You'll Be a Song I'll Sing

Instead of going out to a nice dinner I wanted my Northstar pancakes for breakfast.  Hubby suggested the new crepe/belgian waffle place at the North Market.  We got there around 11am but they didn't open until noon.  So we bought a loaf of day old bread and thought we'd try Warehouse Cafe.  Which no longer has Sunday hours.  I was starving so we went to Surly Girl where we finally got to have their brunch.  It was yummy.  Then I found a long necked watering can for the self-watering hanging baskets on the front porch.

We went home and my in-laws said they'd come by sometime.  After a bunch of miscommunications and weeding of the lawn, we were picked up and taken to Wendy's and Dairy Queen.  Some days fancy or gourmet just isn't in the cards.  Like I told my husband, "Sometimes the company you eat with is more important than what you eat."

Hubby bought me Ratio by Michael Ruhlman and made me two CDs.  I thought Sammy gave me the gift of silence while blow drying my hair but that didn't last.  :)

Two weekends ago I made Nigella Lawson's pancake recipe which got rave reviews from hubby.  He said they were the best pancakes I'd ever made.  We had them for dinner.  :)

This year I want to try some new things.  Right now I am keeping a food diary so I'll see how long it holds up.  I think it will be one way to make sure there is variety in our meals. 

Saw some movies but nothing that made me think "Wow".

I went to Polaris today for lunch with my friend from Wisconsin and to return some gifts.  Though I was never inside the actual mall I was surprised by the crowds.  One slip at Barnes and Noble and I could have been mowed over by someone on their way to a good deal.  Picked up The Story of Edgar Sawtelle (which I've been wanting since August) for about $15.

I just found out three of Henning Mankell's Kurt Wallender books were made into 90 minutes for the BBC.  The first one aired 11/30/08.  I've only read the first book (eight of them feature him as the main character and the rest have him as a secondary character) but now I want to really rush through them.  Love me some Swedish thrillers!  It appears I have some time.  They aren't going to be aired on PBS until the spring/summer. 

And Kenneth Branagh stars as Wallender.  Apparently Branagh was in Sweden for an Ingmar Bergman festival last year and met Mankell there and sparks flew.  :)

Jo seems to be the only right answer to this question!

Hubby is still sick. He has Tuesday off for Veteran's Day. I go in for my annual physical on Monday morning.

Tonight I made an easy thing in the crock pot for dinner. I thought we would have some Bertolli frozen lasagna things for dinner tomorrow but may need to switch that for another day since hubby probably won't be feeling well tomorrow.

Once again we are behind our neighbors. They got a leaf blower or something and did their front yard. I raked a little bit of my red carpet by the red Japanese Maple tree. Our front trees are the prettiest on the street. They're an orangey-yellow and everyone else has green, yellow and brown leaves.

I did not go to the write-in today. I should have since next week we're celebrating Thanksgiving at my parent's house. I know that will be one day lost of writing. I am trying to get ahead to make up for days like that and because rhondaparrish and I are trying to get to 17k by Monday.

I'm way behind on updating my site. bleargh! And rewarding myself for writing.

Lately I've been wanting to make some bread but I can't find the paddle for our bread machine. I remember telling my husband I was taking it with me to the new house or putting it with x item because I did not want him to throw it out or have it break. Still haven't found the darn thing. Good news... we moved here 16 months ago and I finally found the book I was reading when we moved (The Amber Spyglass).

Today we "drove into town".  I think trying to look at all the houses made me car sick.  There is roller skating every night above the post office.  We went to a super cute bookstore (I think it was called Half Quarter Moon), bought superfresh crab legs and shrimp, window shopped at a tacky store (the saltwater taffy in the Top Sail souvenoir box was made in China), and checked out the abandoned arcade.  It looks like the arcade is only staffed during the summer season when all of the tourists are here.  But it takes real quarters!

During yesterday's walk I saw a crab, two stingrays, and a jellyfish washed up on the beach. 

I read Sarah's Key in one day and have started Ever.

We woke up at 5:30am to take hubby to the airport.  Our street was pretty quiet when I took Sammy for his walk.  There was one house that looked like someone was playing a football game.  I bet they were still up and had not gone to bed yet.  The drive to the airport and back was uneventful.

Sammy had a grooming appointment at 8am.  We got there just before the groomer.  Petco isn't open yet so they opened the doors for me and had to let me out later.  I always try to walk Sammy some more before entering a store in case he's not empty but I rushed this time since they were holding the door open for me.  Of course he had to go #1 and #2 in the store which was embarassing but nice they had the stuff there for me to clean it all up.

At home I moved the recycling from the kitchen to the front porch, hacked away at the hydrangeas, weeded the side yard, read more of The Good German, did two loads of laundry, decided to take a nap, spoke to hubby on the phone and then it was time to pick up Sammy.  Moved hubby's car, gushed over Sammy's pretty fur, and did more laundry.  Finished up The Good German and then Sammy and I took a nap from 1:23pm to 4:30pm.  Actually, Sammy didn't wake up until 5pm or so.  Our next door neighbors are building a shed in their backyard.  He and I slept right through the hammering.

Friday night I had my own heater in bed.  Sammy might start off the night at the foot of the bed but before I fall asleep he usually does his army crawl underneath and sometime during the night ends up in his bed in the closet.  For some reason, Sammy stayed by my side all night.  The heat he was giving off made me stick one leg on top of the covers.  He was dead weight.  In the morning he had moved to the end of the bed; it's rare for him to spend a whole night there.

So while I was awake from my nap I watched him sleep in his bed.  Each time I moved his eyes would open, he'd see I wasn't going anywhere, close them again and be asleep.  Seriously.  In seconds his third eye was showing and he'd be in REM sleep.  Whiskers, leg, or ears twitching even.  It wasn't until they dropped something outside that he jumped to his feet sounding the alarm, looking at me and then looking at the direction of the shed.  Silly dog.  I don't get as much alone time when hubby is gone or even when he's here (like I used to water the plants every night and do a little bit of weeding) but it's good to have Sammy around. 

I watched a few episodes of Bones last night and started reading The Headless Cupid.  Sammy and I were still in bed by 11:30pm like usual. 

We woke up early and went back to bed.  At 8am though, Sammy let me know he was ready to start the day.  He smells a little bit like pumpkin pie after his bath yesterday so of course he had to find cat poo to attempt to roll around in; I caught him before he got to it.  My neighbor found some tree stumps in her backyard after she paid someone to get rid of them for her.  Bless her heart... she was out there at 8am with sweat pouring down her face trying to hack away at them.  She didn't want to have to call him back to finish up; she found trees at Oakland nursery on sale and wants to get them in this week.

Today I'm going to start planning things for NaNoWriMo and get started on a writing exercise for The Muse Conference 2008.  I think Sammy got bored while I worked on coupons and got rid of old newspapers; he's sacked out on the chair behind me.

This one is always fun to do:

* Grab the nearest book.
* Open the book to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post the text of the next sentence* in your journal along with these instructions.
* Don't dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual one: pick the CLOSEST.

I didn't do it on purpose: it's just something that happened.


There were only two sentences on page 56 of The Real World Hawaii True Confessions and that was the second one. :) It was within arm's reach. I'd have to bend down to get Night by Elie Wiesel.

As hubby promised, we got to have breakfast at Northstar. Cloud 9 pancakes and bacon - my favorite! A home game at OSU derailed my visitation plans with the TV. The parking garage was full and it was crazy. Ten minutes before the game started people were running around like crazy fools.

Had a nap this afternoon, got to read a little of The Good German, and played poker for the first time since hubby's grandad died last September. I've been promised brunch at Sage tomorrow. Yum Yum!

Yesterday wasn't very interesting. I woke up super early so I could call the alarm people. I'm still fighting with them over the problems we've been having. They think because I have a digital phone line that I'm not as important as their customers with analog phone lines. :(

I took a morning nap since I was up so early. Later I went to the $2 movies to see Hellboy II: The Golden Army. It was superdark when I went into the theater and I couldn't see a thing! I walked in while John Hurt's character was telling the story of The Golden Army to a young Hellboy. Eventually I found my way to a seat. Three times during the movie the screen went funny where the film wasn't quite in the right place on the screen. The last time, of course, was during an exciting fight scene so there was their heads at the bottom of the screen, a huge black line in the middle, and their torsos at the top. I waited until the credits were nearly over before leaving. There was a group of 5 women trying to get in to the movie theater. They couldn't see a thing either! It was good knowing it wasn't just me.

I ran some errands (picked up dry cleaning and yummy things at the store I normally don't buy), ate dinner and read. I've borrowed most of the Twilight series from someone at work and I've been trying to get them back to her as soon as possible. I also watched Old Joy. Since hubby hasn't been home I've been staying up until midnight or 1am but I really should be going to bed earlier.

Over on my writing and book reviewing blog is an announcement about Book Blogger Appreciation Week on My Friend Amy's Blog which is from September 15th through September 19th.

She's has events planned for bloggers and readers alike!

Until the end of this month, you can nominate your favorite book bloggers (they don't have to be registered to participate in the event) for awards. The categories and nomination process can be found here. Some additional categories have been added but I don't think they've been added to the list: Most Altruistic Blog, Funniest/Most Humorous Blog, Best Sci-fi/fantasy/horror/spec-fic blog, and Best Commenter/commentator.

I know many readers are on my flist and I thought this bit of news might be of interest.

It felt weird to be sitting down on the couch at 7:30pm tonight instead of rushing to get Sammy to his 8pm class.  I think I have to put reminders on my task list to try different commands with him so he'll learn them.  

I have a pair of sisters who have been rattling around my head the last few days.  I think they want to be in this year's NaNoWriMo novel but that remains to be seen.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it or not but I'm fairly certain I managed to kill the hydrangeas this year.  But I can blame some of that on Sammy.  First, I didn't trim them back last fall as I didn't know how to trim them.  Second, the blue set only has a few green branches and the pink set looks completely dried up.  They have not been given enough water.  Last summer after we moved in I would go out after nightfall and water them.  Now I just don't want to get hassled by the corgi so I don't water them except on the weekends.

It appears there is a missing box of my unread books somewhere.  I remember <i>Another Night in Suck City</i> as one of the books in my TBR pile in the apartment and it looks like I went through all of my unread boxes the other day without finding it.  There must be a combined box or something.  We found one box that hadn't been opened but it was books I'd read and wanted to keep.

During the last two weeks I finished a book for a December book review, About Alice by Calvin Trillin, and Gimp by Mark Zupan and Tim Watson.

There is no rhyme or reason as to the order I read books. What is funny is that I read About Alice shortly after watching Bernard and Doris. Calvin Trillin acted in the movie as a board member. Apparently most of the content can be found in Trillin's other books but I'm not familiar with him as a writer. I'm sure I've read some of his pieces in The New Yorker when I used to read it cover to cover on a weekly basis but he's not a household author name like Irving, Roth or Atwood where anything they write gets bought almost immediately. It is a quick book to read and yes, I cried. And I laughed. If you want to read a love letter this is a good book to read.

Note: This is an old post from June I had in my drafts on LochJournal. :)

Poll #1231048 Good Reads vs. Library Thing
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

Which do you prefer? I've heard good things about both but they seem to offer the same things to me. The only difference I've found is that Library Thing gets ARCs and allows members to request them.

I'm reading the hardcover of The Rule of Four because it's been on my TBR pile for years so why buy the paperback? I'm nearly through Chapter 10 and while about two hours of Good Friday have passed since the first line of the book and really nothing other than a break-in has happened... I'm loving it.

I was inspired by the post of an acquaintance that gave her mid-year tally. It's a bit interesting to look at the numbers even though some of them are fuzzy. If I'm going to do this at the end of the year I really should keep better track of these things, shouldn't I?

Here it is:

• read 7 books


• saw 58 movies


• wrote 5 book reviews


• wrote 2 poems


• wrote 35 short stories (mainly first drafts)

As you can imagine, I find the number of books I've read appalling. On the downside, I haven't been keeping track of them so I'm pretty sure it's more than that but I don't seem to have a way to find this out. Only one of the two libraries I use keep track of what has been checked out and of course the library I use the least has this information.

So what have I done since tallying the numbers? I've read another book and am well on my way to finishing two more. :)

 I found my $70 store credit for Barnes and Noble last weekend and spent some time browsing the tables and some of the aisles.  I was very tempted to splurge but thought better of it since the ole birthday is coming up soon.  All I bought was a magazine.

I've been itching to read something though I'm not certain what that something might be.  The last book I read was ErRatic by N.D. Hansen-Hill.  It was a .pdf version and I have to admit it's nice being able to read a book while waiting in line somewhere without weighing my purse down anymore than necessary.

It's been nearly a week since my last update but I have not fallen off the face of the earth.

Last Saturday I did this. Sunday we celebrated Mother's Day by going to church and having lunch with my in-laws. Later that night my parents came over since my dad was to have surgery at a nearby hospital on Monday morning. My in-laws came over to see my parents and all six of us had dinner at Northstar.

On Monday morning Sammy went berserk when my mom woke up early. Unbeknownst to us, she'd fallen out of the guest bed, scraped her hand, banged up her knee and nearly broke her nose. She said it was the most comfortable bed she'd slept in for years. I was so exhausted from so little sleep I called in to work and slept most of the morning. In the afternoon I did go to the hospital to see my Dad. Monday night my brother and his wife came over to have Chinese food with us and Mom. It was their first visit to our house. Monday night Mom slept on the couch. Dad's surgery went well and he was released on Tuesday. My brother and his wife took my parents home that afternoon.

Wednesday night I was planning on seeing Amy Bloom speak but I was just so tired from having company, I took my laptop to the Grandview library and wrote. Spent the rest of the evening at home.

Last night was busy and a late evening. I don't remember if I mentioned it or not, but someone backed up into my husband's car in the parking garage and tore up part of the grill and headlight. We picked up the car in the morning. The body shop did the repairs, fixed a sideview mirror (we said we'd pay separate for it) and cleaned up some paint scrapes on the side and on the bumper. It looked better than before the accident and it cost less than the estimate. After work I went to the Terry Moore talk at the Wexner Center. About 100 people attended. I had him sign the first issue of Echo. One of the girls/women gave him her Katchoo license plate which had expired two years ago. He was so excited! He's one of the most gracious signers I've ever met. Terry spoke to everyone and signed whatever they wanted. Strangers in Paradise was a comic I connected with because the women were drawn realistically. Francine would go up and down in weight and Terry showed it with some extra fat around the face which is more subtle and realistic than showing her as a size 2 (which Francine could never be) in one issue and then a size 22 in another.

Afterwards we had dinner at one of the best restaurants in town. By best I mean where the chef cares about the food and uses fresh ingredients. I was worried about being in jeans but Jeff was in jeans and so was Terry. There were eight of us total and Vijaya joined us later. It was the last night of the Columbus Symphony (supposedly forever though they're advertising two more shows this month) and Yo-Yo Ma was the guest performer. The restaurant closes at 10pm but we were there until nearly midnight. I ate too much and dessert sent me over the edge into colon spasms which ended up okay but really had me worried there in the restaurant. (I don't think it was the sweetness of the maple syrup creme brulee - I think it was from eating very little during the day and then a lot in three hours.)

Two of the guys at work today were talking about marriage (one is in a wedding this weekend and attending a wedding next weekend). And the one who was saying negative looks over at me and said, "Not you, Amber. Nothing like that applies to you." He went on to say, "You and your husband are really happy together and it shows." We have misunderstandings and miscommunications just like other couples but we know we're in it for the long haul and it's too much of a fun ride to try and get off early.

Due to all this family time I've gotten behind in my goal of writing a short story a day during the month of May. I'm at 6 completed stories, 1 is 3/4s completed and another barely started. Wish me luck! We have company coming from out of town tomorrow. :)

In case you didn't guess, I'm back to the ordinary.

Sweeps officially begins tomorrow so the day job will be very busy!

While on vacation I finished a book that I'd been reading for a review.  Monday at home was so relaxing I began writing the review right away instead of putting it off for the book to digest.

This week at work I was given two similar projects which are going to cut into my time to do my regular work. The best I can think of to accomplish them in a timely fashion is to block time out of my calendar to doing nothing but working on the projects. Timing isn't the best though, since I'm supposed to begin training on the monitoring room this week during the afternoon - afternoon is the best time to work on projects, of course.

Wednesday evening I did get some writing done on two short stories I've been working on the last few weeks. I tried revising a short story that I've been working on for... forever, it seems. I may just send it off this week to one of the markets I chose as a target. During the week I had a revelation on how to finish one of the new short stories.

Friday evening I saw Snow Angels which I highly recommend. I recommend David Gordon Green's movie, Úndertow, as an example of a literary movie. Snow Angels is based on the novel by Stewart O'Nan. David came on board to write a screenplay adapted from the novel for another director and eventually he wound up as the director.

I've enjoyed the cheese factor of the Underworld movies and this really shows a different side of Kate Beckinsale than usual. Sam Rockwell is, as always, the bomb.

David Gordon Green introduced the movie and took questions afterwards. Some of his upcoming projects include a demolition derby comedy, an adaptation of The Dwarf and a remake of Dario Argento's Suspiria. That's some crazy all over the place kind of stuff right there. I can't blame him though - you have to keep your work interesting. I did get to meet him and shake his hand but didn't go out for drinks/dinner as Sammy needed tending. I think Sammy was at the tenth or eleventh hour from his morning walk.

I went to a birthday party today for a one-year-old relative. It was fun and casual. Strangely enough, all of the kids were well behaved and I thought, "I want one of those." Of course, I wasn't paying too much attention to the kids so my point of view is likely skewed.