Jan 21, 2009 | Auctions, Life |
My academic minor is history (naturally, English is my major!) so I tend to get a little caught up in the historicity of events. And there is no doubt, no matter where you land on the political scale, that yesterday was an amazingly historical event. I watched far more of it than I should considering how my deadline is approaching at light speed (I like science, but that's not my specialty so don't analyze that analogy).
What struck me: the crowds. I attended Clinton's first inauguration because I was living in DC at the time and wanted to see it. Um, it was so darn cold I went home again before the parade and watched that from the warmth of my living room. I remember walking over half the Mall that day — and the crowd wasn't *anything* like the one yesterday. I also don't remember jumbotrons anywhere. There were loudspeakers, and we could hear everything, but no television screens that I remember (I could be wrong).
But you know what I remember most about that day? Maya Angelou. Yep, the English major in me remembers her poem above all else. Of course! 🙂
I also remember buying a button that had Clinton on it and a little saxophone hanging from it. I'm sure I still have it somewhere. 🙂
I did not attend the second Clinton inauguration (by the time Bush was inaugurated, I no longer lived in DC). And while I understood why all those people would want to be in DC for Obama's, I highly doubt I'd ever attend another one. Too cold! I see more in my house than I do in the audience. And I get to stay warm while I do so.
Historically, what a day. I love being witness to history. My father-in-law drove a Greyhound bus to Martin Luther King Jr's “I have a dream” speech. He brought a group from Buffalo. But he said he didn't hear the speech. I think that's a shame. Still, to have been there on that day — wow. Can you imagine?
What's the coolest historical event you've attended? I can't think of a specific event, but I did once stand on the front row during a speech Reagan gave at the Vietnam Memorial. I have pictures of him and Nancy. It was cool, but OMG, it was 21 years ago…..
Don't forget about the auction to help a homeless teen and her mother! You can bid on a one chapter + synopsis critique from me. Or many other cool things! Click here.
Dec 15, 2008 | Diet, General, Life |
It was a busy weekend. I don't know where the time went, but it flew. Things I've realized:
1. I need to stick to a diet. I feel like cheeseburger cat.
2. I need to reacquaint myself with the treadmill. And the weight bench.
3. I need to paint my house. Went on a holiday tour of homes in the historic district and came away feeling like my house is crap. Crap, I say.
4. I need more than paint, but at least it's a start. Tired of builder paint on my walls.
5. Ate a Whopper. Still don't like Burger King all that much. Or many fast food burger joints, in fact. (Though this burger place we went to in San Fran was pretty good! I was surprised.)
6. Never let a store employee get the best of you when it's your money. Got my $30 additional discount by threatening to bring the whole darn thing back.
7. I love my RWA chapter. And my friends there. I don't feel like an outsider, like I did nearly 2 years ago when I first arrived in this state.
8. I have the coolest job in the world.
9. My hubby cracks me up. It takes some doing, since I know him pretty well, but he's still funny when he's just being him.
10. Thank heavens for Spanx!!
Nov 19, 2008 | General, Life |
Well, I got nothing interesting today. Yesterday, I went to Costco. How's that for fascinating? No overly perfumed people this time. But I did cut myself on a Christmas display. And had to go searching through the store for a napkin to stop the bleeding. I was looking at a mantel display thingie, and trying to see what the bottom was, when one of the blasted ornaments sliced the back of my finger.
Aside from that, I meandered the aisles. Of course I was supposed to be home writing! But I'd had to go to the Post Office to mail my contracts, so I decided I needed to make a wine run. Which turned into a meander through the aisles run.
I love the food section. I can spend a lot of time looking at cheese and various other nifty gourmet things. And yes, going back to Monday's Velveeta blog, you CAN buy imported French cheese for what you pay for Velveeta. Is that wrong or what?! 🙂 I rarely buy these things though because you have to buy in bulk most of the time. Do I really need a 3 pound hunk of imported parmesiano-reggiano? What about those 30 lb sacks of potatoes?!
Anyway, after Costco, I came home. Hubby arrived shortly thereafter and I talked him into taking me for dinner. We went to a local restaurant that serves Cajun food. And the owner remembered me as an author and said that the waiter who served us last time has been asking if I'd come back yet. Who knew that being a romance novelist could be so exciting? He wants to do a book launch party in the restaurant. Why not? Jambalaya is a take off on paella, so perhaps I can tie the Spanish theme in somewhere. 🙂
That was my seriously exciting day. How did yours go? What do you think of book launch parties? Ever been to one? I hadn't actually planned one since Harlequin does such fabulous promo for the lines, but maybe it'd be fun….
Nov 18, 2008 | Blogging, General, Life |
To the people who keep typing some variation of “how to kill my spouse” into their search engines and clicking over here, there is NO WAY to kill your spouse and get away with it. It's wrong, it's immoral and illegal. Get a divorce. Go to counseling. But do NOT think you're going to kill your spouse and get away with it.
This is the post that's popping up in the search engines. It was a tongue in cheek statement that a writer can put anyone she is mad at in a book (as a character, duh) and then do what she wants to them. It's not a treatise on how to get away with murder.
What's on your mind today? If you blog, what's the top search phrase (or the weirdest) that brings people visiting?
Nov 17, 2008 | Diet, General, Life |
Some people think I'm a food snob. I don't know why that is. I just like food without mystery ingredients. What's so wrong with that? The fresher, the better.
But then, on Friday, I was shopping and realized something. Something that indicated to me that I might just be a teensy bit of a food snob after all. I had NO clue where to find Velveeta cheese. I wanted to make that cheese dip that's so popular at parties, you see, because I was hosting a chapter board meeting at my house on Sunday. And I like that dip, but I've never made it, so there I was searching.
Not. A. Clue.
And I was too stubborn to stop and ask. (Or maybe I didn't want anyone to know what I was looking for. I had visions of Tony Bourdain going all Invasion of the Body Snatchers on me if he saw the stuff in my cart.) I figured out pretty quick that it wasn't refrigerated. And that's just wrong! What's in that stuff anyway?
So I wandered down to the chips. Nope, not there. I wandered back to the canned tomatoes (you know, because you pair it with Rotel). Nope, not there either.
I wandered past the macaroni and cheese. I never look at this stuff because I don't eat it. But before you think I'm an unrepetant snoot, the first meal I ever learned to cook, when I was about eight yrs old, was boxed macaroni and cheese. Loved the stuff! And I've made plenty of Hamburger Helper back in the day. Oh yes, used to go to Sam's Club and buy the stuff in bulk.
But somewhere along the way, I changed my stripes.
While I was searching for Velveeta, I remembered Government Cheese. Remember that? I think it was the gov't version of Velveeta, and they used to give it away. My parents used to get it, and we put it on crackers and who knows what else. Probably made grilled cheese sandwiches with it.
Finally, I arrived at the Velveeta. It sort of has it's own place in the store! It was down the aisle from the mac & cheese, and it comes in varieties now. Pepper Jack? That looked kind of good.
But then I saw the price. Seriously, cheese* that the gov't used to give away for free costs as much as gourmet cheese from France?! Mon Dieu! Somewhere, Julia Child is rolling in her grave. After deliberating, I chose the smaller package, 2% milk version. And forked over enough money for it to buy a hunk of brie.
What food do you consider funky? Do you use Velveeta? Remember free gov't cheese? And yes, I made the dip — and it was good! But now that I've gone searching for how the stuff is made, I don't think I'll be buying it very often…
*Actually, it's a “cheese product.” Kraft was sued for calling it cheese because real cheese has 51% cheese or more. Velveeta does not. They cook it with a lot of whey, and then it congeals into the stuff we know as Velveeta. And it did look like a shiny congealed mass of something yellow to me.
Nov 6, 2008 | General, Life |
On Tuesday, something momentous happened. Yes, I cut my hair. (And, oh yeah, some guy won an election or something. *g*)
I have not changed my hair in about fifteen years. It's always been long and straight (once I grew out that spiral perm). But I felt like making a change finally. My stylist was actually worried I'd get upset after he made the first cut – but I didn't, and I haven't yet. In fact, it's not really all that different to me. I have layers now, which I haven't had in years, and I have to relearn how to use a curling iron and hairspray. But it's still long. It just feels more versatile now. If my hair wasn't so fine, and would hold a curl better, I could have kept the weight of the longer hair forever. But I'm not sorry I made the change.
Indeed, November seems to be a time for changes. Leaves change colors, the nation changes leaders, and I changed my hair. What about you? Made any changes lately? Planning any changes? Worried about change? Thinking about change, but not sure if you're ready? What's the biggest change you've ever made to your appearance?
