Tag Archives: Media Library

Is It Halloween Yet?

Yesterday I thought surely I would be able to make a Lame Post Friday Post (I don’t mind it when I call myself Shirley). And here I am, Saturday morning, wondering why I didn’t.  Then again, sometimes “why?” is not a particularly helpful question to ask.  Far better to go ahead and just correct the error to the best of one’s abilities.  At least I have coffee.

A friendly face with a friendly beverage.

I just scrolled through my Media Library till I found a coffee mug.  I am not using this lovely mug today, a favorite of my late husband Steve’s, but I do not scruple to use it year round.  In fact it is almost time to start using Halloween mugs since for me the Halloween season begins immediately after Labor Day.

Speaking of Halloween, I need to start cleaning my house more thoroughly.  My sister Cheryl suggested I throw a Halloween party, as I have been known to do in the past.  That is, Steve and I threw them, but I feel sure I  am capable of hosting a party on my own.

Witchy would be happy to welcome folks to my house.

There are other reasons to get my house cleaned up and my act together. I will not list them here, although they may constitute some half-baked philosophy suitable for a Lame Post Friday post.  However, I see I am over 200 words.  I feel a Lame Post is best kept brief.  I shall strive for Some Sort of a Saturday post later.  As always, I hope you’ll stay tuned.

 

I Do Do a Blog Post

Well, this is embarrassing.  I last posted on Sunday, and today is Thursday.  I just didn’t do it.  The opposite of Nike’s famous slogan?  Never mind.  The point is, I felt I couldn’t just quietly start over again with a normal post but wanted to post a kind of I’m sorry for being such a schlub then try to follow up later today with a “real” post.

The winter of my discontent?

I’m calling this a Non-Sequitur Thursday so looked in my Media Library for an unrelated photo.  My deck sure doesn’t look like this these days.  For one reason, it is covered with junk, most of which actually could belong there if I cleaned it up and arranged it in a pleasing fashion.  And of course there is no snow; I suppose if I did not mention that somebody would chime in in a didactic fashion pointing it out (you know who you are).   Will this post be a lament of Things Not Done This Summer?  SAY IT AIN’T SO!!!

“After all, somebody has to clap as I walk by.”

Just to remind myself I did so do stuff this summer, I share one of my favorite rehearsal shots from Four Old Broads on the High Seas, the play I was in at Players of Utica (perhaps you read a few of my blog posts about it).  The fact is, we never do all that we plan or want to.  The point is to enjoy what we do do (teehee: I said doodoo).

And another picture of me!

I know: the picture of plastic poo would have been a good one to share at this point, but I did not feel like searching for it.  Instead I share this fun picture of me before the Pride Stride 5K in Little Falls in June.  I later gave the skirt and wings to my great-niece Evie.  They didn’t really fit me, although I stretched a point for the sake of being a well-dressed runner (see what I did there).

Ooh, look at me, over 300 words.  I have got my blogging mojo back!  All I need is a headline and I am on my way!  That is, my way to more Mohawk Valley Adventures to blog about.  And maybe to clean off my deck.

 

A Run to the Moon?

Oops, I missed posting on Saturday (yes, I am back to calling attention to my deficiencies).  I went for a run this morning, though, so how about a Running Commentary Post.  I don’t know if I ran by anything I have pictures of in my Media Library, but I may throw in a few random shots to pep the post up.  We shall see.

I seem to remember making a post about a run I took after a two week hiatus (that’s a fun word to say; try it!) (too lazy to go back and check, as usual).  Then I went two days without running.  At least I walked.  I was determined to run this morning. After a reheated cup of coffee (waste not want not), I suited up and set off.

The temperature was nice, the humidity was not bad.  I thought to turn right at German Street but noticed the full moon which I had not seen last night.  I love the full moon!  I turned left and ran towards it.

Not the same full moon.

It was lighter out when I ran this morning.  I look forward to starting my runs in the dark and finishing them in full daylight.  I do not rise early enough for such shenanigans these days, but Mother Nature will catch up with me eventually.

I went up one minor hill on Maple Grove and went on to the residential area behind Valley Health, which I refer to in my head as The Suburbs.  I was figuring in my head how long I wanted to run and how I would increase my times to be ready for the East Herkimer Fire Department 5K in October.  I think I will be in pretty good shape (remembering that round and puffy is still a shape).

Running felt pretty darn good.  I had to remind myself not to get too ambitious and overdo.  I pointed out metaphors for life as I ran:  you notice and lament a 10% uphill but barely feel the same percent going down.  Also, a hill looks less intimidating the closer you get to it.  At least it did today.

One weird thing:  as I ran by a sewer grate, I thought I felt a little warmth emanating from it.  Tim Curry?  He was smoking hot in some of his movie roles!  For readers who did not get the reference, Tim Curry was a clown in the sewer in an adaptation of a Stephen King novel.  Or was it a novella or short story?  How embarrassing that I do not know (I even had to check to make sure he spells his name with a “ph”).

I plan to start running more often again so may be inflicting more running commentary posts on my readers.  As always, I hope you’ll stay tuned.

 

Mid-Slack on Saturday

Yesterday I averred that a bad post was better than no post at all.  I hope that is still the case, because my aim is to make a fast post right now and then get on with my day.  Last night I went to see MacBeth at the Theatre at WoodsHill in Sauquoit.  I did not get home till after 11:30, which is way past my bed time.  More disappointingly, I did not take any pictures, because I could have made a good blog post about it.  I may yet do so, without illustrations.  I used to make blog posts without illustrations all the time.  Now I feel wrong if I do not include a picture.  They do pep up the post.

Fun in the sun!

I add a picture to prove my point.  This is my niece Jenna with my parents at a family gathering a couple of years ago.  I am going to a family gathering later today, which is one reason I am so flustered now.  Will I remember to bring everything?  Will I put on sufficient sunscreen?  The latter concern could have lasting repercussions.  I have had some painful sunburns in my day.

I should put my feet up, yes?

I looked for a picture of me at my leisure, to remind myself to chill out already.  Those sandals have broken, and my current pedicure is overgrown, but I may be able to take a similar picture later.  I hope a glass of wine will be included.  Sadly, my husband, part of whose sweatpantsed leg shows, will not.  Perhaps he will be there in spirit.  In any case, I hope to have a fun day.  At least I have made some semblance of a blog post.

 

Saw One Play, Rehearsing Another

Sunday afternoon I went to the closing performance of Getting Sarah Married, the last production of Ilion Little Theatre’s 2024-25 season.  I had a feeling I should have gone the first weekend; then I could have made a post encouraging local readers to go.  As it is, now I can only say, it was a very funny performance.  I congratulate all involved.  Alas that I do not have any pictures of it.  I ought to at least have a picture of Ilion Little Theatre in my Media Library, but I do not think I do.

It’s complicated.

I got on my Tablet and found this rehearsal shot shared by a cast member and stole it.  It includes all but two of the cast, and I think it shows something of the chaotic nature of the plot.

Today I have other theatre things on my mind.  I have to study my lines for Four Old Broads in the High Seas, a play I am in a Players of Utica.  Yes, I am one of the old broads, the one that is (a quote from the script) “dumb as a box of rocks.”  Yes, it is type casting.  It is an extremely silly script, but I imagine it will get a lot of laughs.

Me, doing my stuff.

The director shared this rehearsal shot on one of my Facebook posts.  I asked for silly photos to cheer me up.  Who, me, be silly?  SAY IT AIN’T SO!

Four Old Broads on the High Seas will be presented at Players of Utica, 1108 State St., Utica NY, July 25, 26, and 27, all seats $15.  For more information you can visit playersofutica.org

 

Words to Lame By

Hello and welcome to another Late Lame Post Friday post.  I don’t know how much of a post this will be: I am dead of brain and low of spirit.  However, ten-finger typing usually cheers me up, and sometimes even my dead brain can be entertaining, to myself if nobody else (although I certainly hope to entertain a few people at least).

I am fortunate not to smell like what I feel like.

I was looking for a brain picture (from the Planet Arous or That Wouldn’t Die) but decided to go for poop instead.  I do not really feel too poopy  right now, just a little headachy, sluggish, and inclined to complain.  My Saturday stretches before me, with things to go, places to be, and people to do.  Or something like that.

Mine would and does on a regular basis.

There’s a picture illustrating my lack of brain!  One of my absolute favorite cheesy movies.  Sometimes I say to myself, “Why can’t I write shit like that?” as the Whoopi Goldberg character asked herself in the movie Soapdish.  In point of fact, I do not know if I can or cannot write shit like that.  I quite frankly do not spend enough of my time writing to find out.  Once again, I end my blog post with an oath to change.

My new words to live by. Um, they were also my old words to live by.

Will I succeed?  Will I fail?  Will I even make my Saturday blog post on Saturday?  For the answer to these and other burning questions (and a few questions of various other temperatures), stay tuned to Mohawk Valley Girl!

 

Agatha Christie, Can You Help Me Now?

About all I’m up to this evening is a Throwback Thursday post.  Never mind why; explanations are tiresome.  Many of my Throwback Thursdays end up being Theatre Throwbacks, which is not surprising since Drama is my Life (said with a gesture), but I think I will try for something different today.  Let us see what I can find in my Media Library.

Rather a threatening looking book cover, no?

Oh dear, I thought I was throwing back to a favorite book, which this is, but then I realized it is also a treasured theatre memory.  My late husband and I were in the stage version of this mystery at Ilion Little Theatre some years ago.

The movie was different from our play.

This is the movie poster from the DVD I have.  There is at least one other movie version of And Then There Were None that I would also like to have on DVD.  I would also like to direct the play version if Ilion Little Theatre wanted to revive it.  It has been a few years; I wonder if they would.  Perhaps not. They recently presented Mousetrap and plan to do Murder on the Orient Express next spring.

So much for not doing a Theatre Throwback.  On the brighter side, I am over 200 words, and tomorrow is Lame Post Friday.  I hope to see you all then, figuratively speaking.

 

 

I Make it Through Monday

It is late in the day on Monday (for me), and I think all I can manage is a Monstrous Monday post.  Has it been a Monstrous Monday?  In some senses, yes.  I had great ambitions for cleaning my house which did not come to fruition.  I mowed the lawn, actually starting the power mower myself, which regular readers may recall is not easy for me.  I did a little more yard work late in the day, but SO MUCH is still to be done!  I hang my head in shame.

This is a good boy!

If only I had Gene Wilder to comfort me thus!  This, of course, is a shot from Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein, one of a very few perfect movies, in my not so humble opinion.

Maybe it’s Maybelline.

Why is my computer underlining “Maybelline”?  I looked it up!  Anyways, this is a shot from a less than perfect movie, but a perfectly cheesy movie which I love to watch, The Brain That Wouldn’t Die.

In fact I did.

OK, this is not a monster but some find it good advice for a Monday.  I am not advocating alcoholism.  To me, the sitting down, pouring yourself a beverage, and relaxing is the point. Sometimes my beverage is seltzer and lemon.  Sometimes it is coffee or tea.  Full disclosure:  right now it is Chardonnay.  Happy Monday, everyone.

 

What Is It With Me and Theatre?

Yes, it is Lame Post Friday again, the day of random observations and half-baked philosophy.  The day where I get silly for about 200 words then dive into the weekend.  Once again, I look to my Media Library for inspiration.

This is NOT what my hair looks like now.

This is me as seen on stage in Prescription: Murder at Ilion Little Theatre.  Actually the last view of me on stage was my awesome slipper sticking out from behind the couch after my husband had strangled me, the bastard.

Me dead. You would think the murderer would have looked happier; I was pretty annoying.

However, I did not want this to be another theatre throwback (not that there’s anything wrong with that), so I will look for a different sort of picture.

I should cook more recipes.

I just found my copy of this cookbook underneath my coffee table.  I do not know how it got there.  It is the cookbook put out by Herkimer County Historical Society, and the inspiration for my murder mystery, Recipe for Murder Royale.   Oops, I am back to talking about theatre.

Love the mustache.

You may think I am getting away from theatre with a shot (literally) at the Elks Club in Herkimer, BUT…  to begin with, many of my murder mysteries have been performed there; this was a shot of Frangelico in a Frangelico glass, the inspiration for one of my all-time favorite character names, Frangelica Inferno; AND the shot glass reminds me of a glass that was a present from  cast of a stage play I directed that later figured in a murder mystery for Herkimer County Historical Society.

So I have walked down Theatre Memory Lame and plugged Herkimer Elks and Historical Society.  I think I’ve earned my Happy Hour beverage.

 

Even Blogging Is Getting Harder!

What a wasted week I am having!  Tuesday I ran two miles, thinking I could make a Two-Mile Tuesday post.  I had pictures on my phone, which I transferred to my Media Library, thinking to do a Waste Not Want Not Wednesday post.  I spent at least some time each of those days staring at the blank Add Post page on my WordPress site.  Alas, to no avail. In fact, I experienced great resistance to logging on today, Thursday.  By the way, I ran three miles, wanting to have another Three-Mile Thursday, like I did last week.

I swear it was steeper when I was on it.

This is one of the hills I ran up on my run this morning.  It doesn’t look very impressive, does it?  I ran up a steeper hill next, which I do not have a picture of.  That hill continued up to Herkimer College, by some dorms in what I call the Kick Butt way to the college, because there are like three steep hills with flat(ish) spaces between.  Ahem, I did not run up to the college.  I made it up one stretch of steep then turned around and ran back down.  Later I ran up a couple more uphills.  I tell you, they do not get any easier.

Random picture, just to show something cheery before I start whining.

I learned to run in the Army, and I loved it, because it seemed that I just magically got better at it.  All I had to do was do it.  It was awesome!  Since the army, I have stopped and re-started running many times, usually because weather or work schedules made it difficult and I am notoriously lazy.  Each time I restarted, I found I was able to build myself back up to where I had left off with little or no problem.  I will admit that at no time have I ever run particularly fast.  Still, I was able to run the Boilermaker 15K several times (not in a row).

Until this year.  I decided early on not to try for the Boilermaker, but I am signed up to run the Pride Stride 5K in Little Falls, NY on June 14.  Why oh why, do my legs feel like overcooked macaroni?

Me before the Pride Stride in 2021.

Don’t mind my Old Age Existential Angst.  I really do not mind being your friendly neighborhood crazy old lady.  I only get a little disconcerted when my body behaves in what I consider a perverse, contrary fashion.  For example, if I am running on a regular basis, I feel I ought to be able TO run on a regular basis, and none of this complaining from my legs and lungs that, “We’re not going to maaaaake it!” (said in a pathetically whiny tone).  Or at least a little less complaining.

In the meantime, I see I have done plenty of complaining in this blog post, and it has run longer than my usual posts.  Considering I missed two days of posting, I think that that is not bad.  Once again, I thank you for tuning in.