Category Archives: personal

Monster Movie Monday

Posted on October 11, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

Steven and I took today off too, to recover from our wild Vermont weekend, so today will be kind of a lame weekend sort of post.  We spent the morning having adventures, but that was a long time ago and I’m too tired to write about them.  When we returned home, we decided to watch monster movies, so I’m going to write a little bit about them.

I thought some classic Halloween viewing would be nice, so we put in Frankenstein, the one directed by James Whale in 1931.  Then we quite naturally watched The Bride of Frankenstein, 1935 , also directed be Whale. I wanted to watch another Boris Karloff movie after that, but first I had to fix us something to eat.  Then I had to make a salad and chop some vegetables for my lunch tomorrow, when I go back to work.

It would be nice, I suppose, for me to make some commentary about these movies.  Something intelligent or insightful or at least witty.  Would it be too monstrous to me not to?  I suppose it would.  Steven is searching for another Karloff movie, now that we’re done with dinner.  I think there are a couple in one of our Horror collections.

Full disclosure:  I think I am coming down with something.  Perhaps it is my allergies acting up again.  Perhaps I just partied too heartily in Vermont.  You know how debauched Vermont can be.  And you know what a huge baby I can be when I am not feeling one hundred percent healthy.  Well, we did have a few adventures today in Utica, so perhaps I can write about them in the coming week.  In the meantime, Steven has put in The Terror, which I wrote about in a previous post.  Click on the title if you’d like to read it.  And Happy Monday.

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Witch to Forehead Sunday

Posted on October 10, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

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.

 

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Runnin’ and Grinnin’

Posted on October 9, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

If anybody was wondering whether or not I have been running during my fabulous five-day weekend, I have. I did not run on Thursday, because we were not yet packed and anxious to get on the road, but Friday I was up and at ’em, as the saying goes.

Well, I wasn’t up very early.  We slept in till after 7 a.m., an almost unheard of occurrence for us.  Although I felt I had over-packed for the weekend, it soon became clear I had not packed enough, because I only had shorts and short sleeves for running in.  No matter, I was determined to run.

I ran a route I have run before when visiting Arlington, VT.  It took me out Ice Pond Road till it ends on Warm Brook Road.  The former was more appropriate.  Ooh, did a hot shower ever feel good afterwards!

We slept in even a little later today (Saturday)  (goodness, is it Saturday?  I get in such a time warp when I’m not at work!) (for anyone who thinks I’m rubbing it in that I’m not at work, don’t hate).  It was slightly warmer out but still under the 45 degrees which is my usual cut off for shorts.  Still, closer to 45 than yesterday.  I set off.

I ran in the same direction as yesterday but did not turn where I had turned.  I turned later on, up Buck Hill Road.  I thought it might be a dead end or it might loop around and come out on the road I was on.  In any case, it went uphill and I wanted to run more hills.  Up, up, up… this was as steep as some of my best hills back in Herkimer.  Was that the end?  Did it end in a person’s driveway?  No, it curved around.  And kept going up!  This was awesome!

The road got a little less road-y and more country-road-y, if you see what I mean.  How long did it go on?  It could go for MILES!  And end up in the middle of  NOWHERE!  The longest I wanted to run was 36 minutes, which increased my time by the recommended 10 percent from what I ran last week (and what I had run on Friday).  I decided I would look at my watch and turn around when it was 18 minutes.

After a while, I could see road to my left through the trees.  That was no doubt the road I would have been on had I not turned onto Buck Hill.  I felt more confident in my original plan to follow the road to  the end.

It came out on the road I had been on but further down than I had hoped. No matter, I told myself.  This was a good run.  It would make a good blog post.  Then I realized I could not remember the name of the road I had turned on.  That would make a GREAT thing to write about!  At last I passed it:  Buck Hill Road.  I could remember that, I thought.  Just think of Buck Owens.  Pickin’ and grinnin’.  Anybody who didn’t get that reference, sorry you’re young and missed Hee Haw.

I ended up running for 37  minutes, picking up the pace at the end in hopes of making it 36.  I even sprinted at the very end, which made for some not very pleasant breathing.  I felt great about having two good runs in two days.  I can only wonder what tomorrow will bring.

 

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

Posted on October 8, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

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.

 

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Yummy Start to the “Weekend”

Posted on October 6, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

It is prior to 6:30 a.m, which may be the earliest I have ever posted.  I find that interesting.  My plan is to compose a quick shout-out to a local business we were at last night, then pack for our fabulous weekend away.

You know, I know news format, and that is a lousy lead.  Then again, this is not a newspaper, it is a silly blog (emphasis on the “silly” I’m afraid).  No matter.  I’m not editing; I’m posting on the fly, so here goes.

Last night I knew the sensible thing to do would be to start cooking dinner before Steven got home, frugally dine at home and get all our crap done for an un-frantic morning of departure.  Well, sometimes we do not do the sensible thing, do we?  Hence, we went to dinner at Sorrento’s Pizzia in Ilion, NY.  Our original plan had been to go to Froggy’s Take-out, also in Ilion, and, you know, take out.  That way we could potentially get some stuff done at home after we ate.  Additionally, Froggy’s is closing sometime soon for good, so we wanted to have a farewell meal from the place.

Unfortunately, by the time we got to Ilion, Froggy’s was closed for the night.  Sorrento’s is right down the street from there.  We love Sorrento’s!  And by now we were far too hungry to go home and cook.  There were plenty of spaces in the parking lot.  This would be great.  As we were entering, some ladies were leaving.  One said, “They don’t have any more food; we ate it all.”  I was understandably concerned but told Steven to hold the door open for the ladies anyways.  We were happy to learn the lady had exaggerated.

I got an appetizer of Bruschetta.  Yum!  Steven got a BLT.  The menu said it was on white bread, but when he asked if something else was available, the waitress offered marble rye. Again, Yum!  I almost changed my order to that.  We both had a glass of Pinot Grigio.  After all, it was a Friday for us.

We were quite delighted with our meal.  I made a fast blog post when we got home (an extremely lame one, by the way, but you’ll have that) but did not get a whole lot else done. Still, it made an excellent start to our five day weekend.

Sorrento’s Pizza is located at 86 Central Ave., Ilion, NY, phone number 315-894-9991.  Froggy’s Take-Out is at 4 W. Clark St., 315-894-1400.  You can Like them both on Facebook.

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Fake Friday Lame Post

Posted on October 6, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

How about Lame Post Friday on a Wednesday?  For one reason, it is late in the day, I am tired, and it is like a Friday for me because I do not work for the next five days.  Ha ha, that is three reasons.  How lame is that?  I could even say it’s eight reasons, if I count each of the five days I don’t work as a reason (or it could be seven, depending on how you count; I was never good at math).

Traditionally Lame Post Friday is the home of random observations and half-baked philosophy.  I am currently not-so-randomly observing my dog, Spunky, frantically pawing his afghan on the couch.  He comes dangerously close to the edge of the couch.  Then he stops his pawing to look at Steve.  Spunky is happy we are home.  We were out running an errand and grabbing dinner.

Tomorrow we leave for Vermont for a long weekend visiting family.  It should be very beautiful this time of year.  I love Vermont as well as, of course, our family.  And who doesn’t love days off work?  (Oh, I know, there are some who do not, but I am not of their number).  Will I be able to make my blog posts?  Let’s hope so.

And that leads us to some half-baked philosophy (as this is Fake Lame Post Friday).  Should bloggers take vacation?  Since blogging is (for me at least) a fun hobby, wouldn’t taking days off of blogging be NOT a vacation?  Discuss amongst yourselves.  Happy Wednesday AND Friday.

 

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Was I Ready to Run?

Posted on October 5, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

At work this afternoon, I remarked to a friend that I had a choice of what to do.  I had to pick up a prescription at The Medicine Shoppe, which is handily located just outside the rather large parking lot in front of my place of employment.  Unfortunately, I like to park at the opposite end of the parking lot.

“I can walk to the Medicine Shoppe, then back to my car, drive home and say, ‘Now I don’t have to run!’  I can drive to the Medicine Shoppe, drive home and go running.  I can walk to the Medicine Shoppe, back to my car, go home AND run.  Or I can drive to the Medicine Shoppe, drive home and not run anyways.  And after I stop at the Medicine Shoppe, I can go into Ilion Wine and Spirits and get a bottle of wine.”

“You’ll have a headache tomorrow,” she warned.

“Not if I don’t drink the whole bottle,” I argued.

“You’ll drive to the Medicine Shoppe,” she predicted, also pointing out that it was a lovely afternoon for a run.

I did drive to the Medicine Shoppe, parking near Ilion Wine and Spirits.  I do like to support the latter, because they are supporters of Ilion Little Theatre, in addition to being very nice people and carrying an excellent selection of wine.  I chose a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc.

It was a lovely afternoon, bright and sunny.  It was actually a little warmer than I like for running, although I realized that inside a vehicle is not the best place for gauging temperature.  Spunky was ready for a walk as soon as I got home.  I was happy to oblige.  I figured walking around the block would help me decide whether or not to go running.

As we started out, we were in the shade and a breeze blew.  That boded well.  However, I felt very tired.  Maybe a walk around the block would be enough exercise after a ten hour work day spent mostly on my feet. It was warmer in the direct sunlight.  I pictured myself thunking along (thunking is my new favorite word to describe my runs) and pondered how long even a 15-minute run would feel.  I could happily run Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning.  By the time I got back home, I thought I would let myself off the hook today.

Only I didn’t.  I needed to do some laundry for our upcoming weekend away (have I mentioned that?  Well, Steven, Spunky and I are going away for the weekend), so I thought it would be perfect to put the laundry in the washer, do a 20-minute run with a 10-minute cool-down walk, then put the laundry in the drier before taking my shower.  Or maybe a 15-minute run and I could stretch for an extra long time if I had to wait for the washer to finish.

And look at me, closing in on 500 words and I haven’t even started to talk about the run yet.  Did I mention I was tired?  Well I am, and one reason is that I went for a 23-minute run plus 10-minute cool-down walk, AND I did TWO loads of laundry, one of which is in the drier as I type.  I am rewarding myself with a small glass of Sauvignon Blanc.  And I just remembered something else: today is Tired Tuesday.  You see how well things work out sometimes.

 

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Fuzzy Head, Foolish Post

Posted on October 4, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

Oh crap, look at the time.  I wasn’t going to have any lame posts this week.  I was going to write GOOD stuff for my readers (if any).  I tried to write on breaks at work today but it did not go so well.  I tried again as I sat in the doctor’s waiting room.  It went even worse.  All I could do was sit there and write about how I couldn’t write because my head felt so fuzzy.  Oh, sorry, I really did not mean to bring my health woes into this.  Change the subject.  New paragraph.

It is a three day week for me, because I am taking an extra long weekend. Woohoo!  You realize, of course, that this makes today like a Wednesday.  Wuss-out Wednesday!

What a weird day anyways.  My doctor’s appointment was in New Hartford at 3:45, which meant I left work at three (the usual time) and drove through late afternoon Utica traffic.  Rush hour was still rushing when I drove home, taking a different route from how I usually go.  Of course, Mohawk Valley rush hour is not nearly as grueling as other rush hours.  Really, it was very little problem, except for the fuzzy head thing I alluded to earlier.

Before going home I stopped at the grocery store, where I saw that rainbow peppers were on sale — This Week Only!  I had to buy some.  Then I had to cook them tonight, to make sure they got cooked.  Could I write a cooking post about what I made?  Not tonight.  Fuzzy head, remember?  Wuss-out Wednesday, remember?  Tomorrow I’ll fight the fuzz and try to come up with something better.

 

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A Pause for the Post

Posted on October 3, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

I pause in the midst of my Wrist to Forehead Sunday activities to make a blog post.  Not a good blog post, but, well, make your own snide comments here.

I slept in till after six this morning.  I felt rather pleased about that, although since I had gone to bed after 11:30 — unprecedented debauchery for me (although I did not actually debauch; I just got to bed late) — I can’t say I felt as rested as I would like to feel.  Then again, as the great philosopher Mick Jagger once pointed out, you can’t always get what you want.

After a cup and a half of coffee, I went running. Yay me. It wasn’t a great run, but I did increase my run time by the recommended 10 percent from my most recent longest time.  I went to church with my sister, Cheryl,  and some of her family (including my wonderful great nephew).  Cheryl and her friend Penny were going to a Psychic Fair in Frankfort, but I declined to join them because I had to do laundry, among other things.

Full disclosure:  I only did one load of laundry and now a whole hell of a lot else.  Steven and I (once he got home from work) were watching Halloween movies, but we paused one to take our poocher, Spunky, for a walk.  When we returned, Steven became fired with ambition to put the Halloween lights up on the front porch.  So I’m sitting here looking at the blue screen which results when you pause a movie too long, feeling guilty that I am sitting here pecking away at the laptop keyboard while Steven does something useful.  What’s that all about?

So its another damn dumb post, but what do you want from me on a Sunday?  I’ll see what I can come up with for Monday.  In the meantime, I leave you with a philosophical question:  Should I have gone to the Psychic Fair?  Discuss amongst yourselves.

 

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Another Sinus Headache Saturday

Posted on October 2, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

Well, I thought it was a sinus headache, so I took a decongestant, and it was downhill from there.  This is so embarrassing!  But I can only press on from where I am, so here is my Not So Scattered Saturday post.

In less than two hours I have to be at the 1834 Jail in Herkimer  (uh, I’m in Herkimer now, I live in Herkimer; I just thought I’d specify for the benefit of readers who are unfamiliar with the information) (or maybe I am still punchy from the drugs) to participate in the Haunted Tour of the Historic Four Corners.  Regular readers know I am a great fan of Herkimer’s Historic Four Corners as well as an aficionado of all things haunted, so this event is made to order for me.  Additionally, one of the ghosts who may or may not haunt the general vicinity is Roxalana Druse, who I memorably portrayed in the Ilion Little Theatre production of Roxy in 2015 (perhaps you read some of my blog posts about it) (and you needn’t think I am being an egotist by saying mine was a memorable portrayal; many people remember it, not just me).

Where was I?  Ah yes, trying to make a blog post.  I did run this morning, before taking the decongestant, so I could have done a Running Commentary post.  Also, I walked my dog, Spunky, for longer than the walk I made a post about yesterday, so I suppose I could have ventured to do two Pedestrian Posts in a row.  I have really done nothing else, except for the dishes.  I feel washing the dishes was something of an accomplishment but am disinclined to write a blog post about it.

Right now I am sitting on my couch with my dog snuggled up close. I hate to move and discommode him, although I am getting a hot flash.  Oh, the tribulations of middle age!  No matter.  I see I am over 300 words. Score!  That counts as a blog post in my twisted world.  Perhaps I can write more about the Historic Four Corners tomorrow. In the meantime, Happy Saturday.

 

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