Books

So I love books.  Definitely an understatement but nonetheless I love them.  I love the feel of a book, the smell of a book, I just love books.  My only problem with them is the space they take up and the amount of clutter they cause after they've been read.  I have clutter issues in the first place but books take up a lot of my office clutter.   I've been debating over the past few months the prospect of getting a Kindle.   I was against it due to the fact that I love a printed book.  My husband has a Kindle and he loves it.  Every night we read in bed and I watch how effortless it is for him to hold his and how I have to sit a certain way for my book.

I also have been looking at the cost per book.  For a Kindle book, if its 6.99, its 6.99.  For a regular book, its 6.99+ shipping and handling.  Plus, I have to wait until it arrives for it to even be readable.  For the Kindle, its click click download enjoy.  Also, new hardcovers are cheaper on Kindle than in print.

I'm not even sure I'm going to like it yet. Sure, I've tried the hubby's just to see if I could tolerate it.  But its not "mine."  But I ordered one, it should arrive in 5-8 days.  So we shall see.  In the meantime, I have 1-2 printed books to finish before I try ebooks.


I know this is pathetic but why does it feel like I'm "cheating" on books?

Perimeter

So we successfully shopped the perimeter of the grocery store today. Yay. That was the goal. Making pit stops only for juice and oatmeal.

I Am A Young Old Lady

I have been contemplating my lifestyle lately and thinking how my interests are those comparable to a little old lady.

 1.) I LOVE HOT TEA

Red Rose tea is my absolute favorite tea.  I've been drinking it for a good portion of my life.  My first taste of tea was my Great Grandma Martin's tea (Red Rose brand) sweetened with saccharin.  So, now I'm a lifelong tea drinker. On Fridays, one of my girls and I have "tea time" as a  way to unwind after the week (for me) and start (for her) before the weekend.  Its a nice tradition that we will hopefully continue as our schedules get in the way.  But we have one of those friendships that  always pick right up no matter how much time has passed.  Always has been.  Always will be.  Its nice to have a fellow 26 year old "old lady."  I'm sure she'd agree with me as my list here continues. (well, most of it anyways ;-) )

In our 20's/30's

Will this be us in our 80's??

2.) I LOVE TO READ

This statement is actually more like an understatement.  I have a book addiction.  I usually average 1-2 books a week when I have the time.  During the summer, it could be up to 3-4 per week.  My grandma and I swap books as she is as avid a reader as I am.  She and I have some favorite authors/series:
*Heather Graham
*J.D. Robb
*Allison Brennan
To just name a few.

Lately, I've been reading a lot of Chick Lit books, especially ones set in London.  I don't know what it is about Brit Lit, probably the language and brazen personalities and opinions but I can't seem to put them down.  But give me a cup of tea (surprise surprise), my recliner, a book and I'm all set for contentment.

However, to make that scenario a bit more perfect is my 3rd item:

My 3yr old cat, Calypso

3.) I LOVE CATSI once read an article about a ranch in Florida called "The Caboodle Ranch" and what it is is a ranch full of cats!  My mother and I always joked about having a farm where we would take in stray cats and give them shelter, food, and love.  I have two cats, Calypso and Malibu.  I admit, I'm a bit crazy when it comes to them, but as I have no children they are my furbabies.  No matter how rotten my day is, they always cheer me up.  Its like they know that I need some extra love.  I can't get enough of their cuddles (well Malibu cuddles a lot more than Calypso does) and the soothing sound of their purring in contentment. Calypso was a birthday present for me from my husband.  We went to the Humane Society and I chose her from the shelter because she cried the loudest.  She isn't a very cuddlesome cat (unless on her terms) but she is definitely "mommy's girl."  She sleeps on my pillow every night.

Malibu, 1 yr old

Even now as I type, Malibu is snuggled on my legs, sleeping away.   We got Malibu from a litter of kittens I rescued.  I had been feeding the stray pregnant momma cat (who I named Rosie because she slept in my rosebush pot during the wintertime since it was off the ground).  One day she didn't greet me at my door so I went looking for her. Lo and behold she had given birth to 6 kittens!  I took them into my house (much to the displeasure of my husband) and gave them food, shelter, and love so that they would have a chance.  I fell in love with all of them over the 8 weeks and giving them up was so difficult. My husband said that we could keep one of them and that is how we got our Malibu. The hubby thinks that Malibu is his girl but we both know the truth ;-)  

4.) I LOVE OLD MOVIES

I love older movies.  The classics.  My favorite actress of all time is: Judy Garland (with whom I share a birthday and a small stature).  She had a very tragic life but was a phenomenal talent despite the constant struggles she had throughout her entire lifetime.  I have seen most of her movies and hope to own all of the pictures that she has done.  I have read many biographies about her, did my senior thesis in high school on her, and even visited her resting place at Ferncliff in Ardsley, NY.  

I love the stars and starlets of this time period.  The movies from the 30's and 40's are among my absolute favorite movies.  Black and white pictures with Gable, Garbo, Kelly, Durbin, Rooney, Astaire, Rogers, etc... I just love watching them.  They weren't about the finest effects or the most daring stunts.  They were about the mood of the picture.  They were about family values.  They were about romance.  They were wholesome not filled with scenes of graphic nature looking for the shock value.  Maybe it is because I grew up watching these movies with my grandma but I will always enjoy these films as they are the classics for a reason.

5.) I LOVE THE GOLDEN GIRLS

I own the entire set of this show.  I absolutely love the Golden Girls.  It is my favorite tv show of all time.  I was devastated when Estelle Getty, Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan died.  They were pioneers in their time and helped revolutionize television.  Powerful icons for women.

Betty White, now 89 is STILL an icon in today's television.  She is all over the media now.  I read her autobiography which was great and insightful into her career on television.  I love her "new" show- "Hot in Cleveland."  I have it on Netflix so that I can catch up on episodes from the start.  She is just a lovely woman who is a real inspiration.

Wizard of Oz Disaster

 Once upon a time, I was planning a wedding and my mother said to me, " You should write to David Tutera and see if you could make it on his show.  He could even do The Wizard of Oz."  And I didn't write but rather planned my own and incorporated my own pieces of Wizard of Oz with the baseball theme.

And you might say that I am one of the biggest Wizard of Oz fans.  So when David Tutera, a wedding planner extraordinaire (like I said, my mother loves him), is having a Wizard of Oz themed wedding (that someone other than me requested!)- I would expect something wonderful. Since I heard my mother go on and on and on about how wonderful he is. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelllllllllllllll- I was actually pretty annoyed and disappointed with the ENTIRE episode.  There was so much that could have been done with it to make the theme more apparent without being "kitschy" as David called the bride's ideas.

First off, the bride was irritating throughout the whole episode.   I cannot get over the fact that she was going to have all 8 of her bridesmaids wear ruby slippers but NOT wear them herself.  Seriously?!?!?!?!?!?!  You are the bride and having a THEMED wedding of THE WIZARD OF OZ and YOU ARE NOT GOING TO WEAR THE RUBY SLIPPERS???!?!?!?!  I just cannot wrap my head around that at all.   Also, she referred to the blue and white gingham as Dorothy's plaid.  SERIOUSLY?

Now the wedding focused on yellow.  I understand her deceased grandmother's favorite color was yellow and yellow is a pretty color and soft for a wedding.  But, if you are having a themed wedding for The Wizard of Oz, you go for pop factors.  Where was the Emerald City?  Why would you line the yellow brick road runner with YELLOW flowers instead of red poppies??  Why would you have tall yellow sunflowers instead of cornstalks?  I mean, its a THEMED WEDDING.  Its ok to have some "kitsch" to it.  But the fact that yellow was the central color, just didn't jive with me.


The cake (by Tasteful Cakes) however was great.  It incorporated all the characters.  Each tier of the cake was a different character representation.  You can't really see the bottom tier in this picture but its silver to represent the tinman.  This was one of the few features I liked in the episode.

http://www.pe.com/localnews/corona/stories/PE_News_Local_W_wscrapbook17.37207ef.html

The bridal bouquet was another element that I actually liked as well.  I felt that it captured the theme.  Here's the link describing the bouquet:  http://www.flowersfirstthenfood.com/?p=15

Overall, I was HIGHLY disappointed with this themed wedding.  I expected much more.  I mean, the wedding didn't have to focus entirely around the Wizard of Oz but it should have captured more of the ideas and elements.  I felt that with his resources he could have captured and created a spectacular, tasteful interpretation and made magic.  There really was not much connection and theme in my opinion.  I'm glad that I did mine the way that I did.  And if the bride liked it, that's all that really matters.  But I'm really glad that I did not listen to my mother because if the wedding turned out the way this one did..... I would have been one disappointed, dissatisfied bride.

My Old Poetry

I used to write lots and lots of poetry.  I had an account that I used to upload my poems to.  I can't believe that was 7 years ago.  Holy wow.  I've written lots of poem, mostly emotional ones.  It got me through a lot of stuff and I forgot how much I love to write poetry.   I'd say some of my favorite work was a series of poems where a jealous wife looks upon her husband who is completely obsessed with his work.  My favorite one of the series is titled:  The Painter and His Sculpture.  Here it is:

The Painter and His Sculpture

I watch him meticulously paint on the canvas,

his moves carefully planned and thought,

he shows his tender love and admiration,

till he creates that which he sought.

Envious I am sometimes as I watch,

his love for that he does paint,

He doesn't know that I have deep inner hatred,

for to him I'm a perfect saint.

With each gentle stroke, like a caress on the flesh,

the painter makes on the canvas bare,

his sensuous passion and endless desire,

to which I find hard to compare.

I know I am foolishly stating my anguish,

of the jealousy that I feel for his art, 

but how can one conceal this deep felt sorrow,

when a canvas has stolen his heart?

I'd die for the painter without even a thought,

for my passion for him never mild,

but as I look at the canvas he's painting,

she looks in my eyes and she smiles.

Less than 3 weeks

Less than 3 weeks until Christmas... and I'm still not feeling the Christmas spirit. In fact, I've been a little on the depressed side. Jonathan did put up the Christmas tree and I decorated it.  I even had an ornament personalized to commemorate our 1st Christmas together as a married couple.  But as the day gets closer, I'm still not feeling the Christmas spirit.

Tickling the Ivories

On Saturday, the hubby and I went to the music shop and bought some music stuff.  I got a new music stand since mine was busted as well as some new sheet music. (Some piano and a Wizard of Oz  one for the clarinet that comes with a CD for you to play along with)  But anyways, we went mostly because I wanted to get a new piano book.  I go through phases of playing the piano.  I have always wanted to be able to just effortlessly play.  The only issue is my left hand.  I can play the right just fine but add the left at the same time along with thinking in the bass clef, forget it.  Not that simple.  All of the music I have had to read has been treble clef.  So reading the treble clef notes along with figuring out the the bass clef notes while playing with my left hand which is not my dominant hand takes a LOT of effort.  But with practice I will improve and it will become easier.  At least that is what I keep telling myself.

But I guess it could be worse, my poor husband has a difficult time reading any sheet music.  He used to play saxophone when he was a kid but quit.  So, while he is teaching himself guitar it is an even bigger process for him.  I should probably cut him some more slack.  I'll make sure to tell that to the cat too who cries every time he plays.

When I consistently play, I can play some songs just fine.   I have quite a few books from my musical favorites like:  Wicked, Wizard of Oz, West Side Story, Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and a few others.  Its been a while since I played (practiced) so I'm a bit rusty.  But I find as I'm playing, I don't think about anything else but the music.  Its a good way to clear my mind and soothe my thoughts.  As well as continue to learn something and enjoy doing it.  That's the hard thing as you grow up.  Even when you love doing something, when its required you sometimes get a chip on your shoulder about it.  Now as an adult, I don't have to practice if I don't want to.  I choose to because I can and I'm doing it for myself.  I have always loved music---- singing and playing my clarinet (tenor sax, too-even though I only played the tenor for one year).

I did pick up a Christmas book that has my favorite non-secular Christmas song in it:  "Somewhere in my Memory".  (The song from Home Alone)  It is such a beautiful song and I hope to be able to play it with "ease" by Christmastime.  Here is a beautiful video of it:

Well, I'm going to go do another lifelong love of mine: reading. I'm currently reading and enjoying: Betty White: Here We Go Again.  It is pretty good so far.  She's a funny lady and I just love the her intelligence.