Tag Archives: blog post

Murder Book, Prison Movie, It’s Wrist to Forehead Sunday!

One of my favorites, and I like the movie just as much.

I pause in re-reading an Agatha Christie novel to make my Wrist to Forehead Sunday post.  I like to read a fast paperback on a Sunday.  Steven is watching a movie.  I told him to pick what he would like, because I was reading.  He chose Shawshank Redemption, which I got him for his birthday.  I forgot how heavy this movie is.  Steven pointed out to me how I reference it all the time, by “doing Shawshank Redemption” when it rains.

I do it with my shirt on.

Now that I’m reading Death on the Nile again, I want to see that movie.  It is a star-studded Agatha Christie romp (which I believe I have written a blog post about).  It is also an excellent adaptation.  There are differences between the movie and book, but I can see why they made the changes they did.  Let me see if I can find a good picture from the movie.

I REALLY wanted a hat like this for “Rubbed Out at Ruby’s.”

I couldn’t get the full cast picture to download (you know me and computers), but here is the best character in the flick, Angela Lansbury as Salome Otterbourne.  This is one of the characters that is changed somewhat in the movie, into a definitely more theatrical version.  I love it.  Maybe we can watch that movie next.  First I need to finish re-reading the book.

 

Almost Springtime Saturday

I pause in my Saturday gyrations to make my blog post.  I’m afraid it will be a short one.  Then again, if it’s dull, short is better, no? Discuss amongst yourselves.

My husband Steven and I got up early, because he had to be to work early.  I suppose I could have stayed in bed, but what the hell, I was awake and I like coffee with my husband in the morning.

I was determined to go for a walk at least.  I have not been exercising properly this week, and I think it is doing me dirt in the tension headache department.  I took a 35-minute walk after work yesterday, and it felt pretty good.  Yesterday the weather actually reached 50 degrees.  Woo hoo, almost seasonal!  Oh, that brings up another point.  Yesterday I heard a meteorologist say that mid-50’s was seasonal for April, and I realized:  I’m in my mid-50’s.  I’m not old:  I’m seasonal for April.  I’m in the springtime of my life!

Today was cooler but still felt vaguely spring-like.  I put on a scarf that you can twist around your head and your face (it’s pretty nice; my sister Vicki made it).  If it got windy, I hoped to avoid the sinus headache the wind seems to give me.

It was an enjoyable walk, and I saw some crocuses.  Woo hoo again!  I reminded myself to definitely put down more crocuses this fall.  I put some in the fall after we moved in, and we usually get a few blooms.  My intention was to put more down every year and eventually have a yard full.  I have forgotten each year.  So I reminded myself again.  Who knows, maybe 2018 will be the year!

If I had sat down right after the walk, perhaps I could have come up with a decent Pedestrian Post.  Instead I felt light-headed (spring allergies?), so laid down with my face thing on.  My mother got me this face mask that you heat up in the microwave and lay down with.  It’s awesome. Now I am up and sipping hot tea, which is definitely soothing to the sinuses, and the disposition.

I guess I can’t really call this a Scattered Saturday post either, since I didn’t do a whole lot of different things.  And I don’t know how far away I am from going back to Saturday Running Commentary!  Never mind, this is my post and it will have to do.  I hope to see you all on Wrist to Forehead Sunday.  Happy Saturday and Happy Spring!

 

Holiday for Slashers?

Hello and welcome to my Lame Friday the 13th Post.  I always feel as if Friday the 13th should be a holiday, but I have hardly done anything to celebrate today.  I am doing a few of my favorite things, though:  sitting on the couch in comfy clothes, husband nearby, glass of wine at hand, Snapped on the television, and I will go back to crocheting as soon as I make this blog post.

Not even close to mine.

I thought an illustration would pep things up, because my mind is in a strictly non-peppy mode right now.  I say once again that it is flatly amazing to me how I sit down, stare at a blank screen, feel I have less than nothing to say, and yet I type in words.  Good words?  Interesting words?  Let’s not ask for miracles, especially on Lame Post Friday, and Friday the 13th.

“It’s OUR holiday!”

This is the Friday the 13th guy, right?  I’m not as up on my ’70’s slasher flicks as some.  I’m more of a black-and-white horror chick, heavy on the cheese, with a little Hammer thrown in on occasion.  But when it is Friday the 13th, one likes to give Jason a nod (I just quickly used Google to check that his name is really Jason, which is not the same thing as doing real research, but I am only a silly blogger after all).

Speaking of Hammer Horror…

And it is Lame Post Friday, after all.  I wish one and all a Happy Weekend.  Don’t walk under any ladders or let a black cat cross your path.

 

Thirsty or Non-Sequitur, It’s Thursday

So I had a real post yesterday and I am not going to continue the trend.  I’m exhausted!  Never mind what all I did after work (and work wasn’t easy).  I ran around, I wrote some stuff,  I did some housework.  I did not work out.  Don’t judge me.  Oh, what do I care?  Go ahead and judge me!  I’m pathetic!

Oh dear, that sounded suspiciously like whining.  I apologize.  I recently made the observation that we do not have the luxury of giving in to despair. I guess I don’t even get to be too tired to make a blog post.   Well, too tired to make a good blog post.  But perhaps I can rouse myself enough to say something reasonably entertaining.

“Do you need a shave?”

Looking through my Media Library, I find a picture that mentions Thursday, which is today (that’s two days in a row of me knowing what day it is, for anybody who is keeping track).  It reminds me of a thing in my high school.  Some girls started this thing of running a hand along a guy’s face and saying, “Have you shaved?”  I was, of course, too shy and geeky to do such a thing myself, but I witnessed it on several occasions.  The practice stopped when a guy grabbed for a girl’s leg and said, “Have you?”

“Who were you expecting me to dance with, Deborah Kerr?”

I was looking for a related picture when I remembered:  It is Non-Sequitur Thursday!  I can be random as well as silly!  So here is Vincent Price dancing with a skeleton.  Who doesn’t love Vincent Price?  If you just raised your hand, you are probably reading the wrong blog.  However, I will not judge.  Love whoever you like!

This is what I’m waiting for!

To make another non sequitur, I go from monsters to flowers.  I am waiting and waiting for things to begin to bloom around here!  Today at work, I overheard some guys saying things like, “I keep hoping it will snow,” and “I can’t wait till it’s winter again!”  Eventually I called over to them, “Say, are you fellows doing some of that there sarcasm thing?”

Speaking of Thirsty Thursday (see first picture), I think I’ll have a glass of wine.

 

I Feel Like a Monster

It was going to be another Monstrous Monday.  I found some monster pictures in my Media Library, I wrote some foolish comments about them. I was just finishing up and ready to think up a title and hit publish when I remembered:  It isn’t Monday!  It’s Tuesday!  This is what happens when you don’t go to work on Monday.  It messes up your head.  It doesn’t help that I’m not feeling well (my ostensible reason for taking a Monstrous Monday).  In fact, my stomach is starting to roil as I type.  I’m just going to slap a headline on this, hit publish and stretch out.  Here is what I typed in when I thought it was Monday:

I’m afraid it is going to be another Monstrous Monday.  Both Steven and I seem to be down with some 24-hour (I hope) bugaboo. But I shall not go on about our health woes. For one reason, it would be a HIPAA violation.  For another reason, it is boring and a little disgusting.  Never mind, let’s find a picture of a monster to share.

Raise your hand if you think these Monster Monday posts are silly!

I couldn’t find a new picture so I went to my Media Library and found one of Frankenstein’s monster I haven’t used recently (I hope).

He’s been hanging around for a while now.

Here is a friendlier monster.  My husband Steven got me this nice vampire for Christmas some years ago. He’s been hanging in our living room ever since.  As regular readers know, I like to make Halloween last all year.

This plant required a red thumb, not green one.

Oh, here’s a picture I haven’t used more than once, I don’t think.  It is from Roger Corman’s Little Shop of Horrors (1960).  I confess to not being a fan of the musical, but I LOVE the cheesy black-and-white horror flick.

So say I.

I end with how I feel:  tired and ready to say good night!  Full disclosure:  I probably won’t go to bed for a while yet, because I don’t want to wake up at 2 a.m. unable to get back to sleep.  You know how it is.  I’m afraid this has been a foolish post.  We’ll call it a blogger’s sick day and drive on.

 

Monday Movies

One of our all time favorites!

Yes, I said I was going to have a real post this Monday, and here I sit, watching old movies.  I took a vacation day today, never mind why, explanations are tiresome.  When we got back home from our obligations, we wanted to watch movies. I wanted an old one, and Steven (my husband) recommended Witness for the Prosecution (1957).  It was a good idea.  Billy Wilder, yes.

Instead of going on with a Billy Wilder theme, or perchance an Elsa Lanchester or Una O’Connor theme, Steven wanted to see a movie with good music. I suggested The Big Chill (1983).

Quite the star-studded cast for the day.

I think the above image is photo-shopped. I hope it is not copyright protected. I just found it on Facebook and downloaded it.  I see it came from Marshall Jay Kaplan’s Fame Cafe.  I think as long as I credit the source, it falls under the “fair use” clause.  It seems the Facebook page last posted in 2016.  I don’t properly understand the internet, as regular readers know.

Right now, I have more important things to ponder, such as what movie to watch next.  Good music? Old movie?  Monsters? The possibilities are endless.  In the meantime, I need to finish this post. I think I will call it another Mental Meanderings Monday and include one more photo, just because three’s the charm.

Back in the day when people made engravings on lighters for presents.

I don’t know if we’ll watch Strangers on a Train (1951) next, but I’m having trouble finding a picture to include, so this will have to do. In fact, I did mention this as a movie to watch tonight, since the  murder victim in Witness for the Prosecution shows up as in a small but pivotal role in Stranger on a Train.  I guess I don’t know what movie, if any we will watch next.  But at over 300 words, I call this respectable for a blog post. Happy Monday, everybody.

 

I Like a Semi-Colon on Lame Post Friday

Oh crap, it is almost 10:30 at night and I have not yet made my Friday Lame Post.  Can I make it before midnight?  A more practical question is, why am I up so far past my bedtime?  Well, I just got back from A Bad Year for Tomatoes at Ilion Little Theatre.  I think I can write a quick post while I sip a glass of wine with my husband.  What, you thought I wasn’t going to have a glass of wine on a Friday?  I don’t think anybody thought that.

Normally when I have someplace to go on a Friday, I try to make my blog post first. I did not do so today, because I was working on Spring Into Murder, the murder mystery we are putting on for Morning Star Methodist Church in Ilion on April 28.  Earlier today I saw a flier about said murder mystery, so I was all psyched up to get what I have typed into the computer so I can get it out to the cast and we can start rehearsals.  I’m getting there!  Oh, you think I should have had it completed, typed in, polished, and have started rehearsals already?  That would have been nice.  But this is me we’re talking about.

Oh dear, two paragraphs into the blog post and I’ve got the type-it-in-backspace-it-out disease.  Part of me is saying, “You’re over 200 words; that’s plenty for Lame Post Friday!”  Yes, the voices in my head use semi-colons when they talk.  The voices in my head are all about grammar and punctuation.  If anybody would like to comment below, pointing out any errors I may have made today, go right ahead.  I will only laugh, because I have forgotten more grammar than most folks ever knew.  The rest I willfully ignore as it suits my purpose (insert evil laugh here).

In the meantime, I think I need to hit Publish, finish my wine, and go to bed.  I hope to see you all tomorrow on Scattered Saturday or perhaps Slacker Saturday, whatever it turns out to be.

 

Fay Wray, Can You Help Me Now?

Tired Thursday just does not have the same alliterative charm of Tired Tuesday.  And yet, I am just as tired.  Well, we all know what I do when I’m tired:  I make a blog post anyways!  I’ve been trolling my monster and movie groups for new pictures, but I am having no luck and really want to get this post made.  I wonder if there is anything in my Media Library I haven’t used lately.

I’ve always had a thing for tall guys with long hair, but this is ridiculous!

I forgot to mention that my clever husband Steven got our DVD/Video player working again.  Movies may be in my future!  I have not seen King King with Fay Wray in a long time.  Steven got me the Jack Black version recently and we have never watched it.  Oh, we rented it back when it was first available (wow, was it really so long ago that there were still video rental places?  Why yes, a quick check tells me 2005!  How the time flies!).  That was the only time I saw it.

Is it really better than Dr. X, do you suppose?

I found and downloaded a new picture after all.  Thinking of Fay Wray made me think of Mystery of the Wax Museum, another one of my favorites.  Wray plays an intrepid girl reporter who cracks wise.  I just love an intrepid girl reporter.

Yes, this is how I feel much of the time.

I went to my Media Library and added the first movie picture I saw, because I like to include three pictures.  We don’t have The Blob on DVD or video, so I guess One of These Things Is Not Like the Others (remember, from Sesame Street?)  Then again, that makes this a Non-Sequitur Thursday, doesn’t it?  And over 300 words, which I deem sufficient for a blog post.  Happy Thursday and I hope to see you all on Lame Post Friday.

 

I’m So Ambitious!

I bet nobody believes that, a quite understandable reaction.  At least the headline makes a change from my usual Wuss-out Wednesday whining.  The fact is, I have just about run out of oomph, but I hope to muster enough to make a blog post before Dateline, which I will probably go to bed before the end of anyways.  I think I will iterate what I did to feel so ambitious, and my dear readers can decide for themselves the truth of my headline.

I worked out after work (I’ll write a whole blog post soon about my new work-out routine, but for now just know that I sweated).   I got home, showered, and checked Facebook and email while sipping my recovery beverage of chocolate milk. Yum!  But I had to tear myself away from the computer to start dinner so it would have time to cook before my husband Steven got home.

I chopped up an onion and two potatoes, and put them in a casserole dish with garlic oil.  The garlic oil is some I made last week in the blender with fresh garlic and dried spices.  I always make more than I need for the recipe at hand so I can use it in subsequent cooking adventures.  I put the casserole dish in the oven at 350 degrees, planning to stir it every 15 minutes and add ham chunks when the potatoes were almost done.  The ham was leftover from Easter dinner at my Mom and Dad’s house.  Waste not, want not!

While dinner cooked, I made some cocktail sauce, using my mother’s recipe and going heavy on the horseradish.  I put it in the fridge for the flavors to blend.  I had it in mind to put it on some fake crab meat for one of my snacks at work.  Raw celery and radishes are just not cutting it, and I am out of celery anyways.  Then I remembered I was going to boil some eggs, for breakfast or snack purposes.

Soon the eggs were cooking, the ham was in with the potatoes and onion, and I had put the crab meat with cocktail sauce into a container.  When taste testing, I found I had gone too heavy with the horseradish so added extra ketchup and chili sauce.  Oh, I was doing great!   When the egg water reached a boil, I turned off the burner and covered the pot.  I had good luck with that method the last time I made hard-boiled eggs.   I also turned off the oven, so the casserole would stay hot but not overcook.

I got back on the computer, thinking to make my blog post, then remembered I have a murder mystery to type in.  I got one character sheet typed in by the time Steven got home.  I thought that, in addition to the other stuff I did, on a Wuss-out Wednesday, was not bad.  But perhaps I flatter myself.  In any case, I am getting close to 500 words.  That is a long blog post for me!  I think I deserve to knit and watch Dateline.

 

Dessert and Monsters on Tired Tuesday

Did I say no promises for Tuesday?  I think I did.  And, yes, it is going to be a Tired Tuesday post.  But I will try not to go on and on about how tired I am.  Instead, I will talk about the dessert I made to follow the supper cooked by my husband Steven.

The supper was nothing unusual but quite delicious:  chicken and rice.  Not cooked together.  Steven baked boneless, skinless thighs with spices, and made rice in the rice cooker.  It was yummy and satisfying.  After letting it settle, I fixed a little something for dessert.

I had some Oreo cookies I had purchased thinking I might made Dirt Cake for Easter.  We did not need another dessert for Easter, and Steven has been munching the Oreos.  I took a few of them and broke them up in the bottom of two bowls. I put blueberries on the cookie pieces and topped it with whipped topping (generic Cool Whip).  The blueberries were purchased frozen at Hannaford and thawed in the refrigerator.

Wow, this really is a Tired Tuesday post, because it seems I am too tired to make it particularly interesting.  Maybe I should add in a picture of a monster to pep things up (it’s too late to include a picture of the dessert; we ate it up right fast).

“What do you mean, you ate all the blueberries?”

I saw this picture of my favorite guy, Nosferatu, on Facebook earlier today.  The person who shared it commented that he always looked surprised.  I must agree.  I’m sure Count Orlock is surprised to be included in a blog post about a dessert.

“I, too, am horrified to be here!”

This shot is from The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, another creepy silent horror movie, and another picture I found today on Facebook.  Both photos were on one of my favorite Facebook groups: The Golden Age of Monster Movies.

Incidentally, Steven miraculously fixed our DVD/VCR player today.  I will soon be watching monster movies again!  I hope to write a few blog posts about them.  In the meantime, I hope somebody liked my Tired Tuesday post.