Category Archives: personal

Happy Wuss-Out

Posted on November 28, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

What a good day for a Wuss-Out Wednesday. Tomorrow (Thanksgiving) begins a four day weekend for me. Anybody who does not have a four day weekend, please don’t hate on me; I didn’t always have it.

Where was I? Nowhere in particular. I tried to write something today while at work (YES, it was on a break, HELLO!). Not so good. I wrote a half-page or a page on my novel, though. Maybe it wasn’t any good, but the relief of seeing words appear on the page is undeniable.

So I have no post and no ideas for a post. In my defense, the weather made it ineligible to go for a run or a walk after work. Don’t give me that scornful look; that’s not nice. I did not care to run on icy sidewalks. My dog does not care to walk when there is precipitation. I don’t know why I am justifying myself to you who are, after all, probably sitting indoors right now looking at a computer of some sort.

My dear husband suggested that I merely say Happy Thanksgiving and leave it at that. Really not a bad idea. Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Hanukkah, or just plain Happy Wednesday.

Was that weird that Thanksgiving is actually tomorrow while Hanukkah and Wednesday are today? I do hate to be asymmetrical. Then again it may be appropriate for a Wuss-Out Wednesday.

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The Zombie Eyes Have It

Posted on November 27, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

Spoiler Alert! If you think you might want to see White Zombie (1932) with Bela Lugosi, I would advise you watch it before reading this. I think it is better enjoyed if you’re not thinking, “Oh, this is that part she was telling us about.”

According to Robert Osborne’s pre-movie commentary, White Zombie is believed to be the first movie ever made about zombies. I find it hard to believe there are no silent movies featuring zombies, but I’m not that knowledgeable about silent movies (it’s difficult to crochet or knit during a silent movie, because you have to keep your eyes glued to the screen or you’ll miss something).

First or not, it’s an atmospheric, eerie movie. The zombies are the old-timey slow moving creatures with staring eyes. They don’t eat flesh, but some of them do kill a guy and try to kill a couple of others (I did include a spoiler alert, didn’t I?) (I think it’s a bigger spoiler to let you know they only try to kill someone, don’t you?).

The movie takes place in the West Indies, home of voodoo, zombies and assorted other creepy weirdness, it seems. A Beautiful Girl and a Handsome Young Man (side note: why don’t I just refer to him as a Boy and be symmetrical?) are in a horse drawn carriage (to give you an idea of period) on their way to some rich guy’s house.

At least, I think he’s rich. Yes, my famous lack of attention is once again my undoing. Rich Guy has gotten Handsome Young Man a job back in the states and wants the couple to be married from his house. It soon transpires that he is in love with the girl and is willing to use fair means or foul to make her his.

Enter Bela Lugosi. Ah, but before he does, Rich Guy’s butler warns him to have nothing to do with that sort of person. Well, it wouldn’t be much of a movie if the characters listened to sensible advice, would it?

First Rich Guy tries fair means, by propositioning Beautiful Girl as he escorts her to her marriage ceremony. Anybody still wondering why this guy is alone? Of course it doesn’t work, although she tries to let him down easily in the limited amount of time available to her. So it is on to foul means and the zombie meat of the movie.

The nefarious plot perpetrated by Lugosi involves turning Beautiful Girl into a zombie. It is not clear to me how he does it. Something to do with carving some wax and sticking it into the flame of a streetlight. She falls dead into her new husband’s arms.

Soon she is the glassy-eyed possession of Rich Guy. Well, that’s not the chick he fell in love with. He demands Lugosi turn her back into a person even if it means losing her. I guess he’s not such a bad guy for someone who resorted to foul means to win the girl. But Lugosi will have none of this and is soon tormenting Rich Guy in ways that ought to make anybody sorry for him, even viewers who still consider him a lousy beautiful girl stealer.

Lugosi, as usual, utilizes his scary eyes to good effect. The things that especially struck me in this movie were his wild and wooly eyebrows. I think Count Dracula must have tweezed.

Eventually Handsome Young Man finds help and hurries to the rescue, as you probably figured. But can he rescue her? I guess I can’t spoil everything. This movie is recommended. I’ll look for something cheesier next time.

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Mohawk Valley Art

Posted on November 26, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

Saturday afternoon I drove to Little Falls, NY, with my friend Tracy to attend an art opening at the Mohawk Valley Center for the Arts (MVCA).

I’ve stopped in at MVCA before, most recently in September during the Garlic Festival. Regular readers may remember that I won two lovely pieces of art at the MVCA Art Giveaway in October. This is the first opening reception I’ve been to. I hope it will not be the last.

The exhibit was “People and Places in My Travels” by Deborah Rosato. I was enchanted by “Christmas in Old Forge,” which MVCA shared on its Facebook page. The other watercolors and pastels in the exhibit did not disappoint. Ms. Rosato was on hand to answer questions about her work. I didn’t have any questions; I just took it all in.

Tracy and I chatted up Kevin Mihaly, the executive director. He mentioned volunteer opportunities. I am interested in that, if it could work out. For one reason, I might get some blog posts out of it.

We also talked with Frank Wilcox, one of the artists who had donated work to October’s Art Giveaway. I also knew Mr. Wilcox because he was in the play Strike Story, which was presented in Little Falls’ Black Box Theatre and at Ilion Little Theatre.

I later noted in MVCA’s Calendar of Events, “Art Matters,” that he will be teaching a 10-week class in Mixed Media beginning in January. MVCA offers a number of art classes. I had said at the Art Giveaway that I was inspired to create something. Perhaps a class is in my future.

After looking at the exhibit and enjoying some of the refreshments, Tracy and I went into the retail section, The Selective Eye. Art, jewelry, clothing, postcards and more are available for purchase. I bought some postcards when I was there in September. They didn’t have any new ones this time.

I was really happy I had made it to the art opening. I was also pleased I had picked up the Art Matters Calendar of Events, so that I can take advantage of other events. For more information on MVCA, you can call 315-823-0808, visit their website at www.MohawkValleyArts.org, or Like their Facebook page.

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To Encourage? Or Just to Blog?

Posted on November 25, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

A friend of mine recently posted on Facebook, “To blog or not to blog, that is the question.” I replied, “To blog! Always to blog!”

The sad part to me is that I seem to be the only one to have said to. Perhaps she does not have enough Writing Friends on Facebook. I count on my writing friends to encourage me. Sometimes my non-writing friends encourage me as well.

Oh dear, I feel a bout of half-baked philosophy coming on. That is for Lame Post Friday and today is Wrist to Forehead Sunday. Oh well, as I often observe, sometimes I can only write what I do. So I’ll just get on with it.

We all need encouragement at one time or another (don’t pretend you don’t; we won’t believe you). However, there is a school of thought that encouragement is not always the best thing. Some people, this school of thought goes, should cut their losses and stop striving for what they will never achieve. An example they point to is Zelda Fitzgerald, who apparently drove herself crazy with the physical demands of her quest to become a prima ballerina at the age of thirty-something.

I say this is too complicated a question to get into on Wrist to Forehead Sunday. I’m going to cut to the chase, answer the original question with “To blog,” and hit publish. Anybody got a problem with that?

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Writing About Not Running

Posted on November 24, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

No, running commentary isn’t back yet; stop pursing your lips at me.

I thought about running as we walked to the post office this morning. We consisted of me; my friend Tracy, visiting from out of town; and of course my schnoodle, Tabby. My husband, Steven, was at work. I explained to Tracy how I had not really started running again yet, but intended to (if anybody mentions intentions paving a road anywhere, I’ll scream).

I was sorry I had not started running again while the weather was good. I had my reasons. Maybe they weren’t very good reasons, but these things happen. The weather was not awful this morning, but it was cold. A fairly still cold, not a whipping wind. Still, it felt good to walk. I love to walk. I pointed out places of interest to Tracy. Tabby sniffed places that were of interest to her.

I had thought I might run at some point, but after all, I had to entertain my out-of-town guest. So instead of running anywhere, I found myself driving to Little Falls (preview of coming attractions: we went to the Mohawk Valley Center for the Arts). I was wearing a nice cape that was recently given to me. As I was putting gas in my vehicle, I realized I needed a good ten degrees warmer of temperature to wear that cape. Well, suffer to be beautiful.

It was on the way home from Little Falls that the weather got interesting. I saw a few flakes in the sky as we walked to my vehicle. They were joined by more as we drove out of town. Soon the sky was white and I was driving slowly.

“Are you glad now or sorry that I drove?” I asked Tracy. She admitted to pondering that very question before I asked.

The pick up truck in front of me wasn’t moving much faster than I was, and the car behind was not catching up. I discussed my speed choices, and we speculated on if and when the road might get slippery. My feeling is: when in doubt, go slow, because mid-skid is too late to slow down.

“Don’t worry,” I said. “If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes, or drive five miles.” It was six back to Herkimer.

Sure enough, the snow has stopped now, although there is some white stuff on the ground. No, I am not going running today. I walked, I drove in the snow, I wrote a blog post. I’m done.

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Who Says You Don’t Learn Anything from Television?

Posted on November 23, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

Today’s post is in the nature of a PSA.

Many of us are always on the lookout for ways to earn a little extra cash. Some folks have a talent that way. They tap into that entrepreneurial spirit, look around with creative eyes, and the next thing you know, they’re pocketing a few extra bucks.

If you are one of those people, I express admiration and envy. However, I will make bold to proffer a piece of advice gleaned from years of attentive television and movie viewing:

Never blackmail a murderer.

I suppose it seems like such a good idea at the time. You see something you are not supposed to see. What do you do with this knowledge? True civic-minded sorts go to the police. Some people never say a word to anybody. Gossipy types probably tell a few trusted friends or perhaps post a Facebook status (although personally I have never seen such a status) (a source of some disappointment to me). Your true entrepreneur thinks, “How can I use this to make money?”

Well, I can tell you one really bad way up front: going to the murderer and asking him or her to pay for your silence. Think first! This is somebody who is not afraid to kill. They’ve done it once; they know how. Why in the world would they pay good money for the privilege of not killing you?

I’m just saying.

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I Can’t Facebook It

Posted on November 22, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

I have been composing a Facebook status in my head that goes something like this:

Let’s see who reads my posts all the way through. Still reading? If so, that is where you and I differ, because I usually stop reading when thus challenged. This post should go on to be sentimental about friends, or self-righteous about some disease or judging others, or even silly about we just got arrested. Then it would get manipulative and sneer at uncaring people who “just keep scrolling.” For heavens’ sake, what’s wrong with scrolling? If we didn’t scroll, we couldn’t read very many posts now, could we? Anybody still reading? Or have you gone back to scrolling (like I would have). Of those still reading, I suppose some of you are huffing, “Well I DO care about Facebook friends and cancer patients and all those other issues, I am NOT self-righteous and I would NEVER manipulate anybody!”

That is pretty much as far as I’ve gotten. I can’t think of a zippy conclusion. In fact, I only really like the first three sentences.

Oh, let’s be honest, I’m not going to post anything like that on Facebook. I really just typed it in here, because I needed a post for Non-Sequitur Thursday. A Facebook post that I do not intend to put on Facebook is non-sequitur enough for me. Hope to see you on Lame Post Friday.

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Suitable for Wuss-out Wednesday

Posted on November 21, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

My life has been thin of Mohawk Valley adventures lately. On perusing the TV Journal, I find I am out of cheesy movies to write about as well. What’s a blogger to do?

Well, I was about to stop writing entirely, because my pen was beginning to seriously irritate my middle finger (cue jokes about that being my most often used digit). Then I remembered I had a pen with a built-in spongy thing in my pocket. I don’t usually leave the house without at least two or three pens plus paper. That’s how I roll.

So, spongy thing in place, what can I possibly write about? I suppose I could give another shout-out to Colonial Laundromat in Ilion, NY. That’s why I had no adventures Monday night; we had to do laundry. There isn’t much to say about that, except that it is a pleasure to at least have a clean place to do a tiresome chore, especially given my regrettable tendency to drop my brand-clean laundry on the floor.

Getting back to What Shall I Write About, I feel disinclined to do another Preview of Coming Attractions. For one reason, sometimes I don’t make it to the thing I previewed and then I feel silly or guilty.

That is as far as I wrote. Full disclosure: I wrote it on Tuesday, then remembered I had been to Ilion Little Theatre on Friday. However, on finding it in my notebook today, I deem it suitable for Wuss-out Wednesday. Hmm, that’s not a bad headline either. Waste not, want not!

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ILT is a Blessing

Posted on November 20, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

Last weekend Steven and I had the pleasure of attending one of the performances of Bless Me, Father, Ilion Little Theatre’s first production of their 2013-14 season.

I feel a little bad that we did not attend the first weekend, because if this post had run a week ago, local readers would have had a chance to see the show. Then again, there were full or almost full houses every night, so some folks may have been doomed to disappointment in any case.

It was a very entertaining production, with plenty of laughs and a few touching moments. The cast was a nice mixture of new faces and old favorites (um, not so very old). I love community theatre so much, I probably would have enjoyed a mediocre or even a bad performance, but this one was top notch.

I guess I don’t want to say too much about it, though, because anyone who did not get to see it might feel bad. Let me instead, give a general shout-out to Ilion Little Theatre (ILT), a real gem of the Mohawk Valley.

The theatre is located on Remington Avenue in Ilion, NY, just behind Remington Arms (it’s a factory, not a hotel, for any non-local readers). The building is called The Stables, because it used to be the stables of the Remington family. It’s a small theatre, seating less than 100. That makes the performances intimate, and every seat is a good one.

The season is four shows, so anyone who missed Bless Me, Father still has a chance to catch Wait Until Dark, Don’t Talk to the Actors, and Funny Money. For more information, check out their webpage at www.ilionlittletheatre.org. Or you can like their Facebook page.

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Another Dull Post

Posted on November 18, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

It’s been another Wrist to Forehead Sunday. A dark, dull, gloomy day. I read a romance novel and watched movies. Good movies, not the cheesy kind I like to write about.

In short, I got nuthin’.

Usually I can expound upon the fact that I got nuthin’, basically making something out of nothing. Writing is kind of cool that way. Only it doesn’t always work.

Today it ain’t working.

Or should I have said “workin'”?

And what is with the bad grammar of “got nuthin'”? I know better than that. I’m such a grammar prig most of the time, it is really unbecoming when I don’t use proper English myself.

OK: I have nothing of interest to post.

Doesn’t have the same ring to it, does it?

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