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Pirate Door Mat

Gasparilla post


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Valentines Day

Rockett St George

http://www.rockettstgeorge.co.uk/love-blanket-1100-p.asp

Wayne Dyer

So, how's it going? Other than it's Friday and happy hour should be starting now instead of 6:30 tonight?

Wayne Dyer always helps me put things in perspective. He has a movie which at times can be hokey, but helps you get the message. It's always good to watch when things are getting you down.

Sure wish they'd let me watch it at work! And I still wish it were happy hour already.

Dr. Wayne Dyer

Halloween Chocolate Covered Cookies

Halloween is just a short time away. Our neighborhood likes to get together and drink cocktails on the front porches while we pass out candy to the kids. (Did I say drink and pass out in the same sentence? Freudian slip.)

Something to eat on Halloween night or at a Halloween party? Check out these chocolate covered cookies - specially decorated for the holiday. Oreos and Nutter Butters. My favorite!

Edible Gifts Plus

Fireplace Screensaver

PES

Apple Pie

Some people go on vacation and don't do a thing. I like to do things that I never have the time to do at home.

We baked an apple pie this week. This is the second year we've done it. I forgot to add the sugar to the first apple pie I made last year. Plenty of ice cream fixed the lack of sugar.

This year, the pie was great (still had ice cream on top of course).

I've got to work on my decoration though. Those are supposed to be moons and scary cats on the top crust. Martha Stewart would not be impressed. Sorry Martha.

Martha Stewart's Apple Pie Recipe

Lobster claws

"Owww! Where are my claws?" said the lobster. "In my belly", I said.

Still on vacation!

We’ve been to Barnacle Billy’s and Lords so far. Mabel’s Lobster Claw is tonight.

(Excuse the bad photo - it was taken from my phone's camera.)



Barnacle Billy's
Lords Harborside
Mabel's Lobster Claw

Fallen off the wagon

We saw fireworks in Ogunquit last night. They shot them over the beach, so we were able to watch them from the Marginal Way, which is a tiny footpath along the coastline.

I’m not sure what the fireworks were for – my guess is they heard that Charles ate ham for breakfast!

We were able to snap a few photos using the tripod which was schlepped up here and the slowest lens setting on the camera. It worked great and here's one of the results!

How to use a camera tripods
Buy a Tripod
Marginal Way

Stonewall Kitchen

Did I mention I'm on vacation in Maine? Cool weather, changing leaves, good lobster and whoopie pies everywhere you turn.

Not in Maine right now? Too bad. We could have shared some lobster. While not a substitute, you could go to Stonewall Kitchen's website to buy whoopie pie mix.

Two Mainers made a successful business out of jams and jellies. But they also offer an impressive collection of kitchen supplies and other prepared foods. If you like Martha Stewart, you'll love Stonewall Kitchen.

We're taking a cooking class at Stonewall Kitchen while in Maine. No lobster though - I'll leave that to the professionals. I'm on vacation.

Stonewall Kitchen

A Very Long Engagement

While I was at home a week ago and sick with a cold, I watched a favorite movie of mine.

A Very Long Engagement is a French movie (subtitle alert, subtitle alert!) about a young girl in search of her lost fiancée, who has disappeared from the trenches of the Somme during World War One. It stars Audrey Tautou. Most people would recognize her as the woman who played opposite Tom Hanks in the Da Vinci Code, but her better work was in a previous movie titled Amélie. She is currently starring in the new movie Coco Before Chanel.

While there is sadness in the film, it is Mathilde’s optimism that fills you with hope and the carnival-freak show cast of characters make the journey fun. (Definitely a good movie for when you are sick and lying on the couch!)

There is a recurring scene in which Mathilde’s dog farts, to which the aunt responds “Doggie fart, gladdens my heart”. So much more mature than our typical response around the house, where we laugh and blame it on the person sitting closest to the offending dog. (What can I say?)

A Very Long Engagement
Amélie
Coco Before Chanel
Audrey Tautou
Da Vinci Code

Click here to visit the Snackworthy site.

Zombieland

This past Friday, Charles and I went to dinner with two other couples. Half of the spouses were enjoying a quiet evening, while the other half was having too much fun to call it a night. (Too much bacon swiss dip and gimlets before dinner!) So a spontaneous trip to the movie theater playing Zombieland occurred for three of us.

I have a few favorite zombie movies. 28 Days Later, I Am Legend, Shaun of the Dead. Now Zombieland is going on that list.

The movie centers on the narrator’s rules for surviving a zombie plague. Clearly the thinking man’s guide to zombie survival, the narrator espouses rules that always escape characters in other zombie movies – such as the doubletap. When you’re not sure if the zombie is dead, instead of gently kicking it with your foot, he suggests shooting it again, also known as the doubletap. (Write that one down. It’s a keeper. Works on squirrels too.)

Go see the movie for other very important survival tips and to see a Woody Harrelson movie that’s actually funny. (Yeah, hard to believe!)

Zombieland
Twinkies (Twinkies are a running gag throughout the movie. Wait, did I say gag in reference to Twinkies? This site has links to recipes, including Twinkies Sushi. Yep, gag alright.)
Zombie Survival Guide
The Zen of Zombie
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Zombie cocktail (for any upcoming Halloween parties)

Kitchen Paint

A friend was touching up the cabinets in his kitchen. He picked up the wrong paint and suddenly had beige splotches all over his white cabinets. It was one of those paints that dries a different color. (Or so he says…)

Reluctantly, my friends decided to hire a professional painter who would paint the entire kitchen and fix the mistake (after living with spots for a couple of months). It took nearly a week because the painter started by using a roller instead of a brush. These friends are designers and would have none of that, so the painter sanded the cabinets and started all over again.

After about a week of painting and repainting, the kitchen was finished. The worst part about the experience according to my friends? They couldn't get into the liquor cabinet for a week because of the painting.

Never mind the plates or the dishes – it’s the drinks they missed the most. (I know what you’re thinking – and it was totally not my kitchen. This did happen to friends of mine. I swear.)

Color blindness - click here to test your vision
Chalkboard paint (now available in all kinds of colors – I love this stuff. Now what can I paint?)
AA

Click here to visit the Snackworthy site

Swine Flu

I’m home from work today. I started feeling sick yesterday and left the office early. You know it must be bad when I left before a coworker’s birthday cake was served! Did you know that Dairy Queen will make an ice cream Butterfinger Blizzard cake? (Being sick totally bites.)

I think I must have swine flu, because I’ve been eating everything in sight lately. That’s a symptom, right? So much for losing five pounds before vacation (which is completely necessary because vacation is all about eating – especially in Maine where lobster and whoopie pies are sold on every street corner or quickie mart).

Why isn’t there an “eat like a bird” flu? Wait, isn’t that avian flu? How do I get that?

Dairy Queen
Swine Flu
Avian Flu
Oh look, Lobster is on the Atkins Diet
Whoopie Pies (not on anyone's diet plan)

Click here to go to the Snackworthy site.

Season Premiere

We’re going on vacation in a little more than a week. We’ll be in Maine for ten days. The neighbors will pick up our newspaper and the mail. The dogs will go to “camp” with the breeder. (That’s what we like to call it.) The thermostat will get turned up a couple of degrees to save money.

Charles’ biggest concern while we’re away? That TiVo will run out of recording space! There’s too much new fall programming and we’ll be gone for so long. We’ve got two TiVos that are networked together. Between the two, I think they can hold sixty hours of recording. (Definitely not enough for Charles … there are a lot of new shows on TV.)

So he’s on a marathon this weekend to watch all of the movies previously recorded and never viewed. This way he can clear off TiVo and relax while on vacation. (Who knew how much work it takes to get away from all the stress! )

TiVo
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (from excessive use of the remote control)

Fragrance Samples

A friend’s hair color turned gray at a very early age – in her mid-20’s. So she started coloring her hair early on. It was a constant challenge, being young and on a budget. (No expensive salon visits for professional colorings!)

One Christmas, she sent out a holiday newsletter, you know, like the ones where families list their kids’ accomplishments throughout the year (Timmy stopped wetting the bed and Mandy got an STD). In this case, my friend separated each month, where she listed one or two trivial things that happened. At the end of each month, she filled us in on the color and performance of the dye job, such as “Miss Clairol #39 – Sunset Brown. Too brassy and faded fast. Switched to #38 by mid-month.” It was the best holiday card I ever received! (No offense to the pug Kwanza card, it just wasn't as memorable.)

After our bathrooms were completed, Charles and I began putting things back into cabinets. It was then that I noticed his collection of fragrance samples. (You saw my previous posting on Hoarders, right?) Stacks and stacks of vials of the stuff!

So, instead of the regular cologne, I’m making him use the fragrance samples each day. For the past three weeks, it’s been Aramis Surface. (He had two of those and those little vials hold a lot, unless you shower yourself in it and who wants that?) Not much of a scent. My favorite so far was the Kenneth Cole fragrance – very clean smelling. Watch for this year’s Christmas card. It’ll be a stinker.

BaseNotes (Everything about the fragrance industry, including reviews)
Fragrance.net (Online discount retailer)
Christmas card newsletter templates (From Microsoft)
Miss Clairol (Just in case.)

Click here to visit the Snackworthy site.

Hoarders

Years ago, when Charles and I first moved in together, we went through the process of consolidating furniture and getting rid of stuff that didn’t fit. (In other words, all of his furniture. Don’t get me started on his teal ceiling fan. Yeah, he had one.)

Charles had a two bedroom condo before and in one bedroom, he had a set of bunk beds. This was his childhood bed. I’m not sure what guests ever visited his condo, but I would have loved to see their expression when facing these bunk beds. They were right out of the early 70’s – very rough hewn wood with a dark stain.

Charles decided to take the beds to a consignment store. Neither of us was very familiar with consignment stores and had no idea what to ask for the beds. He mentioned this to his mother over the phone that weekend. His mom’s reply? “Hold on, I’ll get the receipt so you know how much they cost.”

I did mention this was his bed as a child, right? She had the receipt from 30+ years ago and knew exactly where to get it.

There’s a new show on A&E called Hoarders. I’ve set up a season pass on TiVo and am making Charles watch it. I’m calling it television therapy to prevent this sort of thing from being passed down to him. (Seriously, we don't have that much closet space!)

Hoarders (Watch it, but I warn you - it's very frustrating when they choose to live like that and not one Cheeto in sight! People, if you're going for sloth, you need Cheetos.)
How Not To Decorate (on BBC America - I bet the hosts have seen these bunk beds lately.)

Click here to go to Snackworthy

YouTube Partner Program

When our bathrooms were being renovated a couple of months ago, my dad and the guy working with him spent many days replacing the plumbing under the house. Our house has a crawl space under it where all of the pipes are. Since they had ripped out the floors of the bathrooms, it was a easier to work with the pipes. The contractors decided to replace all of the piping - even out to the main water line. (Yea - more money!) Several days in a row, the water would be turned off while they worked and they would patch enough of it by the end of the day so that we could turn the water back on at night.

One afternoon, I arrived home to find Charles out by the street. He was getting ready to turn the water back on at the main valve. I walked into the house and went back to the master bath. My dad was standing on the ground (remember, no floor in the bath). He was crouched down with a flash light in one hand and a cell phone in the other. The plan was for my dad to tell Charles to turn the water on and he would check for leaks under the house.

Just as I'm walking into the bedroom, I hear him speaking into the cell phone telling Charles to turn on the water. Seconds later, one of the pipe connections in front of my dad bursts with water shooting directly into his face. They had forgotten to glue that one connection! (If it had happened on a sitcom, you would be rolling your eyes.) My dad got totally drenched and I got a good laugh! No other leaks under the house, by the way.

I recently heard about a father who posted a video on YouTube of his son after a visit to the dentist. The kid was still feeling the effects of anesthesia. His dad was part of the YouTube partner program. When the video went viral, the kid's dad made more than $25K from his share of the advertising revenue.

Which begs the question - why didn't I have a video camera that afternoon???? That must have been at least a $50K profit sharing video. D'oh!

YouTube Partner Program
David Devore After The Dentist
YouTube Video On How To Glue Plumbing Pipes
Flip Video

iTunes Genius

I love iTunes. It’s great to be able to buy one song from an album instead of 9 other songs you’ll never listen to just so you could get the one you liked.

The one thing about iTunes that I can’t figure out is their Genius component – which is supposed to look at the songs you’ve purchased and listen to regularly and then recommend songs that are similar which you might like.

I bought an Annie Lennox song the other day. It’s called “Shining Light”. I’ve been a big fan of hers for a very long time and have several of her songs in my iTunes library.

iTunes sent me an email a day after the purchase of Annie Lennox and included some of their Genius recommendations.

I’m not sure about “Shine” from the band Booty Luv!?! Did iTunes recommend it because they both have titles about shine? (For the record, the dance song is not bad, but I can't help but snicker each time I think about the band's name. And I see no connection to Annie Lennox.)

Netflix has the same type of recommendation service – where they try to guess your tastes based on ratings you give movies that you’ve watched. It’s not much better. At least they are doing something about it though.

How to improve your iTunes Genius recommendations
Netflix offers another $1 million prize for better movie recommendations
Enter an algorithm to improve Netflix's recommendations

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Who's Afraid of Crawl Spaces?

Years ago, we placed speakers all throughout the house. We ran wires under the floor to the various spots for music. (And when I say we, I mean me.) I crawled under the house to fish the wire through. Charles wouldn’t go near the crawl space.

The last time we added some speakers, I crawled all the way from the back of the house where the access door is to the front of the house, where the living room is and the stereo. There’s only one access door to the crawl space, so it’s a long trip.

I’d always been worried about seeing snakes or spiders when I’m crawling through this tight space. There’s really no getting around down there quickly.

On that particular day, I just happened to look over my shoulder toward the access door at the back of the house when I saw two eyes shining back at me from some kind of animal! I almost jumped through the living room floor! (If there been enough room to get some lift, I would have made it through.) Luckily, it was just a cat who was more scared of me than I was of it and the cat ran away.

We haven’t put in any more speakers since that day. But now that we’re getting the receiver fixed, I saw these mini speakers from Sony. And they’re wireless. No more crawling under the house for me.

Sony HT-IS100 (The size of strawberries. Nice! I totally need them.)
Rock Speakers (For outdoors, although these aren't wireless)
The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook (You don't know - that cat could have had rabies or something. Of course, the dogs were lounging in the living room at the time.)
Click here to visit the Snackworthy site.