A Nose For Cinema

I have been suffering for almost a week now with a blistering infection on my nose. It is gross so I will spare you the gruesome details, but I have been mostly working from home and refusing to show my blasphemous face in public. This had made me quite resourceful so as to not become too bored and developing new meals with what I have in the freezer and pantry.

Even with a crap load of channels there really is nothing on TV. I have resorted to Netflix and Hulu, as well as a couple suggested sites. So far those worth mentioning are My Kid Could Paint That about a 4-year old abstract artist (?) and the issue if it is really art or has the wool been pulled over everyone’s eyes about abstract style. The paintings look great and the parents seem a bit down to earth promising to give their daughter a varied education even though her pieces are going for thousands of dollars. It reflects back to a show I saw about a 14-year old girl who could do photo-realistic paintings and how her mother just let her learn what she wanted and never bothered to have her learn math or science or even how to think critically. It is the old-fashioned way of thinking that girls aren’t smart enough or that if there is any real effort needed then it is hard and should be dropped. Speaking as an adult who, as a child had my share of challenges, I think that telling kids it is OK to only do the easy things makes for lazy, dull children. Challenges can be fun. For instance, I still have an infatuation with numbers. But as a writer and artist, and a woman, this is considered a contradiction. I love science as well. I have been blessed to have other women around me who appreciate these “boy” things, but my love of learning and education is even greater than the love of art. Plus it really helps to know some of these things when doing things you love – like knitting (counting stitches, figuring out patterns) and cooking (measurements, chemistry, physics) or just playing with the dogs and cats (anatomy, physiology, psychology).

Another controversial topic is premised in the films Zeitgeist and Zeitgeist Addendum. I was first made aware of this by some friends who found it very thought provoking. As did I on first glance. The first night I watched the movie, I was shocked by the supposed truths in the film – Jesus never existed, the myth of Christianity comes from the ancient Egyptians, 9/11 was an inside job, we are made to be poor. Though I don’t agree with many of the actual “facts” in the film, I find it nice to question what we are told. In fact, on the second watching, I started to do some research myself and found that the film maker stretches the truth quite a bit. If I believed everything in the film, it would have been easy to go on and feel like all my questions had been answered, but I had a stirring feeling that I was being bamboozled by a conspiracy freak. The jury is still out on that. The Addendum was a lot duller than the original and the film maker seemed to have less to say so he shared his soap box with other “experts”. You be the judge, it is an interesting watch anyway you look at it.

The pain from my nose mostly comes at mid day and late night – when I have to smother it with ointment. This is when I find that the Internet movie watching rises. Sitting at my kitchen table looking out at the brick road, I find a modern sense of peace watching what is going on outside and inside the Web at the same time. So it is the perfect time to check out some pop history in the form of Wanted and Desired: Roman Polanski. I have been a fan of Polanski’s for years, probably since I was a teenager. Though he is an elfin man, there is something stirring about his personality and especially his history. This film chronicles his run-in with the American Judicial System and tracks, through flashbacks, the infamy that made him so famous. Another controversial topic, especially for Americans since no one really cared that he was pluking 15-year old Nastassja Kinski, but when it became an American girl then all bets were off. But the film is actually less about that liason and more about the rape of our justice.

Lastly, I am getting hooked on Meerkat Manor. This is an interesting, but heart-wrenching show about the Whiskers Family of Meerkats out in the bush of South Africa. It is realistic and the narration done by Sean Astin (Patty Duke’s and Gomez Adam’s son) pulls at the heart strings. I like watching it while I have a puppy or kitty close by to soothe my tender nature and make it through the 20 minutes of rambunctiousness and heartbreak.

I figure this is what it is like to be a shut-in. So far not so bad, but let’s see what the next few days have in store.

Who Killed John Lennon?

I saw this van on the way home from work today. You never know what you'll see in St. Pete. I checked out the Web site and it is advertising for a book about how Stephen King killed John Lennon.

Stephen King is the Walrus - I knew it.

My Favorite Etsy Things - This Week

When I need a bit on inspiration for anything creative and feel the pull to be self-employed I find my way to Etsy. My meanders find themselves lost in the maze of what-ifs and why-nots as I peruse the cool items and either picture myself (or my home) adorned in beauty or as an artsy-craftsy rock star.

Some of my favorite finds today included my friend Renee’s page with all her whimsical glory. Right now she is working on illustrating a children’s book for a local writer and has been experimenting more and more with painting pots for spring and designing kid’s décor.

The Creative Redhead really caught my attention with her mallard duck pin. I love her detailed little works and thought how they would make not only great gifts, but the perfect little gift for me when I meet a weight-loss marker. Plus her pear paintings are just divine for my new kitchen.

My love of flowers and my love of jewelry came together in the perfect marriage with a dash of sexy when I discovered FancifulForm. The flower forms are wonderful pieces and I saw a fabulous silver bowl at IKEA that they would look perfect in. I love the smaller rings too and the black floral pendants (it’s the goth in me showing.) Double that with the fact that she does this for her full-time job and I am hooked.

Playing on my love of all things sweet, especially to bake I came across the Cupcake Mint and fell in love not just with the sweet treats, but the logistics as well. I wonder what it would take to do something local like this and maybe set myself up for the holidays. (See in a way Etsy is safe for me since I love to purchase the items on its beautiful pages, but I am even more inspired about being one of those fantastic people.)

Lastly is my other favorite, photography. Alicia Bock’s work really caught me. Here eye is fantastic and her subjects reflect a dreaminess. I love her technique and want to grab my camera and get shooting, along with everything else.

So those were my finds today. Please take a look and share what you love.

It’s raining, it’s pouring, I wish I was snoring

The drought has been waylaid for a little bit at least. We have had rain since last Wednesday and it is much appreciated. However, on a side note – it did storm last Wednesday night during the season finale of LOST and my TV went out twice, which wasn’t too bad in itself, but the fricken’ cable box took for fricken’ ever to reboot and I had to call Renee to find out what was going on. And the upside is that there is always HULU.

We needed the rain really bad. Our water restrictions have been down to a day and only for certain hours. I gave up on my yard keeping my attentions on my vegetables and herbies. But now I am wishing for a little sunshine. The gray sky and din of the raindrops makes me very sleepy. Life goes on and I drag myself to and from work and hope for the best when I get home.

The weatherman says to expect five more days of rain and cooler temps which means I can also save some dough on the AC plus make use of all that soup I have in the freezer to warm me up. Thank God for the rain and may be all lift a toast to that.

A Peppery Prescription

Ronn has taken the high road and kept experimenting with food even while is kitchen is in a shambles from the redesign. This week his recipe was with me in mind.

We now have a large bottle of pepper vodka. Ronn infused several fresh peppers of all heats with a few quarts of vodka. He let it sit for about a week and broke the seal to unveil a hot treat with a “green” essence. I love it.
Most pepper vodkas that you commercially buy have a smoky peppery taste, but this is all green like a vine-ripe jalapeno. Paired with tomato juice with a splash of olive juice and you have one fierce concoction. I actually had to tone down the heat with some regular Russian fuel, but it’s all good. He even got a recipe for a tropical spiced concoction melding pineapple juice with the hot stuff like a Thai cocktail. We have yet to try it, but I think it may be a new favorite.

Not one to waste anything, especially food, I am going to process the drunken peppers and mix them with vinegar for a southern hot sauce to keep and share. I remember vinegared hot peppers on the table when I was very little and at my dad’s family’s house. It is a great topper for greens and fried food, as well as okra and tomatoes.

And speaking of tomatoes, Ronn garnished our bloody marys with homegrown tomato wedges from his own garden. Juicy and sweet, these red orbs really made it all special.

Art Is Where You Find It

Though there isn’t much to do in the way of food or culture in Spring Hill (at least in my few hours there I found nothing) I was surprised to find Eddie the art collector. Eddie’s brand new, ecru-painted home was full of lively color in the abundance of art he had hanging and resting.

The main pieces of his collection held dear to his heart as works done by his Aunt Ann. Ann Callan was an incredible artist and local figure from Vero Beach. She painted all of her life and this is showcased in the changes from year to year as her pieces matured.

Eddie said that she painted thousands of pieces and I think he has most of the collection. Ronn has purchased a few pieces and several are in galleries around the world. The general price is pretty high for these works, as it should be, and it was a treat to be able to analyze them from the comfort of a recliner.

I don’t know much about her, there isn’t anything on the Web that I could glean, but Eddie let me in on some family gossip. She drank sometimes, but wasn’t a Dorothy Parker lush or anything. Her works reflect things as simple as colorful flowers to dark imagery of souls wondering in space. Two pictures of women really amazed me, especially since Eddie had them on either side of his TV making them easy to compare and contrast. One is a colorful woman with a veil on giving me the impression of Catholic or maybe Latin heritage. Her eyes grab you with roughly wrangled lines almost scratched into the corneas. The other woman is inspired, I would suppose, by cubists like Picasso. The colors are muted and have a rich 1970s feel with olives and oranges. I don’t know what she was thinking and from what I understood she didn’t share her meanings too easily so we will all just have to assume. Maybe one day I will have a collection like this, as for now I have a few originals and several unframed prints – I need to get with my neighbor on that

Road Trippin'

I just love road trips. Even though they take a lot longer than flying, I look at them as a way to see what everyone else is missing. The longest road trip I was ever on was 17 days with Guy. We drove from Clearwater to Arlington, NYC, Albany, Pittsburgh, Atlanta and home again. No one thought we would make it without killing each other, but it wasn’t until the last day that we had a riff about (his interpretation – I killed Santa and my interpretation – I set Santa free to return to the North Pole) losing a Santa wall hanging from the back of the truck. It really is a whole other story so I shall stop here.

So far Ronn and I have taken three road trips; one to Myrtle Beach, another to the woods of North Carolina and Saturday’s adventure to Spring Hill and beyond.
We were on our way to see his friend Eddie and decided to take the long way to scope out some of our own Diners, Drive-ins and Dives opportunities. What we found were some great photo ops and they were brightly taken. We did stop at a place called Maw’s Kitchen. Nothing special, but I only got a burger (not like El Cap) and the hushpuppies were scant on flavor. The other meal on this trip was at the Golden Corral (Eddie’s choice) and it wasn’t horrible. I had a salad and a sliced filet which apparently drew a couple of stares since I didn’t have any fried stuff on my plate. My treat was the blueberry pie that still needed something, but all in all it was a fine meal.
The drive would have only taken a couple hours, but instead we drove right past Spring Hill and meandered up to the Withlacoochee Forest. No one else was there and this was fine by me. I got lost in the wonders of Spanish moss dripping from these incredible oaks. The stories they could tell would be numerous as some laid on the ground after giving up the fight in hurricane-force winds, while others stood proud with no leaves and dressed only in charred bark announcing their heroic deaths. Still some stretched out toward the dried-up lake while right next to them were their majestic brothers reaching toward the sky. I was hoping to see more animals in the park, but I guessed that do to the lack of water the deer, raccoons and even mosquitoes had moved to wetter woods.

Our adventure continued as we drove west to Crystal River and their famous power plant. Ronn had been here several years before and thought it would be nice to show me an up-close view of this hot spot (pun intended.) However, times have changed. After 9/11 nuclear power plants were seen as major targets for terrorist attacks and security was amped up. We were stopped about 3 miles from the parking lot, the truck checked and our IDs taken. The guy was nice and knew we weren’t terrorists, just misinformed lookey-loos and let us leave after some small talk. We did get some good shots from an island near by though.

Hunger started to get annoying and we were expected at Eddie’s so we let the GPS do the talking. Unfortunately, she was a bit confused and led us astray so I had to jump in and navigate as well as drive. No biggie. We made it to Spring Hill safe and sound.
I finally bit the bullet and joined Facebook and on day one I found an old friend from high school who also lives in Spring Hill so I may be making another trip or two up that way. There isn’t any other reason to go to SH except to see friends, but that’s just me.

Canine Characters

I have become a dog person. Even a bit more than a cat person. I think it is like having kids since dogs need you more than cats and they demand a lot more attention than cats and they make a lot more messes than cats. (Now don’t rise up parents of wee humans, I am making a very overgeneralized statement about kids being like dogs and ditto switched. I know kids are a lot more to handle and such and that is why I have dogs instead.)

Misha the Tuxedo Boy

Misha is quite a loving kitty – on his terms. I have had him for about 8 years. He was my rescue cat after Boo died of cancer. My vet had taken Misha in since the family wanted to put him down do to his urinary tract issue. The doctor fixed it, but Misha would always need special food and attention and this family didn’t really think they wanted that kind of responsibility. Their loss was my gain. Misha and Vlad got along fabulously and helped me get over the loss of my sweet little girl. Vlad passed the next year – he was 15 – and I decided that I would keep it down to one cat so as not to be the crazy cat lady.

Fast forward 6 years. I begin dating Ronn and along with him comes the baggage of kittens. While trimming bushes and trees in the backyard one morning, he came across a mommy kitty with her brood of young uns. There were four and mama was only a teenager herself, but she did a great job as they took up residence in my backyard under the deck. I fed them regularly and tried to make friends with these feral beasts, but only one paid any particular attention to me and that was Lassie. A year later, at Ronn’s insistence, I took this orange and white jumbo cat in.

Lassie, Mr. Coy

See mama was a ho and she had another litter of wee felines and was already working on getting knocked up again like some Jerry Springer guest. She had decided to keep her tom johns away from her young ones so she took up brothel residence under my neighbor Jeff’s house. The porn music and wailing that came with her seductions drove him mad and instead of shooting them all (which he threatened to do) he got a cage from Animal Control and captured them (plus a couple possums too.) Lassie never left my yard and kept trying to get in so I took the plunge. Mama also got away since Jeff let her go after she got caught and looked like she would kill herself to get out of the cage (he does have a heart.)

I was content with two cats and my freedom. Then I fell in love with Fiona. I loved Duncan, but Fiona in her pugalicious way found a space in my heart and filled it with her charming pants and snores. When Patty told me that she may be pregnant after a night of drunken bliss (Patty’s husband got drunk and didn’t separate the dogs so love took over) I secretly hoped she was. Well not secretly really, I think it went something like this.
Me: “For your sake, I hope she didn’t get knocked up, but I would really love to have one of her puppies, so ..”
Patty: “Bite your tongue bitch, she’s not pregnant.”
Me: “But if she is, I want one.”

December 10, we have pups. Finn had that Harry Potter lightning bolt on his forehead and I just couldn’t resist. Eight weeks later, I have a puppy. Count another 3 weeks and I have book ends.

Finnegan BeginAgain

Now I think of all the places I can take them and all the people I can show them off to. I planned on filling their wardrobes with knitted goods, but they just grow too fast and it is too hot to put them in anything other than their natural fur coats.

Polly Dolly

I don’t consider myself a crazy animal person, but there is a fine line between eccentric and sane and the one who is afflicted is always the last to know. For now I will profess my sanity and saturate you all with pictures of my cute little kids, both feline and canine.

Sunny Dayz

I am not much of a sun goddess, preferring to keep my fair flesh a tint other than beet red. This weekend though I forgot to slather on the sunscreen (SPF 45 please) and venture out under the radiant, burning rays of this worshipped orb. Yes, I live in the Sunshine State and no I am not a goth (at least not anymore), but I am predisposed to being burned just by thinking about the sun (see there, it happened again now my fingers are red and will be peeling soon.)

But it wasn’t all my fault. I shall blame some of this on Ronn and his new toy, the Harley. The other half of the blame goes to me and my kin for the Blueberry Festival. First things first – the bike.

Ronn surprised me on Friday night with a ride out to the beach on his new hog. I was more than paranoid and felt unbalanced on two wheels, though I think this is more of a control issue than his driving. We stopped at an English pub on the beach, had a pint of cider and back to the house. What had started out as a night to rest and relax with PB&J sandwiches, became an adventure and when it was over, I was ready to go home and sleep. No dinner for me.
But I made up for that when I almost ate my weight in blueberries the next day. My sister works at a winery in Plant City (Keel and Curley) and last weekend was their annual Blueberry Festival. Part of the draw for the event was the “U-Pick” option. We picked almost 10 pounds of berries and at $2 a pound that is fabulous. I hadn’t been picking in years, since I was wee and my dad would drag me along to pick strawberries or tomatoes. I really enjoyed the time out in the field and the reward of my labors. Next time, however, I will leave the pups at home, wear a hat, lighter-colored clothing, sunscreen and bring extra water.

The festival was fun and it gave me time to visit a touch with my dad and sister. Plus, my nephew kept me pleased with this wonderful frozen wine concoction made with strawberry slushy mixed with either pinot noir or dry blueberry wine. Ronn picked the most berries, since I was watching the kids, so he got to take the most home. I was left with about 2-1/2 pounds, but once washed and frozen I think I am pretty set at least for the rest of the month.

In fact this morning I had a great breakfast of 1 mango, a cup of sliced strawberries and a cup of frozen blueberries (yum).

Mother’s Day I was back on the hog as Ronn took me to a great brunch at a deli in Tampa. I had the most scrumptious omelet with Swiss cheese, applewood smoked bacon, tomatoes and spinach. Plus, I tasted some shrimp and grits with sausage and a plethora of other meats and gourmet cheeses. We toasted with Mimosas and savored the sweetness found in the chocolate bacon truffles. Yes you read that right – Chocolate and Bacon! They were divine. It was a wonder I stayed on the bike on our way back home since I felt like a pig riding a hog. Unfortunately Ronn forgot the helmet so I got even more toasted on my forehead, but it was a great ride anyway.

*I didn't take these pictures so I can't take any credit, but aren't they beautiful??!!