Category Archives: blogging

Some Saturday Stuff

We can call this a Scattered Saturday or a Slacker Saturday, but I am composing this at the keyboard while I sip red wine, half look at a Vincent Price movie I DVR’d last month, and wait for Steven to get home.

I am paying very slack attention to this movie, because it is not one of his best.  It was made in the ’70s, when horror movies were becoming more gross, nasty and, well, mean.  They were more about dispatching as many victims as possible in the most disgusting fashions that could be devised.  Soon after came the slasher flicks, with more blood and less imagination. Oh, I know, many people adore such things. I live for the cheese factor and try to avoid anything that will turn my stomach.  I may watch this one again sometime and write about it, though, so I shall say no more at present.

In my quest to return to normalcy  (as normal as I can get, at any rate), I wanted to go running this morning.  It was some 30 degrees out, so I ran in place on the mini-tramp, while watching Phantom of the Opera,  the original, silent version.  For me, this is the best way to watch a silent movie.  When I’m sitting crocheting or knitting, I take my eyes off the screen too often.  I did not get through the entire movie, but I hope to run again tomorrow.

Later in the morning, I took a drive to Little Falls.  I went to the Winter Farmer’s Market, which is not yet in full swing.  Still, I chatted up the vendors that were there and took a few pictures, so perhaps I can do a full post on that tomorrow, in lieu of Wrist to Forehead Sunday.  I also walked through Paca Gardens. I would really like to purchase some of their socks, among other things.  I wanted to stop at Fall Hill Bead and Gems, but they were not yet open.

Coming back to Herkimer, I hung out at my house till Steven came home from lunch.  I like to have even a short visit with my honey.  I did not mention that I had taken Spunky for a walk before heading to Little Falls. Well, I did, and I took him out again shortly after Steven returned.  Then I drove to Ilion.  Before leaving Herkimer, I stopped in at Valley Wine and Liquors, because I thought they were having a wine tasting.  After sampling three red wines, I bought a dry blend.

In Ilion, I visited Earthly Matters, where I bought myself a pair of earrings.  I just couldn’t resist them.  Then I went to Cornerstone Consignments, where I chatted with the clerk about how some of the books were categorized “Male.”  From there, I stopped in at New 2 You Consignments, where I found two Taylor Caldwell paperbacks.  Score!  At least, I think it’s a score.  I know my mom used to read Taylor Caldwell.  I can’t remember if I read anything by her or if I liked it if I did.  I’ll soon find out.

I made a quick stop at Ilion Wine & Spirits before heading home.  After some indecision I got a bottle of champagne.  It is an inexpensive but tasty brand I have had before.  I put it in the refrigerator to chill when I got home.

And now I am sipping a glass of the red I got at Valley and have only a vague idea of what is happening in this movie.  I think it is the dramatic conclusion. Ooh, yeah, that was pretty dramatic.  I won’t tell you about it, though, because I did not include a spoiler alert.  I hope you are all having a grand Saturday.

 

 

At Least the Iced Coffee Tastes Good

Well, I wanted to make a better post today and even watched a cheesy horror movie I thought I could write about.  However, as the day wears on, I must admit that at my current age and level of health, I cannot have minor outpatient surgery with impunity.  I still feel like crap.  There, I’ve said it.

I paused just now and fixed myself a cup of iced coffee with the last of this morning’s pot.  Waste not, want not.  And, yes, I am allowed iced coffee.  I would prefer hot coffee or tea, but ice is better for me.  If only I could have a glass of wine over ice, my quality of life would improve.  Oh well, all things in time.

On the brighter side, I feel less crappy than I felt yesterday.  It is reasonable to predict that I will feel less crappy yet tomorrow.   And you thought I was going to spend this entire post whining (you know you did, don’t lie to me).   I thought it too and am agreeably surprised at myself.

Normally I could have a Scattered Saturday post, but, well, all I’ve done today is finish reading one book, start reading another and watch that silly movie (not in that order).  I may yet write about the movie (preview of coming attractions).   I have some other silly movies to watch, so perhaps I will move on to that.  For one reason, I can get more crocheting done, and sooner or later I’ll write about one of these movies.  Happy Saturday, everyone.

 

Wussy Post about Cheesy Coming Attractions

I’m afraid it’s Wuss-out Wednesday.  Never mind why.  It just is.  However, due to  my perhaps unhealthy obsession with publishing a post every day, I will attempt to think of something that will entertain.

Halloween continues at Mohawk Valley Girl’s house. For one reason,  Steven has had no chance as yet to take down our decorations.  What, me take down the decorations?  I don’t want to take down the decorations!  I want to make Santa hats for the ghosts and witches.

More to the point, I have many Halloween movies I have not yet watched, or at least not watched this season.  I bet there are even some I have not written blog posts about.  You know how  I love to write blog posts about cheesy horror movies (and if you did not know I’m telling you now:  I love to write blog posts about cheesy movies) .  I have several movies awaiting me on my DVR, some previously viewed and/or written about, some not. Additionally, I purchased a new DVD last night while on our bat and skull mission.

We found Attack of the Killer B’s in the $5 bin at K-mart.  It is a 10 movie collection.  Some of the movies I have on other collections:  The Brain that Wouldn’t Die, The Killer Shrews, Eegah!  Some look vaguely familiar.  I may have DVRd them from TCM or something.  But a few are definitely new to me.  I coyly suggested Steven buy me the movie for my birthday.  He said, “If you want that DVD, we can buy it.”

So we did.  And this is my blog post about it.  I guess it’s kind of a  lame post for a Wednesday night, even one of the Wuss-out variety.  No matter.  It’s over 200 words and I’m hitting publish.  I hope to see you all on Non-Sequitur Thursday as well as for future posts when I write about  such movies as Teenagers from Outer Space or Invasion of the Bee Girls.

 

Slacker Sick Day

I did not have Lame Post Friday this week, because I wanted to use my Hollywood photographs (are they still called photographs when you do it with a Tablet?) while the display was still, you know, on display, even if just for one more day.  Therefore, I will feel free to have a Slacker Saturday, because slacker is actually a kind term for how I’ve been today.  Don’t judge.

Oh, all right, judge if you want to.  I don’t care.

It’s a cold this time.  I thought I was getting it last weekend and thought it would be gone by now.  I hold onto the hope that it will be gone by Monday.  I suppose it is no great matter.  I’ll still go to work on overtime.  I realized something about myself a long time ago:  I can put up with almost any amount of suck for just about as long as I make up my mind to.  I guess that is not strictly true, since sometimes I find myself quite unable to make up my mind to, but the thought has gotten me through a lot of bad runs and tough times.  You know how I like to pretend I’m bad-ass.

Where was I?  Ah yes, trying to write some semblance of a blog post.  I certainly did not go running this morning.  In fact, after Steven went to work I took a nice nap.  I spent part of the afternoon watching an old horror movie in hopes I could get a blog post out of it (possible preview of coming attractions).  While I watched and crocheted, I had chicken boiling on the stove.  I feel sure chicken soup will help relieve my current discomfort.

And just so you know I am not completely useless, after I put the chicken on and before I started the movie, I washed the dishes.  After the movie and before chopping onions and crushing garlic for the soup, I put the dishes away.  Steven will be so pleased when he gets home.  I feel a little pleased myself.

Now I see I am over 300 words.  I call that respectable. I am going to hit Publish then go make myself a nice cup of tea with lemon and honey.  Oh the joy of sipping hot liquid when suffering from a cold.  I hope you are all having a lovely weekend, and I hope to see you tomorrow on Wrist to Forehead Sunday.

 

Wrist to Review

I must begin to get ready soon for the closing performance of Splitting Issues, the play I am in at Ilion Little Theatre.  I think it would be a good idea to publish my blog post before I leave.  For one reason, after the show we have to strike the set, then we have the cast party.  Who knows when I’ll be home?  And then Steven will want to get on the computer, because he is at work right now while I am sitting here on my fat butt, on the computer.  Only I am not feeling well, and there are a few other useful things it would be really nice to get done, and my brain can’t seem to settle on a blog topic.

Sounds like Wrist to Forehead Sunday to me.

I know, first world problems.  Don’t you hate that expression?  It’s a snarkier way of saying quitcherbitchin’ (that’s all one word, isn’t it?), and I feel it is snarky enough to discount somebody else’s complaints.  Then again, I do complain too much and should, in fact, quit my bitching (I think it’s funnier when I put the g back in).  So let’s get back to the blog post and stop talking about me (oh wait, it’s  personal blog; it is supposed to be about me).

Splitting Issues has gone splendidly, by the way.  We sold out Friday night and had an almost full house Saturday.  Both audiences were very appreciative.  There is just nothing like hearing that laughter when you are on stage trying to be funny.  I LOVE live theatre!  Paul Boehlert reviewed Friday night’s peformance in Sunday’s Utica OD.  The review was published online Saturday.  A cast member found it on her phone and read it to us.  It was a great review. And it mentioned me and Steve!

Here is the link, in case you’d like to read the review for yourself:

http://www.uticaod.com/news/20161022/review-splitting-issues-splits-sides-at-ilion-little-theatre.

In the meantime, I’m over 300 words.  I call that respectable.  Happy Sunday, everyone.

 

Shall We Split the Difference?

I am missing the monthly dinner meeting of Ilion Little Theatre Club.

OK, I just sat here with my laptop for what seemed like a long time before I typed in the above sentence.  Then I backspaced it out.  Then I hit “undo” and put it back.  Then I sat here and tried to think of another sentence.  As you can see, it is not going well.

In my defense, I have not had a post that was purely about How I Can’t Write a Decent Post Today (I just added the word “decent” to that phrase, do you like it?) in a long time.  I’m not saying all my posts were decent, and I certainly added in enough whiny excuses for why they weren’t as good as I wished they were.  Still, how long has it been since I posted pure foolishness?  I’m too lazy to click back to my dashboard and check.

Tomorrow night is opening for Splitting Issues by Sam Bobrick.  We had our dress rehearsal last night.  It went pretty well.  I was glad.  I don’t like to invoke that old saw that the worse a dress rehearsal the better the opening night.  I don’t want an opening night miracle, meaning I don’t want to NEED an opening night miracle!  Well, we don’t in this case.  The show is good.  I think the audience will get a lot of laughs.

Well, there you go.  This post was not pure foolishness; I gave another plug to Splitting Issues at Ilion Little Theatre.  That’s Friday and Saturday, Oct. 21 and 22 at 8 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 23 at 2 p.m., at The Stables, 13 Remington Ave., Ilion, NY.   Tickets available at eventbrite.com or at the door.

As for this post, I think I’ll slap on a silly headline and call it a Non-Sequitur Thursday.

 

 

Picture This!

What a moron I am!  Or as Bugs Bunny would say, “What a maroon!  What a Ta-ra-ra-GOON-dee-yay!”  I started writing a real post, about an authentic Mohawk Valley Adventure Steven and I had yesterday.  It isn’t bad. I could have finished it.  BUT, I wanted to add pictures!

Regular readers have probably noticed I never use pictures.  I could rationalize that with something like, “I’m all about the WORDS,”  but that is only what I say to make myself feel better about my lack of technological finesse. I think sometimes pictures are nice.  I like to see them in other blogs.

So we got a tablet some time ago and learned to take pictures on it.  Much later, we learned how to email them, then how to share them to Facebook.  I’m thinking it will not be too difficult for me to take one more step and put a photo or two on the old blog.

So yesterday at Pumpkin Junction, I took some pictures.  Today I shared them to Facebook.  Then I went to Facebook and downloaded them.  I’m pretty sure all I need to do now is hit where it says “add photo” and it will give me the option to get the photo from my downloads.  It really shouldn’t be too much problem, even given my vast reserves of incompetence.

However, and here we get to the real typical me, Steven and I have to leave soon for dress rehearsal for Splitting Issues, the play I believe I have mentioned before.  Opening night is Friday.  It is long past time for this blog to go All Splitting Issues All The Time.  However, I hope tomorrow to give my shout-out to Pumpkin Junction.  With pictures.  I hope you’ll stay tuned.

 

I Guess It’s Scattered Saturday After All

Hey, did anybody notice that yesterday I did NOT make a Friday Lame Post?  That is good news for me, because I am working my way right into a Lame Post Saturday.  I have not done enough to even make it a Scattered Saturday!  And I am leaving in less than an hour for tech rehearsal for Splitting Issues at Ilion Little Theatre (perhaps you read my recent post about the play), so it would behoove me to publish something soon.

I thought I would run this morning.  I ran yesterday and it didn’t go too badly. It didn’t go too well, either, but I don’t ask for miracles.  It was quite cold when we got up at 5:30 (due to Steven’s work schedule; I blessedly had the day off), so I thought a later run might be better for me.  And hanging out with my husband in the morning is definitely a good idea for me.

When Steven left for work, I tried to walk to the post office with Spunky.  I had some post cards to mail, and I thought a Pedestrian Post might be nice.  Spunky was moving slowly.  He pooped right away, then a few feet further down pooped again.  I call him Two-Poop Spunky, although he does not always limit himself to two.  After the second one, he turned around and headed briskly back home.  Spunky does not have much of a fur coat; the groomers keep his short, because he has skin issues.  He was probably cold.  I was.  So much for a walk.

After a while I got in my vehicle and drove to the post office to mail my things.  Then I went to an ATM to replenish my cash.  I had a vague idea of going to a new cafe I had seen, for a blog post and perhaps to write about for Mohawk Valley Living.  Oh, I just couldn’t make myself.  Blame it on the weather.  Blame it on some medication that I will NOT go on about, because I do not care to be tiresome about my health issues (even more tiresome than I normally am, that is).  No matter.  I went home.

I put in a load of laundry and tried to tidy the living room.  I made a little progress, but I also made my dog restless.  Since the temperature had warmed up somewhat, I thought we would try another walk.  We got about a block further before Spunky decided to turn around.  I was just as glad about that, because he was moving so slowly.   Then I was even happier, because Steven was home for lunch.  That snuck up on me!

I confess, have not gotten a whole lot else done.  I got the laundry in the dryer, where it sits.  There, I stopped typing and went and got it.  How’s that for reporting the news as it’s happening?  I worked on my article for Mohawk Valley Living magazine.  That deadline is looming, but I should meet it.  And now I am drinking green tea with lemon and honey (just for another bit of breaking news).

Is it Scattered?  Is it Lame?  I don’t care.  It is a blog post.  I’m hitting Publish.  I hope to see you all on Wrist to Forehead Sunday.

 

Witch to Forehead Sunday

Nobody should be surprised that this is Wrist to Forehead Sunday.  We are back home from our Vermont adventures, and I am tired.  Could I be getting old?  SAY IT AIN’T SO!!!  Well, of course it is so.  You get old or you die young.  Those are the choices.  Anyways, I got tired when I was younger, too.  The best thing to do is to relax myself today and have some more adventures tomorrow.

I find that some excellent things to do on a gloomy, tired Wrist to Forehead Sunday are read cheap fiction, watch true crime shows and watch movies.  I am indulging in all three. I purchased several Agatha Christie novels at a used book sale in Arlington, VT on Friday.  I read one on Saturday.  I am reading another one today.  While I read and Steven Facebooked (one of my favorite verbs), we looked at a few episodes of Snapped.  Now while I blog (another silly verb), we are watching The Curse of the Blair Witch, the cable documentary that was made to promote The Blair Witch Project, which movie we shall probably watch next.

I particularly wanted to watch these features this weekend, because it is Columbus Day weekend, which I believe is when the movie takes place.  It is definitely October, because there are Halloween decorations up in some of the places they film.  It must be a long weekend, because of the number of nights they camp before they get lost and are staying extra, unintended nights.  Perhaps the dates are actually stated in the movie, and I am quite foolish for feelings so pleased with myself for my deductions (I read a lot of Agatha Christie, but I’m no Miss Marple) (if you do not get that reference, I am sorry for your lack of reading some very enjoyable books) (then again, to each his own, as the old lady aid when she kissed the cow).

Where was I?  Ah yes, that movie about the movie about the Blair Witch.  I know it is not respected by some, but it is one of my favorite Halloween movies.  I enjoy the alternate narrative technique, although it has since been copycatted quite a bit (I’ll be damned, my computer thinks “copycatted” is a word; I thought I just now verbed the noun) (but apparently “verbed” is not a word).  It suits my mood today to watch a foolish movie I have seen many times before.  Maybe tomorrow I can watch something really cheesy to write about.

In the meantime, Happy Sunday, everyone.

 

A Little Fuss, A Little Muss, A Lame Blog Post

Who knew you could sit in a library parking lot and get on their Wi-Fi with no fuss no muss?  I know, everybody but me.  In fact, I think I knew it too, because I often see people sitting outside of Basloe Library in Herkimer, NY on various devices.  So here I am, after some amount of fuss and muss, sitting in the parking lot of Cambridge Public Library, on my laptop, making today’s blog post.  Come to think of it, do I ever do anything without a certain amount of fuss and muss?  As they say, I gotta be me.

It seems I did not get any Likes on my Fake Friday Lame Post, so  I shall feel free to have a Friday Lame Post again today, on, you know, actual Friday.  In an age-old tradition of lame fiction, this blog shall be the tale of how I came to write this blog post.

Steven and I are in Vermont, enjoying a lovely long weekend with family.  We are staying with his sisters, who are not online. However, a very nice niece lives close by, and she is (we’re Facebook friends).  With her permission, we went to her house this morning, while she was at work, for blogging and email checking purposes.  I found where she had nicely left the password to her Wi-Fi.  I opened my laptop and clicked.

And soon realized I did not know what I am doing.  I had the password but I could not get the computer to ask for it.  More computer savvy readers (is anyone on the planet LESS computer savvy than I?) are probably shaking their heads and thinking, “What an idiot!  All she had to do was…”  I don’t think that is a very nice thing to say, however accurate it may be.

Moving on to Plan B, Steven and I made our way to the Arlington Public Library.  I knew libraries had Wi-Fi, and even if they don’t, they have computers you can happily get on.  That might be a better thing to do anyways, I thought.  It might have been, too, if the library had been open.  Rats!  You see, I did not know then what I know now, or I forgot that I knew then what I remember that I know now.

In any case, Steven and I drove on to Cambridge, NY to do some touristy-type shopping we had planned to do in any case.  As we made a purchase at Cambridge Food Co-op, I asked the lady if she knew of any place that offered free Wi-Fi.  She said the library but thought it did not open till six — even later than the Arlington library!  However, she said we could park in the parking lot and use their Wi-Fi.  She even told us the best place to park in order to do so.

And that is what we are doing.  And this is my Friday Lame Post about it.  At least I know where I can get Wi-Fi to post on Saturday.