Note to Self:

Never, ever use recycled hair product bottles to fill with household cleaning products, even after the trigger breaks on the latter container.

I "febrezed" our daughter's hair in an effort to style it recently by grabbing the "No More Bedhead" spraybottle. She noticed afterwards that I'd inked "FEBREZE" in dark letters on the reverse side...

...at least it smelled nice.

The Bee's Knees

So I'm lotioning my hands with Burt's Bees Milk & Honey Body Lotion this afternoon in an effort to preserve some youthfulness in them after all the bleach I've had to use in recent days trying to get rid of viruses lurking around our house...

...and I'm immediately transported to the....beach!!

I know. I know. What do bees and cows have to do with the seaside? The lotion has a faintly coconutty sort of smell...like that of suntan lotion. It's the smell of summertime, sandcastles, ocean waves, and sunshine.

I find it funny how a smell can transport me to somewhere else. I actually found myself smiling as I greased my hands, thinking about warm memories of the kids playing at the beach.

I've always been like that, though.

I can smell a bag of salt-n-vinegar potato chips and fly back to England to 1988 to the Eve of Christmas Eve's picnic in Lydiard Park, with peanut-butter-and jam sandwiches and milk and, what else, salt-n-vinegar "crisps."

Or walk into a school and smell the cleaning sprays mixed with cafeteria lunch and go back to 1978 to Theodore Judah Elementary School in Folsom, California, where I spent 3rd and 4th grade learning Spanish in a new "land" across the nation from my birthplace.

Or smell cherry blossoms, sending me back to the mid-'80s when we lived near a wildlife reserve that had an open meadow with cherry trees in it. I'd hike down the wooded hill behind our house, across the little creek at the bottom of the hill, and up the other side to emerge from the trees into this little paradise of a meadow. It seemed like a world of its own. I'd take my writing book and sit for a few hours on a warm Spring afternoon, writing, drawing, and dreaming.

Smells and memories...always the "bee's knees" in my book.

* * *

And, on another note, funny how you can find a photo of nearly anything you want on the Internet. I'll bet I'd have found a video on YouTube of someone using this lotion...

More Monday Musings

A very frigid day here in W. City. Time for some more Monday Musings.

* * *

January is winding down. Hard to believe, huh? The year feels like it's whizzing by. And harder still to believe ol' chub-cheeks (above) is going to be 6 on Valentine's Day! Egads! Where does the time go??

* * *

I finally sent out one of my children's stories for consideration at a magazine publisher. I haven't done that since I lived in England. It's such a time-consuming process, I guess I just gave up, knowing that I enjoy writing no matter what happens. I'll let you know how it goes...when I hear back in 6 months.

* * *

In honor of my hubby -- who still isn't feeling well today -- I've decided to include some of the haikus he and his co-workers have written to alleviate the monotony.

In honor of a helpline:

This code had no price.
It has now been updated.
You may quote it now.

~S. A. Foote

In honor of another co-worker's new baby born today:

Dave had a baby.
She is not named Jorgina.
There will be diapers.

~K. Coldren

In honor of tonight's 24 show:

Today is Monday.
Jack Bauer is on TV.
Will he shoot a thigh?

~K. Coldren

* * *

Note the new quiz on the side. I had a hard time fitting it in the template...so forgive the odd shape of my results. You can click on the link at the bottom of it to see "what kind of dog" you might be.

* * *

From my online daily calendar:

5 THINGS TO BE HAPPY ABOUT

• a dramatic sunrise

• Post-it Notes

• a clever turn of phrase

• vintage tractors

• the bridges in Japanese gardens

* * *

I haven't seen that many sunrises in my lifetime...though it is my very, very favorite-most time of the day when most of the world is still sleeping and there's a "hush" over everything.

Just before I moved home to Swindon from Brighton, Stuart and I tried to see the sun rise at Beachy Head, the high cliff-like point on the coast of England. We called the local weather line and listened to hear what time it would occur... He picked me up from my flat around 4:30 a.m. when it was still rather dusky outside, and we headed out. When we got there it was foggy and cloudy. We waited for about an hour...but we never actually saw the sun.

In August of 1994, we went to Europe to travel around the countries and spend some time together. Our first stop was Cherbourg, France. We took the overnight ferry across from Southampton, England. I had asked Stuart if we could go to one of the beaches in Normandy since it was the 50th Anniversary of D-Day. We arrived at Omaha Beach, just as the sun rose above the horizon over the beach. It was haunting...especially when I envisioned the soldiers coming ashore where I stood some 50 years earlier.

The Three Musketeers

Welcome to the very first entry in a new category on my blog: "Films I Like -- Because the Critics Probably Don't."

Recently, the kids and I took in a great "older" movie (from as far back as the '90s -- wow!): Disney's 1993 version of The Three Musketeers.

I remember watching it in college and enjoying it immensely. Why? Because I'm simplistic in my movie viewing. I ask one question at the end of the film: Did I enjoy it?

If the answer is, "Yep!" I deem the movie as a good one. It doesn't have to be great -- destined for classic status -- or even award-worthy. It just needs to be enjoyable; one I will definitely view again one day.

This version of the swashbuckling, classic story by Alexander Dumas has enough action, humor, and drama to keep the viewers entertained for the entire 105 minutes it plays. Of course, it contains plenty of cliches and predictable moments, too, but that's what makes it fun. It's not always about keeping the viewers guessing. You laugh along at the "bad" lines, knowing ahead of time what the characters might say.

The story starts just as the Musketeers have been disbanded; a new group will guard the king. They must give up their uniforms and swords or face death as a group. All but three surrender...hmmm....wonder who they can be? Meanwhile, the young D'Artagnan is on his way to Paris to join the legendary Musketeers, not knowing of their earlier demise. A surprise awaits him, and he finds himself fighting alongside the remaining three Musketeers to save France's king and queen, learning the true meaning of the Musketeer motto: "All for one, and one for all."

Will they succeed?

The combination of Kiefer Sutherland (Athos), Oliver Platt (Porthos), and Charlie Sheen (Aramis), joined by Chris O'Donnell (D'Artagnan), works beautifully. They each play their parts with utmost professional shine. You know each character's personality from the start.

"Thumbs up!" ~Gene Siskel, Siskel & Ebert

"A hugely enjoyable romp!" ~ABC Radio Network

10 out of 10

PG -- 105 minutes

Imagine the Possibilities...

"Imagining something may be the first step in making it happen, but it takes real time and real efforts of real people to learn things, make things, turn thoughts into deeds or visions into inventions."

-Fred Rogers

* * *

I remember always loving Mister Rogers.

My mom took me to have "breakfast with him" when we lived outside Pittsburgh. It was late-1973. He was still kind of "new." And so began my "love affair." Mom got me the souvenir pack of 45 rpm records of all of his songs. I listened to them over and over.

It was like Mister Rogers was always there. Even though he was on TV in front of a huge television audience, I felt like he talked just to me; he listened just to me; he shared things just with me. When I saw him and listened to what he said, I felt safer, more confident somehow. I don't think I ever realized how much he was a part of me.

Then I had kids and could share that part of me with them....and they loved him, too.

My friend, Angel, gave me his book, The World According to Mister Rogers, for Christmas. She, too, had a "love affair" with him as a child. He was magical to her, too.

And when he passed away...the whole world mourned....finding it hard to imagine a world without him.

No Doubt

I'm stuck in the past at the moment...feeling kind of odd, for some reason. Hormones? Mid-life crisis? Full moon? Who knows.

And then I had these thoughts come to mind...

* * *

A few weeks before I was due with Emily, I had an appointment with our midwife. I'd been blessed with a problem-free textbook pregnancy. She took my blood pressure and looked at my chart and told me I was finished working.

Stunned, I laughed and asked why. Her answer was firm. My blood pressure -- which had been normal for nearly 9 months -- had suddenly skyrocketed, a prelude to pre-eclampsia or any number of other bad conditions.

Hmmmm....I hadn't prepared for this.

I was going to work until my due date, or at least until I went into labor. I was in the middle of working on an assignment, having just done an interview with Bills Khakis. What had happened?

We had changed bosses and had a very stressful work night the evening before my appointment. Our story sizes kept changing on our pages which meant we had to redo headlines and edit stories to fit the new spaces. On top of it, our new boss kept rewriting/re-editting what we'd already done.

I guess all that added up to higher blood pressure.

When I walked out very subdued after my final shift, it marked the end of my full-time journalism career. I did some freelancing for several years afterwards, but that, too, ended. In essence, when I finished at the newspaper, I'd finished writing.

I turned all my attention to raising Emily and then further spread that attention to include Edward after he arrived into our lives. I didn't give my writing another thought. I was MOM.

But I'd been writing since I was 8 years old. It was such a huge part of who I was and an absorbing passion. I went through a time in my teens when I didn't go anywhere without my notebook. I spent hours and hours writing stories. It became my trademark.

My husband and family tried encouraging me, seeking to re-ignite my passion. But I wasn't motivated. I didn't have anything left in me to concentrate on my writing. I tried, but I was too dry.

Another problem developed. While I was away from writing, I began to lose confidence in my abilities.

I've always been filled with a huge amount of self-doubt. I've often thought: If I'm really any good, there's always going to be someone even better out there. That's the person who will be recognized. That's the person who will be picked. (Maybe that stems from all the times I was "picked last" in gym class or on the playground...)

I was never confident enough to be competitive...in fact, I've come to hate competition in that context.

Unfortunately, in the world of writing, you have to compete. You have to shine through -- set yourself apart somehow -- sell yourself. (I remember that well from my time as an editorial assistant at Highlights for Children where a big part of my job was screening manuscripts that had been sent in for consideration at Boyd's Mills Press, the book side of the company.)

I like writing too much to do that.

I don't see it as a craft from which to make money, and maybe that's my problem.

I see it as an art.

And artists are always filled with a certain amount of doubt.

Hold onto your soul...keep it safe. Or hold out your soul for all to see, and it's likely to feel some pain.

Still, if you never hold it out, no one will ever share the beauties it holds...

It's just takes one step, one story, one stamped envelope...and no doubt.

Jude the Dude

I love this song, though I wouldn't have necessarily paired it with a slideshow of Kiefer Sutherland photos, even though he and Jude are longtime buddies, and I like most (but *shock* not all) photos of Kiefer.

Kiefer used it at the beginning of his movie, Truth and Consequences, N.M., in a very moving scene with the main character.

It really spells out the lead guy's personality...and his desires to change his life.

Heaven's Last Attempt
(Jude Cole)

Rain down mercy for the lost and lonely child
For the liars and the losers, the reckless and the wild
There's no more use in pretending
I know I never fooled you
The deepest darkness I've ever known comes
From living like I do

But I swear I'm gonna knock on that gate
Even if it's all in vain
I'll stand outside with my mouth wide open
And drink the pouring rain
I know there's some good left in this world
I've seen it shine in your eyes
So rain down salvation, and keep my faith alive

The harder we fall, the closer we come
To finding our hearts and the damage we've done
Darlin', I've held the devil's dirty hand
But holding you now, I know
Is heaven's last attempt

So won't you walk beside me, you know I can't make it alone
Here the fields are dark and the wind is hard, hard as stone
Roll out the sky and let me come home, come home
I wanna come home

The harder we fall, the closer we come
To finding the light and the warmth of the sun
All that I've ever had I've let slip through my hands
But holding you now, I know is heaven

Simple Knowledge

For years I had the following book excerpt on a poster in my kitchen. I kept it there as a reminder of some of the important lessons we all learned early in life...and somehow have forgotten in the hustle and bustle of adulthood.

------

All I Really Need to Know

All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate-school mountain, but there in the sandpile at Sunday School.

These are the things I learned:

• Share everything.
• Play fair.
• Don't hit people.
• Put things back where you found them.
• Clean up your own mess.
• Don't take things that aren't yours.
• Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
• Wash your hands before you eat.
• Flush.
• Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
• Live a balanced life--learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
• Take a nap every afternoon.
• When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.
• Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
• Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup--they all die. So do we.
• And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned--the biggest word of all--LOOK.

Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and equality and sane living. Take any one of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your family life or your work or your government or your world and it holds true and clear and firm.

Think what a better world it would be if we all--the whole world--had cookies and milk about three o'clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankies for a nap. Or if all governments had as a basic policy to always put things back where they found them and to clean up their own mess.

And it is still true, no matter how old you are--when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.

From: All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum, Ivy Books, 1986, New York

Snow Business

There are days when I think I just shouldn't get out of bed...

Thankfully, today is not one of them. *grin* Though my kids might feel differently...

* * *

A new quiz has been added to my sidebar. A very appropriate one I thought.

* * *

From my online page-a-day calendar:

5 THINGS TO BE HAPPY ABOUT

• a great university library

• a light dusting of snow

• finger food

• a cashmere bathrobe

• waterproof boots

* * *

We had another dusting of snow. Enough to whet the snow appetite of every kid under 16 and cause heart palpitations to the rest of us.

Snow.

It used to be a glorious word.

It meant the possibility of no school...or at least an abbreviated school day. (Remember sitting by the radio from about 6 a.m. onwards?) Sledding for hours until we very literally couldn't feel our fingers or toes and had to defrost them afterwards in a warm bath. Making snowballs and snowangels and snowmen. A whole yard full of homemade snowcones. Hot cocoa and cookies.

Now, it just means cold, wet stuff that you have to shovel in order to get in the car to go somewhere. Dirty, wet shoes that have to be shed by the backdoor so as not to ruin the rest of the floors in the house. Being cold and wet, wet, wet. I much prefer to stay indoors and admire it from the warmth of the couch.

What changed, I wonder?

It was far worse when we lived in the city and had to carve out our parking space and hope that if we left it it wouldn't be snatched immediately by the neighbor who worked third shift and had arrived home, dismayed to find no parking.....only there was that one spot, so nicely dug out....

I think most of the time snow brought out the worst in people.

Except...

I lived in the city during the Blizzard of '96. It was a blizzard that literally buried the Northeast. We had upwards of 40 inches by the time the three storms passed through. Not much for some parts of the world but too much for this part with no where to actually put the snow and no hope of it melting anytime too soon.

I took photos of my car and you can only just see about six inches of my radio antenna. The rest is just a mound of snow.

Since I lived just uptown from the newspaper where I worked, I walked to my job. There were no cars on Fifth Street, normally a fairly busy thoroughfare in Reading. There were kids on sleds and a "hush." Everything seemed muted by the snow. It was actually quite peaceful.

I was the only one from my department to make it in that day. I actually did the section's whole two-page spread by myself....not that anyone noticed. Funny, though.

It was a few days before that peace lifted from the city. I felt sort of sad when it did. The carved-out parking spots were like ice garages, and the city looked snowy white -- clean -- for a little while.

Quite a snowy memory.

Hair-Raising Experience

Hair today....gone tomorrow?

Well....I finally got the courage to do it....

I joined Emily in donating my hair to Locks of Love.

I'd thought of doing it last week with Emily, but the line waiting for haircuts multiplied exponentially while we waited, and I missed my chance.

But that's okay...because I got a chance to percolate the idea this week. And as most people who know and love me would say, I'm better off doing things in my own time. Then I don't have regrets.

And I certainly don't!

I didn't go as short as Emily, but I'll have fun playing around with it and discovering what style I like best.

And who knows...maybe I'll get it cut even shorter next time...or maybe I'll grow it long and donate it again.

Friday Funnies

In honor of today's dusting of snow....

Crash Test Dummy

I guess I've been somewhat blessed by very few computer woes.

And until today, I considered myself somewhat computer savvy -- I was dubbed "Cyber Sue" at my newspaper job. But technology is changing much faster than my brain can handle....as was evidenced by the "death" of our DSL modem this morning and my complete helplessness at getting it running again.

Last night, in an effort to thwart some spyware that I knew had somehow wormed its way onto my computer causing the hard drive to constantly run, I got the bright idea to turn off my DSL modem. A very innocent gesture, I thought....until I turned it back on a half hour later.

Nothing.

My little Yahoo! Messenger smiley-face slept on in complete grayness.

So I tried again.

Nothing.

I got a loud "dong" and an error message that said I was not connected. No problem. I'd sort it out in the morning.

Sleep didn't help my modem to feel any better...I still had "no connectivity."

Normally, this wouldn't be a problem, except we do our school online. I knew we could miss a day or two...but I could see it stretching out longer.

Okay, okay, I told myself. I'll just head out to the local store and pick up another one. Like the time my dial-up modem got fried by an electrical storm. Plug and play, right?

Wrong.

After the sales consultant at BestBuy tried very sweetly to talk me out of buying the only DSL modem compatible with Verizon (insert several "grrrrs" here) since it was a "piece of junk," I was in a quandary. I asked him why he felt that way, and he said a friend had one and found it very limiting...like, he couldn't change his IP address, etc. Hmmmm.....not something I'm likely to care about, right?

I was feeling a bit desperate by this point. I knew I could go back to dial-up briefly until I could further troubleshoot my current DSL modem...but I'd already wasted an entire morning...and as the sales consultant went on to say, "It's probably dead. They don't last more than 3 years."

He suggested I go online to try to find another kind of DSL modem compatible with Verizon. He shook my hand, wished me luck, and left to find another customer to help.

While he had his back turned, I snatched one of the modems and fled to the checkouts.

So at home I took out the new modem/router and began to set it up. I followed the directions to the letter (which will, no doubt, please my hubby immensely) and got to the end when I was to click on the "Go to the Internet Now" button and.....nothing!

I tried again.

Nothing.

Ugh! I was feeling frustrated. I began to look around for telephone wires to hook up our school computer to one of the preloaded dial-up services it had on it. No soap. I found one but needed two to connect it to the remote telephone jack we need to use since our 90-year-old house doesn't have telephone access upstairs. To say this was getting complicated is putting it mildly.

Then I decided to look in my original Verizon DSL paperwork for a phone number to get, gulp...help.

And help he did. The Verizon Online technician helped me troubleshoot and set up my network -- even making it secure.

Yes!! I was back online!

How do I spell relief? V-E-R-I-Z-O-N.

I wish I'd taken down the technician's name....so I could send him a note. I know he could hear the relief in my voice as I thanked him over and over. I even heard him chuckle a bit.

It must be one of the rewards of his job: helping a "dummy" like me.

Now, if I could only get him to come and help me clean off my computer desk....

Travel Advisory

Something happens every time I go to an airport -- even a little, itty-bitty one like the now-defunct Reading Regional Airport...

I get travel lust.

Seeing the luggage turnstiles, thinking about the destinations out there, reading the various license plates in the rental car park...

It all works against me -- and my sensible, homebody side -- and makes me want to GO...somewhere, anywhere, just to explore.

Recently, I've begun dreaming of driving across country...

According to Yahoo! Maps, it's a mere 2732.2 miles (38 hours, 11 minutes) from W. City, Pa., to Los Angeles, Ca.

Hmmmmm...

That's doable...very doable.

And while it won't happen any time soon...it's VERY freeing to know we're not locked up in our own backyard.

There's a huge world out there to explore...

One day.

* * *

Trebor Place, W. City, PA

1. Start at TREBOR PL, W - go 0.0 mi
2. Turn Right on FRANKLIN ST - go 0.2 mi
3. Turn Right on POPLAR LN - go 0.1 mi
4. Turn Left on PENN AVE - go 1.3 mi
5. Bear Left onto US-222 SOUTH - go 3.5 mi
6. Continue on LANCASTER PIKE[US-222] - go 2.7 mi
7. Continue to follow US-222 SOUTH - go 19.4 mi
8. Take the US-30 WEST exit toward YORK/LANCASTER - go 1.8 mi
9. Take Left fork onto PA-283 WEST - go 28.8 mi
10. Take the PENNSYLVANIA TURNPIKE exit onto I-283 SOUTH - go 0.4 mi
11. Take the PITTSBURGH/EXITS 242-2 exit onto I-76 WEST - go 172.8 mi
12. Take exit #75 onto I-70 WEST toward US-119/WHEELING/COLUMBUS - go 67.1 mi
13. Take Left exit #5A onto I-470 WEST toward COLUMBUS - go 10.6 mi
14. Take the I-70 WEST Left exit - go 110.1 mi
15. Take exit #108A-B onto I-270 SOUTH toward CINCINNATI - go 12.4 mi
16. Take exit #55 onto I-71 SOUTH toward CINCINNATI - go 84.3 mi
17. Take exit #17B onto I-275 WEST toward I-75 - go 21.1 mi
18. Continue on I-74 WEST - go 86.5 mi
19. Take exit #94 onto I-74 WEST - go 14.1 mi
20. Take exit #9A-B onto I-70 WEST toward ST. LOUIS - go 213.3 mi
21. Continue on I-270 WEST toward KANSAS CITY - go 29.3 mi
22. Take exit #20A onto I-70 WEST toward KANSAS CITY - go 230.3 mi
23. Take Left fork onto I-70-ALT WEST toward WICHITA/TOPEKA - go 3.9 mi
24. Merge onto I-70 WEST - go 53.6 mi
25. Take Left fork onto I-470 WEST toward SOUTH TOPEKA/WICHITA - go 6.7 mi
26. Take exit #177 onto I-470 WEST toward I-70/US-75/SOUTH TOPEKA - go 6.4 mi
27. Take Left exit #1A onto I-70 WEST toward SALINA - go 1035.4 mi
28. Take the I-15 SOUTH Left exit toward BEAVER/LAS VEGAS - go 456.2 mi
29. Take the I-15 exit toward LOS ANGELES/SAN DIEGO - go 7.8 mi
30. Take the CA-210 WEST exit toward PASADENA - go 20.1 mi
31. Continue on I-210 WEST - go 7.2 mi
32. Take the I-605 SOUTH exit - go 8.4 mi
33. Take the CA-60 exit toward LOS ANGELES - go 10.9 mi
34. Continue on I-10 WEST toward SANTA MONICA - go 4.2 mi
35. Take exit #12/VERMONT AVE onto WILMOT ST toward HOOVER ST - go 0.7 mi
36. Turn Right on W 20TH ST - go 0.1 mi
37. Turn Right on S HOOVER ST - go 0.7 mi
38. Arrive at the center of 90007

Los Angeles, CA 90007

Total Distance: 2732.2 miles, Total Travel Time: 38 hours 11 mins

(Loved this part! A little disclaimer...) When using any driving directions or map, it’s a good idea to do a reality check and make sure the road still exists, watch out for construction, and follow all traffic safety precautions. This is only to be used as an aid in planning. (No kidding!)

Alert! Alert!

Check out the new quiz section I set up in my sidebar.

I'll try to change it weekly like the music video.

I had to laugh at my own results.

Apparently, I'm ALL Pennsylvanian....I "talk" like a Philadelphian and know all-things about Da Burgh.

Who would have guessed I'm "native" to Maryland?

Let the Battle Begin....

Our 5-year-old has taken to battling on the chess board with his father. And he's getting quite good.

It began when Emily started her dance class this fall, and he discovered a set on the table in the cafe where we sit, waiting during the class. He asked Stuart to teach him...and the rest is, as they say, history.

When they first played together, Stuart would show Edward the moves and explain each one that he made or didn't make, depending on what the outcome would be. Edward listened attentively and started pointing out moves to his dad as they played, copying him. Sometimes Stuart would let him win...sometimes he would let him lose. Valuable lessons, right?

And Edward was definitely "getting it."

Now, Stuart says Edward is beginning to see his own moves -- sometimes even before Stuart spots them.

It may be a little while yet before Edward wins outright on his own, but until then -- with the "championship title" at stake -- let the "battle" begin...at 5 p.m. on Monday nights.

Okay...okay....

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

Now we have to wait a whole week for the next episode of 24!!

Ah, well....I guess...we'll make it...somehow...

* * *

We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog postings.

Monday Musings

It's Monday.

Time to begin a new week, do laundry, clean up from the weekend, and change the video on my blog.

* * *

I've become a huge fan of Jude Cole -- my kids like him, too, and refer to him as "Jude the Dude" -- so I was really excited to find this week's music video on Webrats.

Silly, really, I guess.

I discovered him through my interest in Kiefer Sutherland and Rocco Deluca and Ironworks Music. Now, I enjoy listening to his albums over and over. Because of my interest in him, I discovered Lifehouse, the group I had a video from last week.

Amazing little web of interest, huh?

* * *

I loved today's online calendar page:

5 THINGS TO BE HAPPY ABOUT

• tea and toast
• reading a historical document
• the zen of an aquarium
• sticking to a workout plan
• real flowers on the kitchen table

* * *

On a different note, I really enjoyed -- despite a raging sinus headache! Timing, huh? -- last night's 2-hour premiere of 24. Tons of great scenes, bringing back old characters and introducing new ones. Very edge-of-your-seat, as usual.

My favorite line was: "Drop the coffee!"

Classic Jack Bauer!

Despite the fact that Jack is still a "Weeble" fueled by adrenalin, we look forward to watching the next 2 hours of his life tonight.

* * *

Excuse me while I go take some Tylenol and a nap...

Gotta gear up!

I haven't learned how to "weeble" yet.

Finally!!!

Drumroll, please.....

After waiting 8 months -- satisfying ourselves by rewatching Seasons 1 through 5, reading every 24 book and magazine article available to mankind worldwide, finding any and all scraps of info we could gleen from the Internet, and watching every promo Kiefer's done on this show to date -- Season 6 of 24 FINALLY begins tonight!!

Is this fan excited?

Nah....

Well, maybe a little....

Okay, okay!

YES!!!

Bring it on, baby!

And hold onto your hats! It's sure to be a wild ride...as usual!!

A New Emmy

Our 9-year-old Emily has been hemming and hawing about donating her hair to Locks of Love.

She finally decided this week that it was her hair that gives her headaches...so she'd donate it. We arrived at Fantastic Sams (a sponsor of LoL), and she said, "No way!" even though she had more than enough to donate and still have a decent hairstyle.

Well, I told her she had to have her hair cut (this was our second time to the salon); whether or not she wanted to donate it was up to her.

Sitting there for about 10 minutes, Emily saw a little girl with a wonderful hairdo she liked and decided that was what she wanted. Besides, she reasoned, some little girl or boy might need her hair like her Aunt Sandy and Mrs. Linsky did when they were going through chemo.

So for all the little girls and boys out there who need it: a gift from Emily, the girl with a new "do" she loves.

Re-Habit-ating

Okay, okay. So I'm a creature of habit? And I abhor don't like change very much....

But I finally gave in and decided to switch over to the New ("Improved") Blogger. I figured I do it before I was forced to by some blogging world Eminent Domain, or something equally sinister. Plus, I didn't want to be the "last man standing," so to speak, as I was on AOL when they stopped supporting DOS.

So far, so good. I can't see any differences apart from the editing section and a few graphics here and there. And having to sign up for a Google account...instead of my Blogger account.

Otherwise, it's business as usual.

Let me know if you see anything different....lurking in the shadows 'round the corner....

Oh, sorry... I mean, on here, of course.

I Don't Wanna Grow Up

"I don't wanna grow up...I'm a Toys R Us kid...."

I've been humming, whistling, singing this song for the past few days, and I'm not really sure why.

So I decided to look for a vintage commercial using it...and, behold! the magic of the Internet...okay, just YouTube.

Nonetheless, enjoy this memorable commercial from 1986 for Toys R Us. It certainly brought back some memories for me....not that at 16 I was into toys anymore by that year...but wasn't that the point of the commercial's jingle?

Button Box

My mom got a box of buttons from an auction once...a long, long time ago.

The buttons were odds and ends, the ones that come in a little baggie or envelope as an "extra button" with a sweater or blouse. Some were buttons lost off of pants or a shirt. Some were bought to replace others.

Whatever their purpose, the buttons always intrigued me. They came in all shapes, colors, and sizes with two holes or four, sometimes with patterns or pictures. Some were shiny; some just plain.

I loved sifting through that beautiful round tin, covered with gold and metallic pastel patterns, imagining where the buttons came from and what they could have been used for.

It was an endless delight for the young imagination; a ticket for a brief journey to another time and place. The perfect way to spend a rainy afternoon.

Accent-uating the Positive

Surprising results...but then I do live an hour outside of Philly...so maybe it's accurate?

Try it, and let me know what accent you have!

What American accent do you have? Your Result: Philadelphia Your accent is as Philadelphian as a cheesesteak! If you're not from Philadelphia, then you're from someplace near there like south Jersey, Baltimore, or Wilmington. if you've ever journeyed to some far off place where people don't know that Philly has an accent, someone may have thought you talked a little weird even though they didn't have a clue what accent it was they heard.
The Northeast
The Midland
The Inland North
The South
Boston
The West
North Central
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Pun-ily Enough

I have a habit of talking in puns. Not intentionally, of course. I'm certainly not a comedian. In fact, if I tried it wouldn't happen...my mind would be blank.

I used the above photo (taken in January 2003) on my computer desktop. My hubby and I were looking at it the other night, and I said how "cool it was to catch a moment like that frozen in time.".....

Ugh!

24 Thoughts on "24"

In honor of the upcoming Season 6 premiere, I found the following in a Las Vegas Review-Journal article. Enjoy!

* * *

Instead of a full review [of Season 6], here, for the unconverted or fans needing a reminder, are 24 reasons to love "24":

1. The patented Jack Bauer scowl. The man makes Dick Cheney look like Rip Taylor.
2. The fact that after countless moles, spies, assassins, traitors and various other baddies have infiltrated CTU, the agency still employs a system of background checks that makes the Miss USA pageant's look thorough.
3. "Dammit, (George/Ryan/Tony/Bill/Curtis/Chloe), there's no time!" -- Jack
4. The way that no matter how explosive or damning, everyone steadfastly refuses to make a back-up of the key piece of evidence.
5. Jack still never pees.
6. Tony. Michelle. Edgar. George. Nina. Sherry. President Palmer. "24's" killed off a better crop of characters than most other series have assembled.
7. The reset button. Sensing things weren't clicking, producers used the eighth episode of season three to reveal that everything so far that "day" -- a biological weapons threat, a prison break, an agent's double-cross -- was all an elaborate sting operation. President Palmer's why-is-she-here girlfriend was dispatched in the same episode.
8. Torture, torture, torture.
9. Oh my gosh, they killed Teri! Knocking off Jack's pregnant wife established "24's" signature nobody-is-safe vibe.
10. Kim (Elisha Cuthbert), Jack's perpetually endangered daughter. She spends more time getting kidnapped than most girls her age spend on MySpace.
11. "I'm gonna ask you this one last time." -- Jack
12. The scrunched-face social awkwardness of techie Chloe O'Brian (Mary Lynn Rajskub).
13. The quiet dignity of Secret Service Agent Aaron Pierce (Glenn Morshower).
14. The ultra-short life expectancy of any key witness. "Star Trek's" red-clad newbies who beamed down with Spock and Kirk stood a better chance.
15. The biggest threat to said witnesses? A random civilian with a grudge getting their hands on a weapon just as the witness is taken into custody.
16. The way bad things never seemed to happen unless the original President Palmer was in L.A.
17. The filler. Jack's holding up a convenience store. Teri's amnesia. Chloe's adventures in babysitting. When you're scripting a 24-hour day, not every subplot can be a winner.
18. How Jack will just shoot an innocent woman in the knee to get her husband to talk.
19. The sheer number of partners and superiors Jack will punch out, choke or otherwise incapacitate without them holding a grudge.
20. The scene(s) each season when Jack is arrested or taken into custody. Will they ever learn?
21. Using a hotel lamp's electrical wiring to shock information out of your girlfriend's husband? Priceless.
22. CTU's open-door policy. Seemingly anyone off the street can be immediately given the provisional authority to command field agents.
23. Mandy (Mia Kirshner). Who knew assassins came that hot?
24. The downfall of President Logan (Gregory Itzin). There's just something so cathartic about seeing a president punished for using a series of lies and cover-ups to royally screw up the country.

Happy Thoughts on Junk Food

From my online daily calendar:

5 THINGS TO BE HAPPY ABOUT

• red grapefruit

• crisp mountain air

• moisturizing lotion

• a cat’s contented sigh

• junk food on a road trip

When Stuart and I were younger (I think it was way back in '94), we took a two-week roadtrip around Europe. We borrowed his parents' car, boarded a ferry in Southampton, England, and stayed in youth hostels, eating yoghurt and bread-n-cheese and drinking Fanta and coffee. We were living on a shoestring budget. Nothing posh. No grand hotels for us. But it was glorious, seeing life in the off-the-beaten-path towns and villages and experiencing some of the "real feel" of the countries we visited.

I decided to help out our limited budget by bringing along some snacks. You know those giant 3-pound bags of cheese curls and the economy-sized bags of animal crackers that could feed a boy scout camp through a whole summer? Well, that's what I brought.

It was a great thought -- a good idea that helped a bit -- but it soon got old when the cheese curls got decidedly harder and chewier and the animal crackers somewhat softer and blander.

I can't remember if we ever finished all of them.

But I do know that Stuart still won't eat animal crackers or cheese curls.

Finally Found...

Well, I finally found one of the the last Kiefer movies I hadn't seen...and I'm so glad I found it.

What's it called, you ask?

Paradise Found -- apropos, no? -- and it tells the story of Paul Gauguin, a French painter credited as the "father of post-impressionism."

Putting aside the fact that his art isn't my sort of taste, the movie is a masterpiece in and of itself. Visually beautiful, well thought out and acted, and haunting. It certainly made me want to know more about this artist.

Just the sort of film most critics pan....which is why I liked it, I guess.

Maybe I'll start a new category on my blog: "Films I Like -- Because the Critics Don't."

There Are Leftovers....

...and then there are leftovers. I'm with Garfield on this one.

Nipped by Nostalgia

A funny thing happened today.

We finally received the 8X10 we'd ordered of Emily's 4th grade school photo.

I took down the frame containing last year's photo, and when I opened the back was whisked through the past 9 years of her life by all the other photos we have stored in there.

Whooooosh!

Just like in the movies when they flash backwards over the events in a character's life. I saw Emily grow up right before my eyes. From baby to big girl.

It was like that little doorway between New Year's Eve and New Year's Day -- that moment when everything becomes different even though it hasn't really changed at all -- when you see the memories of the past year blink through your mind.

And I was nipped by nostalgia and reminded of how quickly time passes....

New Season Looms

With Season 6 just around the corner -- is this blogger excited or what???? -- I just discovered the perfect promo photo for Season 7 of 24...and I know just what the storyline should be, too.

If you've ever watched the show, you've noticed that the characters navigate fairly quickly through the L.A. area....not always so realistic given the normal congestion on the freeways around Los Angeles.

So I propose the storyline for Season 7 should be...24 hours of Jack stuck in traffic.

Whaddaya think?

Think they'll offer me a job on the writing staff?

The following season takes place between 7 a.m. and 7 a.m. (Sigh.)

7 a.m. to 8 a.m.

"Dad, do you think you should be going out there? You know traffic's always bad this time of day."

8 a.m. to 9 a.m.

"Ha! This isn't so bad! Chloe, put the coffee on. I'll be there in 10 minutes."

9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

"Ut-oh. Traffic is picking up. Maybe Kim was right."

11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

"Oh, no! Kim was right. Chloe, I think I'm going to be a little late this morning."

1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

"Com'on, everyone, keep it moving! Some of have terrorists to find, bombs to stop, viruses to contain."

4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

"And some of us need our morning coffee. This is ridiculous! (Yawn!) Must stay awake!"

6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

"I hate waiting!"

9 p.m. to 11 p.m.

"I said I hate waiting!"

11 p.m. to 1 a.m.

"Doesn't anybody listen around here???!!!"

1 a.m. to 3 a.m.

"I'm getting really mad now."

3 a.m. to 5 a.m.

"It's the pedal on the right, buddy. It's called the accelerator!"

5 a.m. to 6 a.m.

"Chloe, I think I found the cause of the delay. I took him out so I don't think he'll be a problem now."

6 a.m. to 7 a.m.

"That's it. I'm outta here. I'll walk to CTU. I need my coffee."