First of all Pics, the Coolest Halloween Giftie ever from Dan Guy! Who knew someone makes these???? I think it might be a cat. Not sure tho, it didn't come with anything but itself. At any rate, I love it! Spooky House will love it! Thank you Dan Guy! (Who, it is rumored, is coming to the Paul and Lorraine Shows at Charlie's next weekend...)
These next are photos from our Haunted House, which was more fun than you can know. We had a Mad Scientist Room, Vampire Room, Freaky Scary Room and the Witch Room (mine) I don't take the best of all pictures, sadly, and one doesn't have much TIME when Haunting Things.
I didn't have to buy much (ok, anything) for the Witch Room, just sort of raided the Spooky House. Didn't deplete it much. (Or at all)
Here is Boss's Rabbit. Or Bunny. Hard to say. Sure does LOOK cute, but for the longest time, we got Bunnies every month, that weren't exactly, well, what they seemed. Very strange they were. This one opens up to have Fangs. Creature-creature was made by the same artist, I would have brought her too, but she is fragile these days. I will try and find the name of the artist, as she is really good.
I think the point of this next picture is that Web is REALLY hard to string up all over the place. Unless you are a Spider. I used a staple gun.
Love and Happy Haunting, All,
Lorraine
BOO!!!!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you had a blast :-)
It looks like a frabjous evening!!
ReplyDeleteThose are some great pics. I love how everything there lives in Spooky House already.
ReplyDeleteLove the bunny!
ReplyDeleteDid the Bunny come from Acataphasia Grey's Unfortunate Animal of the Month Club?
ReplyDeleteI bought a frankencritter for a friend last year (can't find a working link at present)
Maybe spiders use some type of spidery stapple gun too...
ReplyDeleteAwesome fun!
ReplyDeleteI never have to do much to get ready for halloween either. It's the one day of the year that when i wear my normal clothes, no one thinks anythign of it. Or of my skull table cloth, ravens, vulture, etc. ;-)
The Ventress costume really wasn't much of a stretch for me either. It was my Goth makeup of the old days plus some purple eyeshadow accents. Ventress really just looks like a vampire minus the teeth and plus a couple of light sabers!
That was her Marjorie!! I wish we could find her again, I loved her work!
ReplyDelete"Is the wizard behind the bunny?"
ReplyDeleteI admired two young gentlemen we encountered toward the end of our evening, who were roaming the neighborhood as Zombie Hunters and handing out "rations" to "survivors" they encountered, asking whether we'd seen any Unfortunates they needed to seek out and destroy.
Q, have sent you her e-mail.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of costumes, did you all see Edgar Wright's gallery of Shauns of the Dead?
excellent! looks like a fun time.
ReplyDeleteLooks like Halloween was fun for all - we went out to dinner and to a Tchaikovsky concert. Low key and tame but a good time anyway. We NEVER get trick or treaters anyway :-(
ReplyDeleteCalvin buried in the comforter for hours in the same room where Steve and I are cleaning (shoveling) out his closet (argh!) We wondered if we should roust him, when Steve pointed out that Calvin had comforter, me, Steve and nobody bothering him. Sounded a bit like cat, dog, beer, laptop...
Watched Shaun of the Dead for the first time yesterday - loved it. Loved that his mum came back to life as a backbench MP for Flydale North.
ReplyDeleteFantastic photos Lorraine. Looks like you had a blast!
ReplyDeleteHave to share with you all.. because I am really excited. My sister Vivian Dair and her husband Chris made it to Number 7 of aiiradio.net Top 40 after being nominated last week for their song Angels!
There's an Acataphasia Grey on Facebook - her user photo looks a great deal like the person in one of the links I found about her.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to find her again, she was really good, and her art truly something our sorts love.
ReplyDeleteI could do a blog on her, if we find her.
You will thank me.
Cooking for Boss now, for when he gets home tomorrow, he just left Singapore. Not SURE what he will want when he gets back, but I will have cooked it, trust me.
Nothing like having food waiting for you when you get home!! YUM!
ReplyDeleteI'm making a massive pot of butternut squash soup. Waiting for the squash to cool so i can scoop it into the pot. num num.
Oh man, that looks like so much fun. I want a Haunted House.
ReplyDeleteBreakfast time now.
Oh, looks like you had fun! I'd love to have the name of the person behind Creature-creature, when you do find it, because that thing is spectacular.
ReplyDeleteIf you keep up the skeleton-getting you're going to end up with a zoo. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Jut remember that dinos will not fit in the Spooky House! Most won't, anyhow.
Hullo, fiends. I think I'm back. You'll fill me in, yes?
It is, indeed, a cat skeleton! I hope the bengals embrace it and none are traumatized by it. ("See what happens to naughty bengals?", I imagine Lorraine saying ominously the next time one steps out of line.)
ReplyDeleteThe Halloween fun looked amazingly rad!
(aaaaand ticky.)
ReplyDeleteYES!I can traumatize the Bengals, THEN they will do as I bid them!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteEl! You are back! This is good, missed you , we did!
Cooking all done, or cooking itself. All ready. Boss can come home now.
I've possibly missed it on twitter overnight, but I'd love to know what Boss and AFP say to Sharon and Bill after their Halloween shenanigans. They cracked me up.
ReplyDeleteOn Boss's part I think it was "Oh God>"
ReplyDeleteAfp said being her apparently meant dressing in a bra, as there were a lot of Hers...
I never ever know what to expect from Dan Guy. Is he coming to the show in an overcoat and bowler hat, to keep his public face in check (as in hidden)?
ReplyDeleteTired ticky box.
ReplyDeleteWonderful moon here tonight.
Great photos.
EEK.
ReplyDeleteOh my. Thanks to whomever suggested 'Smoke' as an S costume (I'm too lazy to go back and look). Dressed up all in gray, spiked my white hair, painted my face with tendrils on gray....and a couple of people even guessed it right!
DD's friends were the best, though, in stilts that gave them animal feet, and made her bf about 7.5 feet tall. one Sphinx Salaryman, and one Satyr Stoner..... (not self-referential, either)
I LOVE the cat skellie, and can just see Mim and Venus circling it, eyes glowing, waiting for a chance to wrestle.
Sally, are you out from under water yet? FB has gotten so irritatingly random lately that I don't know if you have solved the flood....
The part of the bedroom that was drenched is slowly drying (and smelling. why does wet carpet pong so much?) We managed to halt the flooding to about 5 metres by 1 metre I guess...but that was totally drenched. Fingers crossed that we won't get another downpour like that, but so far this week is looking decidedly
ReplyDeleteunstable.
Well, congratulations, Dabbler!
ReplyDeleteDragonsally,
ReplyDeleteAm adding pong to my vocabulary. Hoping for no downpour.
Best,
Billy B
Tickitty.
ReplyDeletethat sounds like an excellent costume dabbler :)
ReplyDeleteI think the time changed today, but now in this world who can say? My phone, cable and computer all decide when this is happening and do it...
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty tired for 10 tho, so I think it might have. Be cool if this happened randomly and you just got sort of bonus hours every so often....
hey lorraine were is johnny cash?
ReplyDeleteVery glad to have extended your vocabulary BB.
ReplyDeletePong is an issue in DDs closet, currently. We keep finding possible sources, but the smell continues. I suspect a very small, very dead mouse. But have not been able to locate it.
ReplyDeleteThis, too, shall pass.
It's November? Seriously? Oh. Do we have any writers writing? Seem to recall we'd several last November.
ReplyDeleteHeartfelt sympathies Sal, flooding is so not fun. And yes, the inevitable smell, hope you have access to a dehumidifier?
Loved the Spooky Pics, off to go check out this Acataphasia Grey...
No NaNo for me this year. Work has eaten my brain AND energy. Will try to write at least 100 words each day.
ReplyDeleteLike Spacedlaw, my brain has other obligations, but I'm planning to write something every day. I let work and other work eat all my writing time, and I want it back.
ReplyDeleteExcept the days lost to me through cooking for 50 people for an entire weekend with not enough help. Yikes!
Yickes indeed.
ReplyDeleteMy Boss is back for the month, which is enough writer for me for this month, tho I too, will try and write something every day. I think. Yes. I will.
ReplyDelete(Do things promised before tea count?)
Nothing before caffeine counts (I should therefore disclose that I have not had coffee yet)
ReplyDeleteBoss home for an entire month? That's got to be a record lately. Happy, happy Cabal (and Maddy and you, of course)
that is so DEFINITELY a cat. I think you can use that for aversion therapy with the Bengals...as in...look where you can end up if you don't stop (fill in the blanks here!) Danth Guyth oozes coolness.
ReplyDeleteDrew leaves Wednesday for LADY GAGA!!
I am so happy for him, and for this Lady, i don't mind giving him up. We are hearing very good things about your gal Quiche.
ok, i am going back to work, don't you love this day-light savings>>>? will post an October-catch up blog soon as i can, i have a pile up of photos...xoxox
She is the BEST, our Lady! I can't wait to see her on tour, and Mr Drew. Mads is really excited too, and says " so, we are SO going aren't we????"
ReplyDeleteOh yes we are.
Not sure about daylight savings, I didn't really change anything, just the time seems different.
Are you maybe going to see her in Chicago? Are you? Huh? Huh?
ReplyDeleteI have decided that Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi" is the perfect song for Twitter-stalkers:
ReplyDelete"I'm your biggest fan, I'll follow you until you love me."
Amusing for me, because I married my stalker; less so for those who have to deal with the malicious sort, I'm sure.
I'm not stalking Lorraine.
ReplyDeleteAm I?
;-)
That sounds like a good story, Dan.
Jess, should have had the English muffin & cream cheez, just sayin'
ReplyDeleteHope you start feeling better.
OSS, nothing counts even AFTER the caffeine, until it starts working :-)
Like the story of the creation of the BMG "My So-Called Life" dvd box set and how it ended with Ross Rojek going to prison, the story of marrying my internet stalker is best told in person. ^_^
ReplyDeleteNot sure where we are going OSS, kind of depends on schedule, weekend would work best for Mads, it will be a quick in and out tho, I am thinking.
ReplyDeleteYou are not a stalker. We have stalkers and they are not at all fun. Icky in fact.
Tho I am sure Danguys was a different situation...
"I married my stalker" could be my NaNoWriMo sentence. if I was doing it, that is.
ReplyDelete:-)
When I shared that sentence with my DD she said, "Listen, secret admirers don't exist any more. They are all labeled as stalkers. Think about it."
ReplyDeleteThinking there is a major difference between admiration and obsession, is what I'm thinking.
Jess! Stop making me laugh out loud in the shop please!
ReplyDeleteoh that was brilliant. just what i needed to start back on a dreary monday morning. it's always sad taking down the halloween decorations:( i am leaving up some of the bats in my office though, is that unprofessional?
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you twice as the previously mentioned Dara O'Briain was also on with Mr Ross so just watched that too.
ReplyDeleteCould do with more cowbells.
ReplyDeletePretty funny!
ReplyDeleteI still have bats in my office. And dead things. And monsters. We like them.
Maybe I should try that. It might work for the fever - especially if I do my own ringing - but what will it do to my headache? I think Id' better take off my eyes...
ReplyDelete"I still have bats in my office. And dead things. And monsters. We like them."
ReplyDeleteLines of the day ...
So, it seems that my poem - the one the Fiends to kindly commented on, on teenink.com - did not make the magazine. Well, maybe better luck next time. It just means a lot that so many of you liked it, and others liked it as well.
I meant, er, "so" kindly commented on.
ReplyDeleteQuick Lucy update - she had her feeding tube removed today and she is EATING on her own which is a wonderful thing. I think she has turned the corner. Thank you again to all of you; for good wishes, reading my updates, and the wonderful donations.
ReplyDeleteThat's marvelous, Bengalgirl.
ReplyDeleteLooks like we may be Chicago bound to pick up 2 more fosters. Then I will have almost as many Bengals as you Lorraine. But more dogs I think. Because we have 3 of those too.
ReplyDeleteShantra, how do the Bengals and dogs get on?
ReplyDeleteAnd hi everyone...too tired to add much.
We've a big fuzzy spider on one of our bookshelves that I'm reluctant to take down. Perhaps we shan't. And when the winter holidays come 'round, we'll just put a little Elf hat on it. :D
ReplyDeleteI've adapted the NaNo idea to dedicate this month to writing a peer-review pub I've put off for a long, long while. I started this morning!
well dragonsally, Sakura doesn't really like any of them but they are wonderful dogs and give her space. Kasey our cocker spaniel has a run in with her now and again but sometimes they share the couch. Other times she is merely the 'evil black one' to Sakura and to be avoided. Apollo doesn't give a damn, we think he had to be raised with dogs because he was not in the least bothered by them the minute he came out of quarantine. As long as they all tolerate each other I don't expect them to be bosom buddies and everyone here gets their 'own special place'. I think that helps.
ReplyDeleteLorraine I did gmail you earlier. We have a wonderful dog in our shelter (Pitbull) who has been there since August. He is only a 1 yr old and is holding his own, but I want him out of there and into his own home. Please see if we can spread the word he is in Winnebago County shelter.
That's great news about Lucy! Glad to hear it!
ReplyDeleteAnd good luck with the new Fosters, Shantra! Consider the word spread on your Pitbull, I can't do much for dogs, and don't know pitbulls at all, but I am all for ANY animal finding a home..
Na, what are you calling your spider? Are you fostering or adopting it?
Mads concert was great, they rocked a Brandenberg and soem Hayden, and did pretty good with Adagio for Strings, which is a pretty gutsy piece for a high school orchestra.
Had a great time. Then we came home and played Lady Gaga on guitar with 2 voices. Not so much good, but a LOT of fun.
Darn tired, but thinking my Boss is more so....
http://www.wcasrock.org/petlistdogs.htm
ReplyDeleteHere is the link so you can all see Dutch. Thanks Lorraine, he is SUCH a sweet young dog.
And if we get the girls, they are 2 yr old brown spotted twin sisters.
Christopher Walken - "OH!!!" Vair funny!
ReplyDeleteCongratulate me, O Fiendly Ones - I got rid of TWO volunteer jobs that had been giving me pains. Hurrah! Apparently, if you're pants enough at something, they will come in (eventually,) take the hammer out of your trembling hand, wash you off, and make sure you take your medicine every day. The you get a note to let everyone know that you're okay. I'm fine! I have a note that says so!
Heehee
Dan that was a GREAT gift. A cat skelly is just the right thing for the Spooky House. I'm kind of jealous actually;)..I love skellies of all kinds.
ReplyDeleteI spent Halloween at a rockin' party with the Phreaques in Laffalot. Had no costume, but a great time was had anyway. Helped initiate my friend Djenn's house with post-Samhain brunch for 20 or so the next morning, and then promply fell on my face for a bit.
Love that last picture of you, Quiche. Very "RAWR!"
Great news on the Lucy front.:)
Kitty, Drew is a lucky guy, to go tour with the Queen of Sparkly. Wonder how much set stuff she's dragging around?
The pix of Birdchick and Bill in costume really cracked me up!
Nathalie I hope you feel better when you read this. Sick + Work is Just Plain Yuck.
*commence woe is me*
ReplyDeleteBedroom flooded Sat night.
Cat poops in bedroom on carpet Tuesday night
*ends woe is me*
I mean, really, universe. What are you saying to me?
And Quiche - what was the name of that stuff again, you know the get yukkies out stuff.
OH MY FODS, congratulations, Fluffy.
ReplyDeleteAny help you can give on Dutch and I saw Jordan was still there too. I am going to blog about Cage Crazy.. you have NO idea how many dogs we lose that we love due to that.
ReplyDeleteThe Bengal sisters are ON for tomorrow. I will blog about them too after they get here.
Where are you all? I've never turned the computer on in the morning to find only two comments over night.
ReplyDelete*tap*tap*tap* heeelllloooo in there.
Well, I am working. Albeit for a sleeping Boss, but working none the less...
ReplyDeleteI don't know, I'd say that sounds like working. Do PA's actually ever ... like, not work for the Boss?
ReplyDeleteHi, Sally. I'm alive, truly I am. I was working too. Not in the same way Quiche is working, but I was working - school and then library job and then later tonight is Community Chorus. Good fun, except for the really startlingly awful joked the director tells at break-time.
Hi Sally, I'm kind of here. I have the flu (assumed to be H1N1 since I've gotten the seasonal flu shot). Not working the rest of the week, which is the only silver lining to this.
ReplyDeleteI'm in training all day, bored out of my skull for the most part. I'm trying to pay attention, honest, but nearly all of this stuff is plain intuitive to me.
ReplyDeleteI wish we still had a fiends chat room.
I've been (for me) twittering and LJ commenting up a storm for want of social interaction.
At least class will be over soon, then I can go back to Jodyth's house for company, good books, soup and "V".
First...Toni. ugh. lots of rest for you gal, and be better yesterday!
ReplyDeleteAhhh, so work and Twitter has everyone's attention. Haven't had enough tea yet to get to Twitter.
Hi Sal, I'm working too, just posted a blog on the UK's last Hangman if anyone's interested - http://www.ravenbooks.ie/ramblings.html
ReplyDeleteNearly bedtime for me, looking forward to a couple more pages of The Pesthouse, highly recommended if you like your post-apocalyptic fiction.
Oh and, so I don't take undue credit, I don't write the Raven blog, just publish pieces my friend likes to write.
ReplyDeleteHi, indanth! Welcome to the Fabulous World of Fiends! Grab a nearby white, buckled jacket, then head over to the table filled with personalization supplies and have fun. :)
ReplyDeleteWill catch up with everyone else later. Maybe. ;)
Argh. Work is winning.
ReplyDeleteI had a brilliant idea a while ago, wrote a grant, got funding. Lots of funding, including some for hiring a person who knew how to execute my brilliant idea.
Couldn't find anyone with those skills (ones I don't have and didn't want to take the time to acquire). Hired someone with supposedly-related skills to at least do the gruntwork. She did a *&^#@*&@^ awful job, doing neither what I asked nor what she told me she was doing.
I had to start over from scratch after she left, and am trying to pick up the skills on the fly. It isn't going so well, and it looks like I screwed it all up again. I know just enough about this subject to get myself into trouble. Repeatedly.
I think I might have it finally under control, but I thought that last time. And the time before. And... well. You get the idea.
It is a really good idea, and I have people outside my lab pressuring me to finish it because they want the results. Which is good, and bad. But all I wanted to do is hire someone to do it for me!
Data, please get better.
ReplyDeleteLouisa, made me want to read the book, tastes tend to run to the macabre.. probably why I am a fiend.
I hope you feel better soon, DataGoddess!
ReplyDeleteHey fiends. I've been laid low by some sinus stuff (cold? allergies? phase of moon?) So I've been asleep nearly all day. Phoebe's been loving it.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear you're really ill DG. Feel better soon!
Phiala, that totally sucks. I hope you're able to fix the project soon.
That sounds like fun, Emily. I wish I could carry a tune.
Sympathies to you, Dan, bored to tears in useless training, when I'm sure you can think of lots of other things you could enjoy learning.
Sally, do you suppose your cat was "commenting" on the post-flood smell? I hope you can get your bedroom clean and dry soon. I've had a roof-flood once; what a mess.
Shantra, wonderful rescue work you're going there.
And now, I guess I'd better eat something, what with sleeping all day.
I'll sing for you tonight, OSS.
ReplyDeleteOSS sorry you're feeling bad.
ReplyDeleteSeems like we're all a little sick. I'm staying home from meditation group tonight, headache, stomach not happy, bad cough, the list goes on but I am going to stop :-)
oh dear. soothing and healing thoughts to all who are under the weather.
ReplyDeleteShantra -I did wonder if the yukky smell attracted Tys. Maybe she figured we wouldn't notice because of it?
My blog is a tomb and all the Fiends have fled....
ReplyDeleteI'm just back from shopping!
ReplyDeleteLooks like you and me, Sally. I'm just trying to stay awake until time for bed. If I sleep now it will be bad.
ReplyDeleteNothing interesting to say. Reading Diana Gabaldon for the firt time and watching an Underworld for the 100th
I'm doing nano. Very slowly. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm ba-a-a-a-ack.
ReplyDeleteMWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
And using LJ sign in and password does not work for Blogger, even if I do it twice.
ReplyDeleteXP
Ariandalen...oops.
ReplyDeleteI've just asked google for an invite to wave. Anyone Fiends using it?
Stopped reading. Now looking for cool photos of Mariska Hartigay. Good to be productive, I am thinking. Girl needs a goal.
ReplyDeleteI've been fighting a losing battle with my internet connection tonight. Now I'm back to what little I can do on the phone. Blech.
ReplyDeleteI'm sort of here. Still on a food high from the French Laundry last night!! Ticia set this one up, she rocks :D
ReplyDeleteI'll write it up tomorrow hopefully.
Incredible evening.
How are you liking the Gabaldon, Lorraine? I read her first book, but couldn't get into it enough to read the others.
ReplyDeletei have wave vampiress@googlewave.com but no invites. i'm not sure why i didn't get any invites at all.
ReplyDeletewe should get fiend wave going:) when i have invites i will share.
I suspect I will be the same OSS, it's ok, but I am not having any trouble putting it down...If her first book was Outlander.
ReplyDeleteDon't know what google wave is but suspect I dont have time.
OH! I read Outlander! Forgot that's who wrote that, it was a really enjoyable read.
ReplyDeletewas at a shelter meeting tonight.. then at Sandy's house meeting GLBR Niles.. now bed up at 4am YUCK
ReplyDeleteHi fiends. Still awake Q?
ReplyDeleteI have been kinda busy with school/work stuff and kinda brain dead at the same time. Oddly this seems to work well.
Voted today. Nothing very exciting on the ballot here. Fingers crossed for the places where there were.
Sorry the for all the sick. Sending healing thoughts to fiends. I am a bit congested, but not really sick. I got some of that Dragon Tonic recommended by a fiend. I think it is keeping me pretty much sick free!
Yes, Outlander was first. It's not that it wasn't entertaining, just not enough to devote that much time to so many rather long books. But then, I'm a fairly slow reader.
ReplyDeleteKind of awake..Watching SUV and drinking tea.
ReplyDeleteI get frustrated with books that skimp on details. Anytime I have to stop and think WHOA, how could that happpen, or, that wasn't the case last chapter, they lose me.
Unless they surprise me, which this one hasn't done yet. I think I see where it's going too which is never good.
I'll finish it, I read really fast, but it needs to grab me more...
I just read a book that is not at all SFF but it certainly kept me reading. It's called "American Wife" and it is a novel loosely based on Laura Bush's life. Gave me a lot to think about -- more in terms of relationships than politics.
ReplyDeleteThe "too read" list is getting very long.
I think I meant to say "too much to read" or something. Must be bed time.
ReplyDeleteBrain is leaving me. Okay, so my brain is still in my skull, it's my mind that is going.
ReplyDeleteNot news, hunh? ;)
Ariane didn't carry a separate bucket to get candy for her sister on Halloween. That would be too much work. That's okay, Don dumped all the candy that Ariane collected with the little that was left over at home and they are sharing.
I ended up sick on Sunday; mother of all headaches and fever. Took four aspirin and didn't move for a couple of hours. Made it to a manageable level so that I was able to put glasses on to watch tv. Woke up Monday, no headache and no fever.
Seren tested negative for H1N1. She was also back at school yesterday, and celebrated her birthday today.
A (Google) Fiend Wave sounds interesting, Sally. I started to look into Wave, but haven't gotten back to it.
ReplyDelete"Don't Worry
Be Healthy!
Don't worry be healthy, now!"
::whistling::
Nighty-night, Fiends!
ReplyDeleteSo many fiends are ill (or close to it.:( Hope everyone feels better soon.
ReplyDeleteToni, that's why I'm too scared to get the shot..I tend to react badly to stuff like that.:/
Robyn, you went to French Laundry?? I totally have foodie jealousy!;)
I tried picking up that Gabaldon series because my sister was raving about it, but it was a bit too romance-y for me.
Morning All!
ReplyDeleteI wasn't around last night because I went out to a comedy gig (Jeremy Hardy - very good)
It did mean I didn't get home until 11.45, so I was *not* feeling enthusiastic when the alarm went off at 6 this morning.
Perhaps if I close by office door when i get to work I shall be able to snooze?
Hope everyone feeling ill gets better vrey soon.
Close the door and tell everyone you're doing research Marjorie...or meditating on a hard case maybe?
ReplyDeleteI read Outlander, didn't realize it had the romantic stuff but that's OK. Picked up the 2nd one, thinking, more of the same, when it went in a bit of an unexpected direction, enough to keep my interest. So now I've read them all (many pages!) except the new one.
ReplyDeleteThey're so long, it feels like going to a movie and staying for a week. And when I don't have time to read more than 2 or 3 pages at a time, it's restful to be reading the same book for so long. When I pick up something new it seems to take a bit more time to get into it than a few minute here and there.
Great literature? No. Fun and entertaining? Yes, for me at least.
Am reading Falling Free from the Vorkosigan saga, another long series :-)
I'm sleeping in a library, and it's made me late to training every morning because every night when I go to bed I see a book I want to read and every morning when I get dressed I see another book and think, "I'll just flip through it for a few minutes..."
ReplyDeleteI heard Diana Gabaldon speak (and read) at the LOC Book Festival one year and she was amazingly fun and funny and awesome. I started reading Outlander but didn't finish it, alas.
Morning!
ReplyDeleteI am going for a ride then in for a long day of work. I will do a new blog tonight if you e-mail/post me questions to answer, as I am sure I will be able to think of nothing...
Good morning, dear.
ReplyDeleteAm back in Paris (only until tomorrow evening) and stuck in a heated meeting.
I would say something nice to you in French, but I can't think of anything except "Je suis prest" which doesn't exactly help you.
ReplyDeleteI am ready to ride tho.
Good luck, Nathalie ...
ReplyDeleteGrueling rehearsal last night. We were separated into groups in a new room, so the rearrangement took about a half hour. The sopranos were categorized according to how their voices sounded, and I was a Burgundy - one whose voice is on the fuller, deeper side despite being soprano. And my friends were Roses, which means they have a soft and warm sound. Then there were the lemons - the light, bright-sounding people. It would have been more enjoyable if I liked the director.
More schoolwork now. I needed a small break. OH! And forgot to mention Benjamin went to Maine yesterday with Mass. Equality to campaign for the gay marriage bill in Maine. It didn't pass.
Are there any fiends about? I am in class and am BORED.
ReplyDeleteI can't tweet too much because I have it hooked to Facebook and some coworkers are friended there. ^_^
I am trying to see this as an opportunity to practice zen-like patience.
i'm faffing about not wanting to get ready to go into work
ReplyDeleteHaiku ping-pong time then...
ReplyDeleteI too am in a meeting.
I'm compiling software... sounds like everyone healthy enough to be at work is having a thrilling day.
ReplyDeleteI'm heading out to get blood drawn...blah! IT's a fasting bloodtest though so i have to go now before i fall over! Seems like if I'm such a vampire freak I'd enjoy blood tests but..NO!!! I do not!
ReplyDeleteSorry you're bored Dan, I'll try to entertain later ;-)
I'm healthy. I baked cupcakes Monday night, iced them yesterday, then baked a cake, made the icing and iced it. Then I took the cupcakes to Seren's class as it was her birthday. Don took the leftover cupcakes to work so they are not sitting here along with more than half the cake.
ReplyDeleteThis morning, I've run the dishwasher and am doing laundry. I've also ironed on the appropriate patches for Seren's tunic and Ariane's vest for Girl Scouts.
Stuck in some training.
ReplyDeleteRevising a short story.
Ping-pong! Now you serve.
M and I are going to the cities to the best train store ever! Hooray. Then off to Punch for dinner. Thinking of our fiendish visit there.
ReplyDeleteSorry you feel stuck, Dan! How is the revision going?
Stuck in a meeting,
ReplyDeleteWith a French keyboard. Horror!
Dreaming of comics.
Waiting for lunch time.
ReplyDeleteHope they have quesedillas.
Maybe some soft serve?
My packing is FAIL.
I'm going to look like a dork
when I see Lorraine.
"Ding! Dong! The witch is dead!
ReplyDeleteWhich old witch?
The wicked witch!
Ding! Dong! The wicked witch is dead!
Hi-ho the merry-o!
Sing it high, and
Sing it low,
Ding! Dong! The wicked witch is dead!"
Wait.
DanGuy said, "Ping pong," didn't he.
Oops.
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ReplyDeleteDinner would be nice,
ReplyDeleteTo enjoy with new comics.
(I did not have lunch)
Will I have the time
To go to my comics shop?
My Love is hopeful.
Dastardly keyboard
ReplyDeleteFrench speaking for Internet,
But work in English!
fiendish punch pizza
ReplyDeletea glorious memory
my lunch is boring
I dream of sushi
ReplyDeleteParisian sushi: très chic!
Rain is threatening.
Looking at pictures
ReplyDeleteof the French Laundry dinner
I'm getting hungry
Laundry progresses.
ReplyDelete"Heroes" playing on TiVo.
Multitasking is?
Oh, right, sorry, there was no gay marriage bill; it was like some sort of, erm, ballot thing to keep gay marriage from happening in Maine. And it DID pass.
ReplyDeleteAt home with headache
ReplyDeleteNat will you check to see if
Voltaire still buried?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteis that bad or good?
ReplyDeletelegislative wording is
hard to understand
marriage should be a
right to all people who love
equality NOW!
Emily, sounds like you are a mezzo soprano. I would guess that the Roses would be coloratura sopranos and the Lemons, lyric sopranos. Pretty sure about you being mezzo soprano, but I'm guessing on the other two.
ReplyDeleteIn case you were curious.
I bought some trail mix.
ReplyDeleteWhere there should be M&Ms
there is candy corn.
Blech. Blech. Blech. Blech. Blech.
Mmmm, actually that's not bad.
No, strike that, it is.
Contented Phoebe
ReplyDeleteLoving the extra lap time
Wants me to stay sick
Not enough brains for haiku here, but I'd be happy tell you how much I loathe the entire government agency responsible for this disaster of a data management scheme.
ReplyDeleteThree different formats of metadata files, none compatible, for the same kind of data? And file names that have no relationship to the data, and aren't even necessarily unique?
If I ran the world, things would be different. Or even just this agency.
Yes, I did have coffee after lunch. Why do you ask?
I hear that. So much of what I do is trying to force agencies to interoperate, and being stymied by those that refuse to.
ReplyDeleteInteroperate? You're funny!
ReplyDeleteI can't even get people in my lab to work together. *grumble* OTHER agencies? Not a chance.
But this isn't an agency interoperation problem. This is a completely incompatible philosophy about data organization.
More like you wanted to file your email, so you print some things out and stuff them in file folders, while keeping others in computer folders, depending on what you felt like that minute. The folder labeled 2009 has things from 2003, 2006, and 2008, in alphabetical order, while all the stuff from 2009 is in the folder labeled Electric Bills (if printed out), or the one labeled Cat Training Records (if electronic).
Could someone please explain again why I'm not allowed to drink at the office?
Phiala, maybe it's because you'd throw the drink at the files, in whatever form, assuming there isn't another person there?
ReplyDeleteOh Ariandalan, there's no chance of that!
ReplyDeleteso i can't remember why you can't have drinks at your desk. that seem inhuman.
ReplyDeleteI can have all the coffee I can handle (and already have!). It's the silly rule about alcohol on government property that I'm currently complaining about.
ReplyDeleteOw, ow, ow! That really makes my cataloger brain hurt. Not that our data is that much more consistent. And it definitely does not like to play with other metadata.
ReplyDeleteVampi, I'm the one who can't have any edibles or potables at my desk. Most of what I work with day to day isn't rare. But no one's willing to risk an accident, especially with the books that are rare.
ReplyDeleteThe plus side is that having to leave my desk to drink coffee in the lounge can be a Good Thing.
well i guess i can understand no drinks on the desk with rare books, as long as drinks are nearby.
ReplyDeleteyeah alcohol at work is probably not the best thing, but a little bit would definitely take the edge off sometimes.
My previous boss kept a bottle of tequila in his office for emergencies. (This was in New Mexico, so tequila was a good choice.) We had a lot of emergencies at that lab!
ReplyDeleteCurrent boss, not nearly so cool.
Oh. Well. That does make a difference.
ReplyDeleteNo, I don't believe you would waste good alcohol like that.
I apologize.
Finished revising that story!
ReplyDeleteI wrote this series of stories a few NaNoWriMos ago in which I explored issues and events in my marriage by adding a dash of science fiction (e.g. dealing with my forgetfulness and the differing ways in which Lori's family deals with conflict resolution versus those of my own family through the device of having Lori wiping my memory every time we had a fight).
I should really be working on this year's NaNoWriMo, but I read over these stories last weekend and discovered that I really like them, and now I'm slacking off by editing them. ^_^
Okay, Candy Corn.
ReplyDeleteIs disgusting.
Anyway, yes, Donielle, it's bad that the law passed. We wanted it NOT to pass. Ben corrected me on this; I thought it was a bill to ALLOW gay marriages, and Ben reminded me that it was a vote to FORBID gay marriage in Maine. How about that - they passed that law not that long ago, as far as I am concerned, and they snatch it away again.
It is quite possible I am a mezzo-soprano, Ariandalen, but I can hit those high notes. Back a few years ago, when I took music lessons at URI, the professor did judge my voice to be soprano rather than mezzo soprano. But I don't know. My friend claims that the director won't admit that the Burgundy, Lemon, and Rose are really Strong, Weak, and Weaker, but I don't think so. I don't really know enough about it ...
Does anyone remember Radiskull and Devil Doll? I want to put the theme song on a chip and stick it inside the cat skeleton with a motion sensor.
ReplyDeleteYou know I do not
ReplyDeletethink I have ever written
a Fiend haiku verse.
Spaghetti squash is
ReplyDeleteTasty, baked, then topped with cheese
and tomato sauce.
Oh, oops.
ReplyDeleteYou can do many of the squash-things with it, though I think it would make a lousy pumpkin pie. Spaghetti squash makes a really good pasta-substitute, by which I mean that it tastes yummy with tomato sauce and cheese on it, not that it will fool you into thinking it's pasta.
To be honest, i find spaghetti squash pretty boring so the marinara and cheese (if you're not me and hate cheese) is the route to go i think. You need to give it flavor. It's the stringy tofu of the squash family in my mind ;-)
ReplyDeleteI agree - the fun in a spaghetti squash is the texture, not the flavor.
ReplyDeleteI agree. The fun in spaghetti squash is the texture, not the flavor.
ReplyDeleteLying server! Tells me it won't post my comment, then does it anyway. Twice.
ReplyDeleteMy questions:
ReplyDelete* What cell phone are you using these days?
* Do you eat breakfast? And if so, what?
* Have any overnight guests at your house ever disappeared mysteriously? Did the bengals shun their food the next morning?
* How would you have fixed Underworld: Rise of the Lycans?
* Where would you like to see the Underworld franchise go from here?
* Do you need anyone to rake leaves at Spooky House, or is that a service provided by Merry Housekeeper and/or Spooky Daughter?
* Are you allergic to anything? (What? This? It's not a blowgun, it's... a flute. Yeah, a flute.)
* Do you get swollen tastebuds when you eat too much candy like I do? If so, have you found a remedy?
* What albums do you have more or less completely memorized?
Aaaaaand I'll stop there.
Me, I don't like it much preped like pasta. I'd bake it, scoop out the insides, and toss with rice vinegar. More of a side dish. Or chill it like a salad.
ReplyDeleteTonight I'm making rescue-the-produce soup.
Now that's better. I'm a happy Sally. Lots of Fiendish chatter to wake up to.
ReplyDeleteDan -those questions are good for us all (with some name substitutions. A Fiendish Meme.
Does that mean your soup has no vegies in it OSS?
ReplyDeleteHeh. More like all the veggies in danger of spoiling in my fridge. There are a lot of them, since I haven't felt like cooking since the last kitchen frenzy. Not that I feel quite up to it tonight! But there's nothing else to eat
ReplyDeleteSay, anyone know if daikon could go in this okay? So far it's butternut squash, onions, red cabbage, a few green beans. Daikon sounds weird in all that, but thought I'd ask.
ReplyDeleteDan, do you think that if Lorraine had, uh, misplaced any overnight guests she would admit it? Steak is expensive, after all . .
ReplyDeleteOh, I have a Quiche question: Do you like Star Trek? :D :D :D
ReplyDeleteJust posted the winner of the FoodPorn.com anniversary recipe contest. Both the winner and honorable mention are Fiends!
ReplyDeleteWell hey! I *am* proud. And glad you enjoyed it. It's an old stand-by in my kitchen.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to both Adri and OSS!
ReplyDelete...and congrats from me too
ReplyDeleteAt the other end of the culinary spectrum, the produce-rescue soup is a Big Fail. Blech! I wonder if I can further rescue it as stock? It would have to be stock for a borcht kind of soup, since it has red cabbage in it. Hmmm...
ReplyDeleteoh yum! both sounds delicious. i shall have to try them. tasty tasty fiends...um, well fiends with good taste:)
ReplyDeletefiendish chatter! hurray!
ReplyDeletei seem to have allergies. could be a mild cold that comes and goes. whatever, it's messing with my HEAD.
peer review paper needing far more work than originally planned, which is okay. but also hurts head.
however i am reading a moste excellente novel, All the Windwracked Stars by Elizabeth Bear. Completely WOW.
Oh Oh Oh Q question!
ReplyDeleteWith what musician or group would you love to jam?
Q Question....
ReplyDeleteWhere, oh where did you come by the gentle/person skelly of the bath? I've been hoping to have one present itself to me, in my far-too-frequent ramblings in odd shops, but thus far, no luck.
Question Blog is UP!!!
ReplyDeleteMany thanks!