The jury may still be out on my writing abilities—I rate the merits higher or lower depending upon the day. However, one look at this, and you’ll see there’s no doubt that painting is not my forte.
But, we had a good time, and raised a little money for a good cause. And regardless of the reason, or the end result, a girls’ afternoon is always a reason to celebrate.
No pictures today (at least, none of mine), just a pining for a new way to create them.
A couple of years ago or so, I read an article about a really cool new camera, the Lytro. I thought they’d become the next big thing, but I haven’t heard a whole lot about them since then. The technology is
beyond me, but I can tell you that what they say is that this camera captures the entire light field of an image, rather than just a single plane of light. Like I said, I don’t really understand that, but the end result is a picture that can be refocused and shifted around, even after it’s been taken. To me, that’s really cool.
I wish I could put some of their photos here, but that doesn’t seem to be possible, at least not with their full functionality. So, I’m going to paste a couple of my favorites, because a good picture is a good picture, even when it’s static, but I’m going to strongly encourage you to visit their gallery and see for yourself how truly nifty it is to be able to sort of re-envision your pictures after you’ve already taken it.
I always want a new camera; sometimes my wants are practical, and sometimes they’re far less so. Putting a Lytro into my camera bag would absolutely fall into the “impractical” category, but it sure would be fun.
What? Snapshot Sunday? Did you think maybe you’d stepped into some sort of time warp when you saw that? I sort of did when I wrote it. But, it’s almost the end of the year, time to move into other things as the new year rolls around, and since it’s been many months since I’d played along with Chantelle’s Photo a Day Challenge, I thought I’d try and end the year getting back into some of the fun.
Of course, the end of the year is a busy time of year, not to mention I’ve got finals in a couple of weeks and still a bit of homework to do before buckling down to study for them, so even though finding a daily picture will be just one more thing to do, I’m hoping it will also serve as a bit of a distraction from some of the hectic bits.
So, first, a look at this month’s prompt list:
Looks like some fun things, appropriately heavy on the holiday focus, though maybe it’ll be more fun to diverge from that just a little bit now and then. We’ll see.
So, let’s get this party started with the first picture of the month, with a prompt of RED.
Nope, no holiday theme to start the month for me, just some juicy red fruit sitting on my countertop.
And, that’s it for this week’s return to Snapshot Sunday. We’ll see what the camera finds in the coming days.
I love taking pictures, I really do. And I especially love taking pictures of things that aren’t just “events”—you know, birthdays, vacations, holidays, etc. I like to just snap photos of the things I see around me in life. That’s why the photo-a-day challenge really appeals to me, because it gives me a reason to take at least one photo every day, and even gives me some direction on the kinds of things I should be on the lookout for. Sometimes people need some encouragement to be creative. Or at least I do.
What I don’t like, though, is when I feel swamped by life, which makes me feel like I have no time to be creative. I used to write pretty regularly in a couple of fandoms, now this blog is the only writing I manage to keep up. And, I used to enjoy playing around with editing the photos I would take, seeing if I could improve them or just shake things up a little bit, but now I click the shutter and hardly even go back to look at the picture once it’s taken. That is no fun at all. But I suppose it is life; the things we enjoy don’t always get to be the things we spend the most time on. How horribly unfair.
Still, I haven’t given up on photography entirely. I’m still snapping the daily photo (at least most days), and even more often than that things that I see make me think of a photograph. I don’t always have a chance to take them, but I’m always glad to know that I haven’t quit noticing the fleeting moments, even if I don’t always take the time to capture them for posterity. So even in the overwhelm of life, creativity never completely fades away. Thank goodness.
How do you keep up with the things that are important to you, even when life gets in the way?
Just one of the random photos in my files that I’ve always sort of liked.
I ordered my Christmas present today. Yep, my present. From Brian. Maybe that’s the way it works after a quarter century of marriage, but who knew? Actually, it’s not like he didn’t have any say in the decision making process. A few weeks ago, I gave him one very specific gift idea. I picked something out, sent him a link to the best online price, and even gave him a coupon code to save some extra money. Since he said he didn’t have any idea what to get me, I thought that was pretty helpful. But, it was a boxing bag (for exercise purposes, you know), and with my history of carpal tunnel, he thought it wasn’t a good idea. Could be he’s right, but I don’t think so. Either way, he decided it wasn’t something he was going to buy for me, so there went a perfectly good gift idea out the window. I may have to buy my own eventually, but for now I guess I’ll make do with the Wii.
At any rate, that still left Brian needing a gift idea. He knew I’d been wanting a new pocket camera for a year, since my old one bit the dust last December, so he started asking about what sort of features I wanted and all. We looked at some in a couple of stores while we were out and about, and even made a special trip up to the camera store to check out some others. But a camera isn’t really something you can just rush in to, so it took a while. Brian said I spent more time picking out the camera than I did my last car. I imagine that’s true, but, really, the make and model of the car was pre-determined, so all I had to decide was color and trim level; that stuff is easy. But zoom levels, low light capabilities, and print quality? That stuff takes a while, especially when you want to jam it all in to a tiny little package.
So, yeah, there’s a lot to consider, but it’s fun look at all of it, especially all the cool demo pictures. My “big” cameras have always been Sonys, but I’ve never used one of their compacts, so I looked at a few of those. I read a comparison review article that put a Fujifilm model at the top of the pack, so I checked them out, and I compared some of the Nikons and Canons. But, ultimately, I ended up with a Panasonic. That was the make of my last compact, and I was very happy with it. There have been some differences in the intervening years, of course, and not all of them are to my liking, but I still decided it had the best overall feature set that I was looking for. Plus, it’s red, it’s cute, and Brian will do the wrapping so it will be waiting for me under the tree on Christmas morning. Maybe doing your own shopping isn’t such a bad deal after all.
Today is fall break at my school, so I’ve got a rare Thursday evening at home. That means I’ve got the equally-rare opportunity to watch some of my favorite shows in real-time, rather than waiting until hours/days/weeks later to see them.
Brian actually prefers to watch programs on the DVR, so he can skip through the commercials, but I’d much rather watch during the “live” broadcast. Besides, commercials don’t really bother me; in fact, some of them I really sort of like. I’m pretty sure we’ll talk more about that before the month is over.
But, for tonight, it’s the simple pleasure of tuning in during first-run broadcast time, knowing I can check social media and not have to worry about spoilers, and just spending a few hours with some interesting characters.
On tonight’s agenda:
Big Bang Theory
What are you doing this evening?
Things haven’t calmed down too much around here, so I’m operating on far too little sleep, and far too much caffeine and sugar. That being the case, I’m going to say just a few things about this year’s Emmy awards, and then I’m going to call it a night.
First, for the first time in . . . well, maybe ever, I actually forgot about the Emmys. As a TV addict, seeing which of my favorite (or not so favorite) shows get to take home a trophy is a cherished annual tradition.
Image credit: digitalart/FreeDigitalPhotos.net
But, this year, with all the excitement surrounding my granny, it completely slipped my mind. By the time I got home Sunday night, I just sat down and sort of melted. And by the time I realized the date, it was after nine, and I had missed most of the 64th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards. Kind of a bummer.
Secondly, I just want to go on record that I believe The Big Bang Theory was robbed, and should have walked away with the Outstanding Comedy Series statuette.
And, lastly, I worry about the decline of dramatic programming on network television, or at least the recognition of it. Don’t get me wrong; I love my satellite dish, and all the additional programming options it provides. But, with some notable exceptions (just about anything on USA Network), most of my absolute can’t-miss programs still show up on good old fashioned network television. Yet, this year, not a single one of the nominees for Outstanding Drama Series aired on one of the major networks. One was from PBS, so at least not all of them required a subscription to view, but the other nominations were from Showtime, HBO, and AMC. And this is a trend that seems to have been increasing over time. You have to go back to 2008 to find a year where even half the drama nominees came from network TV, to 2007 to find the majority, and 2006 before you find a winner.
Again, this is not meant to disparage cable programming in any way. Homeland, this year’s drama winner, is an excellent program, and my DVR is already set to begin recording season two when it returns this weekend. But I’d hate to see the industry and the audience become elitist and begin to think that it simply isn’t possible to have good drama on the networks. It’s true that there are some financial differences at work—especially for programs from the premium channels—that might give an economic advantage to the cable shows, so maybe it’s slightly easier to churn out slightly better television.
But there seems to be this long-held belief that if something is highly popular, it can’t possibly be award-worthy, at least when it comes to network dramas. You don’t see NCIS raking in any nominations, or Blue Bloods, or any of the Law and Order programs. Even The Good Wife fell out of overall favor this year, though it did get some nomination love for some actors, and even scored an Outstanding Guest Actress for Martha Plimpton. I’m just not sure why that is. I’ve seen most of these highly touted dramas, but I don’t watch them regularly, because they just aren’t enough to pull me in week after week. And while I understand viewership doesn’t necessarily equal quality (witness reality TV), you might consider that there’s at least something good going on if people tune in year after year.
So I guess this is really just an open plea to the Academy to keep in mind that outstanding drama has found a home on network television for many, many years, and to remember that it’s still going strong.
You know, I’m sort of fond of blog theme days. You might’ve guessed that, seeing as how I’ve dedicated a few days each week to recurring themes already. In three cases, I link up with other host blogs—ABC Wednesday, Five Question Friday, and Six Word Saturday. More recently, I started my own theme of Snapshot Sunday. Some people might think these sorts of patterns can create boredom, but I think they add some structure, especially to a blog like mine that’s rather eclectic in subject matter.
Image credit: digitalart/FreeDigitalPhotos.net
With that in mind, I’ve decided to add another regular feature here to Idle Chatter, Tube Day Tuesday. I hope that the reference doesn’t date me too much, as I preferred this title to my second choice—the less anachronistic but more mundane, TV Tuesday.
I know I’ve mentioned many times before my love for the medium. In fact, a couple of years ago, I started a separate blog to dedicate solely to the small screen and all its glory. I just popped over and checked, and see that it lasted a total of eight posts. But that’s more a reflection on my organizational/follow-through skills than it is on my fascination with the world of television.
Anyway, like most of my ramblings here, even on a theme day, there won’t be a lot of rules. Oh, the starting point will be TV, but it might be a current episode recap/review, news about a DVD release, discourse on character motivation, or idle commentary on whether I care for the soundtrack to a particular series. You just never know.
Also, just as a passing thought, I’ll mention that another blogger, Donald, over at Rebooting This Crazy Life, mentioned recently that he was going to be joining a 31 day blog challenge in October, with the idea being to write about the same umbrella topic for the entire month. In my comment to him, I laughingly said TV was probably the only topic I’d be able to use successfully. Even though it was a flippant remark, as the days have passed, I’ve actually been thinking about whether I might truly want to give that a try. I figure there’s one more Tuesday left in September to help me figure out if that’s something I would really want to write about for a month straight, as well as whether you, Dear Reader, would want to read about it for a month straight. Feel free to chime in with your opinions on the matter.
And, finally, I thought I’d leave you with the (slightly edited) text from one of my earliest posts over at the now-defunct TV blog, as a primer for what I enjoy—and don’t—about TV . . .
What makes good TV? For a blog dedicated to sharing my views on that very topic, you’d think I should have a ready answer to that question. Unfortunately, the problem is, it’s not as simple as it sounds. See, good TV—like beauty—is very dependent on the viewer. Everyone has their preferences, their biases. So, if I’m going to be giving out my thoughts on what’s on the tube, it might be fair to start with some of the basics about what I like (and maybe a little bit about what I don't).
First, I’m a sucker for a good old-fashioned buddy show. One of my favorites of all time is Hardcastle and McCormick. Then there’s Starsky and Hutch, Alias Smith and Jones, Wild Wild West,Simon and Simon . . . the list could go on and on. On a bit of a side-note, it makes me a little sad that this list is made up of old shows; true buddy shows are pretty rare these days. High on my list of current shows is White Collar, one of the few modern-day buddy shows—and one that will almost certainly show up here regularly.
The next thing that’s always a plus in my book is smart dialogue. Snappy repartee, impassioned orations, casual literary or historical references—these are the sorts of things that score high with me.
And the last thing that comes to mind tonight (though I don’t intend this list to be all-inclusive) is believability. Now, this shouldn’t be confused with realism; I’m not expecting—or even wanting—complete veracity in the programs I watch. I enjoy any number of programs that start with some pretty unlikely foundations (see some of those buddy shows mentioned earlier), but they are always constructed in such a way that the suspension of disbelief is easy. That’s a pretty fine balancing act sometimes, and the primary credit is split between the writers and the actors, but every little bit of the production plays a part, as well. When everything comes together like it should, the viewer is lost in a world that only exists in that 30 or 60 minute block of time.
So, if that’s a brief look at things I’m biased toward, are there things I’m biased against? Absolutely. The most obvious would be the opposite sides of the listed virtues. I don’t like insipid dialogue, or characters that sound stilted, or cliché, or just plain stupid. I also can’t abide watching any program that continually reminds me that it’s not real.
Beyond that, there’s only one really huge deal-breaker for me, and it’s a fairly new invention in the grand scheme of things: reality television. Anyone browsing these postings hoping for the latest updates on Big Brother or Survivor has come to the wrong place. American Idol and Dancing with the Stars are likewise not on my viewing list. Call me old fashioned, but I like my television to be scripted and staged (and admit as much).
With these basic guidelines in place, though, it then becomes a matter watching a show and simply seeing if it “clicks”. Sometimes—not often, but sometimes—that click is instant, and I know immediately I’ve found a new favorite (White Collar), but more often, it takes a while for a show to really grow on me. These days I love to stumble across reruns of old Friends episodes, but I’m not too proud to admit I wasn’t sold from the start. On the other hand, it also usually takes at least a few episodes before I’ll completely write something off; the programs that completely turn me off with the first viewing are almost as rare as the ones that win me over that quickly.
So, that’s a peek at my criteria for “good TV”. Your list is probably at least a little bit different, but I still bet we end up in the same place every now and again.
Thanks for hanging in with me on my first outing of this new theme; I’ll be interested to see where Tube Day Tuesday takes us.
What’s the best thing about TV for you?
September is my favorite month of the year. I think it’s a favorite time for a lot of folks, though for a variety of different reasons.
Some people—like my husband—are glad that football has returned; some are happy that the weather is cooling off; and some are thrilled to have kids returning to school. But for me, the earliest days of the fall season have always signaled the return of new television episodes, and, as far as I’m concerned, that’s a reason to celebrate.
Image credit: Ambro/FreeDigitalPhotos.net
I love getting reacquainted with old favorite shows and seeing how cliffhangers from last year get resolved, and I love getting to know new shows and new characters. I have to admit, there aren’t a lot of new programs this year that I’m really excited about, but there are a few that I’ll be giving a shot.
Of course, the new season always brings a little bit of anxiety, too. Not just hoping that returning favorites haven’t lost their attraction during the months apart, but also that no major scheduling conflicts will have arisen over the summer. Sadly, I’ve already realized that the 9:00 Monday slot is going to be a problem. Last year, NBC re-ran some of their programming on Saturday nights; I’m hoping they do that again so I can see all three Monday night shows. I really need to get one of those DVRs that records five channels at a time, but the last time I checked the price, they were $400, which is a little pricey, in my opinion, especially since ours had to be replaced just barely a year ago, so there’s not a thing in the world wrong with it. Of course, as much of a TV fanatic as I am, it’s an expense I would bear in a heartbeat if I was still working, but with only one income, we need to be a little more careful. On the other hand, now that I think about it, I’ve been saving up some credit card points. I was hoping to redeem them for an iPad, but this might be more useful. Hmmm.
Anyway, back to the new season. Here are the new programs I’m looking forward to:
Elementary—Another twist on Sherlock Holmes; looks a little bit iffy, but I’ve missed Jonny Lee Miller since Eli Stone left the air.
Revolution—J.J. Abrams’ newest offering, some sort of post-technology survival story or something.
Chicago Fire—as you might guess, it’s about firefighters, but it’s from Dick Wolf, so it’s worth a look.
Vegas—I don’t know; I think it’s mostly just good guys vs bad guys in the old days of Sin City, but it’s Dennis Quaid and Michael Chiklis, so I can’t just ignore it. (Though, as an aside, the name is a turn off for me, as that title will always conjure up images of Robert Urich and Tony Curtis.)
Made in Jersey—I’m a sucker for a lawyer show, so I’ll give it a try, but I honestly don’t have high hopes
Go On—There aren’t a lot of sitcoms on my watch list, but Matthew Perry was always my favorite part of Friends. I caught the pilot one night after the Olympics—not roll on the floor, laugh out loud funny, but not the complete crash and burn I was sort of expecting. I’ll give it a try.
Partners—One other new comedy that seems worth tuning in to. A couple of good friends who are also business partners. One’s gay, one’s straight; the set ups seem too obvious, but it’s by the same folks who brought us Will and Grace, so there’s some hope. Plus, I haven’t seen much of David Krumholtz since the end of Numb3rs, and it’ll be interesting to see him in something so different.
As for returning favorites, this is what’s on my weekly DVR list:
Criminal Minds—FBI profilers catching a weekly whacko unsub.
Person of Interest—As much as I enjoy this show, I’ve just realized I can’t really sum it up in just a few words; maybe that’s part of what I like about it. At its roots, it’s a cop-like show, with good guys going after bad, though the mechanics of how and why are different than most.
Castle—Another cop show—sensing a theme yet? Yeah, I’ve always had a soft spot for crime solvers. And this one’s a writer, too, and cute, to boot. What’s not to love?
Hawaii Five-0—A reboot of the classic—say it with me—cop show. Every week when I watch it, I’m really glad I have an HD television; it’s beautiful.
NCIS—At least these guys are Navy cops.
The Mentalist—Traumatized fake psychic now working with the CBI (like the FBI, but in CA) to catch criminals, always looking for the one who got away, the man who murdered his wife and child.
The Good Wife—Not a cop show! But it is a lawyer show; I’ve always been fascinated with the legal system.
Grey’s Anatomy—Finally, a break from all the law and order, medical drama at its finest. Who’s going to survive that plane crash, anyway?
Blue Bloods—Well, that was a short-lived break, wasn’t it? A family of civil servants in NYC—cops and lawyers, but mostly cops.
Touch—Another show I can’t really define. A widower trying to be a single dad to a young boy who doesn’t speak, but understands the world through numbers, and those numbers prove an inter-connectedness to everything/everyone. I’ll admit it’s a little slow sometimes, but I’m fairly certain Kiefer Sutherland could read a phone book for an hour and I’d never once reach for the remote. (This one doesn’t return for quite a while yet, sometime in late October, I believe.)
In the midst of all that drama, there are a few comedies I enjoy:
The Big Bang Theory—A group of nerd scientists trying to make their way in the normal world. IMO, funnier than anything that’s been on in a long, long time.
How I Met Your Mother—A tight group of friends living life in NYC. Not really as much like Friends as it sounds, and it’s got Neil Patrick Harris.
Mike & Molly—The “hook” in this romantic comedy is that the two leads are both large people; it got good when it cut back on the fat jokes (though they are certainly still there) and just made it a show about people.
2 Broke Girls—One career waitress and one newly-broke ex-heiress, roommates trying to make a go of a cupcake business. Funnier than it sounds, but not as funny as it could be. This is its second season, and I’m hoping they move away (just a bit) from double-entendre one liners and into a bit more story depth.
Two and a Half Men—A bazillionaire sharing his Malibu beach house with the cheapskate brother of the home’s previous owner. This show had a pretty good run for about five or six years; by season 7, it was definitely slowing down. But last year, when Charlie Sheen was replaced by Ashton Kutcher, the show may have been dealt a blow from which it can’t recover. It still had its moments, but they were few and far between. I’m giving it another try this year because there are some tiny sparks of potential, even though the situational set up is now so ridiculous it’s totally unbelievable and they have systematically turned a pathetically likeable character into an annoying twerp with few redeeming characteristics. I’m hoping they’ll fix it.
So, there you have it, a look at what my television viewing will look like this year—at least at the start of the season. You never know what I might be watching come the new year. And, of course, this is just network television. Most of the cable shows have already ended their season or are wrapping up soon. Even my beloved White Collar only has another couple episodes left before hiatus. In many, many ways, I am opposed to the cable scheduling that breaks seasons up into small chunks of only 7-10 shows at a time, and seems to start and end their seasons with no regard to traditional programming constraints. However, the reality is, it does make it easier to keep up with everything! Plus, it gives me something to watch during the summer.
What shows will you be watching this year?
Oklahoma football began today.
Boomer Sooner!
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Last week I was tagged into a blogging Q&A game by Rachel, over at Suburban Style Challenge. It’s taken me a while, but now I’m going to buckle down and turn my attention to these questions. Thank you, Rachel, both for tagging me, and for your patience.
It’s kind of fun, this game of tag, giving folks a chance to get to know a little bit more about the authors at different blogs. Not that I’m just brimming with interesting tidbits or anything, but I’ve been tagged a couple times before, so if you’d like to see what the questions were in those rounds, you can read them here and here.
Before I begin with the questions, let me begin with the rules of the game:
1. Post the rules.
2. Answer the questions the tagger has set for me in their post.
3. Create 11 new questions to ask those who I’m going to tag. (When I was tagged before, the rules said you could use the same set of questions if you were so inclined, so I’m going to assume that’s still an option.)
4. Tag 11 people with a link to this post, so they can answer the questions.
Now, before I go any further, I should say that I’m not going to follow the rules precisely. Namely, I’m not tagging other blogs for the next go-round. However, I am going to create a new set of questions and invite anyone who’s interested to use them for a post of your own (and continue to pay it forward to new blogs, if you’re so inclined). Like I said, it really is kind of a fun way to get to know each other, not to mention a pretty easy post topic if you’re running low on things to talk about some day.
Okay, let’s get down to business, shall we?
Image Credit: the|G| photostream
1. What’s one item from your childhood that you no longer have, but wish you did?
That’s a tough one. I used to have a blue and white teddy bear that had been my mom’s originally. I’m not even sure how it got lost. I haven’t made that many moves in my lifetime, but during one of them, it didn’t make it to my new home.
2. If you were a shoe, what kind of shoe would you be?
Hah. I am not a shoe girl at all. So, if I had to be a shoe, I’d be my favorite kind: sneakers.
3. When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? How does it compare to now?
This question came up in one of the other rounds, so I’ll include the same answer: Astronaut, lawyer, writer. My brain is wired for neither science nor zero gravity, so astronaut is clearly out. In a couple of years, I’ll have a degree in paralegal, but that’s as close to an attorney as I’m likely to be at my age. And I’d still like to be a professional writer.
4. If you could own any kind of animal as a pet, what would it be?
Any kind? Well, there’s a part of me that would really like to have a bear, because I think they are such cool and interesting creatures. But I can’t really envision any sort of life for me that would allow me to create any kind of a decent life for a bear, so I’d hope I wouldn’t be that selfish, even if I was ever in the position to make that choice. On the slightly more domesticated front, I love llamas, and I think miniature donkeys are absolutely adorable.
5. If you were to hire an assistant to help you manage your daily activities, what would he or she do for you?
Cook. I’m not particularly fond of cooking, so I’d really like someone to take care of that for me.
6. What kind of music do you work best to?
Depends on the work. If I’m doing housework, or the aforementioned dreaded cooking, the current country music station works just fine. I just like it turned up kind of loud and I like to know the words so I can sing along. If I’m doing something that requires a bit more focus, I turn the TV on to the new age music station, and turn it down really low. No lyrics (which are distracting to me), just lots of flutes, harps, and beautiful melodies.
7. Who is your favorite author, and why?
Another easy one that I’ve already answered: Stephen King, because he tells a good story about things I would never think about on my own.
8. If you had to wear one outfit for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Jeans and tee shirts, hands down. They’re comfortable, and they go really well with those sneakers I like so well.
9. What’s one trend you hated when it first came out, but soon grew to love?
hmm. It might be clear by now that I’m not much of a trendy person, certainly not in the fashion sense. Music is the same sort of deal: lots of trendy new acts only annoy me, and I rarely get past that. Reality TV? Still hate it. This is even harder than I thought. I guess maybe I’d say Facebook. Not that I ever actually hated it, but I did certainly question its purpose early on. That hasn’t exactly changed (really, does Facebook really have a purpose?), but I do use, and even enjoy, it now.
10. Do you say “soda” or “pop”? Or maybe just “coke”?
Coke. It’s all “coke” to me, which is appropriate, because if I’m having a soft drink, it really is usually Coke.
11. If you could spend a month anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?
Australia. It’s someplace that I’ve wanted to visit as long as I can remember, and if I was going to travel that far, I’d want to spend at least a month there anyway.
All righty then, there are my answers. Thanks again to Rachel for including me, and if you want more style info than you could ever get from me, go visit her over at SSC.
Now for my questions:
1. Where’s the best place you ever visited?
2. What was your favorite subject in school? Least favorite?
3. Mustard or mayonnaise?
4. Think of someone important to you now gone from your life. If you could say just one last thing to them, what would it be?
5. If given the opportunity, would you travel to space?
6. Do you have an all-time favorite movie? If so, what is it?
7. What’s your favorite fast food chain?
8. Do you sing in the shower?
9. If you could drive any kind of car, what would it be?
10. How long have you been blogging?
11. If you could plan the perfect weekend getaway, what would it include?
There you have it, a variety of questions to do with as you please. Again, feel free to use them for a post on your own blog, but be sure to let me know, so I can come by and get to know you a little better. Or just answer one (or more) in the comments below. I really do like to know just a bit of what makes you tick.
Image Credit: the|G| photostream
As I mentioned last week, there’s a game of tag going on in the UBC group. It’s been a ton of fun, learning extra bits of information about the different bloggers—things that we might not ordinarily see in their daily writings. And, in the tagging back portion of the game, we have the chance to get introduced to blogs we might not have visited yet. (There is a lot of activity going on over at UBC; I don’t think anyone could possibly keep up with all of it.)
Since I sent my last entry out into the ether, I have been tagged back from others, not once, or twice, but SIX different times! Wow. I am really feeling the love! It makes me feel really good to know that folks have visited here and been interested enough in what I have to say to include me in their game. I have never been so popular.
But, as other topics rolled through the week, I have not found the time to respond to the questions that were posed, and now I’ve accumulated 50 of them! I’d like to think at least a few people who wander through here are interested in just about anything that I might utter on any given day, but I’m not deluding myself that any of them really want to listen to me rattle off the answers to 50 random questions about myself. So, I won’t subject anyone to that. Instead, I will make the arbitrary decision to simply answer twenty, including some questions from each of my taggers, and try to keep at least most of the answers short and to the point.
I also will not subject the UBC group as a whole to 66 tag-backs, especially with only one day left in the challenge. Instead, I will simply say that if anyone needs a topic to post about (now, or anytime following the challenge), these questions are always sort of fun, so I’ll create a list that is free for the taking any time you need a bit of chatter to get you through the day. And, to borrow an idea from Ronda, if you don’t want to make an entire post out of this sort of thing, pick one question and answer in the comments. I’m always interested in learning about the readers who come by.
And the last order of business before getting down to the Q&A: even though I’ve made it pretty clear that I won’t be following the rules as written, I’ll include them for anyone who might want to play along more precisely:
Oh, I lied. One other piece of business not covered by the actual rules, and that’s a sincere note of thanks for the people who tagged me to begin with. Much gratitude to the people who invited me to play: Stephanie, Monick, Sara, Minette, Nikki, and Sue. Click their names and visit their blogs; you won’t be disappointed.
1. What was your very first blog post about?
About starting a blog.
2. Do you belong to any other FB writing groups? Which ones?
Nope, but I’d be interested in hearing about any good ones folks might recommend.
3. What’s the single best piece of advice you ever received?
Always tell the truth.
4. Who is your favourite author and why?
Stephen King, because he tells a good story about things I would never think about on my own.
5. Why do you write?
Because I can’t not write.
6. What topics do you write about?
Whatever floats my boat when I sit down at the keyboard.
7. If you could go anywhere in the world today, where would you go and who would you take with you?
Australia has been at the top of my to-visit list for a long time. If money was no object, I’d take my husband and son, and my sister and her family. Realistically, when I finally do make it down under, it’s likely going to be just hubby and me.
8. What’s your favorite kind of food and why?
For the most part, meat and potatoes: steak and bake, burger and fries, chicken and mashed . . . you get the idea. But I’m also very partial to basic Mexican food (tacos, burritos, etc), as long as it’s not spicy.
9. What’s your favorite type of exercise?
A nice walk, though I’m also very fond of the Michael Jackson Experience on the Wii.
10. What is your favourite quotation?
I like a lot of them, but I’ve got two perennial favorites listed on my Facebook page, so I’ll share those: “The secret of success is constancy of purpose” (Benjamin Disraeli) and “Do or do not; there is no try” (Yoda).
11. What 3 websites do you most frequently visit?
Yahoo, Google, Facebook
12. Who do you look up to the most? (dead or alive)
My mom, no contest. She was absolutely the best person I ever knew in my life.
13. If you won the lottery (millions of dollars), what would you do with the money?
Pay off my house (even though I know that’s not the best tax move), pay off all my sister’s bills, set up a trust for my son and my nephew, give a chunk to cancer research, then stick the rest in the bank and travel.
14. What would you say your biggest accomplishment has been?
I’m pretty proud of the work my friends and I did to get Brian Keith a star awarded on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. (You can see the details here.)
15. What is the most important principle in life for you?
Be kind to others and true to yourself.
16. What one thing would you change about your house if you could?
I’d gut my kitchen and start over.
17. As a kid, what did you want to be when you grow up?
Astronaut, lawyer, writer. My brain is wired for neither science nor zero gravity, so astronaut is clearly out. In a couple of years, I’ll have a degree in paralegal, but that’s as close to an attorney as I’m likely to be at my age. And I’d still like to be a professional writer.
18. What is your favorite type of movie?
A good action/drama (Air Force One, Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, Raiders of the Lost Ark), or a nice chick flick (anything with Hugh Grant) Or, just about anything at all with Tom Hanks, Robin Williams, or Harrison Ford.
19. Who in your life do you want to spend more time with?
My BFF, Kim. We’re not incredibly far apart, but even a couple of hours is a long way when you’re dealing with daily life.
20. If you could make a living pursuing just one type of writing, what would it be?
I’d write novels. But I don’t know what kind, which is why I haven’t tried it yet.
My questions, to anyone who wants to play: (I’m using some of these and some new)
Okay, that’s it. Thanks so much for dropping by. If you tag yourself into the game on your blog, be sure to let me know so I can come read all about you, too. Otherwise, please do leave an answer to any question(s) you choose in the comments.
“Comedy is acting out optimism.”~ Robin Williams
One of the few downsides of summertime is that most television programs are in their off-season with no new episodes airing. For a TV-aholic like myself, that can be kind of a downer. But because I am a die-hard TV-aholic, I’m certainly not opposed to watching re-runs, even if I’ve seen them many times before.
So it was that tonight I was scanning through the channels and found a couple of episodes of Mork & Mindy airing. Brian wasn’t too thrilled with the choice, but watching that old goofiness is how we spent an hour of our evening. When Mork & Mindy was in first run, you couldn’t keep me away, even in the final season or two when it became a pale imitation of what it had been originally. And, sadly, the episodes tonight were some of their later shows. (Yet one more example of the pitfalls of putting the two main characters together romantically.) I watched anyway.
And besides being mildly amused by the show—and very amused by the 80s fashions—I was once again struck by my admiration for Robin Williams. Truly, the man is a comic genius—a wonder to behold. I know a lot of folks will say that he’s just a drugged-up comedian, and no doubt some of his hilarity was drug-induced along the way. I’m glad he’s gotten himself free of those addictions, and still find him to be as talented as before.
So, I thought I’d share some moments from Mr. Williams with all of you, so that you may also be reminded of his talent, or maybe even witness some of it for the first time. Pick one and see what you think. Better yet, watch them all and see some of the many facets of his talent. Enjoy.
Some may not remember, but Mork’s original appearance was in an episode of Happy Days.
Mork & Mindy—how it began
The movie as a whole—and certainly this scene—is more drama than comedy. But I think Patch Adams is some of Williams’ finest work. ***If you haven’t seen the film, SPOILER ALERT***
I’ve been watching Disney movies all my life, and Aladdin is still my favorite.
Inside the Actor’s Studio is often interesting to me, but with Robin Williams, it’s more performance than interview.
Who’s funny to you, and what are some of their best moments?
As I may have mentioned in the past, I’m a life-long Star Trek fan. And I’m not too proud to say that I sort of made a concerted effort to pass that interest on to my son. First, I thought it would be fun for us to share something like that, and second, I think there’s a lot of positivity to be gleaned from something that’s “only” a TV show. For a while, I thought I had succeeded. He liked to watch The Next Generation with me—Data was his favorite character—and he even sort of enjoyed going to conventions.
But, somewhere along the line, a greater action quotient won out, and he was dragged over to the Star Wars side. Now, I’m not one of those folks who’ll do battle over which franchise is better. I enjoy them both, even though my heart will always belong to Trek. Sure, I was a little disappointed that he wasn’t fully following in my fannish footsteps, but I was still glad he was excited by something futuristic and fanciful. And, anyway, Star Wars has Yoda; hard to go wrong with that.
But, sadly, his interest in things “star” was not meant to last. As he grew older, he found other pastimes, and other things that would fascinate him. He didn’t move far enough away that he felt the need to dismantle a small spot of fandom that he’d put up in his room, but when he moved to his own place for the first time last year, he also didn’t feel connected enough to his old interests to pack them up and take them with him.
So it is that his old room—my current exercise room—still has a couple of small shelves dedicated to some Star Wars items that he collected in his youth, including some movie tie-in cups that came from fast food restaurants. Maybe someday he’ll want them in his own home, but for now, I’m happy to see them every day as a reminder of the little boy who shared his mom’s interests . . . if only tangentially, and only for a little while.
This might sound a little strange for a blogger, seeing as how I sit here every day and tell my story to anyone passing by who might be interested enough to read it, but I’m sort of a private person. There are lots of things most people don’t know about me. And, really, that’s probably the way it will stay.
I mean, I share a lot on my blog, or on Facebook, and—of course—with my family and friends in our relationships, but I certainly don’t share everything. I’m mindful of my audience (or at least my potential audience) in all of those venues, even my personal relationships. There are a few people who know me really well, but no one who knows me completely. But I don’t think that’s any different than most people, regardless of whether or not they use today’s newfangled social media to keep in touch with the world; we’ve all still got our secrets. And, honestly, I think that’s for the best. Some things are best kept to oneself.
But, with a photo prompt encouraging sharing something unknown, there’s a lot to consider. What can be shared that’s at least a little bit interesting, but not too personal? What gives insight into your personality without revealing your deepest, darkest secrets? And, on top of that, once you choose the piece of yourself to share, then you have to decide if you can you take a picture of it. It’s a lot to consider, I tell you.
As is often the case, though, I ended up with a few ideas, so I’ll share them all here, starting with my official entry.
I’ve collected teddy bears as long as I can remember. This one’s looking a bit raggedy these days, but I wouldn’t trade him for anything. Also, I had to dust this shelf before I could take a picture, but since I already told you about the fan, that probably doesn’t come as a surprise to anyone. 
One of my secrets is that I’m not really a very good photographer; I take a half-dozen bad shots for every decent one. At least. Film just about drove me to bankruptcy!
Probably something that’s not too surprising about a blogger is that I have always loved to write. I have also always loved TV, so it seems natural that those two things would come together in the form of fanfiction. The hobby gets a bad rap quite often, but I think it’s a lot of fun and a good way to exercise creative urges. Sadly, I have been away from it for quite some time, and I’ve been thinking I need to get back to it.
So, that’s a few things about me that you probably didn’t know. Maybe they’re sort of interesting and maybe they’re not, but they are little pieces of my personality, all coming together to make a whole.
How about you? What not-so-deep secrets can you share about yourself to give us a little bit of a glimpse into who you are?
I’m married to a car guy. You know the type: fascinated and excited by the things that many—myself included—view only as a utility. I mean, I like to drive a decent car, and I suppose I even have a dream car. It looks like this:
But, for the record, if I can ever afford one of these babies (this model is pushing $70K), I am definitely shelling out the extra cash for the leaping cat ornament on the hood. I mean, what’s the point of driving a Jag if you don’t have the recognizable status symbol leading the way?
Anyway, yes, I have a dream car, but even if I win the lottery and buy this car next week, it’s still going to be the thing that gets me to and from the grocery store. I’m still going to keep a plastic trash bag inside to toss my empty cups from Sonic, and I’ll still probably keep an assortment of jackets in the back seat. Because even a seventy thousand dollar dream car is still a utility vehicle; it’s a necessary tool in my life, not an awe-inspiring object of affection.
But not so with my hubby. He likes the way cars look (at least some of them), the way they sound, the way they work. He thinks their engines are interesting, and is impressed with some of the newfangled gadgetry that goes into them. Not because he wants all those bells and whistles, but because he thinks it’s neat that someone could design and build such a thing. And as much as he likes nifty new cars, he really likes old cars. And as much as he likes old cars in general, he really likes old Corvettes. Well, to be honest, he likes new Corvettes, too, though maybe not quite as much. He just really, really likes Corvettes.
So it is that our Saturday running around today included the annual Corvette car show at our local Chevy dealership. Brian likes to go there and drool over the pretty cars and dream about the day he’ll be able to have his own, though the truth is, he doesn’t really believe that day will ever come to pass. I don’t know. I haven’t given up yet that he’ll have his very own ‘Vette someday, though we really might have to win the lottery to make it happen. Or go into debt for the next several generations. But, still, I’m not giving up yet. I really want him to be able to have his dream car. After all, he’s a car guy.
What’s your dream car? And are you lucky enough to be driving it?
