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July 10th, 2009
 | 10:50 am - Crystal Coincidence
I watched my DVD of Dark Crystal last night. I hadn't seen that movie in so long, I didn't really remember a lot of it. Jim Henson was quite a guy. He was so...out there, so brave in his imagination. I enjoyed it as I did the later Labyrinth. After last night's viewing, both Cory and myself said, "Wow, that story is a lot like Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. It makes a person wonder. Was there a little creative ganking involved in Crystal Skull's storyline? I mean, maybe so. George Lucas did some collaborative work with Henson and with Frank Oz. George is awfully flaky.
Let's examine. In Dark Crystal the main character must find a piece of the crystal and return it, making the crystal whole again. In the end, when the crystal is whole again in the castle, beams of light bring the two tribes of creatures together and one speaks for the group as some otherworldly emissary. They impart knowledge and disappear.
Crystal Skull revolves around the quest to find the mythical skull and its corresponding treasure in a lost temple. When the skull is found, the characters eventually make their way to the temple. They enter a chamber with alien figures. When the skull is placed back on its alien body, the figures come alive with light. They impart knowledge, subsequently killing the villain, and disappear.
Hmmmm, sounds an awful lot alike to me. I know, it's a small detail, but to me, it's kind of strange. There's nothing new under the sun, they say. Maybe that's the truth here.
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July 8th, 2009
 | 03:27 pm - Faithful Founding Fathers
Let me start off by saying that I am not a Bible-thumper. I don't put on airs about being perfect and I don't preach at people. I am, however, a faithful Christian. I have faith in God and I do pray. A few days ago, someone posted on another blog the painting of George Washington praying in the snow. At first, I wanted to do my own painting, but time constraints as they are, I just don't have time to do something involved. I decided to write a poem and do a small computer illustration instead.
I love George Washington. I think he was an amazing person. I was raised to believe the founding fathers built our nation with religious freedom in mind. They were, in turn, religious people. And truly, who could blame them? They were mounting an incredible campaign against a powerful foe. They were a tiny force next to Britain, but they managed to scrap their way to victory. I can think of no scene more powerful than General Washington, weary from the winter in Valley Forge, going to the Lord in prayer for strength. Though I know it's never been scholarly proven that Washington did this, I have a feeling that he did.
We're facing a powerful foe now and I believe we can emerge victorious if we have faith. We are one nation under God and He will bless us again. You can read the poem after the cut.
( He addressed his saving Lord. )
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June 26th, 2009
 | 09:46 am - No to Cap and Trade!
I just don't get it. I don't understand why people in this country are so clueless to what's going on. This goes WAY beyond parties and who's cool and who isn't. The government is poised to pass an energy bill that will be the largest Democratic tax bill in history. And you know, just like the ineffectual "stimulus," most, if not all, of the people voting on the thing haven't even read it! That's right, every single aspect of our lives as Americans will be altered by this disaster, a disaster that could be prevented if people took more notice of what's important. Cap and trade will all but completely destroy our economy. Please people, get over the crap that makes you think D.C. is just about new puppies, swatting flies, and going for ice cream. This is SERIOUS! Integrity and future are at stake!
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June 25th, 2009
| 06:31 pm
God rest my Uncle Ed. He was quite a fellow. He passed today surrounded by his family. They sang to him. As a younger person with family quite older than those of my peers, I've been blessed with experiences and knowledge so few can claim, but it is bittersweet that I must bid them farewell so soon. Be at peace at last.
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June 22nd, 2009
 | 11:05 am - Stuff for Monday, June 22nd
Got the new range at last! They put it in yesterday. After the smell burned off in the oven, I baked a batch of cookies and some blackberry-chocolate chip scones. That convection oven is wondermous!
I had a great evening on Saturday with ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) sameinanylingo and her hubby. Thanks for that guys! After we watched Harper's Island, I got to experience something called Trailer Park Boys,. It's a Canadian show in documentary style like The Office but in a trailer park; really messed up. There's a poor guy who never seems to wear a shirt. He's a bit overweight, at least enough that going without a shirt is not cool. People call him names and my favorites that night were "Cheeseburger Walrus" and "Congealed Gravy Hot-Dog-Bun Bastard." I have no idea how those names got strung together, must be a Canadian thing. They're crazy! LOL!
Nutmeg's going to the vet at lunch. She has to get shots and they're going to check out her allergy stuff. We've given her two baths in the last two and a half weeks with the allergy shampoo, but it doesn't seem to be making it much better. Her ears are so red and her back paws are pink from all the licking.
I visit a blog by a man named Jim Treacher; funny guy. He does haikus for almost everything. This one is a takenku, written about the movie Taken. I thought it was great!
I'm Liam Neeson
As your face already knows
Well, what's left of it
That movie was great, as well as Gran Torino with Clint Eastwood.
Lastly, this situation in Iran is ghastly. I inadvertently watched one of the videos from the protests over there where someone died. Freedom is not free folks. I pray for peace.
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June 18th, 2009
| 11:11 am - Die 1959 Kitchen, DIE!
Okay, I'm so cheesed at our house, I can't see straight. This new range I was getting, well, we can't even have them put it in until we get an electrician to come and do something with the wiring. The old range was hard-wired in and I kept asking Cory, "Do we need to do something about this? Are you sure this is okay?" And he kept telling me it was fine. So the delivery guys get to the house, in the storming rain by the way, and find they can't take the old one or drop off the new one until that hard-wired business is taken care of. YAY!!! It's most likely going to be Saturday at best before I get my range now. At worst, it could be next week. I am so pissed off!!! It's not like I didn't ask Cory about this! Of course, I could have done what I usually did and looked it up myself, but I thought since I was the one who picked it out and paid for it, my part was done. But nope, he just blew it off. GRRRRR!!!
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June 16th, 2009
| 09:14 pm - A Requiem for a 70's GE Range
I mixed up this boss batch of dark chocolate chip cookies the other day. We're talking 72 and 89% cacao. I got around to baking some last night...or at least I thought I would. I put the cookies in and went to watch Cory do Wii Fit. A few minutes later, I heard a loud popping. It was coming from the kitchen, specifically the oven. I opened the door to see and found sparks and smoke. After much fanning and freaking out, we saw that the heating element had burned through. My cookies were ruined and my oven was too. Yay.
So we were in the market for a chest freezer anyway. A small one, just enough to store some bags of veggies and pizzas and whatnot. Now we needed a new range. I did a lot of online research and we got a glass-topped, convection oven range from Sears. It's supposed to be really good. I hope so. We got the freezer too because frankly, I'm tired of folding pizzas in half to get them in the freezer. There goes some money, that's for sure, but I can't do without an oven. I just won't be able to do a lot of spending for a while.
We get the stuff on Thursday. I can't wait! I want some cookies really, really bad.
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June 8th, 2009
| 09:40 am
I think Nutmeg has allergies. She's been scratching at her ears a lot and licking her feet. I washed her ears last night and one was a little raw. And her feet, well, she licks them all the time and I spray them with bitter apple when I catch her, but she's alone a lot. I'm going to try some allergy shampoo if I can find it. I hope it's not her food, though it could be. I'm guessing it's just an airborne thing. Poor thing, I know how she feels.
Other than that, I had a nice weekend. I had lunch with two friends on Saturday and did some shopping. I helped my husband and his dad work on the new fireplace and mantel. When I got home, I tended garden and planted some new things my mom dug up and gave me. I really hope the lavender takes. I love that stuff. And the tomatoes, they're nuts. I've dug up or replanted around ten volunteer tomatoes so far and there are more coming up every day. It's crazy! So yeah, I'm a little tired.
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May 31st, 2009
| 12:40 pm - Photos of greensleeves, as promised.
Under the cut you can see photos of some of my greensleeves. sameinanylingo I am sorry I didn't come over to bring you yours yesterday, I got busy. But yours is in the picture!
( Photos here. )
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May 29th, 2009
| 07:38 pm - greensleeves
I've been busy! I've started a little business for myself, well, sort of. I make fabric, reusable cup sleeves. I call them greensleeves. See under the cut for a small ad and more info. ( A little can go a long way. )
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May 28th, 2009
| 09:46 am - Wit's End
I don't know where else to talk about this, so I'll just let it all hang out here. First off, let me make it clear that I love my husband very much. When we started dating, I thought he was one of the most level-headed, inventive, people I'd ever met. He loved to daydream and tinker. He wasn't thin, but he jogged almost every day. We've been together for quite some time, married for almost five years. Over these years, something has happened to him. He hates life, has no zeal for it, and he's gained a lot of weight. Neither of us have ever been super skinny. I've struggled with my weight my entire life, but to me, it's important to stay healthy. For a long time now, I've tried to help him feel the same way. I've encouraged exercise and tried to get him to pay more attention to his diet. But nevertheless, he still wants his junk food and doesn't want to be active. I can't get him to eat anything that isn't meat and potatoes, pizza, hamburgers, or mexican food. If we do eat anything else, he pokes at it and acts as if I'm feeding him cold gruel.
My husband is killing himself, both physically and mentally. I feel like someone watching an alcoholic drink themselves to death. He's been depressed for the past three years and it's getting very hard for me to function as a happy, health conscious person. He's dragging me down and no matter how hard I try to help him, nothing works. When I look at him, it hurts me. I think of how hard it must be to carry around that weight all day, how his clothes pinch. I don't know what to do anymore.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/roshi/palefaces/depressed.gif) depressed
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May 18th, 2009
| 08:39 pm - And I'm Back!
So I spent the weekend out of town, and I'm back. I have a week off of work so hopefully I can get really rested and do some things that I've been slacking on. I need to work on my new story. I'm already over 10,000 words. It's strange to not be writing anything about vampires, but it's fun too.
I had a nice Saturday. I saw a high school friend and got to tour her parents' big new house. I popped a county over and finally saw another friend's house. I wish I was as good a homemaker as she is. :) I saw Star Trek that night. I liked it. I still don't jive completely with the way they've chosen to reinvent the characters, but that's okay I guess. My biggest beef is with Spock's behavior. I just don't see Spock acting the way he did in that movie. Oh well, I'm strange.
So I'm going upstairs to eat some cake. My mom made me a delish dark chocolate cake for my birthday (not until tomorrow) and I just can't put it down.
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May 13th, 2009
| 01:49 pm - What Star Trek character are you?
Wow...okay.
Your results:
You are Spock
| Spock |
| 75% |
| Worf |
| 75% |
| An Expendable Character (Redshirt) |
| 75% |
| Jean-Luc Picard |
| 70% |
| Deanna Troi |
| 65% |
| Data |
| 53% |
| Chekov |
| 50% |
| Will Riker |
| 50% |
| James T. Kirk (Captain) |
| 45% |
| Uhura |
| 40% |
| Geordi LaForge |
| 40% |
| Leonard McCoy (Bones) |
| 30% |
| Mr. Scott |
| 30% |
| Mr. Sulu |
| 25% |
| Beverly Crusher |
| 15% |
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You are skilled in knowledge and logic.
You believe that the needs of the many
outweigh the needs of the few.
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Click here to take the Star Trek Personality Test
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May 10th, 2009
| 06:52 pm - A Full Weekend
So yesterday we went yardsaling. I got a sewing box full of old thread. The people at the sale said that four sisters used to live in the house, the only one still living was 95. It was their sewing box. When I got home, I started picking through it and found, of all things, a .38 Special bullet. Apparently the four sisters had a little bit more going on than sewing. ;) We finished up the day with some cultivating of our garden plot and some woodworking. Cory built me a small rack/shelf thing to go between the oven and fridge. I keep my cookie sheets and pizza pan there and it gives me a little more counter space, which is nice.
Today we went to the store and came back to start planting. I worked my butt off with the garden plot and planted the zinnias, sunflowers, tomatoes, and peppers. We still have to get Roma tomatoes, but they will catch up. Cory broke up four short rows behind the garage and we planted corn and beans. This is the first year for that, so it will be an adventure. I finished by trimming some bushes and giving the dog a bath. It's been a full weekend. Alas though, no time for movies so no Star Trek. Maybe next weekend when we see Angels&Demons.
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May 8th, 2009
| 03:03 pm
I'm not totally sold on the new Star Trek, but I just may go see it this weekend. I mean, on one hand you have the iconic show with the camp of Shatner and the skill of Nimoy, but on the other hand you have an opportunity to tell a good story with recognized characters. I'm just so torn. I'm more of a Star Wars fan than Star Trek, but I respect it and know a bit about it. I grew up with TNG so it's naturally the one I identify with more, but the original just has that certain something. If I do see it, maybe it'll be more fulfilling than Wolverine.
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May 4th, 2009
| 12:29 pm - For Masses and Asses
The Courier Journal ran a bit in the entertainment section of the paper yesterday about summer concerts of the local orchestra. The author advocates strongly the move from a pops-type picnic in the park concert to something more classical. What he doesn't mention is that the move was because of loss of funding for the concerts called Roarchestra. These were held in the Louisville Zoo after hours and were sponsored by Fifth Third Bank. Needless to say, banks aren't doing well so the concerts had to be scrapped. I have insider knowledge so I know this for a fact.
Instead of relaying facts that I'm sure he was privy to and being objective, the guy proceeded to rail on the "common folk" and their penchant for tired music and lazy soloist guests. He cheers instead for straight classical music, little-known Mozart and such, even opera. This says more about his misplaced prejudice and sense of self-importance than it does about music. I've struggled my entire life with elitists. These people believe things have to fit a certain criterion before they can fall into a "prestigious" category. I was ridiculed for my love of "movie poster art" and this man is calling people like me out because we like pops. I mean really, is it simple for someone like John Williams to write the score for a film? Does he do it in one day, or maybe over lunch? No, John works just as hard to crank out his music as Mozart did. The time period may be different, but the talent and skill is not. So why must pops be relegated to community bands and high school concerts? Why is music for the masses so terrible?
Why do the elite seem to live only to degrade everyone else. I suppose it's something to do with the fact that it's hard to see someone else's point of view when you have your head up your own ass. Mr. Andrew Adler, let's see you write a concerto or maybe play one. Let's see you compose the score to a blockbuster. Until you can do those things and still remain humble and appreciative, you can cram it.
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April 28th, 2009
| 12:32 pm - Soapbox for Today
I won't say anything much about what lead me to post this rant, just that it was spurred by comments I read on articles about the Air Force One photo-oops (yes, I meant oops) in New York. I gotta say folks, and I say this loud and clear, an 8-year-old with Photoshop could not convincingly comp a photo. I am a trained professional and I know to pull off a flawless comp takes skill, talent, and experience. This all goes back to my soapbox speech on people working in fields to which they are best suited. Graphic design is not a hobby, it's not something you do because you want to be a "artist" or because you think it's easy. Graphic design is for craftspeople, people who have artistic talent and know what they are doing. Please do not assume that anyone with a computer can do what I do, it is terribly insulting. Think about it like this: if anyone with a computer is a graphic designer, then I am a brain surgeon because I know where the brain is in the body and I know how to use a knife and scissors. See what I mean? Graphic design is not a joke, it's not a punch line, so don't treat it like one. Thank you.
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April 21st, 2009
April 20th, 2009
| 03:26 pm - OMG! Someone shut her up!
Okay, if you don't know who Susan Boyle is, get out from under your rock and google her. Now, feast your eyes, (thankfully not your ears) on this blurb about her from the screechingly horrid celebutard, Rosie O'Donnell. I quote: "Here is this freaky miss, a fat, ugly girl, like Shrek comes to life, directing energy towards her soul." W...T...F! Tell me how a comment like that is in any way a compliment? Good Lord, I feel so sorry for Susan. She's such an amazing musician with real God-given talent and, from what I've heard, an amazing person to boot. So what if she's not cookie-cutter beautiful. And really, Rosie should talk. Geez.
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April 16th, 2009
| 08:50 am - I gotta say...
I hate the Courier-Journal. I mean really, how stupid do you have to be to believe what that piece of trash tells you? It's no wonder we only buy the Sunday paper for coupons and the TV guide. It's sad what's happening to newspapers, but in all seriousness, they brought it on themselves. If the C-J has to fold, it won't be anyone's fault but theirs for blatantly bias and fluffy coverage. Too bad.
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