Tag Archives: blogging

Spring Into Wuss-Out Wednesday

Let’s see if I can finish my Wuss-out Wednesday post before my ride to rehearsal gets here.  Rehearsal is for Spring Into Murder, the interactive murder mystery dinner theatre at Morning Star Methodist Church in Ilion, NY on Saturday, April 28.  I’ll try to get a number for tickets, in case any local readers are interested.  In the meantime, I thought I would write about spring.

WHAT SPRING????  you may well ask.  I ask it too.  My thermostat said it was 41 degrees out this afternoon.  I am in desperate need of exercise, so I went for a walk.  I love to walk and thought I might be able to write a decent Pedestrian Post about it, but I’m afraid it was a depressing walk.  Everything was brown and crappy-looking.  We are over half-way through April, for heavens’ sake.  Would a few flowers, maybe some green spouts, buds on the trees be too much to ask for?  Apparently so.  Additionally, I have some things on my mind which I will not bore you with (Freudian typo:  I started to put “now bore you with,” which tells me it is boring of me to mention them at all, so sorry).

When I got home, I thought I saw a tiny flash of yellow in my back yard.  Was it… could it be… it WAS!  A crocus!  I rejoiced. Then I got my Tablet and took a picture:

Note the brown grass. Tsk, tsk.

Then I took a better picture:

It does my heart good.

I went out front, to see if there were any more crocuses.  There were not, but I saw some green stuff that might eventually be tulips and lilies of the valley.

I think this is the tulip.

I think these are lilies of the valley.

As you can also see, I have some yard work to do.  There are lots of last year’s leaves still to be raked, and some garbage to be picked up.  It isn’t my garbage; it blew there in one of the recent wind storms.  At least nobody came along and dropped a house on me.

While I was out front, I took a picture of what the sidewalk plow did to us, and to almost everybody else in the village.  I had wanted a “before” picture of that, so when I fix it I can see what a good job I did (or not, let’s be honest).

You know, I think those are new cracks in the sidewalk as well. Damn!

Look at me, I’m over 400 words!  I think that’s fine for a Wuss-out Wednesday!  Now I’d better get ready for rehearsal.  There is nothing like a little murder to perk things up midway through the week.

 

Monday Movie Meditation?

So there I was, sitting on the couch with my laptop and telling myself I could NOT again post the picture of Frankenstein’s monster saying, “No like Monday!”  I looked through my monster groups on Facebook for a new picture. Do you suppose I could find anything?  Then I saw this movie poster, which has nothing to do with Mondays and is actually a kind of a disappointing monster, but I downloaded it anyways, and here it is.

He is rather intimidating on the poster, I suppose.

I’ve seen Curse of the Demon a couple of times, DVR’d from TCM.  According to pre-movie commentary by Ben Mankiewicz, producer Val Lewton did not want to show the monster right away but was overruled by the studio.  I agree that it would have been much scarier to see the first victim looking utterly horrified by… what?  But these were pre-Jaws days.

For the uninitiated, in the first Jaws movie, we don’t see the shark until well into the movie.  This was actually making a virtue of necessity, because they had a lot of trouble with that mechanical shark, but it turned out to be SO effective.  Who knew?  Val Lewton, apparently, but nobody believed him.  Come to think of it, some post-Jaws movies could be a little more circumspect, too, but that’s a whole other blog post.

What a messy eater!

And here is the Jaws shark.  I feel he is a monster worth waiting for.  I’m afraid this was not a blog post worth waiting for, but what do you want from me on a Monday?

 

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.

 

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.

 

Breakfast Twins at Heidelberg

My husband Steven had a rare Saturday off on the 31st; he had requested it for the murder mystery (which I believe I mentioned once or twice).  We celebrated with breakfast out at Heidelberg Cafe in Herkimer, NY.  For another reason, we wanted to purchase some yummy rolls for Easter dinner on Sunday.

We got an early start, to beat the crowd, but were not there at the crack of seven, when they open.  There were plenty of tables available.  Some neighbors already enjoying breakfast said hello (I love small-town living).  We took a table for two, and a waitress almost immediately asked what we wanted to drink.  We both asked for a cup of coffee and a glass of water.  Looking over the menu, I noticed some lunch choices that sounded delicious.  I’ve only had breakfast at the Heidelberg.  I’ll have to expand my horizons.

We continued twinning when we ordered food:  two eggs over medium and sourdough toast.  YUM!  We enjoyed listening to the local radio station while we ate (I’ll have to write a blog post about that radio station one day soon; it is a recent addition to the Mohawk Valley).   We also discussed how may rolls to purchase, counting on our fingers how many were expected at my Mom and Dad’s for dinner.  A dozen and a half sounded good to me.

For once we refrained from getting any goodies other than the rolls.  I had a bad moment when I saw the English Tea Cookies — I LOVE them!  But I am far enough from my weight loss goals.

I’m afraid this is a rather dull post.  In my defense, I am waiting for Steven to get home for dinner.  It will consist of sandwiches made with Heidelberg rolls and leftover ham from Easter dinner.  I’m SO HUNGRY!  But I have proven to myself that I can compose a blog post while hungry.  I also avoided having a Monstrous Monday, so I will content myself with that.  No promises for Tuesday, though.

Heidelberg Cafe is located at 3056 State Route 28, Herkimer, NY, phone number 315-866-0999.