So much randomness, so little time

~ Since May I think I've read more books than I've ever done before. I've read almost every book Janet Evanovich has written and scads more. And if you're looking for a good quick read, I recommend Tracy Chevalier's The Girl With A Pearl Earring. It was a wonderful book. I'm going to have to watch the movie now to see how badly Hollywood destroyed it.

~ The Lensday Photo Challenge is Candy. I have no candy in the house. I think I may have to make a stop in Gene and Boots to get a picture.

~ Saturday I'm taking my nephews to Idlewild Park as a last hurrah before Labor Day. I can't wait to go, and I promise that I'll take loads of pictures there. It's been at least 7 years since I've been there, and lord only knows how many more will pass before I go again.

At least I won't be bored this weekend.

~ The Blue Jays erm..blue jays in my yard are just as elusive as those other ones.

You know, these blue jays



Always the bird photographer, I've been trying to get one decent shot of the blue jays that come and feed on the bread I toss out each morning. If a bird could blue raspberries at me, this blue jay could do it. I spent quite a bit of the morning trying to capture his image. No luck.

~ Today's the last day of the happiness challenge. So what else makes me happy? Mix CDs! And thanks to Karen, I have a great idea for a mix: Least Appropriate Songs for A Porn Soundtrack! Give me a few days and I'll post the mix here!

Hump The Hunk Day!

It's that time again. It's time to parade the hump day hunks around. Are you ready? Probably not, but I don't care, cos I am!







I love the vintage shots of John and Justin. Of course I couldn't resist that beautiful recent shot of Justin. He's just so pretty. They are both so pretty. Now if only those Cincinnati tickets would go on sale so I would finally know if I'm going to make that concert.

My patience is wearing very very thin.

Happiness is

Checking in on your blogging friends that are in the southern gulf coast area and finding out that most of them are o.k.

The more I read, the more I wonder if I have a reason to be happy when so many people have lost their lives and are without homes, jobs and their families.

I can only offer my prayers and at least feel a little bit of relief that some of my friends are ok. I only hope that all of them are ok in the long run and are just not online because of downed powerlines etc.

My heart goes out to everyone affected by this tragedy.

Two things to torture me with today

1. I wake up to a water line break outside my house today. Yeah, no water. This is what I get for falling asleep early last night. This doesn't make me a very happy human right now, especially since I was looking forward to a nice long bath this morning before work.

2. Take Me Back Tuesday.

Note to Fallen: My high school years were the worst years of music ever. Thanks for making me remember that!

1. Name three songs that were popular when you were in grade 10.
Grade 10 was 1990 which was a pretty bad year for music but I'll see what I can find.
Cheap Trick - Can't Stop Falling Into Love
Rod Stewart - Downtown Train
Cher - Just Like Jesse James

Damn that was hard. And I was going through the list SAP had on his blog from another torturous meme.

2. Name three award winning artists from the year that you were in grade 10.
These are all from the Grammy Awards, M'kay?

Best Instrumental Composition - Danny Elfman (probably his only industry award)

Best Rock Vocal Performance Male - Don Henley - The End Of The Innocence (Great song and album!)

Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal - The Traveling Wilburys

3. Name three albums from the year you were in grade 10.

Oingo Boingo - Dark At The End Of The Tunnel



Duran Duran - Liberty



Madonna - I'm Breathless



Not the most fun of memes, but then again the music wasn't all that fun either for the most part.

Downloads will be available for 7 days

Pass The Potato

The spud was last seen on Webkittyn's blog. This little tater is trying to make his way to all 50 states.



So go on! Click Mr. Spud and send him on another journey!

God! I'm so easily amused! And bored, don't forget bored!

Keeping My New Years Resolutions

OK they weren't resolutions..they were things that I wanted to do in the new year.

Let me recap what they were, and I'll put in parenthesis if I've accomplished them.

1. Get back to work. (I'm working parttime, which was more than I could say I was doing back in January. I'm still hunting a full time job)

2. Attend at least 1 concert. (I've attended 4 with the possibility of one more! Woot!)

3. Become a member of Phipp's Conservatory. (Big sis joined, so I go as part of her family membership. Next year I will get my own membership)

4. Learn to really cook. (Nope, still can't boil water)

5. Figure out the mp3 player I got for Christmas. (It took awhile, but with the help of my oldest nephew, we got the darn thing working)

6. Take down the Christmas tree before Easter. (Believe it or not I did this!)

7. Get a new digital camera so the Kodak EasyShare CX6200 has a friend. (CX6200 now resides with Z740)

8. Go. Back. to. Atlantic. City. (Yup, did that. Now can I go back again? Who wants to come with me?)

9. Get to more places that are close by. (Yup! I've found some freebie places and some reasonable places and well, WHEELING!)

10. Finish the story I'm working on. (That story was Talking Out of Turn. It's been done for months and so is A Winter's Tale. I'm now working on a story called Who Are You Now?)

I've done pretty good on these, and that makes me very happy. (And I still have a few months to learn how to cook!)

It's 6 a.m.

Why am I awake?

Because I'm a nice person and I'm working the morning shift so that our a.m. lady can see her son off on his first day to second grade.

This is why I had Friday off.

I haven't determined if this was worth it yet, though I'm pretty sure that it isn't, or wasn't, but I'm certainly not going to prevent a mom from seeing her kid off on the first day of school.

I guess I'll just suffer through the morning and be glad that this won't be something I'll be doing often.


Though I'd much rather be

Random 10

Once again I'm wrapping up my weekend for you musically. If you want to play along, go to Music Memoirs and follow the usual memey drill.

Seeing as I was stuck around the house this weekend, my playlist was really varied and mostly came as a result of winamp being on random for the last 48 hours.

Erasure - In The Name Of The Heart
John Lodge - Thunder Child (Thanks Copper! I've only played this one a zillion times)
Justin Hayward - Country Girl (Why oh why? This song is so damn annoying! Kicks Justin!)
Andy Bell - Crazy
Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Seconds of Pleasure
Stereophonics - Help Me (She's Out of Her Mind)
Diana Krall - I'll String Along With You
The Cure - Lovecats
Gavin DeGraw - Chemical Party
The Damned - Disco Man

(BTW, if you have Christmas music on your computer, you get to listen to it throughout the year if you hit random on winamp! Yeah, I've learned that the hard way, many a time. This whole Random 10 could be Christmas tunes, truly!)

And since boredom was the theme of this weekend, I bring you this cartoon, I found while googling, bored.



If you'd like any of these songs, just let me know and I'll upload them for ya

3 years of blogging

I can't believe I've been blogging for three years, as of today. I started this blog at the insistance of an online friend that I don't keep in touch with much anymore. I suppose that's just another way times and people change.

The look of this blog has changed at least a dozen times over the past three years. The layout you see now, however has been the layout that's lasted the longest. (That's only because I haven't found a good picture of John Lodge to replace the squirrelly looking Mr. Hayward)

Many things in my life have changed in three years; my musical tastes, (You'll find not a mention of the Moody Blues in early entries), my jobs, (lets not discuss that) and the content.

I have to admit like most people who start blogs, I had no idea what to type here. I posted memes, surveys, lists and some of my stories in the back pages. Later on, I deleted the stories, as I consider them clutter on the blog and are confusing for any poor schmuck that happens on my archives.

Still, the last 3 years have been fun, full of ups and downs (a lot of downs), and many many fun times.

I've been to Atlantic City 3 times
I've seen the Moody Blues 5 times metting Justin and John on the first occassion.
I've seen Elvis Costello 2 times and met him on both occassions
I've written numerous short stories and written 3 that are novels in length.
I've discovered a love of photography.

So it's been very productive and fun 3 years. I hope I have three more.
Incidently, blogging has kept me happy and sane, or rather as sane as I can be these last 3 years

I'm ready to run

Today it is sunny. I'm ready to pack up the car and drive somewhere. I'm not sure where, but I'm ready to go. Anyone want to come with me?

I don't even know where I want to go. I just want to be somewhere where my camera and I can snap pictures of something, where I could pick up some quick, cheap eats and listen to my music.

I need a detox day.

I need to be detoxed from boredom.

Instead it looks like boredom is going to swallow me up and I'm really going to get through most of those books I took out of the library Thursday night.

, I guess there's always next weekend.

Cartoons make me happy

I love a good cartoon. I also love it when online friends make cartoons for me. A good friend of mine from a yahoo group I'm in made this Moody Blue cartoon for me.

It made me smile today.



clicky to gigantify it and read the caption.

Today is good for one thing

And I haven't figured out what it is yet. I woke up to a rather gloomy sky and rain. It's a good thing I didn't have any outdoor plans for today, because they would be ruined.

I went to work and was bored for a greater part of 4 hours.

Someone get me out of this job before I lose what is left of my mind. (And let me tell you there isn't much left of it)

Today would be perfect for a movie, but payday is next week.

So I'm thinking I'm going to hit the 4 books I took out of the library this week.

Yeah, I'm a terribly exciting person this weekend.

So if you're interested, this is what I'm going to be reading this weekend.

Soapsuds - Finola Hughes and Digby Diehl



Girl With A Pearl Earring - Tracy Chevalier



The Lady and the Unicorn - Tracy Chevalier



Sweet Memories - LaVyrle Spencer



If reading is the ticket to saving my sanity, I'll be happy. But I'm thinking is the real thing today is good for, is going back to bed!

Happiness is sharing

Since it's been ages since I offered up my playlist, I thought that I'd do it today.

One day I'll get it in better shape, but this will do.

So the same rules apply as always.

5 request max, but you can come back. If I don't have a lot of requests you can request 5 more.

So go ahead, click here and request away.

Files will be emailed to you via You Send It.

Top Five On Friday

Getting ready for the weekend with another Music Memoirs meme. Why? Cos they are fun!

Go on, you know you want to play along!

Top five "Peace"ful songs. (Interpret as you like)

1. Elvis Costello and the Attractions - Peace In Our Time
2. Paul McCartney - Pipes Of Peace
3. Brinsley Schwartz - What's So Funny About Peace Love and Understanding
(This would be the original, folks. Give Nick Lowe some love won't ya)
4. The Beatles - Let It Be
5. Justin Hayward - Children of Paradise

Downloads available for 7 days

Silly things make me happy

As you might be able to tell from reading my last entry, I thrive on silly things. I've done three 101 things entries this year.

Because silliness brings me happiness I'll share the other two posts with you, just in case you didn't get to read them the first time around.

101 Things To Do With Justin Hayward

101 Things to Do With John Lodge can be be found in the May Archives. For some reason I can't get a direct link to that post.

Weirdness.

101 Things To Do With Elvis Costello

1. Count all of his hats.
2. Make sure you get him to toss the ones that look like lawn furniture away.



3. Borrow his glasses to see how blind he actually is.
4. Check his closets to find out if there are any short sleeve shirts inside or shorts. (Just to find out if he ever shows any flesh!)
5. Make him tell you exactly how he feels about the current administration in the US.(Grab a pillow, you'll probably need it)
6. Make him record a studio version of The Scarlet Tide with the alternate lyrics. Promise him that Emmylou Harris can sing on it with him.
7. Convince him that it would be a good career move to write songs with another 60's icon: Justin Hayward. Props to him if he can get him to release his inner snark.
8. Make him do the Radio Radio jig again. (Sober) See if he falls on his face.
9. Convince him to wear leather again. And I don't mean jackets!



10. Convince him to tour with his wife, if he must tour with someone.



11. Get him to star in a film instead of doing strange little cameos.
12. Remind him that when he tours it's not necessary to always have an opening act or a special guest or ...ehm, Emmylou Harris, because some people really just want to see HIM!
13. Get him to re-record Heart Shaped Bruise and There's a Story In Your Voice without Emmylou or Lucinda.
14. Make him go through all his demos and make him release some of the songs that didn't make the cut on the last 3 albums.
15. Get him to write and record a full album with Paul McCartney.
16. Find out which venue he preferred in Pittsburgh, the gym or the parking lot.
17. Make him watch the episode of Fraiser that he was in.



18. Make him sing "I Want You" to you in the bedroom.
19. Convince him that since he'll sing anything once, why not "Nights In White Satin"
20. Ask him What "Is" so funny about peace love and understanding.
21. If he can't answer that, have him call Nick Lowe for the answer.
22. Ask him if he bought a Jesus robot in Japan.
23. Find if he's been turned from a playboy to a man yet.
24. Ask him who Alison was about, have earplugs ready in case he screams or a hanky in case he starts to cry.
25. Tell him he's such a cute little devil

26. Ask him when he's going to announce his engagement to the sexy wench in the picture with him.



27. Find out if he's paid for the Crimes of Paris yet.
28. Ask him if he's happy now.
29. Find out who bought this hat for him



beat them senseless.
30. Remind him again that wicker chairs should not be made into head gear and toss the hat in the fire.
31. Take him shopping for casual attire, as it is obvious he owns none.
32. Ask him why his wife never smiles, even when she is in the presence of his dashing self.



33. Ask him how he could sleep with Bebe Buell. That skank slept with Steven Tyler from Aeorosmith. Yuck!
34. Ask him to introduce you to his son, Matthew.
35. Get him to show you his CD collection.



36. Find out if "rubber ducky" is the one



Wait...he has one short sleeved shirt! Dances for joy!

37. Ask him if he's out of time yet.
38. Reinact the video for "I Wanna Be Loved" only make sure that it's just you and Elvis.
39. Read him the "riot act"
40. Make him explain the lyrics to New Amsterdam.
41. Find out if he knows "How to be dumb"
42. Make him sing Blue Chair, Next Time Round and all the other songs he leaves off the setlist in Pittsburgh (or whatever city you happened to see him in)
43. Tell him that he's so "Lovable"
44. See if you can create some "Indoor Fireworks" with him.
45. Find out if he can stand alone.
46. Ask him to demonstrate the "Mini Skirt Waddle"
47. Tell him you'll smile with your legs if he talks with his hands.
48. Find out if he's ever been to Toledo.
49. Get him to make silly faces.



50. Tell him where he can stick that tongue.



51. Tell him if he ever shaves his hair again, you will personally beat the crap out of him.
52. Ask him if you can join him on the couch.



53. Find out if Diana put anyone's eyes out with her boobs.



54. Discover if he's "The Flirting Kind"
55. Hugs!
56. Get him to help you remember how much his stubble tickles
57. Ask him what was up with the Grizzly Elvis look of the Mighty Like a Rose era.
58. Remind him it's not polite to stick out his tongue.



59. Ask him where Pony St is.
60. Find out if Just About Glad was autobiographical.
61. Who is his Science Fiction Twin anyway?
62. Ask him to speak pidgin english.
63. Find out what the 10 commandments of love are.
64. Ask him if it's "Still to soon to know"
65. Cover him in chocolate sauce. Lick it off slowly
66. Add whipped cream
67. Cherries add a nice touch too.
68. Fuzzy cuff him to the bed.
69. Sixty nine! You perhaps thought I'd forget that?
70. Remind him not to have any more episodes of blonde. Then kick Diana to the curb.
71. Make sure that "sex" isn't seconds of pleasure
72. Get him together with Justin Hayward and find out which one sings "My Funny Valentine" better.
73. Check and make sure he's washed his hands after using the bathroom.



74. Ask him is love really is always scarpering or cowering or fawning.
75. Take him out for bubble tea.
76. Take him to the Tiki Lounge in Pittsburgh.
77. Get him to play in the dancing fountain at Station Square.
78. Ask him if enough trains went by during his last performance in Pittsburgh.
79. Get him to tell you how he really feels about Bruce Thomas.
80. Find out where he got the shoes!



81. Find out what he thought of Duran Duran's cover of Watching the Detective



82. Find out if he sleeps with his fists clenched tight.
83. Get him to sing Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood and see if it has the same orgasmic inducing qualities live as it did on record.
84. Ask him what the loved ones say?
85. Find out why in the hell he did a song with Daryl Hall!
86. Commune with nature



87. Take him on a lover's walk.
88. Make him release the Wendy James demos.
89. Wish him a happy b-day.
90. Give him his b-day spankings.
91. Give him one to "grow" on.
92. Find out "boxers, briefs or commando."
93. Ask him if he's cold, and then volunteer to keep him warm if he says yes.



94. Count all his silly scarves.
95. Give him a b-day shag.
96. Smash some b-day cake in his face so you can lick it off.
97. Repeat the procedure with ice cream this time.
98. Tie a bow around him and ask him if he's your belated b-day present.
99. Unwrap him.
100. Give him another b-day shag.
101. Repeat the last 100 as needed.

Happy Birthday Elvis!!!

The Waiting Is The Hardest Part

I'm sick of waiting for things.

Currently I'm:

~ Waiting for the Cincinnati Moody Blues tickets to go on sale, or at least to appear again on the website of the Cincinnati Arts Organization.

~ Waiting to find out if I'm going to have a job interview in the coming week.

~ Waiting for another paycheck, because damn it, I need money.

Is there ever a time when we aren't waiting for something? It doesn't seem to be the case. I guess that's why they say we spend most of our lives waiting; in lines, for something to happen, for someone to show up. We're constantly waiting. It's annoying.

What's worse is when you finish waiting for something, what you waited for either isn't what you expected or it rushes by so fast that all you have left are memories.

~sigh~

I guess I'm feeling melancholy today. And I'm sick of waiting!

Happiness is ...

A chance meeting with someone you adore or admire.

Like John Lodge



I needed an excuse to post this.

Elvis Costello




Wow! I have lost weight, haven't I?

Brad Sherwood



I don't look nearly so fat here.

Eddie Izzard



There's a lot of joy going on in these pictures. And yeah, I wanted an excuse to share them again, as I've posted some of these shots a zillion and one times. But meeting these people made me happy.

Oh and having him



call me darlin' made me pretty darn happy too.