What I've Been Up To

My friend from Oz asked me where I've been and why I haven't blogged in a while (thanks for noticing, family) and the answer is that I've been here but occupied with the silliest things. I have been trying to at least update the whole listening to/watching sections, because life does continue and at least those things have changed, but ... yeah, that's weak.

The straight story is that I've had some fun personal stuff going on, and I'm getting ready to go to Las Vegas at the end of the week. I really want you all to do your own blogs though (family) so I feel like I need to make this a regular thing, and the only way to do that is ... just do it. So I'll share with you two things that I found really interesting this week.

First, I found some beautiful Rainier cherries. I walked into the produce section on Sunday and absolutely had to have them. I'm not a produce person, not a great shopper, I'm not particularly adventurous, and I don't vary much from a pretty fixed grocery list, but these are gorgeous tasting. They're tangy and sweet and firm and juicy and, well, it sucks for you not to be eating these. They give me joy every time I open the frig and I wish I could take a picture that does them justice (this is God's way of telling me I should get a new camera).

Second, I've been re-listening to Peter Gabriel's solo stuff and that, too, is gorgeous. The music is so thick and has so much texture, plus there's something expressive in his voice that makes me want to crawl up into it and stay awhile. Sometimes I'll find myself playing a track or even an entire CD over and over. I love his new one too, called Big Blue Ball, which is a collaboration with lots of other artists that spanned over ten years. It's really skillful, but you can tell they had a blast while making it.

So, anyhoo, although I haven't done very much worth talking about, I feel comfortable that my advice for the rest of your week is directly on target: Rainier Cherries and Peter Gabriel. Find a way to make it work.

Dr. Horrible

This is such an inventive piece of work. I was lucky enough to catch it in the short window of its free availability. Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Fillion singing and practicing their evil laughs. Very fun. Sorry for the late notice.

http://www.drhorrible.com/index.html

Joss Whedon (of Buffy and Firefly) explains his master plan here:

http://www.drhorrible.com/plan.html

Yellow Flowers

I've been driving by this field every day for the past week (well, except for while I was in Anaheim) and these flowers are crazy pretty. I risked re-injuring my ankle hiking through a field in my flip flops to get this shot. I wish I'd been brave enough to go over the fence.



Click to see it better. It's a great field, but it's not a great photograph. It was either this one, or the joy that a little white adhesive tape can bring to a street sign that should read Elk Lick Falls (I didn't do it! I don't even think elk are that limber!).

Life By the Numbers

OK, family, I don't mean to be critical, but in the most loving way I must say you are miserably bad at creating (and then linking) your own blogs.

I'm disappointed.

That said, for me:

• Projects completed: 1 (Look forward to your Christmas gifts. Or ... not.)
  
• Projects conceived: 1 million
  
• Trips in my future: 3
  
• Trips I'm looking forward to: 1 (Las Vegas)
• I love my pets this much: Henry: $304.10. (Elliot...well, I haven't had to prove it yet)

(Psst, shh, Henry below.... she's a girl)

• Work level happiness: 75% (Yay!)
• General happiness: 90% (Yeah, really! Sorry!)
  
• Things that piss me off: Downloads that fail.
  
• Things I'm excited about: 2
• Things I'm thrilled! about: 1

Guess the rest.

Movies & Other Silliness

I saw two great John Hurt movies this weekend -- not that I was looking for John Hurt movies, but that's just the way it happened.

V for Vendetta -- Four out of five stars. It's creepily appropriate to what's going on in the world today and it just makes me want to be disobedient.

Best line: "People shouldn't be afraid of the government; government should be afraid of the people."

Hellboy II - The Golden Army -- Five out of five stars. Guillermo Del Toro did an amazing job with this movie. It's really funny, it's visually spectacular, it has good action and great special effects, and -- acknowledging that it's fantasy -- the plot holds together. Moreover, the whole tone of it just feels right and I liked the way they resolved the story but left some really good teasers for another sequel. I was a little disappointed that they did not bring back David Hyde Pierce as the voice of Abe, but that's my only complaint. Go see this in a theatre.

Best line: "I'm not a baby..." (and I won't spoil the rest of that for you). ;-)

Other Silliness -- While I was on vacation the hostas ... um, passed their prime, so to speak. But I did say I would take a picture after they bloomed:




As usual, click for a better look.

What Riley Found

Riley found this in the yard.

I should probably mention that Riley is the most lovely dog. He was my sister's gift to her love when he was a puppy. He's loyal and friendly and a bit old, but he loves to fetch. Riley loves to fetch like other creatures love to breathe. He will let you throw for days while he fetches -- I'm not exaggerating. He will fetch until you fail him, and let him drop dead. It's his purpose.

On Sunday, he found this thing in the yard and he brought it to us and our initial impulse was to say, "Ew, Riley!" and throw it. But....he fetched it and brought it back.

I should also mention that the fourth of July is an amazing time for where I spend my summer vacation. The neighbors have a one bedroom trailer with a garage so they end up with about 20 people living in tents, all sharing the same bathroom. And my dad's place isn't much better because on the fourth we had seven beds sleeping a total of nine people, all sharing one bathroom.

It's typical of the neighborhood. On the fourth, it's such a GREAT place, it's heaven, we're all willing to live in a tent just to be there.

But anyway, back to what Riley found.....I think he may have found it in a tent.

(Go ahead and click if you want more detail. We took this picture after he'd already bitten off the end. But look at him! He's so eager! "Throw it!" he's thinking, "Throw it, you knuckleheads! I will bring it back!").

According to the branding on the side, it's called a "Hypertool" -- I'm afraid to google it.

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

I just got back from my semi-annual visit to Chetek. We visited my sister in the hospital, saw the fourth of July parade, went to the Rod and Gun store, we watched some fireworks, chatted with the neighbors, pooh-poohed over the state of the other neighbor's yard, we watched the Chetek Hydroflites, went to two cemetaries, I sang the National Anthem twice, and I won seven games of Rummikub (out of eighteen games I played) . We also went out on the boat a lot.

I'll try to dole out the excitement in small pieces. Here's my favorite of the week:



Please, also note that my friend Basiljaz (sis, you may remember her and the Kiwi as our gracious hosts) has combined her seriously Dickensian leanings with her love of air travel so that her new blog appears in my bloglist. Enjoy.