concludes my nonsense posting...until next time (scary laughter in the background).

The Point Is Patience

I'm getting ready to hit the hay after a very busy and wonderful weekend. The weather was perfect, the company was lovely (as usual) and I was only off my feet to eat and sleep. I ran some errands, did some gardening (yes, Miss Brown Thumb worked in a garden), and played in a creek. I helped plant corn, squash, zucchini, okra, cucumbers, pumpkins, jalapenos, oodles of varieties of peppers and tomatoes and even some zipper peas. The creek trip was made with my friend who is skilled in finding arrowheads (or "points" as they are called by those in the know). I've gone "creeking" (not a term used by those in the know) on several occasions just happy to go along for the ride. It's a chance to get out of the house, enjoy the outdoors, try something new and spend time with my friend. Well, this weekend...I found a point!! I found it all on my own and man, oh, man was I excited.

I saw a straight line in the creek, turned it over slightly with my poker stick and saw the curved bottom and snatched it out of the water before I could think.

I never expect to find anything on these outings and this was a very pleasant surprise. It's really hard to pick out a certain shape of rock in a pile of rocks under flowing water while the sun is casting a rather strong glare. It's a little broken but I think it's beautiful. In other news, I finished the last Percy Jackson and the Olympians book last week so I'll have to wait impatiently for the next one to be published. I've also started an herb garden of my own. They are in pots on my back patio. I'll post a picture soon before they all die.

Breaks Make Me Lazy

A couple weeks ago (yes, weeks) we (the library) were closed for Spring Break. Don't think "Librarian's Gone Wild!" think more "Getting boring grown-up things done during the day". I visited the High Museum and saw the Louvre Exhibit and the Terracotta Warriors. The warriors were very impressive. However, there were too many kids there that day, at least 6 school buses were parked by the museum. All their annoying voices were amplified by the high ceilings and their audacity to show up on the same day I was there. Zoo Atlanta was next on the agenda after the museum and I got to see the baby panda, Xi Lan. He was so cute I wanted to puke. The rest of the week was pretty uneventful. I caught up on some sleep and my finances, as well as some cleaning around the house. Last week was my first full week back since the break. I have not wanted to get out of the bed for anything. I hit the snooze button at least 3 times (that's 30 minutes) and I dragged my feet most of the day. I thought this week would be better but I was wrong. I've had 8 classes this week already and I'm dying for a nap. This is also part of the reason I have not posted in so long, it seems like such a draining task--so is keeping my eyes open. Will post again soon.

Erin Go Bragh

When I was in elementary school all the kids used to taunt me with this saying, like it was something dirty. I'm proud of my name and I now know that Erin Go Bragh means "Ireland Forever". I'm not Irish but with the name Erin (which means girl from Ireland or just Ireland) I kind of need to show some enthusiasm. Below is a picture of the front of my official St. Patrick's Day shirt. I'll be wearing it today after work.

I hope everyone has found a small or big way to celebrate this wonderful day, Irish or not. Maybe you had green eggs or pancakes for breakfast, a steak and Guinness pie for lunch or plan to have Irish soda bread with your corned beef and cabbage for dinner. I decided to do some random research about Ireland; mainly actors and writers born there and movies filmed there. Some noticible actors include Colin Farrell, Pierce Brosnan, Liam Neeson, Gabriel Byrne, Kenneth Branagh, Stuart Townsend and Daniel Day Lewis. Authors include Oscar Wilde, William Butler Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, James Joyce, Samuel Beckett and Bram Stoker. If you have not read Stoker's Dracula you must put it on your 'to do' list. It is a beautifully written tale. Some great books written by Maeve Binchy and Marian Keyes take place in Ireland.

The Matchmaker starring Janeane Garofalo was filmed in Ballinagra. It is a very funny movie and I recommend watching it today. The Quiet Man, PS I Love You, and Laws of Attraction also take place or have scenes in Ireland. Ella Enchanted, The Princess Bride, and Braveheart (I know, shocking) were all filmed or had scenes filmed in Ireland. Ballykissangel is kind of an Irish soap opera that you can get through Netflix and Falling for a Dancer was an interesting Irish miniseries. Whether you plan to celebrate the day by going out or staying in remember to wear green!

Rainy Weekend

All last week we had beautiful weather. Then when Friday afternoon hits it became cold, windy and dark. It only rained on Sunday but the weather Saturday was just as miserable. There were plenty of things that needed to be done. None of which were done. I did eat at a new Mexican restaurant that was very good and I also went to see Watchmen.

The movie was terrible! It was so long and the plot was stupid. I did select the movie but choices are slim at the moment with such gems like Fired Up!, Madea Goes to Jail, and Jonas Brothers raking in the dough. Maybe if I was a fan of the graphic novel I might have found something to appreciate. Instead the only thing I appreciated was the chance to see trailers for X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Terminator 4. I still haven't seen Terminator 3 but I have it at my house. I'll most likely watch it this evening since the weather is still dreary. Speaking of Hugh Jackman (Wolverine), I saw Australia last weekend. I thought it was pretty good.

Reviews

I've seen almost a dozen movies in the past few weeks. A couple have been at the cinema but others have been through my Netflix queue--a couple I even watched on my computer! Some were good some were bad and some were really bad. I saw Love & Other Disasters with Brittany Murphy. It takes place in London and what made it good was her nutty gal friend--very AbFab-esque character. Hoot was better than I expected but I still don't want to read the book. The little owls sure were cute though. I went to the cinema to see Confessions of a Shopaholic which was similar to the book and also different. Isla Fisher did a very good job. I also saw He's Just Not That Into You at the cinema. It had an amazing cast but I didn't leave the movie feeling very good about dating as a whole. Jennifer Aniston's character was great though.



I watched some girl-heroine-kicks-butt action flicks. The first was Elektra (dumb) and then there was Ultraviolet (which was Ultra-dumb). I watched two Jessica Simpson movies. I know, a waste of time right? Not exactly, plus I've been feeling pretty bad for her because of all the negative talk about her figure. Blonde Ambition started off okay but then when they vamped up her character (a.k.a. made her look slutty) it got stupid. Private Valentine started off dumb but got better after her slutty character changed into a focused army type person. In conclusion, Simpson can be pretty funny when she's not being a diva. I also watched Monsoon Wedding--it was a little difficult to follow because the characters spoke in English and Hindi (I guess) with subtitles thrown in every other sentence. It was a sweet and sad story. I saw two comic book movies---The Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer and The Punisher. Both were dumb but entertaining nonetheless. I watched The Messengers which is a horror flick (that kind of made sense!). It scared the crud out of me but I only watched it during the day.



I've started a great new young adult series. It's Percy Jackson and The Olympians. It's kind of like Harry Potter meets Greek Mythology. I finished book one last week, The Lightning Thief, and now I'm reading book two The Sea of Monsters. There are five in the series (as far as I know) plus a companion book. The fifth book is scheduled to be published in May of this year. I'm learning a lot and eager to read as often as I can.





Images found at imdb.com and amazon.com (obviously--look inside!).

Oscar

I was going to do a post about all the movies I’ve seen lately, and gush about this new series I’m reading but I’ll get to that later (in another post). Right now, I want to talk Oscars. Hugh Jackman did a fair job and he was nice to look at. Too many musical numbers though. I still prefer Steve Martin or Jon Stewart. Some time during the ceremony they always do a tribute to the members of Hollywood that passed during the previous year. And yes, I cried when Paul Newman came on the screen. For several weeks now I have been saying that I no longer find Ben Stiller funny. After watching his annoying performance in Tropic Thunder (although, everyone’s performance paled in comparison to the hilarious Robert Downey Jr.) and even more annoying performance in The Heartbreak Kid (which reminded me of his obnoxious character in Meet the Parents, Along Came Polly, and Duplex) I decided to no longer see his movies. He plays the same sweet, push-over guy that gets into gross and embarrassing situations over and over. However, at the Oscars he shined for a brief moment by imitating Joaquin Phoenix in his recent dazed state. I was reminded of how much I loved Stiller in Dodgeball.



I DVR’d the whole event, thinking how cleaver I was. As I was fast-forwarded through the commercials and uninteresting categories (i.e. any category other that the top four for actors, best director and best movie) I knew I had found the one and only way to enjoy the Oscars. The thing about DVR is that it only records what is listed. The Oscars were supposed to be over after three hours. So, just as the gorgeous Kate Winslet approached the stage to accept her Oscar the recording stopped. It stopped! Next year I will be better prepared because skipping all that crap was almost as enjoyable as reading the reviews the day following the ceremony.

Sandi The Deer Slayer

So, last week my friend was out of town and I agreed to let his dog, Sandi, out at lunch to use the outdoor "facilities". When I arrived, the cable man was there (blocking the drive-way) using a huge ladder to get to some power lines just outside the fence around the property. As soon as I let Sandi out of the house the hair along the back of her neck stood up and she started growling. I assumed it was the presence of the cable man. I was wrong. She runs over to the cable man and continues to bark and act her territorial self. All of a sudden, she sprints to the back of the house toward the lake. The next thing I see is her chasing a deer around the yard. The property is fenced in (except where it meets the lake) so Sandi is chasing this caged creature along the perimeter of the property. Now, while I've got you on the edge of your seat, I'll tell you a side story. Sandi has killed a deer, all on her own, before. She chased said deer around the fence and the confused creature ran into the fence and broke its neck. Back to my story. Sandi chased the deer around the fence and the confused creature ran into the fence and broke its neck. Huh, that's the same story. Except this time I saw the whole thing. The deer just fell to the ground twitching and kicking for what seemed like an eternity (most likely 30 seconds) and then finally went still. Sandi is still barking her tail off (excuse the pun during a story like this) and going nuts. Here is a picture of the little murderess:

I know what you're thinking but apparently the deer consider her to be a real terror. So, per the weather channel we were to expect warm temperatures for the weekend. That means the dead carcass was going to get more pungent than in cooler weather. I slapped on some yellow rubber gloves (usually used to wash dishes--possible pictures to follow) and with some help, dragged the carcass off the property into some heavy brush. The next day the buzzards were a buzzing.

This is a rather morbid story and never in my life did I think I would be telling such a story but it did happen. Here's to more boring lunch breaks in the future.

Bittersweet

I know, another post about baked goods. What can I say? I'm an addict. I made a cake last week...from scratch (including the icing). It's a Barefoot Contessa recipe. It was a little difficult and rather time consuming but I'd make it again. I gave some of it to friends and I brought some to work. Oh, and I also ate way too much of it.

Bittersweet chocolate was in the icing. I think it made it a little too rich for my taste so maybe I'll try the recipe again with dark chocolate or milk chocolate. It also had coffee in the batter and the icing which is supposed to intensify the taste of the chocolate. Bittersweet could also describe the whole process--lots of work for a sweet dessert. Anyway, I was proud of myself. It didn't look half bad either.

Bodies

I went to see an exhibit in Atlanta this weekend. It was the Bodies Exhibition at Atlantic Station. First off, I've never been to Atlantic Station so that was pretty interesting. There were tons of shops and eatery spots and limited parking (of course). It was a little chilly that day but we walked around a little before and after the main event. So, the exhibit was fascinating. It truly was. Here is the link if you want to know a little about it yourself: http://www.bodiestheexhibition.com/bodies.html
Rooms, and the specimens, were divided by body systems (respiratory system, nervous system, etc). There was also a fetus room which was beyond creepy but very important to see. I only have one complaint: there were too many people trying to see everything at once and no directions given in the rooms--like arrows in the aisles of parking lots. After we saw all there was to see, and then some, my group went to eat dinner; because nothing works up your appetite more that seeing preserved dead human bodies. Anyway, we ate at Pappadeaux. It was so yummy. I'll eat there any chance I get in the future.

I watched two horrible chick flicks over the weekend (Over Her Dead Body, and The Prince and Me) and one rather depressing WWII movie (The Man Who Cried). All were wasted selections in my Netflix queue. However, I did get lots of pictures on the walls in my duplex (photos will hopefully follow soon). I'm reading Triskellion by Will Peterson. I'm halfway through the book and I don't really know what's going on or if I even like it. I really hope I can see a funny movie at the cinema soon. I'm dying to see New In Town, Confessions of a Shopaholic and He's Just Not That Into You.