Notes from the Melody Maker

Vintage photos

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 22:11:22 GMT

My sister told me about this great application for the Mac called VintageScene, a program that has preset filters that make your modern photos look aged and vintage. Of course, John commented that we have progressed so far from the early cameras and their print quality, only to create apps that make photos look old and worn. I think that goes to show that the early photographers were artists, while today any Tom Dick or Harry can take a snapshot with their phone. Here are a few of the aged photos I created.

Here a stand of cannon and an ammunition wagon.

Next, our friend John Smolley as Jefferson Davis, President of the CSA.

This is Logan B., who has grown up so very fast, and now he’d rather march with the Army than play in the parlour, sigh…

I created an album in the gallery called The Vintage Scene where there are a few more aged photos. I will continue to play with this because it’s lots of fun!

Slow food, here I come!

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 05:55:36 GMT

Well, I certainly need to eliminate fast food from my diet, and maybe this is a resolution I can make last for more than one month. You may have noticed that this resolution is in the shortest month of the year, so 29 days to go and hopefully I won’t slip up!

I am considering fast food to be any of the major franchises and pizza delivery. Make at home pizza will be on the white list should I decide to make it. Also on the white list are normal restaurants. Mostly, I want to eliminate all the preservatives and mystery ingredients that have come to light in recent months in fast food items. If you want to ditch fast food, a google search for “McDonalds pink slime burgers” may help. Gah!

There’s a photo circulating on the internet right now of a fast food burger that has been left to sit on the counter in a doctor’s office for over six months. No mold or bacterial growth. No breakdown of the meat. It looks the same as it did when it came through the window and that’s what I’m trying to use as inspiration right now.

Fast food is also addictive. Your body begins to crave the high amounts of saturated fat and perservatives after a while. Maybe if I can get through this month I won’t have to worry about this addiction in the future.

Wish me luck!

January Resolution: New Food

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 05:36:06 GMT

As I mentioned a while back in the month, I will be sticking to one resolution per month this year, and January’s resolution was to try new food. Specifically, I resolved to try something new each week. I would not say that I am not an adventurous eater, but I can’t try things that just sound inherently dangerous or outright gross. So puffer fish and chocoate covered ants were just out. This was a bit of a cheat for me because I had voluntarily tried brussel sprouts within the first week of the month, before I put together my resolutions for the year, but I hope you will just forget that.

Each week I considered what my food adventure would be. I did not limit myself to just produce – although that is where my failings lie – but I did try a bit of this and a bit of that.

Week 1 – Brussel Sprouts – brush with a bit of olive oil and roast; I will try these again.

Week 2 – Cinnamon Chicken – ever since I saw a Little House on the Prarie episode where Laura switched out the cinnamon for cayenne pepper before Nellie Olson made cinnamon chicken for Almanzo Wilder, I have wanted to try this dish. I posted on Facebook for food ideas and my friend Brianna sent me the recipe. It was quite good! More savory than sweet because there is no sugar.

I served it with brown rice and green beans and it was a nice change to our regular fare of “chicken something” and veggies. It takes two tablespoons of cinnamon, so poor Almanzo having to politely eat chicken with two tablespoons of cayenne pepper on it!!

Week 3 – Pineapple Melon – I have seen these in the grocery store and wondered about them. Since it was something I doubted I would ever try unless under duress, I purchased one and Melody and I tried it a day or so later.

I sliced it, not knowing what the inside would be like, but somehow not expecting what I found:

This thing is seedy and around the seeds is a gelantanous goo. This wasn’t looking good. I pried out a small piece and put it in my mouth…and immediately spat it out! This thing is horrid! I can only liken this fruit to the consistency of the inside of a tomato (and you all know how I feel about THAT) and bitter, sour, unpleasant. Yuck! Melody tasted a bit and enjoyed pulling the seeds out more than eating it. I threw the whole thing in the trash and shudder when I recall the taste.

Week 4 – Graham Cracker Cake – In an attempt to redeem my tasting tribulation of the previous week, I made a vintage recipe called graham cracker cake, except I didn’t have graham crackers, so I crushed Nilla Wafers. This cake was very good though I think I might have not baked it long enough. It acted a bit like a sponge or angel cake at first, but soon fell while it was cooling. The recipe card didn’t indicate how long to bake it, so next time I’ll try it for longer. It’s worth a second attemp and yes, we did eat it all even if it was a bit messed up.

With a bit of whipped cream, it redeemed the new foods resolution completely! I didn’t mind trying the new foods and I will continue to try to work more foods into our dietary routine. I’ve got a turnip or two in my fridge right now and I’m actively looking for preparations, plus I’ll be trying some new recipes for my sister site Gram’s Recipe Box as the months progress. All in all, I’d call January’s resolution of new foods a success!

Book Review: Darkly Dreaming Dexter

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 19:31:28 GMT

You know how sometimes you read in the paper about some person accused of murder who gets away scot free? For whatever reason, either the case isn’t prosecuted, or heaven help us it is adjudicated and the jury cannot find them guilty. Don’t you ever think to yourself “someone will do us all a favor and take ’em out”? In real life that rarely, if ever happens. The acqitted person goes on a book tour or gets a reality TV show and we are all disgusted by the twist of fate that let them loose to potentially kill again. Well, in the book Darkly Dreaming Dexter, there is someone who does equalize the situation.

Thankfully, Dexter is just a character in a fiction novel, because he’s a bona fide psychopath. He has difficulty understanding people and social situations, he lacks deeper feelings like love and compassion, does not understand what motivates humans to do the things they do, and does not even consider himself human. He knows he is flawed, with a big empty spot where everyone else has a conscience. But Dexter hunts the bad guys. He is a serial killer, and a prolific one, taking out Miami’s garbage. He only kills the killers, though, and he must have proof of the ultimate badness of his quarry, otherwise, his code will not allow him to act.

You see, Dexter was raised and coached by a cop. His adoptive father Harry realized that Dexter was missing “that thing” other people have, and helped him to shape his need to kill into righteous vigilanteeism. Harry created a code, rules that would help Dexter survive in a world he did not understand; rules that would keep him out of the eye of the police and out of jail. Part of Dexter’s cover is to work for the police as a blood spatter analist.

The best predators hide in plain sight, and that is Dexter. He has learned, like many psychopaths before him, to play the role, say the witty sayings, and pretend to feel the feelings, that normal people expect. And while you might think Dexter is a bad guy himself, in this book, he is the “hero” protecting the city from those other murderers who cannot be proven guilty and preventing them from committing their heinous crimes again.

Darkly Dreaming Dexter is the first in a series about Dexter and was the inspiration for the popular Showtime television drama “Dexter.” If you are a fan of the show, be prepared for the book to have its differences that might not make you happy. The key characters are there: Dexter, Deb, Angel Batista, LaGuerta, Doakes, Masuka; but they are the originals as imagined by Jeff Lindsay, not the screenwriters. Dexter himself is as weirdly lovable in the book as he is in the show, and that is part of the guilty pleasure. You feel like you really should not like him, but you just can’t help it.

Darkly Dreaming Dexter is not terribly long, yet the pages turn at an enjoyable pace, drawing you through the story arc and toward a climactic ending that feels a tiny bit rushed. Did Lindsay come up against a deadline? I would have liked the ending to be developed a bit more, but otherwise this is a very good book. I will be seeking out the next installment soon.

Nothing tastes as good

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 22:32:41 GMT

I remember probably from the 80s a Weight Watchers commercial starring Lynn Redgrave. She wore this frumpy muumuu and talked about her dieting success, then at the end of the commercial she declared “nothing tastes as good as skinny feels!” as she whipped off the muumuu and showed off her newly trim body. As far as marketing campaigns went, this was a good one considering I still remember it twenty years later. Lots of women responded to the slogan and spat out mouthfulls of chocolate, cookies, cake and donuts in the quest for what skinny feels like.

As someone who has never as an adult been anything close to resembling “skinny” I have never been able to identify with this slogan. Certainly, I have been thin and maybe when I was 10 I could have been considered skinny. However, my body type and genetics provided me with curves long before my straight framed peers had them, leading me to believe I was never thin enough. Anyway, looking back on my life, I have come to realize that I quite often was in a state of “not fat” meaning I was attractive, healthy and happy. Maybe I could have lost 5 pounds or so to drop a dress size, but at some of my happiest moments in life, I was healthy and looked good.

So, I plan to take this well worn slogan and adapt it to mean something for me: nothing tastes as good as healthy feels.

I know what healthy feels like. I know that when my body feels healthy it does not fit onto the BMI charts that were put together in the late 60s. I will never be considered skinny, and if you find me in a state of being skinny get me to a doctor quick because it’s not a healthy weight for me. I can be trim, healthy, comfortable, fit. Never skinny. I have also come to realize that trying to live up to someone else’s expectation of what skinny looks like will never work for me! Skinny to me means narrow frame, flat chest, no butt, no curves. Unless I plan to lop off a couple pieces, that will never happen to my body.

So, friends go forth and remember that nothing tastes as good as healthy feels. Be healthy, eat right, exercise. Do not deprive yourself for something unattainable.

Unless you are one of those skinny bitches who populate the pages of fashion magazines. Then can you just eat a couple cheeseburgers after midnight please? You are giving the rest of us a complex.

Birthday party planning again

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 22:18:16 GMT

My daughter is going to be 5.

HOLY SHIT WHERE DID THE LAST FIVE YEARS GO????? [Runs around the room screaming and pulling out hair] AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

Ok, I feel better. So Melody will be five on her next birthday and we are starting the thinking and planning process for her party. She really wants some sort of princess theme and I’m thinking Rapunzel. She loved the movie Tangled and there are a lot of really fun crafts the kids can do at the party, making crowns is one of them. We also will be having my friend Samantha over to put feathers in the little girls’ hair and do colored gel for the boys. Bring on the blue and red Mohawks!

In case you are not aware, you can’t just wander over to Parties R Us and pick up Rapunzel invitations. The movie was incredibly popular but for some reason either Disney hasn’t licensed the images for the ubiquitous birthday decorations, confetti and napkins (completely out of their character) or my local party store is lame.

What’s your guess?

So, in the next few weeks I will be searching online for Rapunzel birthday invitations. Oh, and creating some sort of Rapunzel pin the tail on the whatever game. Pin the hair on Rapunzel? Pin the chameleon on the tower? Pin the crown on the princess? This may be a stretch of my creative abilities.

2012 Resolutions, month by month

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 00:19:00 GMT

Here we go folks!

I don’t have a very good memory for certain things. I freely admit it! In the past I have made resolutions for the new year, only to forget within the first two weeks that I had promised myself to drink less or exercise more. Let’s face it, if something isn’t enormously important to me, I put it out of my mind and move on, which is why I rarely make New Year’s Resolutions. Resolutions, with a capital R, sound so final, so set in stone, and if you break (or even bend) a Resolution the flying monkeys will swoop down and castigate you and fling their poo and all sorts of awful things will happen! Not for me, nope, thanks for playing, take your Jiffy Pop and leave.

However a few years ago, a woman who’s blog I read did a monthly resolution (note the lower case r, by the way, no flying monkeys here). Each month she would do something new to work on improving herself, her life, her marriage or her home. Being that I have a pretty good chance at remembering a resolution for thirty days, I have decided to give this a whirl. I just hope that in two months I will remember that need to change to the next resolution. I hope to blog at the beginning and end of each month about the designated action, once with a plan and once with the result. Wish me luck!

January: try a new food each week

February: no fast food

March: walking more, 20-60 minutes per day, 3-5 times per week

April: read to Melody at least 3 times per week

May: no TV 4 nights a week

June: make dinner 6 nights per week

July: migrate this website to Wordpress

August: no more than 1 soda per day

September: blog every day on all three sites (omg!)

October: no candy or cookies

November: write a short story

December: get to work on time

I figure a lot of these are stretch goals and there will of course be circumstances beyond my control that prevent me from being 100% perfect. Heck, 90% is still an A in college, so I will even allow myself to slip up from time to time. Besides, I am in no way close to perfect, I’m just a perfectionist. Frustrated much? Yes. I just want to try to improve my well being and happiness, and these seem like areas where I could use improvement, and also, areas where I feel like I can let go of old habits.

So, January’s resolution is to try a new food each week. I chose this for January because in a bit of a cheat, I have already tried a new food this month. At my big family dinner last week, my cousin Diana brought roasted brussel sprouts. In the past, these miniature cabbages were either bitter, slimy or mushy, all of which are unappealing in food, so I thought I didn’t like them. But, I took my “no thank you” helping and actually enjoyed them. Diana told me the secret is in roasting them with a bit of olive oil to bring out the deeper flavors. She claimed there is a sweet flavor but I don’t buy that. Let us say that they were not bitter, slimy or mushy, and actually were quite good! I must figure out what my next three to four foods for January will be. I’m pretty much an omnivore when it comes to food with the exception of veggies, so the foods may all be produce. I also plan to consider “rerun” foods, e.g. foods I didn’t like as a kid, as new foods since I’m the type that if I didn’t like it when I was six, there’s a good chance I never touched it again.

Wish me luck!

2011 in retrospect, or "wow what a year!"

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 19:01:09 GMT

It was suggested to me that I might like to do an annual recap of 2011 for ths blog. I have done this in the past and it always felt like a canned post. A recap doesn’t always tell you something new because of course it rehashes what has already happened (and was hopefully blogged about). But, I saw this post from Kristin at Rage Against the Mini Van and I liked the idea of questions leading me through the recap. They are someone else’s questions, but my answers will be uniquely tailored to me and my life. Plus, I didn’t blog as much as I would like in 2011 so there is a lot of new info (to you) going into the recap of 2011.

1. What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before?

Taken a ride in the back of an ambulence to an ER. No lights and sirens, but still, it is not something I want to do again. Looking out that back window kinda gave me vertigo.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

In 2011 I resolved to not make any resolutions, so in a way I kept my resolution. I am terrible with making resolutions because I rarely remember them six weeks later, let alone six months to a year later! However, I have a different idea for 2012 which might work: the monthly resolution. In the next few days I will post my 12 resolutions, one for each month of the year. I can probably stick with something for thirty days.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Not a direct family member but several friends had babies in the past year.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

No, thank goodness!

5. What countries did you visit?

Is Pittsburg a country? It sure felt foreign to me!

6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?

A daughter who goes to bed without screaming, crying, making bargains and trying to blackmail us by withholding hugs and kisses.

7. What dates from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

April 28th: I fell at work and tore three ligaments in my foot. This was the cause of the ambulence ride. And the surgery. And the long recovery.

October 28th: I was rear-ended on the freeway and my car was totaled. This was a surreal experience. One moment I was listening to my ipod and sitting in traffic; the next heartbeat I was looking up at the ceiling of my car and trying to figure out what the hell had happened!

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Melody performed on stage in her first ever dance recital. That’s not really my accomplishment, but I was so proud of her! She was not afraid to be on stage with everyone looking at her. Personally it took me years to stand up in front of a group without feeling light headed and tongue tied. So, somehow we have taught her confidence, and that perhaps is partly my accomplishment.

9. What was your biggest failure?

I lost my patience and yelled pretty often. The terrible 2s were fine and we didn’t get more than one tantrum then. The Effing Fours have kicked my ass around the block and back again. Melody had a complete meltdown/tantrum over putting her shoes away that lasted more than 10 minutes and included her pounding her fists on the floor and bawling, shreaking, and kicking. There has been a lot of whining and complaining about going to bed, brushing teeth, putting dirty clothes in the hamper and taking showers. Basically, everything that is good for her she did not want to do. Conversely, everything bad for her she wanted to do in spades. Sigh. I felt like Mommy No No for a good portion of the year.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Yes, yes I did. The foot was a real problem. I wound up having surgery on July 1st, and then spending the summer on disability in various stages of hard cast, walking cast and brace. Although I am discharged from physical therapy (the worker’s comp won’t provide any more) I still have pain and discomfort quite often and my left foot is much weaker than my right. I will likely be in some stage of recovery for several more months.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

A Ford Escape Limited

12. Where did most of your money go?

See #11. Or Target.

13. What did you get really excited about?

There were several highlights in 2011 even with the surgery and car wreck. In April, my reenacting group was named “Best Civilian Camp” at the Prado Civil War event. This is huge for us and I am very proud of our efforts to portray history as accurately as possible. In June/July our home construction/repair/remodel work was finally finished. After the water leak in September 2010, it took ages to first get the project started; then once started it took forever to finish! But, now that it’s done I am very happy about it. In August, I went to Pittsburg to meet/see 15 of my closest friends who I had never before met in person. That was fabulous and then dovetailed into a too-short visit with my bestie in Tennesee. The end of the year brought a visit from my cousin and her family, plus a great family dinner with her parents and mine. We had our first kids table!

14. What song will always remind you of 2011?

Tonight, Tonight by Hot Chelle Rae

15. Compared to this time last year, are you:

– happier or sadder? I feel happier somehow. Sort of like, “I got through all that so I can take on whatever comes my way in 2012.” Plus Melody will turn 5 next month and I am looking forward to that.
– thinner or fatter? The same.
– richer or poorer? Richer I think but John is in charge of that.

16. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Sleep. Read. Bake. Make friends. I have difficulty making friends, and I’m honestly not all that good at keeping the few friends I do have. So, add maintain friendships.

17. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Saying no and shouting. I gave a spanking one night that made me cry more than Melody. I felt like an absolute jerk. Parents are not supposed to hurt their children right? But we have to provide discipline and punish them when they misbehave, otherwise we wind up with entitled little a-hole children who have no personal accountability for their actions. If I could go back and change things, I would not have given that spanking, lost my patience and my temper, or allowed things to get out of control in the first place.

18. How did you spend Christmas?

Wonderful morning with my little family, then my folks and sister came over for Christmas dinner. I do so love entertaining!

19. What was your favorite TV program?

I record nearly everything these days, but while I was on leave, I mowed through Netflix. I watched seven seasons of Emergency! I don’t really know why. Dexter of course; True Blood OF COURSE; Criminal Minds. I try to make time for First 48 occasionally too.

20. What were your favorite books of the year?

You can read my book reviews here on the site but I haven’t written one about every book I read. I’d have to say my favorite book of the year, the one which sticks with me the most, was Saving CeCe Honeycutt. It was a lovely and fullfilling book with a happy ending.

21. What was your favorite music from this year?

I discovered Mumford & Sons and my guilty pleasure/secret love for Korean pop groups. I continued to enjoy old favorites like P!nk and Lady Gaga, Weezer and Robbie Fulks.

22. What were your favorite films of the year?

I don’t think we made it to the theater more than two or three times. Once was for Cars 2 with Melody which was cute but not as good as the original. The other was for Twilight: Breaking Dawn, about which I will say no more. Oh, we might also have seen Tangled in the theater, which was super cute. Our most recent favorite (mine and Melody’s) is the 2003 Peter Pan. It is very close to the original book Peter & Wendy by J. M. Barrie, at times verbatim. So far we have watched it six or seven times.

23. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

Oh, my birthday, yes thank yo for reminding me. I turned 43 on December 9th. We stayed home and had Italian, then a week later went out for brunch with the rest of my family.

24. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Wow, this is difficult. I think a longer visit with Tara might have made my shitty summer more worth it. Two and a half days per year just isn’t enough and we both cried after we said goodbye.

25. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?

American Middle Class Working Mom, e.g. slacks, blouses and sensible shoes.

26. What kept you sane?

I don’t think I started out sane, so perhaps this isn’t the best question for me. What kept me from losing the rest of my mind? John, Melody, getting the remodel in my house completed after 10 months of destruction, good insurance, my mom’s group, Tara.

27. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011.

Be careful wearing new heels to walk on linoleum. There will surely be one wet spot on the floor for you to slip in.

December 7th

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 17:43:07 GMT

When I was a little girl in grade school, one of my best girlfriends was named Denise S. We just hit it off and had a lot of fun together. She had beautiful, neat handwriting and she always counseled me to try to write neatly because my test answers would never fit onto those little lines due to my poor penmanship. Anyway, Denise was a good friend of mine, plus her birthday and mine were only two days apart. Somehow, when you almost share a birthday with someone it is like an extra little bond.

Funny thing about birthdays, they happen on whatever day the date falls on, whether you like it or not. There are people born on February 29th, December 25th, July 4th, September 11th, and Decembeer 7th. In some instances – such as Christmas babies – the person gets a little screwed in the birthday celebration because there are “Christmas/Birthday” gifts. These can be gifts a little more extravagant than a gift for a birthday or Christmas. I have gotten a couple gifts like that since my birthday is in December, but they were really nice gifts, thanks to understanding family members. When it’s one crummy gift, though, and called a Christmas/Birthday present, then it’s just that the giver was lazy. Meh.

Anyway, that is not what I’m thinking about today. When I was a girl, we talked about December 7th being Pearl Harbor day. I don’t think I need to go into the history of Pearl Harbor, but if someone reading this doesn’t know the significance of that name, here is a link to a Wiki on it. Needless to say, it is a day for reflection and memorial, appreciation for those who sacrificed all and those who survived hell.

December 7th is also my friend Denise’s birthday and I remember a specific conversation we had about the fact that her birthday fell on Pearl Harbor day. Her parents always made sure to celebrate her birthday just as any normal kid would. It wasn’t her fault she was born on such a day, so why punish her. It was then that I realized that birthdays fall on every day of the year, whether you like it or not. My own daughter was born the day before Valentine’s Day. I will always celebrate her birthday AND celebrate Valentine’s Day, but never one combined with the other.

I read a particularly sad Dear Abby column recently about a family that did not celebrate their daughter’s birthday because it fell on September 11th. They felt it was disrespectful to our national tragedy just 10 short years ago. There was no consideration that their daughter might have felt slighted because all her brothers and sisters had normal birthday celebrations. There was not even a half birthday or early/late birthday celebration. They just ignored this girl’s birthday completely. I find that disrespectful to the girl and pathetic on the part of the parents. It wasn’t her fault, after all.

If your birthday is today, then I wish you happy birthday. I am capable of separately having a moment of reflection for one of our greatest losses in our national history. As I learned so early in life from my friend Denise, the two are not intertwined. Happy birthday, my old friend, wherever you are!

Hallelujah!

Sun, 27 Nov 2011 18:30:23 GMT

How I wish I had been in that food court!!

Book review: The Map of Time

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 19:29:41 GMT

Those who know me know I love historical novels, and The Map of Time definitely delivers. Set in late 1890s London and featuring H. G. Wells as a character, the novel takes the reader on a journey from Jack the Ripper’s Whitechapel through to a future of time travel. It is clever, with twists that had me considering the next possible outcome during the times I could not be reading (oh, that dastardly job of mine!).

The author, Felix Palma, wrote the book in Spanish, which I find intriguing in itself. We English-speaking nations don’t generally consider that “other people” might be fascinated with the social mores and scientific discoveries of 19th century England. Mr Palma definitely painted what I believe to be an accurate portrait of the time and was able to believably describe both the lowest classes of prostitutes and the highest classes of the wealthy elite.

The novel is structured as three intertwined stories, all involving the concept of time travel, which H. G. Wells wrote about so famously in his novel The Time Machine, published in 1885. It simultaneously questions the consequences of changing the past as well as exploring the daily lives and loves of its protagonists. Some of the plot lines were so well developed that no detail was left untouched, all the way to exposing one of the source of one character’s fortune having come from the importation of toilet paper – an irony that is both hilarious and revealing of his inner compass.

It’s a bit of steampunk, a bit of history, a bit of science fiction, and a bit of romance, all smash together quite well. It will have you secretly trying out Victorian vernacular while you wax poetical on the possibilities of the 4th dimension. I highly recommend this one!

Book Review: The Cypress House

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 21:14:07 GMT

I listened to The Cypress House as an audio book without knowing much about the story. This is my favorite way to enjoy a book – letting it carry me along without expectations. There are certainly books that I can predict a little bit because of previous experience, such as in a series, or in the case of a Stephen King book – I expect them to be good. But there is something to be said for the naked reading of an unknown story and allowing it to unfold in its unpredictable fashion.

The Cypress House by Michael Koryta is a great story. I don’t want to spoil it for you, but if you like you can click here for the publishers summary. There is a touch of supernatural, a lot of mystery, heroics and romance; the ghosts of the past intruding on the lives of the characters. Set during the Great Depression, Arlan and Paul are workers on one of the many public works projects designed to rejuvinate Americans and break the Depression. Their travel brings them to Florida right before a terrible hurricane, and sets off a series of suspenseful twists and turns that cut open the underbelly of 1930s corruption and criminal enterprise. The novel includes history, empathy and some weirdness that is so unbelievable it is somehow easily acceptable. Arlan is an old fashioned man’s man who might remind you of your grandpa – no nonsense, hard working, dedicated, but loving and caring under the tough calluses and rough edges.

The story unfolds in such a way as to bring you back, revealing a peek at a time and allowing you the reader to put together the pieces of the multiple mysteries at a pace that is quick yet deliberate. The story builds to a crescendo with an unexpected twist and then falls into a satisfying resolution. In a nutshell, it was great.

Book review: Dog On It

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 18:21:05 GMT

I have read several books lately, so I’m going to fill up the book review section for you! First up is Dog On It by Spencer Quinn.

I decided to try out a mystery/detective story, and this book was well reviewed by other readers. It also has a different take on story telling – the dog’s perspective. Intriguing. The dog is named Chet and he almost graduated from police K9 training school, but for some sort of a mishap during his final exam. Bernie is his owner and a private detective. The two are inseparable and very loyal to one another. While Bernie does the talking, Chet does the smelling, chasing and tail wagging. Chet narrates the story in a hard-boiled detective style, bringing to mind Phillip Marlow and Sam Spade, while keeping his doggy good humor and short memory.

The story is a good entree to a series, as there are a slew of Chet & Bernie Mysteries on the shelves. A frightened mom contacts Bernie to find her possibly missing (possibly just acting out) teenaged daughter. Bernie investigates in the way people do and Chet does his part too, finding contraband, bad smelling house pets and clues along the way. Not only do they follow the leads to solve the mystery, Chet and Bernie show us the dedication between humans and dogs that has gone back thousands of years. There is a reason we call dogs “man’s best friend.”

I would read another Chet & Bernie Mystery in the future, if only to find out what mischief Chet has gotten up to in the next installment. If you want a light read that is funny in parts and exciting in others, give this book a try.

I still get giddy

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 05:12:53 GMT

November 9th is our wedding anniversary, and even though it has been eight years, I still get a little giddy when I hear John refer to me as his wife. Silly? Maybe. So what. :-) Here are a few of my favorite photos from that happy, happy day.

These three surely got into lots of trouble as kids!

Before celebs were doing a sand ceremony, we blended our sand. As our minister said, you can spend eternity separating these grains of sand and never get it right; family is like that too.

At 83 years old, Grandma danced the jitterbug with her great grandson David Jr.

My favorite picture of the day, taken on Jon Davis’ digital camera and not by either of the two photographers we had on hand. Know one reason why I love love love this photo?

Yep, that’s my folks on their wedding day 50+ years ago. :-) Nothing beats the happy-leaving-the-church-smiles, does it.

Click here to see a few more of my favorite photos from our wedding day.

Pumpkin Patch at Tanaka Farm

Sun, 23 Oct 2011 00:33:51 GMT

Orange County has a great agricultural history that is shrinking year by year as farms are turned into housing tracts or shopping malls, but there are a few hold outs, and one is Tanaka Farm in Irvine. Believe it or not, Irvine was one of the largest agricultural centers in the county at one point. The land is fertile and early on, it was plentiful. Tanaka Farm is an organic farm right in the heart of Irvine, on University Drive near Michelson. They are a working farm that produces fruits and vegetables year-round. The Tanaka family is 3rd generation Japanese and are hands-on owners. They offer school education programs, tours, and lucky for us, a pumpkin patch!

While I have been to farms in the past, Melody had not and so I decided that picking out a pumpkin from the farm where it grew – rather than the grocery store or in some parking lot somewhere – we would go. Today! Let’s go! Once we arrived at the farm, we could tell it was very popular, as there were numerous cars and even bus parking! The farm has a festival atmosphere, with a petting zoo, games for kids, face painting, a wagon ride, corn maze and of course, pumpkin patch. For a reasonable price, you can exhaust yourself.

Melody wasn’t a big fan of the petting zoo because the goats scared her. They were, as goats tend to be, hungry for the food we had. We did talk her into petting one, but that was it. She was much more interested in getting her face painted! We then caught the wagon ride back around the farm – including a quick stop at the pumpkin cannon – and went over to the pumpkin patch.

Click on the photo of Melody to get to the gallery where there are more photos from our day. We really enjoyed ourselves and I would definitely go back to Tanaka Farm, either off season or for the pumpkin patch again. We headed home with three pumpkins that we will carve for Halloween. It was a great day!

Preschool lesson on please and thank you

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 20:37:17 GMT

I will try to keep this from becoming a rant because I honestly want answers. There are a number of things lately that have reminded me that people can be so very annoying and rude, and I just don’t see a reason for it.

Example one: Melody’s school has only 10 parking spaces because it is a converted front office of a former elementary school. The main, large parking lot for the school is around the corner and has upwards of 50 spaces. Each space at the preschool is clearly marked “preschool parking only.” Right next to the small lot is a large field where youth soccer, baseball/softball, and football teams practice. Instead of parking in the large public lot around the corner, many sports parents will park in the preschool lot. This results in limited to no parking for the preschool parents on a regular basis. The preschool director has even placed fliers on the sports team cars, reminding them the preschool parking lot is for the preschool. These sports parents do not care that they are occupying the preschool parking. Why? Is it because they feel entitled to it for some reason? Is it because they were burned by some preschool parent in the past and this is their way of sticking it to preschool parents everywhere? I think the real answer is they are too lazy to walk from the large public lot because it’s about 75 yards away from the preschool lot.

Example two: rush hour traffic is bad enough, but there are always “those drivers” who have to weave in and out, cutting people off, not letting others merge in, just so they can stay one car ahead of the other guy. You know who they are and they are annoying, right? Have you ever noticed that by the time traffic is moving a little better, these drivers are somehow behind you again? How is it possible when they spent the last 30 minutes cutting people off and zipping ahead car by car? My only guess is karmic (carmic?) payback. The other type of driver is the one who cuts in and out and tailgates in fast moving traffic. Again, so unnecessary and in faster traffic very unsafe. They get to their location maybe a couple minutes sooner than if they drove safely. But why is it necessary in the first place?

Those are just two examples but you know there are more out there, every day more and more. Why is that? Have we become such an egocentric society that getting to the offramp two seconds sooner than another driver somehow makes us feel better? I wonder at times if we have. Think about it. If a group of people were walking down the street, the likelihood is low that one person in the group would rudely push people out of the way, just to get to the crosswalk first. We say things on the internet we would never say to someone in person. Parents have become desensitized to courtesy because the so-called role models – celebrities and sports stars – don’t often have any.

We work so hard to teach our children to say please and thank you, yet adults neglect this common courtesy on a regular basis. Have you ever noticed when you look into someone’s eyes and say thank you, it really makes a difference? Just by acknowledging they exist through looking at them, you have made that person aware that you appreciate them. Doesn’t matter if the person is the janitor of the building or an executive of the company. Saying please and thank you shows people that you value them. We all want to be valued. Just imagine if everyone took the one second necessary to say a sincere thank you to the person holding the door or letting them go ahead in the grocery store line. It might not be the tonic to cure the ills of America, but at least we would all be living the lessons we teach our children.

Tech girl

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 18:30:50 GMT

It was 2007, Melody was 2 months old. My iPod was broken and I needed wanted a new one. This was Melody’s first visit to the Apple store, Mecca of Tech (Techa?). I knew before I left the house that I would take this picture and I hoped no one thought I was too much of a “fanboy” girl. I just thought it would be funny for John.

And now, Steve Jobs is gone. We can only hope that Apple doesn’t go the way they did when he was ousted in the 80s. The products are reliable and elegant. Apple changed the way people communicate with the iPhone bringing together all the platforms and devices into one. I hope that one day, Melody will be able to plan her child’s first visit to the Apple store or whatever its equivalent is in 20 years.

Working Mom's Chicken Parmesan

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 03:05:29 GMT

So, every once in a while I come up with a recipe that I love so much I just have to rave about it and tell everyone how wonderful I am it is. Tonight is one of those nights. I really wanted to have chicken parmesan for dinner tonight, but after reading a few recipes I realized that I just don’t have the time or the inclination to make the sauce or pound chicken into 1/2" pieces. So, being that I am a smart and creative lady, I made a few…alterations to suit my needs. Following is my recipe, which I call Working Mom’s Chicken Parmesan. You’re welcome.

Working Mom’s Chicken Parmesan

1.25 lb thin sliced chicken breast – Zacky or Foster Farms

1 large jar of your choice spaghetti sauce

1/3 cup chopped onions

2 T minced garlic

olive oil

Parmesan cheese

1 egg

Flour

Breadcrumbs

1/2 bag of your choice pasta noodles

Preheat oven to 450. Put on water to cook pasta. In a large skillet, warm olive oil and begin to cook onion and garlic.

Make an assembly line from three plates: 1. Flour 2. Beaten egg 3. Bread crumbs (Melody’s baby plates are great for this, sort of like really flat bowls)

Dredge the chicken slices in the flour, then dip in the egg, then in the bread crumbs. Put them in to cook with the onion & garlic. Cook for about 4 minutes per side until they are crispy.

When your water is boiling, cook the pasta.

Place the chicken cutlets in a large casserole dish (or if you skillet is oven safe and big enough, use that). Pour on any of the carmelized onions/garlic that are left in the skillet. Cover with your spaghetti sauce. By now your oven should be ready, so put this in the oven uncovered for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, drain your pasta and hold aside warm. Cook up a veggie of some kind in the microwave.

Serve the chicken slices over your cooked noodles and top with Parmesan cheese.

Total time start to finish is about 30 minutes. Enjoy!

Time travelers wanted, apply within

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 17:19:11 GMT

On the weekend of October 1-2, I will be heading back in time to the 1890s. And the 1940s, and the 1400s. How is this possible, you ask? I will be attending an event called Marching Thru History, which is a history timeline that takes place every year at Prado Regional Park in Chino, CA. A history timeline is necessarily military, because honestly, watching a reenactment of Shakespeare writing, or of Mr. Gutenberg running his famous printing press, or even the theoretical explorations of electricity by Marconi, while fascinating on some levels, would be rather uninspiring to the general public. So, we have wars reenacted. The musket fire, horses charging, cannons blasting and men surging forth are exciting afterall.

The Marching Thru History Exhibition includes camps from the ancient Romans all the way through the Vietnam War, within a lovely grassy park with plenty of shade and other amenities. The greatest attention is paid to the detail of camps, uniforms, and thankfully, the civilians who accompanied these great actions in history. We will be in the American Frontier section, along side friends from the Indian Wars and Civil War up through the Spanish American War. I hope you will stop by and find us at Mrs. Brewer’s Parlour. You might even find yourself transported back to a tea party between the ladies of the parlour and the Calvary officers just returned from the Indian Wars.

Finding beauty

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 03:50:34 GMT

You might think that coming off the high of two days with friends and plenty of cocktails my week could not get any better, but for me it did. Sunday I flew down to Knoxville to visit with my bestie Tara. It was three and a half days of glorious happiness that I haven’t had since we saw each other last year. Starting with baked brie and wine on Sunday evening and concluding with Waffle House on Wednesday morning, this was by far my best vacation in ages! You might not think that Knoxville is all that sophistocated, what with the proliferation of Cracker Barrel, but Knoxville has something that we do not have here in California, and that is Painting With A Twist. This art studio teaches painting classes to novices and at the end of a class, you go home with your finished work of art.

I had some trepidation when we signed up, but then I heard we could bring our own wine. I figured with enough wine any painting can look fantastic! So, fearlessly we went to the class one evening, ready to unleash our inner artists. We had signed up to paint a piece called Black Dress. The instructor takes the class step by step through the painting process, first with the background and then with the focal point, finishing up with some finer flourishes. It is very interesting to see the variations that occur in a group – one lady had an entirely pink background, one had bold strokes of color all through the background, I had large brush strokes and Tara had fine blending. We all heard the same instructions but each has different taste, and so, completely different paintings.

I won’t give away the secret, I just can’t, but just know that you do not need any sort of talent to leave that room with a beautiful painting. I am delighted with the results and although I don’t know yet where I am going to hang this in my house, I am incredibly proud of it! The class had some mushy text they wanted us to write on the painting, something about not judging yourself and feeling strong about your appearance. Tara and I went with something that embodied our few days together: shopping. We shopped until our feet hurt! Tara had found a quote from Carrie Bradshaw (Sex in the City) which was “I like my money where I can see it. Hanging in my closet.” So, that’s what we put on our paintings. No sentiments of empowerment or individual strength for us, just pure consumerism!

Even though it was an all-too-short visit, the real beauty of this trip was not in the painting. It was in the ease with which we slide right back together after being apart for over a year. It’s tough having a best friend who lives 2000+ miles away. We don’t get to talk every day and you might think that the little details of life that we miss would serve to thrust us further apart. But they don’t. I think we pack as much feeling and enjoyment into every second we are together, even if we are watching True Blood or American Dad. You don’t find friends like my T every day, and so I appreciate every second we get together, and in the months until we see each other again, I take those memories out and relish the laughter, the joy and the comfort of our friendship.

I sometimes find it difficult to be completely at ease with people, even close friends and family. I’m always worrying about my appearance, or what Melody is getting into, or if I remembered to complement a new hairstyle. I know, insecurities all. But with Tara, I can completely relax and truly be myself. That is a beautiful relationship. One for which I am greatful every single day.