In the Headlights

Natural Highs

LC sent us this list of natural highs.  Some of them are great.  The list is 45 lines long, so I will include the best ones.  Since it's my blog, I will feel free to embelish as I see fit.  If you have favorite natural highs of your own, please share them.

 

1)   Falling in love.
2)   Laughing so hard your face hurts (and your sides ache, and tears course down your cheeks).
3)   A hot shower when you're cold and wet.
4)   No lines at the super market (or driver's license place).
5)   Getting mail from someone special.
6)   Hearing a favorite song on the radio.
7)   Lying in bed listening to the rain outside, and not having to get up and go out.
8)   Hot towels fresh out of the dryer. 
9)   A chocolate milkshake (or malted.  Mmmm).
10) A really stimulating conversation.
11) Finding money in your coat pocket form last winter.
12) Laughing at an inside joke.
13) Accidentally overhearing somebody say something nice about you.
14) Waking up, looking at the clock and realizing you still have a few hours to sleep.
15) The first kiss (the first kiss from a new partner counts, too).
16) Playing with a puppy or a kitten.
17) Sweet dreams (Oh, yeah).
18) Hot chocolate with marshmallows.
19) A road trip with a friend (with really good music, playing loud).
20) Eye contact and a smile shared with a cute stranger.
21) Holding hands.
22) Giving someone a present that you know they'll love.

A few I'd like to add to the list:

23) Going to the movies and having the whole theater to yourself.  (I have, and the movie was great, too.)
24) A warm bed to climb into at night.
25) Getting together with someone you really like but haven't seen for a long time.
26) Writing what I think is a really good blog post...even if I'm the only one who thinks so.

Heck, even reading a list like that give me a natural high...

[Image via Anthony's Kite Gallery]

W.O.T.D.

Today's word of the day is from Urban Dictionary:

Multislacking:  doing multiple slackeresque thing concurrently.  "I'm the king of multislacking.  I spend hours a day on the 'net, watching random T.V. shows and eating week-old pizza."

Sounds delightful.  I've been so busy lately I barely have time for unislacking.  Or is it monoslacking.  Or just plain slacking.  I guess it's not that dire.  I guess there are those who could argue that what I am doing right now is slacking.  I could put on the radio and eat some nuts, and be right there with the veteran multislackers.

[Image via Got Detroit?]

More Finger Paintings

  Amazing, isn't it?  What a lot of work for something with such a short half-life.  I mean, you have to wash your hands, don't you?  And I'm guessing those are water-soluble paints.

I guess that's what a camera is for.

 

  This is the domestic cat installment.  Thanks, MM.

I'm Buff...Sort Of

I wash my hands a lot, not to mention doing dishes and housework.  So the luxury of a manicure is not for me.  Or rather, the luxury of the manicure is for me, but nail polish is not.

When I get a manicure now, I get my nails buffed.  It  involves well, buffing the nails with increasingly finer surfaces.  Like sanding, where you start with coarse grit, and gradually use finer and finer sandpaper until you get a really smooth surface.

You start by evening off the ridges with the first two coats.  The nail  is doesn't pick up any shine until the third surface, which brings the nail surface to a high gloss.  It looks great.  To maintain the look, I buff with the second and third surfaces about every three days.  A lot less work than nail polish for a look that is just as attractive.

Design Nail Flash Shiner 3-way Buffer Block (the kind I use) is available from Head2Toe Beauty for $1.49 each plush S&H.  It's the buffer in the illustration.

And Where There's Bread...

I was wandering around the internet and found this great picture, which I decided to share.  When I linked to the blog it came from, I couldn't find the picture (Blork has a huge archive of photographs, I'm sure it's in there somewhere).

The blog is an easy read, and very easy to find yourself reading post after post.  The next thing you know, the laundry isn't done.  Drat.

Cast Water Upon Thy Bread

Bread repair.  This has revolutionized the way I eat.  That sounds like hyperbole, but it isn't

I love good bread. Warm, bread with a crispy crust, with butter and Ementhaler or Gruyere on it.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you view it--unfortunate from the bread standpoint), I live alone.

That means that before I can finish a baguette, about two thirds of it is stale.  Or at least soft on the outside and slightly resistant on the inside.  In short, the opposite of how it should be.  Until recently, my only recourse was to turn such bread into crumbs.  That's fine, but if you eat a lot of bread, those crumbs accumulate pretty quickly.  Much faster than I have any use for, unless I were to start adding them to everything.  And what point could there be to that, I ask you.

It didn't help whether I wrapped it in the paper sleeve it comes in, or in plastic bags.  It just wasn't right.

At some point, probably when my mom was making bread and going through how to create a steam in the oven while it was baking, I had an idea.  I took a piece of dry French bread and wet it.  That is, I wet my hands and ran them over the outside of a piece of stale bread.  Then I put the bread in the toaster oven at 300 degrees for about five minutes.  The result:  warm, crisp on the outside, soft on the inside.

I have since taken very dry bread and actually stuck it under the tap and then into the oven.  It worked well.  A couple of weeks ago, I brought home a  loaf of artisan bread with rosemary in it  (from Fresh Market).  It was delicious.  Normally, I'd have cut it into serving sizes and put it into the freezer, removing a portion at a time.  I expected my visiting family to help me eat it, so I cut it up, put it in a gallon-sized zip-lock bag and put it in the fridge.  As it turned out, my family were all on a diet.  Just kidding.  But they found other things to eat, and the bread sat in its bag, so that when I turned my attention to it, it was pretty stiff.

I've been wetting the pieces, putting them in the oven for about five minutes, then splitting and toasting the bread.  Just had some with peanut butter and strawberry preserves.  Yum.  The bread tasted great. 

This also works really well for rolls.  I haven't tried it for standard sliced bread, but I don't seem to get a lot of that anyway.  But if you're toasting it, it would be worth a try.  Wet it and bake it a bit to soften and humidify the bread, then toast it.

The Awards that Matter: What to Avoid

  Last night, the 27th annual Golden Raspberry Awards (aka "the Razzies") were awarded at the Ivar Theater in Hollywood.  I guess they didn't want to hold them on the same night as the Oscars and take away some of the glitz and start power of the latter.

Here are the results (or read them here, in much nicer format):

Worst Picture:  Basic Instinct 2  (Basically, It Stinks, Too)

Worst Actress:  Sharon Stone (Basically, It Stinks, Too)

Worst Actor:  Marlon and Shawn Wayans (Little Man)

Worst Supporting Actress:  Carmen Electra (Date Movie and Scary Movie 4)

Worst Supporting Actor:  M. Night Shayamalan (Lady in the Water)

Worst Director:  M. Night Shayamalan (Lady in the Water)

Worst Screen Couple:  Shawn Wayans and either Kerry Washington or Marlon Wayans (Little Man)

Worst Remake or Ripoff:  Little Man (from Bugs Bunny Cartoon ("Baby Buggy Bunny")

Worst Prequel or Sequel:  Basically, It Stinks, Too

Worst Screenplay:  Basically, It Stinks, Too

Worst excuse for Family Entertainment:  RV

Looks like if you want to see a dysfunctional family road picture, it should be Little Miss Sunshine, which wasn't up for any Razzies.

******************

Unfortunately, the one celebrity who was up for the award, would have been glad to have it, and might have actually shown up to receive it did not win.  Larry the Cable Guy was up for worst actor for his fine portrayal of Larry the Cable Guy:  Health Inspector.  Sorry, Larry, I guess you just can't cut it with that kind of competition.  Now if it had been Ron White....

Oscar Fever

It's been years since I've had Oscar fever.  I just assumed I'd become immune to it.  There are a number of reasons.  I'm usually bored by the entertainmnet, it drags on and on, and I get up really early the next morning.  Staying up until midnight usually guarantees a miserable next day.

It will be on ABC tomorrow, and since I live on the East Coast, it won't air until 8:30 P.M.  I'm going to give it a try and suffer through Monday.  There are several reasons. 

The first is that Al Gore is up for the Academy Award for best documentary for An Inconvenient Truth.  And I heard or read that if/when he gets the award, he may announce that he will make a run for the presidency in the next election.  I think he'd be a great president, and would hate to miss such an announcement.  Plus, they usually give the Oscar for best documentary pretty early in the show, so I could then turn off the TV and go to sleep.

The other reason is that I really liked Little Miss Sunshine,  which is the only movie I've seen that is up for best picture. It was hilarious.  Not that I really think I can stay awake until the very end of the show, which is when they always give the award for best picture.  Sandy and I almost saw The Queen, but watched An Inconvenient Truth on DVD instead.  Another movie I'd like to see is Notes on a Scandal  (Cate Blanchett is up for best supporting actress, Dame Judi Dench for best actress for that one).  Eventually. 

And Scorsese.  He should have gotten an Best Director Oscar decades ago for Taxi Driver (for which he wasn't nominated).  It's about time.

Finally, while I can miss all the stars, and can really miss Celine Dion unveiling a new song, I do like host Ellen DeGeneres, and figure she and Al Gore can keep me entertained, at least for a couple of hours.

If Gore announces his candidacy, it will be history in the making.  I'm not sure if this is the best time to make such an announcement.  It might be better to bask in the limelight as an environmentalist for a month or two, and then be "convinced" to run.  I do think if he decides to run, he can have the freshness of a new pol, without a bunch of baggage accumulated in the last 7 years, along with the attraction of a savvy elder statesman.  If he runs, he definitely has my backing.  That should take him a long way, eh?

American Crossword Puzzle Tournament

It's that time of year again.  The 30th American Crossword Puzzle Tournament will be held in Stamford, Connecticut on March 23, 24 and 25. 

I already have plans for that weekend, so I will solve at home.  For $20, you can do the competition puzzles at home and mail them in.  They'll be hand scored and returned to you with your ranking in the skill divisions you qualify for (age, region, experience). 

If you have seen the documentary Wordplay, it was about this tournament.

For the first time, you can compete by computer and solve the puzzles online the weekend of the tournament if you prefer.  I personally like to solve puzzles by paper and pencil.  For some reason, computer crosswords and sudoku just never grabbed me.

There are eight puzzles, from easy to agonizingly hard.  I'm pretty good and can usually finish about six of them pretty easily, one with difficulty, right around the time limit, and one I won't be able to get at all, throwing my scores into the toilet.  We'll see how I do this year.

My Dad and I attended in person a few years ago.  It was a lot of fun.  Marring the experience was the long, expensive bus trip from LaGuardia Airport to Stamford, and having our return flight cancelled.  You know how tedious that is.  Get on the plane, get off the plane.  Get back on, get back off.  Stand in line to get a reservation for the next day. Get to a cheap hotel right after the restaurant has closed.  Call work to say you won't be in the next morning.  Bus back to the airport the next morning.  Fly home.

I might try it again some time as part of a long leisurely car trip.

If cruises are more your thing, you can attend the Crossword Puzzle Cruise with Stanley Newman on the ms Westerdam.  This weeklong cruise will sail for a week leaving Feb. 3, 2008.

[Image from Crossword Puzzles by Ray Hammel]

Book Meme

I found this meme on Intlxpatr's blog, Here There and Everywhere.  Most meme's don't interest me, but this one's about books, and I don't see any questions I a loathe to answer (heck, I'd just skip them anyway). 

Hardback or paperback:  Usually paperback.  They are just lighter and easier to read when you're lying on your back in bed.  Also, since I often give loved books away, they are cheaper and more portable.

Amazon or brick and mortar:  Amazon.  I'll hear an interview with an interesting author or read a review I like, and just get online.  I even got Amazon Prime so I don't have to wait until I have the required amount for free shipping.  Instant gratification.  It feels that way, though obviously it would be more instant to go to a book store.

Barnes and Noble or Border's:  Either, neither.  I rarely go into the big stores unless I'm looking for something specific, or it's approaching the holidays. The big box book stores seem kind of sterile to me.   For browsing, I'll go to my favorite second-had bookstore, Black Sheep Books or the library.

Bookmark or dog-ear:  Almost always bookmark.  Unless the book is in rough shape to begin with.  I'll tear up scraps of old receipts, newspaper, whatever and tuck it between the pages. 

Alphabetize by author, alphabetize by subject, or random:  Sort of organized random.  I don't alphabetize at all, but will sort of keep genre's together.  Most of my humor is around the same shelves, history, biography the same.  Sort of.  And I do keep one author's books together.

Keep, throw away or sell:  I tend to give books away if I enjoy them.  Then I forget to whom I gave them.  If they are just OK, I try to resell them at Black Sheep Books.  I never throw books away.  I may give them to a library sale or to Goodwill.

Keep the dust jacket or toss it:  Always keep it.  A collectible book is much more valuable if it has its dust jacket.  Not that most of mine are that way, but they may get to be so over the years.  Always keep the dust jacket.  I usually take it off while I'm reading the book, and it kind of gets in the way and can get torn easily, then put it back on the book when it leaves the side of the bed and goes back on the shelf.

Short story or novel:  Novel.  I read few short stories.

Collection (same author) or anthology (different authors):  I guess collection, because if I like an author, I will keep reading other books by them.  Anthologies don't do much for me.

Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket:  I've read almost all of Harry Potter, none of Lemony Snicket.

Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks:  At chapter breaks, definitely.  I've been know to fight drifting off to sleep to finish a chapter. 

"It was a dark and storm night" or "once upon a time?"  Either, if it's good.  I tend not to read horror much any more (though when my husband was alive, I'd cross that line).

Buy or borrow:  I guess with Amazon in my life, I tend to buy.  In my family, we pass books around quite a bit as well, so I guess I borrow, and I do use the library.  I probably should go to the library more, as I have way more books than I realistically have room for, and some wind up in boxes in the closet.

New or used:  Doesn't matter.  I guess used if possible. Books are so expensive, and you can buy more books for the same money if you get used.  Also, I like the idea of recycling books.

Buying choice:  book reviews, recommendations or browse:  Any and all.  Any means that will turn me on to a good book.

Tidy endings or cliffhangers:  either, if it's done well.  Though as a rule, I guess I like closure.  Give me a tidy ending (preferably the one I want).

Morning reading, afternoon reading, or nighttime reading:  Any and all, though I read when I go to bed before sleeping.  It's a nice transition from the real world.

Stand-alone or series:  Both.  I can get caught up in a good series, and can't wait for the next book, but I read many books that aren't part of a series.

Favorite series:  Like intlxpatr, I enjoyed Dorothy Dunnett's House of Niccolo series (all 8 tomes of it).  My sister turned me on to Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series, and I loved Sharon Kay Penman's series of British historical novels (I like the novels much more than the mysteries).

And, inevitably, TAG, you're it.  If you like this topic, please do this meme and link back here so we can all enjoy your answers.  I'd like to see Scholiast, Shawn, Joan and Lisa take up the gauntlet.

So many books.  So little time.

[Image via Edward Gorey T-shirts and Totes]